Dicegeddon: A Two-Player Game That Uses a Few Dice
By Richard Garfield
@Phelddagrif
DEC 6, 2024 12:00 AM
Dicegeddon is a game I designed many years ago for times when you are waiting for other players and have LOTS of dice around. Each player constructs an army out of dice and battles – the last die standing wins!
Set-Up
Pick an army size, after which each player chooses dice whose sides add up to no greater than the army size. With sufficient dice, players can take whatever they want; otherwise you can decide who gets which dice in whatever manner you like, anywhere from a draft to "I own that die!"
Example: If the army size is 40, a player might choose 5D6 and 1D10.
The army size can be quite large. I have played with well over 100 sides as the army size. There is no shortage of luck in this game, but the bigger armies will generally have less swinginess.
Starting
Each player has an active zone and a reserve zone.
Each player has an active and a reserve zone for dice.
Both players roll all of their dice. All dice showing their highest number or one below are "active" and put in the player's active zone. Place the other dice with the faces they are showing in the player's reserve zone.
Example: The player with 5D6 and a D10 rolls 2,2,4,5,6 on the D6s, and 7 on the D10. Place the dice with the 5 and 6 in that player's active zone, then place the remaining dice in their reserve zone, keeping their faces 2,2,4, and 7. If the player had rolled a 9 or 10 on the D10, it would be active as well.
The 5 and 6 are immediately active because they were rolls showing either top face or one below top face.
The player with the lowest total on their active dice goes first; roll off in case of a tie.
Example: The player with the 5 and 6 in their active zone has a total of 11. They will go first if their opponent has a total of 12+.
Note that one will generally want at least a few dice with a low number of faces since an army consisting of all big dice has a much better chance of not being able to field any dice.
Player Turn
Players alternate taking turns. During a turn, a player uses each active die in one of three ways: Recruit, Attack, or Defend. Each of a player's active dice must be used exactly once each turn.
Recruit:
Choose an active die with which to recruit and a die in your reserves to recruit. Roll the active die and augment the die being recruited by that much. Move the die being recruited to the player's active zone if it reaches its top face, with any excess being lost; a recruited die cannot be used on the turn it's recruited.
Example: My D10 shows a 7 in the reserve. I take my D6 and announce I am rolling to recruit my D10. I roll a 2. Now my D10 is still in reserve with a 9 showing, and the D6 I used to recruit is showing a 2.
Attack:
Choose an active die of the opponent and an active die of your own with which to attack. Roll your attacking die. If your attacking die exceeds the face shown by the die being attacked, the attacked die is defeated and discarded from play. If the roll is equal to or less than the die being attacked, nothing happens. A player cannot attack reserve dice.
Example: My opponent has a D8 that shows a 4. I choose to attack it with a D6. If I roll 5 or 6, it will be defeated; otherwise it will not. In either case, my D6 is now on a new face and has been used for the turn.
Rolling for Recruit or Attack:
The top face of a die is its maximum result, so the top face of a D12 is 12. If a player rolls the top face of a die, they must roll again and add the results. This might happen several times.
Example: I am rolling a D6 and choose to attack a die showing an 8. My only chance is to roll a 6, then 3+. I roll a 6. I roll another 6. I roll a 2. My total is 14, so I defeat the die showing an 8. I am not allowed to stop after the second 6 even though this would be sufficient to beat the target; thus, an attacking or recruiting die can never end on its top face.
Defend:
Choose an active die with which to defend. If you roll to defend, you may re-roll once if you don't like your roll – and you may keep your top face, unlike when you are recruiting or attacking. After you have rolled, you may put your die, used, in your active pool either by itself or in front of another active die you have that has already been used; in the latter case, the defending die must be attacked before the defended die.
Example: I have attacked with my D20 and have a result of 5. That is unfortunate. I have a D8 that I will use to defend it. I roll and get a 4. A 4 would provide some defense, but I am looking for more; so I re-roll. I get a 2. I set the D8 aside and will instead try to defend with some unused D6s. I will also try to defend my D8 since it did a poor job of defending itself.
Winning
A player wins when their opponent has no dice left in their active zone.
Thoughts and Variations
That is it! If you try Dicegeddon, be prepared to tinker with some of the details to get it right for you and your play group. You might want to add a mulligan rule – personally I don't mind rolling, busting out, then "playing again", but for some players it will feel like a letdown. I like playing a few lopsided games in between epic throwdowns.
Defenders:
Another thing you might tinker with is allowing multiple defenders for a single die. I tried allowing dice to queue as defenders but didn't like how it played. I don't think I ever tried allowing multiple defenders on a single die, with the attacker needing to beat them all in any order before attacking the defended die. That might work well; having a big die with a low face could then be protected by a number of dice even if you don't get any good defensive faces.
Special Powers:
I had always intended to add a special power for different color dice – so perhaps your single red die has a valued power – but I never got around to it. Maybe some colors allow spillover attacks or recruit, or they are more powerful on defense. Perhaps some can, if defeated, be returned to your reserve pool showing a 1. Maybe you can somehow return other defeated dice of yours or your opponents to your own reserve pool — or even directly into play showing a low face.
