Aesthetics and Game Design

The aesthetics in ATOMIC start with the idea of DIY as evidenced by pulp magazines like Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Mechanics Illustrated, etc. Every home needs a workbench, and we'll teach you how to build your very own hovercar with this collection of instructional films for only $199.99/month for 6 months! Take our correspondence course and our certified instructors will give you personalized instruction in the art of seduction, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back (less shipping and handling)!

Popular Mechanics is not responsible for personal injury, property damage or decapitation.

We also find influences from men's pulp fiction magazines, like Man's Life, Action For Men, and True Adventures. These are filled with stories of outlandish macho adventure, of romance...wait, no, these were men's magazines, after all...of grateful women and their boobs, and blood-pumping battles against man and beast. And lustful women. Good times (it isn't a stretch, particularly in our world today, to imagine women's magazines of a similar niche with less needlepoint and more strapping lads in need of a rescue).

A question for philosophers and sages.

So how does this translate to something definable for ATOMIC? Well, it means that combat, while a fun and needed component in a post-apocalyptic setting, does not need to be the be-all and end-all of an RPG. When survival is at stake, being able to find or make what you need is a very important skill, and the DIY motif of the first category of magazines suggests an easy fit--crafting. The high adventure of the second group of mags reflects the importance of exploration, and, if you read the witty banter and dialogue, social skill.

These categories are notoriously poorly-defined in most tabletop games. Many RPGs for computer and console have a decent crafting system, though it tends to be focused around the game's central mechanic of combat. A select few even have decent social options, but those are still scripted and dependent on whatever options the programmers thought to put in ahead of time.

Crafting in most CRPGs. YMMV.

 
Where the realm of computer RPGs (CRPGs), particularly western CRPGs (part 2, part 3) truly shines is in encouraging exploration. A sandbox game is set in an open world where you are not artificially prevented from going (almost) anywhere and trying anything the game engine allows. Typically, there are tons of things to do that are not directly connected to the main story of the game, which makes exploring satisfying as its own reward.

So, we have one system that, while modeled terribly (if at all) in most tabletop systems, can be adapted and extrapolated from a multitude of examples in CRPG-land (crafting). We have one system that needs to be adapted from the rigidly (if expansive) predefined map of a sandbox video game level to a degree of abstraction that works well for a tabletop without being hinged on extensive/intensive mapping (exploration). We have one system that has traditionally been handled ad hoc at the table (largely by GM whim and fiat in the name of "role-playing") has existed a). with governing attributes but b). without an objective basis for determining success or failure given that it is often typically used as a mechanism for conflict (social skills).

Sounds like a challenge to me. Of course, I already have some ideas, maybe even a few answers. Comments and questions until then, however, are welcome.

Until next time, true believers.