Last time, I talked about action points and dice pools, and their potential relationship. Today, I want to present my vision for a core dice mechanic derived from that idea.

So far, I was talking vaguely about what I’m wanting to do. This post, as you’ll see, will be a lot more direct. Terms, rules, concepts, all presented with my thoughts and notes.

To recap: You have a number of Action Points you can spend on your turn to take one or more actions. When you spend these points, they also become your d6 dice pool to roll for the action.

The following system ideas are for a grid-based tactical combat game only. The narrative side of the game, while still using d6 dice pools and using the same general terms, works differently to be less granular and more story focused.

Stamina

First of all, let’s move away from the term Action Points. It works well enough, but I prefer terms that more closely support the fiction or fantasy of the game. And speaking of fantasy, let’s call our action points Stamina.

If you ever played an action adventure video game, you might be quite familiar with that term. Often represented as a green bar under your health, Stamina is used up as you take actions–attack, run, cast spells, block. From Software games, such as Dark Souls, come to my mind right away. Avowed, the Legend of Zelda games on the Switch, and a countless number of other games all use some version of the stamina bar. So, “Stamina” is a great name for action points in my game, assuming I’m making a fantasy game. Which was the first iteration of this concept.

So, your character has Stamina, which they can spend to take actions, move around, defend, etc. Much like in a video game, there is a limited amount of Stamina, and at certain points (start of your turn?) you get some more of it. But how do you actually use it?

Spending Stamina

When taking an action, you must spend a certain amount of Stamina. The exact values aren’t really important right now and something that will require a lot of testing to get the balance right. What matters is that you pay the cost for the action and grab that many dice. I’m thinking six-sided, or d6.

Then you roll them. You’re looking for 4+ on each die, which is called a Hit. The more Hits, the better. You’re also noting how many 1s and 6s you roll. More on all that later.

Charging

If you have played action adventures video games, then you know that you can often charge up your actions and attacks. This costs time and more Stamina then the base cost of the action. Likewise, in my game, you can add more Stamina to your dice pool to increase your chance to roll more Hits. Just like charging up your attack.

Some character options might also give you free dice to charge your actions–perhaps when using specific weapons or attacking specific enemy types.

Moving & Defending

You can also spend Stamina to move across the battlefield. My idea for a game uses a grid, so each square (or hex) costs a point of Stamina. There are other ways to move, but if you need some extra movement, you use Stamina. Think of it as sprinting in a video game.

Likewise, you can spend Stamina to defend yourself. You can dodge, reducing incoming damage by 1 for every Stamina spend. If the damage is reduced to 0, you can even move for free–dodge rolling out of the way. You can also block if you’re holding something with which blocking is an option.

Winded

You can even take an action if you don’t have enough Stamina left to pay for it. Simply roll the amount you have left. But doing so will leave you Winded, which isn’t a great state to be in. There are other ways to become winded, such as by blocking with a non-melee type weapon or shield. Winded is a condition, which we won’t cover in more detail in this post.

Hits, Risks, Momentum

Alright. Let’s look at how to actually parse the dice when rolling Stamina. You’re looking for three numbers:

• Rolling 4+ is a Hit. Hits improve your action’s outcome.
• Rolling a 6 gives a point of Momentum. Momentum is used to fuel powerful abilities, buy more Hits, cancel Risks (see below), and some other effects.
• Rolling a 1 means you must mark a Risk. Risks are abstract tensions that build pressure as the fight goes on, eventually causing debilitating conditions.

So, you spend your Stamina, roll your dice, and determine how many Risks, Hits, and Momentums you got. Now what?

Hits

Roll a 4, 5, or 6, you get a Hit. The more Hits, the better.

Here’s the thing, when you take an action in my game, the basic effect of that action happens regardless of the dice. Weapons deal damage. Controlling effects push people around or cause conditions. Allies get healed. Missing, failing, not doing anything on your turn because of bad dice luck, well that just sucks. So, whatever you want to do just happens. The fight in both mechanics and narrative always moves forward. No wasted turns.

Hits improve the basic effect. More damage, worse conditions, better healing. Straight forward, simple enough.

