[Infinite Worlds] So, what exactly does C-31... do?

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

The answer to this question is given clearly on pages 18–19 of GURPS Infinite Worlds, where ISWAT missions are described. I can't and won't quote the full text here. Basically, ISWAT operates in out-of-the-way worlds where plausible deniability is possible and fates of entire worlds are at stake. It is the campaign setup for the kitchen-sink style of character creation where anything goes and anything can happen, intended as the poster-child of GURPS 4th Edition. This is not subtlety.

So much this. Also, ICOPs and ISWAT function is such different ways that I normally treat them as two different settings. One is a genre rooted in time travel and science fiction, and the other is genre rooted somewhere between superheroes and a kid bringing all their toys into one big game.



I've played in both modes... usually I tweak the setting quite a bit*. You want the challenges to fit the mode of the genre. Both can be fun, but I really have seen a way to stretch them.


I hadn't thought about the "Guy in the Chair" role for C-31, but I've found a lot of infinite worlds and ISWAT can benefit from that. Radio, surveilance, hacking, and so forth can be really useful.



*I'm running three "Infinite worlds" games right now, but only one of them has the infinity patrol and its a side entity. One game replaces ISWAT with a different organization, meaning I can get rid of homeline and the Infinity patrol and focus and crazy action on various worlds, and the other is about the discovery of parachronics by a military base after a nuclear holocaust.