Gamma World War timeline of events, Part I

PRE CATALYSM (P.C.)

Late 22nd Century Earth
Advanced technologies in just about every discipline have brought prosperity to the world. Most of these miraculous breakthroughs have afforded humanity the promise of off-world colonies to ensure the survival of the species.

THE GREAT CATACLYSM (G.C.)

The disaster to end all disasters happens. All civilizations perish from the surface of the Earth. No one quite remembers what triggered it. Whatever caused it has passed from the collective consciousness, but it left the world in ruins.

AFTER CATACLYSM (A.C.)

Earth is in ruins. Anyone on the surface of the Earth who wasn't killed in the Great Cataclysm, either survived in underground strongholds or remained topside but mutated away from their genome of origin.

100 A.C. 
Some sub-terra bunkers begin to form city-states deep under the Earth, through totalitarian rule. Meanwhile, the surface-dwellers are left to fight over scraps. Evolution has accelerated, and the first cross-fauna mutants emerge.

150 A.C. 
Subterrans return to the surface with small, short-trip scouting parties. Due in part to encounters with brutal Mechlok gangs and frightening Inhuma tribes, news spreads of the devastation and the "horror" of the mutated "monsters" above.

360 A.C. 
Several pure-strain cities join to form a new government based on their un-mutated purity, calling themselves the "Valids," which is shorthand for the only acceptable form of humanity. Raiding parties have ventured topside for regular cullings of mutants who are feared and hated by Valids. Strange lights in the sky have been reported.

520 A.C.
Though skirmishes had occurred in the intervening years, the first real full-scale battle between Valids and several bands of roving mutants takes place near the Michigan Wastes. There's no clear victor, but the conflict fuels anti-Valid sentiment above ground.

775 A.C.
After centuries of hard-fought war, a league made up of Valid city-states has committed to retaking the surface in order to win back the Earth. Several mutant groups have been hunted to extinction, but many more have forged alliances in order to keep the human threat at bay.

899 A.C. 
The first New Evolutionaries are spotted. They appear quite alien, having few humanoid qualities.

960 A.C. 
Dysponia, the first mutant government is established. Hundreds of mutant factions flock to join a centralized effort to combat the Valids.

988 A.C. 
Mutants and Valids alike are preparing for a large-scale war, but with resources scarce, raiding parties are sent by both sides to reclaim ancient technology and raw materials. Inevitably skirmishes erupt.

1015 A.C.
Raiding has led to larger open conflicts but both sides are still cautious about full-scale war, citing supply issues and fear about what could happen to their respective, fragile civilizations. In a relatively short period of time, many more New Evolutionaries appear and while still alien in nature, appear more humanoid sized and shaped.

1016 A.C.
Intelligence on a Wonder of the Ancients has leaked from the Valids and the mutant forces are looking to beat them to it before they're forced into a surrender worse. Raiding parties are sent and stumble into forgotten stronghold from eons ago. Blood is spilled and laserfire exchanged as they clash over the scene--but a NEW threat has arrived!

Close to midnight, on a hot and humid, midsummer night an onslaught of energy weapons begins tearing up the Earth around the fortress. A fleet of extraterrestrial battleships has arrived! A three-way conflict between humans, mutants, and aliens--and the war for the future of Gamma Terra--has begun!

More to come...


Note: All years are approximate. I may totally mess with this timeline and revise as needed!

VIDEO: Mad Max has nothin' on these "New Barbarians"

This trailer for The New Barbarians, a.k.a. Warriors of the Wasteland (1983) sold me when they showed a motorcycle bandit take an exploding arrow to the neck (hilarity ensues thereafter). This is Italian-made Saturday afternoon, eighties Gamma-cheese at it's finest.

It looks like the prequel to my favorite Spaghetti-pocalypse film, 2019: The Fall of New York. (Somehow I missed doing a recap on that one, I'll have to correct that soon.)

It stars exploitation film staple Fred Williamson (Black Caesar, the Black Cobra series) as said, explosive archer. Really, what more can you ask for?

