While I want to agree with you and I do overall, I do have a problem with their production values of their books. A lot of typos/errors, the layout leaves a lot to be desired and i'm not a big fan of the 1st edition and first print 2nd edition font type and color.
@@Acmegamer Yeah, they cleaned most of that up with the 2022 re-release, but it was a bit sloppy. I do like the level of support Mongoose is giving that line though, much of it could be considered system / edition neutral.
@@devonsharkey414 Which is why I've been eyeballing it hard lately. I've read that they've tightened up those aspects. Later on this year I might have to indulge and snag all the 2.2 material because I do actually love the mechanics and settings/campaign material.
d6 systems are nice because they play very well with the mathematical probability. If you want to incorporate bell curves into your mechanics, d6s do an incredible job. They're just granular enough to not push huge numbers, yet still provide interesting outcomes.
@@mechamedoquequiser8580 D6 could do so many things. Just do a 6 x 6 square and write each desired outcome in it. Then simply roll two différent d6 and chose which one is to represent the digits and which one represent the tens. Also, 2d6 could work like a d20 if you set the bigger number first. You get 21 différents possible outcome. 11 / 21 / 22 / 31 / 32 / 33 / 41 / 42 / 43 / 44 / 51 / 52 / 53 / 54 / 55 / 61 / 62 / 63 / 63 / 64 / 65 and 66.
I would say that the only thing giving them a monopoly is the players. There has nearly always been other options except in the very first year (until _Tunnels & Trolls_ was released).
DnD monopoly only exists in the pop culture conciousness. A million and one systems exist beside it, and some of the ancient ones are still going strong. not to mention the proliferation of direct competitors in the last decade or so.
This weekend, at my local gaming convention, Strategicon Gamex, I ran the old D6 Star Wars RPG. I had to turn people away, as my table was packed. I agree, D6 games are on the rise.
I played this is high school back in the 80's. It is still my favorite style of system (no character levels or even classes, exploding dice, Force Points, expanding dice pools to show experience and expertise, etc.).
It was nice to see that Vaesen is acknowledged in CO, that's what I'm running at home right now and when I saw the intro video for CO the similarities jumped right out at me.
My favorite example of the "success at cost" mechanic is from Quest RPG. It's called a "tough choice" where the DM gives them two options of what the cost or mishap could be and the player picks one. It could be as simple as "you do half damage OR full damage and your target gets a counterattack." Or really big, cinematic, character driven choices. Check it out
A D6 system where larger dice pools increase success chance rather than stats or die-value summing reminds me a lot of Shadowrun, and having a pool you can pull from to add D6's reminds me of Shadowrun edge. And I love that.
All this talk of D6 I’m surprised about the lack of Shadowrun system. There was nothing like that time you get to flex your character with a massive handful of d6 and everyone round the table is asking ‘how is this possible’. Good times!
I mean, it's Forged in the Dark in terms of dice mechanic and subsystems. But with a little less of everything. Less skills. Less gear options. Less role based abilities to choose. More compact dice range. At least, that's how the character sheet looks. I mean, what else is there to Forged in the Dark's core? You don't have to have a gang type, you don't have to have a factions subsystem, you don't have to have turf expansion or prison contacts mini games. Most of the Forged in the Dark games seem to have other stuff instead of those things.
@@taejaskudva2543other FotD games throw away some of the mechanics as well to better for with the mood they want to set and so does this game. Got rid if crews, vices and flashbacks, added gilded dice, more complex resistance rolls instead and revamped the playbook system to put focus on team play. It's a solid FotD game, but the fact it tries to prertend it has nothing to do with John Harper is bonkers.
Except for the dice type, the 3 abilities Divided in 3 sub abilities That you test with a dice pool reminds me a lot "vampires: the masquerade" rules. Of course those were d10 and you had also more specializations points to add to the pool... nonetheless it was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the charachter sheet.
Fantastic video. I’ve got some folks who want to learn D&D and you just summed up all the reasons I’m going to start them out on something less bulky than 5e so they don’t have to wait ten minutes to take their turns.
@@katahdin5300 I often hear would-be players complain about its crunch & difficulty and how it can be cumbersome & unwieldy. I can agree to some extent about the crunch and the occasionally slow play (Many times the phrase "You count the body, I'll count the stun" has been uttered at a table of Champions players!) but there isn't a a single more all-encompassing system in existence. I'm still surprised the RTG-Hero Games love child, Fuzion!, didn't get more traction in the market.
Wwwoooaaah! you killed me there professor, sir! Death Bringer humming and adapting Crash Test Dummies with a hit-the-nail-in-the-head lyrics?!? priceless!!!
As a great fan of rules lite d6 resolution systems like Cthulhu Dark and EZD6, knowing that this kind of role-playing game systems are now becoming more popular thanks to Illuminated Worlds put a smile on my face.
DM Scotty was the man who , along with Jeremy and Wyloch got me through an injury that had me in a hospital bed , then a whelchair and crutches. You and critical role honed my mind for gaming , then gave me the terrain l needed to bring my kids into the hobby. Thank you all.
I grew up playing D&D with a homebrew very much like Tiny Dungeons or EZD6. We didn't even have the books when I was young. Then we switched to HeroQuest for a while. D6 games takes me back to my roots. They are also cheap and readily available. Who needs those fancy dice anyway.
