[RPG] Are there rules on how to best exclude Bennies from the game

I am unaware of any published rules for excluding Bennies from Savage Worlds.

Short Answer:

Bennies are not needed in a Savage Worlds game, but because the system and setting assumed they would be present some aspects of the game may have to be altered and the GM should be more forgiving of dice quirks (this goes in both directions, not just in the PCs favor).

Long Answer:

As far as I am aware, the intention of the Benny mechanic has always been to ensure the Wild Cards, including the PCs, are more successful in their ventures than the scores of Extras, serving as an insurance policy when the other Wild Card mechanic, the Wild die, failed. However, the Benny mechanic has, in my opinion, really only been usable for damage-soaking and very occasional Trait check rerolling, and it has always handled those mechanics very coarsely. For example, you aren't allowed to spend a Benny to force the GM to reroll, even though forcing a reroll on an enemy's great attack or damage roll might be far more useful than rerolling your own attack or damage roll, or forcing a guard to reroll his Notice check instead of attempting to reroll your own Stealth check; another interesting use of a Benny might be to have one of your companions reroll their Stealth check because they were the only one of the group to fail their Stealth check.

In my games (both those I play in and those I run) the most common use of Bennies is for damage-soaking and a distant second of rerolling your own rolls; as a player about 95% of Benny uses are for damage soaking, and if I'm not soaking a lot in a session I may end the session with two or even three unused Bennies, and I feel my characters should be able to handle most hits without relying on soaking and a well-formed team will have the means to heal during combat or at least to isolate the wounded to prevent further damage. I should note that in my games the Leadership Edges are rarely employed, so there is never any Benny sharing occurring.

Another strange aspect of the Benny mechanic is some publications make the GM awarding Bennies during the session an important aspect, generally for good actions or for a funny statement or action someone does. I have never really liked these criteria as they are very subjective and run the risk of causing some players to feel the GM is favoring other players because either the player's PC is the type of character who would do such actions or the player is simply a funnier person (or at least the GM thinks so). When I run Savage Worlds I only award Bennies for exceptional in-game, character-appropriate actions, as as such will go sometimes six sessions without awarding a single in-session Benny.

So, in my games I use a lot more situational bonuses which allow the Wild die mechanic to function more effectively. For example, if a character needs to use Persuasion and takes the time to dress in a fashion which the crowd agrees with, I will award a situational Charisma bonus of perhaps +2 (or even +4 in rare instances), or if your character has dissected the enemy's dead and knows their anatomy, I might award a situational bonus if a Called Shot is done because you know better where to hit for a specific effect (a similar analogy can be made for taunting the enemy). I also do not treat a one rolled on the Trait die any differently than a one rolled on the Wild die, and I do not allow critical failures (if you roll a 1 on both the Trait die and the Wild die, but have a +6 bonus on the roll, you clearly didn't do as well as you could have, but also are likely to pass the check because you were so well-suited to the task).

There are some other changes which need to be handled if Bennies are removed. First, the Luck and Great Luck Edges and the Bad Luck and Young Hindrances (all of which modify the number of Bennies a character receives per session) need to have a different manifestation. The Benny mechanic allowed for the expression of luck, Fate, or divine intervention which now has no obvious mechanic to manifest. I don't have a good one-size-fits-all solution for this, but some positive options might be (for the negative examples, reverse the perspective):

1. The character's patron deity steps in when the character takes a particularly strong hit (or may potentially fail a casting roll) which would reflect poorly on the deity (and effectively the attack or casting roll is rerolled).
2. The character is gambling and suddenly finds all of the correct cards come to them at the correct time (effectively a Gambling check reroll, or possibly a passive effect from Luck).
3. The pressure of disappointing the group means the character pays more attention to what they are doing (Stealth, Climbing, Notice, etc) and succeeds where they would have otherwise failed (effectively a Trait check reroll).
4. The character refuses fall from a blow (or spell effect) because they have long-term personally-important actions to do (and effectively soaks the hit).

All of these options are meant to be GM initiated, but still allow for luck to have an effect in the world even if there is no explicit mechanic (obviously the GM has to be fair and equitable when exercising these).

Second, some settings have a very strong reliance on Bennies, generally because they are difficult for the characters (Sundered Skies comes to mind immediately). The GM has to be aware of the capabilities of both the PCs as well as the enemies and may have to adjust encounters or employ atypical actions (like enemies negotiating or fleeing when the odds turn against them, or having enemies gloat instead of executing a finishing move which allows the character heal or otherwise react). Every situation in the category is situational (so I can't provide detailed guidance), but the players need to have some opportunity to act and do something because they (without Bennies) no longer have as easy a time of saving themselves.