Looking for good "push your luck" mechanics

My little prototype is taking shape.

I want players taking actions with varying

  • scale: one firebolt, one fireball, one rain of fire
  • odds: unlikely, likely, almost-certain, certain
  • risk: minor, major, severe
  • cost: resources, traits or other “qualities”

I’ll be using a (1-8ish) d6 dice pool, with varying TNs, mostly 4+, counting as hits.
A goblin could be a single TN 3 box.
An ogre could be four TN 5 boxes.

I think a “push your luck” mechanic would suit this well, as I want players to make decisions like:

  • How much cost and risk am I willing to take on right now?
  • How important is this action?
  • How much do I want to guarantee a certain outcome?
  • How many atomic actions are covered by this one roll? (1 attack, vs 2 attacks, a parry, and a dash)

For costs, risks and such on a single roll, I’m mostly alright.

But I want a mechanic for the players to “play with fire”, such as rerolling the pool with fewer dice and scaled risks, avoiding a “bust”, lingering 1s, something like that.

I want some systemic way for players to go “Oooh, ok, maybe I’ll push once” while their crewmates question the decision severely.