Pyramid Pick
10 Million Ways To Die
Published by Iron Crown Enterprises
Written by John W Curtis III, Craig "Ichabod" O'Brien, and Coleman Charlton
112 pages, $16.00
A generation ago, ICE began life by publishing Arms Law, the first component of the Rolemaster roleplaying game, as a replacement combat system for other games, notably AD&D. With the release of 10 Million Ways To Die, the wheel has turned full circle.In essence, 10 Million Ways To Die is a streamlined version of the Rolemaster and Spacemaster combat systems. It aims to provide a "plug and play" realistic alternative to other fantasy, historical, modern day, and science fiction combat mechanics. The title comes from the blurb on the back where a street thug is contemplating how he'll die ten million deaths at the hands of rival mobsters. It's not meant as a claim for the number of fatal ends for unlucky combatants described in the book, although there are plenty of them!
A combat run under 10 Million Ways To Die will have the look and feel of a Rolemaster battle. Players still roll percentile dice to generate a random number, add their skill with the chosen weapon, and subtract their opponent's defensive bonus to produce a final result. The referee flips to the table for the attacker's weapon and cross-references the result with the defender's armor to read off how many hit points (if any) that the defender loses and if a critical strike has been made. If a critical occurs, it's time to turn to the appropriate . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: February 4, 2000
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