The rules seem to indicate that a formidable task (5 difficulty dice) is the maximum (page 17-18). So what happens if the rules tell you to ADD a sixth difficulty dice? E.g. if you attempt to improve your Under-barrel grenade launcher attachment to hold a fifth grenade (page 187+191).

I have heard many suggestions to this question:

1. Do nothing: Keep the dice pool at 5 difficulty dice
2. Add a sixth difficulty die: No limit to number of difficulty dice
3. Add a setback die instead
4. Upgrade the difficulty instead: But what if you already have 5 challenge dice?
5. Make it an impossible task (see spoiler below): What to do if a seventh or eight die is required?

I would really much like to hear your guys' opinion on this, and especially if anyone has seen an official ruling somewhere. Thanks in advance for any input.

_{PS: This issues has been up before (in http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/94689-is-there-a-maximum-size-for-dice-pools/?hl=%2Bdice+%2Bpool), but that post seemed to move a bit off topic, so I have opened up the discussion again here.}

The game already allows for more than 5 difficulty dice - the Heavy Tractor Beam has Tractor 6, requiring a difficulty 6 roll to escape from it.

There isn't necessarily a hard and fast equation for this. It is narrative RPG gameplay not a line of code in a computer game. Do what you feel is most appropriate as every suggestion you have there is viable.

My suggestion would be to upgrade. Once you've hit 5 challenge then start alternating. 5C 1D, 6C, 6C 1D, etc

The five basic Difficulties are there for convenience. In order to avoid bogging the game down in minutia, stick with assigning the five basic Difficulties to any given task unless a specific rule calls for something else. If something seems like it should be harder than Formidable, rather than waste time figuring out how much higher just use Formidable and allow it only if the player spends a Destiny Point on nothing more than the attempt.

That said, there are LOTS of examples of the rules calling for more than 5 Difficulty dice, for instance;

-- Making an opposed check with an adversary who has a 6 or 7 in a characteristic, in particular Brawn, Agility, and Intellect (all of which can be augmented beyond their normal cap with cybernetics).

-- Making an opposed check with an adversary who''s benefiting from a cybernetic enhancement to a skill (for instance, the +1 Perception and Vigilance ranks granted by cybernetic eyes allow for the possibility of Perception 6 or Vigilance 6)

-- Adding the the 3rd and 4th mod to an attachment requires checks against 6 and 7 Difficulty dice respectively.

-- Some circumstances described in the descriptions for various skills add an additional Difficulty die the pool, which can push things over. (For instance, using Coercion to a force a greedy Toydarian merchant with a Willpower of 5 to cooperate with a deal he can't profit from adds a 6th Difficulty die to the pool.)

-- As previously noted, EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate has three forward-mounted heavy tractor beam emitters each with Tractor 6. (Because I can be a Chaotic Evil GM at times, I'd allow a Daunting Computers or Knowledge (Education) check [with two Setback die to reflect the fact that you have to figure it out on the fly without ready-made software] to combine all three tractor beams for Tractor 8.)

-- Etc and so forth. Stuff can get hard! Have fun!