This is game design at its most daring, folks: write a multi-genre RPG that fits on both idea of a bookmark and still gets the job(s) done There's some adjudication required, sure, but this is necessary when there isn't room to fit a "rule for everything" on something that can fit between two pages of a paperback This is the kind of fast and felxible game that puts imagination and improvisation up front, but it also has a simple, robust set of (a few) rules to back it up

BnHPRPG puts forth a set of unique rules that not only get out of the way of role playing, they in their own unique way facilitate your imagination. They encourage you to answer why. If you want a high crunch rpg, this is not it. I know you are shocked about that given that all the rules actualy fit on a bookmark. If this appeals to you, give it a try, I expect you will have an enjoyable time.

So I came upon D6xD6 Core a few months ago and was so intrigued by the central mechanic. Needless to say I was excited fo D6xD6 Dungeons! For reference, though I have played my share of tabletop RPGs I was raised in the world of video games...Fallout 1 & 2, Diablo 1 & 2. I wanted something more open ended than a video game but that gave enough fuel to get my wheels turning as I am not always the most creative. D6xD6 Dungeons does just that.

First, the system has a unique dice roll mechanic that at once simplifies and adds depth. Your Focus number, the only number you use, basically makes you decide between a limited expert or a jack of all trades, or somewhere in between. As you roll you multiply 2D6 and compare to your Focus number. Though I am no math whiz this makes the results less linear compared to a D20 system. (D6xD6 Core has some graphs explaining this. Also some may prefer the D20 systems, to each there own.) All bonuses and detriments to your dice roll are calculated in the same way (addition/subtraction before multiplication...) Where D6xD6 Core had some effects before and after multiplication, this I think is a big improvement in simplifying "the math."

Second, all the classic fantasy races and classes are there to choose from but the author encourages creating your own, and also uses a custom fantasy race and class as a "case study" in the character building how-to example. This makes the task of creating your own custom character/class not as daunting. At the same time the archetypal high fantasy races/classes are there so i don't have to get bogged down in creating something from the top of my head.

Third, the magic system has the same feeling as the class system in that it promotes creativity but gives enough guidance to feel like it is doable by a person used to "melee on left click, fireball on right click" level of creativity. I think I was most surprised by this aspect...but maybe it is not as uncommon as I think.

Fourth, I really live for improving my character, probably to a fault and with only one relevant number (Focus) one may think it is very limited. This was my biggest worry before purchase and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. Progression can happen on many metrics (specific skills, attributes and vocations). and earning XP is very simple and very intuitive. (Simple in the sense of understandability, it may not be simple for your characters.)

Fifth, my personal preference is for games that allow me to select and improve on particular skills/attributes as opposed to generic "leveling up." D6xD6 Dungeons does that. How skills are improved would easily allow custom skills that could easily be integrated into character progression. I don't see myself doing custom skills at first but nice to know it is doable.

To wrap up, I am excited about diving back into tabletop RPGs and the D6xD6 Dungeon system checks so many boxes. At the same time this is a "zine edition" so the beastiary is adequate but not expansive. Other parts feel a bit brief but the focus* on getting out of the min/max mind (for me) and adding custom elements gives me a challence I am excited to dive into.

*Focus...get it?

Lester Smith has delivered again. The latest piece of horror by the grandmaster of rpgs had me hooked from beginning to the end.

highly recommend!

David

An elegant dice mechanic with worlds of potential. Highly recommended for fans of games powered by GUMSHOE, One-Roll Engine, and the Apocalypse Engine.

An elegant dice mechanic combined with an innovative "story chapter" system of genre modification, this "Expanded Edition" of the D6xD6 Rules offers an incredible value for both one-shot and campaign play. Highly recommended for fans of games powered by GUMSHOE, One-Roll Engine, and The Apocalypse Engine.

This setting truly has the feel of a Sherlock Holmes novel. Trust me, I'd know. ;)

So I've been out of RPGs for a while and recently found a new group for D&D. I started getting ideas for a sci-fi campaign but didn't want a RPG with a preconcieved setting so I started looking for simple generic/universal systems, as we have some new gamers who were struggling with the table and manual diving required for 5e.

I grabbed a hold of D6xD6 and never looked back. There's only one stat and a damn simple dice mechanic for everything. Combat rolling is quick. Where initiative, hitting, and damage are usually three different rolls, in the D6xD6 system one roll handles everything! The expanded edition comes with a whole bunch of settings to run, or in my case, pilfer for other ideas. And if you need something extra, the rules are extremely flexible and hackable.

If there is one part that could be improved, it might be the experience system. I'm only at the beggining of the campaign I'm running, but it seems you can only go so far. To be fair, the system was originally intended for one-shot scenarios as per the author's description. This is a game for character tomfoolery and creating a story. NOT endless chart searching.

The simplicity of the system has been described on www.d6xd6.com as a "haiku" of a game. I disagree. It's a punk song. Simple, fast, furious and rockin' as hell!

The Hungry Dead is a collection of poetry and short stories that mostly hovers around the title’s stated theme. The excellent and evocative cover image shows a slightly decayed – yet no less well turned-out – young woman, a plate of brains in front of her, gold-plated knife and fork in hand. She’s daintily hoisting a forkful, lips parted in anticipation. It sets just the right tone for the collection. By way of full disclosure, I would add that a number of contributors to The Hungry Dead — including the publisher — are friends of mine, so take that for what it’s worth.

