‘Roll Them All’ (download: https://cyrusrite.itch.io/roll-them-all) is an elegant rules-lite game created by R. A. Rice, also known as Cyrus Rite, who is noted as an incredibly prolific game designer who creates some fascinating RPG Rules-Lite games.
“Roll Them All” is an OSR (Old School Revival) style game that is a genre-neutral system. It could easily be used for various genres and settings. It is suitable for Solo or Group play and perhaps best of all it is FREE!
The key concept of the game is that abilities, weapons, and armor all have a permanently assigned die. Instead of pre-filled stats and modifiers, Character Stats, Weapons, Armor, and Spells use the traditional polyhedral dice used in most RPGs: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20.
To start, you assign these six dice to your six Character Stats. These stats are Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Sense. Strength, Agility, and Dexterity are related to the Body, while Knowledge, Wisdom, and Sense are related to the Mind. Sense is described as a measure of a Character’s ‘feeling or experience’. You should assign these dice based upon the type of character you intend to play. Once assigned, these die assignments are permanent.
Your Life Points are determined by rolling all six assigned dice initially and totaling the results. Death occurs when a Character’s Life Points drop to or below Zero, with no saving throws.
Here’s how the dice are used for different actions:
- Skill Checks: You select the relevant Stats. If appropriate, you can use more than one Stat. For a Skill Check, you roll the die/dice associated with the relevant Stat(s) while adding the highest value of that die. For example, a Stat with a d10 would result in a roll of d10 + 10. This total is checked against a similar roll by an opposing Character or a Challenge rating set by the GM. The reviewer personally preferred just using the assigned die without adding the highest value, but notes it’s “six of one or half a dozen of another”. You may use all of your skills (Stats) to overcome obstacles. Facing a challenge might require rolling one stat die or potentially multiple “logical” dice to generate enough power to succeed.
- Battle Rolls: In combat, both attacker and defender roll dice. In addition to appropriate Stat die/dice, you also add the die for the weapon or spell if attacking, or the armor or spell if defending. For a Battle Roll, you only use the die/dice assigned; you do not add the highest value of the die to the die roll. The total roll of the attacker is compared against the total defense roll of the opponent. The damage is the difference between the two values if the attack is successful and the defense is unsuccessful. You can defend by rolling your Armor die along with any logical Stat dice you can justify, such as Agility to dodge, Knowledge from past experience, or Sense for an incoming attack. Combat continues until one side is victorious or flees. To flee, you roll your Agility die against the opponent’s Agility die; if your roll is greater, you successfully flee.
The rules provide suggested dice assignments for various weapons:
- 1d4: Unarmed, small projectile weapons (rocks, darts)
- 1d6: Daggers, Slings, Cudgels, small single-handed weapons
- 1d8: Staves, large clubs, Spears, Short Bows, medium two-handed weapons
- 1d10: Short Swords, Maces, Flails, Hand Axes, medium-sized weapons
- 1d12: Long Sword, Pole-arms, Cross Bows, Long Bows
- 1d20: Battle Axes, War Hammers, large two-handed weapons
Armor also has a Defense Roll:
- Light Armor: 1d4
- Medium Armor: 1d6
- Heavy Armor: 1d8
- Shields can also have dice assigned: 1d4/2 for Light, 1d6/2 for Medium, and 1d4 for Heavy armor types (I presume the “/2” means divide by 2…).
While weapon and armor dice suggestions are provided, there are no suggestions for spells (hopefully this will be addressed in some later version or supplement). The GM would likely need to assign dice to spells at their discretion. It is also possible to add additional damage by poisoning or enchanting weapons, which adds +1 to the damage.
The system includes interesting ways of using tables. One such method involves consulting “Veneficus the Wise,” also known as the Oracle. By gazing into the Magical Orb and rolling a 1d6, you can get answers to your questions.
Another table is used for Travel Rolls, determined by rolling a 1d12.
When rolling dice in this system, rolling a 1 is generally not a failure; the number on the die is read as the level of success. However, the game mentions that for a more challenging experience, rolling a 1 could be house-ruled as a fail.
For character creation, players decide the core elements of their character: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. The rules provide lists of random ideas if you get stuck, including locations (Forest, Ocean, Mountain, Dungeon, Outer Space, City, etc.), time frames (Past, Present, Future), actions (Investigate, Hunt, Rescue, Escape), items (Orb, Weapon, Scroll, Potion), and Non-Playing Characters (Prisoner, Monster, Noble, Wizard).
The rules state that to play, you will need a set of Polyhedral dice (including 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, and 1d20), a pencil with an eraser for tracking changes, access to a printer for the character sheet, and importantly, an Imagination. The designer emphasizes that imagination is what puts the “Role” in Role Playing and allows you to be anyone or anything.
Enemies are also created by assigning dice to each of their stats, making the assignments logical for the enemy type. Enemies use these stats when in battle. A “Special” field is available on character/enemy sheets for unique skills, diseases, poisons, etc.
Overall, the system presents a different approach to RPGs where dice are permanently assigned to stats and equipment, influencing rolls for skills and combat, and utilizes tables for resolving various situations.
Give it a try.
Download Here: Roll Them All
