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Author Topic: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.  (Read 2266 times)

weirdguy564

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West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« on: September 25, 2022, 09:57:14 PM »
I think most gamers will create house rules for their favorite games.  In this case I’m talking about the D6 dice pool games series based on West End Games Star Wars. 

Re-reading thru that book today reminded me of a few rules we changed. 

1.  Action substitution.  In normal play you declare how many actions you use in turn based combat.  Each one past the first would reduce all skill rolls by -1D6.  I.E. having a blaster skill of 6D6, and firing off three shots means all of them are done with 4D6. 

However, “reaction skills” like Dodge, Parry, Block, or even ship Shields skills could be used as needed.  Yet, they also cause a further reduction in skills by -1D6. 

We would let a player change an action from a skill use to a reaction skill, and keep the skill penalty as it was.  I.E.  changing their next action to a dodge, and still firing two shots instead of three this round. 

2.  Mini-6 Bare Bones.  The penalty for failing a magic power skill check was a -1D6 to you magic skill until you could purge penalties by resting for a hour.  Note that Star Wars has no such penalty.  In playing Mini-6 I found this penalty too severe by far. 

Method #1:   You incure only a -1 pip in skill penalty for each failed roll until you get an hour of down time to erase all penalties.  I.E.  a magic skill of 5D reduces to 4D+2 after a failed skill roll until you rest an hour.

Method #2:  You reduce your skill when using that specific spell/power by -1D6 for each failed roll, but all other spells/powers are still done at full skill.  Unless you also failed that spell too.  The point is that individual spells each have their own penalties tracked independent of the others.  Or an hour of rest and all penalties are erased and you are back to full skill with all spells.

Mini-6 “Imperium in Revolt” setting has the spell Sense Danger.  Aka lightsaber combat.  However, it raises defense, but not attack skill.  Thus two knights of equal skill just end up unable to hit each other.  I changed it in a very simple way.  It only affects ranged combat.  By having the power in continuous use thru “concentration” you can use any object, though typically it’s your plasma sword, as 75% cover in all directions, even when blinded.  Also, any attacker’s shot that rolls a 1 on the wild die and fails to hit allows the knight to redirect it using a plasma sword skill check to hit, but damage is based on the ranged weapon stats.

3.  Mini-6 spell/Star Wars force difficulty numbers.  We give the GM a lot more freedom to set the difficulty numbers.  All those charts with modifier numbers by range, weight, how well you know the subject, etc are suggestions only.  The GM can set the difficulty to be anything, even only movements later if need be.  The mystical nature of those powers can vary based on the needs of the story.  This is done so a knight/wizard can’t just use their powers to get around every problem, or to nerf them in a situation so another non-mystic character can have their turn in the spotlight. 

I’m curious to hear more about everyone’s own experience with the D6 set of games. What house rules do you use?
« Last Edit: September 25, 2022, 10:01:50 PM by weirdguy564 »
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Jaeger

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2022, 11:24:27 PM »
I think most gamers will create house rules for their favorite games.  In this case I’m talking about the D6 dice pool games series based on West End Games Star Wars. 
...

WEG 1st ed StarWars RPG set a gold standard for its time.  Even the recent FFG special dice version has a lot in common with it when you compare the two side by side.

I’m curious to hear more about everyone’s own experience with the D6 set of games. What house rules do you use?

I converted the whole shebang to a count successes system. I've just found it to be smoother an easier in play for me and my table. So while I stole much of WEG d6 format; I'm fundamentally running my campaign with an entirely homebrewed system these days.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2022, 11:26:30 PM by Jaeger »
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weirdguy564

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2022, 12:17:03 AM »
I converted the whole shebang to a count successes system. I've just found it to be smoother an easier in play for me and my table. So while I stole much of WEG d6 format; I'm fundamentally running my campaign with an entirely homebrewed system these days.

I think I have some of that version of D6 rule set.  At least the rules I have are a VERY rough PDF file that has the skeleton of a game system, but was never finished.  It is called D6 Legends.  Even some of the paragraph spacing ends up with lines being literally cut in half by what page they're on.

The system works by rolling all of your D6's, and a 1 or 2 is a fail, and a 3-6 is a success.   Harder tasks require more successes.  Very easy is 1, easy is 2, moderate is 3, ect.  Mathematically it is about the same, though you loose some granularity by not having the +1 or +2 pips at all.  You only have full dice or none.

