Spinachcat
First Post
Is high randomness, convoluted randomness, random randomness good design for an RPG system? Does high randomness make an RPG more fun?
For me, absolutely yes!
Randomness drives a lot of creativity.
For instance, instead of a set 10% chance for something, is it better to roll 1d20 to see what the percentage chance is (and then roll the d%)?
That adds an extra roll...which adds extra time...which slows the game.
Is it good to have a series of charts where rolling on one determines the next chart to roll on?
Depends on the game. Warhammer does that for critical hits and it works great...but crits are big game moments so the slow down adds to the tension.
Is it fun to have a system where a result can be from fantastic to terrible (like "character gains a level" to "character dies") -- like drawing from a deck of many things?
Depends on the game. Works fabulous in OD&D and Tunnels & Trolls, but these games have very fast chargen.
If rolling randomly (straight, no drops or rerolls) for ability scores and hit points is good, is rolling for starting level even better?
I am working on such an idea. The concept is that you roll for Level and the higher the level you start, the less Gifts from the Gods you get and that balances it out. So...do you want to start as a Grizzled Veteran or the Goofy Noob Blessed by the Gawds?
Is a randomly generated dungeon -- random rooms, corridors, monsters, treasure -- more fun than one put together with a plan?
Sometimes. It truly depends on the DM's ability to be inspired by randomness. Waay too often, the "put together with a plan" becomes very dull and repetitive.
Too much "logic" kills the fantasy. That's where random design can help tremendously.