RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to General RPoL

07:44, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Custom total for dice roller.

Posted by Deku Scrub
Deku Scrub
member, 1 post
Likes fantasy and sci-fi.
Has some GM experience.
Thu 14 Dec 2017
at 07:43
  • msg #1

Custom total for dice roller

Let me preface this by saying I tried using Help, browsing the forum, and using a search targeted on this site, but I was unable to find exactly what I was looking for. If I've overlooked any information, please bear with me. I'd be happy to know where it's located for the future. :)

For a game I'm planning on running I need a dice pool system that works as follows:
  • A number of d6 are rolled and displayed individually. The size of the dice pool varies.
  • The highest value rolled is used, so that if you roll 4 5 2 the value of the roll is 5.
  • If you roll a 6, then every additional 6 is worth +1. A roll of 4 6 2 5 6 would thus be worth 6 + 1 = 7.
  • Optional: The ability to still add a modifier to the final total would be nice, but is not required.


So far I've checked "record each die", so I get the individual rolls displayed. I can use "Keep highest 1" to get only the highest value. What I'm missing is the ability to add +1 for every additional die showing 6. Is there a setting or formula I can use to add this bonus? (The roller can obviously detect max results since it has a "Reroll max" setting, but since I don't need the actual value that's not quite what I'm looking for.)

Thank you for your time!
LonePaladin
member, 674 posts
Creator of HeroForge
Thu 14 Dec 2017
at 19:14
  • msg #2

Custom total for dice roller

Sounds like you may need a custom die-rolling scheme for this game. What's the system? jase adds new games to the die-roller all the time.
Deku Scrub
member, 2 posts
Likes fantasy and sci-fi.
Has some GM experience.
Fri 15 Dec 2017
at 12:16
  • msg #3

Custom total for dice roller

In reply to LonePaladin (msg # 2):

I'll be using a slight variant of the Simple d6 system, which I stumbled across while looking for a lightweight mechanic to use in a mainly story-focused game. It's a very bare-bones set of mechanics, but I know some people have made an effort to make variants like "Simple d6 fantasy" and "Simple d6 sci-fi" that seem more defined. AFAIK these mostly pin down what skills and items are available, however, and don't change the base mechanic.

In Simple d6, any action with uncertain outcome result in a roll of the dice. You roll 1d6, and for each skill you have that relates to the action you add another die to the pool (kinda like Wushu, I think?). Skills are arbitrarily defined by the GM and player together, and you can have any number of them as you keep gaining new ones.

The result of the roll is as described in the first post, and then a chart is consulted:

1 = "No"
2 = "No, but ___"
3 = "Yes, but ___"
4 = "Yes"
5 = "Yes"
6 = "Yes, and ___"
7+ = "Yes, and ___ and ___ ..."

In the case of combat, you need at least a 3 to hit, which also equals 1 damage. Damage from successful attacks is equal to the result minus 2.

For results beyond 7, every extra point adds a bonus effect of some kind. For example, if you struck a zombie with a holy sword, the effects could be described as "hacks off its arm" and "holy aura causes the zombie to turn and flee".

I'm not sure if the damage value or bonus effects need to be mentioned by the dice roller. Merely having the "extra 6 = +1" rule would be good enough.

Example:
Output could be something simple like this: "Character rolled 7 using 5d6 (6 3 6 4 1)."

Alternately, if the extra info is added, perhaps something like this:
"Character rolled 7 using 5d6 (6 3 6 4 1). Damage: 5. Bonus effects: 2."
Sign In