#diceless games

[tootallferne]

I have a new game coming out tomorrow, called Guards at the Gates!

It’s a two-player diceless game that has you playing as two town guard, dragons, or whatever you like, trying to stall heroes from entering your domain by sending them on meaningless fetch quests! But be careful, because too many requests and they’ll get fed up and chop off your heads!

It’ll be up on my itch.io store!

[rampagingpoet]

The two I'm most familiar with are Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine and Glitch, both by Dr. Jenna Moran. Her earlier work Nobilis is also diceless, but I'm still on my first readthrough of the rules.

While the specifics vary quite a lot, randomized results are replaced by spending points from limited pools. Characters that are better at certain things usually need to spend fewer points for the same results. You always get the result you pay for; a lot of the depth comes in deciding whether you can afford the result you want.

In Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, the results of your actions are tied to the "Intention Ladder". Higher numbers for an Intention (action, or set of related actions) have better results. Intention 0 is pretty much failure, an attempt that did nothing or even made things worse. Intention 2 is enough to "accomplish a task; have a tangible impact on the world." All the way up at Intention 8 you can "do something really productive" that makes your life much better.

The primary resource is called Will. It refreshes on a regular basis. Will can be spent to increase the level of an Intention. You add any Will spent to your skill level, and subtract the level of any Obstacles in your way. People with high skills don't usually have to spend Will to get useful results; people without a relevant skill have to make due with spending more Will.

Uncertainly enters the system in two ways: you don't necessarily know the Obstacle rating for your Intention up-front, and you don't know if you'll need to set another Intention for something else later.

There are also Miracle Points used to power other, more specific, abilities. A miracle does exactly what it says and doesn't usually interact with Will and Intentions directly. Miracles might implicitly reduce the Obstacle an action faces though; most people don't have a way to make sunbeams break through the clouds to shine on their friends in a moment of hardship, but the Child of the Sun can invoke one of their miracles to do so.

Glitch: A Story of the Not, uses specific mechanically-defined actions instead of the Intention Ladder. Every action has an Action Level. Actions of a higher level are generally either more powerful or more helpful, if you can think of a way to apply them.

Each Action is tied to an Attribute. Actions up to your level in the relevant attribute are free, but to push yourself beyond that you have to pay a Cost equal to the difference. In cases of direct conflict (I stab him! Nuh-uh I obliterate you first!), the action with the higher Action Level usually wins. When in doubt, you can end up in a bidding war to see who's willing to spend more Cost to push their effective Action Level higher. Longer conflicts might have a specific overall Cost threshold the party needs to hit or just go to whichever side spent more Cost overall before time ran out. (Assuming they aren't ended earlier through the narrative).

Each Attribute has its own associated Cost. In general you can only power up an action by spending from the associated pool. You might be too worn-out to do your taxes, but still have enough void-juice to hurl the entire tax office screaming into the Beyond.

"Taking Damage" also spends points of an associated cost. In effect, every action you take that isn't free is "cast from Hit Points."

Unlike Will, the Costs do not fully refresh themselves on a set cadence. They recover slowly over time, or sometimes in larger chunks when you complete character goals. Alternatively you can take a Wound to recover a larger chunk all at once. Wounds have narrative consequences, and taking too many Wounds over the course of a campaign is the only way to perma-die.

Uncertainly now enters in three ways:

Is this important enough for me to spend a campaign-limited resource on?

How much do I need to spend to overcome my opposition, without going too far overboard?

Uh-oh, the conflict seems to be winding down without a decisive winner. Have I bled for this? Have I spent enough to win?

I've only briefly played Glitch and haven't had a chance to play Chuubo's, but my impression is the different refresh mechanics for an ultimately similar system (spend points to do better, skills add to points spent) lead to very different incentives and ways to think about using your limited resources. Neither require dice to provide uncertain outcomes; your own evaluations of the situation and what's important to your character provide all the uncertainly you could need.

