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The ''D6 System'' is a role-playing game system published by
West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product lines included ''Star Wars'', ''Paranoia'', ...
(WEG) and licensees. While the system is primarily intended for pen-and-paper
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
s, variations of the system have also been used in
live action role-playing game A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique feature ...
s and miniature battle games. The system is named after the 6-sided
die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...
, which is used in every roll required by the system.


System


Attributes and skills

Characters in the ''D6 System'' are defined by attributes and
skills A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of w ...
. Attributes represent the raw ability of a character in a certain area. Most ''D6 System'' games utilize anywhere from six to eight attributes, though these can vary greatly in number and name by the game in question. Acumen, Intellect, Knowledge, Perception, Presence and Technical are examples of mental attributes; Agility, Coordination, Mechanical, Physique, Reflexes and Strength are examples of physical ones. Skills are the trained abilities of the character and are associated with a specific attribute (e.g., driving, acrobatics, and climbing might be skills based on the Reflexes attribute). Each attribute and the skills under it are rated in values of Dice and Pips; Dice equal the number of dice rolled and Pips equal a one or two point bonus added to the roll to determine the result. The more dice and pips in the rating the better the character is at that skill or attribute. A character with a Strength rating of 4D+2 is stronger than a character with a Strength rating of 3D+1, for example.


Actions and resolution

Character actions are resolved by making dice rolls against a difficulty number. There are two types of difficulties, standard and opposed. To perform a standard difficulty action, the
gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...
calls for the player to roll the dice for a certain attribute or skill. The value of each die is totalled and the pips are added to the die roll to get a total. This total along with any GM or system imposed modifiers is compared against a target difficulty number. To perform an opposed roll action, the two parties involved (usually the player and a gamemaster controlled character) both roll their appropriate skills dice, total them and any modifiers and compare the results. If the first party's roll is higher than that of the second, he wins the contest and the rest of the result is resolved. If the second party equals or exceeds his opponent's roll, then the second party wins the contest.


Wild die

One of the dice rolled for each skill or attribute check or for damage is considered to be the "wild die", and is treated somewhat differently from the other dice. This mechanism was added in 2nd Edition. If an initial ''six'' is rolled on the wild die, then the die "explodes", meaning you add the six to the total plus re-roll the wild die, adding the result to the total. You get to keep rolling as long as you get sixes. If an initial ''one'' is rolled on the wild die, you disregard both it and the highest regular die from the total, often making you fail. Then you re-roll the wild die. If it comes up another one, a critical failure or complication occurs, usually with bad results for the character. Use of the wild die tends to make the game feel more
cinematic Cinematic describes anything related to ''cinema''. It may refer to: any movie updates, cinema nights, cinematic review Film-related * Cinematic cutscene, a sequence in a video game that is not interactive * Cinematic music, original music writt ...
.


Improving rolls

In order to increase their characters' effectiveness, players may spend character points and fate points. The exact number of character points that may be spent is limited by the quantity possessed by the character, and the situation that they are used in, with two being the typical limit. Each character point spent adds an extra wild die to one skill or attribute roll. A roll of one has no negative effect with wild dice generated from character points. Alternatively, a character may spend one fate point on an action. Characters have fewer fate points than character points, but the expenditure of them doubles the number of dice rolled on an action.


Variant resolution systems

Most ''D6 System'' games use the resolution system described above, which is sometimes called The D6 Classic System, though some variants exist. In one variant, The Legend System, instead of adding the die totals up, the dice showing 3, 4, 5 or 6 are each counted as a success. Use of a skill requires rolling a certain number of such successes. Pips are not used in the Legend System. This variation of the system was referred to, in jest, as "The D6 variant for the mathematically challenged" on WEG's own discussion forum. The Legend System has been utilized in the '' Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game'' and the '' DC Universe Roleplaying Game''. Other variants, such as those featured in the ''Star Wars Live Action Adventure Game'' and the '' Star Wars Miniatures Battles'' game, involve rolling a single six sided die and adding the result to a skill or attribute. This total is then compared to a difficulty number, as with the other variants.


