D&D5e // Gamma World at GaryCon

[exile]

Very cool! I had playing Star Frontiers in the past. Do you have any idea what they did with the dralasite (mechanics-wise)? Also, did you like adventuring with a walking amoebae? Was the tech able to build and control robots?

Sadly, I didn't walk away with a feel for dralasite-unique mechanics. That said the player did a great job with him, and even if I had not had any idea going into the game what a dralasite was, I would have left with a fairly accurate mental picture. The tech did not build any robots, but he was able to had the station controls, neutralizing them as a threat. He was also able to hack station ventilation/HVAC to redirect explosive gas to the big bad's apartment.

And yeah, I enjoyed adventuring with the dralasite. Our characters played nicely off one another.

 

[exile]

I like that this version of SF (I see what they did there) used classes. I thought the classless system I was reading in Alpha Dawn sounded a bit hm, dull. I know some people say they prefer classless systems, but I think classes make the game more fun. Mearls must have put a lot of work into creating them...

Did you notice if the psionic class used mystic-like rules or was more like a conventional spellcaster?

Draliasite does seem to be one of the more unusual player races I have come across. Community-minded insectoids and psychotic furrys are ten-a-penny.

A marketing strategy could be to release a "Return to the Barrier Peaks" campaign book, say late 2018, then a Star Frontiers 5e spin-off game in 2019, with a campaign telling the other side of the story.

The Mind was the closest thing to a psionic class (I think), and he didn't really seem to have any powers. He was better at calculating odds; and using math (in an almost machine learning like way) to predict the actions of NPCs. In play, I mostly recall him using his disguise kit to make me look like anonymous station/casino staff.

 

[exile]

First of all, thanks for your updates!

Can you tell us more about the rules you used?
How were the Star Frontiers Classes designed? Were they simply reskin of the D&D 5e ones or brand new Classes designed for SF? There was some more mundane Class, without spells?
The SF conversion had some new mechanics for sci fi settings, similar to the one you described for Gamma World?

And what about Gamma World?
How were the Gamma World Classes designed? I've heard that there were scavenging rules or something like that. If yes, how did they work?

I didn't really get a look at the other character sheets. In SF, I can say that my Observer didn't feel like a reskin of an existing D&D class. I had three special abilities. One let me spend a round aiming to automatically score a rot on the following round (assuming the target did not move). A second let me fire two shots (both at disadvantage) in a single round. The third let me give advantage to the next ally to attack a target I had just missed. As you might imagine, the last two abilities worked very well in concert. I would take two attacks, usually hit with one and miss with one, then give advantage to my next ally to attack. The other classes I can recall were seeker, tech, mind, and maybe face. I don't recall any of them having any truly supernatural powers. The tech frequently had advantage on his techie rolls. I don't recall any brand new mechanics for SF.

No classes in gamma world, just the distinction between mutants and humans, depending on how you rolled ability scores. Scavenging rules were-- to the best of my memory-- based on TL. It was difficult and dangerous to scavenge items above your TL. I think party members shot themselves several times trying to do so. And it was mostly done with Int checks (there were no skills in GW, but there were skills in SF).

 

[Tony Vargas]

And about sci-fi with the d20 system, there is a problem, and this is weapons and machines break the balance of power. With high-tech you can kill a dinosaur with only a shot, or you can drive a big truck to run over a horde of zombies.
And if the firearms are allowed, then lots of players don't want martial artists or hand-to-hand fighters. And a survival horror campagin where PCs are normal civilians without weapons isn't like playing a campaigns about soldiers in the battlefield. This needs a special system for XPs.

Yeah, Gamma World (most eds, at least) had minimal issues with those concerns. In part because Ancient Tech was tantamount to magic items.

No classes in gamma world, just the distinction between mutants and humans, depending on how you rolled ability scores. Scavenging rules were-- to the best of my memory-- based on TL. It was difficult and dangerous to scavenge items above your TL. I think party members shot themselves several times trying to do so. And it was mostly done with Int checks (there were no skills in GW, but there were skills in SF).

If you will likely hurt yourself trying to figure out an 'artifact' he caught some of the feel of the crazy flow charts.

I am only a casual player of 5e and do not have my DMG handy, so I can't say if these action points were the same as 5e hero points. Basically, I could spend one for an extra action. I am not sure how they replenished, as this was a one shot.

That is a 4e-style action point.

My crowbar was a light weapon, meaning I modified my attack and damage rolls with Dex, not Strength. It's base damage was 1d8. I know two-handed melee weapons did more.

Sounds like the last edition of Gamma World, which used a 4e-like engine.

My pistol did 2d6 base damage (again, modified by dex). It was a higher tech level item than what the mutants had, and their ranged weapons did less.

Did you make a roll at the end of the fight to see if you had run out of ammo?

 

[exile]

Yeah, Gamma World (most eds, at least) had minimal issues with those concerns. In part because Ancient Tech was tantamount to magic items.


If you will likely hurt yourself trying to figure out an 'artifact' he caught some of the feel of the crazy flow charts.

That is a 4e-style action point.

Sounds like the last edition of Gamma World, which used a 4e-like engine.

Did you make a roll at the end of the fight to see if you had run out of ammo?

I thought the same thing about weapon damage having come from the most recent version of GW (the one based on 4e).

We actually tracked ammo separately. I think I had nine rounds for my pistol (determined with a d20 roll). Machine guns fired bursts of up to 5 rounds at a time. A single round did 1d10, a burst of 5 did 5d10; so they could run out of ammo quickly.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I thought the same thing about weapon damage having come from the most recent version of GW (the one based on 4e).

We actually tracked ammo separately. I think I had nine rounds for my pistol (determined with a d20 roll). Machine guns fired bursts of up to 5 rounds at a time. A single round did 1d10, a burst of 5 did 5d10; so they could run out of ammo quickly.

Sounds like he wasn't just pulling from 5e D&D, but heavily from the last (4e-like) "D&D Gamma World," maybe a bit from Star Frontiers (makes sense given he also ran a take on that), and hearkening back a bit to the classic (c1979) version.

Oh, one last technical question: were able to heal yourselves at all? High-tech 1st aid kits? Mutant healing factor?

 

[exile]

Sounds like he wasn't just pulling from 5e D&D, but heavily from the last (4e-like) "D&D Gamma World," maybe a bit from Star Frontiers (makes sense given he also ran a take on that), and hearkening back a bit to the classic (c1979) version.

Oh, one last technical question: were able to heal yourselves at all? High-tech 1st aid kits? Mutant healing factor?

Two of the mutants had the power to drain energy from others and use that to restore their lost hit points; I think that was about it.

We found some intelligent (and I use the term loosely) cockroach-people. We kept them around for use as walking healing potions (for those two mutants anyway).

 

[Tony Vargas]

Two of the mutants had the power to drain energy from others and use that to restore their lost hit points; I think that was about it.

Ooh, Life Leech. Classic.