DIE A HUNDRED TIMES
A downloadable game
So I have many game systems using a d100 but most of them are a hundred pages long. It's a bit of a shame as a d100 system is probably the easiest one to teach to beginners (everybody gets "you have a 60% chance of doing that" pretty fast).
So here you have DIE A HUNDRED TIMES: a fully functionnal d100 system that fits in two pages. Print it out and get it inside that adventure you want to play tonight. It has rules for creating antagonists, experience, magic, psionics, vehicles, body swapping... So if your little session turns into a campaign, we got you covered too.
Of course, it's released under a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 license
Feedback is always welcome to change a few numbers here and there if it feels wonky at your table.
If you want to support my little experiments, consider buying my games on Drivethrurpg.
Now live is version 1.2 with modified damage rules thanks to Sakagnôle!
There's also a french version done by the wonderful team of Coup Critique.
Download
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Comments
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Hi Alexandre! In "Die a Hundred Times," there are the defensive combat skills Dodge and Parry. If melee attacks can be both Dodged and Parried (player's choice), and ranged attacks can also be Dodged, why put any skill points in Parry? Is it intended that melee attacks must be Parried (no Dodging) and ranged attacks must be Dodged, thus you need points in both Parry and Dodge? Otherwise, why "waste" points in Parry if the player can declare he or she is Dodging melee attacks as well as ranged attacks? Can you please explain and set me straight? Thank you Alexandre!
Hi Brian! I'd go with "melee attacks must be Parried (no Dodging) and ranged attacks must be Dodged" OR a Critical success with Parry allows you to directly hit your opponent OR simply have a Defense skill :)
Great stuff! Thanks, Alexandre! 😀
Hi Alexandre - the rules say "Only players roll dice!" But there's also a "Characters vs. Characters" rules section. Is that section intended only for Player-Character vs. Player-Character contests?
Or could you use the "Characters vs. Characters" rules to supersede the "only players roll dice" rule to have contests between Player-Characters and Non-Player Characters?
Indeed that was for Character vs Character contest. I'm usually disatisfied with the way games like BRP handle PC vs NPC contests, I think d100 rules work better when they are player facing. Your mileage may vary of course! You'll have to stat up NPCs a little bit more then, adding skill scores.
Thanks Alexandre!
Hi! I’m R.E. Davis, I wrote “Sigil & Shadow” which was based on d00Lite stuff by DwD Studios.
I just wanted to say I’M DAMN JEALOUS (in a great way) of DIE A HUNDRED TIMES. I was previously testing a similar damage system of Lowest, Average, Highest and Total (suggested by Bill Logan). I personally loved it, but the “average” roll was clunky in playtesting feedback. But here you are, not only trimming the problem but making it all doable in a single attack roll and I’m kicking myself for never considering it.
Everything else is lovely as well. I have all these games/settings I’d like to run and I’ve literally been sitting here going “Or I could just hack DIE A HUNDRED TIMES to run it.”
Thank you, it means a lot as I find Sigil & Shadow to be a great game ! I can't even take credit for the damage rule, one reader created it for their own hack of DIE A HUNDRED TIMES :) I'm using it a lot to test or run different settings as well but it always brings a smile to my face knowing other people have fun tinkering with it. Thanks again for the feedback and take care!
Hi DMChuck! Your comment was deleted by mistake, sorry about that! I don't use Search or Investigation skills in my games: if the characters are looking for something, they find it, no roll needed. Nonetheless it's quite easy to add them to the skill list if you wish to, this thing is meant to be tweaked by GMs to fit their style!
The “Observation” skill is listed and could stand in for Investigation or Search.
Correct! :)
Alexandre, quick editing comment: lose is spelled “loose” several times through the document.
I love how useful this can be at a mere two pages. The one-roll for attack and defense is perfect.
Thanks for the feedback!
I second Tim's praise for this game (Hi Tim it's Brian C.!). We're using Die A Hundred Times to play through my Call of Cthulhu scenario "Canned Articles," and it's the perfect game engine for that purpose. Die A Hundred Times is now my go-to choice for d100 gaming. It's a lean, sleek system that gets the job done and then gets out of the way to let play happen. It's terrific!
That makes me so happy, thank you guys!
One way that I’ve modified the game is to have player-characters start with 10 + [Brawn or Will tens digit] hit points instead of the printed 20 + [Brawn/Will tens digit]. This puts player-character health in line with Cthulhu d100 games…people are ordinary and somewhat fragile, instead of pulp-fantasy-heroic levels of vitality.
Great, I love to see how each Referee changes the rules according to their taste, that keeps the game alive :)
Updated to version 1.2 thanks to new damage rules designed by Sakagnôle!
Nice! Don't forget to change the file name. ;)
A version of FLEAUX! with this system it would be really interesting... Just saying. :)
Should be quite easy to pull off yes :)
This is a brilliant distillation of common d100 system traits, presented in a way that seems to encourage tinkering and tampering with the rules. The optional rules are especially brilliant, providing mechanisms that enable associated styles of play very well. Thank you for your wonderful game, I will be eager to try it out.
Thanks a lot for your kind feedback!
*Chef's kiss*
Thanks :)
An optional rule that seems super simple to use with this system is advantage and disadvantage by flipping the roll digits for better or worse respectively. :)
Yeah, plenty of spices to add to suit our tastes!
Updated to version 1.1 thanks to readers feedback!
Great little game! I love seeing simpler d100 games. Still, I think adding a heading to each list of skill to clarify the 1st one is ancient/medieval, the 2nd one is contemporary and the 3rd one is futuristic/sci-fi would make it clearer. Other than that, it looks like a lot of fun in 2 simple pages.
Thanks, I'm putting an updated version today, among other things, the heading for skills has been added!
Great! By the way, I think the vehicle combat rules have a lot of potential uses besides vehicle combat and chases. They could be used easily to abstract any kind of conflict (e.g. lockpicking, diplomatic bargaining, poetry contests, etc.) if the players or the GM would like to use this approach instead of solving them with a single roll. They also might add tension to a fight scene (e.g. the wizard in the party must complete the ritual to stop the evil demon from manfiesting in our world while the other players keep the cultists at bay; if the wizard fails the three attempts, we are all doomed, no matter how well the other players do!). And now I that think about it, the antagonist's special ability lists can be useful as a template for new special abilities for the PCs.
Seeing how you're inspired to make this your own makes me, very, very happy :)
This is amazing! I can’t wait to get this fantastic ultra-light d100 rpg to my game table!
Thank you! Let me know how it went as soon as you get a chance to play :)
I loved this. Kobayashi, any suggestions for how to use the attack roll directly for damage?
Easiest thing would be to adapt the rules from Unknown Armies:
_add the two numbers from your roll together (if you roll 54, you inflict, 5+4= 9 points of damage). Count the "0"s as "10". Eventually add +5 for 2d10 weapons and +10 for 3d10 weapons. Or simply a +5 for big things that hurt :)
_for highly lethal weapons: the result of your roll is the damage (maybe a bit too violent but why not).
Good idea. It is a practical method. It makes me want to do some hack! ^^
Cool! That's the goal :)