That last point of getting over the 20 year dominance of D&D is so true. Would love to get to a more healthy market with a wider palette of played games.
Yes, but with exploding dice and feats. Also, target difficulty. It's another lawyer of crunch that makes for a tastier experience, but Tiny Dungeon is GREAT for newer players.
Traveller was my intro to D6 systems. I love the character creation because it creates a backstory with your group. Power creep is better balanced has your hit points don’t really go up much but skills do. Lethal and balanced.
its an interesting idea. CR can be a little silly, but they know what they are doing. If the simplicity of it gets more people into trying to DM I'm for it.
If the history I've heard is correct, Gygax first added a d20 mostly because he thought he could sell it to the miniature wargaming crowd (his first group). The dice came in a set so he also found some uses for the d4 d8 d10 and D12, but the original drafts of the game was d6 also. We've played for decades and probably forget how confusing and complicated is to even figure out which one is the d10 or D12 much less follow all those crazy rules. Perhaps everyone should be starting out on EZD6 and then switching if they want more granularity later.
I am still awaiting the rise of the d12 Systems, its the best dice. Its just got such a cool cool shape and its equal chance of any result appeals to me. Also when I was first starting out with D&D around '95 or so its the dice I would grab everytime my GM told me to make a check.
Savage Worlds loves a bit of d12, it uses variable dice for rolls against a mistly-fixed target number, and d12 is the hightest. So do I for that matter, mostly to annoy the ghost of Pythagoras. I'm a bit petty like that.
I only know of Critical Role because of watching this channel! I actually learned a lot from this channel both as a player and as an aspiring designer. Yeah the more systems are known the better it is for all of us. I know they wont get the views but I'd very much like to see you cover World of Darkness and/or RIFTS.
Having many granular levels of crunch/narrative/speed-of-play dynamics is a great thing that helps a broad spectrum of players find things they like. Really love EZD6 and also love the mechanics of Candela Obscura. They feel like completely different approaches to me despite being d6 systems, however.
One thing that struck me as I was going through the system breakdown of Candela Obscura is that how hard it is to succeed in it. You are right, the rules facilitate improv by having the characters get into difficult situations 5 out of 6 times.
The chance of failure drops drastically as you add more dice to the pool: at just two dice you've got a 30% chance of at least one 6. At four dice the odds are just over 50%. This is a common problem in Forged in the Dark games: as characters get more skillful, the opportunities where the dice introduce complications go down, and the GM has to compensate by introducing setbacks in other ways.
@@carlfishy To be fair, in D&D (since this is what this channel has usually talked about), the chance of success at 1st level can typically range anywhere from 25% to 75%. Though I also heard estimates that a character usually succeeds 60% of the time.
The thing to remember as well is that Forged in the Dark systems have fewer rolls. Sure, in D&D you're more likely to succeed with any attack roll, but that's not the entire picture. The monsters then make a roll to hit you. So if you hit, but the monster also hit you, that's essentially a partial success. Yeah, you did some damage, but you also took some injury in the process (succeed at cost). If you search a room in D&D, your DM may also roll on a random encounter table. So you could succeed at perception and also trigger a random encounter. So you found the treasure, but something bad happened too. The difference with FitD style is that it's all player made rolls.
I love this!! By chance I got into WEG StarWars d6, Ghostbusters and Year zero Engine and just trying out Ezd6 now.. I dig it!!, I did find PewPew for scifi and just fell in love with the dice pool size and slightly moderating damage, IMHO can't go wrong with any of them!!
Speaking of rules light games- I’ve been playing around with a “No defined spells” system. Wizards can magically do whatever they can think up. The more difficult or powerful the action, the higher the DC. And their level provides bonuses. And critical fail has consequences. I just hate having to lookup rules and effects for every spell so I find it more fun to let my players define on the fly what their spell is trying to accomplish. Think of it like the UK series Merlin. He just casts innately because he was born with magic. Players are really enjoying it so far.
Can confirm, EZD6 is pretty heckin great. Though I will say, last time we played, we tried dropping the karma system and instead gave people a number of Hero Dice to use throughout the one shot. We felt like it worked a LOT better. But, to each their own.
I must say I always roll my eyes whenever RPGs lead out with sections on what a roleplaying game is. If someone is looking at independently published games, they probably already know. Also, the song at the end was fun. The horrific screaming in the background was a nice touch.
D6 systems have been around for many years now - nearly everything Free League does is based mostly on D6es (Year 0 Engine): Mutant Year 0, Alien, Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, Coriolis, Vaesen etc.
I ran WEG's SWRPG d6 system in the 80s and early 90s. Some homebrew rules from my ex-wife and me--well species and tech--are still hiding in dark corners of the internet (not through any effort by us). This was pre-www, mind, so...yeah. My only complaint about WEG's system is that it was D6. Yawn.
Sounds interesting, and I may have to check it out. These d6 systems also sound a lot like Shadowrun, which uses pools of d6. The succeeding with a cost is something I've generally seen work out, especially if the GM has a rough list of possible costs.
It's nothing like Shadowrun aside from using the d6. Shadowrun is really rules heavy, while this system is far lighter and more narrative, with way fewer rolls in general.
