From: swaim@owlnet.rice.edu (Michael Parks Swaim)
Subject: Re: META: Game Mechanics vs. Background
Organization: Rice University
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 08:15:59 GMT

In article <1992Dec21.232019.14670@oz.plymouth.edu> sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan) writes:
>Hmmm - I've had some interesting conversations with folks lately about
>what sells in an RPG, and why.  What do you look for when you buy RPG
>material?  Good game mechanics or good world background?
  Both. It should also be presented well.

>Apparently, judging from e-mail I've gotten lately, I'm in the
>minority:  I think game mechanics are of prime importance in a game I
>buy, and background secondary.  Before you flame too hard. let me
>clarify my stance: I think background is of *vital* importance when I
>*play* a game.  I just don't look for it in game books.
  I don't think that game books can really give enough information to create
a "really good" background. In our Ars Magica campaign we use road atlases as 
maps for our adventures. That's about 12 pages of map for Scotland. For the 
campaign set in Germany, we used a roadmap of Germany, and a fold-out map of 
Europe.
  One of the players also has stats and diagrams for Viking longboats, and 
we've got a general idea of what's going to be happening in next ten years or
so. In one of my adventures, we had a short discussion on how a midieval church
was laid out, and what sort of stuff would be in there. (The PCs in this
campaign aren't particularly Christian, and they had decided to loot a
Church.)
  It helps that almost all of the players are interested in the middle ages
and have taken classes in it. (We have two history majors in the group, and
one specialized in the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages.) I don't see any
non-real-world setting having nearly as much information easily available.
This doesn't matter that much for games like Vampire or Champions, but
if you compare it with, say, Forgotten Realms, or the Palladium FRP, the
difference can be striking.


>When I buy a game, I'm looking for clean, smooth-playing, simple,
>comprehensive game mechanics that aren't obtrusive into the game
>setting.  This is very important to me, so whatever setting I'm using
>works.
  Everything should be presented as cleanly as possible. Even with good
rules and a good background, poor presentation and editing can still
hurt you.

>I guess it comes down to this:  I feel I should pay a game designer for
>game design, and a fiction author for setting, mood, genre, background,
>etc.
  I dunno. I agree that good mechanics is important. While I'm not crazy
about GURPS, it's more or less my system of choice for when I run adventures
in my own settings because the mechanics are flexible enough to let me do
what I want, and they've got a zillion suppliments to help me do it. On
the other hand, I like the worlds of Werewolf and Over the Edge to be tempted
to base adventures on them, more or less. (I'd probably do OTE stock because
the the world's already bizarre enough, and I'd like to try the system. W:TA
would be GURPSified, with some heavy world editing thrown in, too.)


-- 
Mike Swaim            | "101 Dalmations? Yeah I saw that."
swaim@owlnet.rice.edu | "You Did! REALLY? The same film?
Disclamer: I lie      | Let's stop driving! We must get out and jump
up and down and up and down and dance around and around!" Matt and Delerium
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc