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...

Metamorphosis Alpha Returns!

Original edition cover

I'm sure you've heard by now that the Godfather of Gamma is back! James Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha is in print again, with updated artwork--but no changes to the rules other than spelling and grammar--oh and a new starter adventure! Get your hands on the first sci-fi RPG, and the first post-apocalyptic one at that.

And if that's not enough, a NEW version is on it's way this summer! Signal Fire Studios is putting out an all new edition:Trade Paperback, Color Cover, and B&W Interior.

New cover art by Jason Engle, click to embiggen

From SFS's website:

In 2012, Signal Fire Studios presents the newest incarnation of this classic RPG, combining the elements that made the original so compelling with an all new game system created by award-winning designer Jamie Chambers. Over the coming months you’ll see teasers and previews, plus demo games coming to game conventions!

Original edition available now:

In print from Lulu for $15.99

PDF at DriveThruRPG for $5.00

2012 edition available for preorder in print for $19.99 and PDF for $5.00

More resources at Metamorphosis Alpha's website

X-Plorers Now Available!

This is a repost from Exonauts, but I added a few clarifications. Also, a while back Brutorz Bill asked me if it was possible to use X-Plorers as the engine for a post-apocalyptic game. I'm officially throwing the gauntlet down for this challenge! I think it's totally possible, and while I'll keep my own Gamma setting stuff fairly neutral--I dare anyone to make it happen! (In this example dare = hope!). If you attempt it, please shoot me an email or post and link back.

Okay, on with the show....

CALLING ALL X-PLORERS....

X-Plorers is now available as a box set, softcover print-on-demand, or a no-art FREE download. You now have THREE WAYS to start conquering the galaxy--and you could be doing so as soon as THIS AFTERNOON while you wait for your box or softcover to arrive in the mail. Here's a look at the inside of the softcover....



The game is rules-light and can be played as-is, but it's REAL strength is in it's ability to be fiddled with under the hood. Personally, I like to tinker and I'm working on my own setting using the rules. If you're looking for more resources to help get started, check out the X-Plorers tab on the top of this blog.

On a side note, the venerable Space Admiral and X-Plorers Publisher John Adams is holding a new character sheet design contest. The winner will receive a FREE box set of the game! So submit your designs to Brave Halfling. UPDATE: the PC sheet size is 5.5 x 8.5" and John has not yet set a deadline. He also reports that there are approximately 50 Boxed Sets are left--but that was a few days ago...

More info:

• Here's a link to what's included in the box sets.
• What's new in this edition and what it's all about.

Anyway, go get your copy and start X-ploring!

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.

So what's the plan?

I'm far enough along with the initial conceit of Gamma World War that I have a few assumptions I'm ready to share "out loud", meaning, they've been rattling around in my brain and I need to write them down so I can think about/refute/or move forward with them. I've already mentioned a few, but just in case, here's the deal:

1. It's a sandbox setting. Duh!

2. It's a 3-sided war: mutants vs. humans vs. aliens. Mutants are the hard-luck underdogs and outnumber the other two forces. Humans are austere, subterranean living, better off tech wise. There are surface dwelling cousins, but we'll get to that in a sec. Aliens may be powerful and intimidating, but they're not invincible. Two factions listed under "mutant"could technically be split off for a total of five sides to the war:  artificial beings (not including cyborgs though) and undead. Zombies might actually be considered "mutants" though. I'll leave that door open for those at the gaming table.

3. In the beginning, there are no factions--those will grow organically through gameplay between PCs and the GM. Races are aligned mainly through simplicity and for survival purposes. Alliances and/or rivalries between species will be formed through exploring Gamma Terra. By encountering one another and experiencing the eventual invasion of the aliens, players will have to figure things out as they go.

4. Certain races and the aliens will be controlled by the GM. At least in the beginning. I guess I'm still not-quite solid about this, but to get the ball rolling I think the aliens should play the heavies. Things can change once the battle starts. Maybe this is more of playtest thing. I've created a few race/species categories, but I'd be open to others from previous GW or MF editions.

5. To be a true "world war" we'll need a little Player vs. Player. Another thing I'd like to experiment with, which is why I asked about it a while back is the PvP or Team vs. Team aspect of gaming. I've never done it, but it sounds like it can be really fun. I can see writing this into a ruleset at some point--giving everyone the chance to go at it, once everyone gets into building up alliances, armies, etc. Or maybe just as a cap to a long campaign.

6. Setting will likely be the "standard" two centuries after the current timeline. I'd like to give some time for humanity to grow into more advanced tech--which of course is lost to irradiated winds once the cataclysm happens. I spoke earlier about other possibilities. They could just as easily be shoehorned in. Maybe Gamma Terra blinks into another reality temporarily. Seems like a good enough excuse to run GW in a different setting for a one-off trial.

7. What is the cataclysm? Unlike Gamma World or Mutant Future, I'm not planning on defining it. Maybe it will come out in game play. I do like the latest GW excuse of using the Hadron Collider to rip open reality. But I'm not sure it's even necessary to get that into the setting early on. If radiation is out of fashion, we'll blame genetic "mutagens" (the catch-all used by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). An alien invasion that wiped out collective memory is another good one. If that doesn't work, reality rifting works just as well.

8. Which rules? TBD. Honestly, I've played Mutant Future based off AD&D rules and a few versions of Gamma World. I bought the latest GW based on 4E, after trying it several years ago. Frankly, I'm quite impressed. But I'm more impressed by simplicity. Once I get going on write-ups they'll likely use Mutant Future since there's an open license for that, and it can easily be converted to other systems. UPDATE: I've been using MF rules so far when I need to do write ups (seems like it's the easiest to convert, as well).

9. What about Thundarr and Warlord? Hmm. I'm not sayin' that they're not going to be hanging around--the sword-wielding-barbarian-hero-types, that is--but mutants are more fun. So are silver-suited killjoys who live underground. Aliens might even beat them out. If there are pure-strains living amongst the ruins, they're likely slightly mutated. Even if they look normal, there's something...different about them. Thundarr always looked a little stronger/more resilient than regular folks, I mean have you seen how far that guy can leap? That's not normal. And there's no way Warlord wasn't part cockatiel with that hair! ;)

10. So when does the first session begin? Don't know yet. I'm focused on other projects at the moment, but I hope by this summer to get a few games going, test out some concepts, write up play reports and see how the war effort progresses. 

More to come.

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.

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.