Anyway, check out the awesome trailer for Barbarians:

VIDEO: So Dino-Riders is basically off-world, Gamma World

Somehow I'd forgotten that in addition to the insanely cool action figures and playsets, there was also a Dino-Riders television series. The pilot is equal parts awesome/terrible/surprisingly dark for a kids show. So chances are you'll love it!

Check out the pilot episode...

VIDEO: Viral ads for Dawn of the Apes are great setting primers!

Need something to help set the scene in your next Gamma-esque game? Give players the heebie-jeebies as they watch civilzation fall into ruin in seconds! These timelapse clips from the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes flick should do the trick nicely:

LONDON



SAN FRANCISCO



NEW YORK

Gamma World War campaign idea

So I've been hammering on how to organize a Gamma World War campaign in a string of adventure's (okay, an "adventure path"). Basically this would take you step-by-step through the storyline. You'd get to play different characters representing different sides of the conflict, but it could also be written to include a storypath for single group (but where's the fun in that?).

In my mind's eye, I envision this to be sort of tournament-style play where multiple groups play each round and outcomes get reported back to a "master judge" who can then give results, story cues, and other details to the GMs to run the next round. So each round should build on the previous.

Players would likely generate a few different characters at the outset, namely a few pure-strain humans, several mutants, and a few alien characters. At least three of these adventures (currently, anyway) have alternate takes where players could play for the other side (I've marked them as ALT).

ROUND 1: MUTANT SNIPE HUNT

You're a member of an elite team of pure strain humans called "Valids" that is out to clear the surface world of mutant scum and make the Earth safe or habitation again. Your team is one of several culling squads sent to hunt, capture, and eradicate the mutated hordes.

The hunting parties are given profiles of which mutants are valued for scientific study (capture) and which are too dangerous to roam (kill). Take your crackerjack team of specialists to the surface in a mechanized drill tank along with your Mother May-bot (artificially intelligent chaperone/drill sergeant) to keep you in contact with other squads and central command.

Good luck and Mother's Blessings be upon you!

ALT: Mutant players must rescue their comrades from a the brig inside the giant drill tank before it dives back beneath the surface.

ROUND 2: ARENA ROCKED

You're a mutated survivor of the Great Calamity who's recently been captured by those pompous human under-dwellers. They tossed you into a holding area with a great many other mutants where you were shipped to a walled-in city. There's little food, but LOTS of weapon caches in this abandoned urban wasteland. It's been turned into some sort of gladiatorial arena and you'll have to fight your fellow mutants to survive. But wait--there's an active resistance growing! It's time to set aside petty differences and form a fighting force to overcome your oppressors and escape!

 

ROUND 3: WALKING DREAD

You're an outlander--a human or mutant wanderer of the Gammascape's furthest reaches. As you enter a small city strange happenings give you an uneasy feeling that things are about to change in a big way. You stumble upon a skirmish between pure strains and mutants. Before you know it, a horde of zombies arrive to feast on the survivors. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, now seems like a realy good time to stick together--humans and mutants alike!

ROUND 4: INCOMING TRANSGRESSION

You're part of a new breed of Gamma Terran--an allied band of humans and mutants, trying to restore order to the ruined chaos. Reports keep streaming in about weird weather and the reanimated dead. You've got to fight off the necrotic hordes--and make allies of former foes--before something even more terrifying from beyond arrives to take control!

ALT: Undead players must divide and conquer the humans and mutants. Feast alone won't do it--they've got to turn some of them in to increase their own numbers in order to overwhelm and claim victory.

ROUND 5: BATTLE GLOBALE

The invasion has begun! Alien aggressors want this planet--ruined or not--for themselves. Only you and your coalition of humans and mutants stands in the way. Make your way to the World Security Council's HQ and activate the World Alert Beacon--the last remaining scrap of global civilization that could be humanity's only chance to call all Earthlings to arms. It's an all-out, gamma-lit, firefight. Who will claim victory in the Gamma World War?!

