How compatible should Gamma World be with Dungeons and Dragons?

[Reynard]

This is an interesting point, and one that I think speaks to the changing nature of character classes themselves over time.

When classes had less of what we now call "class abilities," I think they worked in a much broader range of applications in terms of what function they were able to serve. While you still have divides between who has more hit points, more combat ability, and the major issue of whether or not you can use magic, there's a lot of space within those distinctions. Your fighter can still function as a scholarly character, a wise political leader, a (mundane) doctor, etc.

If you start adding a lot of special abilities that are related directly to fighting, however, that potential breadth is narrowed. All the more so since there's likely to be multiple other classes (or at least sub-classes) dedicated specifically to each of those other roles.

It's essentially a question of specialization at the mechanical level, I think. To extend that idea, the more mechanical "heft" (for lack of a better term) you give to character classes, the more they tend to become a certain specific thing, and the less they can fulfill other roles.

I agree, but I don't think it is particularly related to genre.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't understand this attitude, which yoiu see fairly common. I think it is based around the idea that sci-fi and classes don't go together, but I don't buy that either. 5E works just as well for sci-fi as it does fantasy -- which is to say, it works okay if you do what 5E is good at (ie low stakes action adventure).

Star Wars is science fantasy, but the d20 Star Wars successfully argues that class-and-level can work with sci-fi. It would not have taken much to take that game and hammer it into a purely science fiction game.

I think the class-and-level = fantasy thing is just historical inertia. (That said, I don't think everything should be built on a D&D chassis, just that WotC is probably more likely to do that with Gamma World than to sell a separate system.)

 

[Reynard]

Star Wars is science fantasy, but the d20 Star Wars successfully argues that class-and-level can work with sci-fi. It would not have taken much to take that game and hammer it into a purely science fiction game.

I think the class-and-level = fantasy thing is just historical inertia. (That said, I don't think everything should be built on a D&D chassis, just that WotC is probably more likely to do that with Gamma World than to sell a separate system.)

There are certainly other, probably better, ways to do Gamma World. That doesn't mean they can't do it with 5E, though, and if they were to make GW it seems obvious that would be the best way to go.

 

[aco175]

Although I did not try the 4e GW/D&D box, I might try a 5e one for some 1-shots.

 

[Reynard]

View attachment 367222

Although I did not try the 4e GW/D&D box, I might try a 5e one for some 1-shots.

The 4E inspired GW was a weird, fun game but not really GW.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The 4E inspired GW was a weird, fun game but not really GW.

Of course some people said that about the Alternity based one, too.

 

[Reynard]

Of course some people said that about the Alternity based one, too.

And the d20 one, which I was proud to work on.

GW is slippery, and even more than D&D what makes it GW is probably tied to how you first encountered it.

For the record, my favorite GW is the 1990s 4E version.

 

[Thomas Shey]

And the d20 one, which I was proud to work on.

GW is slippery, and even more than D&D what makes it GW is probably tied to how you first encountered it.

For the record, my favorite GW is the 1990s 4E version.

I liked the Alternity one myself, probably followed by the percentile based one (though like most versions, that one suffered from a bit too much gonzo for me).

 

[Reynard]

I liked the Alternity one myself, probably followed by the percentile based one (though like most versions, that one suffered from a bit too much gonzo for me).

There is no such thing as too much gonzo in GW!

I rather like bringing GW gonzo into otherwise "normal" D&D campaigns. Like the time I head a GW death machine on The Isle of Dread.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I don't understand this attitude, which yoiu see fairly common. I think it is based around the idea that sci-fi and classes don't go together, but I don't buy that either. 5E works just as well for sci-fi as it does fantasy -- which is to say, it works okay if you do what 5E is good at (ie low stakes action adventure).

I think it's less about class and more that the core mechanics of combat in D&D tend to lend themselves to quasi-medieval type combat, with a focus on melee, more so than anything like modern combat. Armor is such an important factor in avoiding getting hit, when it's less prevalent in sci-fi (not absent, just not nearly as present). It just doesn't make as much sense to rely on armor and AC.

Same as hit points. It's not like you see Han Solo shrugging off blaster shots left and right, or a dueling Jedi and Sith to actually strike each other over and over again with their lightsabers until one finally falls.

A system that doesn't rely on these two things to work that way would likely be better for sci-fi. And these two things are the core of D&D's combat system.

Can they be tweaked to perhaps deliver something closer to a sci-fi experience? Sure, probably. But I think that still speaks to them being less suitable than other systems may be.