Destiny Dice

[raithyn]

Instead of using Character Points to improve individual rolls, I offer my players a “Destiny Dice” (which I sometimes think of as Carrick Dice in my head).


Destiny Dice Rules

At the beginning of the session, the players receive a number of Destiny Dice in their pool equal to the number of player characters. The GM starts with a single Destiny Die in their pool.

When making a skill roll, a player can pull any number of Destiny Dice from the pool and add roll them as well. Like the Wild Die, Destiny Dice explode on 6s but they do not critically fail on 1s.

Once Destiny Dice are rolled, they are set aside. When the current battle or scene ends, they are added to the GM’s Destiny Pool. The GM may use Destiny Dice with any NPC rolls, returning expended dice to the players’ pool after the battle or scene in which they are used.

The GM is encouraged to use Destiny Dice in their pool quickly. This encourages the players to use them by example and ensures that dice move freely between the two pools.


The Goals

• Add additional dials for how easy or hard an encounter swings that both the players and GM can use during play.
• Keep experience (Character Points) for advancement, not individual rolls.
• Play to the thematic element of the Force "balancing." If the player's blow all their dice to achieve a short-term goal, it may come back to haunt them in the next scene.

[pakman]

I use a very similar thing - except I call them "Hero Dice".

Ours don't explode - but I do have a pool for npcs and external events etc.
And they can go back and forth.

They are part of keeping Character Points for character advancement (I call the Experience points) and not for adding to rolls.

I also award milestone based experience (end of adventure, or if a long adventure, at a major story point) - and everyone in the group gets the same amount. Then long term, I have a running total of how many "XP" a character is - 30 point character, 60 point etc. This then allows me to build NPCs of similar power ranges - 30 point villain, 60 point boss etc.

Been playing this way for about a year - and the players like keeping xp and hero dice separate- but I realize it is not for all groups.

thanks for sharing.
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Working on massive House Rules document - pretty much a new book. Will post soon....

[raithyn]

[pakman]

[shootingwomprats]

[raithyn]

[pakman]

[raithyn]

Thanks! That's all great info.

I like the single dice pool for all players better than individual sets of dice since it gives them a prisoner's dilemma. Sure, they could all agree to hoard the dice, but there's bound to be someone who can't resist using them so each individual player will want to make sure they get in on the benefit. I put physical dice in a little rolling tray in the middle of the table so everyone tracks how many are left without thinking about it. Having them highly visible as colorful, tangible objects seems to help them get used too. I'm not sure this would feel the same too the players if we played virtually.

I also find that the shared resource means people are more likely to tell other players to use them. I have one player in particular who rarely grabs any Destiny Dice themself but will regularly remind others to on important rolls.

As to flowing back and forth between the pools, I originally started that so players would consider these a renewable resource rather than a (per session) limited one. There are other ways to accomplish that. Maybe they get more dice when the wild die is a one (specifically only when dice are nullified) or someone like that. I want the refresh to be mechanical instead of GM fiat. I know from experience how often I forget to award SW bennies or D&D inspiration when that is only left to my personal judgement. The system I'm using does still require GM action, but I find it easier to remember during play. It also gives me a dial to ramp up difficulty based on which rolls I influence.

Holding used dice between pools until the next scene is a bit more awkward, but so far seems important to keep us from using them on alternating turns or rounds. It slows their use down just enough that people still think about picking them up before doing so.

I'll have to consider when players might add dice after a roll. Right now it's only before rolling. I'm not sure my players have enough experience to quickly sort between rolls they know the difficulty for and those they don't like you're describing.