ALT: Alien characters are trying to put down the Earth's remaining humans and mutants and stake their claim in taking the planet!


Five adventures (modules?) seems like a good number, being not too long but still hitting all the key plot points. Plus, there's still room for a robot uprising, weaponized kaiju, and cyborg raiding party or five that I'd like to sprinkle in. :)

Post-Apocalyptic Community Project: FROM THE ZONES!

Click image to learn how to participate! 

Prepare to Enter the Zones!

Madman of mutant mayhem John Till over at FateSF is leading the charge for new cross-blog extravaganza called FROM THE ZONE. This is an OSR community project to create material for a post-apocalyptic setting inspired in part by the Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker (1979). 

If you've never heard of the film, he's written a great primer and set up some participation guidelines. This is open to anyone and you don't need a blog to participate. Best of all you can choose the rule system you love most, but it's perfect for that Mutant Future, X-plorers or old school Gamma World game you've got going.

It looks to be a blast so put on your thinking caps and get writing! 

From FateSF:

FROM THE ZONES is a cross-blog project. Here are the details:

1. Write something about the Zones for the system of your choice. Describe a specific Zone, or an artifact, or a location within the Zone, a strange threat or phenomenon found in the Zone, a Zone scenario, a table of encounters, a Stalker character class, or something else.
2. This project is cross-system. Write for a system you love. I'll be writing for Fate Core/FAE, but you may want to write for a different system, such as Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future, X-plorers, Diaspora, Stars Without Numbers, WaRP, Open D6,  or something else. System-neutral is also fine!
3. Post your content to your own blog. You own whatever you write and post to your own blog.
4. If you don't have a blog you can write a document in Google docs. 
5. Download the Hereticwerks Zones logo; use it in your blog post or Google doc! We will post the link to download the logo HERE as soon as it is up and ready.
6. Leave a comment in the comments section of this post (see below) with a link to your blog post or Google doc. 
7. We will create a table with all the links and a brief/title description of each item here at FATE SF. 

We'll start the table collecting the links as Thursday's FATE SF post. This will be an ongoing project, so share a link to your blog post or Google doc whenever it is ready.

Note: This is a re-post from Exonauts, with a few minor tweaks. Seemed appropriate since this is a post-apoc blog, after all...

Try this setting for your next Gamma World game...

Every recipe begins with a good base...

Click image for publication info

Mix in some Mars Attacks miniatures from this upcoming game on Kickstarter...



Then add in a dash of background reading...

This post (skip to the bit on WW Doom)

...the first volume of the newly revived Mars Attacks comics.....

Click image for publication info

....a little pinch of the also newly revived Dinosaurs Attack! comic from IDW....

Click image for publication info

....plus a heap of James Stokoe's incredible Godzilla The Half Century War...

Click image for publication info

Then top it off with a little video* preview for your players:

Voila! A feast of post-apocalyptic mayhem--just in time for the weekend!

UPDATE: Gah! Apologies, that last clip has been yanked by WB. As soon as--I guess--the official one pops up I'll revise. Until then, here's a little something to tide you and your players over:




*Clip is a trailer for a movie coming out May 16, 2014 ;)

LotR in the irradiated wastelands

Here's a little brainstorming for a Lord of the Rings type of campaign (take the magical object back to it's maker in hopes of freeing the oppressed) for a Gamma World or Mutant Future setting. Here's the analogs:

Macguffin: No ring here, just a super-sciencey/sorcery object (okay, a ring! Or make it a tiara for all I care....) that imbues it's owner with invisibility, while mutating them over time into bullywugs. Oh, and it's psionically controlled by an evil techno wizard who's the ultimate mutant (a giant fiery eyeball!) in a high techno tower.

The mission is thought by the adventurers to be one of subterfuge to take the device back to the mutant wizard's tower to use against him. Unfortunately, he's got other plans...

You: Diminutive hominid of your choice, but can't be more than 50% mutant, I'd go with some form of hare or coney. I believe they call them "hoops" in G.W.

