Some days ago we presented 2D6 Adventures: a new way to play, a mysterious Kickstarter project. We couldn’t tame our curiosity so we decided to do an interview with the author Chris Robertson. Let’s read something more about his work.
What information can you give on the physical copy of the manuals? Will they be softcover or hardcover? Will they be in color or black and white?
The manuals we have created are softcover, with just plain text black and white interior.
How many pages will the manuals have, more or less? Will there be illustrations? Will you collaborate with a particular illustrator?
The manuals as we speak right now range from 40-70 pages. We have tried our best to cut out as much “fluff” as we could and deal just strictly with the mechanics of our system, which in themselves are fairly simple so there is no need to make them any larger than they have to be.
Currently there are no illustrations in any of the manuals, we are a three member team of just regular guys with regular jobs, who have an amazing passion for this game we have created, but we just don’t have the finances or artistic ability ourselves to add anything like that in at this time. I know sometimes illustrations can be a deal breaker for some, but I have always believed that Role playing is more about the story and imagination, than artwork.
How long have you been developing 2D6 Adventures? How much percentage of the manuals is already ready? What is still missing to complete the job?
We have been playing this system for over twenty years now. It wasn’t until two years ago, that I felt the need to create manuals, to keep the rules in place. We have a lot of players in my area and it has been a blessing for most to finally have the rules down in black and white.
The first four manuals are pretty much finished, just trying hard to polish them from the basic guide that they were at first into a more structured rule book. We are also adding new beasts and spells to the game manuals specifically for this release.
When did you invent the 2D6 system? What made you do it? What systems are you referring to when you describe 2D6 Adventures as “faster”?
The system itself was created over twenty years ago. It is a hybrid between the old Fighting Fantasy and Dungeons and Dragons ways of playing. I used to love how in Fighting Fantasy both combatants would roll the dice and the higher score does the damage, yet I always liked how Dungeons and Dragons had more stats. It felt like with the extra stats you were able to give your character more personality. As for how we are faster, it is just simply less dice rolling that allows for the combat to move along at a quicker pace.
On Kickstarter you said you want to present a new system, but you have not provided any further information. What can you tell us about basic mechanics?
Like I’ve said previously what we have come up with is a hybrid of FF and D&D. Each character is given twelve stats with which to play. They are Combat skill, Ranged skill, Magic skill, Life skill, Dexterity, Strength, Charisma, Luck, Health, Magic aura, Intelligence, and Awareness. You roll two dice for each one except Health and Magic aura, for those you roll two dice twice, and those are your starting values. Scores obviously will range from two to twelve, which then change slightly based on the race you choose. More on that later. So obviously someone with an Intelligence of two is not going to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, as someone with a Dexterity of two won’t be able to run, climb, or jump very well.
So just to give an example, if a player tries to jump over a pit. They have a Dexterity of 8. They have to do a Dexterity check, which is simply roll two dice, if the number is equal to or lower than their score of 8, they succeed. If it is above, they do not, and they will then perform a Luck check following the same method. If they pass, they are lucky and maybe grab on to the ledge as they fall, if they are not, they simply fall into the pit. When searching a room, players are asked to test their Awareness, if they pass or fail that check dictates what they find. If they fail, they will miss out on treasure, secret doors, and such.
Any of the spell casting classes use Intelligence checks to learn their spells. If they want to learn Lightning rope, a level 1 spell, they will test their Intelligence if they pass, they learn it, if they fail they do not. The only ways for any spell casters to learn them in the game, is by seeking out others of their class and learning from them or perhaps finding scrolls or spell books dedicated to their class.
One of the things we do differently, is that a spell caster can learn any level of spell, regardless of what character level they are, there are just penalties while trying to learn it. If you have a level 1 Wizard, with an Intelligence of 10, and they want to learn one of the level 6 spells, it goes like this. The spell is 5 levels above where they are so they must subtract 5 from their Intelligence before performing the check, so for this check their Intelligence will now be at 5, which is what they will need to roll, or lower, in order to learn the spell.
Ranged skill is another exception from the basic rules. If you have a Ranged skill of 9, and you want to shoot an arrow at someone, you roll two dice. You simply subtract the difference to see how much damage you do with your shot. If you roll a 4, you have done 5 damage, if you roll a 6, 3 damage. If you roll above your score of 9, you miss. Rolling exactly your number is considered a critical hit and means that you killed your enemy.
Combat skill is your hand to hand. It works like this, let’s say you have a Combat skill of 8, and your enemy has a Combat skill of 6. You roll two dice and add it to your Combat skill, we’ll say you rolled 9, so now your total is 17. They roll two dice and add it to theirs, lets say it was 7, so their total is 13. You had the higher score, so you subtract the two, the result being 4, and that is how much damage your character did to the enemy. Conversely, if the enemies total was higher, then you subtract and the character takes the damage. If both results end up the same, it is considered a parry.
