Rules Breakdown: D6 Space

[@freddaniel5099]

One of the most underrated and underutilized open licensing systems!

[@RPGGamer]

Absolutely. Although I hear there's going to be an updated version out soon, which I'll be interested to see, and there's still a few games use D6 (like the Zorro RPG which came out a couple of years ago).

[@Dasharr]

I'm not a fan of rolling for hit points at character creation, but it is an optional rule. I do appreciate d6 Space for having a variation of d6 Star Wars that survived their loss of the licence. That it became open content is even better. My favourite version of d6 is probably the unofficial free pdf, Mini Six (at least it was free when I first saw it, I don't know if it still is). It's an interesting contrast to d6 Space because it takes the core of d6 and turns it in the other direction, more minimalist and streamlined rather than adding more on. For instance, the static defences that replace dodge rolls with a fixed target number to hit, reducing the number of rolls needed to resolve an attack. One of the good things about the present-day RPG hobby is that there isn't just a wide variety of RPGs to pick from, there are often different variants of a single RPG, and a lot of them are available online even if they're out of print.

[@RPGGamer]

The body points I initially thought were a great idea, and if you remember I used them in my short lived Force Users Campaign. And removing a single roll from during combat can make sense, since there's already a bunch going on, but it really didn't work well. As for variants of D6, I've always had a quiet liking for D6 Legends, as used in Xena and Hercules. Where you're rolling against a target number (4 if I remember correctly) and counting successes instead of just counting the total. Seems like it could speed up things a bit.

[@mkfort]

@@RPGGamer haven't played it myself but I understand Mythic D6 is based on D6 Legends

[@weirdguy564]

Mini-6 is almost great. It’s my favorite version, but the magic system needs work. I changed the penalty to failing a spell to be just -1 pip, not a full -1D as that is too steep a penalty. The other fault of magic are their target numbers are too rigid, as are the effects. Bending a spoon you are holding in your hand with telekinesis sounds very easy, while lifting an army tank stuck in the mud from two miles away sounds very hard. I use my own target numbers based on how big the effect. Last, the Imperium in Revolt setting has a custom spell called Sense Danger. It’s broken as it raises defense and lowers your weapon skill due to concentration. Two knights can’t hit each other. I changed it to simply turning your plasma sword into cover (+10 dodge) when active. Target Number is 5 per enemy. Rolling a 5-9 just means it only helps against one enemy, rolling a 10-14 helps vs two enemies. Only rolling a 1-4 is a failure. This power is useless against brawling or melee weapons. Last is not needed, but I really like a set of fighting rules called Dueling Blades by Griffon Publishing. It makes sword fights longer and more cinematic.

[@robertburns576]

You've done a great job walking people through this. Good job.

[@RPGGamer]

Thank you, the kind words are very much appreciated.

[@weirdguy564]

I like the free (yes, free) version of the D6 rules called Mini-6 Bare Bones Edition. It simplifies an already simple game. Instead of 6 attributes, it just uses 4. Instead of having a combat skill that each have a corresponding defense skill, only the dodge skill is kept to dodge ranged attacks. Everything else you roll the same skill in offense as you would in defense, like brawling. You roll a brawl to punch somebody, and you also roll a brawl skill to defend against a punch. Or you can use the default style of play this game introduced. Static Defense. You pre-calculate your average dodge, parry, and brawling skills, as well as your damage soak and just write those four numbers down. They're always in effect unless your are unaware. Yeah, it turns it back into more like D&D with Armor Class, but it is aimed at speeding up gameplay by eliminating half the combat rolls, and it works just fine, plus you get 3 armor classes. A high skill melee weapon/sword fighter is great, but put him in a gunfight and he'll get hit a lot unless he is also put a lot of points in the Dodge skill. The magic system needed work. I prefer a less punishing penalty for failing a magic skill roll as either a -1 pip to subsequent magic skills instead of a full -1D, or to just apply the -1D to that specific spell only, not every spell you know. On top of that I also think it is best to allow the GM to set the difficulty numbers for each spell. Bending a spoon in front of you with telekinesis should be easy, but lifting an army tank out of the mud from 2 miles away sounds very, very hard to me. Both should be possible though, so I am more free wheeling with that stuff. Last, the Imperium in Revolt setting has a special Sense Danger spell aka lightsaber combat. It is broken. Two knights using it can NOT hit each other as it raises defense and lowers attack due to a concentration penalty. I changed its effect to be turning your plasma sword into 75% cover when active, aka increasing your dodge by +10 when active/concentration, with a difficulty of 5 per enemy. However, rolling a 5 when you wanted to protect against three enemies (aka Target Number of 15) will still protect you against the first one that shoots. You can always stop concentrating and try again. You only "fail" when you roll a 1-4, an unlikely situation. And yes, that is by design. Yes, this power does nothing to protect you when brawling or melee weapons attack you, but that is also by design.

