Project Code Name: Roll A D6

A big part of why I like Swords & Wizardry so much is that it's a great baseline for hacking, for making it my own. On the other hand, I find approaches like the Siege Engine in Castles & Crusades pretty nifty. So, we set out to put together a check system using the venerable D6 in sync with the spirit of S&W itself.

The mini-project has been dubbed "Roll A D6."

The default assumption is that the GM leans on RAD6 when it looks like a situation could go either way, 1D6 with a 4+ target. But how in the world does that scale? Here's how...

Assign a level to the challenge at hand. The guideline is, at what character level is a 50/50 chance appropriate? Subtract the active character's level from the challenge level and you get the challenge's target number modifier. Add this modifier, plus or negative, to 4.

Here's the formula:

Modifier = Challenge Level - Character Level

TN = 4 + Modifier

How about an example?

Dresan, a 1st level fighter with 17 (+1) strength is attempting to roll a huge rock out of the doorway of a crypt. Deemed by the GM to be a 3rd level challenge, a 6 (3 - 1 = +2 TN modifier) must be rolled in order to succeed. That target number of 6 is softened a bit by adding his +1 attribute bonus to the roll.

How has it been working for us?

So far, so good. RAD6 is pretty nifty at the table. The system also works for 0-level henchmen acting as a skilled work crew. So, of course, the handling of PCs working together is a breeze. Opposed checks are simple. And best of all, sometimes a D6 is just a D6. There's no need to tinker with surprise or even the opening of doors if you don't want to. Or maybe, deep in the citadel, the majestic golden door of the bandit king is a challenge while all those preceding were not.