PSYCHOCOSM, Visceral Non-Mechanics, & Running Non-D&D

 

It's been awhile since I blogged about something other than session reports or the announcement of a new PDF, book, convention, or whatever.

As the title of this post would suggest, I'll be diving deeply into advanced immersion, opting-out of standard RPG mechanics, and what you need to start GMing stuff that's not D&D (aka stuff I wish I knew back in the day).

There's gonna be some theory, but not a ton of jargon, and all my theorizing should have a practical application.  I don't just theorize to hear myself type. 

Faith Alone

First off, I want to talk about PSYCHOCOSM, recently mentioned here.  This is the blending of reality and fantasy in the minds of Game Master and players alike.  As I've been describing and discussing, PSYCHOCOSM is one step beyond immersion.  Immersion being the passive feeling like you're surrounded or ensconced in the world, your character, the genre, and current situation (this will come up later).

PSYCHOCOSM, on the other tentacle, is an active move towards blurring those fantasy and reality lines.  You're supposed to use your imagination to go further into the fantasy, making it seem real by taking the game seriously (though, you don't have to be serious), visualizing what's happening with focus and concentration, and believing that in the imagination (both individual and collective), what's happening is real, having its own reality.

What exactly do I mean by each of these?

   *  Taking it seriously: Attend sessions when possible, show up ready to play, leave outside BS outside, pay attention during the game, etc.

   *  Visualization: Don't just let the details fall from the sky onto your head and lay on the ground next to your feet like so many dead pigeons.  Catch them as they fall or at the very least pick them up when they land... examine them, interact with them, breathe life into them (just as the GM does for his campaign setting), fold them into an origami unicorn - use what's provided to create future details that enrich the ongoing narrative.  If you don't use 'em, you lose 'em.  "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain."

   *  Make-believe: Same thing as willful suspension of disbelief.  You must decide that it's true, in the context of our imagination, and act accordingly.  Only you can make that leap of faith.

When you intentionally do all 3 of these things, you enter what I call a magical state.  If that's too "out there," then let's just say it's an optimized flow-state where all things are possible.  

The only barrier?  You've got to realize the potential is there, you've got to want it, and you have to go after it.  If you can do that, your active immersion has been self-actualized to the level of PSYCHOCOSM, which is the true and final goal of roleplaying games.

Visceral Style of Play

This came from messaging back and forth from a friend and supporter of Kort'thalis Publishing, particularly The Outer Presence.  My stuff is minimalist, and my approach to game design is rules-light or don't even bother with a system at all, I'll just wing it (describing stuff, asking what the PCs are doing, and then describe what happens next).

He mentioned that approach or play-style favors a visceral experience rooted in immediate and cinematic results with zero book-keeping.  Don't look at your character sheet or consult the rulebook.  Describe the situation with "making a strong impression" on your mind.  If the success or failure of the attempted action is up in the air, roll a die, but then give a fast, decisive, and impactful resolution that has significant consequences.  You know, something visceral.  

If someone has a gun pointed at your head, I don't want the player, his character, or me (the GM) calculating the hit-point to damage ratio.  I want them worried they're going to have their head blown-off.  This situation doesn't call for mechanics, it calls for removing mechanics so you only have the situation.  

When discussing this on X, I said it reminded me of Obi-Wan telling Luke to turn off his targeting computer and just feel the force.  We don't want more automation, we want less.  Manually handle the situation as you might describe the sequence of events happening in a movie, taking the game aspects out of it.  That's right, no mechanics (or at least minimal mechanics).  Trust your instincts and just figure out what happens viscerally.

In fact, if you saved the energy by ignoring mechanics and instead spent that on coming up with something awesome, you'll almost always be farther ahead. 

Rather than "if this doesn't go your way, you die," what I'm looking for in my own gaming is "if you don't do something proactive right now, you will die."  That puts the ball in their court (the player) while giving you a clear conscience to put the dice and rules and system away.  The mechanics are there to help the GM adjudicate outcomes so adventurers aren't dying left and right simply because the monsters got lucky.  As long as the PCs aren't choosing to jump into a swarm of swirling blades, they aren't going to die when I go visceral (unless it's a fairly dark one-shot).  Jumping into swirling blades is example I've used so many times it should become a meme at this point.

Running Non-D&D

I was reading a post in the Dead Games group on FB, and someone was asking about the FASA Doctor Who RPG from the 80s with Tom Baker as The Doctor and Leela on the cover (one of my favorite pairings in the entire series).  

From the day I bought it, I loved that boxed-set.  I read through it constantly over the years, only managing to create a slew of weird alien species via all the random tables included.  Even with its introductory scenes (I won't call it an actual adventure), I never really understood how to use it.  And this was after I'd discovered D&D and learned to play.

How do you Game Master an idea, a genre, or bunch of tropes and aesthetics?  I ran into similar roadblocks with other RPGs during my formative years, like CYBERSPACE.  I loved cyberpunk and knew what it was about, same with Doctor Who (I can still remember our 5th grade teacher asking all of us individually, going around the room, what our favorite TV show was and I said Doctor Who, but she misheard me and incredulously asked if I really that into "Doctor Ruth" and everyone laughed). Yes, Doctor Who was, indeed, my favorite show.  

What introductory scenarios did was become a helpful crutch to start walking (or playing in this analogy), giving you an idea of what roleplaying this particular thing should be like.  What non-D&D roleplaying games needed to do was clue us in to what RPG sessions were really about - laying down the foundation for a story that involved aspects related to the type of RPG we were supposed to run.  

If I had known that I needed to craft the beginning of a narrative that started out with a location, characters, vibe, and situation that would soon become a full-blown scenario when the PCs intersected with it, I could have started coming up with my own adventures.  But since I didn't know about that stuff when I was young, my mind defaulted to the adventuring loop of D&D (have a reason to explore, go explore, encounter people and monsters, talk to the people, defeat the monsters, loot the treasure, and repeat) or it just went blank - leaving me with no idea how to start playing Doctor Who, CYBERSPACE, and all the many RPGs I bought over the years but never played.  

Dear Skyrealms of Jorune, "work at becoming a citizen" might be the initial reason for adventuring, but it is not, in fact, a viable scenario!!! 

Now that I know this stuff, it's still tricky to come up with an appropriate adventure for something like Rocky & Bullwinkle, but at least I have the framework - location, characters, vibe, and situation - the very same thing a Doctor Who story needs to engage viewers.  

Thanks for reading, comments encouraged!

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve?  Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!