Hah, watching Secrets of Blackmoor has made me think about using 2d6 again.
On the one hand, I’m as fascinated as @lskh is by all the 2d6 mechanics surrounding me, from Traveller to Powered by the Apocalypse rules, and like a siren it’s calling me. And I remember older rules, too. I remember the very first such game I met was Fenris 2d6, and Pits & Perils. I remember being a bit disappointed when I realized that Pits & Perils was so simplistic even though I had read an enthusiastic review on *Save vs. Total Party Kill*.
But when I look at Dave Arneson’s table of old friends and his daughter in *Secrets of Blackmoor*, having fun, exploring dungeons, and just using just 2d6… It obviously works!
And I see that Norbert Matausch has been thinking about the same things, lately. To get a feel for his games, perhaps it makes sense to read Sophie’s review of Tatzelwurm, one of his 2d6 games. I first noticed his interest in 2d6 games when I read John Harper’s World of Dungeons, followed by *Streets of Marienburg* by unknown authors, and finally Norbert Matausch’s *Advanced World of Dungeons*. He took his old blog down, so you’ll have to do a little searching online to find the PDFs. Looking at his new blog, I see quite a few posts talking about the things I’m fascinated by right now:
Pre-D&D: How Dave, Gary, Phil and the original grognards played talks about people disliking *Chainmail* because it lacked hit-points and thus characters died whenever they were hit. There’s more about this in the *Secrets of Blackmoor* movie, actually. Anyway, the article tries to collect the actual rules used and continues with an example combat. A few days later, there is a second attempt at writing down the rules, Older School: Pre-D&D, 2nd edition, and finally How the Grognards really played, 3rd edition. Wonderful!
Pre-D&D: How Dave, Gary, Phil and the original grognards played
Older School: Pre-D&D, 2nd edition
How the Grognards really played, 3rd edition
Ahhh... and yet here I am, writing spells and spellbooks. 😆
#RPG #Old School #Indie #Powered by the Apocalypse #2d6
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At the moment I’m fascinated by Advanced Fighting Fantasy, which also uses 2d6, which is still very light on rules. Also, Troika!, which is Planescape without superheroes using (basically) a modified version of AFF.
– Ynas Midgard 2019-08-29 00:25 UTC
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You did convince me to buy *Troika!* which also happens to be the *Deal of the Day* at DriveThru RPG.
– Alex Schroeder 2019-08-29 05:54 UTC
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Also enjoying this list of quotes: Play worlds, not rules: Juggling ideas for stone age rpg sessions.
Play worlds, not rules: Juggling ideas for stone age rpg sessions
– Alex Schroeder 2019-08-29 06:28 UTC
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Was thinking of combining Troika! with Hill Cantons setting/adventures. Seems like it’d be a good fit.
I also think World of Dungeons would go great with the Magic system replaced with that of Wonder & Wickedness.
– Starmonkey 2019-08-30 08:36 UTC
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I need to think about what I want from a 2d6 system. I don’t actually want to recreate a complex system and I feel like all my RPG experience is pulling me that way. So now I think I need to play, maybe start with as little as possible, and then decide where to take it based on what happens *at the table*. Which then makes me think I need the right players for it as well.
– Alex Schroeder 2019-08-30 09:52 UTC
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Once I read through this, Troika immediately came to mind. It’s basically the system that this is describing. And Troika is just amazing generally...
– Ian Schlom 2019-08-30 20:20 UTC
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Regarding the idea of going back to Arneson... wheee! I was reading The Arnesonian Dungeon by Justin Alexander and found comments by Dan Boggs and a link to his blog, Hidden in Shadows. And I’m thinking, nope, Arneson isn’t just rolling 2d6 and figuring it out as he goes. It’s a complicated, confusing, malleable machine in his head, ever changing, and so now I’m suspecting that a simple roll high on 2d6 might result in a very boring game indeed. There needs to be much more in the background, in the setting, in the internal workings of the world to make those die rolls interesting.
– Alex Schroeder 2019-08-30 22:21 UTC
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2d6 – the original tabletop role playing dice mechanic, in *Wanderer Bill’s Journal*.
2d6 – the original tabletop role playing dice mechanic
– Alex Schroeder 2019-10-19 16:27 UTC
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A review of the Troika rpg talks about another 2d6 rule set.
– Alex Schroeder 2019-12-23 14:21 UTC
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Aw, the heck with it: Our rules now have a real name. I keep wondering if a simple 2d6 game would be enough for a longer campaign. I do like that “trusting the GM” is baked into the rules. After all: do I want to play a game where I don’t trust the GM? Of course not. The rules are never going to make up for that.
Aw, the heck with it: Our rules now have a real name
– Alex Schroeder 2019-12-23 14:22 UTC
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Ancient-school roleplaying: an exclusive Interview with grognard Bob Meyer by Norbert G. Matausch.
Ancient-school roleplaying: an exclusive Interview with grognard Bob Meyer
– Alex Schroeder 2020-03-21 22:34 UTC