I agree that D6 can be played much easier using the success system.

However, I've found a sacrilegious way to play D6 Star Wars that retains the original rules without slowing the game down.  I don't use dice.  I use a cell phone dice rolling app.  If I want 6D6 added up I can just punch in 6 dice, and I get the result instantly.  That is how I play tested Mini-6.  Yes, that hurts some people's soul to not physically roll dice, but I'm not that stuck in tradition.  Honestly, I just wanted to play D6 Star Wars solo, and it was easier that way.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2022, 12:38:50 AM by weirdguy564 »
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Ratman_tf

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2022, 02:28:23 AM »
When I got my reprints of 1st ed Star Wars, during our first session, I started using Initiative. (Perception roll) The existing "reaction" system was just too fiddly and counterintuitive)
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weirdguy564

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2022, 08:55:49 PM »
Here is an official set of sword dueling rules that I like a lot.  And I mean a lot.  It changed a sword fight from two fighters just standing like statues who are whacking away until one dies on the first hit.  This set of rules turns it into a fluid match, drags out the fight to a more cinematic multi-round battle, and forces players to do more than say, "I swing my sword at him again".  Because of the movement you can use the environment a lot more.  Hell, I won a duel by forcing my enemy into an airlock, and jettisoned the baddie into space.  I hadn't so much as injured my opponent at all, but I won.

It’s called Dueling Blades from Griffon Publishing and appeared in a gaming magazine. 

http://griffonpubstudio.blogspot.com/p/schweigs-d6-resources.html?m=1

The biggest change is movement.  Instead of just hit/miss, now your margin of success will determine which of four results you get.  First is moving your enemy in the direction you want.  Second is a stun that lasts just one round.  Third is a simple wound.  Forth is a GM determined critical hit.  I use a random table with some pretty brutal/gory outcomes.

Interestingly there is no initiative.  Both fighters just make a single melee weapon skill roll.  Subtract the lower roll from the higher roll.  That margin of success is compared to a simple chart and you get your result.

Note: two situations are not covered.  What happens in a tie.  I house ruled that fifth result as a blade lock, broken by an opposed roll of strength, resulting in the loser being stunned. 

The other situation is cornering your opponent and you move him again.   Instead of moving your enemy, you upgrade the result to a stun. 

Again, I really like this combat because of the movement and toning down the lethality.
« Last Edit: October 02, 2022, 06:13:22 AM by weirdguy564 »
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S'mon

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2022, 06:18:24 PM »
I don't think I used many house rules, I found the Mini Six magic rules worked fine for swords & sorcery. My recent (2020) Mini Six Primeval Thule campaign https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-valley-of-scorn-palace-of-silver.html had the following:

Ability Caps
Maximum human/humanoid Attribute achievable in Thule is 5D, 5d6, an average of 17.5. This is modified by the racial adjustments, eg Elf -1 Might +1 Agility, Dwarf +1 Might -1 Agility, Atlantean +1 Wit.
Maximum human/humanoid Skill achievable in Thule is Attribute+10D, giving a theoretical maximum of 15D in most cases.
Hero Points apply to all rolls, up to 3 per roll, so normally the effective maximum attribute roll is 5d6+18 (ie an average of 35-36); the maximum skill roll is 10d6+15+18, an average of 68!
Likewise the maximum static defence prior to HP & other bonuses is Attributex3 (so Soak 5x3=15 plus armour) or Skillx3 (so Dodge, Block & Parry 15x3 = 45; plus shields etc). HPs spent still apply, up to +18 as normal (Soak 15+18=33, D/B/P 45+18=53).


Edit: Oh I think we used iterative initiative based on the results of an initial Agility roll. AIR this was by player demand. Modern players REALLY want to be told "it's your turn now". I think they've been trained by 3e-4e-5e, it's almost Pavlovian. They often get really unhappy at anything else.

Jaeger

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2022, 06:27:03 PM »
...
The system works by rolling all of your D6's, and a 1 or 2 is a fail, and a 3-6 is a success.   Harder tasks require more successes.  Very easy is 1, easy is 2, moderate is 3, ect.  Mathematically it is about the same, though you loose some granularity by not having the +1 or +2 pips at all.  You only have full dice or none.

I agree that D6 can be played much easier using the success system.
...

My homebrew has drifted enough that I have successes on 5-6 and a wild die where the 6 explodes.

