Am I the Last of the D6 System GMs?

Very well spoken. I guess in the end it comes down to whatever blows your deathstar. d6, d20, neither is perfect, it comes down to which works better for you. Although I agree on the heroic underdog aspect. While my players won't go rescuing the smart mouthed princess any time soon (stuck on a low tech planet for the time being), they know what it's like to be the only line of defense for a town that can't defend itself against outriders and biker gangs. They also had a crash course in ambush tactics and how to fight a superior force. Not bad learning for later on against Imps.

 

I thought the D20 seemed to complicate SW. The D6 was easier and simpler. D20 works great for D&D, but for some reason I don't like it with SW.

One thing I noticed about the D20 version, it flat out tells you you cannot hurt a Death Star and says there is no need for stats. D6 had DS stats. It just sorta erked me.

I have not played the D20 version however, so I can't denounce it entirely.

 

I have a few books from each system, and from what I've seen d6 is pretty tactical. I mean WEG had being making strategy games until they signed on for SW, so they couldn't help making a strategytype game out of it. D20 is more heroic based, kind of like what you see of the main characters in the movie. D6 would represent the major battles: hoth and endor. I'd say the preference is do you want to play a strategy game or a roleplaying game? I was flipping through the d6 2nd ed. book earlier and I noticed that the Dexterity ability has more than its share of skills. Melee combat is handled by Dex? Strange if you ask me. Strength on the other hand doesnt look to be that useful except for hand to hand. You'd think hand to hand and mellee weapon combat are similar enough to be under the same ability score? Well on the other hand I noticed something strange about the d20 system. A slugthrower (normal modern day gun) does as much damage as R2-D2's electrical prod, 2d6. When he zapped that Ewok it didnt really look that damaging. If he shot him with a 9mm beretta I'm betting the Ewok wouldnt be walking after that. Just a few quirks from either sytem. Enough rambling for now, eh?

 

I could easily see Melee being Dex based. Quickness, Finesse, and Skill at arms, not brute strength. Look at olympic fencers. Not hulking brutes, but rather more finesse based. I do agree somewhat about Brawling and Melee being similar enough. As a house rule brawling and melee parry are merged into one skill, that counts as specialized for purposes of improving. Of course, at the same time, a melee combatant can not dodge in combat and attack in the same round, so parry becomes rather important.
As for strategic vs heroic, you have a point, but as a GM I try to incorporate heroics into the campaign. After all, players are supposed to be good guys, and good guys in StarWars should be heroes.

 

I have played both and generally prefer d20. I love d6, and miss it, but I think if both systems were out at the same time I'd go with d20. I think it handles Jedi soooo much better. d6 jedi literally got ridiculous and out of control after a certain point. Hell, by the rules, Darth Vader could destroy a Star Destroyer with his lightsaber if he spent a force point and rolled well. My other big gripe with d6 was that lightsaber battles tending to boil down to two things who had the highest force dice, and who won initiative. It was very difficult to simulate the long drawn out exciting battles we see in the movies. In d20 this is much more possible unless a critical hit is scored.

I will say though, that so far, I like space combat in d6 better. I have the revised d20 and am going to see how space combat in it plays out, it looks to be much improved.

Truly, I think the differences boil down to different strokes for different folks. I do hope that the staunch d6 guys buy some d20 stuff, so it'll stay in production. You may not be able to use the stats, but if nothing else it could be a nice reference book.

 

I own the base book for SWd20. I haven't bothered with the others because my players won't have it. I cannot waste money on a game that won't get played. I've tried talking to them about it, but some of my players are meaner than I, and have threatened physical harm. I'm not terribly broken up over it because I've been GMing the D6 system for something like 7 years. About the only thing I know better is Cyberpunk (probably on par with both, now that I think about it).

 

I own at least one copy of everything that is out for d20 and I still say d6 was done better. I'm not going as far as saying d20 shouldn't be played it just needs more work even with the revised rules.

 

Heck, let's face it, ALL RPG systems need a little work! I haven't heard of one group that didn't play with some sort of house rule, even if it was just a variation on the interpretation of something in the rule book. That's just the nature of the beast. D6 happens to fit my style better, not least because I know the rules better. But there are things about it that I've changed. (For example, I have a system that encorporates all the kicking and punching we see in Episode I into a lightsaber fight, which makes things a lot cooler.)

One GM I know doesn't use the wild die, and doesn't bother having his players roll to put up lightsaber combat, unless they're really new to the skill. It makes for a very role-focused game, which was pretty fun.

As for buying any of the new books, maybe if I wasn't so strapped for cash I would, but I gotta conserve so I can by all the SW movies on DVD when they come out. And THEN I gotta save for a DVD player.

Seriously, though, I mostly use supplements for the crunchy bits, not adventures. I haven't looked at the new supplements to see if there's anything that can be pilfered, because I tend to get all twitchy about it. (But I promise I'm getting over my irrational hatred of 3rd Ed.)

 

I guess for most of us that started on d6 it just is a little hard to let go.

 

::clenching sourcebooks tightly:: You'll get my books when you pry em from my cold dead hands! Man, I've had a marathon GM time that hasn't happened since High School all those years ago. Full game friday night, then almost all Saturday, and again on Sunday, then again today while I waited for movers who never showed up. God, If I don't actually play soon I might freak out. Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

 

*glances nervously at Tre* Man, you oughtta get that looked at.



