Editing The Machine (section)

===Atmosphere?===
The robot engineers as a rule don't have to completely destroy the desolate/mysterious feel (which i think is the big strength of this idea), its really how you play them. A giant robot busting out yelling "Intruder" is campy, but if the robot just stands there, pulling a lever... and nothing the PCs do can make him stop... creepier. Unfortunately, puts us back in the spot of needing good enemies to fight.

Scavenger clans, machine cultists/cyborgs, the rogue nation, hostile/insane Delvers, Machine-dwelling fauna, are all good suggestions that have been made so far. As long as they clearly originate from outside of the Machine, the Machine itself remains a mystery.

One point which was made was that a "Sphere"-like atmosphere (people turning on each other) would be impossible because the players wouldn't have any reason to turn on each other. Perhaps a game mechanic where something in the Machine affect how a player had to play their character, i.e. insanity a la Call of Cthulhu. Adds a new aspect to the Machine, but an even bigger new aspect to the game itself. Players start out cooperating as per the usual adventuring party, but it would gradually become a competitive game as people lost it and backstabbed each other. And if this a commonly known feature of the Machine, they know going in that it's only a matter of time before their companions, or themselves, fall prey.