In Dictionary of Mu, how do Dictionary Reference bonuses work?

Question

In Dictionary of Mu you can get a 1-3 die bonus for cross-referencing into the Dictionary.

Can this bonus apply to Contacting/Binding/Summoning, just to Contacting, to all rituals, or to actions that are not rituals? Is there a cumulative bonus for multiple references?

Answer 1

It is very much up to the table to decide this. I think you'll know when someone links to the setting in a way that is meaningful to everyone. It could be a character talking about something they read out of the book, from a character using something that you just described in their description of their character's actions.

Answer 2

The rules in Mu are a little unspecified here, but the way that I have handled it is that the 1-3 bonus can be used once. Of course the cumulative successes rule applies, so those dice can help beyond just Contacting (if that's the point they are used in), but I think adding them into every single roll as a given bonus gets too extraneous.

That said, I tend to be a little generous with my bonus dice, and thus have no complications giving out extra 1-3 bonus dice per cross-referenced dictionary item. Obviously if players are just going through the book halfheartedly do not award them anything, but I think any amount of tieing the situation to the setting deserves an award.