But! You can do a quick and dirty conversion By making successes on a 4-6. Divide the TN's by 3 to get the new number of successes TN. Then extrapolate from there for the rest of the system. I'm actually a bit surprised no one has done a straight up conversion like this...

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jeff37923

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2022, 10:10:09 PM »
The only thing I've done with my Star Wars games is ban Ewoks and Gungans as playable races because every player I've had who has chosen those has been the type who really fucks up the game for everybody else.
"Meh."

S'mon

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2022, 03:33:13 AM »
However, I've found a sacrilegious way to play D6 Star Wars that retains the original rules without slowing the game down.  I don't use dice.  I use a cell phone dice rolling app.  If I want 6D6 added up I can just punch in 6 dice, and I get the result instantly.  That is how I play tested Mini-6.  Yes, that hurts some people's soul to not physically roll dice, but I'm not that stuck in tradition.  Honestly, I just wanted to play D6 Star Wars solo, and it was easier that way.

When I ran my Mini Six Thule campaign it was online Roll20, through most of 2020, so using Roll20 dice roller. This worked very well. Although honestly I've never really had a problem counting up dice in WEG Star Wars, too many D&D Fireballs I guess!

Slipshot762

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2022, 07:52:48 AM »
I use openD6 for everything, got some star wars rules, but when we get back to star wars we'll use D6 space with house rules and whatever from weg 2e revised & expanded as needed. An example shields, shield skill and shield dice are rolled just like a parry, setting a to-hit number for the round, beating it by 10 clips straight through, no shield dice for damage resist, every hit from same scale or better depletes shield total a single pip, something like that...been a while. D6 is very highly adaptable and forgiving.
Current D6fantasy project we will be playing is (god help me) dragonlance, houserule handout so far:

Streamlined D6 Fantasy as the core engine. FASERIP ranking/color logic atop that. D20 numbers converted to die codes. Rules-light class & level system has been added see occupation doc. FASERIP Talent system replaces skills, abilities, and feats of legacy D20 source material. The rank-category aspects of FASERIP will allow for faster resolution calculations for complex things like magic abilities. (make use of marvel FASERIP system logic where possible, slugfest, charging attacks, color-coded feat results etc)
The converted FASERIP ranks:
Feeble -1D
Poor -2D
Typical -3D
Good -4D
Excellent -5D
Remarkable -6D
Incredible -7D
Amazing -8D
Monstrous -9D
Unearthly -10D
Shift-X -11D
Shift-Y -13D
Shift-Z -15D
Class 1000 -20D
Class 3000 -30D
Class 5000 -50D
Beyond -ALL the dice.

Green = 1-4 over Target-Number
Yellow = 5-9 over Target-Number
 Red = 10+ over Target-Number
     
    • Use D6 Fantasy page 63 “Hard-mode” for damage resist calculations.
    • Skill totals stand for the whole round or encounter unless circumstances change enough to warrant generating, for example, a new parry or dodge total.
    • Dueling rules; 1-4 stun or retreat half-move, 5-9 normal wound, 10+ critical effect.
    • Soaked hits inflict stun; weapon-weight stuns through lower-weight armors.
    • Crossbows stun limit = medium range; war bows stun even at long range.
    • Shields allow parry of missiles,  adds dice to hit, parry, OR damage.
    • Dodge skill is limited to ranged attacks & attacks of larger scale creatures.
    • 1 Fate Point for each of mind, body, & soul. This regenerates 1 point between encounters or fully with rest, and only if below this minimum threshold. Fate doesn’t double die codes, instead giving a flat +4D bonus; Fate Points become the primary meta-currency for temporarily breaking the rules, such as combining two actions into a single action.
    • If parrying larger creatures you still suffer strength damage in the exchange.
    • Unarmed attacks parried by the armed inflict weapon damage on the unarmed.
    • Two Weapon Fighting; 2nd weapon (must be light) adds damage dice to hit OR damage.
    • If total value of armor worn is greater than Constitution total, movement dependent skills default to attribute and movement is restricted to high speed.


Any playable race, class, monster-race-class, or prestige class combinations listed in the D20 source material for the Dragonlance campaign setting is allowable if desired, even things normally limited to time periods or eras before or after the Age of Despair.


weirdguy564

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2022, 08:55:52 PM »
I think the block, parry, dodge rules could be better or use some house rules.  The different games are never fully the same.  I’m not sure there was ever a consensus on what worked the best. 

