d6 the future of d20?

[Fiendish Dire Weasel]

WEG's d6 system was pretty good, it was better than some but not as good as others.

For some reason though I have a huge prefference for d10 systems. White Wolf's (old and new) Storyteller/WoD system and AEG's old L5R systems were probably my two favorite mechanical systems of all time.

Really wish they would be made "open source" like d20 is so you could self-publish with them. While the basic mechanical systems were great, the game's settings themselves either don't interest me a lot (most WoD stuff) or just don't appeal to a lot of people (some WoD stuff, L5R). Lots of cool stuff possible making content in different directions for these systems.

Back on topic...

d6 was pretty good, but I think it needed to be streamlined and tightened up a little more. Wasn't there a "Generic d6 System" book they came out with? I think I have it around somewhere...

 

[Thotas]

Didn't WEG do two different d6 systems? I picked up the original Star Wars rulebook, and found it really interesting on a read-it-but-never-got-to-play-it basis. (So I've found the comments on this thread very interesting, too) Then when Mayfair's license with DC comics ended, there was a d6 system superhero game licensed with DC; I picked that up, but I can't tell you what I thought of that game mechanic without offending Eric's Grandma, and maybe his Grandpa too, for that matter.

 

[coyote6]

There is a new revision of TORG coming out next year also from WEG...that's something I've been waiting for for a while now.

Anybody know if the new TORG will be using the d6 system, or will it use the original TORG system?

 

[S'mon]

I loved d6 Star Wars - up there w BRP Call of Cthulu as a design classic IMO; the rules felt very movie-esque. Only problem was when the PCs' ship got blown up & they all died.

 

[Acid_crash]

I know that the d6 books don't have a level system, but is it so hard for someone to actually put one into their own games...

level one - begin with 5 character points, and when you accumulate a total of 10, you get to level two, and now you can spend them.
level two - begin with 10, and accumulate 10, now level three, spend those points.
level three - begin with 20, and accumulate 10, now level four, spend those points.
and so on and so on and so on...

I think what they should have done, and this is also easily fixed, is seperating the character points from the hero points that a person can spend in play. Instead of using the experience points for modifying dice, just have a seperate pool of points used for just that purpose. Just say that everyone gets three or four per session, or something else.

BAM, problem solved, now everyone has a level system in which to gauge character power, and everyone has hero points that don't delve into the character points that are used to advance the character.

Another idea is to condense the number of dice you roll. Sure it is fun to roll 9d6+1, but some people just don't like that (as we all know). Instead, take the first 4 dice and roll them normally, then instead of rolling the last five, treat each die as a 3, so instead of rolling 9d6+1, you are rolling 4d6+16. Sure, the bell curve has been lessened, and you have a better chance of rolling the average each time, but that's less dice you have to count for those that hate counting. Personally, I like rolling those 9 dice and have no problem whatsoever counting 10's. I find rolling dice pools much better than rolling a single die and adding a single modifier to it...that just doesn't feel too cinematic or fun to me, and it's soooo boring to roll one die.

My question is, if people who play D&D hate dice pools so much, why don't you all have problems rolling all those dice for those spells in D&D. How many times do people roll 5d6 fireballs, or 10d6 lightning bolts, or 20d6 meteor storms, or whatever the spells are called. In reality, sometimes the dice pools for damage in D&D far exceed the dice pools typically rolled in the d6 system.

I think they should redo Star Wars using the roll and keep system described above used in 7th Sea personally, I think they are better.

 

[Acid_crash]

Anybody know if the new TORG will be using the d6 system, or will it use the original TORG system?

It will use a Revised TORG system, but not d6. I think. Unless I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. It won't be the revised system in Shatterzone, I know that much, it will be much simplyer than that.

 

[The_Universe]

Well, D6 Star Wars was my home system--the first RPG that I really played, and the first that I spent a lot of time GMing, as well.

What can I tell you?

It's very flexible, and extraordinarily player friendly. There are no classes, no levels, nor really even any meaningful templates--you can build absolutely any type of character you want. Like D20, it has 6 basic attributes, Strength, Dexterity, Mechanical, Perception, Knowledge, and Technical. As has been mentioned above, if you don't have the right skill, you just roll the attribute, allowing proficiency in a wide variety of activities without the players really having to spend any of their own resources.

There are a lot of dice--but, as a benefit, they're all dice of the same type. At the lower power levels, the numbers of dice are really not that bad. At the higher power levels, it is INSANE.

Due to the entirely freeform method in which characters are built, there is no way to balance encounters for an adventuring party. For many DMs, this is a nightmare. For others, it frees them of what they see as the restrictions of D20.

It has some similarities to D20--lots of opposed rolls, instead of percentile-based or target numbers. There's even a way to set random difficulties based on broad categories...

In the end, I had a lot of fun with D6, and I was able to force it into a lot of different shapes throughout the 6 or so years it was our primary RP system. However, I find D20 superior as a player and as a GM in nearly every way (that's obviously just my opinion--but then, everything contained above is).

D6 is rules lite, but it's also rules deficient--I spent a lot of time having to come up with ways to resolve certain tasks on the fly because a great many common adventuring tasks were just not incuded in the core rules.

It's not a perfect system, but it was my first. We didn't have a bad breakup, so I will always remember her fondly.

 

[LostSoul]

I loved d6 Star Wars - up there w BRP Call of Cthulu as a design classic IMO; the rules felt very movie-esque. Only problem was when the PCs' ship got blown up & they all died.

I always just had them make Survival rolls to see if they survived... I think I set the Difficulty at 15 or something.

I also filled the universe with "ether", so there was no vaccuum in space - although they still couldn't breathe.

 

[LostSoul]

D6 is rules lite, but it's also rules deficient--I spent a lot of time having to come up with ways to resolve certain tasks on the fly because a great many common adventuring tasks were just not incuded in the core rules.

What were the deficiencies that you encountered when you were playing d6?

 

[Caliber]

Earlier on, someone said the d6 system was different from Shadowrun. But since it sounds like d6 has more in common with Shadowrun than with d20, anyone want to do a comparison of them (Shadowrun and d6)?