That’s the basics of our system, obviously there is a little more to it, but as you can see, it is easy to learn for even a novice player.
Is it expected that a character can have more than one class, simultaneously or subsequently?
Character classes vary widely in 2D6 Adventures, ranging from common classes such as Wizard and Thief to some that are created specifically for 2D6. The classes are based around your stat rolls. All classes have a prerequisite score you need to hit to qualify for the class. It goes like this:
Combat skill of 10 opens the Barbarian, Berserker, and Warden classes.
Ranged skill of 10 opens the Defender, and Shadow archer classes.
Life skill of 10 opens the Adventurer and Dungeoneer classes.
Magic skill of 10 opens the Animage, Arcane archer, Dark magus, Geomancer, Holy Knight, Priest, Time mage, Wild Mage, and Wizard classes.
Intelligence of 10 opens the Appraiser/Auctioneer, Chemist, and Trapster classes.
Charisma of 10 opens the Acolyte, Beastmaster, Monk, Motivator, and Pirate classes.
Dexterity of 10 opens the Assassin, Athlete, and Thief classes.
Awareness of 10 opens the Enchanter, Guardian, Hunter/Tracker, and Wildling classes.
Strength of 10 opens the Blacksmith, Giant killer, and Warrior classes.
Each class has its own unique abilities. As well, each Magic class has it’s own complete set of spells as they are not able to learn from other schools of magic, only their own. If none of these scores are above 10 when you first roll your character, then you start the game as a commoner. Every level you gain, you get to add one point to a stat of your choosing, building either towards a class you want, or just making yourself more powerful.
It is up to the Game Manager whether they will allow multi-classing or not. I personally don’t allow it in my games because they always turn out the same. The player almost always picks one fighting class and one magic class so they have the best of both worlds in one character. I have found that our best games have had the most unusual and unlikely combinations, because the variance creates an amazing dynamic.
You talked about classes but not about races. What races will be available? How much will race impact on character customization?
As for races, there are currently eleven races to chose from in 2D6 Adventures. Each race alters stats in its own way. Each race having positive and negative changes. If you play as a Human, then your stats stay as you rolled them. The races are: Catperson, Darkling, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Half Elf, Half Fae, Half Giant, Half Orc, Halfling, and Human. Race impacts your character in a big way. If you had your heart set on becoming a certain class, there is probably a race that can bring your score up enough to qualify for it. Unless you have rolled very low initial score.
You never talked about the setting. Is it a system without setting or will one be provided, even if only hinted at?
We do have an island/continent as a setting. The land of Asclin has been ravaged by wars for the last century, and is constantly being used as a battleground by neighboring lands. It has seen uprising after uprising, yet no Empire has managed to grab a permanent foothold on the land. Nature and wilderness prevail here, allowing Bandits, and nightmarish creatures roam free, day and night. However, many treasures and amazing finds are available for adventurers who are brave enough to attempt to journey and search for them. The few towns that remain, do what they can to survive. Of course a custom setting can be created by anyone.
Will there be an introductory adventure in the Game Managers Guide?
The first campaign is a series of five adventures taking place over a good chunk of the land. The first of which is included in the Game Managers Guide.
Speaking of design and not of popularity or sales, a role-playing game that you wish you had invented? Your favorite RPGs?
If I had to pick something I wish I had invented it would have to be the two that I drew the inspiration from. Fighting Fantasy game books, and the king of them all, Dungeons and Dragons.
One of the manuals that you are going to publish in this Kickstarter is entitled “Spells Enchantments Potions”. What difference will there be between spells and enchantments?
In 2D6 Adventures we differentiate spells from enchantments, simply: Spells are something that one of the many magic user classes can cast at any time, Enchantments are embedded into items. For example, Turge’s Double War Axe of Wind: Enchanted with the power of wind, on a successful hit in combat the player will roll 1 dice. If the result is a 1, the enchantment activates and a blast of wind comes from the weapon doing an additional 2 die damage while pushing the enemy back. There are offensive and defensive enchantments to be found.
Are other other manuals planned for 2D6 Adventures?
Right now the first four are finished (minor tweaks still being done). We are also working on Gods and Demons, The Book of Amazing Things, Spells Enchantments Potions II and the Beastiarum Vocabulum II. We are also moving forward with putting our full campaigns together.
Moreover the author added some other interesting words:
We have a lot of things in the works for 2D6 Adventures and we are pushing forward with all of it regardless of what happens with the Kickstarter.
Chris Robertson
We’d love to get the funding we are asking for, so that we could share our system with the world. We believe in it wholeheartedly and would love for others to experience playing it.
These statements should make clear the basis of the project: the passion. Maybe Chris doesn’t have a great publishing experience or a high budget, but his work is moved by the desire to share something with the world. And this is always a good starting point.