Diceless gaming

Pilgrims of the Flying Temple , and…. You tell us: What diceless games have you played? What do you like about them?

Or maybe you have further questions? Let us know in the comments below! This isn't such a bad thing, actually, as it cuts down on squabbles for status.

Bullying when one player pounds on another he knows he can beat is to be repressed immediately, please. True suspense comes from NPCs. What are they up to? Can they be trusted? When and not if will they try to take their revenge? What are their options, allies, limits, advantages? Subtle indicators of true intentions should be scattered before the PCs, and their attempts to divine the future on incomplete or maybe untrustworthy data are what generate that paranoid feeling that leads to true suspense Note that the GM can rule such that the PCs only manage to gain partial information — or adjust his NPCs by giving them bonuses for having prepared the situation.

Players should feel at home with the things they have the right to know e. Information about NPCs should be considerably more important, and thus harder to come by.

Control the information flow and you control the players' range of possible deductions. Don't overdo this. Too little information leads to feelings of hopelessness, poor PC planning and failed missions. NPC projects move forward even when PCs are elsewhere. To make your world feel "alive", the projects of those multiple NPC factions must move forward even while the PCs are elsewhere — even if it means that one faction suddenly — publicly — triumphs over another without PC intervention: it adds even more depth to that "living world" feeling.

Events may happen that aren't explained, but that, five scenarios down the road, players suddenly realize, "Hey, THAT could mean that This is beyond foreshadowing, this is a living world that doesn't revolve around the PCs This pressure on the PCs, seasoned with a little GM fiddling with the timing, will add another layer to their thought processes, thus enriching their experience. A few red herrings and currently irrelevant information will enhance the "natural" feel of the campaign atmosphere.

Richly detail the PC home base. The PCs will almost undoubtedly have one place they keep on returning to, as a home base e. This place must be richly defined, well stocked with detailed NPCs, and attractively described. The players must be able to trust the GM in this one place above all others, so if they come up with a brilliant breakthrough that hamstrings a major NPC in this place Allow it!

Develop a "Knowledge base" available to some PCs. I also have in French Word files that define many Noble Houses. For every one of twenty-odd Houses and twelve factions, Guilds, etc. This Knowledge base comforts and reinforces players deprived of their dice, their tables, etc.

It provides me with handouts that can gain me some breathing time. Note that the PCs only have the right to consult items that should know about or manage to find out. I also pull out all the stops in developing NPC Portrait Galleries, maps, explanations of Powers, Character Creation Process Sheets, and anything else that will help players avoid that "I'm lost" feeling. More Prior Prep. The players will think you are a genius to have prepared so many things that even their wildest maneuvers were fully anticipated and prepped.

Last week I posted a reader request for information and tips about playing diceless RPGs. As usual, the Roleplaying Tips community responded generously with opinions, information, and advice.

Below are a few of the e-mails I received. Look at the Amber Diceless Roleplaying and Everway games. Both give lots of good guidance on the subject. Ever had to fudge a roll to make the story go well? Then systemless resolution might be for you. Almost everyone has played that way at some time, and those bits are often the best part of the game. Tell different kinds of stories. The answer: sometimes, but not always, the players beat him.

Follow the structure of novels, for example. A bad guy might be beaten, return in stealth, triumph for a while, and then be defeated again.

With the GM in control, it happens every time it needs to. This one is hard. Try keeping track of your decisions. At the end of a session total it up. Since most of our interim scenes involve contested skills more than actual combat e. Bluff vs. Sense Motive this works well.

It can also be applied to combat for to hit rolls and saves. On the rare occasion that damage comes into play, we do a similar median approach half the total possible damage.

Suspense is maintained by a bit of GM secrecy. I have used diceless gaming now for over 17 years, creating my own systems or using others. Much decision making, resolution, storytelling, and excitement can be gained by listening to the players.

Extract information from them, such as how are they standing or the look on their faces when talking to an NPC. With no numbers to go on, you will need to get more information from the players anyway. You will soon discover you are using the same triggers with your NPCs, descriptions, and general storytelling.

These small triggers can assist you in the resolution department. Does the player stand with hands clenched but smiling?

What reaction does this create in an NPC who sees this duality of body suggestions? It can even come down to how intimidating a character is. A small child performing such an action has a wholly different subtext than a bulking half-orc. Borrow from everything. Movie scenes, book scenes, scenes in the news. Pay attention to the underlying feelings and reactions. Slowly change up the scenes to your liking as you grow comfortable and adapt in-game. The Delta System - A rescued English version Destiny a Decision Driven Roleplaying Game - Analyse action descriptions into 5 non-transitive methods with goal directed allocation, modify with deep resources like luck and inspiration.

Uses a verbal scale of degree, ranging from somewhat to unimaginably. Character design hinges on description and character advancement is managed by allotting man-hours and inspiration.

Destiny - Hand of Fate - edition. Diceless Risus - the pretentious edition - Core Risus has an eleagance that is inspiring. This game makes the bidding concept explicit not sure I like the numbers being so much in the players face, Jockying for modifiers has existed since Amber but somehow this makes it noteworthy.

Risus is elegance inand of itself. I always wonder that folks think diceless gaming is "pretentious" or has "attitude" well the following has attitude but pretentious it is not. Diceless - by Mark William Henshaw - add helping and subtract hindering traits. Toss in a rock paper scissors And I think I helped inspire some of the recent version I also find the traits descriptive in there high focus. Is it a joke? We may experiment with some of those options or other people may choose to invest the time and energy to do so via the D20 rules and the Open Gaming movement.

Only time will tell. Even though deterministic.