Warrior Quest Dice Rolls: How Checks, DCs and Rerolls Work

You can type the most persuasive threat ever written, and a goblin can still laugh in your face if the die comes up short. Warrior Quest dice rolls are the hinge the whole game swings on. Your words, gear, and abilities set up the attempt, and the d20 decides whether it works. Once you know where the checks happen, how modifiers feed them, and how to bank rerolls, you'll stop losing runs to one bad number.

How Rolls Decide What Actually Happens

Warrior Quest calls itself a Living RPG, and the important part is that its AI diplomacy is wired into the game engine instead of running free. You can bribe, lie, threaten, or bargain in your own words, typed or spoken. The game tracks your abilities, your gear, and every deal you make, but the rules and the dice determine whether you succeed.

That means two things for your playstyle:

• What you say decides what gets rolled. An ask such as "Take me to your boss" triggers a check rather than being treated as small talk. Requests the game doesn't recognize land as plain conversation instead of starting a fight.
• Failure has consequences. If you tell a goblin runt to step aside and win the roll, it scurries off and the path is clear. If you lose, you may end up cutting your way through anyway.

Since Update 1.6, every check is shown with an animated 3D d20. When the game knows a DC, it displays it. Since 1.2 it no longer makes up a number when there isn't one, so a visible DC is real information you can plan around.

Where You'll Be Rolling

Version 1.11 redesigned the dice-roll cards so each type of check reads clearly. Expect rolls in four main places:

Image: Steam / Wizard of the North

• Conversations: persuasion, deception, threats, recruitment, plus the contests and wagers added in 1.4, riddles included.
• Traps: spotting and defusing them while you explore.
• Chests: locked chests now show your chosen method, its difficulty, and how many lockpicks you have left.
• Road encounters: the events on the road between Crowhollow and each dungeon.

Your exploration mode also sets up rolls for you. Pick it from the Mode button under Special:

Mode	What it does	Trade-off
Balanced	Standard exploration	None
Stealth	Automatically tries to sneak past creatures	More time per step
Investigative	Helps you spot traps	More time per step

If a creature catches you while you're in Stealth, it can challenge you before combat starts. That gives you one more chance to talk your way out.

Tip: At a locked chest, check the method on the card before you commit. Smashing a lock open can damage what's inside, so use lockpicks when the loot matters.

Attributes and Modifiers

Your five attributes are STR, DEX, INT, WIS, and CHA. They feed modifiers into your checks the way tabletop players would expect. Update 1.6 fixed how odd scores below 10 are calculated: a score of 9 now correctly gives −1. If you built a character before that patch, recheck any low stat you rely on.

Image: Steam / Wizard of the North

You can raise attributes at level-up. Since 1.11, ability and attribute choices are color-coded cards, which makes them easier to compare. Gear matters too. Some weapon upgrades at the forge add attribute bonuses, so look at what a reforge changes before you pay for it.

Tip: Put points into the attribute behind the approach you actually use. If you talk your way through most encounters, a weak stat there will cost you more than a missing sword upgrade.

Rerolls: Your Second Chance

Rerolls arrived in Update 1.6 and give you a second shot at a failed check.

Image: Steam / Wizard of the North

• Spending: After a failed check, click Reroll or press Backspace to try again.
• Saving: If you accept the result instead, your reroll stays in your supply for later.
• Tracking: A dedicated reroll card shows how many you have.

You earn more by listening to rumors at the Ample Dwarf tavern in Crowhollow:

Rumors heard	Reward
Every 5	One reroll
Every 10	One attribute increase

Tip: Visit the Ample Dwarf between dungeons and work through the rumors. The 1, 2, and 3 keys make it quick. Save your rerolls for checks that would end a run or close off a route, such as a boss parley or recruiting an ally. Don't spend them on a trap you could just walk away from.

Making Diplomacy Rolls Count

Talking is where the dice create the best stories. A few patterns to use:

• Threats can pay off with bosses. Since 1.3, threats earn standing with the Orc Boss.
• Refusing to pay counts as a refusal. The game doesn't read it as a 0-gold bribe, and since 1.10 refused requests no longer show an unnecessary roll.
• Keep an eye on the mood indicator. It was added in 1.4 and shows how a conversation is going before you push your luck.
• Recruits change fights. A goblin won over with a strong roll can follow you into the boss room and even land the killing blow.

Turn on the optional Roll Marks setting from 1.6 to log every success and failure. It makes it easy to see which approaches keep working for your character.

Crits in Combat

Combat uses the same dice, and crits are where big damage comes from. As of 1.3, Razor Strikes hits for 150%, and a crit adds a second Bleed stack. The Warrior's Focus Strike makes your next attack deal 250%. Line these up when an enemy is low or a boss starts healing. Note that enemy opening attacks now show up as Turn 0, separate from your first turn, so you'll know exactly what hit you before you act.

You can try all of this in the free demo, which covers Act I, runs about an hour, and carries your save into the full release. Warrior Quest launches November 13, 2026, on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Grab it from the Warrior Quest Steam store page and, as the game keeps reminding you, roll well.