Author: Bear (Page 201 of 212)

Heads up English Majors and other mathematically challenged folks! D6 MOD7 Dice Sheets are now available on the Downloads page and at the links below. (I have an English Literature Degree by the way.)

The frequencies of each roll are given at the bottom of the page. They are generated completely at random, but you may decide to use a different sheet based on the frequencies given.

As noted on the sheet, it only works well if you start on the upper left corner and move down the columns. Remember to cross out numbers already used.

3D6 MOD7 Rolls | 2D6 MOD7 Rolls

As always, there may be a name change as I discovered a company named MOD7 and I do not want to harm their business (though I don't think I really could. I have four readers.) So, I'm looking at D6 MOD 7 for now. Nothing shows up on Google when I search for it (except me).

Changes in DEF Ability

Because D6 MOD7 uses a smaller range of numbers to determine success (0-6 instead of 3-18), changes have to be made in DEF and in many Traits. DEF is changed to 3+REF from 10+DEF. Without this change, an average person (Stats and skills of 3) could never successfully attack successfully.

For example, Joe, an average guy is in a fistfight at a bar with Andy another average guy.

Old Rules: Joe uses STR + Unarmed Combat Skill + Roll. Andy uses DEF + REF. Since both are average guys, Joe is trying to meet or beat a TN 16. (DEF = 10 + REF or 10+3. REF = 3) He had a STR of 3 and a skill of 3, meaning he has to roll a 10 or better to strike Andy. Using 3D6, Joe had a 0.625 chance to hit Andy.

Because a MOD7 roll cannot go higher than 6, Joe could never hit Andy, even if he surprised him.

New Rules: Joe uses STR + Unarmed Combat Skill + Roll. Andy uses DEF + REF. Since both are average guys, Joe is trying to meet or beat a TN 9. (DEF = 3 + REF or 3+3. REF = 3) He had a STR of 3 and a skill of 3, meaning he has to roll a 3 or better to strike Andy. Using a MOD7 roll, Joe has a 0.574074074 chance to hit Andy.

Changes in Traits and Modifiers

Needless to say, traits that give +3, +6, +9 modifiers to skills or attributes would present a similar problem. Rather than list the specifics, here is the general guideline:

Traits that affect skills are +1 (Convenience) +2 (Edge) +3 (Gift)
Traits that affect initiative are +2 +4 +6
Traits that affect health or damage remain unchanged

For example: Hard to Kill remains unchanged +2 TGH, +4 TGH, +6 TGH applied to piercing damage. However, Athletic is changed to +1, +2, +3 to all Athletic Group skills.

Fast Reflexes is partly the same and partly changed. Convenience is still +2 INI, but +1 to Awareness Skill Rolls. Edge is +4 INI and +2 Awareness rolls, Gift is +6 INI and +3 Awareness rolls.

Fast Healer is also only partially changed: progression on the Time Chart remains the same, but skill bonuses at the Edge and Gift levels are +1 and +2 respectively.

Full list comes later.

As far as modifiers are concerned, modifiers to Initiative are the same, modifiers for attacking or any other skill roll are reduced by 2/3 rds rounding up. The numbers aren't easy rounded, so a full chart will be created at some point in the future. Below are examples:

Combat modifiers for size:
Target Size ....................................................... Modifier
Gargantuan, 32m or more (ship, bridge) ................... +4
Huge, 16m or more (whale, house) .......................... +3
Very large, 8m or more (city bus, big mecha) .............. +2
Large, 4m or more (horse, car, tree, sm. mecha) ......... +1
Medium, 2m (human) .............................................. 0
Small, 1m or less (dog, barrel) ................................. -1
Very small, 1/2m or less (cat, head, limb) ................... -2
Tiny, 1/4m or less (mouse, bullseye) ......................... -3

Damage rolls are still the same

If a greatsword does 4D6 damage, it still does 4D6 damage. Theoretically, it would be four Major MOD7 rolls added together, but that would be impractical. Roll (add together 3d6, divide by 7, find the remainder) 3 + roll (add together another 3d6, divide by 7, find the remainder) 2 + roll (add together another 3d6, divide by 7, find the remainder) 0 + roll (add together another 3d6, divide by 7, find the remainder) 4 for umm, err. 12 points of P/L damage. Hah! Take that thou varlet!

It slows down play and besides, it's a whole lot of trouble. It's one thing to do that for one roll (Skill roll, initiative, etc.) it's another to have to add a series of Mod7 rolls together.

