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.

Tags: gamma world, mutant future, rpg, miniatures

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...



Tags: gamma world

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.

Tags: Greyhawk, miniatures, wargaming

Mutants and Death Ray Guns

Mutants and Death Ray Guns

All the mighty goodness that was Gamma World is brought together in this seemingly wonderful set of miniature rules. The PDF has a list of suitable figures that are available, as well. I might just have to give these a try. Usually I try to avoid games that require collecting figures that aren't universally useful, but this seems almost too good to pass by.

And when I say Gamma World, I don't mean the d20 poop put out by Sword and Sorcery - although I am sure it is a very fine game, it ain't the classic. Which isn't quite dead, as it seems to still stir up some interest and controversy on the web, now 30 years after its first publication (TSR 1978). Here are some links that might be of interest...

• Not so pretty review
  
• Worshipful review
  
• Overview of related products (with loads of links)
  
• Mad Irishman character sheets
  

My own personal take on the whole thing is that the first and second editions were pretty good. The third edition (with the ACT Table) had GREAT stuff - the writeups on mutations, organizations, and equipment were so very very cool - but the ACT was a total mudpie of a gaming mechanic that it was not playable as presented. BTW - I feel the same way about Marvel Superheroes. Totally unplayable (as if any superhero game other than Champions would get a thumbs up from me . . . well maybe DC heroes, but it was largely Champions derivative). So, if you can get the books, run second edition rules, or perhaps even the modern Sword and Sorcery D20 rules, but use the great artwork, feel, and write ups from third edition. Heck, even the maps and stuff in that version were really cool. In the meantime, I will take a look into MADS and see about that miniatures list...

Yexil Ho!!

Tags: mutant

Nothing beats free stuff

Dungeoneering Dungeon Tiles



These are great free dungeon tiles in a very nice assortment of texture and color varieties. They are available as pdf's and jpg's, and look really good. Since I'm working on a set of dungeon tiles, these might be worth printing out and playing with.


Tags: rpg, dungeon tiles,