Prismatic Wasteland issued a challenge to start off 2024 and it gave me the push to finally put something up here. So here it is.
Thinking up ad-hoc or low/no resource ways to play RPGs has always been a bit of a fascination of mine. I have a spinner ring numbered 1-24 so I always have some sort of random number generator on me. I’ve mulled over how to keep track of tokens while playing Wanderhome out in the wilds. And there’s been an idea kicking around in my head for a while about how to generate random outcomes between two people using a well known game.
I’ll play rock paper scissors best out of three with my partner to see who has to do a chore. This got the gears spinning but it too quickly develops a meta. This might be interesting to include in a resolution mechanic but I wanted something with a little more chance for randomness.
Playing two simultaneous games of rock paper scissors not only adds a little bit of delay/difficultly in getting stuck in a rhythm, it also conveniently increases the number of outcomes to six.
So there we go! It’s perfect, you could use it for anything that maps to a d6.
You have to have a “player” and “opponent” role: one person who is winning or losing. Then the results are:
| RPS Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 2 Losses | 1 |
| 1 Loss & 1 Tie | 2 |
| 2 Ties | 3 |
| 1 Win & 1 Loss | 4 |
| 1 Win & 1 Tie | 5 |
| 2 Wins | 6 |
Zip zap zop!
After fiddling with a spreadsheet for a bit tho...I realized that it’s not evenly distributed.
The results that include two of the same outcome are only 11% likely compared to the mixed results’ 22%.
Then I realized that it’s skewed even farther: choosing the same for both hands is obviously significant and is likely to not be picked since it can be more swingy.
Ah ha! We can use that to our advantage. By indicating that in the rules, we can influence the players’ behaviour and put more interesting outcomes in those slots to encourage them.
So here’s my overwrought write-up:
Rock Paper Scissors 2
Requirements: Two people with two hands each (alternatively: a piece of paper with “R P S” written on it & two tokens per player)
- Determine which person is the Actor and which is the World
- Both players conceal both hands (behind their back, under a table, or something similar) (alt. conceal their paper & tokens)
- Both players form each hand independently into a fist (rock), a flat palm (paper), or a V using two fingers (scissors) (alt. place their tokens on any combination of R, P, or S)
- Simultaneously, both players reveal their hands and the Actor compares their selections to the World’s according to the results table
- Use the Outcome to answer the Question in the fiction
Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beats Paper, Paper beats Rock
| RPS Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 2 Losses | No and |
| 1 Loss & 1 Tie | No |
| 2 Ties | No but |
| 1 Win & 1 Loss | Yes but |
| 1 Win & 1 Tie | Yes |
| 2 Wins | Yes and |
I ended up liking this more than I thought I would. It not being “perfectly” random was somewhat disappointing at first but it ended up adding a nice amount of flavor.
I think I might work this into a little game. The push and pull of the Actor and World being able to influence how swingy the outcome can be give me an idea for a “frenemies” kind of story.
Like a game about warlock and the spirit that grants them their power. They have different goals that aren’t necessarily in conflict but have enough friction that sometimes they’ll want to temper or push the other.