2d6 Fixed+Rolled Damage idea

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

valgunn

Well-Known Pubber
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
134
Reaction score
158
I’m contemplating a damage system for OSR game that only uses 2d6.

Fixed damage is based on your class. So, for instance, a magic-user gets 1 point as a base at 1st level and a fighter gets 3 (or something along this scale).

The 2d6 roll is for the weapon. Example:

DAGGER
2 = 0 (fumble or weapon break)
3-6 = 1
7-9 = 2
10-11 = 3
12 = 4

So a 1st level fighter using a dagger will do 3-7 points of damage, while a magic-user will do 1-5 points damage. As your level increases the more fixed damage you do. Fighters scale quickest, while magic-user slowest.

Favored weapon perhaps increases either fixed or rolled (not sure yet). So a thief using a favored weapon dagger, gets a boost.

Also, maybe the dagger gets a specific effect against certain armor types.

You still only need a roll to hit and a roll for damage. But every successful attack you’ll do at least 1 point of damage and fighter types will be more effective. Also they become more powerful as levels increase.

Thoughts?
 
Another option is the one they use in Vagabonds of Dyfed where you roll a PbtA 2d6 to hit and the damage is either the high or low die on that same roll depending on class and circumstance, plus possible mods. It's a sleek idea.
 
The system would work, of course, though I'd guess it means you have to consult a chart for damage every time that you roll it. That's not much of a problem for players, since (I assume) they are normally only running one character and could write the appropriate damage tables on their sheets. It seems to me that it could be an issue for the g.m., when he or she is running a lot of antagonists. That would mean looking up damage in a bunch of different charts.

One way around this would be having only a few different charts in all--maybe one for small weapons (daggers, etc.), one for 1-handed standard weapons (sword, axe, etc.), and one for large two-handed weapons (polearms, two-handed swords, etc.).

In general, I find that things which make combat more interesting and 'personalized' for players can make fights more of a headache for g.m.s.

Is the point of using charts based on 2D6 that it will make damage less 'swingy'? In this example, the average damage comes out to 1.75 points (not counting the class bonus), which is admittedly less than you would get with 1D4 for damage (2.5 points). If you include the magician's class bonus and see that as the 'bottom' level then it really isn't too different from rolling 1D4 in terms of average damage (2.75 points vs. 2.5 points).
 
Another option is the one they use in Vagabonds of Dyfed where you roll a PbtA 2d6 to hit and the damage is either the high or low die on that same roll depending on class and circumstance, plus possible mods. It's a sleek idea.

I will take a look.
 
The system would work, of course, though I'd guess it means you have to consult a chart for damage every time that you roll it. That's not much of a problem for players, since (I assume) they are normally only running one character and could write the appropriate damage tables on their sheets. It seems to me that it could be an issue for the g.m., when he or she is running a lot of antagonists. That would mean looking up damage in a bunch of different charts.

One way around this would be having only a few different charts in all--maybe one for small weapons (daggers, etc.), one for 1-handed standard weapons (sword, axe, etc.), and one for large two-handed weapons (polearms, two-handed swords, etc.).

In general, I find that things which make combat more interesting and 'personalized' for players can make fights more of a headache for g.m.s.

Is the point of using charts based on 2D6 that it will make damage less 'swingy'? In this example, the average damage comes out to 1.75 points (not counting the class bonus), which is admittedly less than you would get with 1D4 for damage (2.5 points). If you include the magician's class bonus and see that as the 'bottom' level then it really isn't too different from rolling 1D4 in terms of average damage (2.75 points vs. 2.5 points).

That is a good questions for monsters and npcs.

Sort of—base success is a roll of 7+ on action rolls. So when it comes to the table I broke it up into 5 parts (similar to B/X reaction) with snake eyes being very bad/auto fail, 3-6 not good or fail, 7-9 average success, 10-11 very good success, and 12 box cars being critical/auto success. I’ll use this table for morale, reactions and a few of other things.
 
