Played in a similar rounds/scenes fashion as D&D, but more free-form in its execution. There are some basics that will be in all adaptions;
The Dice: D6 games are played only with six-sided dice. If the difficulty number is beat by the roll, the action succeeds. The number of dice rolled to bear the difficulty is displayed as a number before a "D," followed by a "pip" of +1 or +2. Thus a roll of 2d6 would be written as 2D, and a roll of 3d6+1 would be 3D+1. If the pips would equal +3, a new dice is rolled (there is no 2D+3, it would be 3D). One die, the "Wild Die," is always rolled: if it comes up as a 2, 3, 4 or 5, it is calculated normally. On a 6, it is added to the total and rolled again. On a 1, a "complication" occurs.
Difficulties: Very Easy 5, Easy 8, Moderate 15, Difficult 23, Very Difficult 28, Heroic 30+
Actions: Players may take as many actions as they want in a round, but each action imposes a -1D penalty on all other actions in a round. (A player who wants to shoot, run, and dive for cover in a round takes a -3D penalty on ALL the rolls). If a skill has fewer dice than you have penalties, it cannot be used.
Now for characters:
Abilities: Abilitys are the basic measure of a character, usually Dexterity and Strength as the physical aspect, and Knowledge and Perception as the mental (Intelligence and Wisdom/Charisma, respectively). Other abilities may be present depending on the circumstances, modern RPG's may have Mechanical and Technical, Fantasy may have Spirit and Charisma, and many have Stamina added as a replacement for hit points. As a general rule, Humans have a minimum of 2D and a maximum of 4D for any given ability, other races and species may differ. Starting Player Characters get enough "Ability Points" to put 3D into all abilities, NPC have enough to put 2D+1 per ability (remember, +3 = 1D)
Skills: Skills are subsets of Abilities. For example, Dodge is a Dexterity skill to avoid being hit by attacks. If a characters Dexterity is 3D, and they put 1D worth of skill dice into their Dodge skill, there Dodge roll will be the total: 4D. All characters have [number of Abilities] +1 dice to put into skills, added to the Ability.
DEX: Dodge, Firearms, Throwing Weapons, Balance, Parry, Grenade, ect.
STR: Melee, Lifting, Climbing, Swimming, Jumping, Stamina, ect.
PER: Spot, Hide, Sneak, Listen, Con, Diplomacy, ect.
KNOW: Areas, Terrain, Studies, Bargain, First Aid, Politics, ect.
Movement: Most characters have a starting move of 10 meters. This is a steady walk. It requires no roll, and may be done freely. Hustle (Speed x2) is an action (delivers a -1D penalty to all other actions). Run (Speed x3) is an action and requires a Balance or DEX check to preform, Sprint (speed x4)is a double action (-2D penalty to other actions) and requires the same Balance or DEX check at one step higher difficulty. All difficulties are by terrain.
Combat and Damage: D6 Combat is lethal!
Combat is in rounds, with the highest PER roll going first. You may take any action you want until you cannot preform more or are satisfied with what you have done. A "Hit" occurs when one character's "To Hit" roll (Melee, Firearm, Grenade, Fencing, ect) is higher than the targets "Reaction" roll or the range difficulty.
Damage is more tricky; when a character is hit, the weapons damage is rolled agents his/her STR (or Stamina).
If the STR roll is higher, they are stunned (-1D for 1D rounds).
If the STR roll is 0-5 points lower, they are Wounded (-1D until healed).
If the STR roll is 6-10 points lower, they are Heavily Wounded (-2D) and fall prone.
If the STR roll is 11-15 points lower, they are Mortally Wounded (-4D) and knocked out.
Anything higher, the character is dead. Start making a new character.
If a character is damaged again, they go down as may steps as they fail, so a Wounded character who gets hit again and fails his/her STR by 6 worsens to Mortally Wounded.
Example Weapons:
Knife, damage STR+1D, range 0/10/30 (short/medium/long, meters)
Longsword, damage STR+2D, range 0/0/5
Handgun (9mm), damage 6D, range 20/50/80
Rifle (7.62mm), damage 8D, range 25/50/100
(Note that the human maximum for STR is 5D, and most of these weapons deal 5D+ damage. If you get hit, you probably are down. This is why First Aid and Dodge are so important.)
Character Points: Character points are like EXP and save-your-a** points in one. They are given out frequently, and characters start with 5. One may be spent in a single roll to add a +1D bonus to it, or used en mass to upgrade Skills and Abilities. To upgrade a skill, it costs the skills "D" of dice. This raises the pip by one (+3 = 1D).
To upgrade an ability, it costs the Ability's "D" of dice x 3 to raise the pip by one.
Epic Points are you "Get out of total doom free" card. Spending one DOUBLES your next roll, almost ensuring success. These are only given out for doing something phenomenally Epic, thus the name. PCs start with 2. NPC get none.
Evil Points measure how heartless you are. If you do something evil, you may be given one of these. You get a +1D bonus to skill rolls for every Evil Point you have, however, whenever you receive one, the DM rolls 1D+1. If the total is less than the number of Evil points you have, you lose the character to the "Dark Side" (they are now an NPC villain).
Everything Else: Is pretty much what the GM says goes. Run some sims first to get the hang of it.
Rights for original GURPS and SWRPG system belong to Wizards of Coast®
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