2D6 Dungeon - for once I'm excited about the combat in a dungeon crawl! (Solo RPG Friday)

[@TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

Thanks Daniel for the awesome review. I feel very humbled by your words and inspired. There is a lot to come from 2D6 Dungeon! The adventure is only just beginning....

[@KyriosHeptagrammaton]

The fatigue leaving yourself open to more manuevers is interesting! I did something nearly identical in my own game without ever hearing of yours. I'm curious, I got my idea from reading Fafrd and the Grey Mouser. Any chance you had the same inspiration? (It's also just what actually happens and a nice way to make combat guaranteed to end, but thought it would be cool if that was the case)

[@astrozombie1505]

Coming from a miniature wargaming background I never knew awesome games like this existed! I started with Black City and I was addicted lol. I'm definitely getting your game for sure buddy! I've watched a lot of videos on other games, but yours impresses me the most by far.

[@TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

@@astrozombie1505 Thanks my friend...that means a lot

[@kaymarmagic7211]

Looks great! Backed the paperbacks and the expansion. Thanks for the heads up! :D

[@GeekGamers01]

Looks great… think I will be breaking my “no Kickstarters” rule to back this.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Will this be your first KS?

[@GeekGamers01]

@@TheDungeonDive I think so. Bought an expansion deck for Dungeon Crawler that may have still been a Kickstarter but the game itself already existed. That’s it.

[@TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

@@GeekGamers01 Thanks Deborah! Been watching your channel for a while now.

[@GeekGamers01]

@@TobyLancaster_DR_Games Ah thanks so much. Your game looks great! Just up my alley.

[@stefrum854]

Watched and backed instantly😊

[@rhubahb]

The other thing that I love about this is that while there are a ton of tables - and I LOVE that - they add such character, variety and detail to the exploration, and with the Inventive Use rules - it encourages and emphasizes the narrative. The dungeon seems alive and breathing with a sense of history and being lived in by other beings. Such a cool thing that many other dungeon crawlers just ignore in deference to long battles. In 2D6 Dungeon, the fights are short enough so you can get back to exploring and discovering all the world's little details and mysteries as you level up. That is totaly my jam. I backed all the paperbacks with the printed cards. But those hardcovers.... 🤣

[@Chaoclypse]

That combat does indeed look awesome! Backed, thank you for the video :D

[@paulbigbee]

Terrific review Daniel, and I appreciate your dedication of Fridays to these games.

[@loarnchilcote9895]

Again, Mr. Daniel, you bless us with unbelievable awesomeness! The gods be praised! Thank you very much. Ive been waiting for this exact kind of thing 🤠

[@the_Mike_d]

I prefer D100 to Four Against the Darkness so I backed this immediately! I really love the artwork for this game too - feels like this project is the type of thing Kickstarter should be about - helping to promote small indie projects.

[@alejotm000]

Such a clever design, thanks for sharing this with us!

[@bloodrunsclear]

I LOVE the idea of combos in an RPG!

[@firehrt]

Great review. Just backed after watching. Thanks, mate!

[@Bogrin]

You’ve convinced me to back this one! Looks great

[@MikeArsenault2009]

I backed this one on Kickstarter as well now!

[@JevousGaming]

You know there are many tables when there’s a table for random tables! 😂

[@lone_adventurer]

Yup that looks amazing. Like you Daniel, I was immediately intrigued by what looks like a unique combat approach that seems to be designed to generate combat that tells a story. More interesting than just 'roll dice for me...bash. Roll dice for enemy....bash.' And it's got more than two weeks left on the Kickstarter at time of writing 🙂

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yeah - this was supposed to go up next Friday, but the video for today was messed up, so I had to bump this one up a week, so my timing got off. :)

[@gamestamps]

This game looks fantastic, and the review made me even more excited to play it. If you enjoy this sort of combat system, you might like Rune by Gila RPGs. In that game, assigning dice to weapons and armor lets you move around a small map in addition to striking enemies.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I backed Rune! Just haven’t played it yet. Thanks!

