D6 Universe

Many times I have heard people say “I don’t use that stupid Wild Die” or “the Wild Die throws everything out of whack, so I don’t use it.”  While it’s up to the individual GM whether he wants to use the Wild Die or not, I feel that a GM who discounts it is doing a disservice to their game.  What I hope to do is demonstrate how the Wild Die can become an interesting part of any D6 game.

Now let’s look at some of the reasons people don’t like the Wild Die.  First up, we have the “It’s stupid to have critical failures every time it rolls a 1.”  That’s a perfectly understandable complaint, and one that I hope to debunk by offering up alternatives to the “critical failure” every time the Wild Die rolls a 1.  Now I know the rule books have stated that the GM can throw in a complication on the roll of 1 instead of opting on dice reduction, and this option is what has prompted so many GMs to interpret that as “critical failure”.  A complication does not necessarily mean a critical failure. 

Too many GMs have taken the complication to the extreme and made the roll of a 1 on the Wild Die turn into something the players dread.  I’ve heard such extreme results as breaking a leg when a Sneak roll came up with a 1 on the Wild Die, or being blown to smithereens when the roll to throw the Thermal Detonator came up with a 1 on the Wild Die.  Some GMs make the weapon explode on the PC when they roll a 1 on the Wild Die when rolling to hit.  Such extreme instances certainly bring rise to the belief that the Wild Die is broken.  In fact, though, the Wild Die is not the one that is broken.  It is the actions of the GM that are broken.  A complication should be something that leads to more opportunities to roleplay, or to force some other course of action that the player hadn’t expected.  The “complicated” Sneak roll could have been the PC stepping on a twig, or that they missed noticing the tripwire alarm and triggered it.  A complicated grenade throw might mean it doesn’t land where the thrower intended, bounced off the door frame or dribbled into a crevice and exploded relatively harmlessly without harming any of the enemies.  A complicated weapons shot might mean the weapon simply misfires, or the round happened to skip off the branch of a bush and missed the target.  There are many, many other alternatives to blowing up, disfiguring or maiming the PCs because the Wild Die comes up with a 1.

Another reason why some might not use the Wild Die is that “it comes up with a 1 too often” or conversely “it comes up with a 6 too often”.  Granted, I don’t often hear the second one as much as the first.  People don’t seem to mind if they get the 6 on the Wild Die, but when that 1 comes up, they start to cringe.  This might be due to the above mentioned extreme complications, or it might even be due to the fact that the GM always throws a complication at the players when the Wild Die rolls a 1.  Yes, the odds of the Wild Die coming up as a 1 are 1 in 6 (imagine that!) but if a GM doesn’t take every 1 rolled as an opportunity to mess with their players, that 1 in 6 chance isn’t so bad. 

To counter the argument of the Wild Die coming up too much and the act of it doing so causes disruption to the game, I offer up the alternative that I use most often, and one that is mentioned in the rules but is so often overlooked by many GMs.  The roll of a 1 on the Wild Die can be used to remove both the Wild Die and the highest other die rolled during that roll (only 1 if more than 1 is the same).  So if the die rolls were 4, 2, and 1 and the 1 is the Wild Die, the Wild Die would be removed along with the highest other die rolled, which is a 4.  That leaves only the 2 left, which would become the total for the die roll.

Using the 1 on the Wild Die to simply reduce the total of the die roll still has a bearing on the roll, but it does not necessarily mean the roll will automatically fail.  In most cases, the roll might fail, but it would be a “regular” failure, without any sort of complication thrown in.  Some times, however, the roll may be high enough to succeed anyway, just maybe not to the extent the player may have preferred.  If the roll to hit an enemy was 6,6,5,4,1, with the 1 being on the Wild Die, it would be adjusted by removing the Wild Die and the highest other die rolled.  Since there were 2 6’s rolled, one of the 6’s would be removed.  That would still leave a 6, 5, and 4 left for a total of 15, which could very easily hit the enemy.  Now if the GM is the type who grants damage bonuses for exceeding the difficulty of the shot by a large margin; this shot might just be a regular damage roll, rather than an augmented roll which would have occurred if the total had been 20 or more.  So the Wild Die can simply be used in the reverse of what happens when a 6 is rolled.  Using the Wild Die to reduce the number of dice is a safe, not overly intrusive form of affecting the way the game runs. 

Yet another argument is that the Wild Die is “too variable”.  This is best explained as “luck”, “fate”, or “random chance”.  Having the Wild Die incorporated into the rolls offers the chance for someone with little or no skill to still perform something to an astounding degree.  Rolling that 6 on the Wild Die and getting additional dice to boost the roll makes a player feel special, like they’ve done something no one else can.  That is how a simple farm boy can become a hero, or an average beat cop can get lucky and become the hero of the city by doing something he never thought he could do.  The 6 offers moments of splendor and amazing feats.  The 1 offers the chance of someone who’s more than sure of themselves suddenly realizing that they goofed.  Even the greatest can sometimes make mistakes, and using the Wild Die to either adjust the die rolls when a 1 is rolled, or by putting in a complication when a 1 comes up, will represent that.  Call it fate, call it luck, call it bad luck….it’s all incorporated into the system by using the Wild Die.  If you removed the Wild Die, you’re taking away ALL chances of either good luck or bad luck coming into play.  While that might make people feel more confident that they will never fail once they’re highly skilled, it also removes the chances of a less skilled or unskilled person doing something spectacular.

Finally we get to the argument of “I don’t need it in my games”.  While that may be the case for the particular setting or genre you’re playing, it may not always be the case.  Some weapons out there might have special things that happen if a 6 or 1 is rolled on the Wild Die.  Special bonuses may apply but they can only apply when the Wild Die is rolled.  What will you do for those special cases?  Do you simply not use those items that require the Wild Die, or do you just discount the bonuses or penalties that might be gained with the roll of the Wild Die?  Doing so could have an impact on your games and take away options that offer a lot of potential in your games.  Rather than simply dismissing the Wild Die, use it for what it is…a possibility of luck or fate coming into play.  Grant additional dice when the 6 is rolled on the Wild Die and simply remove the highest other die when a 1 is rolled.  Don’t utilize “complications” if you feel they are too overbearing.  Just don’t take away the chance of a low skilled character becoming a hero because they were able to roll a mighty 36 with just 3D+2 at the exact pivotal moment. 

The thing to remember is that the Wild Die does not have to signify severe consequences to the PCs when a 1 is rolled.  A “complication” doesn’t have to be bad, it could simply be a frustration.  For that matter, a GM doesn’t even HAVE to assign a complication if a 1 is rolled unless they feel there is a chance for better or more interesting role playing to take place because of the complication.  Some GMs can just ignore the 1 on the Wild Die if the roll wasn’t a pivotal roll (such as trying to pick a lock).  Also remember that if you don’t want to use complications, you can still use the Wild Die as a “dice adjuster”, with the totals either increasing if a 6 is rolled or decreasing if a 1 is rolled.  Failure only occurs if the roll is adjusted to a failing point, and success is still likely even with a 1 on the Wild Die.  You can even use BOTH methods in a game!  If you feel a complication would be fun, throw a complication at the player when a 1 comes up on the Wild Die.  If the roll isn’t pivotal, just use the 1 to reduce the number of dice and don’t worry about any sort of complication.  Just realize that by removing the Wild Die from your D6 game, you’re taking away opportunities for greatness as well as “bad luck”, plus any special cases that may exist in game materials when a Wild Die number comes up.  The Wild Die has a lot to offer and can be used in a reasonable, non-obtrusive manner, so think about giving it another shot.