I have found that I can't go more than four or five hours, as a GM or a player. As a player, I tend to develop a headache (probably from all the sugar consumption ) and just lose focus and can't come up with any more ideas on what to do. As a GM, my throat goes.

I think I'm getting old!

Not to say that, if my fantasy campaign GM wanted to go for a longer period of time than that, I wouldn't just pop some tylenol and keep going.

 

Sounds like my old marathon gaming weekends Tremaniac. Mine would be something like start Friday night at about 7 or 8pm... play till about 3 or 4 am, grab a few hours of sleep, clean self up, grab some food, start again about noon or 1 pm Saturday... play till 5 or 6 am Sunday morning, grab a few hours of sleep, clean self up, grab some more food, play from around 2pm to 8 or 9 pm.

Ahhh, the good ol' days. I'm just getting too old now to play more than 6 hours at a stretch these days (and only one day a weekend since I have real responsibilities now... hehe)

 

I wish I could have one of those games. I'm luck when I can get a 7 hour session to work with my group.

 

Our Friday games usually last 5 or 6 hours, and the Saturday games are at least 8. Every weekend.

 

Coming in, just in time to throw fuel on the fire. Just like me, huh?

It's no small secret around the SW community that my vexation with the D20 system knows no end. Actually it may have been blow out of scale over the years, but the bottom line is - I dont like the system.

The most basic flaw of the D20 system is that the engine is far too limiting for a universe as expansive as Star Wars.

When I first got the system, I knew right out of the gate that the very core of the engine was in serious trouble when I had a whole plethora of character concepts not fit into the D20 class system. Most of them were very do-able - if the character was starting out more than first level, that is.

Eventually I managed to find a concept that was workable - barely. But any one of those characters could easily be done in the D6 system with only the starting 7D.

(I have a further laundry list of what rubs me the wrong way - but I dont want to turn this into a flame D20 thread. Ask me again someday.)

Since then, I've learned to adapt and use the system, but mostly so I can convert D20 stats into something more useable. But until the Lucas Police show up and break down my door - I will NEVER give up D6.

 

See, I can give it 12 hours of my Saturday no problem, mainly because in the end it's not really 12 hours of role playing. There's two meals in there somewhere, countless pee breaks, tons and tons of non-RPG bickering (fun stuff never-the-less), and the occasional "GM needs to toss someone off balcony break". I know I can't be the only one to have those kinda things happen during a game. Generally speaking though, these events are less likely to occur during a shorter gaming session. Probably a six hour run is as long as you can go without serious interference. Anything longer is just asking for burnout. That being said though, I think I put more hours in RPGing this week than I actually did work! (better not tell my boss that, heh heh heh)

 

and I don't believe in the Vong, so I don't need stats for them.


;_;


But seriously I'm a shadowrunner so you know I like D6. Haven't really been able to use D20 so I can't say if I like it. Its seems a little alien to me. Maybe I'm having a hard time changing to somehing new. Fear of change has ben an age old dilemma.

I'm more of a collector and reader of RPG material than an RPGer these days so I have an extensive collection of stuff from both systems and many games. Love that NJO sourcebook of course. Read through the New Revised Corerulebook. I might go get it today.

 

Follow up to the marathon GMing session. This week, no games. Sadly, my group suffered a tragic incident as my group focal point lost his brother to a motorcycle accident. Kinda takes the fun out of playing.

 

No kidding. Something like that'll take the energy out of most things in life.

 

Hmmm, well ive played both D6 and D20 systems, and while both had flaws, I also enjoyed both. In fact I still own my D6 books. I really didnt like the D6 ship-to-ship combat at all, but otherwise it was fairly sound. Truth to it all is that all systems have their down sides. In fact Ive yet to play a system I didnt have some complaint about. In the end I guess its all a matter of preference, and availability.

Hell, as long as you are having a good time, more power to you, whichever system youre using!

 

Amen, Ulic!

I've had problems figuring out the best way to handle starfighter combat, but I think I'd have the same problems in D20 as well. It's a problem of making something cinematic come alive while still requiring rolls of the dice and such. Also, it was always hard for me to picture scale and stuff.

However, now that I've spent an inordinate amount of time playing X-wing, I think I have a better handle on things. Don't laugh! I don't know if the rules actually mimic what happens in the game or not (I'm thinking not, especially for the cap ships), but it really does help to be able to picture things, and it's given me a better feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the various starfighters.

 

LOL, yeah Ive done the same thing. Ive played Xwing and all other various space sim games. All of them give you a great feel for being there.

Yeah D20 has some flaws for space combat too. It seems really easy to get blown up, no matter what youre in. The guns seem to do a little too much damage. Using hexes and such also tends to slow a game down in my opinion, but it helps keep track of otherwise confusing positioning in a multi-ship combat. Who knows we are trying to think of ways to trim it a little, but until then, we deal with it.

 

I've found the revised SW rules for starship combat pretty workable. I don't get down into the details, I prefer to narrate the action and make it much more cinematic than having to number-crunch.

I imagine my years of X-Wing playing have something to do with it as well.

 

*falls off chair* JIM???? You're alive??? *pulls self back onto chair* How's it goin'?

(Sorry to everyone else for going off topic, but I haven't seen him in forever!)

 

Not a problem Ping.

Yeah space combat was cleaned up a lot in the Revised Ed.