Random thoughts on Gamma World

[Biohazard]

Well guys, I've been studying my Gamma World Player's Handbook for a week now, and I wanted to share a few thoughts. I keep wanting to write a formal, structured review for rpg.net, but I know I'll never get around to it. So please indulge my rambling blatherings as follows:

1. The Introduction, "The World the Gamma Subunit Made" is pure poetry. On the level of prose alone, it is extremely well-written, including its various narrative shifts and writing styles for individual voices. "Humanity has this remarkable gift for inventing terms for hypothetical things and then treating them as real" (10) and "the human race invented its way into the return of mythology" (10) are but two examples of this superb writing. This sure ain't Rifts, dudes.

2. Chapter Five, "Comrade, Nemesis, Mystery," also stuck in my mind. When we are told that "the eating of human hands (removed, ideally, from still-living humans) is an important ritual in ark culture" (190) or that "Only a suicidal madman would attempt to shoe a brutorz" (194) or that "Hoops are carnivorous. Their mouths are lined with rending teeth, and their fur is often matted with the dried blood of a recent kill" (198) or that "A death machine is a demigod enslaved by a worm: This is why they have gone mad" (207)--well, let's just say that I knew I was in Gamma World heaven.

3. Part of the problem I think many people have had in approaching this book is that its tone doesn't mesh well with their own preconceptions of what Gamma World should be about. The original GW was a product of the Cold War, and its emphasis on radiation and nuclear annihilation fit perfectly with the mood of late 1970s Western culture. This new game is equally a reflection of its time: DNA manipulation, nanotechnology, biotechnology, "uplifting", genetic engineering--it reminds me of the recent work of David Brin or even the Transhumanist movement.

But if you don't like that, you won't like the game.

I for one really enjoy the darker tone of the game. I think it's a common misconception that Gamma World was always a "wacky, gonzo-fun" game. Folks, GW isn't Paranoia. It isn't Monty Python. Even so, if you desire a more wacky game, check out the illustrations on pages 29 and 37, to name but two examples. Or play Omega World.

4. It's hard to write comments like this. On the one hand, if you are too critical, people call you a troll. (Always easier to call someone names than respond to their arguments. ). On the other hand, if you gush too much, people call you a fanboy. So let me give my gripes: the proofreading, as has been said before, is terrible. What bugs me is if I can sit down with this book at Starbucks and read through it over my coffee and find tons of typos, why couldn't the game designers?

5. Another thing that bugs me is what I perceive to be the unnecessary complexity of the mechanics. In particular, the rules for nanotechnology and psionics made my head spin. Maybe I'm just not very bright, or maybe I need to spend more time with it, but it really irritated me that the designers felt the need to create completely new, and somewhat arbitrary, mechanics for things that, in many instances, are already dealt with in d20 Modern.

6. Black print on grey pages does not make for a pleasant reading experience. Many were the times when I found myself squinting and peering closer to the page as I rubbed my temples to alleviate a headache.

7. The character creation overview (21) doesn't mesh well with d20 Modern's character creation process. I found myself doing way too much flipping back and forth and finally tried to write out a long list of how to blend the character creation process between the two books. Then I found myself asking, "Hey, why am *I* doing this? Shouldn't the *designers* have done this for me?"

8. Unlike some people who have posted here and at rpg.net, I really like the art in this book. It seems like typical White Wolf artwork, which is, IMHO, a good thing. I just wanted more of it. Too many pages without illustrations.

9. This morning I found myself wondering if the whole project isn't dated before it's even begun. As we all know, d20 Future is coming out early next year, presumably with its own rules for nanotech, biotech, mutations, etc. Makes me wonder why S&S didn't wait until then and work with WotC in the meantime to make the game based on d20 Future instead...I guess what I'm wondering is, when d20 Future comes out, will folks still want to play a Gamma World based on d20 Modern?

10. Don't like it? Build your own Gamma World. Here's the recipe:
(a) Take one copy of d20 Modern Core Rulebook.
(b) Stir in beasties from d20 Menace Manual (but call them "mutants" instead of "monsters").
(c) Add mutations from Omega World, toning them down if you want a more balanced game.
(d) Add technology from GURPS Biotech, GURPS Ultratech, and GURPS Robots.
(e) Call it "Gamma World", and go nuts.

Am I glad I bought it? Absolutely--especially since I traded a guy for his copy and so didn't really pay anything. But as for the future of this product line, I'm not so sure. But thanks to the versatility of d20 Modern, it probably doesn't even matter.

Comments?

 

[takyris]

Sounds like a good review to me. You do a good job of separating what you didn't like from what you found factually inaccurate. That distinction is what makes a good review for me. Saying, "This was obviously inferior" doesn't convince me. Saying, "These seemed unnecessarily complex to me, but people who have been waiting for cybertech rules can judge for themselves, since it has never been a priority of mine," is eminently fair.

 

[Dark Psion]

There is one other problem with this book. Although it says Player's Handbook on the cover, this book has far to much Game Masters information in it. Most players characters should not have this much information on Cyborgs and Nano-Tech as is presented here, the Implants and Grafts should probably be treated like Magic Items and kept in the GM's Guide and the creating your home town rules are OK, the examples they use give away a lot of GM's secrets.

 

[Tetsubo]

There is one other problem with this book. Although it says Player's Handbook on the cover, this book has far to much Game Masters information in it. Most players characters should not have this much information on Cyborgs and Nano-Tech as is presented here, the Implants and Grafts should probably be treated like Magic Items and kept in the GM's Guide and the creating your home town rules are OK, the examples they use give away a lot of GM's secrets.