Elves: Grens - slender, greenfolk who are excellent archers that like to shoot first, berate later.

Dwarves: Stocky-figured, Gamma World Badders (badger people). 'Nuff said.

Humans: Valids (pure strains) who are suspicious and yet crave redemption

Orcs: Cyborna (cyborg jerkwads)

Trolls: Golthans - sad, childlike, and under the Eye's control

Mordor: Tall, ebony, techno tower of spire built amongst the ruins of a once great city

Minas Tirith: Gleaming city of platinum, built into a mountain side and barely touched by the cataclysm

Helms Deep: Underground keep of the centauroids

Moria: Badder mines that have been invaded and appropriated by Cyborna

Shire: Burrow holes in a grassy, reclaimed prairie

Smaug: Monster of your choice, but has to be big and intelligent. Why not make it easy and just go with an cyborg T-rex with artificial intelligence? Actually, Smaug needs to be more of a force of nature so perhaps something like an a bio-armored serpent the size of an aircraft carrier.

Sauron (aka "The Eye") is a human who's delving into alien overlord tech mutated him beyond recognition--body, mind, and soul.

Gandalf: Techno wizard who left the order to join the rebellion, loves tech from the ancients but also knows enough to fear it

Saruman: Another wizard, but he's in the apprenticeship of The Eye

Gollum: former hare of the burrow (hobbit of the shire) now a full-on bullywug creep who longs to get the device back in hopes of turning himself normal or disappearing forever....

I can see a long slog through irradiated junkyards, swamps, and foothills. Maybe even use the old Gamma World module found in the GM screen --it's already got a spaceport tower in a mesa-filled wasteland!

Gaming with Strangers: Gamma World Play Report Update

A while back I went to the Gamma World Mega Event at the Source (my FLGS) and rolled up a telekinetic yeti (from the Serengeti!) named Psi-Squatch. I didn't get to posting play reports until now as I'd missed several games, but last week I was able to finally join up with a group who had made it's way to the lunar surface. Tonight, ol' Brain Ape goes back to the moon base to wrassle with a couple of space eels. I'll post highlights after the carnage ensues.

Fight On! #12 is all about the GAMMA!

Thanks to Sniderman for his post on the latest issue of Fight On! which includes lost of post-apocalyptic goodness, not to mention a submission from former TSR editors James M. Ward and Tim Kask.

Just look at that cover--that's an adventuring party if I ever saw one!

It's available in print or PDF. Oh, and do yourself a favor and use this coupon code: BIG305 to save 20% on orders $100.00 or less. Yes, it works, I just used it to order my copy.

Props to Netherworks for the coupon info.

Gaming with Strangers and Observations About Gamma World D&D 4E

I'm a little late posting this, but I still wanted to capture my experience at the Gamma World Mega Event at the Source back on June 4th. The event had three goals: sign-up, roll-up a character, and then play a demo game. We had the opportunity to create characters from either the Gamma World box set, or the two supplements: Legion of Gold and Famine in Far-go. I rolled up a telekinetic yeti named PSI-Squatch.

I'm not one to provide overly lengthy play reports unless it was really outrageous (RPGs are definitely a "ya had to be there" phenomenon, yes?) but we played two encounters--a wilderness battle and another inside a factory. The overall goal was just to get novice players some game-time under their belts, and to get to know one another (more on that in a second).

Our GM was a nice guy named Tabor who provided all the materials we needed. I brought my own rule book (since the last time I'd rolled up a PC it took forever using one book among 6 players). He'd chopped his bindings in favor of wire-bound and I took mine to Staples office supplies to do the same. It turned out to be a GREAT help and it will be a lot easier on the book in the long run as I flip through the pages at the table.

As you likely already know, the 4E D&D version of Gamma World is big on tactical combat. It's a much lighter version, but it does rely on that engine to drive encounters. But there's still a great deal of bonus/penalty dealing, and lots of rule haggling when the booster cards come in to play (especially with newbies). Don't get me wrong--the cards can be a lot of fun--but they can also end up slowing things down. Maybe it's just an effect of playing with strangers. Though playing this version made me more hungry to play Mutant Future or an older GW edition. I'm chomping at the bit to play one of those (maybe 2E GW if I had to pick).