Reading some of my notes apparently a lot of people feel that they would benefit from someone sitting their asses down and learning them some probability, and to be fair tabletop RPG math isn't so complex that even an English major like me couldn't explain it in such a way that most people would understand it.

Anyway on a completely different note, the funny thing in my experience is that even if you explain the numbies and how to arrive at them, at the end of the day most people are really bad at actually interpreting those numbies. Even in percentile-based systems where your exact chances out of a hundred are made immediately obvious (a 47% chance is a forty-seven per centum [New Latin for "by the hundred"] chance) most people fall on a number of probability-based fallacies whose names I can't remember but I think Gambler's fallacy is at least one of them. Anyway what I mean is that when a number is higher than 50% it should succeed more often than fail, so like guy who has a 55% chance of succeeding voice why do I keep failing 45% of the time

[twistingbrambles]

Hello :-)

Check out my game!

Gothic Grace is a Gothic horror rules-light, GMless, diceless tabletop roleplaying game with wizards, magic and dark gods. In this game you play as wizards, magicians, and warlocks gaining their power from the bonds they create. You stalk the blood-soaked and infested streets, battlefields, and dark cathedrals of Grace - hoping to outrun the contract that's forced you into servitude for the nobility.

Gothic Grace is inspired by soulsborne games, full metal alchemist, gothic horror and the occult. Expect to see blood, religion and body horror in this game!

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played The Little Celestial Fieldwork Guide ?

By PsychHound (Luka Brave)

A city exploration game where you use tarot cards to divine the hiding places of spirits and little gods, then travel around your city guessing the objects they're hidden in, taking photos of them, and journaling about it, for 1+ players

[corrosivesquid]

What's this?! Two games in a month?! Actually, this one has been sitting for a moment but I wanted to release the playtest to a wider audience. In Split Soul, you play as an elemental trying to stitch the reality of you and your reality back together. Play as two characters, two pieces of the same whole and walk through a broken world. Written on the DICE system means you will need two decks of cards, one for the GM and the other for the players. Future Vision of the game is to release more playbooks, more professional art, and any other bumps in the road that need smoothing

[theresattrpgforthat]

Do you have any game recs that have unconventional ways of determining outcomes (outside of rolling dice/drawing cards?) I remember I once saw one that revolved around candles, and another about rolling marbles, I think... I'm curious what other ones you've come across!

THEME: Dice and Card Alternatives

Hello friend, all of these games use very different modes of resolution! Happy gaming!

Spin the Fishblade, by Marshall Bradshaw.

Spin the FishBlade is the GMless, diceless storygame where players control one fish with a knife by spinning a knife.

It's meant for three to five players to play for one to two hours, telling an outlandish story with some stylized violence. Imagine if Finding Nemo were mixed with an action movie, like Taken, Kill Bill, or Snatch.

Spin the FishBlade is a game made to spoof off of a tweet that came across as (a little) derisive of indie ttrpgs, and is one of a number of games entered into a game jam celebrating the game community’s willingness to commit to a bit. However, it’s also a completely playable game! You will sit in a circle, and arrange items to sit in between each player to act as loci of power. A knife will be spun, similar to a game of spin the bottle, but the goal is to share narration and introduce uncertainty based off of the objects in the circle. Great for GM-less games or a storytelling exercise in a casual setting!

Printweaver, by N.L. Morrison.

Your fingerprints determine your unique adventurer. Explore the wilds and find your own adventure through combat, death, and revival. Your fate is in your hands.

Printweaver looks like a traditional ttrpg in its gameplay mechanics, which use d10s, but character creation is determined by the player’s fingerprints. You’ll determine what kinds of stats you have, and where your abilities lie, by examining your finger prints and following instructions as laid out in the rulebook. The game itself is $10, but if you’re unsure about the game, character sheets and the Shorthand edition are free to download!

DIY Identity: An Odd Bijou, by S. Kaiya J.

There are a million other paths you might have walked in life.

Every one of them passes through this place.

