Introduction

The D6 system is a fast and flexible set of rules for conducting a role playing game.  The rules are not written with any particular setting in mind, so it's relatively easy to adapt it to different genres.  It's not heavy on special conditions or exceptions, so hopefully you don't have to continually interrupt your game to determine what skill "X" does when faced with situation "Y".

These rules are an introduction to the D6 system and should be enough to get you started.  If you want more details, go ahead and purchase some of the D6 products, and follow the links I've provided to online D6 resources.

Characters

At it's simplest, the D6 rules are:  All actions are resolved by rolling a number of six sided dice, determined by a character's skill, versus a difficulty number.  If the roll is equal or above the target, the action succeeds.  Otherwise the attempt is a failure.

In order to play the game you’ll need to create a character.   Before you get out the pencil, first think about your character.  What do you want to be able to do with this character?   What kind of person is he or she?  What is their background and motivations?   Talk with the person running the game to see what kind of game they’re planning, and make sure your character concept will mesh.  Find out what the other players are creating and make sure you have a good blend of skills between you.

Characters are a collection of attributes and skills.  There are no classes per se, though you'll often see character templates published.   These are simply suggestions for creating a type of character.  The player is free to give their character any skill or ability they see fit, as long as they have the points to purchase them.

Skills and attributes are expressed in "Dice" and "Pips".   For example, a skill that is 3D+2 is three dice plus two pips.  When attempting an action with this skill, the player rolls three six sided dice and adds two to the total for the final result.

There are three pips per die, ranging from +0 to +2.  When increasing past +2, bump up to the next "D" value instead.  Thus 3D+2 increases to 4D+0, or simply 4D.

Attributes

Once you have a good idea for your character, you can start filling in the numbers that define their abilities.

Characters have a set of attributes.   These indicate the character's natural ability in such areas as strength, perception, and so on.  Attributes are essentially very broad skill groups, used when no other skill applies.  They also are the base regular skills are built upon.  Players have a total of 3D per attribute to build their character, but that doesn't mean you have to put 3D in each.   Values range from 2D to 4D for humans.

Start with attributes.  Attributes indicate the character’s natural abilities in different areas, and serve as the base for new skills associated with that ability.  There are four attributes used in Age of Enlightenment:

Physical Attributes

Strength (STR):  Ability to lift things and break things, cause physical damage, and absorb physical damage.

Reflexes (REF):  Fine motor skills, physical quickness.

Mental Attributes

Knowledge (KNO):  Covers general knowledge, technical ability, and problem solving ability.

Perception (PER):  Mental alertness, stability, and both situational and social awareness.

You have 12D to spread among the four attributes.  Refer to the Races section for attribute ranges if you are playing a non-human character.

The attributes listed here are just a suggestion.  Different games have different attributes and if you prefer those then use them.  Your skills are what will define the character.

Skills

Next choose your skills.  Refer to the skill list.  Each skill has an attribute it is associated with.   Pick the ones you want and write them down.  The minimum starting value of the skill is the same as the value of the attribute.   If your Perception is 3D+2, then your "Leadership" skill is at least 3D+2.

Beginning players get 7D, or 21 points, to build character skills.  When creating the character increasing a skill by a pip costs one point.   Your GM may give more starting dice if playing in a game requiring higher skilled characters.  Highly skilled characters can be created with 30D for skills.  Characters of myth and legend might have 50 – 60D in skills.

Example:  The player gives Nena +2 in the "Rifle" skill, which is REF based.  The skill is 3D+1 +2, or 4D.  She now has 6D+1 to spread among on other skills.

Skills that presumably require some training, such as magic skills, should not be used without spending at least one point on the skill..

Specializations

Skills can also have specializations, subsets of the skill where the character is particularly adept.  Spending 1 point at character creation buys +1D in a specialty.   So Nena, who has "Rifle: 4D" specializes in "M5A Assault Rifle".   Her skill with that weapon is currently 5D, and will always be 1D higher than the general "Rifle" skill.  There can only be one specialization for a given skill, and a character can only have three specializations to start with.  Once the character is created, buying a specialization costs the same as it would to increase the base skill by one pip.