[@CavernadoLekkis]

As far the combat is concerned, it seems unique. I've heard about 2d6 dungeons, but didn't give attention to it. Now I see that I must try it by myself. Thanks for sharing it!

[@J-DOUBLE-A]

Yeah this game looks amazing. Definitely backing it! Looks fairly simple but super fun!

[@GrungefolkBoy2010]

Great find, love the combat, as you said, wish I come up with this myself 😂😂

[@Crinklechip-s]

Thanks for the heads up. This looks like it might be my fave small dungeon crawler👍🏻. What with League of Dungeoneers arriving soon I think I’ll be at the peak of my Dungeon Crawling career!!

[@blainroman7317]

I don't know what to say about the combat. My head was swirling a bit trying follow the mechanics. But it works for you so OK. I like to support these small projects so maybe I will check out the KS. Thanks for continuing with the Friday Solo RPG videos. Have been following these as well as your conversations with developers.

[@Assisi9]

Shift happens! But seriously, I like how the game leverages the fact that it is a solo game to add detail, colour and complexity to the narrative. It would really slow a group game down though.

[@ant6227]

The combat seems like an improved version of roll player adventures. That system also uses the color of the die and your chatacters items can modify them (i.e having a amulet might mean you can change a die to a 6 or swap a 2 out for a 5). I think the difference is the large variety of options actually made roleplayer adventures too complicated and reliant on luck where this feels like just the tight amount of mitigation to keep things interesting and moving quick.

[@NeonCircle377]

Being able to spend a resource to adjust your die roll by one reminds me of Tiny Epic Dungeons the boardgame. Best dice combat I have played, but this looks really cool too.

[@ludditzthrell]

Hi, new subscriber, here; you got me hooked on Brimstone, you monster. I backed Rad Zone years ago, and I've played through about 5-10 different bunkers of survivors, and I do love that game. This, this actually looks a lot like a free print-and-play game from BGG, though with arguably better combat. The game I'm referring to is "Torch and Blade" -- it has the same dungeon generation aspect, but the combat is an advantage/disadvantage system. I'm not the maker of it, but I've been wanting to suggest it to you for the past week. All that said, I'll probably wind up backing this. Been considering it since it popped up in my email, and now.. yeah... you pushed me over the edge. I can hear my bank account weeping. Love your channel by the way, Daniel, and I'll keep watching. :D

[@TheDungeonDive]

Sorry about the SoB stuff. My condolences to your bank account. The core of 2D6 is pretty similar to a whole mess of games, but the devil is in the details on this one. I'll check out Torch and Blade. Thanks.

[@Lord_Amaury]

Nice discovery, I'll try the demo version tonight :-) ! Combat mechanics with dice shift reminds me a bit of "Sanctum" I really like it. I also expect a good amount of narrative content generation wich I think is a bit lacking in 4AD and D100 Dungeon. The "between dungeons" part is here too, not sure if it is planned but I would love to see journey / city events like in WQ to complete the global "narrative" experience.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I wish Sanctum actually had some exploration and more to it. The game fell flat for me, but I liked some of its mechanisms.

[@sirtroglodyte4956]

This is like a Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy adventure book cranked up to 11. I love it.

[@EBHawellsGames]

Yes please, I'm sold on it now!

[@jonathana6298]

Looks great. I bounced off of D100 Dungeon pretty hard, after multiple attempts to get into the game. (But I really like D100 Space for some reason.) Maybe this is more of what I’m looking for.

[@davidwillems9904]

Slightly off topic, but would you be able to do a review of the new(ish) printer that you bought? How much you've printed, how the ink levels are working out etc.. The stuff you're showing looks really nice.

[@pierluigimadau]

I backed the project! Seems really well thought! Thanks Daniel! A little content request: more gameplay, please! Either RPG or BG is fine!

[@TheDungeonDive]

I don’t typically do game play videos. Sorry. Not my forte. I make too many mistakes and don’t have fun playing games on camera. It’s too stressful. My focus is generally on talking about games.