[@RPGGamer]

Essentially speaking these books are free as well if you download them, as D6 Fantasy, Space & Adventure were all released open source. I've seen Mini-6, and it's a cool version, and I personally prefer a system like it where you can play without opening the rulebooks, and just get on with playing. Cheers for the recommendation.

[@AJPickett]

invaluable explanation, thank you!

[@RPGGamer]

Glad you found it useful.

[@Se7enBeatleofDoom]

I like to see D6 take on a setting like Twilight 2000.

[@RPGGamer]

I had the chance to run Twilight 2000 (2nd Edition from the 90's) recently, and I was astounded by how well the autofire rules work. Firing bursts does absolutely devastating damage, but of course Ammo is limited. So while you want to save your ammo, it's really tempting to just waste your enemies as quickly as possible. Whereas in most games, the difference between single shot and burst fire isn't that much, so you aren't as tempted to burn that valuable resource.

[@MarkCherkowski]

Hey Freddy, did you see that Gallant Knight Games is releasing a D6 System: Second Edition by West End Games? The Kickstarter is already funded. I would like to see a video on your thoughts of the new edition as you are so familiar with this platform with your great explanations here.

[@RPGGamer]

I've been watching the kickstarter, but I'm hesitant to fund it as I'm unsure how much new material they're putting into it, as they seem to be following the books which are already available under the Opend6 licence. Once it's out I might grab a copy to see though.

[@Rajaat99]

I ran a Firefly game with D6 Space and it worked great!

[@RPGGamer]

Makes a lot of sense, everyone did kind of say that Firefly was Star Wars without the Jedi, and these rules are pretty much the Star Wars D/6 rules updated.

[@dane3038]

@@RPGGamer Traveller. Everyone says Firefly is Traveller without the Jedi.

[@RPGGamer]

@@dane3038 There's Jedi in Traveller?

[@dane3038]

@@RPGGamer No. omit that last part. It was early.

[@tobyweston-author9034]

great summary. anybody know where i can buy a cheap second hand physical copy?

[@RPGGamer]

Obviously with it being available under the OpenD6 licence, you can legally and freely download it from a few different places. But picking up a physical copy? I'd suggest just putting a search on ebay and waiting until a decent copy turns up at a good price. If you're patient enough I've found that's worked for me with most games I've wanted to fill out my collection with.

[@tobyweston-author9034]

@@RPGGamer many thanks, have decided to go with Mini Six and print myself.

[@johnyf.q.8043]

how is there not a video game using this?

[@RPGGamer]

There's actually very few video games which accurately use tabletop rules, some of the D&D games from Bioware, the Kotor games, the old Gold Box games and the I guess the Pathfinder games, but otherwise usually the name gets carried across but not the rules.

[@dane3038]

Simplified GURPS?

[@RPGGamer]

You could see it that way, D6 Space is definitely just D6 Star Wars with the trademarks removed. But I definitely think they had GURPs in mind when making this book. The dice pool mechanics went from the D6 system, through Shadowrun, World of Darkness, etc.