Imagine a ttrpg with total information presented to the players, a la Into the Breach, Slay the Spire, etc. Instead of approaching challenges by stating intent and then rolling to determine outcome, the GM (?) rolls to determine outcome and the players are given opportunities to resist, plan, subvert, etc.
Would this be only for combat? If so, why not just scratch that itch playing a video game, where the complex information provided is easier to understand and consider? If not, would it remove all agency from the players? That… doesn't sound like much fun.
Maybe it's more interesting to think of as something without tactics at all, where the outcome is pre-determined (by, say, rolling one dice for tone and another for event) and the "game" lies in creatively interpreting and resisting the outcome.
For instance:
- Ori and Momar are on a stolen spaceship, fleeing a heist gone wrong. A hunter mech in pursuit catches up and begins clawing its way into their ship.
- The GM rolls tone and event dice and determines that the tone is 'resourceful' and event is 'explosive'
- Ori's player decides that Ori will use the ship's inertia to their advantage by 'floating' an object just next to the hunter mech, and then slamming the brakes on the spaceship, causing an explosive collision
Reading this over it sounds more like GM-less games — Ironsworn, for example, where the "Oracle" is used to determine story beats. And maybe this version would be best suited for a fun romp, since outright failure would be difficult.
Which offers a topic for another post: how to get players to crave fun failure?