I forgot to add even if I were not inclined to play EZd6 at any point, it has so many cool mechanics that I would buy it just for reference and perhaps steal some of them like the exploding dice and luck dice.
4:15 this rule is actually in World of Darkness as well! We roll d10s and a 10 is a critical success, allowing you to roll again. Sort of like "crit fishing", but aiming to get more successes towards your action, or more damage done.
I love D6 systems. The 4-5 partial success, 6 full success, is what Neon City Overdrive (and Peril Planet Action Dice system/Freeform Universal). I have found the exact same thing, figuring out the "cost" slows things down greatly. Or they just drop their gun every other round. Tricube Tales is one of my fav D6 games, it uses 1-3 D6, but the difficulty (4-6) is set by the GM.
Having run a game of Shadowdark now, I love rules light. It allows for so much freedom, and it's awesome as a DM, because I can leave the game in the hands of my players, and I just guide the actions by asking for rolls. It allows the players to jump into the roles immediately, and I love it when the players lean into the RP and enjoy it.
My first delve into D6 was also my introduction to RPGs, Star Wars by West End Games in the late 80s. I still run a game every so often, it's quick to learn, encounters never seem to stall out, and it had the wild dice.
James Bond 007 (Victory Games) by Gerard Klug was an eye opener for me. The current (drivethrurpg) IP stripped version of the game system, with updated tech, is called "Classified".
I imagine the d6 trend may be heavily influence by two factors: 1) They're not "DnD" dice, so the rebellion feels good. 2) You can get d6s EVERYwhere. A win-win all over.
LOL - I laughed so hard at the song at the end. Did I hear a death scream towards the end of that song? Anyway, thanks for the info on the other games out there. I look forward to your future reviews.
Re: 'story gaming' vs. 'real roleplaying': THANK YOU! Having been involved in both 'sides' for quite some time now, it's gratifying to hear it affirmed that they're not mutually exclusive.
We still play the original Ghostbusters RPG from the 89s with an extremely easy d6 system . . . we also play Awfully Cheerful Engine for homebrew campaigns in weird genres and that easy d6 system is straight up heavily inspired by Ghostbusters (Sandy Peterson was invited to write their intro).
i watched some alternative/independant ttrpg reviews recently , it’s a trend after you know what … which is cool to have that open minded attitude (at last) but people keep comparing to D&D , which is weird to me , and still limiting actually . Love , and that song is dope ! 😂❤
My first game ever, back in 1987, was D6 based - in fact, it ended up being THE D6 System: Star Wars, from West End Games. D&D was the fifth or sixth game I picked up.
@5:22 "That's less time than I spend thinking about a character's name." I've had players who spin FOREVER trying to come up with a name that pleases them. Naming is the hardest thing. S'why in my Fiend Wake RPG, I made a name generator chart. It's the most used part of the book. My friends use it in unrelated RPG's to skip the cognitive load of naming characters.
Ima Back it just because Ivan is involved with Production. I once offered to buy his bag of Red Dice and he said "no dice". Then he said that I could have his Babushka for free. I hesitated and declined .. He said that was a good choice and I agreed. I am a Critter from the time before Critters and if this system holds true to "Roll up a character (or two) and We will find out what happens thru Play." Then I am all in. Shout Out to John Harper and everyone who worked to make Blades in the Dark a reality. TALK SHIT AND ROLL CRITS! love you guys forever. As long as you produce High Quality Books! Fuck Me for a Ribbon. Please.
I used to collect TTRPG books, looked at all the art, skimmed the top rules, then continued with the systems I preferred. Now I want to collect D6 systems for the fun of collecting (although my collecting days are well behind me) ... but Illuminated Worlds has a huge advantage over the other products: Critical Role live play. Besides the fun of watching the talented talent share an unfolding narrative, it's a painless introduction to the rules. One episode and I'm ready to run a game using their system. There are plenty of RUclips channels that will read me the rules of a system, but seeing it in action (admittedly at top level) makes a tremendous difference. Cheers.
Sounds like there may be a SJG’ GURPS/TFT influence here with the D6… Professor what is your view on skill-based progression vs level-based progression systems? Pros/cons.
Two of my newest games I have looked and and want to play are Swords and Six Siders, which is D&D using only 1D6. The other is a new Star Wars knockoff game called Dark Star by Lakeside Games. It is a 2D6 game that uses player facing dice rolls, and extra dice for advantages and disadvantages, roll the pool, pick the best/worst two dice, and get your 2D6 roll. It also has the succeed-at-a-cost mechanic if you want. If you fail a roll, you have 3 options to succeed. Take a success with a cost, or you could lose a hit point (you start with only 7), ect.
Wish more systems would incorporate D6 pools like the old star wars games did. They didn't think of 1-3 as fail and 4-6 as success, but you added up all the numbers and you success was based off of that. Made it so that trivial stuff was almost literally impossible to fail if your character was super skilled and in general made the gap between someone who untrained and trained much larger. Really made for some tense situations and allowed each character to shine at what they were made to be good at
I know the old West End Games D6 system was very popular back in the day, especially the Star Wars D6. D6 System: Second Edition by West End Games is coming out via Kickstarter.
