Anyone who's been on the theRPGsite for a while might remember me talking about Dice Step in the past...

I just posted this today: The dX System

QuoteThe dX system (as opposed to the d4, d6, or d20 systems) does not have any modifiers added to the dice rolls, and all rolls have a constant target number of 4. This means that on a regular roll a 4-sided dice (d4) succeeds 25% of the time and a 6-sided dice (d6) succeeds 50% of the time. Dice with a greater number of sides are increasingly more successful.

    To allow for more granularity in results and to reflect more complex situations in the game there are also opposed dice rolls. In these situations multiple dice are rolled with the highest result and/or the highest result that is equal or greater than the constant target number of 4 succeeds. A character with a d6 rated skill competing against two opponents with d4 rated skills would roll their one 6-sided dice and hope to exceed the rolls of the two opposing 4-sided dice.

    Situations in the game that would affect a character's chance for a successful outcome modify the size of dice being rolled. The notation +d or -d is used to indicated the dice used should bump up or down "one step". With a normal set of poylhedral dice this means the steps are: d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12. A d8 rated skill with a +d modifier would indicate that a character rolls a 10-sided dice.

    In some more complex situations a dice could be stepped up and down multiple times. This allows you to do all the calculations ahead of time and still use a simple dice roll with a target number of 4 to resolve the check. For example: A d6 rated skill with two +d modifiers and one -d modifier would use an 8-sided dice.

    Since most dice sets do not include a d14, d16 or d18, the 20-sided dice is used for any steps above d12. Any results "out of range" of the desired dice-step are simply re-rolled. This is probably sufficient for most games and groups, but it's entirely possible to use a 24-sided or 30-sided dice for higher steps if you wanted.

More explanation of the design goals and some more examples at the link above.

Quote from: Stuart;354950Since most dice sets do not include a d14, d16 or d18, the 20-sided dice is used for any steps above d12. Any results "out of range" of the desired dice-step are simply re-rolled.

I tried rules that used "fake die types" (like d14, d18, etc.) once and discovered that most players disliked having to roll a d20 until it came within the allowed range -- especially when the luck of the rolls meant you rolled 18, 15, 17, and then 1 when trying to roll a d14.  

I discovered that limiting "fake dice" to those that can be simulated in one roll with a control die (odd-even with even adding the dice type to the roll, e.g. a d16 works by rolling a d8 and a d6 with an even result on the d6 meaning you add 8 to the d8 to get the result) made it more acceptable.

With this you can have a d2, d3, d4, d5, d6, d8, d10, d12, d16, d20, d24, d30 progression with the d16 and d24 faked with the control die. The d30 can be faked (as could a d32, a d36, and a d40) as well with a slightly more complex control die system. And I suppose you could simulate a d15 with a d30 (and a d18 with a d36) but the result is not nearly as obvious with a glance at the die as a d3 from a d6 or a d5 from a d10 is.

That's good feedback.

I don't expect the numbers would get into the d14 - d20 range very often, at least not with the game I'm going to be running in a couple of weeks.  I'd thought of just capping things at d12 and using d20 for "special" things...

but I want an excuse to use the d14 and d16 in a game.

Okay, I was a little confused by the statement "all rolls have a constant target number of 4," which I interpreted in roll-under fashion, meaning a target number of 4 or less.  To be clear, you're referring to a roll-over mechanic, with a target number of 4 or higher.

I believe my confusion resulted from my familiarity with The Window, which used a similar step-die mechanic, but used in roll-under fashion so that smaller dice were inherently better than larger dice.  I'm familiar with the arguments for and against roll-over versus roll-under mechanics in systems with variable target numbers, but in a system with a static target number, is there a particular advantage of one over the other?*

!i!

[*Edit:  Okay, the main dis-advantage that I can see for a roll-under mechanic is that the very best margin of success that can be achieved is 75% -- 1, 2, or 3 on a d4.]

Someone else was telling me about The Window this morning.

The reason I went with a roll-over mechanic is that I think most people are used to Roll High = Good convention from other games.  It's good to roll a 6 on a d6. It's good to roll a 20 on a d20. That sort of thing.

Another reason for roll high being good is that as your dice size goes up, your probability for success goes up. I think that's also more intuitive for a lot of people.  Getting to roll the d12 seems more substantial than rolling the d4.

You're right though - I should clarify that to make sure people understand it's 4 or higher.

Quote from: Stuart;354972but I want an excuse to use the d14 and d16 in a game.

They actually make d14s and d16s?  I'm impressed.

Quote from: RandallS;354999They actually make d14s and d16s?  I'm impressed.

That may have been a significant contributor to the design of this system.

Also, notice my comment on sculpting a d18 out of Polymer Clay in the comments on this post.

LOL

And I thought this thread was about this:



Go ahead... I'll read along. I like what I see. After seeing Sovereign Stone I dabbled in the design of a die-step system, but I stopped as soon as Savage Worlds was announced. I have to see if I remember anything...

I'd only ever heard it referred to as "Tri-Stat".  It's quite different from what I outlined here.

Dx sounds an "Advanced Dungeon Squad".  Which is a grand thing.

I'll be using the dX system for the skill checks in the Western Themed Fantasy (WTF) game I'm going to be running next Saturday.

I like the idea of BESM - a rules light game for replicating the zaniness of Ranma 1/2 with a degree of seriousness above Teenagers From Outer Space but the rules were poor and even the minimal rules implementation was fucked with the addition of Hot Rods and Gun Bunnies and Cool Starships and Big Mecha. I believe there is a diamond wanting to found by someone willing to redo the BESM 1E rules whose name isn't David L. Pulver.