There has been a number of comments on the FU Yahoo group about the results of dice rolls in FU, and what make the most interesting outcomes. Long story short, there is strong support that the plain “Yes” and “No” results are the least interesting options when the dice hit the table – the real gold is when you generate an “and” or “but” result. So here is an option for removing the boring bits and just turning your games of FU all the way up to AWESOME! I haven’t tried this out yet, so if you get a chance to, let me know how it goes.

4-point Resolution

In this hack there are only four possible die results – [Yes and], [Yes but], [No but], and [No and]. You will roll dice that have results divisible by 4, so that means d4, d8, d12 or d20. My first instinct is that d8 or d12 is probably the sweet spot, but a d4 would make things pretty quick and simple. You and your group of players will need to discuss what feels right for your game – some people don’t like d4’s (what’s wrong with them!), others would love to crack out a bag full of d12’s, or perhaps you only have d20’s laying around. It is my feeling that the type of die chosen will effect the feel of the game and will influence the effectiveness of adding dice for descriptors or the spending of FU points.

All the FU rules apply as normal, but when it is time to roll dice, use the die-type your group has chosen, and consult the following result chart:

Result

D4 roll

D8 roll

D12 roll

D20 roll

Yes, and…

4

7-8

10-12

16-20

Yes, but…

3

5-6

7-9

11-15

No, but…

2

3-4

4-6

6-10

No, and…

1

1-2

1-3

1-5

I think this result chart is pretty good, and loses nothing for the removal of the standard [Yes] and [No] results. It reminds me somewhat of games like Apocalypse World / Dungeon World where you either mess up and things get worse, you get what you want – at a price, or you succeed with style. The other thing I like is that the stakes are always high – success or failure will come with a qualifier and it will either by marginal or great. I think this makes the outcomes of situations more interesting.

But wait, there’s more!

3-point Resolution

Looking at the above resolution chart, I got to thinking, “What’s the difference between a [Yes, but] and a [No, but] result?” In a lot of situations you might find it tough to differentiate between the two, particularly if you are running the game on the fly, in the middle of the action and thinking fast on your feet. The solution? Get rid of one of them! In a nod to my current RPG crush, the aforementioned Dungeon World, I decided to keep the [Yes, but] result, and came up with the following. For this hack you will need a die with results divisible by three – a d6 or d12.

Once again, use the FU rules as normal, but consult the following result chart:

Result

D6 roll

D12 roll

Yes, and…

5-6

9-12

Yes, but…

3-4

5-8

No, and…

1-2

1-4

I think I like this option even more than the 4-point resolution – there is something interesting happening no-matter the result, and it loses the ambiguity of the [Yes, but] – [No, but] in the middle.

This hack obviously weights things toward success for your characters, and that might not be to your liking. You could change the middle result to [No, but] to swing the pendulum the other way, or you might make the middle result more ambiguous, perhaps upping the stakes without resolving the situation. Alternatively an odd number could mean a [No, but] result while an even number is a [Yes, but] – both he d6 and d8 option accommodate that in the middle range of numbers. If you really want to stack the pressure on your players you might make the middle result a [No, but] result, but allow them to pay a FU point to switch it to a [Yes, but] result. Just chucking ideas out there.

Another alternative is to change the die roll results so that the [No, and] outcome represents half the options. This would look something like this:

Result

D6 roll

D12 roll

Yes, and…

6

11-12

Yes, but…

4-5

7-10

No, and…

1-3

1-6

I am not sure how I feel about this. It is still straightforward and logical, but is an even bigger departure from the “FU-norm”.

Modifiers?

If using larger dice (d8, d12 and d20), you could take the hack further, adding modifiers to die rolls. You could conceivably have descriptors apply a +1 / -1 to die rolls, rather than additional dice. Likewise, FU points or gear might apply modifiers. Rolling additional dice might be reserved for big bonuses or penalties, in the same way that Advantage / Disadvantage works in D&D Next.

Thoughts?

So, there is another way to play around with the dice in FU. What are your thoughts?