At our game, the majority of the players was learning to play these new rules AND we don't know each other. Yes, we make believe, but it's in a very stilted manner. So we concentrate on adding and subtracting and don't actually interact with one another.

As we get more comfortable with the game, we relax and banter a bit, but no one's settled enough to be themselves. And yet, that's the beauty of RPGs right there--get people to have fun and socialize, right?

I did have fun--which is all that really matters--and I think that I'll continue to do so. I'm hoping to get in some more games. I'd signed up for a couple, hoping to try out playing with different GMs at the helm, but so far work/life has kept me from the table. When I get to play again, I hope to spend more time getting to know the players, bone-up on the rules, and really--imagining the hell out of it.

Atari Making a Gamma World Video Game

No, that's not a headline from 1980, though an old cart on the 2600 would be awesome! In fact, this is for realz, according to a post I just read thanks to our friendly neighborhood Sniderman (Savage Afterworld, a blog you should already be reading). Gamma World Alpha Mutation, was demoed at the E3 video game show last week.

Sounds like photos of the game demo were not allowed (play report links below), but it apparently holds fairly true to the most recent D&D 4E incarnation of the game--including picking two origins for your mutation. I wonder if there will be a randomizing option?

It's being called a "third-person shooter", I guess that's over-the-shoulder/birds-eye type of play. One thing I love about video games is the ability to play cooperatively and it sounds like GW will include that aspect, supporting 2-players on the console and an additional 2 online.

No release date yet, but it sounds like it's going to be published for Playstation and XBox. One possible "downer" it's being developed by the same team that did the recent Daggerdale D&D game, which has drawn some pretty "mixed" reviews to say the least.

Snidey's already did a bang-up job in his post on the game setting--which I won't duplicate here--but I did track down a few other goodies from a fact sheet on Game Tactics:

Explore Gamma Terra: Take on a variety of perilous missions through a variety of regions of gamma terra, from ruined cities to barren wastelands and beyond, the collision of multiple realities has created a world as exotic as it is deadly.

The Quick and the Dead: Gamma world delivers the depth of an RPG and the action of third person shooter. Quick reflexes and split second decisions are just as important as effective character design.

Lone Wolf or Death Squad: Take on missions solo or join up with friends to tackle the challenges of the Gamma Terra. Play with two players locally or up to four players online.

Evolve Your Character with Alpha Mutations: Gamma World’s character customization system allows players to actively develop their character in almost unlimited ways.

Discover Omega Technology: Powerful technology from other dimensions can turn the tides and preserve your hero’s life… for now.

Conduct Weapons R&D: Scavenge the environment for parts to create new weapons, armor, tools and more. Your ingenuity is your edge in this fight for survival.

So what are your feelings about seeing the beloved GW rendered in polygons?

Cool? Not your thing?

Play reports:
Gamespot
OMGN

More coverage:
Team XBox
Gamertell

Gamma Terra, here I come!

Radioactive dice? Check! Rulebook? Check! I'm heading over to the Gamma World Mega Event today at Source Comics and Games, which begins in grand style with a noon-6pm character generation event. We'll also be finding out what groups we're playing in and just generally meeting folks. I'm REALLY looking forward to playing this summer. I've had exactly one chance at playing Gamma World so far so it will be great to get in some regular gaming. I'll post a recap here and on Exonauts. If I get to play in an ongoing campaign, I'll post regular updates on this blog.

My, look at the clock, I better get going!

Gamma World Mega Event in the Twin Cities

My Friendly Local Gaming Store, Source Comics and Games, is holding a Gamma World shindig the first week in June. It will of course be the latest rendition of the rules based on the 4E D&D system. Given how much fun I had last time I played, I plan on attending.

It's not often that GW gets love here in St. Paul / Minneapolis, so I'm glad to spread the word.

