In and RPG or a campaign? Please clarify.

>>43844961
Campaign but feel free to comment on both aspects.

>>43844947
The most important thing is fun.
Different groups (and games) put an emphasis on a storytelling experience or a simulation.
I believe story is the most important, but then again, it almost never coincides with the mechanics. A good story should be consistent, and your world should be consistent with the rules of the game, or you should change your game.

I know this answer is as general as a PR stunt, but so was the question.

Story, I love simple rulesets because of this. As a GM I can just decide things that I know would make a better story even if it bends the rules a little.

Alternatively, if your players love dice and table autism you can always just tell them all the complex shit they probably won't use but it lets them feel smart.

>>43844947
That's one majestic hedgehog

>>43844947
As important as the players make it. In the end they are the catalysts to everything in the world. Whether the reactions suit them or not... Well.

>>43844947
As important as that adorable hedgehog wants it to be.

Storyline matters, but it doesn't matter when you're playing. Story is the thing that happens when you're done and recounting what happens.

The narrative while you're playing is what matters.

Depends what you mean by "storyline".

If you're talking about an epic plot involving some evil empire looking to conquer the world and awaken a god of darkness, and only a small but plucky resistance movement standing in their way, then practically zero. But if you're talking about a bunch of guys and their slice of life adventure in a strange fantasy world, then much more than that.

>>43844947

imo, in a Role-playing Game, mechanics are super important but only if they help foster the role playing environment as a whole. I think most combat-heavy systems are garbage because everything they try to do is done better by literally thousands of strategic videogames and non-rp table games. The ONE thing RPGs do better than any other game/whatever is fucking *facilitate roleplay* but most of them waste their time and yours on combat bloat.

When you're playing at infiltrating a castle to kill the King, every step of that process is as important as the six-second fight (in-universe time) you have with the King. But most of the time, 70% of the rules to that system just cover combat, leaving you with all this leveling and reading and table checking and garbage for something that isn't anymore important than the rest of the stuff you do at the table. And the rules are necessarily set up so those combats take half the session, regardless of whatever else you're doing or trying to do.

I can play almost anything else that isn't an RPG and get a great strategic/competitive fix and it'll be ten times more focused and more enjoyable than what any RPG system can bolt on. I play Roleplaying games to roleplay, dammit, and I don't know why this isn't the default opinion

>>43844947
That's some proud animal right here.

>>43844947
Without a good storyline, the game has no reason to exist.

Games where the storyline has thinned out tend to die. People lose interest. Games with great storylines will engage the players, and give them direction and a feeling of accomplishment in the long term.

>>43844947
Game mechanics are important to the extend they don't screw narration up. I'm not talking about your speshul snowflake NPC dying or players failing their action, I'm talking about countless table checkings that break immersion and the flow of the story. If you and your players know your system, you can respect it to the letter and you won't screw anything up.

The only derogation to that is if the players need to be rewarded for their ideas or their roleplaying, or if they have to be punished for being shitheads, but even then most systems have inspiration points, or edge or anything else.

The overarching storyline is another thing. I'm more comfortable without as a player, but when I DM since my players often want long-term goals I give them one.