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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6556866" data-attributes="member: 177">For players who are particularly into the tactical wargame aspect of RPGs, I would think it a perfectly acceptable way to play.&nbsp; For such players, though, I'd expect the overall need for there to be a reason or goal other than, &quot;kill things and take their stuff,&quot; to be pretty low in the first place.My current group, though, is like Uller's.&nbsp; We meet on two weeknights a month, for relatively short sessions, but they are players who want to have an interesting story unfold.&nbsp; If the story is going to progress at all, we don't have time to waste on combat for the sake of gaining experience.However, I think this is all missing a major point - there's precious little need to ever &quot;grind&quot; in a tabletop RPG.&nbsp; Grinding happens in a computer game, because software has a release cycle.&nbsp; Relevant content cannot be added in at arbitrary points, and instead appears, if ever, only with the release of expansions to the game, leaving the possibility that there are gaps where those no interesting content around appropriate for the character's power level.&nbsp; The game can programmatically generate random encounters, but it cannot generate plot to tie those encounters into a sensible adventure.&nbsp; Thus, we end up with grind filling the gaps.&nbsp; Mind you, modern games (like Skyrim, say) have more sophisticated designs in which large chunks of interesting content are not of fixed power level - they adjust to the power of the character when he or she first encounters the content to some degree, reducing grind.Tabletop RPGs do not have this problem.&nbsp; The GM is not a computer, and can insert new relevant content anywhere he or she pleases.&nbsp; If the BBEG is still too powerful for the PCs, a lieutenant can be inserted, or the like.&nbsp; Unless the GM is short on time to prepare, there's never a need to grind.&nbsp; So, why would one want to do so?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6556866, member: 177"] For players who are particularly into the tactical wargame aspect of RPGs, I would think it a perfectly acceptable way to play. For such players, though, I'd expect the overall need for there to be a reason or goal other than, "kill things and take their stuff," to be pretty low in the first place. My current group, though, is like Uller's. We meet on two weeknights a month, for relatively short sessions, but they are players who want to have an interesting story unfold. If the story is going to progress at all, we don't have time to waste on combat for the sake of gaining experience. However, I think this is all missing a major point - there's precious little need to ever "grind" in a tabletop RPG. Grinding happens in a computer game, because software has a release cycle. Relevant content cannot be added in at arbitrary points, and instead appears, if ever, only with the release of expansions to the game, leaving the possibility that there are gaps where those no interesting content around appropriate for the character's power level. The game can programmatically generate random encounters, but it cannot generate plot to tie those encounters into a sensible adventure. Thus, we end up with grind filling the gaps. Mind you, modern games (like Skyrim, say) have more sophisticated designs in which large chunks of interesting content are not of fixed power level - they adjust to the power of the character when he or she first encounters the content to some degree, reducing grind. Tabletop RPGs do not have this problem. The GM is not a computer, and can insert new relevant content anywhere he or she pleases. If the BBEG is still too powerful for the PCs, a lieutenant can be inserted, or the like. Unless the GM is short on time to prepare, there's never a need to grind. So, why would one want to do so? [/QUOTE]

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