1E Star Wars.  No declaration needed for “reaction” defense skills.  You roll a defense and add it to the target number only at the moment it is needed, but each use adds another -1D6 penalty to everything you do from then on in that round.  Each and every use is separate, so it can add up.  At the beginning of a round you can be very hard to hit, but the more you’re attacked, the easier you become to hit at the end of the round. 

2E Star Wars.  Now your defense skill roll has to be declared ahead of time, but just once as it is in effect the entire round.  Rolling it becomes the new target number to hit you.  Now it’s more consistent, but not as powerful since you don’t add it to the target number, even if you make it easier to be hit.  This becomes more of an opposed roll system.

2E Star Wars Revised Updated.    It’s a mashup of 1E and 2E.  The reaction skills are back to being used as needed like 1E, but like 2E it’s only done once and stays in effect the rest of the round.  Also, like 2E the defense skill is a replacement to the target number to hit you, not an addition to the target number.  A new twist is allowing the player to substitute any planned skill roll as the defense roll instead so you can maintain your skill penalties where they were at the start of the round.  I.E. you plan to shoot your pistol 3 times, each with a -2D penalty.  However, after your first shot an enemy shoots at you.  You have the option to just swap out your second shot to be a dodge instead, letting your 3rd action still only have a -2D penalty to it.

Mini-6 Bare Bones "static defense" version of combat.  This game just always uses your defense skills as the default for the target number to hit you. In fact you pre-calculate the average rolls for dodge, parry, and block and write them down.  Even more, the block and parry skills don’t exist. You use your offense skill as your defense skill when attacked.  Only the dodge skill is retained.  There is no penalty for defending yourself.  They’re always on, and free of penalties.  It makes it much simpler.  They’re more like a trio of D&D armor class numbers. 
« Last Edit: October 04, 2022, 09:38:46 PM by weirdguy564 »
I’m glad for you if you like the top selling game of the genre.  Me, I like the road less travelled, and will be the player asking we try a game you’ve never heard of.

Aglondir

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2022, 11:52:07 PM »
I made so many house rules that it became it's own game. Haven't playtested this yet, so the numbers might need some adjustment. There's bits and pieces stolen from Mini-6, Marvel, D20, 5E, Spycraft, Gurps, etc.

Character
Attributes: Range 2d to 4d, except EXT can be 0. Assign 21 dice. FIG, AGI, STR, END | KNO, INTU, WIL, EXT
Skills: Assign 20 dice. Max rank 2d at start of game.
HP: Sum (physical) * 3 + pips.
MP: Sum (mental) * 3 + pips.
Defense: AGI + Dodge * 3 + pips. 

Checks
Target Number: 10, 15, 20, 25, etc. based on difficulty
Check: Player rolls Xd6. Success if the result is >= TN.
Wild die: Explodes on 6. If you roll 1, roll again. If second roll is a 1, CF.
DOS: Roll - TN. DOS 1 = 1 to 4 over, DOS 2 = 5 to 8 over, DOS 3 = 6 to 12 over, DOS 4 = 13 or more over.
Modifiers: Range from -1D, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +1D.

Combat
Initiative: Everyone rolls INTU, acts in descending order.
Actions: Attack, Move, Use a skill, Cast a spell, Free
Attack: Roll FIG + Weapon vs target’s DEF. CF = auto miss, -1D next round.
Weapons: Range 1d, 1d+1, 1d+2, 2d, 2d+1. Add STR. Yields 2d to 6d+1 (Avg 7 to 22)
Ranged Weapons: Range 2D and up. Don’t add STR.
Armor: Armor ranges 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. Subtract from damage.
Injury: Reduce HP.
Dying: If HP <= 0. Every round, make END check (TN 10). Three successes = you live, three failures = you die. They don’t have to follow one another.
Multiple actions: Limit 4 per turn.
Being attacked multiple times: Each attack after the first is a -3 penalty to DEF.

Action Dice
Overview: You start each game with 4 AD.   
Use: Spend 1 AD to add 1 wild die to a check or damage roll.
Regain: 1 AD every morning. The GM may award you AD for good roleplaying.