Broad skills

Broad skills, denoted by a "(B)" in the skill name, represent the background knowledge for a profession or area of study.  Examples would be Physics for scientists, Medicine for doctors, Necromancy, Office Management.  The skill is seldom used by itself.  Instead it is combined with regular skills in it's category, providing up to +1D to the skill in use.  Broad skills provide a cost effective way to progress a character's professional skills.  Here are some general guidelines:

1. Maximum bonus provided to general skill by a broad skill is +1D.
2. The broad skill must be equal or greater than the general skill.  If not, the bonus is reduced by the difference between the skills.  If for instance the general skill is +2 higher than the broad skill, the max bonus is 1D - 2, or +1.
3. You can't get more out of a broad skill than you put into it.  If a broad skill is 3D+2, and the associated attribute is 3D, the max bonus is +2.
4. (Optional) Characters may have multiple broad skills, but they should have at least 3 skills under all their current broad skills before taking on another.

Broad skills often define the character's profession.  Players are encouraged to create their own broad skills to fit their character.  To do so, simply give the skill a name and description and pick up to 6 general skills to associate with it.  With GM's permission the players can adjust the description of a broad skill as their character progresses and exchange one or two general skills for ones that better fit the redefined broad skill.

Skills can be as unique as the character.  If there isn't one listed that suits your needs, then create your own.  Use the preexisting ones as a guide.

Gifts

Gifts are special abilities that can’t normally be measured with skills.  You are ambidextrous or you’re not.  You either can fly or you can’t.  There’s not a middle ground.

A character gets one free gift, and with GM permission can buy more with their starting skill dice.  One gift costs 1D in skills.  More powerful abilities may take up more than one gift slot.  If playing a non-human, and the race has a special ability listed, that ability must be bought as one of your gifts.  Your character doesn’t get anything extra for playing another race.

Refer to the list of gifts.  This is by no means a comprehensive list.  If you have an idea for a special ability not listed, ask the GM about it. 

Body points

Everybody gets 20 body points.  See the combat section for more information on injuries and healing.

Each character also has 20 stun points, which are used to keep track of fatigue and stun effects.  Again, refer to the combat section for more information.

Character Points

Character points are given at the end of an adventure, and are used to increase character skills and abilities.  A player may increase a skill by spending character points equal to the number before the "D".  Increasing a skill from 3D+2 to 4D costs 3cp, from 4D to 4D+1 costs 4cp.  Increasing an ability score costs 10cp times the number before the "D".

Character points can also be used during gameplay to aid in a skill roll.   Spending 1cp allows the player to roll an additional die than they're normally allowed.  This die counts as a wild die (more on that later), with the exception that rolling a 1 is not a complication.

Depending on the length of the game session, the overall challenge, and player involvement, 5 - 15 character points may be awarded.

Fate Points

Fate points are a measure of the character's ability to influence their fate at key points in time.  When spent, a fate point gives +4D to a skill attempt.

Fate points are not automatically given, but are earned by doing something risky and heroic at a cinematic moment.

Characters start with one fate point, and may have no more than five at a time.

Races

Here are some of the more common races.  In spite of their outward differences demihumans, even merfolk, are of the same species.  Mankind is not the only sentient species on the planet, but is by far the dominant one.

Some of the races have unique traits, such as darkvision.  These traits count as one of your character's starting gifts, and you are required to take them if you choose to be of that race.

Game Mechanics

As previously stated, actions are resolved by rolling a number of six sided dice determined by a given skill or attribute against a difficulty number determined by the GM.  If the player's roll meets or beats the number, their character succeeds.

Difficulty Numbers

Refer to the chart to get an idea of what the difficulty number should be for a given task.

For reference, skilled characters may have 3D in a skill, professionals 5D, and legendary heroes 8D or more.

Opposed Rolls

When applying a skill against another character, an opposed roll is made instead of a roll against a fixed difficulty.  Both characters roll their appropriate skill, i.e. "sneak" versus "spot".   Highest score wins.  Ties go to the player who initiated the action.

Wild Die

Players should pick a die that is distinguishable from the rest and declare it the wild die.  This die has special properties.

When making a roll, the wild die's value gets added to the total.  If the die comes up with a 6, add 6 to the dice total and roll the wild die again and add the new value to the dice total.  If another 6 comes up, roll and add again.  This continues as long as the player continues to roll 6's on the wild die.

If the die comes up with a 1, it results in a complication, meaning you screwed up in some way.  Remove the wild die and the highest normal die from the total.

If for some reason you only have one die to roll, it is a wild die.

Modifiers

Quite often there are extenuating circumstances which affect the attempt.   Environment, character well being, availability of proper tools, are just a few of the many possible conditions that may affect the outcome.   Give the players a modifier or penalty to their rolls in situations where they may be more likely or less likely to succeed.

Beware of dice inflation.  In D6, a few pips go a long way.  A 1D modifier is a significant advantage or disadvantage.  Unless the character is highly skilled, anything more than 2D is overwhelming, offering limited chances of success.