I have to agree here. I would have preferred a lot more Player info and less GM. Other than that I think it's a good *new* take on GW. I think that is why so many people are unhappy with it. They wanted the *old* GW updated to the D20 Modern rules. Bruce recreated the game in his own image. I can deal with that. Others seem to find that a fault.

I also think that waiting for D20 Future might have been a better idea.

 

[tburdett]

I guess the only thing that I really have to say about the new Gamma World is that I have already traded my copy away. The community rules were the only part of the book that I found interesting, but not interesting enough to make me want to keep the book.

If you have not purchased Gamma World yet, and are considering it, take a look at the new Darwins World 2 hardcover first. It should be in your FLGS any day now. In my opinion, it is a much better post-apocalyptic game that seems to be more 'Gamma World' than the official Gamma World release.

 

[tburdett]

3. Part of the problem I think many people have had in approaching this book is that its tone doesn't mesh well with their own preconceptions of what Gamma World should be about. The original GW was a product of the Cold War, and its emphasis on radiation and nuclear annihilation fit perfectly with the mood of late 1970s Western culture. This new game is equally a reflection of its time: DNA manipulation, nanotechnology, biotechnology, "uplifting", genetic engineering--it reminds me of the recent work of David Brin or even the Transhumanist movement.

Any person who thinks that the possibility of a nuclear war taking place now is any less than in the 70's or 80's is hopelessly ignorant. Looking at North Korea, India and Pakistan, and the Middle East is all that is needed to quickly see that the possibility of a nuclear war is a very real and present danger today. The idea that BB and company needed to change the focus of GW for some real world reason is ridiculous.

 

[Tetsubo]

Any person who thinks that the possibility of a nuclear war taking place now is any less than in the 70's or 80's is hopelessly ignorant. Looking at North Korea, India and Pakistan, and the Middle East is all that is needed to quickly see that the possibility of a nuclear war is a very real and present danger today. The idea that BB and company needed to change the focus of GW for some real world reason is ridiculous.

I think that the possibility of a nuclear *incident* is as great today as it was in the 70's. But the possibility of a full-fledge nuclear exchange is remote. If N. Korea, Pakistan or any other minor nuclear power were to launch a missile they would cease to be a nation. But none of these minor nuclear powers have the number of missiles possesed by the First World nations. There will be no general nuclear exchange.

And if Bruce had ignored the current and near future technical leaps he would have been silly. Nanotech is going to revolutionize the world. Nanotech will have a much larger impact (excuse the pun) than nuclear arms. Before I declare the new GW a failure I am going to wait and see all of the books currently in the release schedule. I will also take a look at the new 2nd Edition DW.

 

[tburdett]

I think that the possibility of a nuclear *incident* is as great today as it was in the 70's. But the possibility of a full-fledge nuclear exchange is remote. If N. Korea, Pakistan or any other minor nuclear power were to launch a missile they would cease to be a nation. But none of these minor nuclear powers have the number of missiles possesed by the First World nations. There will be no general nuclear exchange.

And if Bruce had ignored the current and near future technical leaps he would have been silly. Nanotech is going to revolutionize the world. Nanotech will have a much larger impact (excuse the pun) than nuclear arms. Before I declare the new GW a failure I am going to wait and see all of the books currently in the release schedule. I will also take a look at the new 2nd Edition DW.

Semantics. If two, or more, countries attack each other with multiple nuclear weapons you have a nuclear war.

The outcome of this would be a very significant environmental and social problem for the entire global population. It is also difficult, or maybe impossible, to know for certain that ANY nuclear exchange would be limited to the countries initially involved.

If India and Pakistan launch nuclear weapons at each other, that IS a nuclear war. What would China's response be? No one knows.

If a middle eastern country and Israel ever launch nuclear weapons at each other, that IS a nuclear war. Who else might get dragged into such a scenario? No one knows.

The certainty that you express has no basis or foundation in reality. For example, who would ever have guessed that the assassination of Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand on 28th June 1914 would plunge the world into the first world war?

 

[Tetsubo]

Semantics. If two, or more, countries attack each other with multiple nuclear weapons you have a nuclear war.

The outcome of this would be a very significant environmental and social problem for the entire global population. It is also difficult, or maybe impossible, to know for certain that ANY nuclear exchange would be limited to the countries initially involved.

If India and Pakistan launch nuclear weapons at each other, that IS a nuclear war. What would China's response be? No one knows.

If a middle eastern country and Israel ever launch nuclear weapons at each other, that IS a nuclear war. Who else might get dragged into such a scenario? No one knows.

The certainty that you express has no basis or foundation in reality. For example, who would ever have guessed that the assassination of Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand on 28th June 1914 would plunge the world into the first world war?

I think the likely-hood that any of these nations could actually launch an effective nuclear missile is remote. I lived with the Cold War for all of my life. I *knew* the world would end in a rain of nuclear fire. It almost lead to my suicide. I mean what was the point? I know longer hold that fallacy. If you consider an exchange of nuclear detonations a war so be it. But the Cold War fear of a general, large scale launch is a thing of the past.

Funny you should mention this. Just yesterday I finished reading a book which dealt with the fall of the House of the Hapsburgs. I don't think there was any way to avoid an Austrian-Serbian war. It was going to happen. And once it did all those nations had treaties with each other. Germany would back Austria, England would fear a German win, as would Russia and France. It was just the time for a world war. Ferdinand's death just sped up the process a bit. There were those that saw this possibility. They were ignored.

 

[Gallo22]

Random thought...the book was terrible. The only reason I'm keeping it is for the converted creatures in the back of the book. And... , I might still get rid of it all the same. I have not wasted this much money since the expanded 2nd edition D&D books were released.

Gallo22