Version 5.1 (updated 6/20226)
Rolling Dice
A Die Code shows how good a character is in a particular area, how harmful a weapon is, how useful a Special Talent or tool is, and so on. Each Die Code (also known as a Die Level) indicates the number of six-sided dice you roll (1D, 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, etc.), and sometimes an added bonus of “+1” or “+2” — referred to as pips — you add to the total result you roll on the dice. Die Code could mean an Attribute or an Attribute + Skill Code (Full Skill).
A Talent or piece of equipment may provide a bonus to the roll. If the bonus is in the form of a die code (such as +1D), then you add the listed number of regular dice to the amount you would roll. If the bonus is in the form of a number (such as +2), then you add the amount to the total that you rolled on the dice.
Example: A shovel adds 1D to digging attempts. A character who decides to dig a hole uses her lifting skill. If your character has a lifting skill of 4D, you would roll five dice to determine how well your character dug the hole with the shovel.
When rolling, you are totalling up the sum of all the dice as a single value, after all bonuses and rerolls. This is called a Die Code Total or just Total.
The Test
A Test is a roll made when something challenges the player character and they have to accomplish via a Skill or Attribute roll. There are two types of Tests – Standard or Opposed.
Standard Test: A Standard Test is one that is rolled against the Standard Target Number and a number of success is determined. The Standard Target Number depends on the type of play you want to have in your d6 game – Gritty Survival or Heroic.
| Type | Standard Target Number | Additional Successes |
| Heroic | 10 | Every 5 points (15, 20…) |
| Gritty Survival | 12 | Every 6 points (18, 24…) |
Perhaps the biggest difference from other D6 systems is the difficulty system. Instead of various levels of success and relatively arbitrary numbers to remember, the only number that anyone has to remember is 10 or 12. The base Target Number of any roll is 10 or 12 and every multiple of 5 or 6 after that is an additional Success.
For most Easy tasks, the GM can decide between rolling for the task or not based on the Skill Rank. Usually anyone with at least a skill rank of 2 can accomplish an Easy task automatically unless the moment requires some drama. If so, then as long as they don’t roll a Critical Failure, the Test is a success.
Opposed Test: An Opposed Test is between an active character and a target character. Both make a Test and compare the resulting Successes. The higher number of Successes win the Opposed Test. Ties are resolved based on actual totals. Additional Success can also be counted if needed based on the Standard Target Number.
Difficulty Modifiers
Difficulty modifiers are usually added to or subtracted from the Die Code before the roll, thus increasing or reducing the number of dice to obtain the Standard Target Number. These are usually modifiers directly related to the target to skill roll – Properties of the task. For instance, the quality or level of technology behind a lock, alien computers the character is trying to hack or a vehicle type the character has never driven.
A Game Master should only apply one or two Difficulty Modifiers in any given situation, representing the cumulative effects of the environment against the situation. Attempting something that is usually Moderate should not suddenly turn Heroic or Legendary because of Difficulties, unless the Game Masters deems it necessary. No matter how high the difficulty may be, however, the Die Code can never go below 1D.
| Difficulty | Dice Modifier |
| Very Easy | Automatic with a Skill Rank of 2+ |
| Easy | +1D |
| Moderate | 0 |
| Difficult | -1D |
| Very Difficult | -2D |
| Heroic | -3D |
| Legendary | -4D |
Modifiers
Modifiers to the a Test usually come from environmental effects not directly related to the target of the Test – darkness, noise, bad tools, no tools, etc. All these Modifiers apply to the total after the roll. The source of a modifiers come from extenuating circumstances, environmental factors, mental factors, and anything else that makes the situations unique. Instead of giving a series of specialized tables for each skill, a general scale of modifiers is given here to streamline the system and avoid a ton of book diving.
This table is a guideline to skill roll modifiers:
| Condition/Situation Level to the character | Modifier |
| Advantaged | +2 |
| Very Advantaged | +4 |
| Extremely Advantaged | +6 |
| Extremely Disadvantaged | -6 |
| Very Disadvantaged | -4 |
| Disadvantaged | -2 |
Important Rules of Thumb for Skill Modifiers:
- All Modifiers are cumulative, unless the GM says otherwise
- No modifier can reduce the Skill to less than 1D. There is always a chance.