I'd say it's a case by case basis. With this one it's a dice pool with 50/50 success, so using one of the easiest dice to buy enmasse makes sense. In other cases I'd argue it has one of the most well studied and understood probability bell curves
"How many RPG's does the world need? How many beer does the world need?" Greate and true words! I love D6 systems, because litteraly everyone has some so it is way more exessible... i know you can by D20s everywhere but again everyone has d6
I really like EZD6, but between OSE, ShadowDark, Ironsworn, ICRPG, Fate, and Savage Worlds with the Fantasy companion, I think I have fantasy covered, so I'm anxious to see his take on Horrror and post-apocalyptic settings. I'd also love more people to check out one of my favourite D6 games, which is Freeform Universal.
Me and my group have been playing a d6 mechanic game called The Fantasy Trip and it's been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of games come in the future.
Hey professor DM, have you checked out Vaesen from Free League? It's also uses a d6 dice pool system, and the setting is dark gothic & nordic horror. Awesome game! BTW, best Deathbringer segment ever!
My hard covers of EZD6 & The Book of Quests arrived in the mail last week, and I love them. It's a complete game system and a campaign for about the same price as one wotc book. Actually much less than, after the price hike.
I am glad to see a shoutout to the James Bond 007 RPG by Victory Games! That game had so many innovative ideas such as Hero Points, Fame Points and degrees of success! I would like to see a video exploring it.
Deathbringer covering the Crash Test Dummies was an unexpected delight.
Do you want to see the full version?
Whole heartedly agree!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 How about "Deathbringer Covers the Classics"? Start with Manilow's Mandy and go from there.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 absolutely!
I was going to say the same thing. God, haven't heard that song in years
Don’t forget the grand daddy of d6 / 2d6 systems - Traveller! The Mongoose 2e version is a solid game with modern production standards and mechanics.
While I want to agree with you and I do overall, I do have a problem with their production values of their books. A lot of typos/errors, the layout leaves a lot to be desired and i'm not a big fan of the 1st edition and first print 2nd edition font type and color.
@@Acmegamer Yeah, they cleaned most of that up with the 2022 re-release, but it was a bit sloppy. I do like the level of support Mongoose is giving that line though, much of it could be considered system / edition neutral.
@@devonsharkey414 Which is why I've been eyeballing it hard lately. I've read that they've tightened up those aspects. Later on this year I might have to indulge and snag all the 2.2 material because I do actually love the mechanics and settings/campaign material.
I just rolled a character using my old boxed set. He made it through three terms before dying. Rolled a 3.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 That's old school Traveller there! Modern editions tone that down a little calling it a mishap instead of a survival roll.
d6 systems are nice because they play very well with the mathematical probability. If you want to incorporate bell curves into your mechanics, d6s do an incredible job. They're just granular enough to not push huge numbers, yet still provide interesting outcomes.
True!
you can also put them on a 6by6 table like a d100. 36 possible outcomes is more than enough for a nights rolling slaughter fest through the dungeon.
@@artistpoet5253 How?
@@mechamedoquequiser8580 D6 could do so many things.
Just do a 6 x 6 square and write each desired outcome in it. Then simply roll two différent d6 and chose which one is to represent the digits and which one represent the tens.
Also, 2d6 could work like a d20 if you set the bigger number first. You get 21 différents possible outcome.
11 / 21 / 22 / 31 / 32 / 33 / 41 / 42 / 43 / 44 / 51 / 52 / 53 / 54 / 55 / 61 / 62 / 63 / 63 / 64 / 65 and 66.
You sometimes see this referred to as a D66 or I guess D36 would be more accurate.
It's worth being on this Patreon just to hear the full length song! 😂
Thank you for your support!
As DnD monopoly becomes weaker, Professor's mullet gets longer.
I would say that the only thing giving them a monopoly is the players. There has nearly always been other options except in the very first year (until _Tunnels & Trolls_ was released).
DnD monopoly only exists in the pop culture conciousness. A million and one systems exist beside it, and some of the ancient ones are still going strong. not to mention the proliferation of direct competitors in the last decade or so.
Omgosh! Deathbringer SINGING!?!?! I almost fell out of my chair laughing
Want to see the full version?
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Yes please! A 10-hour version would hit the spot
The screams in the background were a nice touch too.
If I could upvote the outro more than once, I would.
Thank you!
“More game less time.” Perfect statement. That’s why I prefer simple dice mechanics. The results matter, not a mini game to get to those results.
YES!!!!
that's why I started playing Tiny Dungeon a while back, I can't recommend it enough.
The outro is better than we deserve. Who'da thunk Deathbringer would be so melodic. I've always thought of him as being more percussive.
This weekend, at my local gaming convention, Strategicon Gamex, I ran the old D6 Star Wars RPG. I had to turn people away, as my table was packed. I agree, D6 games are on the rise.
I played this is high school back in the 80's. It is still my favorite style of system (no character levels or even classes, exploding dice, Force Points, expanding dice pools to show experience and expertise, etc.).
There is a EZD6 hack now for Star wars . Fan made
Great video- the rules sound like Blades in he Dark or Year Zero Engine. - Glad they acknowledge this.