However, if you do want to still use D6 MOD7 rolls for damage or any other rolls, Dice Sheets will be provided with pregenerated Major and Minor D6 MOD7 rolls. Simply add up as many as you need down the column to get your total and then cross them off the sheet. The numbers are created by a True Random Number Generator to provide dice rolls. Then three dice rolls are added together and modulus 7 is taken from the total, just like any other D6 MOD7 roll. In short, it saves you from the math. Using a TRNG prevents the biases to low number that occurs in many spreadsheet programs with Psuedo-Random Number Generators in them.

I've done quite a bit of work in exploring dice mechanics in various games. Here, I'm writing down a different mechanic for a role-playing game that is different from what I've seen. If someone has already developed this idea, then please let me know. The MOD7 part of the name comes from the mathematical operation called modulus. The modulus is the remainder after you divide two numbers. For example, 16 divided by 5 is 3 with a remainder of 1. Another way of saying it is the remainder of 16 divided by 5 is 1. Still further, the modulus 5 of 16 is 1. All three are different ways of saying the same thing. Modulus is a term used when you only care about finding the remainder.

So the MOD7 part of the name means we are looking for the remainder of something after dividing it by 7.

The D6 part of the name means that we are going to roll six-sided dice.

Put them together and you have rolling a number of six-sided dice, and taking the modulus 7 of the result.

Basic Mechanic:

If Attribute + Skill + D6 MOD7 roll is equal to or above a target number, the action has been performed successfully.

D6 MOD7 Roll:

There are two kinds of D6 MOD7 roll, a major and a minor roll. A Major roll is the modulus 7 of the total of rolling three regular six-sided dice. In other words, roll three regular dice, find the total, and figure the remainder after dividing that total by 7. A Minor roll uses two regular dice instead of three. Most players will only use a major D6 MOD7 roll.

Too Much Math?:

At first, it seems like a lot of work to get a number. It becomes automatic after a few rolls. However, if you want a table to make things easier at first, here it is:

3 -- 3
4 -- 4
5 -- 5
6 -- 6
7 -- 0
8 -- 1
9 -- 2
10 - 3
11 - 4
12 - 5
13 - 6
14 - 0
15 - 1
16 - 2
17 - 3
18 - 4

Why bother?

The reasons behind this mechanic are:

1. the chance to roll a zero
2. a way to give players a small advantage that is fairly invisible
3. a more equal chance of rolling any number

Rolling Zero
The chance to roll a zero is to add some variety. Rolling a zero is not an automatic failure. It merely represents those times that 'luck' isn't on your side. The good news is that players have a better chance of rolling anything rather than a zero. Folks that use a minor roll (usually controlled by the game master) have a better chance to roll a zero.

Invisible Advantage
The major roll has more chance of success than a minor roll, but it isn't apparent from anything other than the number of dice thrown. The advantage isn't huge, but it's enough to make a difference. In the math section, you can see the breakdown of exactly how much of an advantage the major roll provides.

Even Distribution of Rolls
Rolling three dice and using the total alone tends to give you average rolls. In other words, you'll roll average rolls more often than small or large rolls. This is seen by many experienced rpg players as giving an advantage to players with powerful characters. Although the distribution isn't as even as just rolling one die, the distribution of rolling 1 through 6 is the same, only rolling a zero is different. For a major roll, roll tend to be something other than zero. For minor rolls, they tend to be zero.

Target Numbers:

Setting a target number for an action is up to the Game Master, though some guidelines are provided later on. To give some meaning to the numbers, descriptive adjectives are provided in order to give a sense of scale.

TN 09 -- Average/Easy
TN 10 -- Tricky
TN 11 -- Challenging
TN 12 -- Difficult
TN 13 -- Demanding
TN 14 -- Extreme
TN 15 -- Legendary

Those familiar with the Action! System should recognize the adjectives. The D6 MOD7 system uses some terminology from the Action! System game as provided by the OGL.

THE MATH:
Nothing extremely technical here, just the percentages of rolling certain things.

Major roll
Roll -- Chance to Roll -- Chance to = or exceed
0 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 1.000000000
1 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.861111111
2 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.717592593
3 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.574074074
4 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.430555556
5 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.287037037
6 ------- 0.143518519 ------- 0.143518519

Minor roll
Roll -- Chance to Roll -- Chance to = or exceed
0 ------- 0.166666667 ------- 1.000000000
1 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.833333333
2 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.694444444
3 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.555555556
4 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.416666667
5 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.277777778
6 ------- 0.138888889 ------- 0.138888889