Double Die System Part 1: Resolution
I said I’d start releasing an open source system, and here it is: after some development and playtesting I’ve put together a system that’s free to use and develop from. It’s called the Double Die system, and it’s meant to be decently crunchy, while still allowing the rules to get out of the way for the story. First things first, how to resolve a conflict.
To resolve a conflict, such as when attempting to jump over a gap or spot something far away, players roll two dice, one decided by a stat (d4-d12) and one decided by skill (d4-d12). The GM then rolls a set of matching dice (d4-d20) or the appropriate dice pool of an NPC (d4-d20). Both the the player and the GM add up the dice they rolled. The winner is the person with the higher total result, with the ties going to the player.
For example, Skye wants to move a rock out of the way of a hidden entrance. They roll the dice attached to their Strength stat and the related Brawn skill, a d6 and a d8 respectively. The GM decides the that the rock is heavy, but not overwhelmingly so, and decides to use 2d6 to represent the difficulty of the challenge. Both Skye and and the GM roll their pools, and count up the results. Skye’s total was 7, and the GM’s total was 5. Thus, Skye successful moves the rock.
Resolving vs. NPCs is a bit different. NPC’s don’t use stats and skills like players or doubled dice pools like regular challenge rolls. Instead, they use a general competence die (d4 through d20) in place of stats for all rolls, and specific competence dice (d4 through d20) in place of skills. This is called a contest.
When no specific competence die is given for an NPC, the GM is encouraged to use their imagination. In general, GMs should not exceed a d8, depending on how competent they are. That said, the unspecified die you come up with should probably not exceed the general competence die, outside of exceptional circumstances.
“Here is an example from the Little Folk setting I’m going to be bringing to you later through this blog. A PC has come to blows with a Fungal Guardian. In this scenario, the PC might have a Strength of d6 and a Endurance of d8, while the Fungal Guardian has a General Competence of d6 and a Use Spore specific competence of d6. Thus, the PC rolls d8+d6, while the GM rolls 2d6 for the Fungal Guardian, resulting in the player’s score being 6 while the Guardian has 9. As a result, the Guardian wins the contest, leaving the PC inhaling the Guardian’s spores. If the PC had instead attempted to convince the Guardian to let him pass, however, he would roll Social + Persuasion, for him d10 + d6. Meanwhile, the GM would rule that the Guardian is not as socially adept as they are at fighting, so it only rolls d6 + d4. The PC would then roll a whooping 14 over the Guardian’s 5, and play would proceed from there.”
Sometimes players or NPCs will have bonuses or penalties. Bonuses and penalties are always 2 through 4, as a flat subtraction or addition to the final results of a dice roll. Positives and negatives cancel each other out, one can only take the largest single bonus and penalty applicable to any given roll.
Skills and Stats are customizable from game to game, but usually you should use 4-5 stats and 4-5 skills per stat, with each stat having the same amount of skills.
Next time, we’ll discuss stats and skills in more detail, and start discussing species, archetypes and perks.