DIY Identity is a two-person game about mutual exploration, co-construction of perception, and missed paths in life. In order to play, you will need to take a trip to an IKEA store. It is recommended to play this game with someone you trust but do not currently live with.

This game uses an hourglass and a room in an IKEA store, and can be played for about as long as you’d like to spend in that store. I’d only recommend you play it with folks if you are both comfortable with them and if you don’t mind playing the game in a semi-public space.  The game itself is only one page; easy to print off to fold up and put in your pocket.

Grave Liasons, by Yugie.

Grave Liasons is a PvP roleplaying game powered by chocolate where you play as nosy ghosts trying to ensure that their descendants get matched with the perfect partner (according to them).

While playing, players take on the roles of SPIRITS, who are trying to ensure or prevent a match, and DESCENDANTS, who are just normal people looking for love. 

This game is a one-page game in which you will embody both a Spirit and a Descendant, with the Spirits playing ghostly matchmakers and the Descendants, doing their best to find love. When a Spirit’s match goes well, the Spirit’s player eats a chocolate heart! However, be careful - once you run out of hearts you’ll have to beg or steal hearts off of other players. If you want a light-hearted way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, or you just want to eat chocolate with friends. I suggest checking this game out!

Games I’ve recommended in the past

Witches Brew, by C.R. Legge. (Tea!)

Clown Helsing, by Planarian. (Rock, Paper, Scissors)

[sniffanimal]

I'll need to buy some cool d6 bc my fucking friends won't play any ttrpgs that use only d6 bc "it's only fun if I get to use the fun dice" 🙄

[wizardfvcker]

i'm still on season 4 of bbc ghosts but i will say it's a huge missed opportunity to not have an episode where they all try roleplaying games. i know these bitches would get into ttrpgs

[keftiu]

i just released LAST BLADE OF ATLANTIS, a one-page diceless, GMless storytelling game about a doomed fish warrior in a dying age, as a submission to the lovely little Fishblade Game Jam. it's PWYW - check it out!

[twistingbrambles]

I got bored

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played PSYCHOSIS ?

By John Fletcher

Madness and cooperative reality sleuthing

Played with tarot card

[ryuutchi]

Accomplishment failed successfully

Absolutely incredible work, lads

[thepenandpaperarchive]

2-0000-0019 - Rosette Diceless

by Future Proof Games

A genre-neutral system built for equal use at the tabletop or for use with Live Action Roleplay. It is built to be GM-less and focused on improvisation, emphasis on story, and consensus between players.

Rosette Diceless is available on itch.io for $9.99, or in a bundle with Rosette Diceless Companion for $11.98.

[txttletale]

the exile collection: three short ttrpgs to support a struggling trans woman

hi everyone! i've recently been left without housing & while i'm lucky to have friends willing to let me sleep on their couches & i won't bore you all with the sob story it's not an ideal situation and i need funds pretty badly to get through this season in exile. as such, i've released the exile collection, a pay-what-you-want collection of three one-spread tabletop games.

each of the three games is short and to-the-point, with a light-hearted tone. two of them are GMless. they're perfect little oddities to play on a free night with your friends. you can get them for free but any donations will be helping me survive the next couple months and so would be super appreciated

RIDE ON SHOOTING STAR is a fast-paced comedy action game based on FLCL. play as a bunch of weird girls and one exasperated kid as you combat a mysterious phenomenon and grow as people and all that sappy sentimental shit we all did in middle school.

THE MOST HAUNTED DOLL IN THE WORLD is a comedy horror diceless game about being a family of clueless homeowning dipshits getting your asses kicked by a super fucking haunted doll. based on all of those fucking terrible haunted doll movies.

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED is a gonzo nonsense investigation game based on the dirk gently series. play an agency of freaks and burnouts investigating a confusing mystery built from a bunch of weird elements, drawing bizarre and convoluted connections to keep the plot thickening. 

if any of those appeal to you (or you just want to help me out) you can get the exile collection here.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin