Simple Anti-Ogre Dice

Continuing my recent (I, II) Ogre obsession... And after bit more discussion about simple Ogre dice, here's another thought. How about Anti-Ogre CR dice?

Why an Anti-Ogre dice?

They can't be used against 'conventional' units, but work well in scenarios where one side consists only of one (or more) Ogre(s); such as 'Mark N Assault'. A player opposing Ogres would only need one type of die - and you may even already have some that will work. ;)

So...

Ogres are unaffected by D results, so only X results are relevant. Following the CRT (including auto success on 5-1+), these occur on a rolls of 6, 5+, 4+, 3+, 2+, and 1+ (auto success).
The custom dice version replaces each facing on the die with the minimum A:D ratio required for success: 1-2, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1.

So calculate the A-D ratio, then roll the die. If the roll is equal to or below that ratio, the attack succeeds.

Using your own dice

If you have any dice where a logo replaces the 6 (not uncommon, but sadly not the official Ogre dice), then try this:

Referring straight to the calculation of A/D (if that makes any sense), the die needs these sides: 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So if the '6' (or logo) is redefined as '1/2', we 'have' all these numbers.

Examples:

• Attack 5 vs Defense 2: 5/2 = 2.5. If you roll below 2.5 ('1/2', 1 or 2) the attack succeeds! (normally 2-1 on the table, so X on 4, 5, 6)
• Attack 2 vs Defense 3 = 2/3. Only succeeds if you roll '1/2'.
• Attack 8 vs Defence 2: 8/2 = 4 (aka 4-1). If you roll 4 or less (5 in 6 chance), success!

I know some don't like 'roll low', but it avoids table look-ups for one player, who is often the new arrival. You could rationalize it as if you're rolling the Ogre's armor - a low roll means weak armor.

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the Ogre system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

Another Ogre CRT die II

Ok, so I got some feedback on the last sets, with some very good points. Thank you to all who commented on the Ogre forum.

So this time we have a CRT=X die, with 'D' results noted in smaller text. I also corrected an error where I listed the 2:1 = X result twice. Sigh.

Sooo close to 1-6.

The top row shows a target number for Attack divided by Defense - which bypasses the need to round off to a X:1 or 1:X ratio - I believe this is one of the more slippery concepts for new players, especially working out which way to round.

So, if the (Attack / Defence) beats the big number, that's an X (=BOOM).

The second row is for players who are comfortable with calculating and rounding the ratios - these are second-nature to experienced players, and such an essential part of combat that some will want to keep them.

The lesser 'D' results (and the one-off NE result) are shown in the lower quarter of each side. Ogres will ignore this, but the more squishy units will have to watch out. Again, I've tried two layouts - the top row used the full 'Disabled' text, but I suspect this is too small, so I used 'D' in the second row.

Now to find some dice and stickers... It's a shame the faction logos on my Ogre dice replace the 1 side, rather than the 6, otherwise they could represent '½+' or '1:2+'.


The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the Ogre system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

Another Ogre CRT die

Ogre combat requires a simple table look-up, based on dividing the total attackers' strength by the defender's, erm, defense, and then rolling a single d6.

There have been several attempts to convert this table to a custom die, or set of dice, but I haven't seen this approach before (though someone will no doubt prove me wrong).

Here she is:

Ogre CRT die - what are your odds?

I've left the 1-6 numbers for reference, but they aren't really needed. I really hope I got the rest of the numbers right...

So, calculate the odds, then roll the die. If the odds beat the ratio, you either get the 'D' or 'X' result (X is better). If you don't beat either of the odds, then you missed! ('NE', which I could add to the '6' result for clarity now I think of it.)

One advantage of focusing on the ratios is that it can include the automatic results (less than 1:2 is an auto fail, and over 5:1 is auto 'X').

But is it any good? Useful? Understandable? Missing something obvious? Did you already do this?

Edit: Some further thought produced this:

Second attempt, which changes the ratios to a division (A/D)

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the Ogre system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.