Healing
First Aid: Make Medicine check (TN 10). Recover 1 HP per DOS. 
Natural Recovery: Regain 1 HP after 8 hours rest.
Non-lethal Damage: Regain 1 HP per hour.
Mana Points: Regain 1 MP per hour.
Hospital Care: Doctor makes Medicine check (TN 10), regain 1 HP per DOS. Usable only once.

Magic
Spells: Magical skills linked to EXT.
Mana Points: Casting a spell costs 1 MP. If MP = 0, you can spend HP.
Repeat casting: If you cast the same spell before a long rest, the cost is +1 MP cumulative.
Backlash: If you get a CF, the spells fails, you lose the MP, and you can’t cast it again until after a long rest.
Casting: Roll POW + Spell >= TN.  Calculate DOS. Refer to spell chart.
Resisted spells: Depends on spell. Use defender’s roll (AGI, END, INTU, or WIL) instead of TN.
Multiple actions: Yes, this is how you do “mass” spells.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2022, 11:54:50 PM by Aglondir »

Slipshot762

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #12 on: September 29, 2022, 12:21:14 AM »
Tentative basics of possible leveling system  for this run will follow, though i hear a fair bit of grumbling from those that want to convert stuff straight from d20 material that they'd rather use everything, save and attack bonuses and even the xp chart, all except spells memorized or spells per day (D6 system and faserip do magic pretty much the same but to the single digit quantification in D6 and generally by color, whitefail-green-yellow-red in faserip)...even though I don't think what follows has been sufficiently explained or examined by said grumpy gnomes as of yet. anyway lookit my nekkid baseline idea:

(Classes)
Occupation on the character sheet most rightly describes what you (poor dnd only guy dude man) think of class, this light system is noted in the social class portion of the sheet and is either mystic martial or manual, and its only real effect is to grant cp cost reductions to improving skills/abilities/talents whatever for such that are thematically in line with the selected social class, combat related stuff for martial, magic religious egghead and esoteric stuff for the mystic class, and everything else thats not those two for manual.

(Leveling)
New meta-currency, "Glory", is hearby introduced to facilitate traditional rpg leveling in a manner independant
of and in cooperation with existing mechanical procedures for characetr advancement. A character must spend 100 Glory to increase character
level by a single step. This grants an immediate 1pip increase to any 1 chosen skill.

(Level Limit)
Skills are capped at 1D above the governing attribute, +1pip per character level. Thus a 1st level character with
3D in Physique is capable of a maximum of 4D+1 in Physique skills. A specialization can boost this cap slightly;
a character can have upto 1 specialization per die of Acumen, each costing a single character point to obtain. A specialization
narrows the skills application (from melee combat to swords for example) and increases the cap for the narrowed speciality
by a single dice.

Considering stacking both ideas anyway, this system is so robust you can change rules mid combat and not go off the rails so i will probably let players do as they wish, i'm just the ringmaster of this mutant circus i don't get paid.

oh also the beginnings of my mass combat rules, which, we've taken to doing all play at the 1 inch is 20 foot scale and using 25mm terrain for the general normal game, much easier. wanted to try to make it system agnostic if not genre agnostic and always stay with it...anywho:
efore battle players must understand:
    • Which scale to play at (skirmish, battle, or war) based on how large the opposing armies are. 
    • The color or suite of cards assigned for each faction.
    • The dice-and-pip color combo for differing unit types within each faction, along with the various Unit-Values, Attrition-Values, Movement Rates, and/or any fantastical Special Abilities of units.
Much of this will depend greatly on the specific role-playing game rules and campaign setting you are using. GM’s should determine values to plug into the relevant resolution formulas (using guidelines mentioned herein later) based on the nature of their game world.

Time, Turns, & Scale
At Skirmish scale, use the same time increments and movement rates native to the specific role-playing game you run, switching to 1 inch=20 feet on the tabletop to accommodate dice-as-units.
As you “scale up”, the number of units (dice as counters/minis) stays the same while the number of individuals represented by a single pip increases, and the battle-map scale zooms out. 

Thus at Skirmish Scale, a single unit (6-sided die) represents six individual troops per full die, one per pip, while a 1-inch square is 20 feet of space and a turn occurs in whatever time increment is normal for a combat round in your specific role-playing game rules. We multiply these things by five to zoom out to Battle Scale. At battle scale, a single unit becomes 5 troops per pip (30 per full die) and a 1-inch square becomes 100 feet, and the time increment (and thus move rate) is likewise multiplied by five.

