How does d6 system works?

[Yael]

Well there's the topic, not much to say.

[Siosilvar]

I can think of a number of systems that use d6s. Some examples from actual games, off the top of my head:

• Add total of d6s (the "d6 System" used in d6 Star Wars and the like)
• Count successes (dice pool a la Shadowrun)
• 1 = No, and; 2 = No; 3 = No, but; 4 = Yes, but; 5 = Yes; 6 = Yes, and

[bobthe6th]

3d6 is 1d20 with a normal distribution.

[Ailowynn]

I dunno if this is actually the "official" d6 system (because a lot of games run off of d6s only) but in GURPS you roll 3d6 and try to get a result LOWER than your stat, with 18 being the highest sat value and 3 the lowest (I think). So if you have 12 in Acrobatics and want to do a backflip, you roll 3d6 and hope the total is 12 or less. If there are circumstance penalties, like it's rainy outside while you're back flipping, you apply that penalty to your stat.

[Lord Vukodlak]

It depends entirely on the system typically you have an attribute and a skill. You add the two together and that gives you your dice pool.

Now say in Shadowrun you roll those dice and anything that is a five or a six is a hit you keep those dice and that determines the degree of your success.

So I'd roll my agility+pistols vs the defenders agility.(you need to spend an action to use the dodge skill against bullets) If I have more successes then he does then I hit, and add those successes to the damage of my gun which the defender then rolls against with body+his armor.
The end result is the damage.

Other systems use a different method of determining success. d6 starwars counted 4-6 and some systems count a different number depending on how difficult the action is.

[AuraTwilight]

3d6 is 1d20 with a normal distribution.

...That can never land on 1, 2, 19, or 20. >_>

[Yael]

So this system might work like Vampire - The Masquerade's d10, but with d6s?

[Eldan]

It might. That depends entirely on which system you are talking about. Dice size doesn't tell you much.

I can't think of one, but a d20-like d6+modifier vs. target number could work too.

[bobthe6th]

the point is you have an better distribution, with a greater chance of around 10... and no 5% chance of utter failure... at any thing you do.

[Knaight]

I'm going to assume that you are talking about the specific d6 systems, rather than just systems that happen to use d6. As it happens, large parts of it are free.

But, going off memory: I seem to remember that you have an attribute-skill system, which provide a number of dice that you roll and add against a target number.

If you are referring to systems that only use d6 (or have d6 as a particular option), I can think of a few sets of dice systems in use, with examples.

Target Number: Warrior Rogue and Mage has you roll 1d6 plus something against a difficulty. On a 6, you can sometimes add another die. PDQ uses two dice in a similar fashion, but you never add more.

Dice Pool: Burning Wheel has you roll and count how many dice go over a certain number. The actual number varies within the system.

Roll and Keep: I don't actually know any of these, but I'd imagine they are there. Legend of the Five Rings has a d10 version.

Set Matching: I don't actually know of any of these. The ORE family of systems (Nemesis, Reign, Monsters and Other Childish Things, Wild Talents, Godlike) has a d10 version.

[Yitzi]

3d6 is 1d20 with a normal distribution.

Actually, 3d6 also has a far lower variance (and hence standard deviation) than 1d20. 3d6 is actually more comparable to 1d10+5 than to 1d20.