|
3 years ago ::
Oct 27, 2010 - 1:12PM
#21
|
|
|
So the Big Mistake was supposed to merge a bunch of wierd realities.
I'm actually very fond of how well the new concept explains Gamma World's traditional wide array of stable sentient species and tech levels. In a twisted sort of way it actually makes the setting *less* silly then before, as it was always a stretch for the older justifications (radiation, mutagenic viruses, etc) to explain how geographically seperate bands of fixed form races (badders, hoops, orlen, etc) with consistant cultures would erupt in a world where most mutation is random and most communities are made up of whatever stray survivors you found in the area.
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 27, 2010 - 11:06PM
#22
|
Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
|
Of course, the old GW was set in a far-flung future, in which humanity had reached a pinacle of technological sophistication far in advance of the 20th century the players would be familiar with, combined with the depth of the fall and the generations having passed since, the PCs had very little in common with the payers. The latest version sets the Apocalypse in the present, and doesn't push too far into the future, so the PCs can be familiar with many of the same basic things - like firearms and cell phones - as the players. It makes the game much more accessible, but also takes away some of the mystery - the mystery that's injected back in by the myriad worldlines is a bit more arbitrary. FWIW.
Sphynx: Aftermath is an older RPG, and I'm not seriously recomending it, it's very detailed and grim, with no mutants or anything. I missed, in your post, that you wanted to keep the mutant origins. If you're sticking with that, you can find ways to make GW work the way you want.
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 28, 2010 - 9:03AM
#23
|
Date Joined:
Aug 18, 2007
|
I suppose, if it's been a very long enough since the End. There are actually a tremendous number of guns in the world - in the united states, hundreds of millions - almost 1 for every citizen - and billions of rounds of ammo. If the initially casualties of the End Times are substantial, the survivors would be hard-pressed to burn through all that (though depending upon the violence of the apocalypse it might be hard to dig up).
Actually the guns might stay around but the biggest problem is ammo. Ammo actually can go bad and it is one of the reasons the U.S. Military does so many live fire exercises. After certain moment of time the gunpowder in the bullet goes bad, which can cause anything from delay firing to nothing happen (hope for the nothing happening part). Now I don't remember how long it takes personally but that is an actual risk when dealing with ammo after awhile.
Now merging realities idea is not necessarily a silly idea. Play or even read the Rifts books? Most of the stuff that crossed over from the Rifts are on line with Far Realm and demons from Hell business end. Randomness does not allows equal silly. And the alpha mutations can still be played for a very serious factor. Maybe the player character is an unstable mutation? I'll post later on this.
Behold the DM has entered.
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 28, 2010 - 12:21PM
#24
|
Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
|
Unless it's stored impropperly - which is pretty likely, really, in a post-apocalyptic environement - modern smokeless powder can be kept indefinitely. The same goes for primers. As ammo sat around for generations, though, the likelihood of it being propperly stored the whole time doubtless becomes rather slight. I'm sure part of the reason for the abstract ammo rules could be that you never know if the next round you chamber is going to be a dud or not... Guns do wear out with protracted use or poor maintainance, too, they can last generations if not badly abused. Of course, when you're fighting mutants, your guns likely get a lot of abuse... 
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 28, 2010 - 12:28PM
#25
|
Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2009
|
For me, this is far more about story and genre than real world shelf-life.
Scarce ammunition is a staple element of the post-apocalypse genre. When characters discover a cache of guns and ammo, it's a rare, campaign-shifting, element. As others have noted, guns themselves are fairly common in these stories, but not only are the bullets hard to find, sometimes no one even knows how to use the gun or recognize it!
Remember that scene in Thunderdome when Max puts a gun together out of decorations the village kids have placed around their home? One of the memorable moments of a generally pretty bad movie.
