DBD needs to get rid of RNG because it screws everyone over.
I think one of the worst feelings in DBD is losing not because of any play done by either side, but by RNG. Whenever it is a skill check showing up just as you are leaving, or hex totems spawns, or the horrors of map generation, there are plenty of ways for the game to give one side an advantage.
Here is a list of changes that would reduce RNG and make the game more fair for both sides.
Leaving Skill Checks
This change is so simple that it is a crime that it has not been done yet. Have the effect on overcharge, where if you leave the gen the skill check still follows you, on normal skill checks. That is it.
Totems
This is where we get to the "fun" stuff. Instead of having 5 random totems spawn instantly, the entity plays a round of Texas Hold'em in honor of Ace, the survivor to the killer who brought totems in the first place.
Three of them will spawn that will be the Flop, spawning in at the start of the game and focus around structures and the center. These totems are give both sides a bit of an edge if they can hold them, as killers obviously want to keep their hexes while survivors could turn these totems into powerful boons thanks to their location.
Once either 2 minutes or 2 gens go by, the Turn spawns in. This totem will spawn in the loop farthest from everyone, forcing both sides to go out of their way to deal with the new totem. However, survivors should be aware of one rather important detail regarding the Turn: This totem will always be the killer's first hex perk. This means if a killer brings one hex perk, the survivors have to wait at least 2 minutes before they can cleanse it.
Finally, the last totem, the River, spawns in after 4 minutes or 4 gens. This totem has two simple rules attached to it: there are no spawning rules. It can spawn in any unused totem location. However, the River can never be NOED. If a killer wants NOED, they will have to keep the first four totems under their control.
Are these changes alot? Yes. Does it make totems more interesting than losing them in five seconds or never find them? Also yes.
Scourge Hooks
This is another simple change that should have already be done: Make Scourge hooks spread out. That is it. Having multiple games where Scourge Hooks were all clumped together is the inspiration for this post. It just leads to killers only playing on one side while leads to boring gameplay for both sides. If you can make totems, gens, and killer items spawn away from each other, you can make Scourge Hooks spawn away from each other as well.
Chests
Chests are the survivor equivalent to Scourge Hooks, which is to say that while you can make a build based on them, RNG can still screw you over and the alternatives are far better. Why waste one or two perk slots just to watch a meg take the one chest when you can just bring in an item? Instead, I want to make chests more consistently worth survivor's time while not screwing over killers.
For starters, we are bumping up the default amount of chests from 3 to 4. However, two chests will have some new properties attached to them.
One chest will be a First Aid Chest, while will always provide a green medkit. However, this chest is takes 50% longer to open than a normal chest.
The basement chest is now a Vault, which will spawn in multiple skill checks while opening it. Failing them will not cause a loud noise, but it will waste you time. Vaults will bring not one, but two items. One is guaranteed to be a key with an aura reading attachment, while the other can be any item but a key with an increased chance for higher quality goods.
These changes are meant to make going after chests more worthwhile in an actual game without making them too strong. The First Aid Chest may seem broken at first, but since it takes 15 seconds to open the chest and 8 seconds to heal with the Green Medkit inside for a combined time of about 24 seconds, this change should hopefully not change the balance to much.
Maps
This one is a doozy. Unfortunately, many maps are just too unbalanced to be able to balance even with changes too RNG, but we are trying anyway!
I believe that Map Generation should focus on the killer, as in making sure the killer who is selected is neither unstoppable or useless. Survivors should be able to win against them, but have to take risks in doing so. In this hypothetical system, each killer would have a set of modifiers that would change how a map generates.
For example, the Dredge would spawn in more lockers but also more vaults, a rather serious cost for a rather serious benefit. On the other hand, a killer like the Wraith would spawn in more risky pallets in exchange for a few safer ones. Instead of having one strong pallet, survivors have to work with two weaker pallets. These modifiers should focus on making each killer's strengths and weakness more defined.
Another change that should have been done already is checking for connected loops. Currently, loops connecting or not seems to be decided entirely be luck rather than any actual system like pallets. I don't think I need to explain why making this consistent benefits both sides.
RNG can bring variety to any game, but it can't come at the cost of fun. I don't think getting rid of all RNG would make the game better, but I think putting limitations and rules can preserve the variety that RNG brings while also making the game more fun.
Honestly, I would love to hear more ideas about how to tweak DBD's rng, so please feel free to share them.
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