History


West End Games' early cinematic RPGs

A precursor to the ''D6 System'' first appeared in '' Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game'', designed by
Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon ...
alumni Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis and
Greg Stafford Francis Gregory Stafford (February 9, 1948 – October 10, 2018), usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism. Stafford is most famous as the creator of the fantasy world of Gloranth ...
, which was published by WEG in 1986. The following year, Greg Costikyan, Curtis Smith and
Bill Slavicsek Bill Slavicsek is a game designer who served as the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development at Wizards of the Coast. He previously worked for West End Games and TSR, Inc., and designed products for '' Dungeons & Dragons'', '' Star Wars'' ...
reworked elements from the Ghostbusters game into '' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game''. For a decade, West End Games published over 140 titles for the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' Universe including a magazine, ''The Star Wars Adventure Journal''.


''D6 System'' standalone games

In 1996, WEG released ''The D6 System: The Customizable Roleplaying Game'', written by George Strayton, which was the first core ''D6 System'' book not tied to a specific licensed or original property. Allowing total freedom to create any kind of roleplaying game through variation in attributes, skills, and every other game element all centered around the core mechanic of rolling six-sided dice against a difficulty number, the ''D6 System'' book shared as much in common with the role-playing game toolkit
Fudge Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline can ...
as it did with other universal systems like
GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems ...
. WEG followed the D6 core book with '' Indiana Jones Adventures'' (a reworking of the earlier MasterBook setting) and the stand-alone ''
Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses ...
RPG''. Another licensed game, the '' Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game'' was the last title released by the original West End Games before their bankruptcy, as well as the first to use a modified ''D6 System'' based resolution engine that would later be known as the Legend System. A half-finished draft of a ''D6 System'' based
Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, ...
role playing game remained unpublished as a result of the bankruptcy.


Humanoids Publishing era

Following the bankruptcy, WEG was merged with French company Yeti, a subsidiary of Humanoids Publishing. Most of WEG's earlier licenses were terminated at this point, but the reconstituted company acquired another one from DC Comics. This license resulted in a new Legend System game, the '' DC Universe Roleplaying Game'', which released a few titles from 1999 until 2001. As Humanoids Publishing was the publisher of the
Metabarons ''The Metabarons'' or ''The Saga of The Meta-Barons'' is a science fiction comic series relating the history of a dynasty of perfect warriors known as the Metabarons. ''The Metabarons'' series was written by creator Alejandro Jodorowsky and illu ...
graphic novels, they utilized the ''D6 System'' to release an RPG based upon that setting. Ron Fricke and former WEG publisher
Scott Palter Daniel Scott Palter (died February 17, 2020) was a game designer who worked primarily on wargames and role-playing games. Early life and education Scott Palter received an Bachelor of Arts, AB from Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, then a Juris Doct ...
's ''Psibertroopers'', the first licensed third party ''D6 System'' product, also saw release during this period. Humanoids began the process of releasing
PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
format versions of many of the earlier WEG titles, converting some to the ''D6 System'' in the process. Humanoids released a PDF version of the '' Shatterzone Universe Guide'' containing an early version of ''D6 Space Opera''. An initial PDF version of ''
D6 Adventure ''D6 Adventure'' is a generic role-playing game system based on the D6 System. ''D6 Adventure'' is published as a stand-alone rulebook (not dependent upon or requiring any other D6 System rulebooks) and is supported by its own line of supplements. ...
'' was released as a rules lead in for the eventual re-release of ''
Bloodshadows ''Bloodshadows'' is an original pulp adventure gamebook by West End Games that was published in 1994. It was the first setting book for WEG's MasterBook game, which used rules elements used earlier in their Torg, TORG and Shatterzone games. It was ...
''.


