Donjon GAMMA

[Matt Wilson]

In a couple weeks I have the opportunity to run a 3-5 session game, and I'm thinking Donjon in a Gamma World-ish setting.

Seems like a piece of cake on this side of it. I'll probably cut magic and have everything be an ability.

Radiation should play into it somehow, if I recall.

Anything else I should consider?

[Alan]

Hi Matt,

Sounds like fun.  The two key things

From Gamma World, I remember that left over high tech artifacts usually had a PSH (Pure Strain Human) lock, which meant only PSH characters could use them.  It was their compensation for not having psionic and physical abilities.

Would finding a tech item be something like defining a spell?

Also PSH characters had high radiation resistance and never got powers, while mutants could actually gain powers when exposed to radiation.

I can loan you the Alternity sourcebook (GW4e) if you want to get more details - it's even set in Seattle.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Here's a concept:

Pure-strain humans = non-magic users
Mutant humans = magic-users
Mutant animals/plants = limited magic-users

all per the Donjon rules.

Radiation level is, of course, the same as Donjon Level (probably changed to Danger Level, Zone Level, or something else.)

--

Re-read: I noticed you were leaving out magic. I'll be honest: I feel like magic's kind of broken anyway, so you could easily work it without magic. If not, though - if you make mental mutations magic like I mentioned above, the idea of "sucking up magical power" suddenly becomes "absorbing radiation to power your abilities," which is cool.

--

Lastly, just for color: you "find" items all over the place. The rules for finding a magic item are re-named to "figuring out a tech item." So, you find a silver whatchamathingy - then you can roll to figure out what it does.

[Matt Wilson]

if you make mental mutations magic like I mentioned above, the idea of "sucking up magical power" suddenly becomes "absorbing radiation to power your abilities," which is cool.

That's seriously cool. In fact, that's what's gonna happen.

Lastly, just for color: you "find" items all over the place. The rules for finding a magic item are re-named to "figuring out a tech item." So, you find a silver whatchamathingy - then you can roll to figure out what it does

I like that too.

Alan: I have Alternity's Gamma World. It's missing a lot of good stuff that was in the previous incarnations. I might have to hunt down an early 80s version for some ideas.

[Mike Holmes]

Pure-strain humans = non-magic users
Mutant humans = magic-users
Mutant animals/plants = limited magic-users

Better I think:
Pure-strain humans = non-magic users
Mutant humans = limited magic-users
Mutant animals/plants = magic-users

Mutant Humans would have some of the benefits that PSHs do but to a smaller extent based on just how mutie (MU) they were. Wheras plants and animals would have none.

Mike

[Matt Wilson]

I borrowed a couple GW books from Wilhelm (Rafial) last night, as it's been a long time since I looked at anything besides the aforementioned Alternity version.

A couple thoughts:

1. Creating a list in BBCode isn't worth the hassle.

2. IIRC radiation hurts PS humans. Should that be addressed? Say I change the save to vs. poison and radiation etc. And the results of failure are different depending on whether or not you have magic/mutant powers.

3. Understanding tech. In GW v.3 the characters come from tech level I, II or III societies depending on which type they are, and understanding other kinds of tech is difficult regardless of whether it's higher or lower tech. I'm thinking instead of having an ability called "understand technology" on the sheet, which defaults to zero, and you can choose whether or not to put points into it. So a PS human would probably have points in it, where a mutant would rather put those points into powers. Because I'm lame I can't remember how it works in the standard rules, so I'll have to look at that again.

4. Hoop power: turn metal into rubber. That'll be fun.

[Bailywolf]

Leave in the magic, and you have a good Thundar the Barbarian thing going on.

[rafial]

Hoop power: turn metal into rubber. That'll be fun.

Oh my yes.  I'd forgotten about Hoops.  Hoops and Badders and Arks oh my!

[Matt Wilson]

While planning this game, I got to thinking about the Fallout series of computer games, and Donjon Gamma has shifted a bit in that regard. I'm gonna have vaults and ghouls and supermutants mixed in with the carrins and badders.

Oooh, and maybe deathclaws. Whee!

Anyway, the two characters I've seen so far (we start tomorrow) are Kain and Abel, and that has inspired me to show no mercy toward them.

Abel has armor and weapons fashioned out of the wreckage of a '57 chevy. The ability of his that I like the best is "throw whatever I can get my hands on." I suggested that he make a roll to find a suitable missile, with successes transferred to the damage, or something along those lines.

Kain is a tinkerer who has a .38 service revolver and an LAPD flak jacket.

Mutations are relatively minor. Kain has the ability to see energy fields, which will probably make for fun narrative moments, and helps him to repair high-tech items.

The adventure is going to be along the lines of venturing into the ruins of Burien and finding Vault 23, in the hopes of locating ancient medicines to save the children of the village.

[Bailywolf]

I've been looking back at me venerable old Gamma World (1st ed) book, and I was struck by how perfect a match Donjon's mechanics & style match the old game- it was presented as a toolkit which would allow GM's to create their own version of Gamma World rather than present a cannon version of the setting (if memory serves, later versions of the game presented a harder and faster version of the setting).  Talk about a good match for Donjon- you can let the players make it up for you.

I was so struck by this thread's idea that I started monkeying around with a Q&D Donjon conversion myself, and in no paticular order here are some of the ideas I've been kicking around.

*  The addition of a RAD attribute score to govern mutations.  RAD determines the power and number of mutations a character can possess, and is the basis for the Radiation save.  

*  At character creation, you can pick your mutations.  Physical mutations work like normal abilities, while mental/psychic mutations work like magic.  Rad + Ability is used to gather radiation & psi energy to power them, and they work like spells.  Unlike magic, each mental mutation will have a fairly obvious set of FX to go with it, so no magic words.

*  When exposed to dangerous levels of weird radiation, characters make a Radiation save vs the intensity of the radiation.  Fialure means they suffer damage which can only be healed via mutant powers or high technology.  Success means characters with a RAD of 1+ suffer a random mutation (rolled on the glorious old mutation tables) of if they have their maximum mutations for their RAD score, one of their mutations randomly changes to another mutation.  Success for characters with 0 rad means nothing happens to them.  Total failure (all dice lower than all intensity dice) earns you a point of RAD.  Devices can be used to add to this save.

* RAD determines the technology a character can use.  8 - RAD is the maximum number of extra dice a character can gain from a device.  For example- Shambling Joe is a barely humanoid mutant covered in layers of plaited and corded fur like a Hungerian sheep dog.  His RAD is 6, so the highest technology he can use  grants only +2 extra dice to his rolls.  A mutant with a RAD of 8 is so far mutated, he can't even manipulate tools anymore.  However, his PSH gunslinger buddy with a RAD of 0 can scavenge and use tech which grants as many as 8 dice.  Its not hard to imagine a device (a rad suit or decontamination pills) which add to one's Radiation save.

* Each point of RAD carries a mutation, however until ability dice are assigned to it, it manifests as a negative mutation.  Negative mutations knock a die off related rolls.  A mutation that makes your head swell like a cantelope could cut into your Sociability rolls.  A mutation which makes your hands hard and lumpy would cut into manual Ability rolls.  Once bought as abilities, the penalty for such mutations drops off, though weird physical anomalies my persist.  Since mutations (unless otherwise specifically noted) add to RAD to determine their dice pool, its sometimes advantageous to carry negative mutations in order to get the power boost.



Something like this...


-B