clearstream
(He, Him)
We're repeating ourselves but okay. When that guy falls out of the sky, for me mechanics are involved. I don't need to roll any dice. Say he's a Wizard, I don't need to roll any dice to say he can cast Wizard spells and doesn't have Ki. The mechanics are engaged nonetheless.You can think that all you like.
But prior to you encountering that npc, not a single encounter was actually had by that npc. Not one that involved the mechanics anyway.
What DM would actually spend the dozens of hours playing through the encounters required for that high level npc to actually achieve those levels?
IOW that npc gained levels and abilities completely without any reference to encounter guidelines. Any backstory is 99% DM fiat.
If my definition of mechanics was that for them to be engaged dice must be thrown, then I would agree with your argument. So please understand my sincerity when I say that in my framing for world-building and events, dice do not need to be thrown in order for mechanics to be involved.
Put simply, we disagree on premises and therefore we cannot agree on conclusions.
[Edited to try and put my point in a more reasonable way.]
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