I – ROLE PLAYING GAME BASICS

From SSDC, Inc.

Role playing games, like any other system of games, commonly has terminology, identifiers, and other ilk which tends to creep into the language to make it easier to communicate. Those idiosyncrasies however, tend to look strange, or are downright undecipherable to the new gamer/layman and can lead to mass confusion (“Dogs and cats, sleeping together, MASS HYSTERIA!” – Professor Venkman, Ghostbusters ©1988)

Here are some common conventions used by the Battlelords system:

• Utilizing Percentile Dice:

The gaming system Battlelords uses is called a ‘d100’ system. This means that dice values range anywhere from 0-99 for determination of value rolls. This was designed to coincide with the common percentile (%) reference used in every day life. However, finding a 100 sided dice on the other hand is next to impossible, much less roll (although still within the realm of physical possibility….).

As a result, the use of two 10 sided dice is suggested as a replacement. If possible, try to get dice of different colors. One color is used for the tens digit, and the other is used for the ones digit, just like in basic math you were taught in kiddy school. If finding two different colors is out of your reach, the common route is to role the tens digit first, and the ones digit second – or – as a secondary means, both are rolled simultaneously, with the dice read in a right-to-left manner, using the gamer as a reference.

NOTE: Every BM is going to want to know how you plan on rolling your dice, or more likely will tell you how it’s going to be done for their game. Don’t even think they aren’t going to be watching your roles to ensure you aren’t flipping colors to suit your advantage. Remember, the BM can instantly transport a Sux2BU (See: Uncle Ernie’s Minions of Doom) into your game at any time, so make sure you play nice!

• Utilizing other dice:

Other dice styles (two-sided, four-sided, etc.) utilize a slightly different format for rolling. In their case, the values of both die are added to determine the value for the roll. So, for example, if you rolled two six-sided dice, you would result with a number which can range from 2-12 in value.

• Dice Terminology:

Many shortcuts used within the role playing game universe revolve around the naming of dice and dice types. Rather than go into lengthy explanations every time a particular dice is used, a short cut system has been developed over many generations which is now common practice amongst game developers.

To short cut the reference of a quantity of two six-sided dice, you would use the following schema:

   <Number of Dice needed>d<largest value of individual die>

or

     2d6 in this case

This would provide you with a value which would range from 2-12 If the gaming vendor wants to modify the value that was given by the dice roll, a sign plus a numeric value can be added to the dice designation signifying what to do with the value once rolled.

PLEASE NOTE: The Battlelords universe is d100 based. However, the designation of 2d10 does NOT equal 1d100 (2d10 gives you a value of 2-20). Even though a 1d100 is not plausible; it is the correct designation using the dice schema defined. As a result, a common secondary reference to 1d100 dice is to roll ‘percentile’ dice. That way no confusion can set in this already complex environment.

For example, if the value offered by the two six sided dice was not high enough, but the vendor wanted to keep the range of ten values (12 minus 2) they would simply add or subtract an additional number to the dice.

2d6+4

Would mean: Roll two six sided dice, add the values of each die, then add four to the result. So if you rolled a 3 on one die, and a 4 on the other, the result would be: (3+4+4=11).

When used with the d100 based system in Battlelords, you would simply determine the value by the tens and ones digit, then add or subtract depending on the modifier. For example:

  Roll designator: 1d100-3

  Dice 1 (Tens):  4
  Dice 2 (Ones):  6
  
  Result:  ((4*10) + 6) – 3 = 43

Note that any mathematical designation can be made for modifiers; this includes multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, etc. In addition, you can also be told to round up (RUP) or round down (RDN) to the next whole digit when modifying the dice role also.

So to put everything together, you can get:

        <# of Dice>d<Dice Size><Modifier Sign><Modifier Value> (<RUP/RDN>)

or

        1d100/3(RUP) = Use two ten sided dice to give you a 0-99 value, then divide by three, and round up to the nearest ones digit.

NOTE: This is not the equivalent to the designation of 2d10/3(RUP) which would mean – Use two ten sided dice to give you a 0-18 value, then divide by three, and round up to the nearest ones digit.