This multiplier finally increases to ten to arrive at War Scale where 1-inch is 200 feet, a single full die is sixty troops, and a command card with 10 such units grouped into a single battalion is six-hundred troops mustered together.

What is a Unit?
A unit, represented by a single dice, is a group of 6, 30, or 60 “roughly” man (and/or horse) sized creatures working in tandem at the most basic tactical level. 

A typical unit is represented by a single die, has a Unit-Value(UV) score, an Attrition-Value(AV) score, a Movement Rate score, and may have some sort of Special Abilities. A Unit-Value (UV) score represents quality of equipment, training, experience, cost, rarity, and/or magical enhancement.
The UV of a unit is how many casualty points required to deplete that unit by a single pip on the die face. It is also summed for the group (10 units with UV-(2) = 4D+1) and applied to table 1-1 to determine how many dice to roll when attacking in melee .

Attrition-Value(AV) represents the average minimum casualties the unit inflicts just by engaging. It is ultimately up to the GM to determine UV, AV, Movement Rate, and Special Abilities of unit types.

Battle Order, Marching Order, Skirmish Units
When units (lone dice) that are not grouped with other units (AKA Skirmish Units) normally combine into a battle order they then act as a singular entity; totaling their collective AV for attrition calculations, their collective UV for attack dice calculations, moving at the speed of the slowest unit, and dividing casualty totals across the UV of the grouped units as the commander sees fit. Place a playing card of the suite or color appropriate to your faction under the dice representing your grouped units to denote their good order.

The minimum number of units required to group into combat order at any scale is four, and any units showing three or fewer pips are Combat-Ineffective and cannot contribute their UV to attack dice calculations. Depleted units of like-kind can re-group within the combat order as a single unit, exchanging for example a pair of dice at two and three pips, respectively, for a single dice at five pips.

A commander can break from battle order or marching order into skirmish units as a single action, and may do so with all or only part of the group as they desire. He or she may, as a full action, form into marching order, or out of marching order into battle order. Troops moving overland in marching order do not suffer battle fatigue unless moving while under attack or force-marched at a brutal pace, nor do they suffer terrain-type inflicted attrition for moving more than two miles without a brief rest.

Skirmish Scale-Battle Order=Platoon; 1-inch=20ft; 1-pip=1-man, 1-turn=normal.
Battle Scale-Battle Order=Company; 1-inch=100ft; 1-pip=5-men, 1-turn=5x norm.
War Scale-Battle Order=Battalion; 1-inch=200ft; 1-pip=10-men, 1-turn=10x norm.
The Basic Sequence of Combat
Initiative Phase: roll a six-sided die for each side and modify the roll by +1 per advantage and -1 per disadvantage that the GM decides the circumstances dictate. For example, one side might have scouts or look out towers that allow them early warning, or a renowned player character or npc commander bolstering their morale, or they might be battle weary and low on supplies or horses. One need not articulate every factor that applies, but choosing three of each for each side (if applicable) should be plenty. The highest modified result wins initiative and gets to resolve their actions first at each step of the action phase. Skirmish Units enjoy +1 AV when engaged with units grouped into Battle Order.

Declaration Phase: All units on both sides declare either:
1) A single move action and a single engage action each turn.
2) A full-move action, covering twice the ground, resolved in two actions.
3) A full-engage action, each unit gaining a +1 to UV for the purpose of determining attack dice calculations until the end of the turn.
4) A special-action, if relevant, as determined by the GM.

Combat Phase: The first action of every unit resolves before the second action of any units, which resolve before the third, and so on.
1) Engaged units inflict their AV in casualty points on the opposition. Distribute the casualty points across your grouped-units and reduce the pip-count shown on the dice accordingly.
2) Engaged units make an opposed UV Attack Dice Calculation roll. The margin by which the winner of the attack dice roll beats his opponent’s roll is treated as bonus casualty points inflicted on the loser.
3) Units using ranged attacks (other than artillery) do not make a UV Attack Dice Calculation but simply inflict their AV in casualty points on their target.
4) Skirmish Units may elect to use a bonus disengage action to move a half-move away from combat.

thats as far as i got, break time, take a few days play some flight sim or something.

ETA
LET ME ADD, SORRY, WE ALSO USE D8 FOR WILD DIE BECAUSE ITS HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS USING WHAT COLOR DIE AS WILD, THIS WAY THERE IS NO QUESTION.

