In the previous post, I argued that our gaming methods are the single most powerful component in affecting the feeling & experience in our RPGs. Somewhere behind methods, we now look at the undeniable effect that mechanics have on us.
Mechanics are the foundation of the game-world "reality”—they provide the framework for cause & effect in the world, and how characters may accomplish different tasks.
Many rubrics are employed to judge the quality of a game’s mechanics: Is it consistent? Fluid? Elegant? Manageable? These are all valid concerns, of course, but we should see that the effects of mechanics permeate the entire experience of the fictitious worlds you’re gaming in.
But each RPG’s mechanics also (intentionally or not) accommodates/pushes an experiential end-result in broad (and subtle) ways, and often this functions at cross-purposes with your desired goals.
Regardless of the excellence of each RPG’s mechanical constructions, they are not ‘neutral’ with regards to the kind of game being played; they’re invariably more suited to one palette over the others. By analyzing how different mechanics govern things like skills, combative prowess, death, wounds, supernatural power, etc., we can see the direction that system pushes the outcomes.
As always, we should start by identifying the kind of experience we want in every realm of our game. Only after that journey can you find the right tools to meet your goals.
Important questions can then be addressed:
Do you want the feel of the characters to be in the ballpark of Anime/Comic Book personas, or do you want them to feel more restrained/mortal? That is, do the mechanics allow them to endure wounds that would leave us with broken bones & concussions with no more concern than a splinter? Do wounds “matter” in a tangible way, or are they an “all/nothing” binary of “alive/dead”? Do wounds impair the characters’ actions? Do the mechanics allow characters to become virtual godlings with their spells/items/skills, able to charge into a battlefield, get surrounded by hosts of enemies, and survive the fight?
Mechanics that are well-suited to one end of that spectrum not only don’t facilitate different goals but are downright counter-productive for the other end of those appetites. That is, if you want Marvel Superheroes, mechanics aspiring to the human condition (restraint, physics, etc.) are at cross-purposes. If you want to generate the experience to emulate our own (comparatively frail) mortal condition, then mechanics allowing superhero actions are also in a stark mismatch of goals and tools.
The world, itself, is affected by a host of rules. How random are outcomes and events? Are the mechanics pushing towards haphazard, even cartoonish extremes, or are they more in line with logical cause & effect? For example, when the PCs encounter other characters/creatures, do the mechanics indicate that the reaction is random? If so, the feeling of the world's “reality” is altered significantly.
Does an RPG's mechanic encourage "min-maxing"? That is, does the system itself encourage players to consciously tweak their characters in such a way as to have (e.g., combative) advantages? Is death cheap? That is, if a character dies, does this system have rules for bringing them back from the dead?
These are the kinds of practical issues of an RPG’s mechanics that should be addressed, for they invariably steer the outcome of the campaigns we play in.
So, my answer to the old question, “Can’t we use any mechanics regardless of our appetites?” is, “Why would you?” If the mechanics are steering your group away from the particular appetites/experiences/goals you desire, you are, to some degree, hamstringing yourself. Why not find mechanics that are most closely aligned with your goals?
Some players, seeing the conflicts between their own goals and the goals pushed by the mechanics they’re using, tweak them with house-rules in an attempt to steer it toward their goals. But it seems that this approach has dubious success. Once you start changing a rule here or there, you have likely created imbalances and inconsistencies in that system, requiring a perpetual cycle of more and more tweaks. (This is, in fact, the common path RPG designers traversed before creating their own game.)
So, I find that it’s wholly worthwhile to survey the field and change RPG mechanics. As with every component, find the tools best suited to your goals, and watch how your enjoyment is increased.
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