Scale

All characters and objects have a scale code that represents its mass relative to the mass of other objects.   Whenever objects of a different size attack each other, find the difference between their scale codes.   A character fighting an adult dragon would have a scale code difference of 4D (4D - 0 = 4D).

When attacking - The smaller of these two objects gains the difference in scale code dice as a bonus to hit the bigger object, while the bigger object loses the difference to hit the smaller object.

When calculating damage – The larger of these two objects gains the difference in scale code dice as a bonus to damage the smaller object, while the smaller object loses the difference when damaging the larger object.

So, a knight in shining armor has little difficulty hitting such a big target as a dragon, but hurting it is another matter.  By the same token, the dragon has a difficult time hitting such a puny target.  But when it does, the damage is great.

Combined actions

Two heads are better than one.  Rather than have two or more characters try a task individually, they can combine their efforts for a single roll.   Pick one character to perform the task, and give them modifiers for additional contributing characters.  When two combine, the modifier is +1D, +2D for four, +3D for eight, and so on.

Combat

Combat is fought in five second rounds.  Actions are resolved in a turn-based manner.

At the start of combat all participants roll their Awareness skill, or their Perception attribute if they don’t have the skill.  The character who rolls the highest has the option of acting first, or they can delay their actions until later in the round.  Once they are through, the character with the next highest roll acts, and so on until everybody has taken an action.  Then the next round begins in the same order.

The character whose turn it is declares their actions, and rolls the dice.  More that one action may be taken, but each additional action incurs a -1D penalty on all actions taken in that round.  For example, taking three actions incurs a -2D penalty for all three.

Characters may defend themselves at any point, usually with the Dodge skill, even if their turn hasn’t come up or has already been taken.  Dodging is a free action, and doesn’t count toward the multi-action penalties.  They can only dodge once, and the same roll is used for all attacks made against them.

To ambush an opponent, the attacker must make a successful Sneak roll, opposed by the defenders Awareness roll.  If successful, the attacker takes their turn first, and the defender is not allowed to defend themselves for that attack.  Once the attacker finishes their turn the remainder of the round resolves normally.

Attacks

Melee attacks are resolved by the attacker’s melee weapon skill vs. the opponent’s dodge.  If the opponent can’t dodge, then the difficulty is Very Easy.

Ranged attacks are resolved by the attacker’s ranged weapon skill vs. the opponent’s dodge.  As with melee, the base difficulty against a non-defending character is Very Easy.  Ranged weapons have an incremental value listed with their descriptions for short, medium, and long ranges.  The difficulty modifier for hitting a target in these ranges is an additional +0, +1D, +2D respectively.

Area attacks work a bit differently because close counts, and even a miss may still cause damage.  The attacker picks the target spot and the difficulty is determined based on range and modifiers.  If the character misses, the roll a D6 to determine which direction the object fell from it’s desired location.  Next, roll to determine how many meters the object fell from the desired target.  Assuming an attack with a thrown weapon, if the target is at short range roll 1D, at medium range roll 2D, and at long range roll 3D.  When performing an area attack at greater ranges, roll a number of D6 equal to 1/10th the range.  For example, if attacking and missing a target 100m away, roll 10D6 to determine where the attack actually hits.

Area attacks have a blast radius with incremental ranges.  A fireball may have a range of 2/4/6/8 with damages of 6D/4D/2D/0D.  Anyone 2 meters or less from the detonation point takes the full 6D for damage, while someone 6 – 8 meters away takes only 2D.

Some targets are easier to hit than others.  Here are some modifiers that can affect combat:

Damage

If the attack succeeds, then damage is determined.  The attacker rolls the number of dice indicated by the weapon’s damage value.  The defender rolls their Str + Armor value to soak the damage.  If the damage exceeds the soak roll, the defending character takes that many points of damage.  See the Wounds Effect chart for the consequences.

Exceptional attacks – If the attacker does extra well on their attack roll, that means they did a better job hitting a vital point.  For each five points the attacker roll exceeds the defense roll, add +2 to the damage roll.  If the defender dodges with a 15, and the attacker hits with 25, then that’s another +4 added to whatever is rolled for damage.

Physical cover also effectively adds to the character’s damage resistance, as long as the GM decides that the cover is able to absorb some of the damage.  This is most likely when the defender is fully covered and the attacker has to shoot through the obstacle.  Treat the cover as additional armor when rolling to soak damage.

Stun damage – Some weapons are designed to disable rater than injure.  All characters start with an amount of stun points equal to but independent of their body points.  losing stun points has incurs the same penalties as losing body points.  When stun points reach zero, stun damage is then taken from body points.

