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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Caliburn101" data-source="post: 7464086" data-attributes="member: 6802178">Do you have any evidence of it's relative popularity, or is it niche to the point other such games have been? I remember playing one rpg without dice (Amber) which was ok - if it was a little like a long, long LARP session with no action scenes, and another was a tabletop board game. The tabletop boardgame (the original Civilisation) was rather more engaging in my opinion despite having battles in it.As I argued, I think it is clear that exceptions really do not prove the rule - whether they are interesting examples or not. Randomisation next to a chance of success and failure is overwhelmingly mainstream and here to stay, especially in combat. Ask any casino craps table operator why human psychology will always make that the go-to game mechanic and they can give you a pretty straight answer.We love gambling, and the chance of losing everything excites a primitive part of humanity's brain.There is no choice based system that can provide that, and indeed, if no dice are used, they cannot throw up an extreme result that throws the plot and narrative in a surprising and unanticipated direction.To cite some populist sources of the excitement to be had with such normal mechanics, both the Matthew Mercer and Joe Manganiello have publically stated that the dice providing such surprises is one of the great attractions of D&D for them.I have to agree with them.</blockquote>