Dice Rolls

Dice rolls allow for an unbiased way to measure and determine the outcomes of scenarios that might fail or contests wherein someone will lose. Below are the basics for the dice rolling system of CHB as taken from the Revised Edition of Masquerade, though some items as denoted by asterisks have been adapted for House Rules and may pull from other versions of the game.

Dice Pools
Dice pools will generally always consist of 2 ratings added together. Generally this will be an Attribute + a Skill, but it could also be two attributes or a roll including an attribute and another trait such as Blood Potency.

Difficulty and Modifiers
When rolling, the threshold for succeeding on a roll is considered the difficulty. This can change from scenario to scenario or even from roll to roll. Difficulty measures how hard a thing is to do. Dice Pool modifiers, on the other hand, represent elements which affect the roller's chance to achieve the desired goal. These are generally outside influences or extenuating circumstances that can be thought of as reducing the attention or force a roller can devote to a task. Dice pool modifiers add or subtract dice from the given pool depending on the situation.

Difficulty ranges from 2 - 10, though the lower the difficulty threshold, the lower the likelihood of a roll having to be made. Standard difficulty is 6, which means that all rolls are made with 6 as the target result for success on a single die roll unless otherwise stated.

Roll Results
The number of rolled die resulting in a number matching the difficulty is the number of successes rolled.

Success

 * At least one success is needed to accomplish a task, assuming the result is not otherwise contested, but the more successes rolled, the better or more thorough the outcome.
 * 10s can be re-rolled for the chance to gain successes beyond the initial roll.
 * Unless a higher number of total successes is needed, 5 successes will constitute an Exceptional Success*, meaning that the outcome of the roll is as thorough and/or positive as possible, going above and beyond simple "success," as applicable to the situation.
 * Many supernatural or in-depth mundane tasks may require more than 5 successes in order for the desired outcome to be achieved.

Failure

 * 1s detract from standard rolls unless a merit or ability states otherwise.
 * However, 1s do not detract from successes rolled with Super Dice, and when re-rolling 10s, resulting 1s affect only the reroll, not the successes on the original roll.*
 * Botching: Whenever more 1s are rolled than successes, a roll is said to be botched, meaning that some sort of misfortune befell the attempt as befits the situation.
 * Rolling net zero successes means only that the attempt failed.
 * Rerolls: Tasks may be re-rolled with difficulty one step higher than the previous roll.

Types of Rolls

 * Single Action = Essentially an ability check, this these are rolls made for a one time result in a single turn.
 * Multiple Action = Attempting to complete multiple actions in a single turn, which most frequently occurs during combat.
 * Each roll has a die penalty equal to its order in the character's turn.
 * Example: Bob says he is going to kick the goon attacking his feet, then shoot at each of the two other goons at the other end of the alley. Bob has declared 3 actions. Since Bob is kicking first, it will be at a -1. The first shot, which is the second action, will be at a -2, and the third shot/action is at a -3.
 * If the penalties would take the rolls to 0 dice, it cannot be attempted.
 * Celerity allows for characters to complete multiple actions within a given turn without penalties in line with the rules of the Discipline.
 * Extended Action = Repeated rolls of the same die pool representing extended effort over time towards achieving a result.
 * Botching a roll during the Extended Action causes a botch and resets the accumulated successes back to 0 as befits the scenario.
 * Resisted Rolls = When two or more characters have contradictory goals, such as in combat or other contests of ability, a roll is considered Resisted.
 * Whoever rolls the highest total of successes wins.
 * The failing contestant's success detract from the victor's, allowing the winner to count only the margin of successes above their opponent's toward the victor's goal.
 * Example: Bob is trying to break down a door Joe wants to open; Bob rolls 5 successes and Joe rolls 4, so Bob's victory margin is 1 success, meaning that he only barely gets the door open.
 * Teamwork Rolls = When a group is coordinating on the same goal, each party can roll individually so that their total successes can be pooled toward the desired outcome.
 * Chance Roll = Not every outcome is covered in the existing mechanics, and sometimes characters attempt tasks for which they have no measurable aptitude. Chance rolls may be called for whenever a scenario effectively boils down to luck. The ST will call for a decision of "high or low," and then the ST will roll a d100 and use that to determine the outcome as befits the scenario.
 * Reflexive Actions do not require rolls.

Sources: VtM, VtR 2.0, and House Rules.