UPDATE: Character creation has been set for Saturday, June 4th from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the source's gaming room.

Also, I just got an email from one of the organizers saying there's a sign up sheet at The Source to play every night of the first week of June (except Wednesday and the following Saturday). You read that right....

A WEEK OF GAMMA WORLD!!!

More Players Wanted / Welcome / GM's Needed!

Click the image to see official event page

More info posted by the Source:

• http://sourcesummerrpg.forumsland.com (has the most updated info)
• Email coordinators Amy and Tabor
• Source Comics & Games event page

So which rules? Which edition?

When I started this blog, I wanted it to be centered on creative ideas--less so on the crunch. I feel like as I creep more towards fleshing out a campaign setting I've got to clarify (for myself at least) what type of rule structure this would operate under. While I expect I'll get to the crunch at some point, I decided immediately to avoid making anything edition-specific for now. Also, I've really only played the D&D 4E version of Gamma World (seventh iteration, if you're keeping score).

That said, I've got my hands on Mutant Future and the First Edition of Gamma World and I'd LOVE to play those--possibly even prefer it since they seem to be more malleable when it comes to creating a campaign setting. 4E is less so, because the rules themselves ARE, in sense, the setting, with the randomness mechanics providing much of the flavor of the game. This isn't bad, but it does make for a gaming experience that's wholly unique. Though it's worth mentioning that there are ways to reduce the randomness in 4E so that a homebrew setting could be more easily integrated. 

I don't want to make too much of 4E's randomness either. It's a fabulous game as is, and yes, you can add whatever flavor you want to it. But I think any Gamma-head out there will agree that the original version, along with the retro-clone of Mutant Future can better function as blank petri dishes from which to grow-your-own variety of Gamma Terra. I also considered spilling a little After the Bomb over the top of my Gamma Sundae, so who knows really what the final flavor will be.

So for now, GWW will try to keep it neutral, but I'm sure that I'll end up including stats, houserules, etc. at some point and I'll do my best to be clear what which rulesets would best apply.

Build PCs Quickly with Interactive GW Character Sheet

Wizards of the Coast has a neat little tool for quickly making player characters in 4E by way of an interactive character sheet. You can work up your PC from scratch or--in the spirit of the totally random nature of the game--you can instantly create one at the click of a button. The nice part is, if you want to make up your own, it will auto-calculate scores for you so it's a handy time saver. From Wizards:

• Any die icon can be clicked to generate a random result for its particular field. You may also click the Quick Character die in the upper right to randomly populate all fields.
• Check the box in a particular field to lock the results. For example, you may wish to lock one of the origins and continue to roll randomly for the second.
• Some fields can be manually modified. For example, click in the name field to type in a specific name, or use the drop-down menu in the origin fields to choose specific origins (just be sure that Form Elements is checked in the far right column).
• In the far right column, check Base Set, Famine in Far-Go, or both depending on what material you wish to include for your character.
• In the far right column, Calculations shows you the formulae behind your character’s statistics. You may opt to turn this on or off, depending on what you wish to keep visible.

I'm less likely to use a pre-made character, but it definitely shaves off time during chargen--especially when 4E has such high mortality rates!

Try it out!

They also provide an FAQ.

Penny Arcade's take on Gamma World

Click to see the comic larger on Penny Arcade's site.

Capt. Rufus' Houserules for GW 4E

Captain Rufus over at Wargame Dork has a nice set of house rules to take some of the silliness out of the 4E version of Gamma World. Having played the game, I love the silly aspect, but I would also want at least the option to play it more as a traditional RPG, without the constant mutations (i.e., the Alpha Mutation card deck).

The result adds a more stability to the game and allows the GM to put more emphasis on the setting itself and not have to worry about the cards taking the spotlight.

My trip to Gamma Terra...

Following is a repost from Exonauts, October 25, 2010.

Here's a pic I took of the event poster, in where else? The bathroom (no lie).

