Random systems can work fine in combat, it all depends on how you handle it. They are, after all, the traditional basis of conflict resolution in tabletop RPGS. No matter how good you are, sometimes you just have an off day or random happenstance prevents success. Now, it usually doesn't, and the skilled opponent will nearly always succeed, but there is always that chance. However, for dice rolling to work in the context of RP, you have to get a few things out of the way on ground level.
First, everyone must be familiar and comfortable with the system ahead of time. This is VITAL. If people feel any given system disrupts their RP, they won't appreciate it breaking the flow. The key is for it to be ingrained enough that it DOESN'T. Only then does it become useful and not a distraction. Corollary to this is that everyone must agree with how the system works and to be bound by its results ahead of time. Of course, achieving this depends on whether or not people agree with HOW that system works.
So, how do you set up something like this? I agree that a routine sword swing being just as easily hit as missed is a bit ridiculous for a seasoned combat veteran taking a swing at a random street thug. TRUE randomization is not desirable; things must be offset. Uncertainty is only exciting if it gives an edge to our experience, not erodes the confidence in our ability to accurately portray our characters. So, we need rules. Many RPG systems accomplish this via boundary values, often called 'difficulties'. We'll just dispense with the one-or-multiple dice discussion here since /random spam is undesirable for obvious reasons.
For this same reason, when settling a fight you probably don't want to roll for each individual action - just roll to see who wins and by what margin, then ad-lib. Dice are not and should never be a substitute for clear, concise OOC communication when deciding IC conflicts. They only work if everyone has agreed, via OOC communication, mutual trust, and confidence in the system, to be bound by the results. This being the case, it's virtually impossible to enforce this across the broad spectrum of the community, as everyone will have different opinions on how to interpret the numbers! Still, greater global awareness and familiarity can make a quick compromise on a roll's terms relatively simple. If you can't reach this with someone, you probably shouldn't be roleplaying IC conflicts with them.
Perhaps also obvious but for the sake of transparent reasoning best stated explicitly, is that everyone must WANT to use the system. Strong-arming people into using it will only breed resentment and hurt roleplay. However, if people are comfortable, familiar, and confident in the conflict-resolving abilities of a fair and balanced "dice rolling" system, it can streamline and enhance RP while adding that ever-lurking factor of excitement and uncertainty into situations. After all, no matter how good you are, you MIGHT trip on a jutting flagstone you hadn't accounted for - not a failure of skill, but pure cosmic chance!
So, how does a balanced /random system work in action? I don't have a 'perfect' example, but back in Canta Per Me in FFXI, we'd /random to resolve situations where the outcome wasn't totally clear from the outset, and not just in combat. Someone's falling - do you catch them? The faintest of boot-scrapes announces an assassin is lurking in the tunnel ahead - do you hear it? Two roughly equivalent combatants square off - who carries the day? Rather than babble an explanation, here's a made-up example:
Verence 1.0 (Far less awkward, major stick up his ass, long story) has decided that the young wastrel who has stolen his crumpet is due a drubbing. Little does he realize, this wastrel is an agile crumpet assassin in disguise! We'll set the "difficulty" for the hit to connect at 800 out of 1000. This could be 8/10, 80/100, 40/50, it really doesn't matter so long as the scale is prearranged. CPM used 1000 since that's just how XI /random worked. How far above or below that value determines the degree of success or failure. We can see that there's much more room for degrees of failure than success here, as the crumpet assassin is not only an experienced drubbing-dodger, but is expecting the attack. For a truly superlative roll - say 980, we might rule 'critical hit' and RP as if the assassin had been caught totally flat-footed. For a spectacularly awful one, perhaps... 60, we might rule a botch/critical failure and say any number of things happened. Verence trips. Verence snags his cufflinks on something and rips his sleeve, throwing the punch wide. The assassin dodges and Verence splinters a produce stand with his mighty fist, sending vegetable flying everywhere!
Dice are never a replacement for creativity and RP, but they can resolve the issue of "Did Verence punch the crumpet assassin or not?" when I think he ought to hit and the other player thinks he ought to miss - or we're just really not sure how that would pan out. Things need to be kept relatively simple; we're not playing Warhammer here. A brief chat, a quick roll, and get on with the roleplaying.
