{"id":1497,"date":"2010-11-24T15:48:35","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T15:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2014-12-05T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T15:50:11","slug":"gamma-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/?p=1497","title":{"rendered":"Gamma World"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Frank organized a Gamma World adventure this weekend, and we had a blast. We got to choose whether we were city dwellers with greater Alpha Tech hell-bent on ensuring order or whether we\u2019d rely on more mutations as members of an outcast tribe on the edge of the world with the goal of reclaiming our mother elder from a band of kidnappers. We chose the latter, falling back on the classic underdog hero\u2019s role. \u00a0This seems fitting for an introduction to a new system\u2026<\/p>\n

I ended up a radioactive swarm comprised of rodents that once were lab rats. \u00a0The shared sentience assumed the name of \u201cDoctor Radkowski\u201d, one of the doctors killed in the blast from the Great Mistake. \u00a0Over the course of the session, they devoiced the \u201cd\u201d in \u201crad\u201d to a \u201ct\u201d, as only a punning rat swarm could do. \u00a0They sang arias, tossed grenades, and swarmed over all the guard bots and mutated plant beasts that they could. \u00a0Other characters in the party included a radioactive punk rock timecop, an electrified giant spotter with a dual nature and delusions of grandeur, and a shadowy, largely amorphous being that called itself \u201cThe Hamburgler\u201d, named for a term it found on a discarded fast food wrapper.<\/p>\n

All signs pointed to the kidnappers hailing from the city, including the paths dragged into the sand. \u00a0The trail grew warmer, and we had to find a pass into the city. \u00a0We posed as arms dealers and learned of a widow who held a position in town. \u00a0Soon we were fighting off robotic sentinels and animated plants. \u00a0In all, we had a blast.<\/p>\n

The system is interesting in that it is very similar to 4e DnD, only the character skills are limited, and the bonuses stack on a per-level basis, rather than every-other-level. \u00a0The generic gamma world is very tongue-in-cheek, necessary for such an otherwise gritty setting. \u00a0The system leaves a lot to the storyteller to fill in, which leaves lots of room for role playing. \u00a0Don\u2019t let the tongue-in-cheekness fool you; it\u2019s plenty deadly out there with 20-something hit points and 3d6 and 4d6 damage in the air.<\/p>\n

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The box set comes with a printed battlemap geared toward the near future setting. \u00a0Frank used it well, creating some nice verbal terrain out of the cryogenic capsules in the center of the room.<\/p>\n

Another thing I liked about the system is that the character sheet isn\u2019t even geared for leveling very far; the post-apocalyptic setting is perfect for one-off and short, multi-session story arcs. \u00a0This is about the attention span of most of us these days, especially if a gamer has to miss a session every now and again.<\/p>\n

Finally, the randomness of the character generation is something to aspire to as a game designer. \u00a0How does it work that not making choices at the beginning is more fun than choosing my own starting gear? \u00a0Because it\u2019s challenging. \u00a0It\u2019s what makes the post-apocalyptic world pop.<\/p>\n

Back to another GM thing that Frank did well \u2014 the building of Alpha and Omega Tech decks based on which side we chose to play. \u00a0This made this kind of decision important to the story, a welcome element in any role playing game. \u00a0Even in a one-off, it\u2019s nice to see the effects of your choices as a player.<\/p>\n

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In this last image, I was the brown wafer of a disc under the red d6 (I was bloodied at the time). \u00a0When you play, here are a few final thoughts: don\u2019t forget to use Second Wind once you\u2019re bloodied, always use your Alpha Tech powers (they go away after encounters \u2014 trade or gift them if necessary), and don\u2019t get too stuck to the notion of \u201cclasses\u201d (ranger, etc.) or \u201croles\u201d (striker, etc.); if you play it right, everyone has a chance to defend, strike, control, and lead over the course of a single Gamma World session.<\/p>\n

Have fun with Gamma World; I highly recommend it from the bottom of my six-valved, mutant heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank organized a Gamma World adventure this weekend, and we had a blast. We got to choose whether we were city dwellers with greater Alpha Tech hell-bent on ensuring order or whether we\u2019d rely on more mutations as members of an outcast tribe on the edge of the world with the goal of reclaiming our mother elder from a band of kidnappers. We chose the latter, falling back on the classic underdog hero\u2019s role. \u00a0This seems fitting for an introduction to a new system\u2026 I ended up a radioactive swarm comprised of rodents that once were lab rats. \u00a0The shared sentience assumed the name of \u201cDoctor Radkowski\u201d, one of the doctors killed in the blast from the Great Mistake. \u00a0Over the course of the session, they devoiced the \u201cd\u201d in \u201crad\u201d to a \u201ct\u201d, as only a punning rat swarm could do. \u00a0They sang arias, tossed grenades, and swarmed over all the guard bots and mutated plant beasts that they could. \u00a0Other characters in the party included a radioactive punk rock timecop, an electrified giant spotter with a dual nature and delusions of grandeur, and a shadowy, largely amorphous being that called itself \u201cThe Hamburgler\u201d, named for a term it found on a discarded fast food wrapper. All signs pointed to the kidnappers hailing from the city, including the paths dragged into the sand. \u00a0The trail grew warmer, and we had to find a pass into the city. \u00a0We posed as arms dealers and learned of a widow who held Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[684,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gamma-world","category-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1498,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions\/1498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unicornrampant.com\/newccb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}