Open d6 Fantasy Rules

It has been a while since I posted but I have been busy. Several articles were started and never made it being posted. I just finished reading and creating a primer of the Open d6 Rules.  I am not going to do a detailed review of the rules since they are long-established and available free online. The rules were made open-content some number of years ago. Originally, I believe the rules were developed by West End Games.

I have had the Fantasy d6 rules for a number of years. I bought the hardcover rules back in 2007. I read through them a few times but they never really stuck. The layout of the rules is a lot different from most rules presentation. There are large sections of the d6 rules that require development or decisions to be made by the Game Master.

I recently downloaded a number of the d6 Rules and decided to read them through again with the intent of maybe writing something for them. I also bought the Open Fantasy Rules which provide the same rules format but promise to add more spells and creatures.

I have not read any of the earlier editions of the Open d6 Rules. I have never managed to get a copy of the Ghostbusters rules or the d6 Star Wars rules from which they came.

Core Mechanics

In the Open d6 Rules as expected you use only d6 dice. The attributes are determined by the number of dice you get to roll. There are seven attributes and each one must begin with at least 1D and no more than 5D. The skills available are based on the governing attributes and can be further improved.

Dice rolls are tests. Every time you roll dice one of the dice is a Wild die. If the wild dice comes up a 6 it is critical and explodes. Conversely, a 1 is a fumble. To pass a test you roll higher than a target number.

Combat

In combat, defenders have a passive defense value of 10. Defenders can use active defense to improve the difficulty of hitting them. Once the Combat difficulty to hit is determined, the attacker rolls the die code of his combat skill and compares it to the difficulty. If it is equal or higher he hits the defender. Having both the attacker and defender taking actions in combat to a degree is quite a departure from fantasy games I am familiar with and I am not sure how well it will work in practice.

One of the things a Gamemaster must decide in advance is how damage is assigned. Either Body Points (which are like hit points) or Wound Levels which are more deadly. It seems very odd that both options are presented in the combat and healing chapters. It would have made more sense to me to make one option the default and offer the other as an optional rule. The first time I read the section I was confused as to whether both were in play at the same time.

Magic

Magic and Miracles are extranormal attributes that can be taken. More often than not at Character creation, although there are ways to do it in play. This section needs a lot of work in the basic open d6 rules. A few example spells are provided but the players and gamemasters are expected to design their own spells. A full chapter details what can be created and what it will cost. I know a lot of players who will love this, and an equal number who will not have any time for this. One reason I bought the Open Fantasy rules was the promise of more pre-calculated spells.

Thoughts

There are no levels or classes in Open d6. It is one of the things that I found really interesting about the rules. Any type of character can be created, including a sword-wielding spellcaster. It just might make more sense to specialize. But if you want to have your barbarian learn the ability to pickpockets it is certainly possible. This means that all characters are going to be really unique. A really big plus of the rules.

I really like these rules. I want to try them out. I plan to write something and perhaps run a game on Roll20 or something. As someone firmly grounded in B/X, 5th Edition Fantasy games I find different rules systems to be a struggle to master as I find myself falling back on familiar rules. But Open d6 is sufficiently different that I think I should be able to master it.