WD's Gamma World OOC

[Walking Dad]

dit: Character creation rules are in post 9 & 13.

We already decided it to be a 'classic' d20 game. From the different editions, it is most inspired by John Tweet's 'Omega World' and 'Gamma World 1e' by James Ward and Gary Gygax.

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Are you interested in a Gamma World game?

Which edition?

Special wishes?

If there is enough player interest, I will DM one of these (with some modifications):

A) Gamma World 1e (downloading the free Mutant Future RPG will be suffice to play)

B) Gamma World d20 (combination of the Dragon Magazine Omega World, the d20 Gamma World book and modern d20. Having access to the MSRD will be enough to play.)

C) Gamma World, the new game that uses a variant of the D&D 4e rules.

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WD's Gamma World IC

Characters:
Shadow
'Doc' Ivan
Trayce

 

[Walking Dad]

bump and update above. I resurrected an old thread to not having to start a new one

 

[calimedic911]

I would be interested in anything but the 4e version. Don't like 4e personally

Sean b

 

[Shayuri]

Gamma World has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I'd LOVEto play.

Any edition is fine.

 

[kinem]

I would be interested in the d20 (not 4e) option.

 

[Walking Dad]

Ok, 3 interests so far. That looks very promising!
(and it looks like it will be the most houseruled version )

Do you like Gamma World more

1) funny vs serious
2) sandbox vs preplanned adventure
3) characters random or carefully designed.

(choose one for each number or 'both')

I will use this very introduction from Gamma World 1e:

You are inhabitants of a small village of about 200 that is situated just inside the border of a great forest. You have grown up listening to the legends of the Ancients and of the Shadow Years, but since those years were long before your time, you consider them just that - legends. You are much more concerned with hunting for meat to supplement the meager living you scratch out of the soil, and with avoiding the dangerous creatures which prowl the area.
It is now the time of the year, however, for your coming-of-age and for the "Trials," in which you will be judged by the village leaders and elders as worthy (or unworthy) of membership in the adult society of the village. Part of the "Trials" Involves venturing forth into the wild lands outside and proving yourselves to be proficient hunters and fighters.
The sachem, the chief elder and leader of the village, possesses a device of Ancient technology (incomprehensible to you, other than its effects) that can kill at a great distance. You have seen this device used against a villager who attempted to steal it for his own. The sachem touched the device in some strange manner and a brilliant beam of light was projected, striking the Villager and searing a small hole through his chest. He died almost instantly and the sachem warned the villagers about attempting any similar theft in the future.
There is an old tale, however, that the sachem returned from his own "Trials" with that very device. It is by means of the power which this device gives him that he was able to elevate himself to his present position. It is said that the sachem had come back from his "Trials" from the west - a taboo area. It is said that only gods can walk in the taboo area and live. The only thing the sachem had ever said about his "Trials" is that the strange device had come from one of the houses of the Ancient Gods.

This year's "Trials" are to be different. The sachem has decreed that any who desire to be an elder or to sit on the Council of Leaders must go to the taboo lands in the west.
To prove you have done this, you must bring back a stone from one of the houses of the Ancient Gods. Therefore, at dawn you leave with your allowed weapons, a bow and six arrows, your personal melee weapon, and food and water for one week. You have little choice; if you desire to rule, you must go west into unknown danger. But, the thought occurs to you, it would be nice to have a device like the sachem's....

Your total knowledge of the geography of the surrounding area is as follows: the forest extends north, west, and south at least two days' journey in each direction, there are mountains to the north, and about a day's travel to the east is a wide river, on the banks of which is a large city to which villagers sometimes travel in order to trade.

 

[Shayuri]

1) funny vs serious

-- Well, there's always room for humor, but I'd prefer that the game's essence be serious, with the humor arising from eccentric characters. Kind of like Fallout, perhaps.

