I'm always wary about awarding points or bennies for roleplaying. Often it is difficult (and quite subjective) decision, and it could lead to real or perceived favoritism, which will not help the game.
That way it's not only the GM's job.
Why would it need to be mentioned in an adventure at all, though?With respect - all rules are optional. Every single one of them is optional. The entire game is optional. The question of whether it should be in core or not should not is really a question of what should be represented in supplementary materials by default. So, adventures, for example - if you don't include it in core, then any GM who wants to use it will have to patch it into every published adventure themselves.
In my experience (a few sessions of Legends of Anglerre), it leads to people making choices because "that would be a cool thing to happen," not because "that's what I/my character would choose to do to maximize my/his/her chances of success." (Or, even worse, making a metagame choice that benefits their character, like "I spend a fate point so the bad guy has a cool sword") I'm talking specifically about the fate point mechanics here. I am perfectly willing to accept that I'm wrong on this count; I haven't really played many games like this.I've seen this a great deal. I don't know your personal experience, but mostly, I see it from folks who have not given something like (FATE-based) "Spirit of the Century" or its like a good try. In practice, some of these mechanics work smoothly enough that they blend in seamlessly to the adventure - the mechanics you're calling upon are things that are closely tied to who or what your character is. In D&D, you may say, "I get +2 on my roll because I have Obscure Feat #17!" (as if this isn't somehow metagame?). In another system you may say, "I get +2 because I'm, 'The best shot east of the Mississippi'!" In effect, it can be more immersive and adventurey than the usual D&D counterpart.
Not really, since it reinforces the idea that your character's goal is the same as the player's goal--it encourages you to think as your character, since you and your character want the same thing.Isn't xp for gold a metagame incentive?
One can dispel that last by simply saying you cannot earn chips for things that you spent chips on, but the favoritism thing can still be an issue.
Why would it need to be mentioned in an adventure at all, though?
In my experience (a few sessions of Legends of Anglerre), it leads to people making choices because "that would be a cool thing to happen," not because "that's what I/my character would choose to do to maximize my/his/her chances of success."
(Or, even worse, making a metagame choice that benefits their character, like "I spend a fate point so the bad guy has a cool sword") I'm talking specifically about the fate point mechanics here. I am perfectly willing to accept that I'm wrong on this count; I haven't really played many games like this.