OP, this reminds me of Advanced Fighting Fantasy...:grin:

Another option is the one they use in Vagabonds of Dyfed where you roll a PbtA 2d6 to hit and the damage is either the high or low die on that same roll depending on class and circumstance, plus possible mods. It's a sleek idea.
It's also used in Havenshield. Depending on class, level and escalation, it allows you to get potentially from "take the lower of your 2d6 to hit" to "take them both" and beyond...which IIRC was based on class first, and escalation second.
 
Sort of—base success is a roll of 7+ on action rolls. So when it comes to the table I broke it up into 5 parts (similar to B/X reaction) with snake eyes being very bad/auto fail, 3-6 not good or fail, 7-9 average success, 10-11 very good success, and 12 box cars being critical/auto success. I’ll use this table for morale, reactions and a few of other things.

That's interesting. I did not realize that all weapons would have only 5 possible results, with the same probability for each 'step' regardless of weapon. I'd been assuming that a weapon which would do, say, 6 or 8 points maximum raw damage would have 6 or 8 steps spread along the 2D6 (or 7 or 9 if 2 is a fail). Your system if simpler and would be easier to remember, though I'd think it would still mean checking charts to compute damage. It would also mean that a weapon that in another system would do 1D8 of damage would have only 4 'steps' available and hence not be able to do (for instance) 7 points of raw damage.
 
That's interesting. I did not realize that all weapons would have only 5 possible results, with the same probability for each 'step' regardless of weapon. I'd been assuming that a weapon which would do, say, 6 or 8 points maximum raw damage would have 6 or 8 steps spread along the 2D6 (or 7 or 9 if 2 is a fail). Your system if simpler and would be easier to remember, though I'd think it would still mean checking charts to compute damage. It would also mean that a weapon that in another system would do 1D8 of damage would have only 4 'steps' available and hence not be able to do (for instance) 7 points of raw damage.

I’m still trying to figure out the monster/NPC side. In the stat block, you could easily have the base damage + the scale. Looking something like:

Claw: 4 + 2=0, 3-6=3, 7-9=5, 10-11=7, 12=9

Or you do a fixed amount of damage.

A referee screen could have a series of weapon charts, so in the stat block it just says see chart X.

I think it only gets unwieldy with larger numbers, but it is something to think about.

For sure I’m open to suggestions. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
As another poster stated, it does resemble Advanced Fighting Fantasy to a small degree. :smile:

If you have a set of fixed results on dice rolls, then work with that. Your stat block could look like

Claw: B4(0/3/5/7/9)
where B = Base Damge, so B4 = Base Damage of 4
Thent he numbers in parens is the extra damage based on dice results. As long as your dice result ranges are static, this would work well, since it then gives a range of 4-13 for the attack.

And if your armor has numeric value, it can reduce the damage done as well.

I am working on my own 2d6 game as well (very slowly - I have the character sheet done at least), and am contemplating doing something similar to what I did in Novus (base damage, + up to double base), but I am also using a universal table and want to work that into my system as well. (still VERY much in progress).
 
As another poster stated, it does resemble Advanced Fighting Fantasy to a small degree. :smile:

If you have a set of fixed results on dice rolls, then work with that. Your stat block could look like

Claw: B4(0/3/5/7/9)
where B = Base Damge, so B4 = Base Damage of 4
Thent he numbers in parens is the extra damage based on dice results. As long as your dice result ranges are static, this would work well, since it then gives a range of 4-13 for the attack.

And if your armor has numeric value, it can reduce the damage done as well.

I am working on my own 2d6 game as well (very slowly - I have the character sheet done at least), and am contemplating doing something similar to what I did in Novus (base damage, + up to double base), but I am also using a universal table and want to work that into my system as well. (still VERY much in progress).


Thanks Rasyr and good luck on your game as well!

Yes, die ranges are static. Base and extra would vary by power of monster and weapon type.
 
