Gamma World - Disappointment

[WDS]

Overall I'm quite impressed w/ the new d20 Modern GW book, not the least of which is that it's hardcover & over 200 pages (unheard of in GW history). And S&SS does seem committed to give GW a lot of support materials. I agree that the paucity of mutations (and, IMO, cryptic alliances), is a concern but not so much as to make the game bad or an unwise purchase if you want to play GW d20.

Most of the negative comments are based on individual expectations, particularly, it seems, from fans of GW (I've been playing since 1st ed.)who have played previous versions. I haven't seen similar comments form newbies to GW who don't have the same expectations. Perhaps your expectations weren't met b/c they were different from the authors' expectations and design purposes. Because of that, some have been disappointed. That doesn't mean the game is broken or one can't start playing GW w/ just this book and the d20 Modern rules.

If you want more mutations (or whatever you may want), write to S&SS & ask them to produce more mutations; maybe they'll even post some on their web site.

Also, I think it's unrealistic to expect that this new GW is going to be exactly like some previous edition. Otherwise what's the point in producing it? Don't we want RPG writers to have some originality? And which edition should be used, given that there are 5 previous versions & there's no consensus, even among GW fans, as to which one is the best? If all you want is a rehash of some previous edition, then just stick to your favorite version & play that.

I say give S&SS a chance & some time to get the things you'd like to see in GW d20. Obviously, they can't please all of us. But if they please enough of us to make their books successful, then hopefully we'll see several years of support for this RPG.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Yeah, who wants alot of character creation rules in a Players Handbook!

So what you're saying is that even though the D20 Modern rules system exists already and is used as the basis for this setting, you would prefer to take all of the character creation rules and put them into this book, thus occupying a good half of the total pages and leaving less room for the Gamma World specific stuff? In other words, you want to swap out new material for old material just so you don't have to reference two separate books? Does that sound right?

 

[Yellow Sign]

So what you're saying is that even though the D20 Modern rules system exists already and is used as the basis for this setting, you would prefer to take all of the character creation rules and put them into this book, thus occupying a good half of the total pages and leaving less room for the Gamma World specific stuff? In other words, you want to swap out new material for old material just so you don't have to reference two separate books? Does that sound right?

No I am not saying that. The Gamma World Players Handbook has some nice things going for it. I like the talent trees. I like the community rules. Very Nice. But the heart and soul of ANY Gamma World game has to be the "Races" (Pure Strain Human, Mutant Animals, etc) and the MUTATIONS! I am just saying that they really dropped the ball on these. A half hearted list of weak and many times useless mutations both good and bad does not give me any good feelings about this book. You can talk about a "neat" setting until you are blue in the face. But with out a full list of good mutations I have to say they dropped the ball on this book. And looking at the races, I see a catch all mutant race with little to show for it. With it's "disadvantage" of being about to gain new mutations as you level or go below 0 hp, it's pretty dull. I am just saying that alot more thought should have gone into it.

PS.
And If SS&S wanted to grab the game buying public and sell them on this game they should have come out with something that would have caught our attentions with WOW THATS NEAT! I didn't want to hear. "Well we have some other books coming down the line that should make up for the first book."

 

[Darrin Drader]

But the heart and soul of ANY Gamma World game has to be the "Races" (Pure Strain Human, Mutant Animals, etc) and the MUTATIONS! I am just saying that they really dropped the ball on these. A half hearted list of weak and many times useless mutations both good and bad does not give me any good feelings about this book.

Ah, clarification. I can't argue with you on this point. There are D&D rules that you can use to these ends, but I agree, there should have been a couple more races and definitely more mutations.

 

[Luddite]

Here is a Thought Experiment.

If you were the Editor, what would you have cut to added more Races, Mutations or what ever else you think is lacking in the Book?

-The Luddite

 

[Darrin Drader]

If you were the Editor, what would you have cut to added more Races, Mutations or what ever else you think is lacking in the Book?

I'm guessing that another 10 to 15 pages of mutations and PC races would have been enough, and this could have been accomplished without cutting anything by decreasing the font size and eliminating some white space.

 

[Will]

(LAUGH!) Of course, then the book might become illegible...

 

[Luddite]

Well, I finaly got my copy and have done my first few passes though the book. Sure there are not as many mutations in the book as pervious editions, but with complete rules for nanotech, cybernetics and psionics as well as Mutations, there is a lot of different things to play with.

On a side note, I think the psionics system is okay in contex with the other FX presented in the book. All FX, (mutations, cyber, nano, psi) are independent of the character's level. There isn't anything that realy limits a character ending up with 10 positive mutations and 1 or 2 negitive mutations. Sure it is very unlikely given the random nature of mutations, but it could still happen. So the fact that psi improves though use and independent of character level is consistant with the other FX.

There is alot of different information in the book. And looking at my copy of the 1st edition Gamma world book, the d20 version has a lot more ideas to play with.

-The Luddite

 

[Krieg]

(LAUGH!) Of course, then the book might become illegible...

It pretty much already is.

 

[Darrin Drader]

(LAUGH!) Of course, then the book might become illegible...

Hey, all I'm saying is compare the font size in this book to the font size in the D&D PHB. I think you'll agree that you can squeeze a few more pages in if you matched the size in the D&D PHB.

There is alot of different information in the book. And looking at my copy of the 1st edition Gamma world book, the d20 version has a lot more ideas to play with.

I agree that there are now a lot more options to play around with in this edition, which is the main reason I like it.