Injuries affect ability to perform all actions.  Use the lower (worse) value of the stun or body damage when determining penalties.

When the character is at 0 body points or less, they are dead.  But recently dead is not always the same as permanently dead.  There’s still a chance to revive the character.  Until stabilized, the dead character continues to lose 2BP per minute until they are at -20 BP.  Once a character reaches -20, either through extreme damage or brain death, they are permanently dead.  Their body is too damaged to possibly revive.

Healing

Characters can be healed through successful use of the healing spells or the Treat Injury skill.   The difficulty is the amount of damage the character is currently suffering.   Characters can only be healed once per day, unless injured again.

Successfully treating a dead (0 to -19) character will stabilize them.  They will stop losing BP, and start regaining points at the normal rate.  If still at negative BP, then they will be comatose until reaching 1BP.  If further injury is sustained, they start dying again, and must be stabilized once more.

Characters heal naturally 1 body point per day, 2 if under the care of a competent nurse or healer.   Stun points are regained within an hour.

Magic

Magical energy exists in the environment around us.  Spellcasters have the ability to tap this energy, channel and mold it into some form or action.  The use of magic is all about control.  It takes as much effort to create a delicate and complex effect as it does to unleash a deadly inferno.

Spells are skills which are purchased and improved in the same manner as non-magical skills.  Most spells have a variety of applications and effect.  As with other skills, spells can have a specialization, a specific effect that the caster is particularly good at performing.  Spells are grouped into several categories called domains, based on the general effects of the spells.  Domains are just a way to categorize the spells, and have no bearing on purchasing or using a spell skill.  Anyone cast use magic, and many non-mages still know a spell or two for their particular needs.  In fact, many "mundane" skills have a magical component to them.

When attempting a spell, add the skill and specialization bonus (if applicable), and roll the dice.  The spell has a base difficulty determined by the complexity and power of the spell’s effect.  If the spellcaster meets this target, the spell succeeds.  Otherwise it fizzles.

If you look at the spell listings, you will see a couple abbreviations, DC and DL.  DC is the Difficulty Check, which is the number that must be rolled for the spell to succeed.  DL is the Difficulty Level, and is used when calculating a spell's effect.  It allows higher skilled mages to cast a spell with greater effect.  DL = DC/5, so if a spell's difficulty is 20, it's multiplier is 4.  A spellcaster can deliberately choose to cast a spell at a higher difficulty, but they must choose to do so before rolling the dice.

Successfully casting a spell does not guarantee it will have the intended effect on the target of the spell.  Unless the description specifically states otherwise, the target of a spell may attempt to resist the spell's effects.  The skill used to resist varies.  Enchantment or mind affecting spells are resisted by rolling the Willpower skill.  Awareness is often used to detect an illusion, Endurance to resist spells affecting the body, and at times Dodge to simply get out of a spell's way.  Only one skill applies (i.e. you can't doge then roll endurance).  The number to beat is the DC at which the mage cast the spell.

There is also an exceptional casting bonus for spells.  For each 5 points the roll exceeds the spell skill DC, +2 is added to the number required to resist the effects.  So if the casting DC is 15, and a 25 is rolled, the character resisting the spell must roll a 19 or above.

Spellcasting characters get a number of Magic Points equivalent to their highest magic skill in pips.  If their highest skill is 5D+1, they get 16 magic points.  Magic points are an abstract measure of how often a character can cast spells.  Successfully casting a spell of any difficulty costs 1MP.  Failure costs an amount of MP equal to the amount the skill roll failed by.  If magic points drop below zero, the extra points are taken in stun damage.  Further casting will result in further stun damage, and eventually physical damage.

Spellcasters often use gestures and vocalizations to help focus on casting a spell.  If the mage is denied one of these aids then the difficulty of casting a spell is increased by +2.  If unable to do either, the difficulty is +5.

Spellcasters regain their full allotment of MP over the course of a day.

Magic Domains:

Universal – Spells useful to all spellcasters.

Detection – Spells which reveal information the caster might not otherwise be able to discover.

Alteration – Transform, transmute, animate, and control matter and objects.

Illusion – Spells that trick the senses.

Enchantment – Spells that affect the mind.

Energy – These spells control the use of raw, elemental forces.  They often trade complexity for greater power.

Necromancy – Spells regarding life or death.  These spells can heal or harm.

Apportation – Teleport, summon, and other extradimensional spells.

Clerical – Spells exclusively of a divine nature.  Unlike the other domains, these spells are granted only by the grace of the character’s deity.