For the "Wild West" skirmish game rules I'm writing, I'm currently planning on players having to first declare where a figure is attempting to move this segment, and at what pace (crawl, walk, dog trot, or sprint), and then roll the appropriate number (1, 2, 3, or 4, respectively) of "d2's" to see just how far they actually manage to move.  For higher-level games, I'm more in the, "you know how far a unit can move in (turn length) minutes", but at skirmish level it feels to me less a matter of turns being exact lengths and more a question of, "does he manage to get from A to B before someone else gets a shot at him?"

With my thought being "d2s" being d6s, reading 1, 2, or 3 as "1";  4, 5, or 6 as "2";  my question for you good folks is whether you feel "translating" that many d6 results to get a total movement would be as easy as I'm guessing it would be, or would it feel like too much "faffing about" (if I understand the term correctly  )?

My reason for going with d2s is that it puts more control on the results.  You COULD roll a d8 for sprinting, but you'd be equally likely to roll any integer from 1 to 8, whereas by rolling 4d2s instead, you know you'll get at least 4", you'll usually average 6", and might get as far as 8".

Oh — I'm expecting each player to have usually 5 or 6 "characters" at a time (just to give a sense of the scale of the task).

How about 3" base, plus d2/4/6/8 for actions?
You know you will move, but by how much...

Another option might be d4 / d4+2 / d4+4 / d4+6 , or something akin.

Does that mean a mark in the "too much faff" column, Speedy?

Not exactly answering the question asked but I like the option used in Gangs of Rome.

Plot a number of actions (Move, Shoot, Melee, etc. etc.) from 0-4. Roll a number of dice equal to your Agility. Each 4+ rolled means an action succeeds. Fail to complete all actions and your character is stressed.

As an example:

You activate a character who has an enemy on the roof of the building he is next to and there is a ladder to the roof next to him.

You plan to have him climb the ladder, take a pot shot at the opponent with his spear, close the distance and melee attack the opponent.

You place one intention token (my name for it) at the top of the ladder, then another on top for the action to throw the spear, then a third next to the opposing figure and finally another on top for the melee action.

Your figure's Agility is 7. You roll seven dice and get 6,5,4,3,2,1,1. You character climbs the ladder, throws the spear closes the gap and stops, stressed.

Any use? 

 

Thanks for the input, Ithoriel.  I've already got a morale mechanic that regulates how much a character can do in a round.  It's the feasibility/palatability of dicing for movement as I've described I'm curious about.

If you already have a mechanism for how many things a model may do (which may include how many moves) then rolling for how far to move sounds too much randomnisation

Personally rolling 4d2 for movement distance sounds a lot of faff for little outcome.

Either try an Average dice (sides are 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5) or something like roll 2 dice, pick the highest (or lowest if going is difficult) for movement.

I'm with fred, too much effort for too little gain.

Also, why would I not roll 4D2 every time? Do I have to move the full distance? Can I change direction mid-move? Am I taking fatigue for every die I roll? If I run towards a wall and exceed the distance to be covered do I take fatigue or damage from the impact?

Or maybe you just need to make sure people like me don't play the game. 

Classic Pendraken Board "An answer to a different question" but...

My WW2 company level rules a base (3-5 men) accumulates 'Fire' markers when shot at. You don't know the effect of those markers until the base activates.
You then look at the number of markers, declare what the unit will do, THEN roll 1d6 per marker.

If they take cover, they can do nothing, but only have to resolve those they rolled a '6' for.
If they want tofire, the hits happen on a 5 or 6
If they declare move, it is a 4,5 or 6.

For each hit rolled you then roll for the effect - 1 No effect, 2-3 suppressed, 4-5 Pinned, 6 a kill and a Pin. (Bases have 3 'Hits', accumulated hits makes life harder for them).

I mention this because I assume if you know you might be shot at, you will either creep slowly between cover, or run fast across the open.

(Addendum.
When I wrote the system, I though players would put 6 or 7 fire markers on a unit. When Sunjester and I playtested it, it became obvious how paranoid you could get - I think the highest we had to test was 26 fire markers on one base!)

Quote from: Ithoriel on 03 August 2026, 12:54:34 PMAlso, why would I not roll 4D2 every time? Do I have to move the full distance? Can I change direction mid-move? Am I taking fatigue for every die I roll? If I run towards a wall and exceed the distance to be covered do I take fatigue or damage from the impact?

My intent behind having different paces, or gaits, is to enable some tactical choices:  the faster the gait, the harder the character is to hit, but the harder it is for them to accurately fire while moving, too.

If a character reaches their stated destination before they move the full distance rolled, they stop where intended, taking advantage of whatever cover they reached.

My rules grew out of a reaction to numerous "fast play" Wild West games in which all the characters are treated as being nearly identical, and which offer few opportunities for tactical decisions.  Many such are played and enjoyed, and I don't mean to cast aspersions on those rules or those players.  I'm just trying to create a set of rules for those (like me) willing to take on somewhat greater complexity in exchange for greater tactical & narrative depth.  I don't want it to be a SLOW-play game, but somewhere in the middle.

Fred, I'll certainly ponder those alternatives you suggest.

Last Hussar, that's an interesting sounding mechanic, though at least on first consideration that sounds much more suitable to a game where a stand represents a small group than it does a skirmish game.

Personally I like the theory Nd2s depending on the movement speed chosen (nothing more annoying than declaring a sprint in Savage Worlds, for example, and then rolling a 1!), but just worry about the handling effort of converting the results of regular d6s into d2s at the game table, especially if you're having to do it for multiple figures 

Use a black marker on 1,2 & 3 on 4 dice - no need to do more than count the black sides (or white ones). Buckets of dice isn't my thing normally but this mechanism does make sense. Most of the suggestions make it more complicated.

This kind of detailed action counting is why I don't do skirmishing.

QuoteThis kind of detailed action counting is why I don't do skirmishing.

Skirmish games do not have to be this detailed - see Space Weirdos.