Definitely close to blades
Close enough to be considered FiTD … interested to see the whole rules
Love Year Zero system!
"Glad they acknowledge this" yeah, AFTER the fans went "waaaait a minute, don't I already own this?"
I got a chance to play Steve Jackson's game The Fantasy Trip and I loved his D6 system. Glad he went on to do GURPS.
It was nice to see that Vaesen is acknowledged in CO, that's what I'm running at home right now and when I saw the intro video for CO the similarities jumped right out at me.
My favorite example of the "success at cost" mechanic is from Quest RPG. It's called a "tough choice" where the DM gives them two options of what the cost or mishap could be and the player picks one. It could be as simple as "you do half damage OR full damage and your target gets a counterattack." Or really big, cinematic, character driven choices. Check it out
Hey Professor, this episode was fire! Thank you so much for doing what you do :-)
Thank you.
A D6 system where larger dice pools increase success chance rather than stats or die-value summing reminds me a lot of Shadowrun, and having a pool you can pull from to add D6's reminds me of Shadowrun edge. And I love that.
All this talk of D6 I’m surprised about the lack of Shadowrun system. There was nothing like that time you get to flex your character with a massive handful of d6 and everyone round the table is asking ‘how is this possible’. Good times!
FASA used these systems extensively in their properties. They were also mostly roll under target systems.
My big question now in how the Illuminated Worlds system is gonna be substantially different from Forged In The Dark.
? Is it not a forged in the dark game?
@@LightPink No, it's apparently their own game system that appears strikingly similar to FITD
I mean, it's Forged in the Dark in terms of dice mechanic and subsystems. But with a little less of everything. Less skills. Less gear options. Less role based abilities to choose. More compact dice range. At least, that's how the character sheet looks. I mean, what else is there to Forged in the Dark's core? You don't have to have a gang type, you don't have to have a factions subsystem, you don't have to have turf expansion or prison contacts mini games. Most of the Forged in the Dark games seem to have other stuff instead of those things.
@@taejaskudva2543 this is the answer.
@@taejaskudva2543other FotD games throw away some of the mechanics as well to better for with the mood they want to set and so does this game. Got rid if crews, vices and flashbacks, added gilded dice, more complex resistance rolls instead and revamped the playbook system to put focus on team play. It's a solid FotD game, but the fact it tries to prertend it has nothing to do with John Harper is bonkers.
Except for the dice type, the 3 abilities Divided in 3 sub abilities That you test with a dice pool reminds me a lot "vampires: the masquerade" rules. Of course those were d10 and you had also more specializations points to add to the pool... nonetheless it was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the charachter sheet.
That's a good system. If I recall, Space 1889 had a D6 pool.
So, Deathbringer's trying to multiclass as a bard? Love it!
Deathbringer is now my favourite character on RUclips; never ceases to surprise, amaze and give me a good laugh
I told him you said that.
Fantastic video. I’ve got some folks who want to learn D&D and you just summed up all the reasons I’m going to start them out on something less bulky than 5e so they don’t have to wait ten minutes to take their turns.
Deathbringer RPG!
***Hero System has entered the chat***
"Did someone say D6 systems are on the rise?"
Hero, in my opinion, is the best system out there. Any genre, same rules. Love it.
@@katahdin5300 I often hear would-be players complain about its crunch & difficulty and how it can be cumbersome & unwieldy. I can agree to some extent about the crunch and the occasionally slow play (Many times the phrase "You count the body, I'll count the stun" has been uttered at a table of Champions players!) but there isn't a a single more all-encompassing system in existence.
I'm still surprised the RTG-Hero Games love child, Fuzion!, didn't get more traction in the market.
Wwwoooaaah! you killed me there professor, sir! Death Bringer humming and adapting Crash Test Dummies with a hit-the-nail-in-the-head lyrics?!? priceless!!!
The full version is even better. It’s coming next week.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Muwahahaha!!! can't wait!
As a great fan of rules lite d6 resolution systems like Cthulhu Dark and EZD6, knowing that this kind of role-playing game systems are now becoming more popular thanks to Illuminated Worlds put a smile on my face.
DM Scotty was the man who , along with Jeremy and Wyloch got me through an injury that had me in a hospital bed , then a whelchair and crutches. You and critical role honed my mind for gaming , then gave me the terrain l needed to bring my kids into the hobby. Thank you all.
Glad we could inspire you.
I grew up playing D&D with a homebrew very much like Tiny Dungeons or EZD6. We didn't even have the books when I was young. Then we switched to HeroQuest for a while. D6 games takes me back to my roots. They are also cheap and readily available. Who needs those fancy dice anyway.
I hope CR branching out like this is a boon to indie RPG'S in general, not just their own fanbase. I can see things go either way.
I concur.
One RPG.
Five RPGs.
This RPG's a knock off.
The RPG's mechanics are simple.
That last point of getting over the 20 year dominance of D&D is so true. Would love to get to a more healthy market with a wider palette of played games.
Don't forget to mention Tunnels and Trolls (the original d6 RPG system), and later The Fantasy Trip by Steve Jackson!
Tunnels and Trolls is a classic!
Anyone else notice EZD6 is a lot like Tiny Dungeon?
