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Josh Bazin
Canada
Edmonton
Alberta
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One of the intrepid members of the 'geek mentioned this game in another thread that I was following and the premise looks pretty sweet, but I know nothing of ORE.
Can someone tell me about this game, and about how ORE works?
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Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
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This is a description of ORE in general, and not how it relates to A Dirty World. Most ORE games tweak the system in certain ways to fit their genre. I haven't read A Dirty World, so I can't comment on how it specifically utilizes ORE.
ORE is a dice pool mechanic. It only uses d10s. Instead of trying to roll over a target number, the player tries to roll sets of the same number.
When a set is rolled, whether that be a set of 2, 3, 4, or more dice, the uses the height and width of the roll. The height is the face value of one die in the set. The width is the number of dice in the set.
Consider the following roll:
    
The roll has a height of 4 and a width of 3 (there are 3 fours).
Height determines the success of the action and width determines the speed. In combat height is also the hit location while width is the damage.
If there are multiple sets, the player chooses which one he wants to use.
A player always rolls a set,even if it has a width of 1.
Consider the following roll:
 
This would have a height of 5 and a width of 1.
Then, there are special dice granted by powers.
Hard Dice always have a value of 10.
Wiggle Dice are dice that are not rolled, but instead set to a value after the others are rolled.
Expert Dice are the opposite of wiggle dice. They're set to a given value before the others are rolled. However, no two expert dice may be set to the same value (no instant sets).
It took me a little while to grasp all the nuances of the system. If you're interested in reading the rules, check out Nemesis, a freely distributed ORE game.
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Josh Bazin
Canada
Edmonton
Alberta
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Chad,
Thanks for the overview of ORE and pointing me to Nemesis, which I will be reading in the near future.
How does one interpret a roll result? I understand how you're getting the height and width, but how is it interpreted?
Using your examples, could you tell me how those results would relate to say, searching a room for something?
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Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
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Dice pools are build by using STAT+SKILL typically. There are some exceptions. A dice pool never has more than 10 dice in it. Ever. The dice pool are used to resolve contests.
There are two types of contests, static and dynamic.
Static is where you try to overcome an inanimate object in some way. Roll the dice and if you get a set, you succeed.
Here are some examples, please read them with a Col. Klink accent.
Quote: Example: Steve needs to break down a door without alerting the Nazis that are several rooms away. The door's stuck in its jamb, not locked, so he has to apply some brute force. Steve has a the following pertinent stat: Body 3d And the following skill: Athletics 2d Therefore Steve will roll 5d. He rolls:  He has a pair of 6s, so he succeeded. He only has a width of two, so it takes him a little while to complete the task. Presumably, he worked at slowly forcing the door open.
Quote: Another example, again using Steve. It's the same situation, but he rolls:  No sets. The 1 width set doesn't apply against static contests, so Steve fails. What does that mean? Well, let's look at how the contest was framed. Steve wanted to open the door quietly. The failed roll could mean: A. He didn't open the door B. He didn't open the door but made one hell of racket. C. He flung open the door, it knocked over the ancient candelabra which skittered across the flagstones, and knocked the Bavarian coo-coo clock into and endless loop.
Dynamic challenges are the meat and potatoes of the system. It's when a PC faces off against an opponent. That opponent can be an animal, another person, an alien, etc. In a dynamic contest, the highest set wins, but the widest set is fastest. Winning is very subjective in this case.
Quote:
Quote: Now, let's try this. Steve wants to interrogate EHS about the location of the Klystron Bomb. We'll use the following STATS + SKILLS Steve: STAT = Command 3d, SKILL = Intimidation 4d for a total of 7d EHS: STAT = Empathy 2d, SKILL = Bluff 4d for a total of 6d. Steve rolls:  EHS rolls: Steve's player has a choice. He has a 4x3 or a 3x8 and EHS has a 3x9. Obviously, EHS is an accomplished liar. No doubt about it. However, Steve has a choice to make. Does he want get a fast answer or a thorough answer. Since ties go to the one with the greatest height, he's better off choosing the fast answer, even if it's not 100% accurate. Steve now knows the Klystron Bomb is somewhere in Schloss Schloss, but doesn't know exactly where. If he'd chosen the other route and picked 3x8, hoping for an accurate answer, EHS' 3x9 would have won and the nasty Nazi might have told the heroic adventurer that the bomb was in Sigismund's Tomb, which is miles away from Schloss Schloss.
Hopefully that helps a little bit. Combat is more detailed with things like penetration. The free Nemesis rules will go into that.
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Josh Bazin
Canada
Edmonton
Alberta
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Thanks!
ORE sounds quite neat. I appreciate you taking the time to give me the jist. I'll be looking into it for my collection.
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Rod Batten
Canada
St. John's
Newfoundland
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. --R.E.Howard
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RPPR Actual Play has a couple of episodes of A Dirty World that are very entertaining to listen to. You can also get a good idea of how the game is run from these AP episodes. The audio quality is excellent and the players are great.
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