[@pierluigimadau]

@@TheDungeonDive ok, thanks anyway! Keep up the good work!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Whenever you make gameplay videos, all people ever do is laser focus on the mistakes, and they literally ignore everything else. You can make an hour long video with one mistake and 90% of the comments will be about the mistake. :) It’s never fun for me, and this has to remain fun to remain viable. :)

[@shaneannigans]

4AD and D100 dungeon never really appealed to me but this looks great! I like how he's included cards. I wish gamebooks did this and I'm tempted to 'boardgame-ify' this by making the items into cards too.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Are you aware of all the amazing card expansions for 4AD?

[@fightingfortruth9806]

Same. I bought d100 dungeon and just could not get into it.

[@shaneannigans]

@@TheDungeonDive No I wasn't. I watched a few playthroughs when it first came out and decided it wasn't my jam. Might have another look at it 🙂

[@TheDungeonDive]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqmcgpiVa5dsr6c

[@jasonmabry8526]

This is absolutely ridiculous. I love it. This is what I have been searching for for a long time. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! Backing this for sure!

[@artistpoet5253]

That combat system is pretty interesting though I feel as though I've seen something similar in another dungeon crawler/lite RPG. Still, the work that went into all the tables, like you mentioned, is going to be worth my buying the 'zine version. Thanks for covering this game, Daniel. I may not have noticed it in my own wanderings.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Let me know what other games use this system! I’d love to play them.

[@artistpoet5253]

@@TheDungeonDive It wasn't a system I played but one that I heard about from another KZbinr. At first I thought it was Talisman Adventures which is where I picked up the impression of multiple dice needing a certain number for a special effect. But I also remember Trevor Devall from Me, Myself and Die talking about a system that rewarded players the closer they were to the target number. I think it was one of his Sage's Library videos? Like I said, it feels familiar; when you've played, experimented with and learned about table top RP/Adventure games like these for the last 30 or so years, it kind of all starts to feel familiar which makes finding something fresh/novel truly treasured :D

[@JevousGaming]

Just received my copy today!

[@JevousGaming]

Excited for this!!

[@Rich_H_1972]

Backed! All in!

[@BannisterNicholas]

Original 1992 Dungeonworld, or the new version Dungeon Delvers Twelve has a similar rule where players choose a manuever and apply it when the dice roll their chosen value, I found it slows down combat slightly, so it doesn't really work in systems with huge hit point pools, but instead works nicely with 1-2 hit kill/maim systems

[@Terszel]

AHHHH I thought of a system just like this when I played Heroes of Urowen, a gamebook, between bouts of D100 dungeon. Fighting Fantasy had the same problem too. I was like, man, it would add so much variety if I could pick a few special moves, and depending on the hit dice roll you could trigger those moves. It would add some much needed strategy and dynamism in what moves you pick and thus tying your mechanical choices to story progression. Beyond that, it would become even deeper if you add something like effects that proc on a set chance for each special move, and tie story developments to some of those effects. For example, if at the outcome of a battle there is a frozen creature, that leads you down one path, so only ice-like abilities or even a weapon made of ice would be able to go down that path. So it would give me incentive to actually pick skills which fill my role and achieve effects that line up with my character's desires, and the story progression can take those into account, not to mention spice up the replay value for once. Really nice to see a system leveraging something like this. Also the shift mechanic is something I really love from Pinball 4-cade, a roll and write

[@rhubahb]

This game looks awesome!

[@Dork2099]

When you go into a list of tables (as you do three or four times in this video) it’s sweeter than any ASMR. “Pouches, RELIGIOUS pouches… table of random tables…” Can’t get enough. 😂

[@TheDungeonDive]

Hahaha. Random Table ASMR. :)

[@Dork2099]

@@TheDungeonDive Random Table ASMR -> ??? -> PROFIT

[@Bowlin01]

Great review, just one thing you seem to have the 'Armour' activation wrong. Your Jerkin would be effective when an enemy rolls a Primary 4 on their attack. You do not roll a 'defensive roll'.(Unless of course Toby has changed the system since v0.92)

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thanks!

