Gamma World: Did it have a "Core Story"?
- Thread starter AdmundfortGeographer
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mearls said:
Well, getting on the extreme end of things, items that allow very high check/attack bonuses do eventually make the die roll moot by surpassing the d20's range. I think the problem with the ELH was that it provided a set of tools to resist this instead of providing a structure for the deterministic D&D game that eventually results.
mikedidthis
First Post
Very interesting thread. I've found the whole notion of the core story intriguing. I noticed that in Mearls' description of the adventure/core CoC story he said, "The classic haunted house scenario laid the entire game down in 4 pages: characters hear about weird events, go to investigate, uncover bizarre horrors, possibly go insane, gain sanity if they "win"."
What struck me about this description that goes beyond the other core story definitions is the "possibly go insane, gain sanity" part. It seems to me that this addition builds into the idea of the core story the concept of consequences. I suppose that in the other definitions it's assumed. For instance, for Henry's definition for D&D could be re-stated "Explore once-familar places that are now exotic, meet cool beings, kill them or die trying, and take their stuff to become the biggest badass on the block."
The reason I bring this up is because I that think from a GM's perspective, bringing those consequences into your initial assumptions when creating an adventure would cause you to make different decisions about the adventure than you might if you were doing it instead as more of a world-building excercise. It builds into the adventure a set of measurables useful to both the players and the GM.
Just my random two cents, shot from the hip.
What struck me about this description that goes beyond the other core story definitions is the "possibly go insane, gain sanity" part. It seems to me that this addition builds into the idea of the core story the concept of consequences. I suppose that in the other definitions it's assumed. For instance, for Henry's definition for D&D could be re-stated "Explore once-familar places that are now exotic, meet cool beings, kill them or die trying, and take their stuff to become the biggest badass on the block."
The reason I bring this up is because I that think from a GM's perspective, bringing those consequences into your initial assumptions when creating an adventure would cause you to make different decisions about the adventure than you might if you were doing it instead as more of a world-building excercise. It builds into the adventure a set of measurables useful to both the players and the GM.
Just my random two cents, shot from the hip.
Raelcreve
First Post
Gamma World
Hey Eric, it's Kevin...
Just to throw in my two cents...one of the main reasons I loved Gamma World (3rd Ed) was because of it's ease of play. It's a much simpler game to play mechanicly than D&D of that era was. Also, Marvel Super Heroes was similar in its mechanics. They both used a table/chart system that took all the dice rolling out and allowed for smoother game play. Also the flexibility of character creation...if I recall correctly, there weren't really "classes" (in either system), you just had levels (in GW not in Marvel). Character development was a bit different...not necessarily the focus of the game, but there was nothing restricting it either.
The core story of that era of GW was really survival. It was very easy to die in a Post Apoc Earth with technology still in play...technology that you didn't understand. The back story was the world came to an end (sort of) and hundreds (if not thousands) of years later, civilization was trying to re-establish itself. 3rd Ed did try the "tried and true" formula of publishing modules to create a campaign, but it wasn't really successful.
I've never been real thrilled with the 4th and subsequent editions. They never really had the flavor of 3rd.
Man I miss the Death Machine.
Hey Eric, it's Kevin...
Just to throw in my two cents...one of the main reasons I loved Gamma World (3rd Ed) was because of it's ease of play. It's a much simpler game to play mechanicly than D&D of that era was. Also, Marvel Super Heroes was similar in its mechanics. They both used a table/chart system that took all the dice rolling out and allowed for smoother game play. Also the flexibility of character creation...if I recall correctly, there weren't really "classes" (in either system), you just had levels (in GW not in Marvel). Character development was a bit different...not necessarily the focus of the game, but there was nothing restricting it either.
The core story of that era of GW was really survival. It was very easy to die in a Post Apoc Earth with technology still in play...technology that you didn't understand. The back story was the world came to an end (sort of) and hundreds (if not thousands) of years later, civilization was trying to re-establish itself. 3rd Ed did try the "tried and true" formula of publishing modules to create a campaign, but it wasn't really successful.
I've never been real thrilled with the 4th and subsequent editions. They never really had the flavor of 3rd.
Man I miss the Death Machine.
eyebeams said:
An excellent point.
I think the ELH is a great example of an almost overwhelming design challenge. Ryan Dancey made a very good point about that book - if a gaming group has played to level 20, it makes sense to continue to support that basic style of play and the mechanics that they've played for the past 20+ levels.
OTOH, I think there's a lot of wiggle room. I think that most people would have an intuitive sense the epic level play should be different from levels 1 - 20.
buzz
Adventurer
Tangential, but coming full-circle, Mearls-wise:
The Iron Heroes campiagn I've been contemplating will ideally be set in... Darwin's World. Converse to what Vigilance wrote, I'd be taking "Sere the mutant wanderer" and replacing him with "Conan". I'll just cross out all the instances of "mutant" and write-in "pizza oven"... uh, I mean, write-in "fiendish were-orc arcanist".
The Iron Heroes campiagn I've been contemplating will ideally be set in... Darwin's World. Converse to what Vigilance wrote, I'd be taking "Sere the mutant wanderer" and replacing him with "Conan". I'll just cross out all the instances of "mutant" and write-in "pizza oven"... uh, I mean, write-in "fiendish were-orc arcanist".
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