The Doctor Comics Blog: doctorcomics.blogspot.com
On Twitter @doctorcomics
GW Card List: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26023881/Card_List
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 28, 2010 - 12:44PM
#26
|
Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
|
When the Black years started in the 23rd century, there was plenty of room to assume that 'archaic' firearms were long gone. With the Big Mistake pegged to the Mayan calendar, OTOH, you have hundreds of millions of guns and billions upon billions of rounds of ammo for the pittiful few survivors to dig up and burn through. GW's abstract ammo system handles that well enough to get by. Guns are like whittled up bows & arrows or swords pounded out of rebar - readily available if not always dependable or being used as originally intended (I could picture a character with an assault rifle, for instance, loading one round at a time into the chamber, unaware that it ever had a magazine). Ammo's a little dicey but out there. It works fine.
Nothing wrong with changing it, of course, but if you're changing it to be 'grittier' you're asking for a little realism, I guess. 'Realism' might lean more towards finding the /right/ ammo being a bit of a problem than finding any at all being the primary concern.
Another aproach entirely, if even more time has passed, is the re-discovery of black powder and muzzle-loading firearms. They'd be modeled just find as 1/encounter weapons.
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Oct 31, 2010 - 7:34PM
#27
|
|
|
I discovered GW in high school. When I went to college, I picked my electives based on what I thought I needed to know to create a believable GW society. Then I wrote a non-version-specific back story. Check out the (10 yrs old now) "Tamerthya" website - a serious GW background.
Use what you like, ignore what you don't. DO have fun!
Best complements I have yet received: Spoiler:
Show
Making it up as I go along:
{BRJN}
If I was writing the Tome of Lore, I would let Auppenser sleep. But I also would have him dream.
In his dreaming he re-activates the innate powers of (some) mortal minds. Or his dreaming changes the nature of reality - currently very malleable thanks to Spellplague &c. Or whatever really cool flavor text and pseudo-science explanation people react positively to.
{Lord_Karsus}
You know, I like that better than the explanations for the Spellplague.
My plot device: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/ … #489880509 (The reaction is the next post.)
Prepped ahead of time:
I started the thread "1001 Failed Interrogation Results"
{ADHadh}
These are all good and make sense! I just can't come up with something that's not covered here and is not completely ridiculous.
My characters: Spoiler:
Show
Active Characters:
LFR Half-elf StarLock6 Gondolin Nightstar
AoA Dwarf Guardian Druid6 Narvik from House Wavir
Character A-building:
Neverwinter Dwarven Invoker / Heir of Delzoun / worships Silvanus (!)
"Truenamer" - speaks Words of Creation
Concepts I'm kicking around:
"Buggy" Wizard - insect flavor on everything
Halfling Tempest Fighter - just because nobody else is doing it
Shifter Beast-o-phile Druid - for PoL campaign
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Nov 02, 2010 - 11:51AM
#28
|
Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2009
|
My ongoing Gamma World blog has its latest bit here. My goal remains pretty straight-forward.
- Allow players to make characters they want to play.
- Ratchet down the bizarre wackiness without removing the fun.
- Treat the post-apocalypse genre with some respect for its themes.
All comments and feedback welcome.
The Doctor Comics Blog: doctorcomics.blogspot.com
On Twitter @doctorcomics
GW Card List: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26023881/Card_List
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Nov 03, 2010 - 2:54PM
#29
|
|
|
Ratchet down the bizarre wackiness without removing the fun.
Is that why the house rules link points to a youtube video of an action figure talking about a book about Prestor John? Wonder Woman Rolling = the new Rick Roll I guess... 
|
|
|
|
3 years ago ::
Nov 03, 2010 - 6:33PM
#30
|
Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2009
|
Ratchet down the bizarre wackiness without removing the fun.
Is that why the house rules link points to a youtube video of an action figure talking about a book about Prestor John? Wonder Woman Rolling = the new Rick Roll I guess...
I would have liked to say I did that on purpose, but the truth is I've just been having a hell of a week and I screwed up.
Thanks for pointing that out for me. Fixed!
The Doctor Comics Blog: doctorcomics.blogspot.com
On Twitter @doctorcomics
GW Card List: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26023881/Card_List
|
|
|