2) sandbox vs preplanned adventure

-- This is tricky...but I find that sandboxes can be very hard to run in PBP. Response time in a PBP seems inversely proportional to the number of possible choices at any given juncture. Sandboxes often result in a group just madly spinning their wheels, unless their PC's very motivated. Even then though, highly motivated characters often tend to split off unless everyone in the group has the same high motivation. So I'm open to sandbox...but I am leery of it.

3) characters random or carefully designed.

-- Definitely designed. I could be persuaded to accept an element of randomness, but I prefer design.

 

[kinem]

1) funny vs serious

I'd prefer a mostly serious game but with humor where appropriate.

In general, I divide attempts at game humor into two categories:

#0: Joke monsters, extreme coincidences, pun names, annoying character traits, joke-based plot swings, bathroom humor, anything that smacks of a WotC April Fools' module, anything that smacks of 4e Gamma World such as mutations randomly shifting during combat, anything that strains the bounds of simulationism for a joke = Stupid NOT Funny. I don't expect any of this from you, WD, of course!

#1: PCs or NPCs telling jokes in appropriate contexts, funny situations that arise unexpectedly in play, witty DM descriptions of what we see, funny things that make complete sense in simulationist context = Funny.

2) sandbox vs preplanned adventure

I'm going to have to say preplanned adventure. I like the idea of a sandbox, but it too easily degenerates into inaction.

3) characters random or carefully designed.

I'm fine either way (as long as there's still a rough power balance between PCs) but I actually can see some advantages to randomly generated mutations at least. I think there is something that has been lost as people have moved almost exclusively into point buy and complete player control over character generation within defined limits.

Real people don't choose their abilities: you have to work with what you're born with. Often, taking on an ability score or character or trait you wouldn't have chosen and learning to make it your own can be a rewarding roleplaying experience.

 

[Walking Dad]

1)...

Joke monsters, ... pun names, ... anything that strains the bounds of simulationism ...

So, nothing from Gamma World 1e

Ever heard of the Centisteed and Hoop?

I will use classic Gamma World creatures, despite them being big humanoid bunnies that turn metal to rubber. But I promise to get not sillier than the originals.

'Simulationism' as in 'reality' or 'making sense in the established setting'?

We speak about a postapocalyptic world were radiation is is more likely to cause you to grow an extra arm than to kill you.

Would this be fine?

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2d6+6 for abilities to rolled in order (or not) are fine for the random/control axis?

Mutations will be random with the option to have less than maximal mutations on the beginning.

The characters will all be human, animal, or plant mutants with 2d4 Mutations. The mutations will be rolled.

All have the same class.

d10 HD (add con mod for each level)
+1 BaB / level
+1 to all saves / level
6 skill points per level (don't add any ability mod)
1 feat / level
2 ability increases / 4 levels

Skill ranks total will be skill points + ability mod + 3.

and we use this skill list:
Skills - Pathfinder_OGC

Use Magic device will be replaced with use Gamma Tech Device (Int). No spellcraft and Knowledges (x) will be replaces with more appropriate categories.

Craft/Tech sub-skills are:
• Bang: Explosives, gunpowder weapons, internal combustion engines, etc.
• Hard: Metals, alloys, structures, vehicles, armor, etc.
• Med: Medicine, surgery, medical relics, etc .
• Zap: Energy weapons, beams, force fields, etc .

Languages:
You start with your village's pidgin (speak/understand only)

 

[Shayuri]

Hehe, Gamma World has some silliness built in, 'tis true...but that's fine with me. Just not too much MORE silliness. And the mutating radiation is more of a genre convention than silly, really...

Anyway

What level would we start at? Also, how shall we determine starting supplies?

And is there an online source for determining mutations, or do we just post our rolls and let you tell us what we have?

Finally, if we roll random mutations...and decide they're horrible...do we still have the option of reducing the number of mutations and selecting them, or is that a decision that has to be made before rolling?

As far as attributes go, I'm usually more of a fan of point buys...I have lousy dice karma. But I'll roll with it, since there's a one-size-fit-all class, I guess I'm not really aiming for any specific combination of stats. However, I feel I should ask if there's a reroll clause for getting really, truly, awful stats. Cuz...there's a very good chance I will.