Long Time Gamma World fans - is the d20 game worth it?

[Retro-Rocket]

What? No love for the original Metamorphosis/Alpha?

I loved Metamorphosis Alpha! I was the first game that I ever GM's! There was a copy in my junior high library and I checked it out and ran a game for one of my friends.

The Gamma World d20 is a piece of trash in my opinion. It was a real disappointment.

 

[Wraith Form]

So, I started hearing about this game called Darwin's World and I picked up the 2.0 hardcover when it hit my FLGS. This game blew away any expectations I had for it. I simply cannot say enough good things about DW 2.0.

Yup. Uh-huh. Definitely. I'm behind this 150%.

Having said that, I purchased Out of the Vaults (one of the GWd20 splatbooks) and found it to be fairly well written, interesting, decent illustrations, etc. I intend to apply it directly to a Darwin's World 2.0 game. So blanket statements like "The whole Sword & Sorcery line of GWd20 suxx arse" isn't necessarily fair.

 

[Veritas]

Hmm.... this Darwin's World sounds intriguing... kindly tell me more about it? 'cause as it stands, I'm thinking of just designing my own system, probably d20 compatible, using the best aspects of all the past systems.

 

[PosterBoy]

Hmm.... this Darwin's World sounds intriguing... kindly tell me more about it? 'cause as it stands, I'm thinking of just designing my own system, probably d20 compatible, using the best aspects of all the past systems.

You can find out more info about DW2 here:

http://www.darwinrpg.com/index.php?page=dw2

I also want to point out that the DW2 HC is SOLD OUT. No ETA on a reprint so it will be sometime before it happens. In short, what you see in stores is probably all that's left for while. Of coures there's always the PDFs.

 

[Kanegrundar]

IMO, 3rd Edition was the best, but that was the first one that I played....

As for the new D20 edition, it's a very mixed bag. The PHB is rather crappy. There's a lot of good ideas, just rotten follow-through. However, Mutants and Machines is a great book.

The best way to emulate GW's glory days is to use the workable bits from GWPHB and then use most of DW2, with bits a pieces of D20 Future thrown in. With that little stew, you ought to be able to make a pretty decent GW-styled game.

Kane

 

[warlord]

I don't know what edition it was but the edidition of GW compatable with 2ed. D&D was great the look you get when you put a player up against an adult blue daragon is priceless. Haven't tried D2o yet though and I don't know what Darwin's world is any info on it would be nice.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Darwin's World 2 is Gamma World without a lot of the "wahoo" elements like really crazy mutations. Like GW, just about anyone you meet is a mutant. There are sentient mutant animals just like in GW as well. However, unlike GW, DW2 takes a more gritty stance rather than the "cartoony" feel of most of the GW editions. There are super-science items in the game, but most folk are using spears or weapons crudely fashioned out of scrap. One of the best pics from the early version of DW was a character using a stop sign as a shield. It's more Mad Max than GW's Thundarr feel. Overall, though, DW is a smarter system that can be used as a good base to build up the more wahoo elements (which I love!).

Plus, it's a HUGE book crammed with a lot of crunch and fluff. Basically everything that you'd need to run a PA campaign all on it's own. I'm not content with just that though, so I add in a lot of info from other d20 Modern games like Urban Arcana, Blood and Brains, Blood and Fists, GW D20, and D20 Future.

Kane

 

[devilish]

Does the Gamma World d20 add in the "wahoo" factor?

I wouldn't mind getting both books -- one for the good rules and
good d20 integration, and the other for Mutant Bunnies and
Rakunks and 8-eyed three-armed mutie-goodness!

-D

 

[Kanegrundar]

To an extent. There are no sentient animals or plants in the GWPHB (unless you add Mutants and Machines), and some of the weirder mutations have either been dropped or parred way down, but there are some elements of the Nanomachines that are a bit more to the wahoo side that you'll find in DW2. They tried to make a bit more serious of a version this time (just like what happened in the Alternity version). All in all, it was OK, just not the good ol' GW that I remember and love.

Kane

 

[Krieg]

.../snip/...and the other for Mutant Bunnies and
Rakunks and 8-eyed three-armed mutie-goodness!.../snip/...

Definitely skip the D20 GW PHB if that is what you are looking for. Darwin's World, Omega World or even D20 Future will give you far more mutant joy.