d6 gaming system

[trancejeremy]

Champions/Hero pretty much refutes the idea that a game using only d6s would be simpler. I think 4th edition was what, 500 pages?

But the big difference is it makes the probability curves non-obvious.

Like Traveller (the original), it was based around rolling 2d6, and then needing to throw a certain number of them, usually 7.

What are the odds of that? It's not hard to figure out if you make a little table, but it's not obvious compared to linear odds, if you are rolling a d20

And then GURPs (and the Fantasty Trip before that) took it a bit further, rolling 3d6 vs a target number.

OTOH, D6 (from West End Games) had you rolling lots of dice (3-5 usually, sometimes up to 10), adding them up and comparing to a fairly high target number (10-31)

The real problem that had was they found that a lot of gamers simply couldn't add up dice very well. So they came out with a variant system (for their Hercules/Xena game) using picture dice

 

[Nagol]

Champions/Hero pretty much refutes the idea that a game using only d6s would be simpler. I think 4th edition was what, 500 pages?

But the big difference is it makes the probability curves non-obvious.

Like Traveller (the original), it was based around rolling 2d6, and then needing to throw a certain number of them, usually 7.

What are the odds of that? It's not hard to figure out if you make a little table, but it's not obvious compared to linear odds, if you are rolling a d20

And then GURPs (and the Fantasty Trip before that) took it a bit further, rolling 3d6 vs a target number.

OTOH, D6 (from West End Games) had you rolling lots of dice (3-5 usually, sometimes up to 10), adding them up and comparing to a fairly high target number (10-31)

The real problem that had was they found that a lot of gamers simply couldn't add up dice very well. So they came out with a variant system (for their Hercules/Xena game) using picture dice

Champions is built around throwing 3d6 not 2d6 and unlike classic Traveler it was a low-numbers-are-good system where the target number is 11 + offensive value - defensive value.

As for complexity, it's more like a system for designing a game than a specific genre game. The default emulates the superhero comic genre and there are a lot ofabilities, skills, and character add-ons to describe.

 

[Cor Azer]

Green Ronin's Chronicle System (the name for the system their A Song of Ice and Fire RPG uses) is another system that only uses d6s.

I should rephrase.

Why are the FEW systems that are famous?

Define "famous".

 

[wingsandsword]

I see plenty of people have mentioned West End Games d6 System, used for original Star Wars and later a generic d6 Space & d6 Adventure. They also produced a licensed Men In Black RPG for a little while that used the d6 system. d6 Star Wars was my first thought at this thread for a game that uses only d6's, pretty simple, quick and easy to learn and easy to GM.

GURPS has also been mentioned. Probably one of the more well known d6-only systems.

Classic Traveler, again, only d6's

Tri-Stat, the system for original Big Eyes Small Mouth (not the d20 version obviously) was based on rolling only d6's.

The ICON system used by Last Unicorn Games in their Star Trek RPG's was based entirely on d6's.

HERO/Champions is another one, probably one of the most complex d6-only games ever made.

Brave New World used a simplified version of the system used in Classic Deadlands, using only d6's instead of every polyhedron.

Basically once you step away from D&D & the D&D derived d20 System, d6-only becomes a pretty popular design choice.

 

[wedgeski]

Basically once you step away from D&D & the D&D derived d20 System, d6-only becomes a pretty popular design choice.

Not least because even non-gamers will probably have dozens of the bloody things around the house in assorted board-games.

I love me some d20's...but there's nothing to get the juices flowing quite like a fistful of d6's spilling across the table...

 

[ComradeGnull]

I see plenty of people have mentioned West End Games d6 System, used for original Star Wars and later a generic d6 Space & d6 Adventure. They also produced a licensed Men In Black RPG for a little while that used the d6 system. d6 Star Wars was my first thought at this thread for a game that uses only d6's, pretty simple, quick and easy to learn and easy to GM.

WEG made an Indiana Jones game too, didn't they? Can't remember if that one was d6 or something else.

Define "famous".

Famous & TT RPG pretty much means 'D&D'. Nothing else comes close. I would wager that for most of the people during the 1970's & 80's who created new games, D&D was the first game that they played. They bought the dice for D&D, therefore when they were designing their own games, they automatically thought of using them. Some designers decided to specifically go for particular mechanics (like dice pools, or successes or whatever) and then moved to the 'all one die' mechanics.

Honestly, I would say d6 only is one of the major 'families' of rpg rules, along with d10 only, d100 everywhere, and d20 primary derivatives.