Getting a player more interested in mechanics

[Gavinfoxx]

I was kinda looking forward to the big epic battle (his character was several levels above mine), but I didn't force it. What was the alternative? "No. The story will not continue until we roll out the battle and your character dies fair and square?" This just screamed at me, both then and now, as being a horrid DM-ing tactic, equivalent to making your players read a 400-page, wooden campaign background story and then quizzing them on it to make sure they paid attention to the small details. It'd be making my player sit through something they don't want to do, purely for my benefit. I don't wanna be "That DM" that everyone complains about on the internet.

The rules for these games exist for a reason. There is ambiguity in the results. The rules help remove ambiguity so you are not playing a simple game of 'let's pretend'. Which is what you are doing right now. It is completely legitimate to say, "Sorry, I am not having fun with a no-structure 'let's pretend' time. Can we actually play an actual game with actual rules and strategy and numbers and consequences and randomness and variability in results?"