[@TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

Thanks Steve

[@johnberry5296]

Alright, alright, I’ll back it already😂

[@blainroman7317]

So I have backed 2d6 Dungeon after having reviewed the rules. My only concern are that the text and die symbols on the tables are a bit small. Anyways, the developer seems keen on expanding the game and dungeons types. I'm keen with that. For me it isn't combat as much as the exploration and adventure that draws me in. Also waiting for Doom Pilgrim. Currently playing Diablo 4 beta. So much to do!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Exploration and adventure are always good. The combat rarely is. In this game, all three seek good.

[@danieldanielo5955]

How do you print it like a magazine?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Booklet printing in Adobe.

[@kirkyoung4147]

I got introduced to solo rpgs because of this video, 2d6 has been my first one. Do you have any reccomendations for titles of a similar nature? Doesnt have to be drawn maps, but bonus points if it is. 2d6 reminds me of my favorite roguelikes.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yes! I've got a ton of videos about games like this. Check out my playlists for Four Against Darkness and D100 Dungeon, along with my videos on Cartograph and Delve.

[@kirkyoung4147]

@@TheDungeonDive thank you so much more the reply! D100 dungeon seems absolutely fantastic

[@brigbrizz]

Hey Dungeon Dive! Coming back to this video as it's still one of the best videos on 2D6 Dungeon even after release. Did you pick up the final books for 2D6 Dungeon? You planning on doing any more post-release videos?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thanks! I did get the books and I’ll most likely do a follow up :).

[@mauriciogastonpirizgonzale5387]

The fact that each weapon, or perhaps type of weapon, has many different maneuvers or techniques to learn and perform and that each maneuver has different effects and different difficulties to perform it... seems very interesting to me. But I don't know if it's applied in the best possible way here, I mean, it seems that it all comes down to different points of damage that the attack does. And those responses from the enemies, I don't like that a parry with the shield only reduces the damage of an attack by 1 point. The system seems a bit too simple to me, but the idea of various maneuvers for each weapon or weapon type is an interesting example of how to give more variety and depth to combat. In D&D with a weapon you can only attack, and the damage is only affected according to the resistances that the opponent has to the type of damage that your weapon causes (3 types of damage: S, P, B), beyond that there are combat maneuvers that can be performed but for most it is necessary to have a specific feat because otherwise it is completely unfeasible, like wanting to apply a fight hold or a back grab to someone but you have a -4 to the dice roll in addition to receiving an opportunity attack from the enemy... the same even to give a push. Anyone can push or grab someone without having to be specially trained in it, just wait for the right moment. With these restrictions in the end, combat in D&D and the like is reduced in making the same attack with the same weapon always, and this is exacerbated if we take into account magical weapons that have nothing of interest more than +1 to +5... So if there was any possibility that you wanted to have a hammer with you to face a certain type of creature/enemy as well as another weapon like a sword to face another type, it won't matter anymore because even with the damage resistances of the enemy you still have a bonus that makes it more convenient to just stick with the same weapon all the time. Another issue is the escalation in life points as the character increases in level, it seems too unlikely to me that simply by becoming more experienced the characters go from having 10 life points when they start to have close to 100 when they reach level 10 (half of the maximum level they can have). How do you explain that a level 1 human being dies irretrievably falling from a height of 10 meters while an equal human being but level 10 hardly gets bruises? The same with a flare in the face. Why does having more experience make you more invulnerable? Are the adventurers mundane or are they Kryptonians? That takes me out of the immersion. I think it would be more believable or realistic if the hit points stay the same from level one after setting them according to the character's stats, but increasing the power of a character in another way (like buying armor or getting magical auras that act as spaceship energy shields, I don't know), the effect would be the same but at least there would be a plausible explanation. In the origins, I think until D&D 3e, the experience points were mixed with the gold coins, the money. That can be interesting to get back, in terms of spending money to buy character upgrades like better weapons and armor, learning combat techniques/maneuvers or spells, with the amount of experience/money spent determining the character's level.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Sounds like this isn’t the game for you. Saved a few bucks!

