Gamers love dice. I'm a gamer so, ergo, I should also love dice. And I do...kinda.
Not gonna lie, these are beautiful.
Rant incoming...
Recently, I've been on the look out for a Fantasy RPG and a lot of new Anime/Manga/JRPG inspied ones have been promoted via Kickstarter, Backerlit, and Gamefound. Last Arc: Tactics Analogue, Legends of Akeroth, and Twilight Sword spring immediately to mind. Unfortunately, nearly all of these games share one element in common that really turns me off. I've been disappointed when I look past the pretty pictures and nifty settings and into the mechanics; a lot of them use multiple die types.
I have grown to dislike games that use all the different polyhedrons. I prefer it when a game uses just D6s, or just D10s, or even just D20s (though that tends to be my least favorite die - too swingy). Pools of the same die are fine by me (preferred in fact) but using six or more different types just feels unnecessary and inelegant.
I know this isn't the case but I equate using all the dice with the clunky, limiting, inefficient games of yore. Given the many and varied ways I've seen the idea of 'only D6s' used to create systems from the complexity of Champions to the simplicity of Smurfs, my gut reaction to those developing a game with six different shaped dice is, 'Why? It isn't needed. There are easier ways to go about this.'
It's not just Fantasy games either but I did starting thinking about this more and more as I went on a quest to find a game to go on a quest with. The upcoming Superhero RPG from Free League, 'Invincible', based on the Image comic book and animated streaming series of the same name, uses only 6-sided dice but the recently announced Justice League Unlimited RPG uses all of the [basic] types. This instantly put a little frown on my face. I really like Invincible but I don't want to like more than my beloved DC Comics and from a cursory glance at both...I do!
Frustrated by the dynamics of this situation I did the unthinkable, though more as an experiment than anything else, and put a host of very specific criteria into an AI language program, asking essentially, 'Can you make a Fantasy Tabletop Roleplaying Game with no Classes or Levels, Rules-Lite but suitable for Long Term Campaign play, that utilizes only 6-Sided Dice in its mechanics?' I expected to get junk but thought it might inspire me to create my own from scratch once I saw how bad the result was.
To my utter shock and dismay, the AI created a damn good, playable game. It was almost perfectly what I wanted. I did have to make a tweak here and a modification there but overall I was very impressed. I thought, 'so an AI can make a really cool D6s only Fantasy RPG but no creative person in the gaming industry can?'. Now I know I'm being hyperbolic and I don't mean that literally but...well...its not completely unfounded either.
Most of the D6 only games lean towards Science Fiction or Superheroes: ALIEN, Champions, Star Wars, Tales from the Loop, Traveller, and the various incarnations and variations of Ghostbusters from the original to InSpectres to my kitbashed hybrid. While I am sure there are Fantasy TRPGs that use D6s, few seem to hold the kind of charm for me that any of the aforementioned games (except the Smurfs that is).
My favorite Medieval Fantasy experience has come from Ars Magica, traditionally using only D10s. I think Modiphius's 2D20 System might make for a good Fantasy game but I have yet to test that theory.
Anyway, those are just some thoughts that have been on my mind recently so I thought I'd shout them into the void. If you stayed to actually read through this you are a true Barking Alien fan and/or should probably seek professionally help.
Talk again soon,
AD
Barking Alien
Shout away! The d20 is also my least favourite. It feels bloated and inelegant, somehow.
ReplyDeleteHi Adam,
ReplyDeleteIt's not that nobody has ever done a fantasy game that only use d6.
I guess it's just the fantasy RPG market is flooded with D&D clones.
I remember a game called Vikingr that is using a version of the old WEG d6 (created via Kickstarter around 2018).
You have Fantasy Heroes (but a bit rule heavy), the Silhouette system (the one used for Tribe 8, Heavy Gear & Jovian Chronicles), several games using the Traveller/Cepheus system (Barbaric, Swords of Cepheus, Voyager), Fantasy AGE (Adventure Game Engine), Avant Charlemagne (a french game) and quite a few Japanese RPG (Ryuutama, Log Horizon and Sword World for example). And that's only the games I remember.
I also know Vampire : Dark Age, Keltia & Qin, 3 games that are using d10 pools.
But none of these had enough following to be more than a footnote compared to any edition of D&D. Too bad because they might have broken the old Door-Monster-Treasure trope.
I think there is an example of a 2D20 fantasy game, didn't Modiphius use it for their Conan RPG? Unfortunately I don't know much about how it plays.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I'm torn because on one hand I understand the desire for simplicity, but on the other there's just something about all the different shapes of dice in your hand, to the point that even though I've never played DCC, I love the extra weird dice.
Wow. What are those eye-catching dice called?
ReplyDeleteI have seen these on a number of commercial sites, including Amazon and Bear Dice. There are a few different color variations but not as many as I would think there'd be. The dice are made of silicone and described as a little 'bouncy' but some customers.
DeleteThey seem inexpensive until you look at 'shipping'. Often, this can be very expensive so I must assume they are made outside the US or Canada.
Do a simple Google Image search for Polyhedral Dice and you'll see them. You can compare prices and the like from there.
Hope that was helpful.
I think it's just a matter of tradition. For an opposite example, Warhammer Fantasy uses a d100, but its newer descendants (Age of Sigmar Soulbound and The Old World) use d6s. They come from the Warhammer tabletop tradition, where d6s rule the landscape, so they aren't bound by D&D-isms.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: The Old World uses d10s.
Delete