Purgatory Publishing era

In November 2003, shortly after the PDF release of ''D6 Adventure'', the WEG assets changed hands once again. The new owner, Purgatory Publishing, re-released the game in the form of three hardcover rulebooks. The rulebooks, each written by Nikola Vrtis, were actually three separate games. Each shared the same core mechanics, but utilized different attributes, skill sets, equipment lists and power systems. ''
D6 Adventure ''D6 Adventure'' is a generic role-playing game system based on the D6 System. ''D6 Adventure'' is published as a stand-alone rulebook (not dependent upon or requiring any other D6 System rulebooks) and is supported by its own line of supplements. ...
'', an expanded hardcover release of the earlier PDF, covered wild west, pulp, espionage, low-powered super heroes, and other modern or near modern games. ''
D6 Space ''D6 Space'' is a generic science fiction role-playing game (RPG) based on the ''D6 System''. Although derived, in part, from material originally presented in ''The Star Wars Roleplaying Game'', ''D6 Space'' is published as a stand-alone ruleboo ...
'' shared much in common with the earlier ''Star Wars'' line, and detailed space opera and cyberpunk game rules. ''
D6 Fantasy D6 Fantasy is a generic fantasy role-playing game (RPG) based on the D6 System. D6 Fantasy is published as a stand-alone rulebook (not dependent upon or requiring any other D6 System rulebook) and is supported by its own line of supplements. Set ...
'' dealt with sword & sorcery, high fantasy and swashbuckling campaign models. Khepera Publishing's licensed ''D6 System'' super hero game ''Godsend Agenda'' was released shortly thereafter. In 2007, WEG announced ''Septimus'', a new standalone ''D6 System'' game with a setting designed by
Bill Coffin Bill Coffin (born September 17, 1970) is a writer of novels and role-playing games in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Perhaps best known for his work at Palladium Books from July 1998 through May 2002, he made significant contributions to ...
and a rules system paralleling that of ''Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game''. Near the end of the year, WEG publisher
Eric Gibson "King" Eric Gibson was a Bahamian musician and entrepreneur. He was also the semiofficial Ambassador of Bahamian Goodwill. Gibson was born on the small island of Acklins to a musical family, although he didn't pursue music until his adulthood. ...
tentatively announced that the ''D6 System'' would soon be adopting a free license. At the end of the month of March, 2008, West End Games announced that the "Septimus" product would not be released due to cost issues. In August 2009, West End Games released most of the 51000 series of D6 book with attached OGL license officially classifying them and the ''D6 System'' as Open under the OGL v1.0. This re-release was in anticipation for a formal launch of the OpenD6 website portal and workstation, meant to aid publishers and players alike in creating, archiving, and searching the wealth of D6 rules and variants. Additionally, August 13, 2009, saw the long-awaited release of Bill Coffin's Septimus which itself was the first formal release of new material under the OpenD6 label.


Nocturnal Media era

In April 2016, The D6 System, together with West End Games, was bought by Nocturnal Media. The D6 books were made available on DriveThruRPG, and development for the system was mentioned. In 2017, The D6 System was licensed forward to Gallant Knights Games to publish a new edition for the system. GKG published a
Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...
RPG was based on the upcoming D6 System, which will continue to be finalized in D6 System: Second Edition.


See also

*
List of D6 System books {{Short description, none List of D6 System books is a listing of commercially released books from West End Games, its successors, and licensees for the D6 System role-playing game. This does not include various free downloads, fan-made works or for ...
* " Wiedźmin – Gra Wyobraźni" – a Polish role-playing game based on the '' Witcher'' books uses a system inspired by WEG's D6 system''.


References


External links


Khepera Publishing
Licensed publisher of ''D6 System'' and ''Legend System'' games.
West End Games Fans Site
forums for the ''Open D6'' rules.

D6 System RPG rulebooks for D6 Adventures, D6 Space, and D6 Fantasy genres. {{RPG systems Universal role-playing games West End Games games Role-playing games introduced in 1996