Saturday, I attended the Gamma World release event at the Source Comics and Games (my FLGS) here in the Twin Cities. It's been about a year since I've played D&D 4E, and I have to say I felt really rusty. In fact, I'm sure I annoyed some of the other players, but in my defense I played the "newb" at the table so I ended up with several people helping me along with some of the crunch.

The Source held two sessions (11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.) each running about four hours. Since I'd been offered tickets to go see the Gopher game in the morning (they lost--surprise!) I went to the latter. After signing up, I was placed at a table with four other players (three of whom who were pals) and another fellow. They all seemed like nice guys, the three who knew each other seemed to be regular--or at least non-novice-- 4E players and had things down pat. We all began as 1st Level PCs. Our little A-Team of mutants consisted of:

• Chitter-Chitter: a rat swarm in humanoid form that had psionic powers and wielded the Skillet of Justice™
• Catnip: a feline plant who later acquired a Heavy-lift Harness (think Ripley in Aliens)
• Frank: I misheard his origin, but I think he was an enhanced human of some kind with a hoverboard and and fantastically high mechanics skill
• Kenshiro: again, chargen was somewhat chaotic, but I think he was made out of rock or metal, he swung a brick flail
• Zeke the Beak: a giant hawkoid who swung a full-sized mailbox and a harpoon gun, and donned armor made of salvaged ironing boards

I played Zeke. Here's a rendering:

Zeke's stats (with modifiers:
STR: 18 (+4)
DEX: 14 (+2)
CON: 16 (+3)
WIS: 16 (+3)
INT: 10 (n/a)
CHA: 7 (-2)
HP: 28 / Bloodied: 14
Zeke had a Nature skill with a +4, which came in completely useless as he had a habit of rolling natural 1's. Oh, and being a hawkoid, he could of course fly his speed (6).

AC: 18
Fortitude: 14
Reflex: 13
Will: 14

The demo module, "Trouble in Freesboro" has five encounters. *Spoiler!* We started outside on a lonely highway and came across some porkers (humanoid pigs) and a swarm of radioactive birds which proved down-right tough to kill. That encounter lasted forever. Later we sauntered over to a research lab where we fought some bots on a rooftop and made our way into the main event (thus skipping two encounters).

There has already been plenty of reviews of the material included in the new set, unboxing videos, and plenty of discussion, so I won't rehash, but I will tell you my initial impressions. For ease, I'll just bullet:

• First off, we'd all purchased our own booster cards as required by WotC and the store, though the GM was a swell guy and I want to say he'd have been lenient and let us share or borrow a few from his deck.
• As we all know, 4E is heavy on the crunch, and that's not diluted in Gamma World, however it does play a bit faster and looser. For instance, stats on single and two-handed weapons are listed without going into every permutation thereof, my two-handed mailbox was just as as deadly as say a two-handed parking meter.
• I'll admit, I'm an idiot sometimes, but I was annoyed that the character sheet and stat blocks for powers (in the manual) are an overcrowded nightmare. Half the time I couldn't tell what I was looking at, let along what blank I had to fill in. Being an idiot in a rush to complete his character didn't help.
• We did roll quite a few skills that (if it were an OSR game) we likely didn't need to roll for. Frank's mechanic skill (padded through bonuses and some equipment he'd acquired) often ended up in the 30+ range. Yet the GM had him roll his mechanics skill at least three times--twice to defeat door locks.  After a while the GM did relent, again, in the interest of moving things along. I wish this were less a GM-style issue, and more encouraged by the rules themselves.
• Damage in GW is insanely brutal, with many rounds running like a live-action cartoon of carnage. While fun, we  were warned early and often that we may have to roll up new PCs.
• The prospect of chargen during the game seems ridiculous to me since it took so long in the first place. The GM had his hands full with the five of us rolling up shiny new PCs. Even with 4E players using a photo copy of the armor and origin tables, it took nearly 40 min. While it would go much faster once you knew what you were doing, each origin has it's own inherited powers so you'd better be familiar with the book if you want it go faster. I had my own solution.*
•  Apart from these, I'm actually a big fan of the random booster cards. They were definitely the stars of the show and made for an exciting game overall. Early previews of the game had criticized it with more power-boosting/munchkining, but since the game's main strength is its outlandishness (and frankly, it's point) I see this as a benefit.
• Alpha mutations make up not only your origin, but play a big part from encounter to encounter.  
• Omega tech is likely far too powerful for OSR tastes, being plentiful in the way of a deck each player can collect, and having the ability to be "overcharged" to enhance performance, but often limits it to single or limited use.
• All in all I had a lot of fun and I'd play again, though it's quite apparent that so much of the game is sucked up checking rules. This seems like it would be the case for anyone (GM or PCs) learning a new game though, so might not be a big issue in the long run.

