RPG Randomness

I have been wrestling with both sides of this debate for a while. I am sure the 'fun point' is different for everyone, but if I can get some insight as to where that lies (for demographic purposes), and any interesting ideas are welcomed. Nothing here is right or wrong.

To Dice, Or Not To Dice

Yes, that is the question. Games run from the ridiculously arbitrary like the Game of Life to the fully deterministic like Chess or Go. There are plenty of games on each side of the spectrum that are good as well as bad.

Yet those are board games, and the world of RPGs is completely different.

Or is it...

Character Generation

This is what sparked this page. I am working desperately to get these ideas that hide from my consciousness out of my mind and onto a permanent record of some sort. Had I been working on this so frantically 6 months ago determinism would have won with little fight.

How much value does the will of the player hold? In a game of Hero 20 Dex happens as often as we like, its just 30 points and its all yours. In many ways this cheapens the symbolism inherent to human maximum. Anybody who wants to be the best is.

And yet, players enjoy creating a character they like. It is often a lot of fun to design a life that you can pretend to inhabit once a week for the length of a campaign. And while this takes a good amount of directed effort, everything is controlled in a way that makes it virtually without obstacle. The only constraints are the imagination of the player, the limits of the game system to simulate ideas and the amount of points to spend on the system particulars.

Randomness, on the other hand, introduces a new constraint that arguably could create character depth by providing unforeseen obstacles. Too much is silly, of course. But now a little providence can lend something very special to a character. Achieving that maximum attribute has at least some meaning.

Systems (and fiddly GMs) often try interesting limiting factors to mitigate the effects of that fickle bitch called fate. In the ____Master games, any character may replace one of their career skills with a 90 (on a scale of 1-100). This leads to an interesting choice. Should I put that 96 in Strength and forgo the free 90, or put that big number somewhere else? This, in a backward way, leads to a more level playing field than fate itself would lend. Other oft used systems involve allowing players to roll attributes and arrange them how they want, or replace x number of them with some arbitrary standard number, or roll extra times and discard the unwanted sets.

On the two ends of the spectrum we go from the deterministic extreme of develop a character idea and spend your energy to simulate it however you can, to the random (assume some level less than the extreme, for that would be silly) leaning develop a kernel idea, generate a set of numbers, and then think of how this kernel would develop given the resources (generated attributes) at its disposal.

Task Resolution

Assuming no one wants to play Amber, a certain amount of randomness is present in all task resolution systems. Players themselves often want to do something really cool in a very appropriate setting, but the polyhedrons do not cooperate. A GM can override them, of course, but then the action becomes arbitrary at the whim of the GM.

While not inherently bad, it can lead to many slopes of varying slipperiness. Depending on the genre, power level and cinematic nature of the game players often should be given some of that power themselves.

The game survives not only on the creativity of the GM and his ability to postulate interesting situations, but also because of the quality of the monkey wrenches the players toss into this presumably well-crafted work. This story golem created from the minds of a small group of friends will hopefully provide enjoyment for all, but to make it a truly group effort the players themselves must have some of this power to arbitrarily influence the universe outside their character.

What Role GM?

Since the federal government does not provide story bailouts this GM needs to be able to hold his own. How strong should the GMs veto power be compared to the players action?