Can someone with ATR “enjoy a movie”?

[Alexotl]

New to GURPS—let me know if I’m posting in the correct location.

It’s stated in the Basic rulebook that “ETS does not ‘slow down’ the world from your viewpoint. You can still enjoy a movie by simply ignoring the frames, much as a literate person can choose whether or not to notice the individual letters in the words he’s reading.”

On the other hand, ATR lets you experience time “faster than that of a normal human.”

For roleplaying purposes, is it reasonable to assume that someone with ATR also has the benefit of “enjoying movies” like someone with ETS? Or would they have to take ETS as well? Or is there nothing they can do but suffer in a world that moves slower than them?

Edit: or perhaps taking Cosmic with ATR could fix this—if so, what would you rate the value of cosmic?

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Alexotl

Edit: or perhaps taking Cosmic with ATR could fix this—if so, what would you rate the value of cosmic?

Just use Switchable or Reflexive (both from Powers).

[khorboth]

This would have much to do with the fluff around the power. Why do they have ATR? How does it affect them?

Is the world bound by hard science? Did an ancient amulet grant them a boon with no downside?

In general, I'd assume that if people had overcome all the problems with normal human interaction including conversation, diplomacy, courting, etc. that a movie is fine. Then ATR is the *ability" to move faster without the *obligation* to do so. Someone who is obligated to move at double speed and can't effectively adapt psychologically to everyone at half-speed would have a lot of other things going on too.

[Anaraxes]

I'd say that ATR already includes the ability to slow down, or simply not exercise your ability to move and perceive faster. If you want an ability that's locked to being Always On, with attendant disadvantages, then you'd invent a Limitation for that. (Compare the different versions of Always On and Linked for different abilities, sometimes Enhancements, sometimes Limitations.)

If you want rules justification, just read the last paragraph in Basic.

Originally Posted by B39

In order to do anything that depends on someone else’s reactions, you must deliberately “slow down” and function at his speed.

So, voluntary adjustment of ATR speed and perception is possible (even on a sub-Maneuver/turn granularity). Just deliberately slow down and enjoy the movie.

Most supers depicted in comics operate this way most of the time. There's got to be at least one that uses super-speed as an excuse for "multi-tasking", appearing and acting normally while also thinking about something else at the same time. But I can't think of an example offhand. I suppose Quicksilver is the most likely to complain about being bored at normal speed.

[Not another shrubbery]

Kromm has ruled that Accelerated Time Rate is Always On, but variable, such that you can turn it down to meet the needs of a situation like interacting with others. I've never been able to justify that to myself, so I just call ATR Switchable and game on ;)

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Alexotl

New to GURPS—let me know if I’m posting in the correct location.

Welcome! Yes, this is the right place for general GURPS questions.

It’s stated in the Basic rulebook that “ETS does not ‘slow down’ the world from your viewpoint. You can still enjoy a movie by simply ignoring the frames, much as a literate person can choose whether or not to notice the individual letters in the words he’s reading.”

On the other hand, ATR lets you experience time “faster than that of a normal human.”

For roleplaying purposes, is it reasonable to assume that someone with ATR also has the benefit of “enjoying movies” like someone with ETS? Or would they have to take ETS as well? Or is there nothing they can do but suffer in a world that moves slower than them?

Edit: or perhaps taking Cosmic with ATR could fix this—if so, what would you rate the value of cosmic?

GURPS Powers has more detail on many advantages, but does not help with this question. It's one for the GM, and there are many possible ways to rationalise a decision either way. I'd think of it like this:

First, why does the character have ATR? Is it intrinsic to them, produced by equipment, or what? Is there a reason they can't use "Turning Advantages Off and On", on page 34 of the Basic Set to turn it off? If they can't turn it off naturally, is it practical for them to buy the Switchable (+10%) enhancement, to allow that? That enhancement exists for many individual advantages in Basic, and was generalised in Powers.

