GAMMA WORLD 4th Edition Back

[Aahz]

Both PDF and PRINT copies of the GAMMA WORLD 4th Edition rules are available on RPGNow!

[Tim Baker]

I'm only familiar with 7th Edition. Do you like 4th Edition? Have you played both? If so, how do they compare tonally and in terms of overall mechanical feel?

[Aahz]

4th edition was a prototype of d20 or Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition so it has some of the basic ideas but definitely not everything that was eventually introduced. It has AC that rises and a simple skill system. It isn't as balanced as 7th edition, but it also isn't as dependent upon a map grid to play. ("Theater of the mind" works just fine.) Mutations don't fluctuate. You roll randomly during character creation and that determines the mutations your character possesses. 4th edition also has a level system for advancement. The game book describes the area around the Great Lakes for a campaign setting. I definitely think it is worth the $10 investment for a PDF.

[Tim Baker]

That's very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to explain it -- I'll check it out!

[Dread Delgath]

One of my favorite GW editions!

[Havard]

That is interesting. I recently bought a copy of GAMMA WORLD 7th Ed (The D&D 4E based version), but it sounds like GW4 will be better suited to my gaming style preferences.

-Havard

[brassdragon]

4th edition was a prototype of d20 or Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition so it has some of the basic ideas but definitely not everything that was eventually introduced.

I'm starting to see Gamma World's successive editions as a capsule history of game design at TSR and successors.

The one edition I've played used the same color-coded resolution charts as TSR's Marvel Super Heroes game. Which I gather was an exception to the usual rule that Gamma World systems were based off of (A)D&D systems.

[Aahz]

GAMMA WORLD editions have often been produced as prototypes of new game systems or early adaptations of rule sets.

[Dread Delgath]

The funny thing is, 4th ed GW was the prototype to what became 3.0 and all that came along afterward, but there was a set of conversion rules for AD&D 2e to GW4e (or the other way around?) in a Dragon magazine article!

What started out as very compatible with AD&D2e in GW4e was very hard (for me) to convert 3.0/3.5 back to 2e.

[Digitalelf]

there was a set of conversion rules for AD&D 2e to GW4e (or the other way around?) in a Dragon magazine article!

I loved that article! Back around the time it was published, I ran a game that took an unsuspecting group of characters from the Forgotten Realms to the blasted ruin of "Datun".

The game only lasted one or two sessions... Not because it veered off into Gamma World, but for a host of other reasons too long to go into on this forum.

I did try various GW/AD&D crossovers before (using 1e AD&D and 2e GW, but those too did not last long...

One day I will run a successful crossover!