Adventure-wise, I don't even know that it would be worth while to recap the whole debacle because it was insane!  Here I thought my giant birdman slapping people around with a mailbox would be the life of the party--but the scene stealer was Catnip climbing up the side of the lab building in the load harness by punching holes in the exterior wall. Even better was his descent down a stairwell that, uh, didn't go so well for the stairs.While we ended up with Catnip and Kenshiro down to 1 and 2 HP respectively, our claim to fame was becoming one of the few groups that day to have all PCs make it the end alive. Quite the feat when you figure that despite the harsh combat, the GM didn't pull any punches.

While all four of the guys playing were great roleplayers, Frank's player sort of became the default "leader" tracking initiative, helping move things along, and knew his rules (even helping the GM) and this made for a better, smoother game experience.

In the end, Zeke flew away with:

• 420 XP
• A downed robot's head, which he sported as a hat
• A kalidoscope that which he eventually traded with Chitter-Chitter for a pair of swim goggles

The Source received a few extra copies of the module and by the end of the night they gave a few to interested parties, such as myself, which was much appreciated! I'd ordered the game online and it arrived at home the day I played (fate!) so I was pleased as punch to dig into the material.

While it would have been nice to have them included in the box, I had the chance to pick out my own set of "irradiated die", pictured above with the Freesboro module.

In any case, I think any group could improve on some of the crunchiness. *To save time I snapped a photos of the powers for my giant (origin 1) hawkoid (origin 2) powers on my smartphone rather than write them all out in a mad dash (which I tried and ended up not being able to read my own scribbles). It was a handy workaround for looking up powers on the fly.

Zeke's favorite tactic was to "deliver the mail" using Brickbat.

Zeke was careful not to use the shriek too often since his buddies were often too close to enemies in combat.

If you've got any curiosity in checking out a 4E game, GW would be a great place to start. I'll reiterate what I've read from others that I can see it as a nice interim game between regular campaign sessions. Just be sure to roll up plenty of PCs beforehand--hell, that's half the fun!

Resources:
A list of the booster cards Alpha (mutation) and Omega (technology)
Overviews of origins and character generation
Overview of gear
Maps

Is "The Lost Future" SyFy's Foray into Gamma World?

Either I don't watch enough TV (that hardly seems possible!) or this is bound to be so bad that they didn't bother promoting it. But the SyFy Channel is premiering a new movie-of-the-week that skirts very close to Gamma World territory. It stars Sean Bean (of LotR fame) as a primate tribesman living among civilization's ruins. Check out the trailer and this blurb from IMDB:

A group of post-apocalyptic survivors, struggle to survive in a world where jungles and forests and primeval wetlands and deserts have obliterated civilization. They staunchly face genetically mutating beasts and mysterious diseases in an attempt to re-establish the human race as masters of Earth.

SyFy's webpage is even more sparse on details, but I did spot a mention that the mutations are caused by a disease, rather than nuclear radiation or the happy-black-hole-maker.

Here's another preview (which looks hokey/generic):


Ah man, I'm sorry you had to see that. (And I doubly apologize for SyFy's atrociously obnoxious vid player). But the trailer looks slightly more GW-like. Might be worth checking out for some B-movie fun. For me, it's going to have to wait until it's replayed since I'll be seeing Skyline Saturday!

• Official SyFy page 
• IMDB page