Sep 1, 2015 5:00 pm
This is a basic post to give you the overview for those that have never played End of the World, or a similar d6 system. If you don't have the corebook I'll give you the basics of what we need to play here. If you've played other RPGs the basics of skill checks (tests) are here and they determine most everything in the game.
Make Checks:
If you've played an RPG before you know many things you do require you to make checks using your stats. This game is no exception. If you want to climb a rope, drive a car through a building, talk your way out of a standoff, or fend off the mindless undead, you need to make a check, or as they are called in this game, a 'Test'. The basics are as such:
1. DM Determins appropriate characterstics for the test.
2. Assemble a number of positive dice and negative dice to roll (always d6s)
3. Roll the dice and, after all factors have been accounted for if there is at least one positive dice left that is under the stat number you are rolling with you succeed.
Assemble Dice Pools:
You always get one positive dice to start any task. Then you and the DM add a number of positive and negative dice to the pool based on various factors.
Positive dice can come from positive features, equipment that may help you, assistance from your friends, and other situational benefits that can aid your task.
Negative dice are added from the tasks danger or difficulty, negative features, traumas, and any other situational hinderences that may cause failure.
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Example:
You are trying to pick the lock on a door as a horde of the undead swarm closer and closer to you. You start with a positive dice. You add another positive because you found a lockpicking kit, and another because you have a positive feature of "Can pick locks". That book you picked up at the library seemed useless at the time, but now look where it got you.
On the downside you get a negative dice because of the stress of the zombie horde baring down on you. You are also working with the trauma of a sprained wrist, normally not such an issue, but it is making this dexterous task very difficult, so you have another negative.
So your pool is:
- 3 positive dice
- 2 negative dice
You can try and make arguments for adding more or less of either, but GM has final say.
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Once per test you may also push yourself to add a positive and negative dice to the pool.
Rolling and Results:
You roll both your positive and negative dice at once (or in GamersPlane you roll as two separate pools of d6s.) and then remove any positive and negative dice that match. This is good because it removes negative dice. It is also bad because it may remove successes. Once matches are removed if there are any positive dice that remain that are under your stat number for the task (dexterity in the lock picking example), you succeed.
However, succeed or fail, any remaining negative dice in the pool add stress to your character and they creep closer to death, insanity, or a complete catatonic social shutdown. There are rules for built up reduction in stress we can touch on later.
Rolling Against Others:
This works just like a regular test. Each person assembles a dice pool, rolls, removes matches, and counts successes. The higher success count wins. In a tie the higher stat value wins. Stress is still incurred on both sides in the event of negative dice remaining in the pool.
Attack:
You simply make a dexterity test, but instead of just a single dice for having a single piece of equipment, you now add dice based on how hard the item is to wield as a weapon (could be positive or negative dice added for this depending on how unwieldy the weapon), and the weapon will generally (but not always) give you a boost to the amount of physical stresses you apply to your opponent.
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Example:
A small kitchen knife will give you an extra positive dice to the pool, it's small, but easy to wield. If you succeed in the task you add +2 to whatever the number of your successes are, and apply that much stress to your opponent (remember, stress is like reverse life, they more they have the more likely they die).
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If anything else comes up I will post about it. This should give us enough to start with for trying to accomplish things and survive.
Make Checks:
If you've played an RPG before you know many things you do require you to make checks using your stats. This game is no exception. If you want to climb a rope, drive a car through a building, talk your way out of a standoff, or fend off the mindless undead, you need to make a check, or as they are called in this game, a 'Test'. The basics are as such:
1. DM Determins appropriate characterstics for the test.
2. Assemble a number of positive dice and negative dice to roll (always d6s)
3. Roll the dice and, after all factors have been accounted for if there is at least one positive dice left that is under the stat number you are rolling with you succeed.
Assemble Dice Pools:
You always get one positive dice to start any task. Then you and the DM add a number of positive and negative dice to the pool based on various factors.
Positive dice can come from positive features, equipment that may help you, assistance from your friends, and other situational benefits that can aid your task.
Negative dice are added from the tasks danger or difficulty, negative features, traumas, and any other situational hinderences that may cause failure.
-----
Example:
You are trying to pick the lock on a door as a horde of the undead swarm closer and closer to you. You start with a positive dice. You add another positive because you found a lockpicking kit, and another because you have a positive feature of "Can pick locks". That book you picked up at the library seemed useless at the time, but now look where it got you.
On the downside you get a negative dice because of the stress of the zombie horde baring down on you. You are also working with the trauma of a sprained wrist, normally not such an issue, but it is making this dexterous task very difficult, so you have another negative.
So your pool is:
- 3 positive dice
- 2 negative dice
You can try and make arguments for adding more or less of either, but GM has final say.
-----
Once per test you may also push yourself to add a positive and negative dice to the pool.
Rolling and Results:
You roll both your positive and negative dice at once (or in GamersPlane you roll as two separate pools of d6s.) and then remove any positive and negative dice that match. This is good because it removes negative dice. It is also bad because it may remove successes. Once matches are removed if there are any positive dice that remain that are under your stat number for the task (dexterity in the lock picking example), you succeed.
However, succeed or fail, any remaining negative dice in the pool add stress to your character and they creep closer to death, insanity, or a complete catatonic social shutdown. There are rules for built up reduction in stress we can touch on later.
Rolling Against Others:
This works just like a regular test. Each person assembles a dice pool, rolls, removes matches, and counts successes. The higher success count wins. In a tie the higher stat value wins. Stress is still incurred on both sides in the event of negative dice remaining in the pool.
Attack:
You simply make a dexterity test, but instead of just a single dice for having a single piece of equipment, you now add dice based on how hard the item is to wield as a weapon (could be positive or negative dice added for this depending on how unwieldy the weapon), and the weapon will generally (but not always) give you a boost to the amount of physical stresses you apply to your opponent.
-----
Example:
A small kitchen knife will give you an extra positive dice to the pool, it's small, but easy to wield. If you succeed in the task you add +2 to whatever the number of your successes are, and apply that much stress to your opponent (remember, stress is like reverse life, they more they have the more likely they die).
------
If anything else comes up I will post about it. This should give us enough to start with for trying to accomplish things and survive.