What do you think the game mechanics in an RPG are really for?
A
recent thread started by CodexArcanum asked this question.
It started with an example by David J Prokopetz, of, in my opinion, some pretty bad play:
“This may be going against the grain a bit: GMs whose preferred style boils down to "total up the modifiers, roll the dice, then ignore the results and make something up". On the rare occasions I've made an issue of it, the usual response I get is something along the lines of "well, everything is really down to the GM's discretion anyway" - or snarky accusations of being a "rules lawyer", as outlined up-thread. To my mind, you shouldn't have a rule unless you're actually going to use it*; however, I've run into many GMs for whom the only function of the game mechanics is to serve as a time sink for the players, affording the GM time to decide what happens next, without reference to mechanical resolution. Really irritating. “
CodexArcanum proposes an answer to his own question in list form:
1)Provide some means of pacing
2)Eat up a certain amount of time, which helps pacing and provides some thinking room.
3)Be a fun game in their own right. (Combat is entertaining, even if it usually is kind of a distraction from the story.)
4)Guide the story in unexpected but interesting directions.
His answer is best describes his description of what he uses Game Mechanics for. The answer misses the mark by a wide margin, in my opinion.
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