I must admit I was slightly skeptical about EZD6. I have read a few simple d6-based games but they tend to lack depth or atmosphere. Anyway I loved the look of the art and design, so I decided to take a punt. I dont think "pleasantly surprised" does justice to my initial feelings. EZD6 takes me right back to my early gaming experiences of the mid nineteen eighties, a world of black and white, larger-than-life fantasy with dark humour wovern into its fabric, fuelled by Hawk the Slayer, Krull, Beastmaster and Jabawocky.
The system is deceptively simple. Roll a six-sided die and hope to equal or beat a target number, from 2-6 (typically 3+) that might be based on an opponent, as in combat. or circumstance. But where are my stats and skills, you ask? All of this is handled with Boons. Players are defined by their Heroic Path (basically their class), Species, Inclinations (special abilities and training) and Aspects (statements defined by the player to reflect areas of training, personality, knacks or background). Many of these provide a Boon under special circumstances. For each Boon that applies, roll an additional d6 and use the highest result. Conversly, sometimes a Bane applies; if you are just rolling a single die, roll two dice and use the lower result. If you have any Boons, each Bane cancels one of them.
But what if the dice hate you? Well heroes (or rather Pushers & Shovers), have access to two meta currencies, Karma and Hero Dice. Karma can be spent 1 for 1 to increase a die result, potentially turning a failure into a success, but with two restrictions; you cant change a 1, nor can you modify magick or miracles- these will always have an element of risk. Thats where your Hero Dice comes in; you can use it to reroll a die, even if a 1, or using magick/miracles.
Character generation really highlights the breadth of the system. Its possible to build interesting, colourful characters in under 15 minutes, with hardly any knowledge of the system or game world. This is all helped tremendously by the evocative illustrations of Sean Bova, the exciting graphic design of Brandish Gilhelm, and the atmospheric writing of Scotty McFarland. I must admit to have become pretty bored by traditional fantasy rpgs. They all usually model themselves on the classic archetypes set in stone by Mr Gyjax, and aped endlessly by proceeding systems. But EZD6 tries and succeeds in breaking from these conformities. Hero Paths provided us the opportunity to portray an acrobatic Rascal, a savage Brute, or even a Skald, blessed with lore, storytelling and prophecy! And dont think any of these lock you into any particular set of abilities. You also get to freely choose a Species (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling or Goblin), a choice of 2 Inclinations (+1 for Humans and/or the Delver Heroic Path) which provide extra abilities, skills or training, and if that wasnt enough, you also get two unique Aspects. Aspects are very much like Aspects in FATE, in that they are defined by the player to set the character apart. Perhaps they were "Raised by Goblins" or "Unnaturally Attractive". Or perhaps they are "Cursed by a Hag". whenever a task may be improvd by that Aspect, the player gains a Boon, and rolls an extra die. So essentially you can define exactly the character you want to play, with a few prompts along the way.
Combat is fast and deadly, employing the games solid d6 mechanics, and uses a familiar action economy- each hero can move, perform a turn action (cast a spell, attack, move again, use a skill etc) and one free action (drink a potion, draw a weapon etc) every round. And forget about tracking tedious Hit point totals, or worrying about secondary damage rolls. Instead every combatant, including the characters, can take a number of "Strikes" before falling. Most characters require 3 strikes and they are out. Each monster lists the number of Strikes it can take, and a To-Hit value; the number on a d6 required to hit them. They usually require a 3+ to hit a character, although this can be modified for more dangerous or weaker opponents. If a to-hit roll is successful, the target takes a Strike, or two if employing a very large weapon such as a trebuchet. If you rolled a 6, roll again; if this is another 6, inflict an additional Strike and roll again. Karma may be spent in any of these rolls to bump a die roll up to 6.
If that sounds lethal, armour can protect you. Depending on what you are trained to wear, based on your Hero Path, you get an armour save of 3-6. For each Strike inflicted, roll a die; if you equal or beat the required number on a d6, the Strike is mitigated.
Ok so you know how to hit a pesky goblin, but what about magic or divine powers? Magick (see how more awesome that is with an extra k!) and Miracles use a variation of the standard system. Rather than a set list of set spells, treating magic like a shopping list or flapjack recipe, instead you have a circle of magick representing the general sphere of effects you can do. Perhaps you are a Necromancer, Seer, Air Elementalist or a highly destructive Blastermaster! Then whenever you want to perform a spell, the GM (sorry, Rabble Rouser!) rolls a number of dice to reflect the target's resistance or the difficulty, using the highest value. The player then chooses 1-3 dice to roll to try and match or best that value. The reason this is a choice is that if any die rolls a 1 the spell fails. So rolling more dice increases both the chance to fail and to succeed. Although you cannot spend Karma, you do have the option of Spellburn; you can ignore a 1 for the purpose of spell failure, but suffer 1 Strike for each that you do.
Miracles use a similiar system but you are instead trying to appeal against the alloofness of your chosen diety (basically 1 or more d6). although you cant use Karma or spellburn, you can provide offerings, which allows devout characters to reroll their miracle attempts.
After the player centric rules, EZD6 provides some very useful guidlines for running the game as the Rabble Rouser (RR), along with a bestiary and collection of magickal artifacts. All of this is dripping with fantastic atmosphere- the collection of 20 unique monsters are screaming to be employed against the characters, all fantastically illustrated.
As you may have guessed, I absolutely love this game. If you tire of the blandness of fantasy rpgs, and are desperate to cut out unnecessary dice rolls and complex rules, this us a must have. It proves you can have a smart, simple and rich roleplaying experience. If you have been gaming for as long as I have, and want to rekindle those glorious days of well-thumbed gamebooks, then why hav'nt you bought it already?
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