Can an RPG be played entirely without any form of random number generation...

Can an RPG be played entirely without any form of random number generation? If so how do adjudicate action success and what provides uncertainty of outcome? How about war games?

You could use a dartboard instead of d20.

>Can an RPG be played entirely without any form of random number generation?
Yes - but it will suck.

>If so how do adjudicate action success and what provides uncertainty of outcome?
Complete narrative and outcome control is left up to the GM. Again I reiterate: It will suck as the hobby is chock full of That GM.

>How about war games?
Well, there's Chess and Checkers...

Yes. Golden Sky Stories for example uses no dice or any other random elements.

Lords of Gossamer and Shadow exists. Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North also largely eschews randomization since the entire game is supposed to be ran by all the players bargaining with each other using a list of predefined phrases while they GM different parts of the game. I think it only asks for a d6 for a handful of fairly infrequent mechanics, so you can probably houserule it out

>It will suck
See, that depends. Your thing that most GMs suck is only partly true. The number of actively shit GMs pales in comparison to GM's that are just sort of Bad at telling a story or creating a world. Its easy enough to create a dungeon and let people fuck around in an area, but its hard to create an actual story that doesn't involve grabbing a player by the nose and dragging them through the major plot points. Even people used to writing stories have a hard time doing it dynamically with the flow ruining, tangent following, completely unfocused thing that is a player party.

To make a good narrative based game you basically need to give the GM the framework of how to craft stories and then give points for when those story points are completed.

Yes, try the amazing "Amber Diceless RPG" as an example.

better question, where do I get one of those non-euclidean looking d9s?

There are a bunch...

>all the players bargaining with each other using a list of predefined phrases while they GM different parts of the game
Is it like a bidding system or something?

>Can an RPG be played entirely without any form of random number generation?
Yes. Just assume that every roll is the average (rounded against the rolller) on whatever die/dice you're using--e.g., 10 for D&D's 1d20 or 11 for GURPS's 3d6.

>If so how do adjudicate action success and what provides uncertainty of outcome?
Knowing exactly what the result of your choice will in the short term be doesn't mean that you'll always make the right choices in the long term.

I guess I used the wrong wording, it's more like arbitrated negotiation. Basically, someone plays the actual "player character", there are two roles for background and secondary NPCs and someone plays the villains. The guy who plays the character and the guy who plays the villains can start a "conflict" by invoking the character's Aspects, and then, as I understand it, everyone can chip in by using the "key phrases", which are things like "but only if" and "it shall not come to pass"

Take in mind I have never actually played the system, but I've heard good things about it

This is a good idea that I'm willing to try. Problem is that it's only really fair if no one in the group is particularly good at darts...

shit meant to reply to

Maybe some kind of simple game against the GM where your skill determines whether you're given a handicap/advantage. It would be slow as all hell though and I can't think of anything that could be played with any degree of speed but can't be perfectly solved by even a mildly experienced player but also have its difficulty adjusted gradually.

Well, Ive been playing with an idea for a simple choice system, where rather then rolling dice, picking cards, etc. Every major action had choices associated with it and a consequence to that choice.

Like, a NORMAL action will have three choices, pick two(one choice is usually to evade the consequence, unless the ability is supposed to be costly). If you have an advantage on the action, you can pick three choices, and if you have a disadvantage you pick only one. UNIQUE actions change a choice in a normal action. SPECIAL actions let you add more choices to an action. Actions are restricted for those who can use them; you can't drink blood through your teeth unless you got an ability that lets you do that.

for example most people would be able to use the Fisticuffs action, which prompts the choice;

Fisticuffs allows you to inflict damage with your fists, but open yourself up to harm. Pick 2.
>Throw a mean blow! Deal X damage.
>Set yourself up for a knock out blow! Gain access to the Knock Out Blow action.
>Evade Consequence
Consequence: Open yourself up to retaliation, Your next attacker gains advantage(they get to pick +1 choice) on their attack.

A person armed with brass knuckles could add damage to the action, a back ally brawler could '>probe for weakness! gain advantage on next Fisticuffs action' as a 4th choice. A man with a gun could use a Shoot em dead action rather then responding with Fisticuffs.

Remember this shit is really early alpha I am still working on it.

Wouldn't this essentially be a video game RPG on tabletop?

well my life is ruined. good day to you sir.

But in all seriousness looking for ways to make it less crunchy/gamy

Sure, you don't actually need uncertainty of outcome -- it will make things more strategic. You can't just throw yourself into a bad situation and hope the RNG will save you. Likewise you don't have to worry if you've spent time and resources to carefully prepare the situation to your advantage that the RNG is going to fuck you out of the victory you've paid for.
Chess has no uncertainty in the outcome of a move, and it's a damn good game.

>Can an RPG be played entirely without any form of random number generation?
Yes but the best example I have seen is from the RPG Undying where you keep track of a resource pool and spend it here and there while also taking narrative moves to propel a story forward.
>If so how do adjudicate action success and what provides uncertainty of outcome?
For the former see above and the latter is handled by characters bidding their resources against one another.
>How about war games?
Depends on your definition of war games...

So yeah my only experience has been Undying and despite reading through the entire book I am still unsure of how it would play at the table.

Yeah, RPGs can be made without random numbers pretty well.

Damage now depends on weapon, positioning, and possibly the status of your character and other characters if you want a wound or a flanking system.

Attack rolls, and how much damage is done, now depends on comparing aim and armor piercing values against dodge and armor values.

Success is adjucated either by real world rules, or concretely and similarly every time a specific problem comes up.

Uncertainty of outcome comes from having scenarios that are different, environments that are different, enemies disposed in different ways, and the like. Especially if fog of war exists.

I quite like diceless wargames, they feel a lot less like skill-free gambling and a lot more like a thoughtful exchange.

Resource management and hidden actions.

Yes, Nobilis.

Yeah, it's called freeform or collaborative storytelling or improv.

Well, you could, but why would you want to? It's the uncertainty of the outcomes and your attempts to minimize it that makes it worth playing the games.

>what provides uncertainty of outcome?
It seems like In a non-adversary game like golden sky stories decision on passing or failing a check is entirely up to the player, save for when they are trying to take impossible action and GM says "no". So it comes to resource management (Blow your will on that difficult check or save it for latter) and willingness to see your character fail on the players side, and understanding failing forward on GMs.

In Amber Diceless and Lords of Gossamer and shadow, the rating of your statistics is a flat out determinant of success and failure, modified by player chosen (at first) 'stuff' which influences luck, perception and drama. As you gain experience you can save or spend stuff for more power, but you never learn how much you have making the amount and it's effects only determined by actual play and GM description.

Though the ranks of stats are infelxibler and absolute, one can effect outcomes by using different stats than your oppoenent. Rank 2 warfare invariably beats Rank 3 warfare, but if you have Rank 2 endurance and he has Rank 4 endurance, you can easily outlast him in a protracted battle - you just have to figure out how to stretch the fight out, making your choices and roleplay extremely valuable tools in what would seem to be a decided outcome fight.

It's called free form.

One of the best "roleplaying" experiences I've ever had was playing Microscope, and that's completely devoid of RNG mechanics.

It's also not really a game and more like a collaborative improv worldbuilding exercise, but whatev.

One of the most brilliant and unappreciated RPG ever made

Completely randomless

Resource management.

It's not a d9, it's a four-dimensional d36.

If fairness is a problem, just make everyone use their off-hand.

With some very minor tweaks this is actually really good for over-the-top shit like Gurren Lagann or Fate/.

For sure.

When I played it I create my own world, from Heroes to Villains and everything in between.

We made 3 seasons each with 8 to 10 episodes
.
That was one of the best campaigns I ever did.