Yes, but with exploding dice and feats. Also, target difficulty. It's another lawyer of crunch that makes for a tastier experience, but Tiny Dungeon is GREAT for newer players.
Props to them for giving a shoutout to Free League for Vaesen!
I'm happy to see EZd6 get the love it deserves!
Thanks for the most concise overview of the D6 system. My son and I play and we've only played D&D so I can't wait to try this!
Have fun!
Traveller was my intro to D6 systems. I love the character creation because it creates a backstory with your group. Power creep is better balanced has your hit points don’t really go up much but skills do. Lethal and balanced.
its an interesting idea. CR can be a little silly, but they know what they are doing. If the simplicity of it gets more people into trying to DM I'm for it.
If the history I've heard is correct, Gygax first added a d20 mostly because he thought he could sell it to the miniature wargaming crowd (his first group). The dice came in a set so he also found some uses for the d4 d8 d10 and D12, but the original drafts of the game was d6 also.
We've played for decades and probably forget how confusing and complicated is to even figure out which one is the d10
or D12 much less follow all those crazy rules.
Perhaps everyone should be starting out on EZD6 and then switching if they want more granularity later.
This is why Pathfinder color coded their dice in the beginner box.
A smart move.
I am still awaiting the rise of the d12 Systems, its the best dice. Its just got such a cool cool shape and its equal chance of any result appeals to me. Also when I was first starting out with D&D around '95 or so its the dice I would grab everytime my GM told me to make a check.
Savage Worlds loves a bit of d12, it uses variable dice for rolls against a mistly-fixed target number, and d12 is the hightest.
So do I for that matter, mostly to annoy the ghost of Pythagoras. I'm a bit petty like that.
I had just rolled out of the Chick Fil A drive thru when Death Bringer started singing… almost spit chocolate shake all over the dashboard 😂
Lol. Great to hear. Two more verses coming.
I only know of Critical Role because of watching this channel! I actually learned a lot from this channel both as a player and as an aspiring designer. Yeah the more systems are known the better it is for all of us.
I know they wont get the views but I'd very much like to see you cover World of Darkness and/or RIFTS.
The "take three scars and your character is dead" mechanic is taken from the Pelgrane's GUMSHOE 1-to-1 or Yellow King RPGs
Interesting.
If they were to bring out a new James Bond rpg now, would it be Die, Another Die?
D6 dice pools are great. Forbidden Lands RPG is some of the most fun I've had
Having many granular levels of crunch/narrative/speed-of-play dynamics is a great thing that helps a broad spectrum of players find things they like.
Really love EZD6 and also love the mechanics of Candela Obscura. They feel like completely different approaches to me despite being d6 systems, however.
One thing that struck me as I was going through the system breakdown of Candela Obscura is that how hard it is to succeed in it. You are right, the rules facilitate improv by having the characters get into difficult situations 5 out of 6 times.
The chance of failure drops drastically as you add more dice to the pool: at just two dice you've got a 30% chance of at least one 6. At four dice the odds are just over 50%. This is a common problem in Forged in the Dark games: as characters get more skillful, the opportunities where the dice introduce complications go down, and the GM has to compensate by introducing setbacks in other ways.
@@carlfishy To be fair, in D&D (since this is what this channel has usually talked about), the chance of success at 1st level can typically range anywhere from 25% to 75%. Though I also heard estimates that a character usually succeeds 60% of the time.
The thing to remember as well is that Forged in the Dark systems have fewer rolls. Sure, in D&D you're more likely to succeed with any attack roll, but that's not the entire picture. The monsters then make a roll to hit you. So if you hit, but the monster also hit you, that's essentially a partial success. Yeah, you did some damage, but you also took some injury in the process (succeed at cost).
If you search a room in D&D, your DM may also roll on a random encounter table. So you could succeed at perception and also trigger a random encounter. So you found the treasure, but something bad happened too.
The difference with FitD style is that it's all player made rolls.
Matt Colville also talked about 2d6 as a possibility for MCDM's rpg system.
I love this!! By chance I got into WEG StarWars d6, Ghostbusters and Year zero Engine and just trying out Ezd6 now.. I dig it!!, I did find PewPew for scifi and just fell in love with the dice pool size and slightly moderating damage, IMHO can't go wrong with any of them!!
I'm with Professor DM on this one. I love old school games, but love storytelling as well
Succeed at a cost to me means the GM dictates the cost, especially with certain players loathe to have any weaknesses or flaws.
Yes. & having run it, it gets fatiguing-although I like the idea used sparingly.
It's assumed in most PBTA games, the GM may ask the player, but the default is that the GM has to do it herself.
I need captions for that deathbringer song. I also like the idea of more games existing out there, not just dnd.
Speaking of rules light games- I’ve been playing around with a “No defined spells” system. Wizards can magically do whatever they can think up. The more difficult or powerful the action, the higher the DC. And their level provides bonuses. And critical fail has consequences. I just hate having to lookup rules and effects for every spell so I find it more fun to let my players define on the fly what their spell is trying to accomplish. Think of it like the UK series Merlin. He just casts innately because he was born with magic. Players are really enjoying it so far.
DM Scotty must have been of fan D6 SW with the wild die and character points. Great system!
Yes! D6 Star Wars was so cool, it's a shame so many people dunk on it.
