From: leifmk@Lise.Unit.NO (Leif Magnar Kj|nn|y)
Subject:  Atmosphere (was: Re: Burn, GURPS, BURN!)
Organization: Norwegian Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 15:31:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.174827.10057@news.vanderbilt.edu>, talbert@athena.cas.vanderbilt.edu (Robert Talbert) writes:
 
   [Much Deleted]
   Sea Wasp claimed:
 > >	ALl those skills and advantages work precisely the same way.
 > >Flavorless. There's no difference IN GAME between casting a fireball,
 > >shooting a gun, controlling a mind, or flying a  ship. That was one
 > >of my major gripes about Spacemaster's PSI system -- they took their
 > >spell system and just taped  the word Psion over it.
 > >	Things which are different in KIND should be different in FEEL,
 > >or else just ignore the existence of mechanics and go all out roleplay.
 > >Don't compromise.
 > 
 > The rules for most games will not even get you a tenth of the way there 
 > as far as creating atmosphere -- "Chill" and "Paranoia" may be exceptions.
 > As a GM, *I* am responsbile for creating the suspension for disbelief. The
 > moment I have to rely on the rules to do so, in *any* game, it's back to 
 > GM school for me. 
 

 > Robert N. Talbert    		  | "I saw what cannot be seen
 > Mathematics Department  	  |  She spoke to me
 > Vanderbilt University		  |  'Take what you've learned, set it free
 > talbert@athena.cas.vanderbilt.edu |   See what you'll see.' " --- King's X

	Atmosphere?  Let's not forget Call of Cthulhu.  I've learned a lot about
creating atmosphere from CoC.  I've run CoC games where players have moved
to the other side of the table because they couldn't bear to sit with their backs
to the door.  I've played in games where all players have exhibited physical 
reactions to what was going on in the game--increased pulse rate, whole-body
tremors, and much more.  CoC is my favorite genre-specific game far and above 
anything else, and it has an unobtrusive set of rules which easily fade into the
background and vanish, leaving the players and GM wide open to what the game is
really about.  That is, the mechanics themselves do not create the atmosphere,
they just make it easier to create an atmosphere by not bothering the GM and
players needlessly.  (Granted, CoC's mechanics do help a bit; what with the rules
on Sanity, and the combat system which is really very very hard on PCs. . . .)
	By the way, Sea Wasp, I also disagree with you in your statement above.
Saying that there's no difference between the listed actions in GURPS is not 
correct - and I find it particularly strange that you earlier (different post)
compared Rolemaster to GURPS in this respect and found Rolemaster to be the 
superior system.  I haven't played RM nearly as much as GURPS, but I am of the
opinion that RM mechanics are no more, and probably a bit less, diverse than
those of GURPS.  Both systems have their central mechanics based around rolling
standard dice, adding or subtracting various modifiers, and comparing the result
to whatever it is you need to succeed.  They use different dice, and in RM you
add skill (and other) modifiers and compare the result to some table, while in
GURPS you add various situational modifiers (only a few of which grate against
common sense) to your basic chance and compare your roll to the effective
chance of success.  Both systems work nicely for me, but *I* get more "flavor"
out of mechanics that don't require you to look up the results in dozens of
different tables. . . .

Until the fecal matter collides with the ventilation system,
Leif Kj|nn|y
Norwegian Institute of Technology

leifmk@lise.unit.no