[@zzgrom]

I so agree with your comments. The problem with the weapons is that there nothing to differentiate them.

[@bellat.1377]

Game looks so fun!

[@NefariousKoel]

Although not a dungeon crawler, the combat dice roll combos and shifting in this kinda reminds me of Sanctum by Czech Games Edition. That's more focused on character leveling/customization than exploring though.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I wish that game had more adventure and exploration.

[@ericdollarhyde3296]

Omg looks so cool!!!

[@AlbertoRodriguez-zb3iu]

Nice. Is there a link to the Kickstarter somewhere? I'm looking into, this since I'm getting into solo rpgs more and more, my favorite for now is Colostle.

[@TheDungeonDive]

If you google 2D6 Dungeon it’s the first result.

[@Cr4z3d]

This is basically OD&D if you play it with the Chainmail rules as originally intended...pretty interesting.

[@estevanphillips6889]

This looks very cool. If you haven’t checked it out, you might enjoy Rune by Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs. I’ve only played the playtest, but it has a similar, 2d6 equipment-based combat system (except you can sum the dice instead of shifting them).

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yep! I backed Rune. Just haven’t played it yet.

[@JBPorter]

Those dice look nice! Mind linking where you got them?

[@TheDungeonDive]

No idea! Had them for ages.

[@jean-sebastienh.8789]

Thx for this review!! It look fun but I'm a little bit scared about all the rolling for some random stuff. Did you find that the roll for random stuff was too much present or it was ok?

[@TheDungeonDive]

I did not, but I love rolling up random things on tables.

[@ajpiskel]

Have you tried Neon Road or any of the similar TRPGs (Micro Chapbook RPG serieS) by the author? It has a very interesting dungeon generation to it (full disclosure while I like the core system Neon Road uses, the author has a lot of problems using multiple dice on tables that should have flat distribution) that you might like, too. Death in Dino valley in particular I thought had some interesting ways to make the different environments you encounter feel very different to each other as well.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I have a bunch of Micro Chapbook stuff, but I haven't tried it yet! I also recently got the card game. Thanks for the reminder! I plan on doing a video sometime covering the stuff I have. I'll look into Neon Road - that's the Cyberpunk version, right?

[@ajpiskel]

@@TheDungeonDive Yeah! Neon Road is the cyberpunk one and I guess was the best selling version? I bought a ton of the material a few months back because I was impressed with the first book I read. The quality is a bit uneven, but largely I feel the Sci-Fi RPG book is probably the best single book, with Warrior Queens and Iron + Cross both being on the better side along with Neon Road itself and the Dino Valley books. The Bone Lord adventure chapbook series I thought was rather well done and I was disappointed that there wasn't more of that quality in the other adventures. The one adventure for Neon Road in specific was very disappointing comparatively.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thank you. I will check out some of that out, and get it on the channel soon. Appreciate it. I can see how the quality can be all over the place, simply because of how much is constantly being made available! It can't all be great!

[@fatherdagon2112]

It’s port·cul·lis sounds like port · kuh · luhs

[@cb3391]

I want this in print, is it available?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Not sure. Probably best to contact the designer via his website. Google the name of the game and you will find it.

[@Arekkusu666]

This game looks awesome. I hope you plan to do a few more episodes focused on this game. Also, what kind of grid paper are you using for drawing out the dungeon? I haven't seen grid paper like that where it has larger grids with smaller ones inside it before, but it looks cool.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Pretty standard graph paper with divided inch squares.

[@Arekkusu666]

@@TheDungeonDive Did you divide them like that, or did the paper come like that?

[@TheDungeonDive]

It came like that.

[@FeliciaBacon]

@@TheDungeonDive where did you buy it? :)

[@Arekkusu666]

@@FeliciaBacon Can you link it, or tell me the exact name please?

[@lukeerikdavis]

Interesting . . . I didn’t how much you disliked combat. 😅

[@TheDungeonDive]

It’s almost always my least favorite part in a game.

[@lukeerikdavis]

@@TheDungeonDive What are your favorite parts of dungeon crawls? The theme? The exploration? The characters? The unique events? The traps? Something else? Really curious to see as you have played so many.

[@ajpiskel]

As someone who also doesn't usually care for the combat in a lot of systems it's usually because it's very uninspired and that you're not really doing anything more than taking the same action over and over again, sometimes only differing if there's a resource you have (items, spells, etc) that you are rationing.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Random non-combat encounters and exploration.

[@batmansmk]

Caps lock on the tables though...so hard to read.

[@TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

Yeah, this has come to my attention so I am going to make the tables mainly lower case. This will take a bit longer so won't be in the next updated rules version but will be implemented over the next couple of weeks.

[@sethpeterson8261]

I thought you might like this! I really like many of the mechanics, although I'd prefer larger tables for room generation. However the unthematic title has kept me from backing it. The name surprises me because his inspirations all have thematic, flavorful titles and some of his other games do as well. Then he calls this a 2d6 Dungeons instead of something evocative? Bummer.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Just make up your own title, problem solved!

[@sethpeterson8261]

​@@TheDungeonDive good idea! I have Sharpies! How did you get it to print booklet style? EDIT: Figured it out

[@marccaron6008]

To me, it looks like a very clever mix and reinterpretation of Fantasy AGE's 3d6 stunt die system and the 13th AGE superior dice.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Cool!

[@Mind_of_MATT]

Is the finished version going to have art? My first impressions is that it looks like something I could download on itch. I'm not going to fund the game but thanks for showing it.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I mean some of the best games ever made are on Itch so that’s good! Art is expensive. Super expensive. This game is not. However, there are a bunch of character portraits.

[@Mind_of_MATT]

@@TheDungeonDive I thought the guy was an artist. I could be wrong as I'm not familiar with him. There is some good stuff on itch :).

[@TheDungeonDive]

Rad Zone didn’t have a ton of art, and it’s great.

[@Mind_of_MATT]

@@TheDungeonDive I'll give Rad Zone a look but this one just seems like NoteQuest & I already have NoteQuest & 4AD.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Similar in style, very different in execution. Especially the combat and dungeon generation.

[@Tysto]

portcullises

[@TheDungeonDive]

Sweet! At least one of my guesses was right. :). Thanks.

[@Bren71319]

That’s weird. You have to do the thinking for the enemies and plan attacks against yourself???!! I’m not sure I like that…

[@TheDungeonDive]

In many solo / co-op games you should play as the enemies know what they're doing.

[@DireMerillo]

Not much monsters and maybe to many dice rolls, but the combat looks interesting?

[@xavierdoesntmatter]

This is a really cool idea but sadly too much thinking and work for some gamers to do the combat.

[@zenithquasar9623]

Isn't it a bit annoying you can't really choose to use your combat manoeuvres but they depend on what you roll though? Like, am I just flailing my weapons around, rather than having some intent?

[@TheDungeonDive]

No. Not annoying at all. Just part of it being a game. In games, some things like combat are abstracted. It’s just like rolling a d20 and missing your attack, but in this case you have ways to mitigate the luck and make decisions.

[@ThisIsGoogle]

There is nothing wrong with 5e. People just have an issue with improvisation and thinking for themselves. Read between the lines and calm down

[@TheDungeonDive]

I love 5e. It's my favorite edition of D&D, and I've been playing since original red box. Played 5e from playtest up until about a year ago. I also love 4e. There is no time for edition wars at the Dungeon Dive for any game.

[@jaymeU2]

5e is terrible and is over complicated

[@blinddog4288]

Sounds absolutely stupid

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thanks for your very valuable input!

[@dagnon99]