Wild Die
Whenever any player or the Game Master makes any roll, one of the dice (sometimes 2, See Roll Up) must be different from the rest (in size or color). This die is designated as the Wild Die. This die represents the random chaos of life i.e. the direction of the wind affecting the flight of a bullet or the random twitch of a muscle; things that are too small to warrant their own difficulty modifiers. If the player has only 1D to roll, then that one die is always the Wild Die.
Example: Your character’s Agility attribute is 3D+1, so if your character tried to jump onto a table, you would roll two regular dice and one Wild Die, for a total of three dice.
Six-plosion: The Wild Die in any role is an exploding dice – i.e. if the player rolls a 6 on the Wild Die, they may add the 6 to their total and roll the Wild Die again. As long as the Wild Die rolls a 6, they may continue to add 6 to the total and continue to roll. If they roll anything other than a 6, they add that number to the total and stop rolling.
Crit-Failure: If the player rolls a 1 on the initial (first) toss of the Wild Die, this is potentially a Critical Failure. The player than must roll a Critical Failure Check die (1d6) to determine what will happen (see below).
| Critical Failure Check | Type of Failure |
| 1 | True Critical Failure |
| 2 -5 | Complication |
| 6 | Resolve as Normal |
True Critical Failure: Regardless of the total, the Test fails outright in the worst possible way (GM Discretion)
Complication: One of Two things happens here, GM’s discretion:
- Take the Wild Die and the highest die from the roll and total the rest as the result.
- Add the dice results normally, but a Complication occurs.
The GM gauges the significance of the Complication by the total generated – from a funny, nearly didn’t do it result for a high total to a serious, we have a problem obstacle for a low total. The Game Master should make certain the complication chosen relates to the task attempted. It should serve as an extra, minor obstacle the characters must now deal with or, more often, as a place to insert a bit of comic relief.
Only on rare occasions (such as numerous poor decisions by the players) should a complication be without solutions or even deadly. The complications can also serve as opportunities to bring nearly invincible characters down to a more reasonable level.
Optional Rule – Catastrophic Failure: This is an optional rule that the GM can choose to use. On the rare occasion that a player rolls all ones on his Skill Dice and the Critical Failure Check comes up as a True Critical Failure , then something Catastrophic happens. This should not be something terrible and show stopping for the players but something fun and adds to the story, but still creates a challenging situation.
Result Points
Result Points refer to the number of successes beyond what was needed. The GM or the Player can use the result points to decide additional effects of the success or additional information gained (Result Point Feats). Some skills use these points for specific purposes. The GM may allow a player to add the result points as a bonus to another skill roll or Extranormal or Special Talent effect. In an attack, Result Points can be converted to damage dice on a one point to one (non-Wild) die rate.
Result Points and Success: Here are some guidelines for describing different levels of success. Use the result points of the roll — the difference between the successes from the skill total and the total successes needed (difficulty) — to decide on the exact level.
Improving a Roll
The average person fails at average activities more often than not. Characters aren’t average people, so they need ways to beat those odds. Thus, they have Character and Fate Points, which represent those surges of adrenaline, sudden insights, supernatural influence and other unexplained helpful acts of chance.
Players may not trade Character Points for Fate Points, nor may they trade Fate Points for Character Points. A player may only spend her Character and Fate Points on their character’s rolls. They may not spend more Character or Fate Points than the character has listed on their sheet. Except when allowed by the GM for exceptionally cinematic situations, players may not use Character Points and Fate Points on the same roll.
Character Points: Whenever a player makes any Test roll, he has the option to spend Character Points to increase the total rolled. He may spend one Character Point to a maximum decided upon by the GM and based on the challenge level of the adventure. Each Character Point spent gains the Test roll one Wild Die.
Limit Example: For adventures with easy challenges, the maximum should be two(2) For more cinematic adventures, the maximum should be five (5); For epic adventures, the maximum can be unlimited.
A player may choose to spend Character Points before or after they makes a roll — or both — but always before the GM determines the result. The GM need not tell the player whether they should spend more points to improve a roll, but he can imply or hint.
Extra Wild Dice gained from spending Character Points each work like a normal Wild Die except that a Critical Failure counts as a 1; it does not adversely affect the roll. Because of the special nature of Character Point Wild Dice, the player may wish to roll these dice separately from his normal Wild Die. Once used, the character loses the point. Players get Character Points for their characters by overcoming obstacles, roleplaying well, and having fun.