@@albertcapley6894 It wasn't D20, that's why.
Having options and simplicity sucks I guess
Can confirm, EZD6 is pretty heckin great.
Though I will say, last time we played, we tried dropping the karma system and instead gave people a number of Hero Dice to use throughout the one shot. We felt like it worked a LOT better. But, to each their own.
I must say I always roll my eyes whenever RPGs lead out with sections on what a roleplaying game is. If someone is looking at independently published games, they probably already know.
Also, the song at the end was fun. The horrific screaming in the background was a nice touch.
D6 systems have been around for many years now - nearly everything Free League does is based mostly on D6es (Year 0 Engine): Mutant Year 0, Alien, Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, Coriolis, Vaesen etc.
West End Games did d6 in the early 80's. Possibly the original d6 system? Not sure, but certainly among the first.
I ran WEG's SWRPG d6 system in the 80s and early 90s.
Some homebrew rules from my ex-wife and me--well species and tech--are still hiding in dark corners of the internet (not through any effort by us). This was pre-www, mind, so...yeah.
My only complaint about WEG's system is that it was D6. Yawn.
Sounds interesting, and I may have to check it out. These d6 systems also sound a lot like Shadowrun, which uses pools of d6. The succeeding with a cost is something I've generally seen work out, especially if the GM has a rough list of possible costs.
It's nothing like Shadowrun aside from using the d6. Shadowrun is really rules heavy, while this system is far lighter and more narrative, with way fewer rolls in general.
Shadowrun is like…”am I a joke to you!!??”
With Han Solo looking to shoot first and take names later…
@@kevoreilly6557 Callout to WEG's d6 Star Wars game from the 80's?
@@kythian yup :)
🤣Deathbringer killin it with a remix of that throwback. Nice outro PDM
Great video professor!
Can't believe you didn't talk about Open EZD6, DM Scotty's open license
Thanks for mentioning it.
I forgot to add even if I were not inclined to play EZd6 at any point, it has so many cool mechanics that I would buy it just for reference and perhaps steal some of them like the exploding dice and luck dice.
4:15 this rule is actually in World of Darkness as well! We roll d10s and a 10 is a critical success, allowing you to roll again. Sort of like "crit fishing", but aiming to get more successes towards your action, or more damage done.
I love D6 systems. The 4-5 partial success, 6 full success, is what Neon City Overdrive (and Peril Planet Action Dice system/Freeform Universal). I have found the exact same thing, figuring out the "cost" slows things down greatly. Or they just drop their gun every other round. Tricube Tales is one of my fav D6 games, it uses 1-3 D6, but the difficulty (4-6) is set by the GM.
Having run a game of Shadowdark now, I love rules light. It allows for so much freedom, and it's awesome as a DM, because I can leave the game in the hands of my players, and I just guide the actions by asking for rolls. It allows the players to jump into the roles immediately, and I love it when the players lean into the RP and enjoy it.
My first delve into D6 was also my introduction to RPGs, Star Wars by West End Games in the late 80s. I still run a game every so often, it's quick to learn, encounters never seem to stall out, and it had the wild dice.
James Bond 007 (Victory Games) by Gerard Klug was an eye opener for me.
The current (drivethrurpg) IP stripped version of the game system, with updated tech, is called "Classified".
I usually play Traveller type games (2d6) and Hero System (3d6) systems. D6 are the King of Dice. 3d6 gives a wonderful bell curve of probability.
I imagine the d6 trend may be heavily influence by two factors: 1) They're not "DnD" dice, so the rebellion feels good. 2) You can get d6s EVERYwhere. A win-win all over.
LOL - I laughed so hard at the song at the end. Did I hear a death scream towards the end of that song?
Anyway, thanks for the info on the other games out there. I look forward to your future reviews.
It’s always a good day when the professor posts a new video!
More Deathbringer covers please. ❤
No one wants to be in the same room as Deathbringer when he is in his happy place. Just as Wilhelm 🫣
Mouse Guard RPG system is also a d6 system, and the feeling of rolling many dices is nice.
This is my favorite youtube movie ending. Ever. Thank you Deathbringer!
Re: 'story gaming' vs. 'real roleplaying': THANK YOU! Having been involved in both 'sides' for quite some time now, it's gratifying to hear it affirmed that they're not mutually exclusive.
We still play the original Ghostbusters RPG from the 89s with an extremely easy d6 system . . . we also play Awfully Cheerful Engine for homebrew campaigns in weird genres and that easy d6 system is straight up heavily inspired by Ghostbusters (Sandy Peterson was invited to write their intro).
i watched some alternative/independant ttrpg reviews recently , it’s a trend after you know what … which is cool to have that open minded attitude (at last) but people keep comparing to D&D , which is weird to me , and still limiting actually . Love , and that song is dope ! 😂❤
Working on my d6 system, too! It's so simple to make rules and use!
My first game ever, back in 1987, was D6 based - in fact, it ended up being THE D6 System: Star Wars, from West End Games.
D&D was the fifth or sixth game I picked up.
@5:22 "That's less time than I spend thinking about a character's name."