Thanks Rasyr and good luck on your game as well!

Yes, die ranges are static. Base and extra would vary by power of monster and weapon type.

For weapons, if I could suggest, perhaps something like
Weapon List
  • Dagger 1 (0/2/4/6/8)
  • Mace 3 (0/3/5/7/9)
  • Broadsword 3 (0/3/6/8/10)

And then you could have

Mages
  • +0 Melee Dmg
  • +0 Ranged Dmg
  • +3 Spell Dmg
Fighters
  • +3 Melee Dmg
  • +1 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
Archers
  • +1 Melee Dmg
  • +3 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
etc..

That way each character has a slight variation (you could do the same for Races as well, like
  • Dwarves +2 Maces/Axes; +1 all other Melee
  • Elves +2 Bows; +1 Light Blades

(this is giving me ideas for my own - I have a universal table and larger ranges than you do, but if the character needs a 14 to hit and rolls a total of 18, I could have it result in a +4 to the damage roll (allowing for extra damage with it out overpowering things))

And essentially, it is a small add based on weapon, race and class (without these two affecting the extra damage, only the base damage), and then you have some decent ranges without the number getting super high.
 
For weapons, if I could suggest, perhaps something like
Weapon List
  • Dagger 1 (0/2/4/6/8)
  • Mace 3 (0/3/5/7/9)
  • Broadsword 3 (0/3/6/8/10)

And then you could have

Mages
  • +0 Melee Dmg
  • +0 Ranged Dmg
  • +3 Spell Dmg
Fighters
  • +3 Melee Dmg
  • +1 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
Archers
  • +1 Melee Dmg
  • +3 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
etc..

That way each character has a slight variation (you could do the same for Races as well, like
  • Dwarves +2 Maces/Axes; +1 all other Melee
  • Elves +2 Bows; +1 Light Blades

(this is giving me ideas for my own - I have a universal table and larger ranges than you do, but if the character needs a 14 to hit and rolls a total of 18, I could have it result in a +4 to the damage roll (allowing for extra damage with it out overpowering things))

And essentially, it is a small add based on weapon, race and class (without these two affecting the extra damage, only the base damage), and then you have some decent ranges without the number getting super high.

This is great stuff!
 
For weapons, if I could suggest, perhaps something like
Weapon List
  • Dagger 1 (0/2/4/6/8)
  • Mace 3 (0/3/5/7/9)
  • Broadsword 3 (0/3/6/8/10)

And then you could have

Mages
  • +0 Melee Dmg
  • +0 Ranged Dmg
  • +3 Spell Dmg
Fighters
  • +3 Melee Dmg
  • +1 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
Archers
  • +1 Melee Dmg
  • +3 Ranged Dmg
  • +0 Spell Dmg
etc..

That way each character has a slight variation (you could do the same for Races as well, like
  • Dwarves +2 Maces/Axes; +1 all other Melee
  • Elves +2 Bows; +1 Light Blades

(this is giving me ideas for my own - I have a universal table and larger ranges than you do, but if the character needs a 14 to hit and rolls a total of 18, I could have it result in a +4 to the damage roll (allowing for extra damage with it out overpowering things))

And essentially, it is a small add based on weapon, race and class (without these two affecting the extra damage, only the base damage), and then you have some decent ranges without the number getting super high.

The bonuses you are suggestion is that on the damage roll, so—for example—a Fighter has a greater chance at getting higher damage or is it a + to the base number?
 
Using the numbers I gave above, the Mage would essentially use the Dagger as listed, where the base damage for the Dagger for the Fighter would be 4 points (which would up the total damage as well, since it is an add on to the base and the success levels would add to the base also)


  • Dagger 1 (0/2/4/6/8)
  • Mage using Dagger 1 (0/2/4/6/8)
  • Fighter using Dagger 4 (0/2/4/6/8)
so, the Mage has a range of 1-8 damage, while the fighter does 4-12 with a Dagger. (same for other weapons)
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top