Gamma World Feedback

[Corinth]

My Take

Honestly, I would like a lot less wacky stuff.

Gamma World is, at its core, D&D in a post-nuke wasteland. Take the very best of the past editions, scrap the rest, blend to taste and put it to print. Those who want the wacky stuff can add it if they want it, while those of us (like me) who prefer a setting that doesn't strain our suspension of disbelief so much. It's a science fiction setting, after all, not a fantasy setting; give us that much.

 

[beta-ray]

*scratches head*

So basically you want a flavorless world? Not sure what would constitute the "best of" Gamma World from the past if there is no wackiness. That would probably take away most of the mutations since mutations as a whole are a pretty wacky idea (unless it they all are cancers). Surviving in a post apocalypse world can either be unfailingly grim or wacky. I prefer the latter.

Oh well I *guess* you could do something like Twilight 2000, but that isn't nearly as apocolyptic to me.

*shrug* To each their own.

(edit - fixed some grammar)

 

[Voneth]

Re: My Take

Honestly, I would like a lot less wacky stuff.

Gamma World is, at its core, D&D in a post-nuke wasteland. Take the very best of the past editions, scrap the rest, blend to taste and put it to print. ... It's a science fiction setting, after all, not a fantasy setting; give us that much.

Actually, there was very little hard science in GW. It had a very loose and wahoo feel to it. And the GW rules for some editions were a lot further from DND than 3ed now. Trust me, GW was the first place I read the phrase science fanatasy.

 

[Lizard]

Re: My Take

Honestly, I would like a lot less wacky stuff.

Gamma World is, at its core, D&D in a post-nuke wasteland.

Precisely. *D&D* in a post-nuke wasteland...not Chivalry&sorcery.

D&D is wacky. 57 varieties of dragons, ten dozen humanoid races, ridiculous underground labyrinths, etc, etc, etc. Yes, a skilled DM can make the game deeper and more serious (I try too) but D&D is as much a genre as it is a system.

Gamma World has always been 'wacky'. Gun-toting rabbits who turn metal to rubber won't be found in Aftermath or Twilight 2000, but they existed in Gamma World first edition.

 

[Corporate Dog]

Re: My Take

Honestly, I would like a lot less wacky stuff.
...
Those who want the wacky stuff can add it if they want it

Why is this the prevailing attitude of the people who like their Gamma World all dark and gritty?

I think Fifth Edition proved quite nicely that if you take out some of the wackier pieces (plant & animal PCs) it's not so easy to just "add the wacky stuff" back in.

On the contrary, you can quite easily strip out the features which don't appeal to you, if they're too wacky for you.

Regards,
Corporate Dog

 

[Lizard]

A quick note on 'wackiness'.

Just because many people (myself included) greatly enjoy the feel of 1st and 2nd edition GW, does not mean it should be played as a joke. The AE desecration of Metamorphosis Alpha shows what happens when the designers have contempt for their source material. The wackiness of GW was not imposed by decree, but evolved organically from the material. No one (I hope) sat around and said, "Hey, let's do this -- it's really silly!". (Also look at the disaster that was fifth edition Paranoia for a similair failure)

Let Gamma World be Gamma World. Don't try to punch it up, or contemptuously treat the materials as fodder for bad jokes. Play it straight, let audiences take the strangeness of the world as just the way things are.

(Look at Astro City or Marvels as a way to do it right, even though the genre differs. In the 80s, we had deconstructionist superheroics -- Watchmen, Dark Knight, Miracleman. They asked "What if superheroes existed in the real world?", and got grim answers. The works I mentioned earlier take a different tack. They say "What if the over-the-top world of superheroes was the real world, and people just lived in it and accepted it as matter-of-fact?" Gamma World should be like that. Giant rabbits, death machines, "sword and raygun" tech, and that's "just the way it is".)

 

[Death Machine]

My advice is to read Lizard's post above and commit it to memory!


MUST HAVES
random mutations
artifact discovery flowchart
mutant animals and (possibly) plants as PCs
robots, androids and deadly flora as "monsters"
Mark V Blasters, Black Ray Pistols and Death Machines!


MUST NOT HAVES
aliens
cybernetics


I must say I prefer the original backstory of The Apocalypse as well. It still gives me chills when I read it.


"People of Earth. You have been warned."

 

[NeghVar]

I for one do not want the artifact function flowchart as it used to be. I would rather have a "Use Artifact" skill, have each artifact have a DC#, and then have a mishap table based on the type of artifact. Seems this would fit in better with the D20 system.

Any thoughts?
Art

 

[Kenson]

Just let me add to the chrous of voices saying that I think Gamma World d20 is a GREAT idea and I can't wait to actually see it in the pages of Polyhedron! Gamma World was the first RPG I ever owned or played (yes, even before D&D), so it will always have a special place in my heart.

Just as D&D 3e managed to capture some of the "nostalgia" of the 1st edition so well, I'd hope that Gamma World d20 could do the same. Not so much "wackiness" as a respectful treatment of the enjoyable, often campy, fun of the original. Since I'm in agreement with the "must have" and "must not have" lists thus far, I won't go into detail, except that say that it would be very cool if the mini-game were followed up with an introductory adventure, available in a later issue or as a web enhancement.