If neither of those options works, the last paragraph of the description of ATR says you can deliberately slow down, but I think the GM would be entitled to say that requires some degree of deliberate effort, which might be hard to maintain while watching a movie.

Cosmic isn't quite applicable. That would be the enhancement to use against abilities that negated "ordinary" ATR, or for making your ATR better is some significant way. Gaining ordinary human abilities isn't a big enough deal for Cosmic.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Alexotl

For roleplaying purposes, is it reasonable to assume that someone with ATR also has the benefit of “enjoying movies” like someone with ETS?

Yes. The game mechanical effect is that you can take extra actions. You can just not take the extra actions. There is no indication that someone with high levels of ATR experiences accelerated aging, needs to eat more often, has trouble being understood while speaking. Those things would be a nuisance effect.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Alexotl

On the other hand, ATR lets you experience time “faster than that of a normal human.”

For roleplaying purposes, is it reasonable to assume that someone with ATR also has the benefit of “enjoying movies” like someone with ETS? Or would they have to take ETS as well?

Or is there nothing they can do but suffer in a world that moves slower than them?

If movies were a problem you could probably just get a computer to play them at double-time.

The greater problem would be interacting with people: if you're tortured by a movie, are you tortured by a conversation?

IE whether or not ATR forces a "Ballad of Barry Allan" (read lyrics folks) situation where "I'd like to get to know you But you're talking much too slowly"

I think Powers answers this: P143 has a "Slow" Affliction where in addition to inflicting Decreased Time Rate it also afflicts Subsonic Speech.

This means that Decreased Time Rate does not normally make it hard to speak (despite getting half as many maneuvers as a normal person) to those of a normal time rate: so it stands to reason that normal people do not suffer this problem speaking so someone with ATR can perceive them.

Being at half/double multipliers doesn't actually seem to alter your communication speed or perception. The only way I know to transmit info at higher speeds is P81's "Burst" enhancement for Telecommunication. AFAIK there's no way to distinguish needing some kind of advanced kind of 'Detect' to process Bursts, aside from a cumulative -1 intercept which is pretty light.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Kromm has ruled that Accelerated Time Rate is Always On, but variable, such that you can turn it down to meet the needs of a situation like interacting with others.
I've never been able to justify that to myself, so I just call ATR Switchable and game on ;)

Variable is more useful since you can alter how many levels of your ability you use as a free action: switchable takes a ready maneuver to switch on or off making it tough to react in emergencies when you need your ATR.

If it's merely variable (adjustment is a free action) then in a situation where you would need to react quickly during someone else's turn (ie you get attacked) you could probably call turning it on prior to their attack landing a Power Dodge (except it doesn't avoid the attack just switches on your extra maneuver prior to them landing).

You could say if it happens in time you get that extra maneuver THEN you start your turn and get 2 more, whereas if it failed, you just start your turn and get 2 but don't get the extra 1.

[Donny Brook]

"Can someone with ATR “enjoy a movie”?"

Well, not if it's a Star Wars prequel.
;D

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Alexotl

“ETS does not ‘slow down’ the world from your viewpoint. You can still enjoy a movie by simply ignoring the frames, much as a literate person can choose whether or not to notice the individual letters in the words he’s reading.”

Yeah, I don't buy this one, unless ETS is innately Switchable or similar. Someone with epilepsy can't just choose to ignore the "dark" moments of a strobe light to avoid a seizure - and that's exactly what a typical movie would look like to someone with ETS, a strobing light effect (half the time you're watching a movie, you're actually looking at a blank screen, it's just that it switches back and forth between the blank screen and the actual frames that the human eye can't notice. Of course, you could have ETS yet still have your eyes working with only 60 fps, in which case the movie looks just like everything else you interact with in the world.

That said, ATR really is more just "You get an extra Maneuver" than "You operate at a different speed." Note the latter would have sizable bonuses to defense (far more than just +1 - after all, Combat Reflexes gives you that), make your own attacks markedly more difficult to defend against, etc.