Dice Systems (Game Mechanics)

[Quixotica]

I have played a few different dice-systems and I found the D10 System of White Wolf and the D100 system with Call of Cthulu the easiest systems to play, and my least favorite is the D20 system and the D6 systems. The problem with the D100 system in my opinion is the randomness of the stats. I have always found a point buying system suits me a lot better because I can design my character in a way that fits his story but I have not found a way to make a D100 system work on a point buying. The problem I find with the point buying system is sometimes it is abused by people I call "Power" gamers. Anyone found a good dice systems?

[colin roald]

Anyone found a good dice systems?

I think you will find that people here generally have more in mind that just what dice are used wihen they talk about RPG systems.  You might want to start by reading Ron Edwards' [url href=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/system_does_matter.html]System Does Matter[/url] essay in the Articles section.

[colin roald]

Whoops, that should have been, "Ron Edwards' System Does Matter essay in the Articles section."

[Glendower]

I have played a few different dice-systems and I found the D10 System of White Wolf and the D100 system with Call of Cthulu the easiest systems to play, and my least favorite is the D20 system and the D6 systems.

What I'd like to hear about is your experiences when playing these games.  Why do you like the systems?  Was there a specific play experience tied to the systems?  If so could you share it?

And if you do want to share a play experience, I'd like to hear about what was happening at the table between the different players.  Talk about how the system was used while playing.  When did you roll the dice?  What was the result of the die roll?  How much did the die rolls matter?  How did you feel about it?

I hope that helps out a bit. 

[Quixotica]

Thanks for the Essay, I will get back on my experiences. :) Good to know.

[Valamir]

Hey Quix, I think you're really going to have an exciting time when you start exploring some of the indie games promoted here.  Embedded in your seemingly simple question above are so many assumptions about roleplaying games, how they're supposed to work, what rules are for, how you play, what players do around the table you may not believe. 

For those of us who've already gone down that road a bit your question is kind of like walking into Baskin Robbins and asking if anyone knows of any good flavors other than chocolate and vanilla.  And that doesn't even begin to touch on the frozen custard, frozen yogurt, sorbets, sherberts, gelatinos, flavored ices, soft serves, and all manner of other confections that don't even have names...(so-quids anyone?).  I kind of envy where you're standing right now...on the threshold of having your mind blown.

Most of the games around here so rerewrite all of those old assumptions that once you've seen them in action you'll have a whole different set of questions about system you'll want to ask.

[Quixotica]

Thanks Val,

I am stuck reading now and it is taking forever! Hahaha. Though I see what you are saying. There is most definitely some mechanics I have not thought of that I am seeing here. What interests me is in a 'card' system that can be used in a true table top Role Playing Game not strategy only (ie: not like Magic, Pokimon, Marvel Superhero's etc). So when you said the other types of desserts, I thought this was an interesting twist. I haven't read any yet, but is there a CARD system that can be used to dictate a role playing game and not a strategy game?

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

There are many such games. There are also dice games which have very little, or nothing, in common with the way dice are usually used in RPGs.

However, this is an Actual Play thread, and therefore it needs to include some actual play discussion. I'm really enjoying your Vampire thread, so let's focus some other dice-oriented moments of play in your experiences. You talked about one already, in the other threads, so pick another one to talk about here.

For example, you mentioned that you didn't enjoy the d6 or d20 systems as much. Can you describe some experience, some actual play, which illustrates what happened that led you to this view?

Best, Ron

[Quixotica]

I guess it is more what game belonged to the D20 System that just made me dread it. If it was D&D, the D20 system made it two to three hours to actually create a character worth playing especially in long campaign. As for the D6 systems, they were either to simple or so complex that it distracted from the game itself. You are either rolling 1D6 to see if you succeed in an action, or rolling 30 D6's (like the Hero Systems) to just set off a power.

[Valamir]

My recommendations are as follows.

First divorce yourself from the association of specific game --> type of system --> die type rolled.  Those elements do not form a "unit" about which you can say "I don't like d20s" when what you're really trying to say is "I don't like having character creation take a long time". 

There is no such thing as a "Dice System".  System refers to how players come to an understanding of what is happening in the game fiction.  Dice are just a tool that make up a small (much smaller than you might expect) piece of system (and only some systems at that).

Second, when posting about Actual Play (in the Actual Play forum) we really mean...actually write about a real play experience that happened.  Tell us about who was there, what your relationship with them is, what events transpired that you liked, what transpired that you didn't like.  This is specifically not a transcript of the events of the game fiction ("and then we turned left and fought the bugbears"), but rather a depiction of what the real people around the table were actually doing to bring those events about.

[Quixotica]

Sounds good.