You underestimate how much the Dice Gods hate me...
I once rolled 3d6 32 times (so, 96 d6s) in order to roll a single 6, it's a story one of my gaming groups still talks about when my luck comes up as a topic of conversation.
Skirmish Game Design - An Ongoing, Open Discussion - 12-18-25 Is solo wargaming still a viable endeavor?
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I once rolled 3d6 32 times (so, 96 d6s) in order to roll a single 6, it's a story one of my gaming groups still talks about when my luck comes up as a topic of conversation.
I had a friend in a Shadowrun game roll a bucket of d6’s and all they needed was one success, and had none….
As for activation/initiative, I like systems that don’t add more required things to a game (like a deck of cards). So for a dice game, stick with dice for everything.
Jumping onto what @Ardavion mentioned about "Door Kickers", what about a predetermined set of orders for each model? Players would literally jot down what they want each model to do, using the standard actions allowed in the rules, and then turn the page over until everyone is finished. Then all orders are executed and as conflicts present themselves, they are resolved one by one. It seems like it would only work for small skirmish games and even then, it feels a little clunky to the flow of a simple skirmish game over all. But, I mention it for the sake of the discussion.
But what if you're actually playing a dice-and-pack-of-cards game?
I think @Punktaku is merely voicing his general preference.
Certainly this topic has proven to be one of the more interesting ones so far. I also think it's the one that remains the most up in the air. At the end of the day these decisions are up to the designer and they choose what feels the best to them, and hopefully their audience.
Yup! Just a general preference. But if you’re going to do a dice and cards game, I’d like the card deck to do double duty if possible. I think having a deck for this and a deck for that gets you out of table top minis and more into board game territory. Definitely not interested in limited run decks that you can’t play without…. Oops, sumpy! I’ll stop there.
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned bolt action dice in a bag activation method (2 colours of dice, number of each equal to your number of units in a bag, drawn one at a time, whoever colour is drawn gets to activate), and also a pass mechanic, ala malifaux, where its alt. Activation, but if you are outnumbered you gain a number of passes to make up the difference
That sounds like it would be a really simple thing to housetule into Necromunda. I don't know if it would fix all the issues with activation economy but it seems like it could help.
I honestly never considered it. But that is the point of this thread, after all. I’m hoping that others will come along and throw things into the mix to consider just like you have.
As far as the mechanic goes, I think that’s just as worthy of an approach is anything else we’ve discussed.
IDEA:
Any thoughts on this? Does it add or subtract when the rest of the system is d6 and table based?
- Activations are card based
- Each player draws from a standard 52 card deck
- There is a hierarchy of the 4 suits to handle ties
- The twist is that aces and jokers all give a slight buff for that particular activation
- Ace of Spades could give a +1 to Ranged Attack Results
- Ace of Hearts a +2" to movement, etc.
- Jokers could give something a little crazy like "activate 2 models if they are within 3 inches of one another."
- If you get through the full deck you can reshuffle to keep going but you cannot reshuffle aces & jokers that have already been played
Any thoughts on this? Does it add or subtract when the rest of the system is d6 and table based?
I like that it uses a standard deck, but the special rules for Aces and the Joker kinda sits wrong… you won’t know that with the standard deck, so it needs to be written down somewhere and referenced. Plus, it’s just asking for someone to make a fan-based deck with original artwork and special rules printed right on the cards. Or maybe you could commission a specially deck that doubles as standard playing cards…. Unless that’s a stretch goal (or something you want to leave open for possibilities), I’d suggest just using the hierarchy with possibly just a single special rule for the Joker as there’s only one in a typical deck.
Naturally, the workings of the system would be written in the rules. It’s only 6 cards so I can’t imagine it would be that hard to remember. I can include that on a quick reference sheet.
It doesn’t seem to make sense for a full custom deck of cards when there are special results with six of them.
EDIT: Of course I looked into a custom deck and it is possible, lol.
Also, as far as I am aware, decks come with 2, sometimes even 3 jokers.
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It's almost exactly how initiative works for Savage Worlds.
Standard 52 card deck plus the two standard jokers, reverse suit name resolves ties (spades > hearts > diamonds> clubs), aces are low (? Been a while) and do nothing special, jokers allow for the player to go whenever they want without penalty, and with a +1 to their action that round (hitting and damage are generally all worked out from one die roll). The deck gets shuffled when the cards run out, everything goes back in.
Players get one card (unless they have any Edges that change this), villains get a card based on whether they're named/Wild Cards (e.g. "Englebert Von Strickenhauser" - Wild Cards could also have the same Edges for initiative the players have to get more cards) or they're a group (e.g. "Soldiers", who tend to not have initiative Edges, if any).
@Ardavion So it sounds like they draw cards and then assign them to each mini? Not sure if I'm understanding that part or not. My system is just to determine which player is activating next and not necessarily which mini. I would still leave that up to the players. Let me know if I've misunderstood 
@Biggle_Bear Right? A standard deck of custom artwork with brief blurbs of special rules and as many jokers as the creator wants. You can use it to play the game; or for poker or whatever. Old Maid even. (Old Death Maiden?)
@Mad Robot it sounds like the players get a card, named villains get a card, and mobs get a card. I’d think for your game, it would be more like the card game War. Each activation both players draw a card, high card goes first and can select one of their models to use. Once both players activate and use a model, repeat. Or am I wrong?
@Mad Robot it sounds like the players get a card, named villains get a card, and mobs get a card. I’d think for your game, it would be more like the card game War. Each activation both players draw a card, high card goes first and can select one of their models to use. Once both players activate and use a model, repeat. Or am I wrong?
That's correct. I haven't tested it yet as I just thought of it but that's the general idea.
As for cards, there would be no need and the costs completely eliminate that as a possibility for me. Now standard playing cards with a custom logo on the back? That's certainly possible and could be financially feasible as well.
Ok so I have added to this idea. What about using the nature of the decks to also incorporate things like random encounters and in-turn events? I am thinking that every time both players get one of those "ties" I mentioned, before they resolve it, they check a chart and depending on the card values, a random event is triggered?
So... Players A and B both draw from their decks, player A draws the 8 of Clubs and player B draws the 8 of Spades. Spades would beat out Clubs and so the first activation would go to player B. But first, since there was a tie, they consult a table and two 8's results in a random creature appearing on the nearest board edge to add chaos to the fight. You could also use the system to generate random weather events as well. So two Jacks might result in a lightning storm that would possibly cause damage to someone.
You would have to cap it off though at one random event per turn. Or something like that.
So... Players A and B both draw from their decks, player A draws the 8 of Clubs and player B draws the 8 of Spades. Spades would beat out Clubs and so the first activation would go to player B. But first, since there was a tie, they consult a table and two 8's results in a random creature appearing on the nearest board edge to add chaos to the fight. You could also use the system to generate random weather events as well. So two Jacks might result in a lightning storm that would possibly cause damage to someone.
You would have to cap it off though at one random event per turn. Or something like that.
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