Critical Hits

Most games, video or tabletop, have some sort of Critical Hits, or Crits. My game does, as well. Though, Crits aren’t just a matter of rolling a rare number on a die, you know, like a 20 on a d20. Instead, Crits are purchased by spending your Hits.

That’s right, Hits always increase your basic action, and then you spend them on buying additional effects. And the possibilities here are endless. Maybe a greatsword has a Crit called “Sweep” that costs a number of Hits and lets you strike additional targets for your base damage. Maybe elemental effects can cause damage over time afflictions by spending Hits. Class traits (if indeed there are such things as classes) could also offer Crits you could buy regardless of action or weapon used. Some sort of rogue class, for example, could have a Crit effect that lets them fade away after an attack.

This idea is akin to games that have Stunts or similar mechanics. The Alien RPG, for example, also uses d6 dice pools. All you ever need is one 6 to achieve your goal. Additional 6s let you use Stunts based on the skill you used.

Momentum

When you roll a 6, you gain a point of Momentum on top of it counting as a Hit. Momentum is spent on powerful abilities you may have from your character advancements, class, or whatever else the game will have. You can also spend Momentum to buy additional Hits to buy more Crits if you wish. An ability could be something like a powerful magical effect or area attack more powerful than a basic weapon.

Risks

Risks are probably the most unique part of this core mechanic. At least I haven’t come across something like this before.

A Risk represents a narrative setback you suffer whenever you roll a 1. Every 1 you roll must be marked on of your Risks, but you get to choose which ones! Once a Risk is marked six times, you get its corresponding condition. Until that point, however, Risks are just tension, not directly affecting you.

The idea is that you get to narrate what you are willing to risk as you take your action. Are you exposing yourself as you rush in with your sword drawn, firing your dwindling supply of arrows rapidly to stop an enemy advancing, or risk becoming overwhelmed by the enemy as you make your stand?

What makes this feel dramatic and tense is the fact that you can’t clear marks on a Risk until its fully marked and you suffer the condition. You can then, as part of your actions, clear the condition, and with it all its marks.

I could give a bunch of example Risks now, but none of that would make sense outside of the context of the larger game, as these risk conditions affect game mechanics we haven’t talked about, yet. And this post already has enough game terms already. So for now, imagine there is a Risk that, if filled, would reduce your ability to defend yourself. Another Risks would make it so you can’t move. Another one makes it so you weapons aren’t working (as in, maybe you’re disarmed or run out of arrows). And every time you mark one of these Risks with the 1s you roll, you can envision how your character is risking something to be effective in combat.

At some point, I was using the term “Stress” instead of “Risk.” It works, but I prefer a term that represents the player making a choice, instead of just getting a passive negative thing. It’s not some stress you endure, it’s a risk you’re willing to take to do act in a dangerous fight. Keeps the spotlight on the character, feels more epic.

A fun thing about this the player’s choice as to which Risks to mark. Yeah, they could just spread them out and have a few marks on all the Risks. But eventually, maybe just with a single unluckily roll of many 1s, they will suffer the consequences and conditions of these. Or they focus all of their rolled 1s on just one Risk, knowing that it’s much easier to clear a single condition than many, even if it’s built up faster.

Canceling Risks

You can spend Momentum, including Momentum rolled on the current action, to cancel out Risks at the cost of one Momentum per Risk. You can only cancel a 1 you just rolled, but not Risks that are already marked.

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And that’s it, really. You spend Stamina, roll that many dice, then spend your Hits, mark your Risks, and earn your Momentum. You can use more Stamina to charge your roll, to move, to defend yourself, and you can use Momentum to further improve your rolls or activate powerful abilities. On the flip side, every action has an inherent Risk, which is represent by an abstract track for several conditions, and every 1 you roll is placed on a track of your choice.

Next time, I’ll go even deeper into the system and show you how this core dice mechanic can be used in practice. That means stats, top level overview of combat, gear, and early drafts of what a character could look like.

At some later point, I will also dig into how I envision the core dice mechanic of Hits, Momentum, and Risks could work in narrative play. I have recently made some great breakthroughs in that area, which I think will be a powerful tool to tell great stories over several sessions, character arcs and all.

Until then,

Me.

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