Fate Points: A Hero tapping his Chi or Soul, A Hero’s luck, Fate favoring the Hero, or Gods smiling down on the Hero – are all examples of Fate Points. Players can spend Fate Points in dramatic situations when he needs a little more than just what a Character Point can give him.
Characters can gain Fate Points when playing their character well, or role-playing a Drawback dramatically to add to the story. It’s up to the Game Master when he or she wishes to award Fate Points.
When a player feels the need for even greater help for her roll, they may spend a Fate Point to double the number of dice they normally get for a single roll. However, the player only rolls one Wild Die. Furthermore, anything that’s not part of the character – weapon damage die codes, equipment bonuses, and so on – is NOT doubled. A second Fate Point must be spent to double any effect dice.
A player may use only one Fate Point per roll per round, though a character may improve several different actions in a round with several different Fate Points expenditures. Particularly beneficial or malicious deeds presented and roleplayed well by the player or GM may allow additional Fate Points to be spent on a single roll.
Players may only spend Fate Points before making a roll. Furthermore, double the initial number before applying any die code penalties and bonuses. Once used, the character loses the Fate Point – but he may earn it back at the end of the game if it was used for a deed that supported the party or furthered a great story.
Example: Your character has a Craft/Repair: Demolitions skill with a die code of 4D+2 (Perception of 2D+2 and a Skill rank of 2). Normally, you would roll three regular dice and one Wild Die and add two pips to the total. However, by spending a Fate Point. This allows you to roll seven (7) regular dice and one Wild Die and add four pips to the total (for a total of 8D+4, or twice that you’d normally roll).
As characters become more experienced, the GM may include further restrictions on Fate Point use. GMs might allow Veteran or higher characters to spend Fate Points only on actions that promote the story line, while highly experienced characters (those with at least 9D in several skills) might be permitted to use Fate Points only during climactic moments in the campaign.
Dramatic Fate Points: In the general course of play, a Fate Point is useful for one roll only. However, once per adventure, two players may choose to spend a one Fate Point climactically, which doubles all of the character’s rolls (the entire party) for that round. The GM also may allow players to spend Fate Points climactically several times during the highest point of the adventure (the climax).
Second Chances: As characters tackle obstacles, they’ll find ones that they can’t overcome initially. GMs must rely on their judgment to decide whether and when a character may try an action again. However these chances come with a cost and conditions.
Skill Tests can be retried only if:
- The first attempt was not a True Critical Failure.
- Increase the Difficulty number one level (can be negated by a Character Point)
- No result points can be used from this attempt (considered a Raw Skill Test)
For some actions – like actions made in combat turns, such as Ranged Weapons or Running – the character may try the action again the next turn, even if she failed. For other actions – more long term complex tasks such as Craft/Repair – failing the roll might have serious consequences, depending on how bad the failure was.
A small difference between the difficulty number and the success total means the character may try again next round at a higher difficulty. A large difference means that the character has made the situation significantly worse.
She will need to spend more time thinking through the problem or find someone or something to assist her in her endeavor. A large difference plus a Critical Failure could mean that the character has created a disaster. She can’t try that specific task for a long time — perhaps ever. This is especially true with locks and computer programs.
Rolling Up: Some conditions or situations may cause a character to be advantaged in some extra-ordinary way. This is called Rolling Up. In this case, TWO dice in the Test pool of dice are considered Wild. If the person is rolling 2D then both are considered Wild. If the player is rolling 1D Rolling up, he gains another 1D, rolls them separately as Wild die and takes the highest total.
Dice Conventions
RonD6 uses two different dice notation conventions.
Standard RonD6 Rolls
A die code written with a capital D (such as 1D, 3D, or 6D) represents a standard RonD6 roll. Unless otherwise stated, one of these dice is always the Wild Die.
Examples:
- 2D
- 4D+1
- 7D
These rolls are used for Attributes, Skills, Damage, Damage Resistance, and any other Test that uses the RonD6 game mechanics.
Standard Dice Rolls
A die notation written with a lowercase d (such as 1d6, 2d6, or 3d6) represents ordinary six-sided dice with no Wild Die. These rolls are typically used to generate random values, determine random locations, roll on tables, or establish durations.
Examples:
- Roll 1d6 to determine a random direction.
- Roll 2d6 on the Hit Location table.
- Roll 3d6 to determine the duration of an effect.