“Atmosphere is the all-important thing, for the final criterion of authenticity is not the dovetailing of a plot but the creation of a given sensation” - H.P. Lovecraft in Supernatural Horror in Literature. Lovecraft was talking about the nature of horror writing, and to be honest, engaging in some special pleading for his own eccentric prose style. He does, however, make a pertinent point for rules writers. There is a myth that a rules writer, like some Renaissance alchemist, is engaged in some quest to discover the perfect formulation for a rules set. In truth, this search for the wargamer’s Philosophers’ Stone is a handy marketing tool for us. We can claim that each new rules set is, if not quite gold, then at least a very interesting new form of lead. In fact we rules writers are stage magicians, who through the use of interesting props and strange incantations (but a notable lack of beautiful assistants) attempt to create the illusion of command and control, chaos and confusion, crisis and calamity that is warfare as we perceive it. It is not the actuality of combat – in Lovecraft’s case, his dovetailed plot – we seek, but the creation of its emotional sensation. "The vault to which I refer is of ancient granite, weathered and discolored by the mists and dampness of generations. Excavated back into the hillside, the structure is visible only at the entrance. The door, a ponderous and forbidding slab of stone, hangs upon rusted iron hinges, and is fastened ajar in a queerly sinister way by means of heavy iron chains and padlocks, according to a gruesome fashion of half a century ago. The abode of the race whose scions are here inurned had once crowned the declivity which holds the tomb, but had long since fallen victim to the flames which sprang up from a stroke of lightning. Of the midnight storm which destroyed this gloomy mansion, the older inhabitants of the region sometimes speak in hushed and uneasy voices; alluding to what they call 'divine wrath' in a manner that in later years vaguely increased the always strong fascination which I had felt for the forest-darkened sepulcher. One man only had perished in the fire. When the last of the Hydes was buried in this place of shade and stillness, the sad urnful of ashes had come from a distant land, to which the family had repaired when the mansion burned down. No one remains to lay flowers before the granite portal, and few care to brave the depressing shadows which seem to linger strangely about the water-worn stones." In the above excerpt from Lovecraft's first work, 'The Tomb'; the emotional journey is intense due to the narrative but the end result is simply the description of a door with a small piece of the family history to set the scene for the following story. To my mind, one of the best games at creating this kind of of illusion for a wargames' 'reality verses rules' example is Jon Tuffley’s Sci-Fi space combat game Full Thrust, available as a free PDF download at Ground Zero Games website. If you don’t have a copy go and download it now. My own interesting new form of lead, Astronef, is progressing to the playtest stage. This is still “first run” playtests, where the core concepts are tested. I worry about the chrome at the next playtest stage, assuming I don’t find any huge problems at this stage. My mind is also turning now to what to put in, and more importantly, what to leave out of Aeronef 2nd edition. Matthew Hartley
March 2009 Webmaster's Note You can read the full version of 'The Tomb' and most of Lovecraft's other work on the Dagonbytes website here. |
