I was discussing this on another thread but don't want to HiJack JCs Rules Cards thread so thought I'd repost here instead:

My basic query was that I had tried an auto win/loss system on a d6, but JC had made a post saying this was a bad idea so I was curious to hear why as I hadn't really crunched the numbers very carefully on it. I asked JC why and he explained:

Original post: www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

Better explanation of my idea:

Rather than auto-win/loss, I was thinking of 1s and 6s more like fumbles and criticals. There are 3 results for a combat: Win, Draw, Loss. A critical (roll of 6) shifts this result 1 in your favour, meaning a Loss becomes Draw and Draw becomes Win. A critical (roll of 6) moves things 1 against you, so Win becomes Draw, Draw becomes Loss. This means that when one player would usually win by default, they can still:

Win: If they roll 2+ and opponent rolls 5-, OR if both roll a 1, OR both roll a 6 (2 fumbles/criticals cancel each other). This is a 27/36 chance

Lose: They roll a 1 and opponent rolls a 6. This gives a 1/36 chance of a loss.

Draw: All other results are a draw, which means 8/36 result in a stand-off.

So someone perviously untouchable will now Win 75%, Draw 22.2% and Lose 2.8%.

Having now crunched those numbers, the draw rate looks a bit higher than would be preferred, but I'm interested what others think.

This does clarify what you were after, and though the draw rate seems a bit high, it works better than I first thought by the probabilities. Rather than a +1/-1 to the roll per se, it is shift of outcome, not really roll totals. So that does seem better, and it is a clean alternative 1 die system. Still those draw/tie results are a little high when considering opponents of equal strength. Let me see if I've really got it straight...

When you roll a 1 in combat, if the compared totals indicate that:

• you have won, then you tie instead.
• you have tied, then you lose instead.
• you have lost, you still lose.
• you lose regardless if your opponent rolled a 6.

And when you roll a 6 in combat, if the compared totals indicate that:

• you have won, then you still win.
• you have tied, then you win instead.
• you have lost, then you tie instead.
• you win regardless of total if your opponent rolled a 1.

And rolled matching 6s and 1s are a draw/tie no matter what.

And don't worry about the old topic; it was for rules cards... or just house rules possibilities... or any kind. But a new topic is good for this too.