Gamma World Feedback

[PosterBoy]

Darwin's World OGL content

Erik,

I would invite you to take a look at our Darwin's World pdfs. There's a ton of OGL content that I think would be useful in your Gamma World mini-game. I would be happy to send you the pdfs and the text from our upcoming equipment sourcebook.

I sure Dominic (the creator), would love to see some of his rules used in your mini-game if you felt they applied.

http://www.darwinrpg.com

 

[Emiricol]

I don't think Gamma World should be overly dark and gritty. If I wanted that, I'd get that, or tweak GW to fit my needs. Gamma World is Gamma World not Darwin's World!

 

[PosterBoy]

Darwin's World OGL content

I agree. I was talking more about OGL rules and game mechanics. Not setting. Such as the Mutation or Radiation rules.

I wasn't trying to imply Gamma World is Darwin's World.

 

[Emiricol]

Sorry Posterboy, I was disagreeing with Aryoch's post not yours! I meant that GW shouldn't be too dark in tone, not that Darwin's World has bad crunchy bits, or anything

 

[Aryoche]

Sorry Posterboy, I was disagreeing with Aryoch's post not yours! I meant that GW shouldn't be too dark in tone, not that Darwin's World has bad crunchy bits, or anything

Perhaps I should clarify...

By dark and gritty, I don't mean the "end of the world" type atmosphere. However, I wouldn't mind seeing it as a harsh enviornment ala "Mad Max". I guess I would prefer they avoid the whole comic nature. Or what was that movie..."The Postman" (?)

Perhaps "dark and gritty" was a bad choice of words... maybe "harsh" should have been used instead.

Whatever the outcome is, as long as we see a D20 GammaWorld, it's all good.

 

[shotrey]

Definatate needs

Sentient Plants as PCS
Sentient Animals as PCS
some of those new races
all that cool tech
random mutation tables

definate drops
People born with living cyberware. A cool concept but not gamaworld
Attempts to change the universe to be darker and grittier. Gammaworld has always been wild over the top. It was never about what was lost but about the new ciivilization growing from the ashes of the old.

 

[trancejeremy]

Just be sure to ruin it for fans, like what you did for Spelljammer....

 

[Phoebus]

More suggestions

Please forgive me, but I'm going to break from format a bit. I started with GW with 1st edition and have always enjoyed 1e and 2e. Then with each successive revision of the system something was lost. 1e and 2e were somehow both grim and whimsical at the same time. That mankind had blown up the world through petty squabbling made the GW backstory much more interesting than "the aliens got us". It's clear why it was done; Ward and Jaquet overreached on the original timeline. Some of the high-tech stuff in 1e looks dated even now, let alone for 500 years in the future. So the aliens were brought in to speed up mankind's demise and make the tech more near future than far. Don't bother. I know that it's unlikely that internal combustion engines will be in wide use in 500 years (hell, 100 years), but it just doesn't matter. I know that Pittsburgh will have changed considerably in 500 years (unlike the map that was i
ncluded in 2e), but it just doesn't matter. For me GW will always be about The Shadow Years, The Apocalypse, and The Ultimatum. In my GW world the Dragon #88 "Before the Dark Years" timeline is canon. Please use it.

Other good stuff:
*Bring back the robots (somewhat related to the above).
*Andriods are evil and, to the eyes of a typical GW inhabitant, damn near a force of nature.
*Cryptic Alliances
*Gamma Luna, Mars, etc.
*Oh, and while we're on the subject, what happened to the *rest* of the world? Focusing on North America is fine, but give us a little info on Gamma Australia, etc.
*Herps, the Great Red Wyrm of GW
*Everyone's favorite defect: Poor Dual Brain.

And some bad:
*Instant kill anything.
*How about a sane progression system for PCs for a change? (If it's d20 I guess that's already taken care of, but GW 1e, 2e, or 3e really did a poor job of this).
*Deevolution
*Punny creature race names
*"Helpful" mutations with severe drawbacks (photosynthetic skin, anyone?)
*Random mutation generation

I could go on, but I've droned on too long already. If you pull this off, I'll just have to get back into the RPGA. Good Luck!

 

[Dr.Destructicus]

5 Things That Should Be In GWd20:

1) Lots of mutations!
2) A heaping helping of equipment, both high and low tech
3) A nice system for figuring out how ancient tech works
4) Tons o' monsters and foes
5) A somewhat wacky and wild setting.

2 Things That Should Not Be In GWd20

1) Secret Societies integrated into classes
2) Grim, angsty, Chuck Heston styled breast tearing

 

[Zenon]

Re: More suggestions

I started with GW with 1st edition and have always enjoyed 1e and 2e. Then with each successive revision of the system something was lost. 1e and 2e were somehow both grim and whimsical at the same time. That mankind had blown up the world through petty squabbling made the GW backstory much more interesting than "the aliens got us". It's clear why it was done; Ward and Jaquet overreached on the original timeline. Some of the high-tech stuff in 1e looks dated even now, let alone for 500 years in the future. So the aliens were brought in to speed up mankind's demise and make the tech more near future than far. Don't bother. I know that it's unlikely that internal combustion engines will be in wide use in 500 years (hell, 100 years), but it just doesn't matter. I know that Pittsburgh will have changed considerably in 500 years (unlike the map that was i
ncluded in 2e), but it just doesn't matter. For me GW will always be about The Shadow Years, The Apocalypse, and The Ultimatum. In my GW world the Dragon #88 "Before the Dark Years" timeline is canon. Please use it.

Other good stuff:
*Bring back the robots (somewhat related to the above).
*Andriods are evil and, to the eyes of a typical GW inhabitant, damn near a force of nature.
*Cryptic Alliances
*Gamma Luna, Mars, etc.
*Oh, and while we're on the subject, what happened to the *rest* of the world? Focusing on North America is fine, but give us a little info on Gamma Australia, etc.
*Herps, the Great Red Wyrm of GW
*Everyone's favorite defect: Poor Dual Brain.

And some bad:
*Instant kill anything.
*How about a sane progression system for PCs for a change? (If it's d20 I guess that's already taken care of, but GW 1e, 2e, or 3e really did a poor job of this).
*Deevolution
*Punny creature race names
*"Helpful" mutations with severe drawbacks (photosynthetic skin, anyone?)
*Random mutation generation

Preach it, brother! I also started in 1st edition Gamma World with the shadowy Apocalypse blowing the world to kingdom come, and never could quite get over how they changed it. Mankind always did have a great tendency to try to kill himself off with no help from anywhere else!

Keepers:

1) Cryptic alliances a must! Nothing like having mutant players break into a sweat at the sight of a red square!

2) Mutant animals/plants as PC's. This could be quite possible through the use of templates these days. No robot/cyborg/android PC's! As in it's predicessor, Metamorphosis Alpha, androids were always a BAD thing!

3) Charts for figuring out high-tech items. After you've seen players shoot themselves unconcious with rubber bullets trying to figure out a gun, your days as a DM are never the same!

4) Light on realism. Gamma World was always science-fantasy, NOT science fiction! Exposure to radiation caused mutations, not death. High-tech items still worked hundreds of years after they were made. Keep it true to the spirit of the original, not grim & gritty.

5) Death Machines! (Which are the dragons of Gamma World) Color coded ID cards. Crazy cybernetic installations! You get the idea.

This is something I'd love to see. Keep us posted!