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cheshire
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 Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:58 am Post subject: D6 Magazine |
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Hi folks. I thought I would let you all know that there is a new resource available, and hopefully it will be a pretty regular thing. We have the first issue of the D6 magazine with new adventures, optional rules, equipment, and more. Some of the stuff can be ported over directly into Star Wars.
I've got an article in there that I hope you enjoy, and Hisham has done a considerable amount of work with the art for the mag.
http://d6magazine.com/?page_id=27
Of course, if you don't like it, chime in as well. They only way to make it better is through honest constructive criticism.
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Bren
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:31 am Post subject: |
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Cheshire - thanks for the link!
I especially liked the Interview with Bill Smith. It reminded me of why I originally liked the Star Wars D6 system. Fast, fun, and you can play on the fly.
I thought the NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS! article was also nice, especially in light of the recent thread on the wild die. Very helpful for players or GMs who do not have a good intuitive since of D6 probabilities.
I hope you will continue to post links to any succeeding issues.
I thought the rules on Whip specialization were interesting, though I'd want to tweak them a bit. The notion that increasing your base melee combat ability somehow prevents you from learning new whip tricks seems unintuitive. I'd just compare the specialization skill to the original starting level of the specialization. For every 1D over the intial level - learn a new trick. New levels in melee combat have no effect to whip specialization.
This is how specializations work in WEG D6. I have a character who has Survival 4D, Survival Desert Environment 3D. Typically he just uses the basic survival skills. But it does mean that he could add 5 CPs to a Desert roll (8D) while he can only add 2 CPs to a base roll (6D). |
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16320
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:53 am Post subject: |
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| Bren wrote: | I thought the rules on Whip specialization were interesting, though I'd want to tweak them a bit. The notion that increasing your base melee combat ability somehow prevents you from learning new whip tricks seems unintuitive. I'd just compare the specialization skill to the original starting level of the specialization. For every 1D over the intial level - learn a new trick. New levels in melee combat have no effect to whip specialization.
This is how specializations work in WEG D6. I have a character who has Survival 4D, Survival Desert Environment 3D. Typically he just uses the basic survival skills. But it does mean that he could add 5 CPs to a Desert roll (8D) while he can only add 2 CPs to a base roll (6D). |
It's important to distinguish between specializations and techniques. The character may be able to use a whip under the general Melee Combat skill, but must advance the Whips specialization to learn the associated techniques, which seems perfectly fair. After all, the technique is designed as a specific trick that you gain the ability to perform by concentrating specifically on the specialized weapon. This is the result of intense training on a specific weapon, rather than generalized training with a lot of weapons.
The only thing I didn't like was the wording here:
"Should a character raise melee combat above her whips specialization, she is ineligible for learning a new technique. To learn a technique, the character must train specifically with whips."
Does that mean that, if the character's general Melee Combat skill level surpasses that of the Whips specialization, then the character is ineligible to learn more techniques without advancing Whips so that it has more dice than Melee Combat? If so, it doesn't seem very equitable to me. Apart from that, this rule looks like a pretty good one. Might make playing a Force adept with a lightwhip more fun.
Speaking of, with regards to the opening paragraphs of the article that referred to length, I had an idea while back for a variable length whip. Since we're playing sci-fi, an advanced technology whip could conceal extra length by coiling it inside the handle, with the wielder controlling the length based on the situation.
I picture something like the weapons wielded by Whiplash in Iron Man 2; crackling with power and able to cut right through solid objects. Alternately, you could dial down the power to a simple stun effect. It would make for a very versatile, formidable and exotic close range weapon.
As far as the magazine, it looks pretty good for six in the morning with a head cold. I thumbed through it, and I'll probably go back again in more detail later.
P.S. Which article is yours, Cheshire?
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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cheshire
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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I actually kept my handle out of it because I thought that people would give a much less inhibited evaluation of the article/adventure if they didn't know which one was mine.
I'll let you folks conjecture amongst yourselves which one is likely to be me.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | I actually kept my handle out of it because I thought that people would give a much less inhibited evaluation of the article/adventure if they didn't know which one was mine.
I'll let you folks conjecture amongst yourselves which one is likely to be me. |
Fair enough. I haven't interacted with you enough to make an educated guess. On the whole, the magazine looks very useful. As a devotee of the Star Wars D6, I won't be able to use all of it, but I found useful tidbits of information in pretty much every article. Is this going to be a monthly release? If so, is there a way to subscribe or get it e-mailed?
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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jmanski
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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Good stuff- I hope it keeps up.
I'm guessing you did Pinnacle City....
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cheshire
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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Right now we're looking at this being a quarterly mag. I know it doesn't seem like much, but for a group of people that 1) have other lives and 2) aren't getting a dime, we just can't make it a monthly deal. Also, we're thinking that the next issue will be a bit heftier on the content.
Anyhoo... here's the website. You can register, and subscribe for updates:
http://d6magazine.com/
Also, if you have someone you'd like to see interviewed, let me know. I can pass that on. Plus, if there's anything you'd really find useful, you've got an inside ear at the Rancor Pit.  Just keep in mind that we've got to keep it all as OpenD6 content. We can't make specifically Star Wars content. I've got a start on a couple of things that will easily transfer into Star Wars, but I can't call it a "lightsaber," and instead it might be a "photon cutlass" or something of the sort. Also, you won't find an adventure with a YT-1300, but you'll find freighter stats that work very nicely with Star Wars.
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dhawk
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:54 am Post subject: |
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| Every day, I wish I could shake the hands of Bill Smith and Peter Schweighofer for what they created. Great interview; I only wish that WEG was still standing. |
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cheshire
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:02 am Post subject: |
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Well... WEG had been still standing, and technically the publishing company still exists. The thing you wish for was that Scott Palter hadn't made some serious financial mistakes, and that Eric Gibson had been a more shrewd and competent business person.
At least now with D6 going open you can now have new content being generated. A few people actually have made some books that look pretty nice. I've taken a quick look at "Mini6" which is a streamlined D6 system that can work across genres. It has some elements I would house rule differently if I ever run it, but all in all it's a decent system.
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Bren
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| crmcneill wrote: | The only thing I didn't like was the wording here:
"Should a character raise melee combat above her whips specialization, she is ineligible for learning a new technique. To learn a technique, the character must train specifically with whips."
Does that mean that, if the character's general Melee Combat skill level surpasses that of the Whips specialization, then the character is ineligible to learn more techniques without advancing Whips so that it has more dice than Melee Combat? If so, it doesn't seem very equitable to me. |
That was how I read the article. My reading of the article was that a character with 4D melee who increased whip to 5D could learn one technique. If his melee combat then increased to 5D+1. He would need to increase whip to 6D+1 before he could learn a second technique.
Which is why I suggested allowing new techniques for every full die the whip specialization increased above the starting level for the character. Thus the character starts whip specialization at 4D. He learns a new technique at 5D, 6D, 7D, etc. (i.e. each full D increase) regardless of any later increases to his melee combat skill. |
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cheshire
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| Bren wrote: |
That was how I read the article. My reading of the article was that a character with 4D melee who increased whip to 5D could learn one technique. If his melee combat then increased to 5D+1. He would need to increase whip to 6D+1 before he could learn a second technique.
Which is why I suggested allowing new techniques for every full die the whip specialization increased above the starting level for the character. Thus the character starts whip specialization at 4D. He learns a new technique at 5D, 6D, 7D, etc. (i.e. each full D increase) regardless of any later increases to his melee combat skill. |
Here's my impression:
Dex 3D
..Melee 4D: whips 5D
Then you raise it to:
Dex 3D
..Melee 5D+1: whips 5D
You can still learn a new technique from raising whips to 6D, as you've raised whips a full D. Essentially it doesn't much matter what you do to melee, it doesn't affect your learning of whip techniques. Only training with whips can raise your whip technique.
And I think my impressions count for quite a lot.
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Bren
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:53 am Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | Here's my impression:
Dex 3D
..Melee 4D: whips 5D
Then you raise it to:
Dex 3D
..Melee 5D+1: whips 5D
You can still learn a new technique from raising whips to 6D, as you've raised whips a full D. Essentially it doesn't much matter what you do to melee, it doesn't affect your learning of whip techniques. Only training with whips can raise your whip technique. |
I found the language of this section of the article a bit unclear:
"Should a character raise melee combat
above her whips specialization, she is ineligible for
learning a new technique. To learn a technique, the
character must train specifically with whips."
Obviously I prefer your interpretation.  In hindsight, it would have been nice if the article made that more explicit, possibly by amending the example to the one you provided above.
| Quote: | | And I think my impressions count for quite a lot. |
Ahhh...so I take it this was your article then?  |
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cheshire
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:27 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, that's the one that's mine. It's funny because I added that statement to clear up two other bits of ambiguity after getting some feedback. I also did my best to model the language as closely as possible after the Martial Arts rules, though without leading to the unending complaints of the overpowered brokenness that comes from that specialization.
I'm actually glad to see the criticisms that have been coming back in the forums here. It gives me something to keep in mind the next time I do an article. I've got a few things on the back burner. Some of it is for a fantasy setting, but I've always got Star Wars on my mind somewhere. Hopefully we can see some things that the community here can use.
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Bren
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | | I'm actually glad to see the criticisms that have been coming back in the forums here. It gives me something to keep in mind the next time I do an article. I've got a few things on the back burner. Some of it is for a fantasy setting, but I've always got Star Wars on my mind somewhere. Hopefully we can see some things that the community here can use. |
And though I voiced some criticisms, I really liked the techniques for whip. I liked how they built, how they simulate what we see Indie and Zorro do, and I really like the Whip Crack as an intimidating factor. Nicely done. |
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Black 5
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:10 am Post subject: |
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Really enjoyed this!
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