d6 Space
From: West End Games
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
d6 Space is a new Core RPG Rulebook from West End Games.
Like a phoenix, up from the ashes of the gaming past comes West End Games (WEG) again, under new management and re-releasing some classic role playing game history with a new look and new feel. I was a huge fan of WEG’s Masterbook back in the early 90s, and I also ran d6 Star Wars for several years. I know both systems very well and crossed over elements into both. In fact, I still use a form of the Masterbook cards in my d20 game today.
After doing a review of d20 Future, it was a sharp contrast when I started d6 Space. For all intents and purposes, you would figure that both books would be similar, and in many ways, they are. However, they are truly two different books with two different feels and focuses.
From the back cover: “ One die, infinite possibilities.”
Content: Contained within the book is a relatively complete generic system for any sci-fi setting. You can pick and choose elements out of it and develop your own aspects as you go along. The introductory pages explain the essential parts of the system and walks the reader through a choose-your-own-adventure example of play. Character creation allows for three different methods discussed later.
One of the new aspects of D6 that came out when WEG started to make a D6 line (before its first demise) was an advantage/disadvantage system. This is included in this book, much of it borrowed from Masterbook. This system is probably one of my favorite aspects of Masterbook and I was glad to see it was not lost. It is quite extensive and diverse, allowing for a wide variety of character types. Also, available are special abilities. Masterbook used to treat these as just more advantages, but d6 has split them out which makes sense to me. This allows for the creation of any kind of alien race and allows the player to discern between alien special abilities and his own personal advantages.
Speaking of aliens, a short three page section covers aliens and near-humans in terms of templates or packages. One can invest in these races by buying into them with the character creation points or skill dice, depending on what character generation system you use. The standard anthropomorphic type aliens are represented like caininoid, felinoid, and reptilian, as well as high-G worlder and insectoid.
The Cybernetics system is brilliantly linked to the special ability section allowing for simplicity and diversity at the same time. This system is further discussed below.
The content that follows is mostly rules for movement, space travel, combat and skills (covered shortly). The Metaphysics section describes the paranormal abilities for d6 Space, although it does say you can import magic or psionics from d6 Fantasy or d6 Adventure (respectively). Metaphysics is a more broad ability than psionics. It covers certain skill areas which allow the user access to a series of abilities. There are three skill areas – Channel, Sense and Transform – but I am sure there will be more with supplements.
The Equipment section covers popular equipment like general gear, weapons and armor. After a reasonable detailed list of general gear, the system gives a short treatment to robots and then heads into weapons and armor. Those that like robots might be disappointed. There is no detailed robot design system and there aren’t that many robots listed. There is a significant list of generic weapons, however, from your basic firearms to lasers to gyrojet weapons (the latter is one thing missing in d20 Future that many would have liked to see).
The book ends with a Basic Ship Design chapter and a Game mastering section, giving tips on running d6 and how to make NPCs. Also included in the end are a series of templates.
From the page 4: “ The D6 system rules are not meant to reflect the real world’s reality.”
System: For those that do not know the d6 system, it involves a lot of 6-sided dice. Attributes and skills are represented in the number of dice one rolls. The GM determines a difficulty and compares the total rolled to that difficulty. The gimmick in d6 is the Wild Die. One of those dice is known as the wild die. It has to look different from the others because if it rolls a six, the player must roll again. That die can keep rolling, adding into the total, until it does not roll a six. Also, a roll of a one on that dies is a bad thing – usually means something bad happens or simply the player takes away the highest rolled die as well as the one. That, in essence, is d6 in a nutshell.
The system is very elegant in its own way and I’ve always liked it. Those that like to play realistic games will be in for a disappointment in d6. d6 is epic, heroic and very dramatic. It even has a disclaimer in the beginning of the book explaining this to the reader. It is powerful and a blast to play. The system would require serious modifiers to make it realistic but I would not say it is impossible.
What surprised me about the system is that some aspects of Masterbook have been integrated rather well into the system. First and foremost, the advantage and disadvantage system. I like this system a lot. Also, something else subtle was the concept of result points – the difference between what the player rolled and the difficulty. Result points can be used to determine the severity of the success and even add damage to an attack. That is something new to d6 but also something I had already carried over from Masterbook when I played d6.
Combat has not changed since I played it last. d6 makes combat very smooth and easy. However, min-max’er players can take advantage of the system with experienced characters and really mop up. It is one of those trade-offs that exist in gaming – simplicity for power-gaming potential. Also interesting is that it gives three options for initiative roll, one of which I used for years.
There are some subtle changes to the system that definitely iron-out some of the things that were left open in the old system and it seems a lot more organized and clear.
Another HUGE addition from Masterbook that is sold separately is the use of cards. I have been using the Masterbook cards in d6 as well as almost every other system since I played Masterbook. Apparently, West End Games plans to release a separate d6 Drama Deck of cards which greatly effects game play in so many ways. The cards are a fantastic thing in game play. There are not any rules in the book about them. However, there is mention of them and they say that the cards are pretty self explanatory.
Another big change is the optional damage systems – body points versus wounds. It is not anything difficult and I do not see a reason to use one over the other.
Skills are not much different from any other RPG. The are all associated to one of the abilities and the dice allocated to the skill is added in with the ability score dice. D6 has always left a lot more latitude for a GM to create his own skills, but most of the basic skills you would expect from an RPG are listed in this book. Metaphysics are not any different from skills except they have several different effects the player can use them for.
Skills gets into probably my biggest beef with d6. D6 has always been a class-less system. Anyone can have access to any skills with no extra cost. Some anti-d20 people would say that this is great. I would disagree. Lets assume we have two players – one chooses a hacker-techie type character while the other chooses a gun-bunny type character. After a given period of playing, except in small variances, these character will not be much different. After playing them for a while, all characters end up being more or less them same, with little variance, unless the GM has a way to force the player to stay within the character concept. I know this from my experience – I played d6 for 3 years. Masterbook was the same way. In my opinion, there needs to be some kind of basic class system in this to keep that from happening. However, d6 fans would believe that a class system of some kind would ruin the essence of d6.
Presentation: The book is a sharp-looking book. It is not full color, but it is what I have come to expect from West End Games. It is a hard bound book with black and white art throughout. At 144 pages, however, $30 may seem to be a lot to pay, but if you compare it to what Wizards of the Cost… I mean Coast is charging, it is competitive. The art is again, on par with what West End Games used to look like, and they even use some old art I recognized. I have never bought West End Games books for the art and I would not buy this one for the art, but it is not bad. Overall, comparing it to the industry averages for core rule books, I would say that this is a reasonably good value.
In conclusion, I have always felt that d6, if it came out in core rules books and an open game license, could give d20 a good run for its money. The first step seems to be done. I see that WEG plans to release some of their old games in the new d6 system like Bloodshadows (AWESOME game world) and Shatterzone (another AWESOME game world), so I look forward to those. This is a good system for those tired of the d20 system or looking for something new and easy to play. This is truly a good system, despite my few problems with it. It is highly customizable and very versatile, as will be illustrated in my reviews of d6 Adventure and d6 Fantasy coming soon.
For more details on West End Games and their new Core RPG Rulebook “d6 Space” check them out at their website http://www.westendgames.com and at all of your local game stores.
d6 Space
From: West End Games
Type of Game: Core RPG Rulebook
Written by: Greg Farshtey, Douglas Kaufman, Fred Jandt, Peter
Schweighofer, Bill Savicsek, Bill Smith, Ed Stark, George R Strayton
Contributing Authors: Ron Fricke , Rachael Gibson
Game Design by: Nikola Vrtis
Editted by: Steven Marsh
Cover Art by: Chris Dien
Additional Art by: Marshall Andrews, Tim Bradstreet, Leanne Buckley, Bob
Cram, Tim Eldred, John Paul Lona, Christopher Martinez, Aaron Nakahara,
Allen Nunis, Shawn Richter, Daniel Schenstrom, Brian Schomburg, Lee Smith, Doug
Schuler, Tyson Wintibaugh, Chris Watkins.
Number of Pages: 144
Game Components Included: Hard cover rule book
Game Components Not Included: Dice
Retail Price: $ 29.95 (US)
Item Number: WEG51012
ISBN: 1-932867-01-5
Website: www.westendgames.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung