Nov 14, 2009

Mutant Future Links - and Spider Goats

More links concerning Mutant Future. The inspirational pictures of Spider goats are to set the mood for Mutant Future (see the book for details, but trust me - spider goats are totally bad encounters).

Chatty DM says "Dude, you gotta try Mutant Future!"
A Brave New Weird has some great MF stuffSavage Afterworld discusses the goodsMutant Foursome scores on some great MF articles, with artwork (like the Pigmen). Here is a video showing RARE EVIDENCE of Pigmen being aquatic raiders...

Mutagenic Substance has some really interesting content. And an entry on Robot (home)Sexuality.Finally, this website has downloads for the rules, etc for the first three editions of Gamma World. Interesting . . .

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More Gamma World - The Rise of the Mutated Plants


Alien Plants
Uploaded by Chromer.



Also, for grins and giggles, a nice academic article about Roleplaying Games and their ilk.

Post Apocalypse Gaming - what gives?

Okay, so I admit it, I have long been a Gamma World junkie (although these days I must admit that I am secretly more attracted to Mutant Future than Gamma World - it's free and available now).

Traveling, with your mutant mates, across the wasteland. Stop in at a friendly village for some radiation-free melons handed out by lovely green-skinned girls, trading a rusty hubcap for some referee whistles (valuable goods), and having that bad infestation of glowing slugs on your left tentacle be treated by the local ripper doc. And then after all that rest and relaxation, its off to the local robot guarded missile silo for valuable copper, or into the nest of the angry mutant crocodile-men, or hauling yourself up 200 meters to the robot-operated algae skyfarm to rob parts and food. All part of a normal day in the life of a typical post-apocalypse hero.

But the overall idea of post apocalypse gaming really depresses me. That is - if it is realistic. The futures of settings like Mad Max (where the oil dries up, and civilization collapses), or Twilight 2000 (depressing third world war, and civilization collapses), or Morrow Project (civilization collapses, with real effects of radiation, disease, etc), or Planet of the Apes (Apes win, civilization collapses). You get the idea. If it is a little too close to home, or too realistic (think - Threads or Day after Tomorrow), then it is just too much of a downer to be a fun game.

But it the whole thing is a total lark, and absolutely preposterous - such as the future radioactive playground of Gamma World (still potentially depressing, but who can stay down for long in the world of the polyester-devouring Yexil), or the Barbarian sword-fest of Robert Adams' Horseclans novels, or further fun with Sterling Lanier's Hiero books (who hasn't dreamt of riding a telepathic warmoose) - then it can be a whole lot of fun.

This is what lured me back into the genre with Mutants and Death Ray Guns, but I am also thinking of running a game of Mutant Future at MarsCon in January. If I do I will do a mixed lot of characters (2x Pure Strain Humans, 2x Mutant Humans, 2x Mutant Animals), and probably revolve around rescuing a young mutant child from a group of brigands living in an old military site of the Ancients. Warbots, androids, zombies, mutants galore, traps, radioactive pits - the fun is just bubbling out of me (or is that the lo mein from dinner?) and I haven't even written down anything yet.
I guess I gotta do a quest for miniatures (this sort of game DEMANDS miniatures - when else would I get a chance to use my green mutant in a house coat?), and build some suitable terrain. The good news is that it will all be useful for Mutants and Death Ray Guns, as well.

Some fun blog reports out there. First, Society of Torch, Pole and Rope has a nice write up on the classic Gamma World Deathbot for Mutant Future. Second, Savage AfterWorld has an interesting link to a conversation about incorporating Mutant Future into Hackmaster. Bizarre. Dwarf and Basilisk has a nice listing of games, films, and books that are inspirational. Facebook has a Gamma World page. Finally, Grognardia has a nice loving homage. He also has a great review of Mutant Future.

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Nov 8, 2009

Songs of Mutants and Death Ray Guns



So I picked up a copy of "Songs of Mutants and Death Ray Guns" (SoMaDRG or SMDRG) over the weekend, and I am excited to give this a try!

Anyone who does not get the picture couldn't possibly understand why I am so excited about this.

There are a couple of important things missing from the book, however. The version of "figuring out" an artifact given in the SMDRG book is woefully inadequate. Use this (genetically pure) version of the original instead. Much better.
Something that might be fun to do with SMDRG is to take all of the classic critters and encounters from a classic post-apocalypse game and publish them on some website. Yessirree, that would be a fine thing indeed...



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Oct 27, 2009

Chuck's Greyhawk Webpage


Wow - my old Greyhawk Campaign website (on Geocities, back in the 90s) disappeared a number of years back (2002? 2003?). Little did I know that all (or most) of those old sites were saved by the Web Archive Project. So, I took a look, and lo and behold, there is a live Archive of my old Greyhawk campaign website.

It is not perfect - some of the images and linked pages are missing (curious), but most of it is there. I've since scraped it all, and am in the process of reformatting it for publication in a better format. I planned at one time to include lots of individual maps of countries, towns, geo-features - maybe I'll get around to it in the next 20 years or so. Also, the posting of military information in terms that a Wargame can make use of (DBA? BattleLore?)

Chuck

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Jul 1, 2009

DM of the Rings


You may have seen this, but if not, it's pretty funny reading.

DM of the Rings - A parody of Lord of the Rings, told as if it were a roleplaying game.Pretty funny, in my book.

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Jun 22, 2009

Traveller Fantasy?


Just starting out looking at Classic Traveller for Fantasy. A couple of links come to mind. The first is the very nice (and concise) Aldreth RPG - as a free pdf on the internet.
Aldreth for CT and MT

More coming . . .


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May 26, 2009

World of Greyhawk miniatures


Greyhawk Grognard has a great article on the old Minifigs line of World of Greyhawk miniatures.

Okay, so they looked a little wonky, but they had something that today's batch of fantasy miniatures usually lacks - individuality and creativity.

I loved the Elves of the Valley of the Mage, and the forces of the Great Kingdom. I still have a good sized contingent of Amazons from the Wild Coast, and I recall having a bunch of those Cairn Hills Cavemen (although in all the years of running World of Greyhawk role-playing games, I don't think I ever populated the Cairn Hills with Cavemen). For a map of the Hills see the great collection of WOG maps at Maps of Greyhawk (a great site).


Good stuff, and thanks to the Greyhawk Grognard for posting the pix.

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May 16, 2009

Wizards

A modern post Snoop Dog look at Wizards.

One of the things sadly missing in the magic of fantasy gaming systems that is in things like fantasy movies and novels is the sense of wonder. When one is presented with a codified and systematized magic list, it doesn't seem to have much wonder any more, just a menu of powerups.

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Apr 15, 2009

The Feast

The Feast

Because it's good to enjoy some good food while painting miniatures.

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