the monster's to see how you fared in the battle: If you want to keep the fights but lose the dice, you could also just make up some kind of automatic damage system. 'I only got a C- on my last Deathtrap Dungeon run can I do better this time?' This wouldn't involve any dice or record-keeping other than keywords, skills (like in Lone Wolf), etc. Instead, it would measure my overall success as a kind of score - it goes down every time I have a fight, take damage in a trap, have to retcon a random death, have to retcon not having the right key/scepter/sword, and so on. I've often thought of creating some kind of homebrew system that doesn't concern itself with hit points, magic points, etc. For me, the question instead is 'What does it cost you to succeed?'
TBH, 'the big bad killed you start over' isn't interesting, either.
I don't bother rolling during battles, since 'the goblin killed you start over' isn't an interesting outcome. But I've often played gamebooks in what you called 'tourist mode' because I'm more interested in navigating the story than struggling to survive it.
