Welcome to Fudge Dice!

by Steffan O’Sullivan
©2008 by Grey Ghost Press, Inc.
Using Fudge Dice with Other Games
How do you use these funny looking dice, anyhow?
Fudge dice (“dF”) are made for the Fudge roleplaying game It’s easy to think of uses for Fudge dice. A GM can roll one
(available at fudgerpg.com). A Fudge die contains two sides any time there is an equal chance that something good, some-
with a plus sign (+), which represents +1; two sides that are thing neutral, or something bad will happen. Or a player may
blank, which represent 0; and two sides that have a minus sign risk adding a dF to the roll of another die, which will affect that
(–), which represent –1. a Fudge die is functionally a three-sided other die. For example, rolling a d20 and 1dF can give results
die (d3). While most d3s have sides of 1, 2, and 3, a dF has sides from 0 to 21 instead of 1 to 20. There’s an equal chance that
of –1, 0, +1 — equivalent to a d3–2. the dF will hurt the player as help him, but that’s the risk you
take with rolling dice….
Fudge Dice in Fudge Fudge dice can also be used with board games. In a game
where you move pieces around a track, one simple system is to
To use Fudge dice in Fudge, simply roll 4dF and take the give each player 1dF. At any time after a player rolls the die and
sum. The result will be a number between –4 and +4, which is sees where his piece would land, he may roll his Fudge die, and
then applied to your trait level. adjust the move by whatever he rolled. He then must put his
The easiest way to read 4dF is to match up a plus and a dF on a mutually agreed location, such as a place where free
minus, and put them aside. (They total zero, and won’t affect money can be picked up, or cards drawn. The next player to
the remaining sum.) The remaining two dice are easy to read, land on that spot gets the dF. A player may also use a Fudge
no matter what they are. If there isn’t an opposing pair of plus die to influence another player’s piece after it moves. He then
and minus dice, then put aside all blank faces (zeros). The gives his Fudge die to that player.
remaining dice will be all plus or all minus, and easy to tally. For a wild version of such a game, take a lot of Fudge dice
Note that you don’t have to use 4dF in Fudge; you can use and substitute them for the regular d6s used for movement!
more or less, as the GM sees fit. An NPC might use only 3dF A game that uses 2d6 to move pieces around a board could
or even 2dF, for example, to limit extreme results and give a use up to 12dF — and possibly move backwards or stay in the
result closer to the NPC’s actual ability. Or the GM may allow same place! Or use 6dF — and the player could opt to reroll,
a player to roll 5dF or 6dF in hopes of getting a +5 or better adding the second result, after seeing the results of the first 6
result to accomplish some nearly impossible task. dice. There are many other possibilities.
Another way to allow for that possibility is simply to have Fudge dice can also be used in two-player wargames. Each
open-ended rolls with 4dF. That is, if a player ever rolls a +4 player starts with one, and may use it to influence a combat
result, he may roll the dice again. A generous open-ended sys- roll. This can adjust the outcome of a die roll on a combat
tem adds any further positive result and ignores any negative results table, or change the number of hits received. Once
result. A more risky system adds the two rolls, regardless of the used, the Fudge die is then given to the opponent, and may
second roll — a second roll of –4 would mean a net roll of 0 not be used again by that player until his opponent has used
instead of +4 in this system! it and passed it back.
Mathematics of Fudge Dice
The odds of rolling a given result with Fudge dice depend on how many you roll. Here they are for rolling 1dF to 6dF:
1dF: 2dF: 3dF: 4dF: 5dF: 6dF:
Exact: Cume: Exact: Cume: Exact: Cume: Exact: Cume: Exact: Cume: Exact: Cume:
+6 — — — — — — — — — — 0.1% 0.1%
+5 — — — — — — — — 0.4% 0.4% 0.8% 1.0%
+4 — — — — — — 1.2% 1.2% 2.1% 2.5% 2.9% 3.8%
+3 — — — — 3.7% 3.7% 4.9% 6.2% 6.2% 8.6% 6.9% 10.7%
+2 — — 11.1% 11.1% 11.1% 14.8% 12.3% 18.5% 12.3% 21.0% 12.3% 23.0%
+1 33.3% 33.3% 22.2% 33.3% 22.2% 37.0% 19.8% 38.3% 18.5% 39.5% 17.3% 40.3%
0 33.3% 66.7% 33.3% 66.7% 25.9% 63.0% 23.5% 61.7% 21.0% 60.5% 19.3% 59.7%
–1 33.3% 100.0% 22.2% 88.9% 22.2% 85.2% 19.8% 81.5% 18.5% 79.0% 17.3% 77.0%
–2 — — 11.1% 100.0% 11.1% 96.3% 12.3% 93.8% 12.3% 91.4% 12.3% 89.3%
—3 — — — — 3.7% 100.0% 4.9% 98.8% 6.2% 97.5% 6.9% 96.2%
–4 — — — — — — 1.2% 100.0% 2.1% 99.6% 2.9% 99.0%
–5 — — — — — — — — 0.4% 100.0% 0.8% 99.9%
–6 — — — — — — — — — — 0.1% 100.0%

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