I've had players who spin FOREVER trying to come up with a name that pleases them. Naming is the hardest thing. S'why in my Fiend Wake RPG, I made a name generator chart. It's the most used part of the book. My friends use it in unrelated RPG's to skip the cognitive load of naming characters.
I hear ya.
Take you mane, spell it backwards, then separte out the sylables, and mix them up
Or look up the traveller matrix systems for alien lantuages
Ima Back it just because Ivan is involved with Production. I once offered to buy his bag of Red Dice and he said "no dice". Then he said that I could have his Babushka for free. I hesitated and declined .. He said that was a good choice and I agreed. I am a Critter from the time before Critters and if this system holds true to "Roll up a character (or two) and We will find out what happens thru Play." Then I am all in. Shout Out to John Harper and everyone who worked to make Blades in the Dark a reality. TALK SHIT AND ROLL CRITS! love you guys forever. As long as you produce High Quality Books! Fuck Me for a Ribbon. Please.
I used to collect TTRPG books, looked at all the art, skimmed the top rules, then continued with the systems I preferred. Now I want to collect D6 systems for the fun of collecting (although my collecting days are well behind me) ... but Illuminated Worlds has a huge advantage over the other products: Critical Role live play. Besides the fun of watching the talented talent share an unfolding narrative, it's a painless introduction to the rules. One episode and I'm ready to run a game using their system. There are plenty of RUclips channels that will read me the rules of a system, but seeing it in action (admittedly at top level) makes a tremendous difference. Cheers.
Sounds like there may be a SJG’ GURPS/TFT influence here with the D6…
Professor what is your view on skill-based progression vs level-based progression systems? Pros/cons.
Two of my newest games I have looked and and want to play are Swords and Six Siders, which is D&D using only 1D6.
The other is a new Star Wars knockoff game called Dark Star by Lakeside Games. It is a 2D6 game that uses player facing dice rolls, and extra dice for advantages and disadvantages, roll the pool, pick the best/worst two dice, and get your 2D6 roll. It also has the succeed-at-a-cost mechanic if you want. If you fail a roll, you have 3 options to succeed. Take a success with a cost, or you could lose a hit point (you start with only 7), ect.
I personally always modify d6 based games to either d12 or 2d6. I always want a little bit more fidelity out of my games. (Tiny Dungeon is rad)
Tiny Dungeons is great!
Wish more systems would incorporate D6 pools like the old star wars games did. They didn't think of 1-3 as fail and 4-6 as success, but you added up all the numbers and you success was based off of that. Made it so that trivial stuff was almost literally impossible to fail if your character was super skilled and in general made the gap between someone who untrained and trained much larger. Really made for some tense situations and allowed each character to shine at what they were made to be good at
I know the old West End Games D6 system was very popular back in the day, especially the Star Wars D6. D6 System: Second Edition by West End Games is coming out via Kickstarter.
I'm wondering if D6s are becoming popular because they're good or because they're readily available
That too.
In Japan most of ttrpgs use d6 only because others like d4 or d20 are hard to find unless you're searching for Cthulhu.
I'd say it's a case by case basis. With this one it's a dice pool with 50/50 success, so using one of the easiest dice to buy enmasse makes sense.
In other cases I'd argue it has one of the most well studied and understood probability bell curves
I like d6; specifically for the convenience however I prefer percentile systems
And they're also less threatening for the uninitiated.
And scaredy moms.
That is a beautifully sharp and crisp wall behind you. :D
"How many RPG's does the world need? How many beer does the world need?" Greate and true words! I love D6 systems, because litteraly everyone has some so it is way more exessible... i know you can by D20s everywhere but again everyone has d6
That song at the end by Deathbringer was magnificent.
I really like EZD6, but between OSE, ShadowDark, Ironsworn, ICRPG, Fate, and Savage Worlds with the Fantasy companion, I think I have fantasy covered, so I'm anxious to see his take on Horrror and post-apocalyptic settings.
I'd also love more people to check out one of my favourite D6 games, which is Freeform Universal.
I love the history you sprinkle throughout your videos!
You were key in getting me to check out EZd6. It’s now my one shot system of choice.
So glad to hear that.
I have not laughed this hard at a RUclips video in a very long time. Hat's off, Professor - the Crash Test Dummies bit was brilliant!
Full video coming next week.
Genuinely was not ready for a Deathbringer cover of Headline News… but I was happy to hear it! Lol
Me and my group have been playing a d6 mechanic game called The Fantasy Trip and it's been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of games come in the future.
Love the new format. All-in on indie & homebrew! That outro is 👩🍳💋
Hey professor DM, have you checked out Vaesen from Free League? It's also uses a d6 dice pool system, and the setting is dark gothic & nordic horror. Awesome game!
BTW, best Deathbringer segment ever!
More DB to come. Will check out Vaesen.
My hard covers of EZD6 & The Book of Quests arrived in the mail last week, and I love them. It's a complete game system and a campaign for about the same price as one wotc book. Actually much less than, after the price hike.
Thanks for the support...have fun!
I am glad to see a shoutout to the James Bond 007 RPG by Victory Games! That game had so many innovative ideas such as Hero Points, Fame Points and degrees of success! I would like to see a video exploring it.
Oh my gosh Deathbringer !
I am dumbfounded and will recover in 2 weeks or so.
Don't quit your day slaughter.