FudgeSRD >FudgeSRD >Combat, Wounds, and Healing >Wounds >Wound Options >

Min-Mid-Max Die Roll

Contents

Min-Mid-Max Die Roll

This system of wound determination does not pretend to be a realistic method, and can produce some wildly varying results. But it’s quick, easy, and lots of fun, and so works well in a certain style of gaming.

This system requires 3d6 for a damage roll, even if using 4dF for action resolution.

Overview: roll 3d6 when a damage roll is called for.

You will probably only read one of the dice, however: either the lowest value (Min), median value (Mid) or highest value (Max), depending on damage factor and relative degree. The greater the damage factor and/or relative degree, the greater the d6 you read for result.

If using the Min-Mid-Max system, use the wound track on the character sheet listed inĀ  Recording Wounds:

Damage: 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+

Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Incapacitated Near Hurt Death

The offensive and defensive damage factors listed in Sample Wound Factors List are used. However, they are not added to the relative degree. Instead, simply derive the total damage factor as normal: (attacker’s Strength + Scale + weapon) minus (defender’s Damage Capacity + Scale + armor). Each player should jot down this number once it is known for the combat.

Before the game begins, the GM decides how important the damage factor and relative degree are in determining wound severity. The following table is recommended as a starting point; the GM can adjust it as she sees fit:

Damage Bonus Relative Degree Factor

<0 -1 –

0,1,2 0 2,3

3,4,5 +1 4,5

6+ +2 6+

A damage factor of 3, for example, has a die-reading bonus of +1, while a relative degree of 3 has a die-reading bonus of 0. The GM may charge a -2 penalty if the damage factor is well below zero (-5 or worse).

Since the graze rules are used unchanged with this system, there is no listing for relative degree less than 2.

Add the bonus for damage factor with the bonus for relative degree to get a final bonus. Example: a character has a damage factor of +3 (bonus: +1) and a relative degree of +5 (bonus: +1). His total bonus for that round of combat is +2.

What do these bonuses represent?

A total “bonus” of less than zero means no damage is possible don’t even roll the dice. Otherwise, locate the total bonus on the following table:

Total Bonus Die to Read

0 Min

1 Mid

2 Max

3 Add Max + Min

4 Add all three

Min = lowest die.

Mid = median die.

Max = highest die.

The median is the value in the middle. This may be the same as the highest or lowest, as in a roll of 2, 4, 4: the Min = 2, the Mid = 4, and the Max = 4. A roll of triples means Min = Mid = Max. (Please read the median value not necessarily the die that is physically between the other two on the table.) Once you have determined which die to read, compare it with the numbers above the wound levels. With a roll of 1, 3, 5, for example, the Min die = 1 (a Scratch result), the Mid die = 3 (a Hurt result), and the Max die = 5 (a Very Hurt result). You would only read one of these results, however not all three.

With three or more bonuses, add the appropriate dice as listed on the table. For results beyond 9, the GM is free to kill the recipient outright, or merely keep it as a Near Death result, as called for by the situation.

The tables are not meant to be intrusive, merely guidelines.

The basic intent is to read the Mid if the attacker has either a decent damage factor or a decent relative degree; to read the Min if he has neither; and to read the Max if he has both. All other values are derived from that simple idea. So the GM can ignore all the tables, and with that idea in mind, just fudge which die to read.

For example, a GM might say, “Whoa! You just hit him across the forehead as he backed into a bucket left by the hastily fleeing janitor. Nice shot he topples over onto his back. For damage, roll 3d6 and read the Max!”

This would have come out of a descriptive game, in which the players describe their characters’ actions in great detail.

Example of the Min-Mid-Max system

Valorous Rachel is fighting the villainous Archie. Both are Scale 0, so Scale won’t be mentioned.

Rachel:

Quarterstaff: +2 Strength Fair: +0

Offensive damage factor: +2

Light Leather Armor: +1

Damage Capacity Good: +1

Defensive damage factor: +2

Archie:

Greatsword: +4 Strength Great: +2

Offensive damage factor: +6

Heavy Leather Armor: +2

Damage Capacity Fair: +0

Defensive damage factor: +2

So Rachel’s damage factor is 2-2 = 0. She gets no bonus.

Archie’s damage factor is 6-2 = 4. He gets +1 bonus, according to the table above.

On the first round, Rachel wins by +2, whacking Archie across the ribs. Relative degree +2 doesn’t get any bonus (and she has none from her damage factor), so Rachel will read the Min. She rolls 3d6 and gets lucky:

a 3, 5, and 6. The Min is a 3: she Hurts Archie, who is now at -1 and checks off his Hurt box.

On the second round, Archie manages to win with a graze: +1 relative degree. Do not even calculate a bonus in this case use the graze rule unchanged from Grazing.

His damage factor is only 4, so he scores a Scratch on Rachel.

On the third round, Archie does very well: he wins by +4 as Rachel backs into a chair! He now gets two bonuses, one from his damage factor and one from his relative degree: he will read the Max die. But Archie’s karma is in serious need of overhaul: he rolls a 1, 2, and 3. Rachel is only Hurt, and the GM checks off the Hurt box.

Rachel all-out attacks in the following round, and with the +1 to hit she scores an awesome +6 over Archie! She gets two bonuses for such a high relative degree she’ll read the Max die and gets +1 to the die roll for all-out attacking. (Note that this is +1 to the die result, not a +1 to the die-reading bonus.) The GM rolls a 1, 4, 6. She reads the Max and adds 1 for a total of 7. Reading the wound table on the character sheet, she sees that this is Incapacitated, and declares that Rachel’s staff just smashed across the bridge of Archie’s nose, probably doing serious damage, and at least knocking him out of this battle. . . .

For a more epic game, where it’s important to be able to Incapacitate in one blow, use the following wound track on the character sheet:

Damage: 1 2,3 4,5 6 7+

Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Incapacitated Near Hurt Death

The extra wound boxes are in keeping with an epic style game, but are optional.