Of the fiction, several pieces are standouts: I readily devoured Stephen D. Sullivan’s “Tricks & Treats”. Exploring the origins of Halloween legends, it provides a creeping chill to freeze the blood. J. Robert King’s “Unlife on the Mississippi” brings humor and a clever concept to a rustic, American vampire tale. A Backwoods young man living in the Mississippi basin near Hannibal, Missouri discovers he’s suddenly become a vampire. He soon learns the how of it, and realizes the old adage that with great power comes great responsibility. Who knew it was so easy to create vampires?

Like all anthologies, this one is no less a mixed bag, though I can’t actually say there were any bad works here – only that some were more striking and thought provoking to me than others. The Hungry Dead is well worth picking up for horror fans of all stripes. There is very little here that will challenge the reader unduly, and a fair amount of reward to be had from its consumption.

I have purchased many of Lester's products over the years. They are always brimming with detail. This product is no exception. A lot is crammed into six pages here. Easily adapted to your favorite rpg system, but don't turn your nose up at the core d6xd6 system, it is a gem.

Very rich die mechanic that also allows for a very 'lite' rpg in terms of mechanical overhead but while still allowing for many character and tactical options.

In terms of my experience with rpg systems, I felt this system was beautifully simple. No erroneous elements, or features that felt like they were added last minute, and by means of a crowbar. There are few systems, in my opinion, that started out with such a strong, pure and simple core book, yet seem open and comprehensive enough to span as many genres as this one so elegantly does.

My reasoning is as follows: Recently, I've introduced a small group to the pen and paper rpg world (4-7 players in size); before then, they were all console or board game enthusiasts, and somehow had completely missed out! As I was the only one with any knowledge on the subject matter, I was voted to be GM. Knowing that they haven't had exposure to ANY rpg system, I decided to learn a new and simpler one to start them off (simpler to learn, not necessarily simpler to play). As we found out, character gen is fast, the rules are intuitive, and the system flexible...it was perfect for us.

My only concern is that GM's may find it tedious generating beast/monster cards for every possible creature they could meet. A handy addition may be a selection of cards in a similar format as the pc's cards, for beasts and monsters, so (along with a selection of setting and rough plot) players could jump straight in to a fairly 'seat of your pants' style, improv' session.

Cheers, -Billy

I haven't looked at D6xD6 yet, but this particular file gives a good compressed view of what I know of Seventh Crown. Hopefully the full blown Seventh Crown Setting comes out in the next year!

Ok, so I backed this on Kickstarter and I have played it. I'm giving it a middling score and would edge that closer to the good side. I like the concept of a stripped down, easy to learn and easy to use game system. My intention being to hand this off to an 11 year old boy to have his own special RPG he could learn on.
With that in mind, here's my review.

I found the overall idea of a central theme (Focus) to be a fun idea. And it works for the most part. I just found myself having to go back and re-read and re-read through the materials to pick up the actual "rules" of the game. I felt like I was gleaning a rule here and there. To that end I think a general rewrite to clean up the presentation of the material would really help.

The game itself reminded me somewhat of Megatraveller where two skill of your choice would be applied to make the basis of your dice checks. In this case D6xD6 presents the idea of an Occupation which allows you to dramatically speed up the character generation and really become whatever you want it to be and encompass. Coupled with focuses these become the basis of your dice checks. One persons Wizard may be able to do many kinds of magic by virtue of his occupation, while someone else's wizard may be "focused" on elemental magic and not competent with other types. Seems to me to be your choice.

To me this game is ripe for house rules. It is definitely not fully realized in terms of a catalog of monster, weapons, equipment, economy, etc which is to be expected since the game itself allows you to play any genre you want. In my opinion it relies on you as a GM to spend a fair bit of effort creating your enemies, equipment, and such if you're going to run a bit of a classic fantasy hack-n-slash. This is not a bad thing, just something to prepare for. Again the system is flexible enough to let you play on the fly but spending the time to develop your menagerie first. Conversely I think it would probably shine in terms of just role playing through a story.

Combat a little different and reminded me more of some of the modern video games. No hit points here. Just a scale that you go from Good to Bad to Worse. Different actions can push this up or down. It's a scale of effect. A powerful gun scales up the damage, a set of armor scales down the damage and if you end up taking a hit then you go from Good to Hurt to Really hurt, to :P

Visually the look feels very much like someone with photo shop decided to do most the art work. Not terrible but didn't exactly feel like it fit to me. I think the book would have been better served to find a local artist to do some simple pen drawings. Even to this day I still remember those simple Willingham and Elmore drawings in the basic D&D book that were simple but let your imagination fill in the gaps.

My overall impression is this game concept is good and definitely worth the money. You can easily modify it with house rules to make a game that really fits your style and you can play literally anything (just like Champions). In my opinion it wants a clearer terminology (dice rolls and dice totals), a cleaner presentation of the material, and some full blown examples of game play would be really nice.

I love this system. I remember its predecessor Zero, and this game goes beyond. It's actually very similar in the mechanics, but the addition of such a great mix of settings is just great. And because I have a copy, I get access to more and more settings as they are released. I'm in love!