Kismet! a simple hack for converting d6 into fudge/fate dice

[mabriss lethe]

OK. so, I HATE specialty dice. and I hate trying to keep track of the conversion tables that you can often use when specialty dice aren't at hand. That said, I often love the resolution mechanics that a lot of these games use. so what's a guy to do?

I found a solution at the local Dollar Tree: Kismet Dice. I have a feeling that they were probably the dice used before fudge dice got printed on their own. for those unfamiliar with Kismet, it's a dice game designed in the 60s where the standard pips on the dice are colored red, green, and black on each die. Perfect for a working man's d6 that's readily usable while playing fate. (green=+, red=-, black=null)

that said, dollar tree is currently out of stock, and buying from another source is pricey enough to make it an unpalatable solution. so back to the beginning, What's a guy to do?

Paint your own KISMET dice!

OK. admittedly, none of this is particularly genius, but it hit me as a way to lower the entry point on a fun system that otherwise might not see use at a table, and I'm sure a similar work around could be found to convert something like fantasy flight dice games if one were serious enough.

[Grod_The_Giant]

For Fate dice, at least, just take a pair of normal dice and connect the pips with a sharpie. 4 and 6 become "0," 1 and 5 become "+," and 2 and 3 become "-."

[mabriss lethe]

For Fate dice, at least, just take a pair of normal dice and connect the pips with a sharpie. 4 and 6 become "0," 1 and 5 become "+," and 2 and 3 become "-."


that's a pretty useful quick solution, though I think reapplication would be a minor annoyance. painting your own kismet dice would take only slightly longer but last significantly longer than sharpie. (and if we're being honest, would be much more attractive) what I like about that solution is that it doesn't detract from their usability in other games, whereas using a sharpie would render them both less aesthetically pleasing and less readable outside of fate.

that said, when/if dollar tree gets them back in stock, I'm buying a few sets, because that's good price point for dice that work well for general purpose and niche gaming.

[Knaight]

For Fate dice, at least, just take a pair of normal dice and connect the pips with a sharpie. 4 and 6 become "0," 1 and 5 become "+," and 2 and 3 become "-."

Fate dice and Fudge dice are the same dice, developed for Fudge, taken by Fate, with the credit mysteriously vanishing. This particular method was recorded by 1996, in the same article which recommended color coding white dice green/white/red for +/blank/-.

Personally I just used 5-6 as +1, 1-2 as -1 for years. It worked fine.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

2d6-7 also works fairly well as an approximation, although it adds a possible -5/+5 on the ends of the bell curve.

[Cluedrew]

I had this weird thought in my head about using a d9 but that might be harder to find than a Fudge die.

Also in fudge are some tables that map 3d6 to the -4 to +4, with similar odds as 4dF. (All ranges are 2 wide except -/+3, which is 5 or 16 respectively.)

[Friv]

2d6-7 also works fairly well as an approximation, although it adds a possible -5/+5 on the ends of the bell curve.

It actually creates a much swingier bell curve overall.


#
Fate
2d6-7


-5/+5
0%
2.78%


-4/+4
1.23%
5.56%


-3/+3
4.94%
8.33%


-2/+2
12.35%
11.11%


-1/+1
19.75%
13.89%


0
23.46%
16.67%



Under normal Fate dice, you have a very strong push to the middle. Getting -1 to +1 happens in nearly 2 out of 3 attempts, and getting a +/- 3 or 4 only happens 6% of the time - only slightly more often than rolling a 1 or 20 on a d20.

But under 2d6-7, the mean -1 to +1 range happens less than half the time, and getting that +/- 3 or higher happens almost exactly 1 in 6 times - about the same chance as rolling a 1 or 6 on a d6. It'll give you a lot more situations in which characters with a lot of skill get beaten by weaker characters. If that's the goal, that's okay, but it is a pretty significant shift.

[JoeJ]

Just use ordinary six-sided dice and count 1-2 as -, 3-4 as 0, and 5-6 as +.