D&D 5E Come out and put yourself on the Gygax scale!

[Yaarel]

Solid G3. Narrative and mechanics are equally important.

Narrative concepts must actualize mechanically during gameplay. (Say, ‘this character can fly’, only if mechanics can back up that claim to prevent death from falling. Say, ‘this race excels at music and poetry’, only if it has high Charisma to be great Bards. And so on.)

Mechanics must work well together, to synergize coherently with a narrative.

Narrative needs mechanics to make sure the concept happens during gameplay. Mechanics need narrative to become meaningful concepts. Both are equally important.

G3.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I think I'm in a G4.3 or so (01-70 = G4 ; 71-100 = G5).

To me, the Story is what comes as the mechanics are being used to play the Game. The Mechanics have a LOT of stuff that pertain to generating various Story aspects. As the campaign advances, these mechanics, and the choices of the players, all mix together to generate a story. IMHO, this is how RPG's are best played. I've never liked the "Here is the Story and Plot. Lets use the Game Mechanics to tell that story". It's like putting the cart before the horse.

So, yeah. Mostly mechanics that lead to the overall story as play progresses. If the story gets in the way of the mechanics...to me, it weakens the "feel" of playing a character where your choices matter.

That said, I'm very much a "fly by the seat of my pants" type of DM when I can. I'll have "Ruined tower of long-dead wizard. Vermin, scavengers. Secret level with lots of magic traps to guard the wizards best kept secrets" as the entire description for a whole adventure sometimes. If the PC's wander into that tower, I'll pull out a map that fits, jot down a couple notes of whatever strikes my fancy at the time that makes sense for the area/season/etc, and then kind of "wing it" until after the session. Then I go into the mechanics of the game and make some more specific details of various rooms (to this day I still use the "Stocking a Dungeon" steps/tables found in the B/X Basic Book pages B51 and B52). The story will start to fill out as the random dice and 'logical' or 'interesting' choices I make pile up.

Story first, then fitting mechanics to make it 'work'? Seems backwards to me. And prone to inconsistency over time.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[pemerton]

Story first, then fitting mechanics to make it 'work'? Seems backwards to me. And prone to inconsistency over time.

Whatever techniques you use to maintain a consistent story as you roll on your random tables can probably used by these other people also.

 

[DM Howard]

I would definitely put myself solidly in the G2 bracket. I don't mind playing other versions of D&D, but some editions diminish my overall enjoyment more than others.

 

[alienux]

G3 for me, without question. I'm one who really enjoys game mechanics in any type of game, including standard board games, but I do think story in D&D is just as important.