West End Games d6 PDF's, FREE!

[ggroy]

Having a look now.

How do these play? What is the systems strengths and weaknesses?

Two words: dice pool.

 

[jaerdaph]

I never played WEG's popular Star Wars RPG where the d6 System comes from, but I did buy the d6 Adventure hardcover back when it came out, read it, and was really impressed with the system. I never got to play it because d20 Modern and later True20 were already doing what I needed (and it was easier to find d20 players in general), so it ended up on the bookshelf. I recently rediscovered it though (through the free PDFs) and I've been giving it a good going over, kicking the tires etc. I've got a project I'm working on, and I've actually been considering going OpenD6 with it instead of True20. The only problem is that OpenD6, while perhaps not dead, does seem on life support, and another year has passed since it was first announced and nothing has materialized. The longer it takes, the less likely I see other publishers jumping on board over something like the d20 SRD, Pathfinder, or True20 (not to mention Savage Worlds and other non-d20 systems that can be used by 3PPs).

If you want to know more about the history of OpenD6 (and the history of waiting folks have been doing for some announcement from WEG's Eric Gibson), check out the forums here: http://www.wegfansite.com/forum/

I'd love to see Eric's plans come to fruition, because it really is a robust game system with a lot of potential as an open source.

 

[Panthanas]

Hey, thanks for the heads-up! Maybe I can get my group to try it out sometime. One of the guys really likes the D6 Star Wars so maybe it won't be too hard.

 

[possum]

I'm going to have to pick these up, too. I loved WEG's Star Wars game.

 

[Wik]

A quick word of advice to all those new to the system - use the life points damage system, as opposed to the original WEG d6 SW "damage resistance" system. The first system will help speed up play - the second system results in a "I hit, but you resist all the damage" and "I hit, and you resist most of the damage, lose your next action, and then resist the rest" sort of play that can make even easy fights turn into dice-rolling grinds.

 

[pawsplay]

It's a great system. I always hoped to see more development, but it never really took off. I'm hoping going open will change that. And, for the record, I prefer damage resistance rolls.

 

[jdrakeh]

I think it has to do with the fact that they released much of this information for free as a sort of "OGL" for d6, anyways.

The documents that I and jaerdaph linked to earlier have been released under the OGL, not another OGL-like license. That's a significant difference worth noting.