The 2dX System

I have been tinkering with my own core ttRPG ruleset for years. not to create something *better* than what exists, but to create something that prioritizes differently for a new play experience.

The current iteration of my core resolution mechanic is “2dX.”

(Illo by Taran Schatz)

In a nutshell, it works like this.

You begin with 2d8 baseline in all abilities, with combat, attributes, and skills all lumped together in the same “abilities” system.

As you build a character, and later as your character improves, you can increase one or more of those dice to d10, or d12. (There are other things you can do to get more powerful as well). If a character is incompetent in a thing, they might only have 1d6+1d8, or even just 2d6.

When you attempt a task, it has a difficulty of 1, 2, 3, or 4, with higher numbers indicating greater difficulty.

When you roll, each result of “5” or higher on a die is a success. Each result equal to the task’s difficulty or less is a fumble. Any other number is just failure. If you have more successes than fumbles, you succeed. If you have more fumbles than successes, you fumble. Otherwise, you just fail.

Each result of 8 or more is a critical success. If you succeed and have at least 1 critical success, your attempt is a critical success.

The baseline critical success is that your task took no action, or half the normal time for things that take more than an action. The baseline fumble is that you can’t attempt the task again until you change the circumstances of your attempt (repositioning, getting help, trying after you have done research, or similar option).

For the base, that’s it. Roll 2 dice, see how many fumbles (1-4, depending on difficulty), 5+s and 8+s you have, and that tells you how you did.

Obviously, that’s just the START of a game system, but I’m really happy with it atm.

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