Postscript: There's also simply "rolling against" each other, a system that has its own unique considerations, but I'm sure 90% of the readers of this thread have already glazed over at my profuse and effulgent verbiage, so I'm not even gonna go there unless someone's masochist enough to actually request it.
First, everyone must be familiar and comfortable with the system ahead of time. This is VITAL. If people feel any given system disrupts their RP, they won't appreciate it breaking the flow. The key is for it to be ingrained enough that it DOESN'T. Only then does it become useful and not a distraction. Corollary to this is that everyone must agree with how the system works and to be bound by its results ahead of time. Of course, achieving this depends on whether or not people agree with HOW that system works.
So, how do you set up something like this? I agree that a routine sword swing being just as easily hit as missed is a bit ridiculous for a seasoned combat veteran taking a swing at a random street thug. TRUE randomization is not desirable; things must be offset. Uncertainty is only exciting if it gives an edge to our experience, not erodes the confidence in our ability to accurately portray our characters. So, we need rules. Many RPG systems accomplish this via boundary values, often called 'difficulties'. We'll just dispense with the one-or-multiple dice discussion here since /random spam is undesirable for obvious reasons.
For this same reason, when settling a fight you probably don't want to roll for each individual action - just roll to see who wins and by what margin, then ad-lib. Dice are not and should never be a substitute for clear, concise OOC communication when deciding IC conflicts. They only work if everyone has agreed, via OOC communication, mutual trust, and confidence in the system, to be bound by the results. This being the case, it's virtually impossible to enforce this across the broad spectrum of the community, as everyone will have different opinions on how to interpret the numbers! Still, greater global awareness and familiarity can make a quick compromise on a roll's terms relatively simple. If you can't reach this with someone, you probably shouldn't be roleplaying IC conflicts with them.
Perhaps also obvious but for the sake of transparent reasoning best stated explicitly, is that everyone must WANT to use the system. Strong-arming people into using it will only breed resentment and hurt roleplay. However, if people are comfortable, familiar, and confident in the conflict-resolving abilities of a fair and balanced "dice rolling" system, it can streamline and enhance RP while adding that ever-lurking factor of excitement and uncertainty into situations. After all, no matter how good you are, you MIGHT trip on a jutting flagstone you hadn't accounted for - not a failure of skill, but pure cosmic chance!
So, how does a balanced /random system work in action? I don't have a 'perfect' example, but back in Canta Per Me in FFXI, we'd /random to resolve situations where the outcome wasn't totally clear from the outset, and not just in combat. Someone's falling - do you catch them? The faintest of boot-scrapes announces an assassin is lurking in the tunnel ahead - do you hear it? Two roughly equivalent combatants square off - who carries the day? Rather than babble an explanation, here's a made-up example:
Verence 1.0 (Far less awkward, major stick up his ass, long story) has decided that the young wastrel who has stolen his crumpet is due a drubbing. Little does he realize, this wastrel is an agile crumpet assassin in disguise! We'll set the "difficulty" for the hit to connect at 800 out of 1000. This could be 8/10, 80/100, 40/50, it really doesn't matter so long as the scale is prearranged. CPM used 1000 since that's just how XI /random worked. How far above or below that value determines the degree of success or failure. We can see that there's much more room for degrees of failure than success here, as the crumpet assassin is not only an experienced drubbing-dodger, but is expecting the attack. For a truly superlative roll - say 980, we might rule 'critical hit' and RP as if the assassin had been caught totally flat-footed. For a spectacularly awful one, perhaps... 60, we might rule a botch/critical failure and say any number of things happened. Verence trips. Verence snags his cufflinks on something and rips his sleeve, throwing the punch wide. The assassin dodges and Verence splinters a produce stand with his mighty fist, sending vegetable flying everywhere!
Dice are never a replacement for creativity and RP, but they can resolve the issue of "Did Verence punch the crumpet assassin or not?" when I think he ought to hit and the other player thinks he ought to miss - or we're just really not sure how that would pan out. Things need to be kept relatively simple; we're not playing Warhammer here. A brief chat, a quick roll, and get on with the roleplaying.
Postscript: There's also simply "rolling against" each other, a system that has its own unique considerations, but I'm sure 90% of the readers of this thread have already glazed over at my profuse and effulgent verbiage, so I'm not even gonna go there unless someone's masochist enough to actually request it.