Slipshot762

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2022, 11:46:51 PM »
On converting things from other systems to D6;

Obviously players have piles of books they are literally invested in and they want to get use out of said piles, but not everything will easily straight port of course. Sometimes that is a good thing. The player that under this present arrangement might want to straight port as a talent something like the D20 armor proficiency feats verbatim is missing out on a great opportunity to exploit the genius that is D6. Forget penalizing people for not having it, make it so the armors value becomes additive on a grapple/unarmed (faserip called it slugfest)/charging attack or damage roll. That feels better to me, more exciting, more worth having, do not port the feat tax.

D20 metamagic feats are a case of "why would you port that", as each one is sort of already built into the D6 magic system, just roll higher dude, and becomes even easier to work with still when we overlay the faserip ranking logic. Players who never played faserip and got to know it's system for magic and powers would not appreciate how much better, faster, looser, yet somehow intuitive and "correct" feeling it was compared to that featured in any version of D&D. I find many have "just D&D" bad habits and mental framework presets that really inhibit their ability to see new mechanical opportunities and really attempt to solve their long standing complaints about habits they refuse to lay down. There is no reason even with classes a knight should be unable to learn and use a spell if he wanted, or a wizard to use a sword, beyond the fact that such is how it was first done when said player first encountered rpgs.

Mechanically D6 is a game where I can use stats with differing ability scores for each character and switch things up from round to round even, so long as you quantify things in dice and pips and do comparative analysis (made easier with faserip logic overlay i've found) you just can't seem to really break it. You can have one npc using 2e revised star wars scale rules the other using the D6 fantasy whole number scale instead of the star wars die code scale and it doesn't matter, shit interacts just fine. I find that so amazing.

And speaking of the faserip overlay i mentioned, in that old game there was a logic based on the color results that reinforced the probability of outcomes to be in line with expectations of the ranking system; for example applying it to D6; the hulk with unearthly 10D strength has aunt may, strength 2D, in a headlock. To escape, because his strength is more than two ranks above hers, she will need a red result...simply beating him by 1 point is not enough, she would have to btfo his 10D roll by 10+ points...reinforcing the power gap between the characters but not stifling possibility. Apply this logic/resolution framework, if you are an invested D20 consumer, to the caster level check you should be familiar with.

But "what do" when faserip logic demands those FEAT rolls, where you are basically rolling against yourself to activate something? Use a target number of 3 per die of relevant ability and look for a colored result, whitefail-green-yellow-red. Doing magic the marvel way atop the basic D6 magic system benefits greatly from this, calculating spell totals on the fly replaced by ballpark faserip ranking makes things so much faster.

But on the subject of magic, that is the one thing (not counting magic items) that I would not convert from D20 specifically. The spell design and construction is too highly and weirdly specific, and even the printed D6 material features spell write ups that follow this particular D&D'ism of hyper specific spell descripton. Compared to how it was done in faserip where you might have a spell of fire control, rank amazing (8D in our case) with which you could attempt to do about anything under that vague description you could imagine, pick a target number and roll for it. So basically every fire or fire related spell in all of D&D under one simple spell/power entry using the faserip ranks...and yet some players persist in wanting their hyper specific spells, I wonder at the spectre of autism sometimes.

If you find yourself having to convert any D20 magic stuff, spells are fine I guess but i would w/o doubt dump spells known/memorized/ spell slots. Just forget that shit ever existed. Starting with 0 lvl make the TN of a given spell you want to convert about 3-5 points per spell level, and if it matters let this quantification process work in reverse to find the relative spell level (should it matter) of a spell from other sources should an interaction need it quantified. Limit the number of ongoing magical effects one can have at any one time to 1 per die of relative casting attribute, and do a similar but 2-3 time larger limit on spells prepared, letting them be castable all day so long as prepared. While plenty can be harvested from the massive stockpiles of D20 books players eagerly offer, I cannot urge enough to avoid the vancian method.

King Tyranno

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Re: West End Games (WEG) Star Wars (and Mini-6) house rules you use.
« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2022, 08:32:08 AM »
Honestly I just use the fan made Revised, Expanded, Updated version of SWD6. It has a lot of optional house rules and incorporates a lot of rules from other D6 books to create what I would say is the definitive version of the rules. I guess I'm technically using whatever house rules Womp Rat Press came up with.