Gamma World 1st Edition Tech Roll Hack

While I quite like the game within a game of figuring out technology in Gamma World 1e.  It does leave something to be desired when playing online.  

Here is an interesting read about using the tables in game 

https://muleabides.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/roleplaying-artifact-use-in-gamma-world/

And here is what one of the charts looked like. 

Here's my hack.  It's a percentile roll to see if you can figure it out.  (roll under).

All characters start off with a base chance of 15% at Level 1 to figure things out.

At 1st level if you have the following intelligence you can gain extra bonus to your base chance.

3 - 5:  -5%

6 - 11:  +0%

12: +5%

13 - 16:  +10%

17 - 18:  +15% 

For every 3 levels gained you receive an extra 5% (Levels 3, 6, 9, 12 etc). 

Best case scenario a level 12 mutant will have 50% chance of figuring out tech.  Which is obviously half.  For the most part this should make it a bit swingy in terms of being able to figure things out. 

Sidenote (Because there always is one). 

Here's a Gamma World Character sheet 

https://polyhedralnonsense.com/2019/09/14/gamma-world-1st-edition-fillable-character-sheets-artifact-sheet/

  

Gamma World Content

 *All of the monsters and items are copyright (c) Wizards of the coast 1979.  All rights reserved.  This is a encounter table for use with Gamma World 1st Edition, published by TSR in 1979.  You will require this book to use this table.  I do not claim any rights over the below content. 

During my brief yet fun Gamma world game, I created a few things for it.  I will be posting them up over the next few days/posts.  I used the starter adventure area in the back of the Gamma World rulebook as a jump off point.  The first thing I did was re-create the hexmap (below).  Then I created an encounter table.  

Note:  I actually spent a few minutes retyping the encounter table only to realize that I had already posted it on the blog! hahaha.   Boy I'm getting old. 

The Trading City 

I pulled a little bit of inspiration for the trading city from Fallout New Vegas, specifically Mr. House. 

Population:  3500 mostly mutant humans, plants and droids. 

Police force:  Limited, mercenaries & security droids. 

Government:  Mother (AI brain deep in the bowels of the city). 

City started when teh first peoles found "Mother" an intelligent AI computer in an abandoned arena.  The city built up from there.  Most trade is to keep the citizens fed, robots upkeep etc.  All trade is controlled by Mother & her security droids.  Mother wants to be in control of any leftover nukes, in the area, robots & tech etc.  She needs to increase broadcast power and needs warriors to assault bases.  The city is mostly a smattering of medieval and some general technology (dish washers, power, lights).  The trading city is built on the remnants of a destroyed ancient city.   It is located on a cliff face which makes a natural barrier.  To the north is a river that runs towards other villages.  Most of the trade is down by the river area.  The balance of the city is gated with old cars and metallic garbage. 

The city is clean.  There are large screens that project propaganda by Mother.  

IT IS BETTER TO DIE THEN TO LIVE AS A CRIMINAL

ALL TECH NEEDS TO BE TURNED INTO THE THE AUTHORITY'S, ILLEGA TECH WILL BE CONFISCATED, AND THE OWNER WILL BE CONDEMNED.

STIPEND AND FOOD DELIVERED WEEKLY.  NO EXCEPTIONS 

NO SHIRT NO SHOES NO SERVICE

Passes into the city must be purchased at the gate from the guards, the price is hefty. 

Dock Area

Most boats are wooden craft pontoon style, and there are some older metal fishing style ships.   The dock is patrolled by security droids who keep a watchful eye on any trade. 

There are 4 large warehouses manned by government employees that handle most of the trade. 

General shops in the area include:  Beasts of burden, wooden carts, general clothier, small boats & canoes, canned goods, travelling supplies. 

The pub in the dock area is called the "Aluminum Kettle".  A ramshackle building made of concrete and tin.  There are 3 levels, beds are reasonably priced.  The tavern section serves a "stew", bread and an alcoholic beverage called "Galou" which tastes bad but is green and frothy. 

NPCs in bar: 

Gregor:  Part of an alliance that wants to shutdown Mother, is planning to go deep underground to find her power source and shut it off.  Is looking for scouts to check out the sewer tunnels.  Mutated Raccoon hybrid.

Nibbler:  Up to no good, doesn't discuss much, eyes the door wariliy, is on a mission to scout pure humans.  Wants to kill them.  Leaves when able to. 

Axis Strava:  Eccentric wizard type, beard.  Is in search of interesting rare objects.  Desperately wants to find an intact library.  

I have 2 small dungeons that I've started which I'll be posting up soon, with the details that I came up with.  You are welcome to fill them out if you like. 

Gamma World Wednesday Session 4 Recap

 The PCs managed to get into the city with the merchant caravan.  The Merchant Xandu appeared to pay their way.  The group split up and intended on meeting up later.  The asked a guard where the nearest tavern/inn was and found out that there was a place not far from them called the "battered Inn".  As they walked towards the inn they noticed a large moving pictures sign about 20 feet by 10 feet.  It was pixelated by kept flashing the following information on it. 

IT IS BETTER TO DIE THEN TO LIVE AS A CRIMINAL

ALL TECH NEEDS TO BE TURNED INTO THE THE AUTHORITY'S, ILLEGA TECH WILL BE CONFISCATED, AND THE OWNER WILL BE CONDEMNED.

STIPEND AND FOOD DELIVERED WEEKLY.  NO EXCEPTIONS 

NO SHIRT NO SHOES NO SERVICE

They found the battered inn, paid for a room and a promise of a second bed.  They met up with a raccoon named Gregor who told them about how he had been scouting the sewers but was too afraid to go very far.  He wants a map of the interior if possible.

Later they went to the docks and saw the merchant unloading his goods to the security guards at the large warehouse.  It was all tech that had been acquired.  They spoke briefly with grum and decided to meet up at the Aluminium kettle afterwards. 

The kettle is a hoping joint!  Lots of mutants are inside drinking and gambling.  They sat down for some canned juice and a glass of GALOU (which is a homemade alcohol popular in Nocturne).  There they met a large talking bear, who claimed that Xandu the merchant owed them money. 

The bear is an adventurer who was recently beset by large mutated spiders to the north along the river.  He was checking out some ruins there.

Grum & xandu showed up, and Xandu turned into his child like state.  Eventually grum paid off the bear.   

The crew met in the back room to discuss what was going on.  The merchant intends to leave town and go north along the river in the next 5 days.  

The PCs decided to check out the sewers and see what they could find while waiting for the merchant to leave.  There was some discussion about possibly raiding the tech warehouse and maybe weakening the city.  They may get grum involved if possible. 

The PCs went and checked out the sewers, decided on the first of 2 entrances (the more western entrance).  They found a pool filled with feces, and androids cleaning it.  The only exit was covered in a large pulsating black moss with weird twigs that would reach around the pipes.  After burning it they managed to jump thru the door into a hallway.  At the end of the hall they found a room filled with old junk, the floor was only about 5 feet, and then suddenly dropped off into nothingness. 

In the junk they found a large brass 4 handed sword (8 feet long in total) and a stained glass window worth $$$ that had a christmas scene on it.

They dragged the window down the hallway and were going to check out the western passage possibly. 

Gamma World Play Reports

Here are play reports 1 & 2 from my Gamma World game. 

We were able to get a character and hireling created for the Graymouser.  
We briefly discussed the setup of the village.  Here are the details

The village is to the north, it is called Beezeldor, and is ran by a group of 5 elders.  The main leader is named "Arlock", he is just but does not tolerate mischief, stealing or unruly behaviour.  The inhabitants of the village are a mix of PSH, Mutated Humans and Animals that are all working towards a common goal, survival. 

The village is located in the tree tops on the edge of the forest (ala Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves).  Nearby are small farms that are tended, and hunting grounds.  generally when working there are town guards out keeping an eye on things.  The PCs have come to the conclusion that there is adventure and opportunities outside of the village, and since they've only ever explored a few miles from home they are very curious as to what is out there.  A few of the PSH inhabitants are guarded around the clock from threats, as they have access to a food dispenser not far from the town.  It is a metallic plastic building with a large window, a robot dispenses food to PSH there.  The villagers are tribesman, not unlike the villagers from the isle of dread with primitive weapons albeit with some technology.  Overall the society is very communistic.  There are no cryptic alliances that you know of within the village, everyone is striving towards the common goal. 

To the southwest is a trading city, no one from the village has been there but traders have come from the city.  It sounds interesting, and a bit scary to the PCs minds.   
We started just south of the village, with the adventure hook of going out and finding some powerful technology to help the village survive and to become "elders" in the eyes of the rulers.  Whether or not the PCs come back remains up to them.  Either which way the plan is to set out and see what is out in the world, for good or bad.  

NOTE:  As far as character creation goes, you are more than welcome to create one on your own.  Once done you can email me a copy at shanepatricward AT gmail DOT com.  If you need some help we can get together via google hangouts or discord if you like.  As well you can create one hireling with one physical mutation, roll 3d6 in order for the hireling.  They are equipped with standard dagger, backpack, bow and arrows. 

Our brave heroes set off on a journey to find tech and other civilizations to help our their struggling village.  The hope is to move up the ranks of the village and one day be able to make decisions for the village and possibly rule. 

Heading to the west the PCs discovered a metallic container that was rusted and baked from the sun.  They noticed a strange chittering sound coming from a nearby long grass and discovered a GIANT beetle eating the carcass of a recently deceased elk.  Using empathy powers Skinner was able to scare the beetle away.  Artie started to cook up a elk roast. 

Carefully they metallic container was opened and building materials including wood, nails and paint thiner were found.  The players hide away their findings for later, and had a nice lunch of elk.  While having lunch they noticed movement in the bushes, and sent Hugo to investigate.  They found some feral tribesman and gave them a peace offering of lunch.  

After lunch the players kept skirting the forest and encountered a greenish haze blocking their way for a few miles to the west and east.  They turned back and moved towards the forest.  
A large rumbling started coming from off in the distance, eventually they were beset by 3 large hungry wolves.  One was blasting with a stunning smell from the skunk and went into a paralytic state.  The other 2 were quickly dispatched by the PCs.   

We left off having killed the wolves, and everyone gained 500 XP. 
Rolo is a mutated skunk, his torch bearer artie is a mutated human 
Skinner is a mutated very large rat and his torch bearer is a mutated human called Hugo. 

Enconters for Gamma World

 *All of the monsters and items are copyright (c) Wizards of the coast 1979.  All rights reserved.  This is a encounter table for use with Gamma World 1st Edition, published by TSR in 1979.  You will require this book to use this table.  I do not claim any rights over the below content. 

Looks like I'm going to be running a game on Roll20 once a week.  I'll be using Gamma World 1e, with little to no modifications.  The only thing I'm changing is the tech roll, I'm going to use a homebrew percentile roll rather than the tech table in the book.  Which is basically a game within a game.

I'll probably use discord for voice/chat and roll20 for dice rolls.  Typically I don't use battle maps in roll20, and usually stick with theatre of the mind.  The game is however a bit more tactile, so I may have to use a few maps here and there for fights only.   

I have been slowly writing up a few encounters.  While on vacation this week I'm going to write up a few small dungeons.  This should give me a decent amount of gaming. 

Note, that I do not own the copyright for Gamma World, and any of the monsters detailed below.  All rights reserved Wizard Of the Coast. 

Without further ado, here's the encounters thus far. 

1.  Over grown road, huge pile of metal objects covered in vines.  Under the foliage are the remains of a large vehicle (police riot transport).  2 Win Seen cover the area.  HP 46,41 AC 9, SONIC ATT 2D6, CONTACT POISON PARALYZE 14.  Inside the vehicle:  Skeletons with riot gear (sheath armour) AC4, Batons 1d8, med pack (1d6+1).  The Win seen give off a scent that attacks predators to protect them inadvertently.  In 1d6 rounds Dog Pigs show up hungry.  AC 8, 1d6+2 bite, HP 20.  The Dog Pigs are a cross between a wild boar and a rottweiler.  

2.  A large metatlic building with no obvious doors.  There is a computer terminal and a metal window screen.  Figuring out the terminal will require a tech roll of 15%.  A blood tester will open the window with food.  Only pure blood humans can operate the blood tester.  If the PCs wait, they will see a PSH green hman se the computer and leave.  (There is a small PSH colony nearby). 

3.  A plastic building with overgrown bush.  50 ft above is a metalic road (rail tracks).  There is an elevator inside the building that doesn't work and stairs to get to the landing.  This is basically a train station.  There are tracks that lead west to a military installation and east to a trading city.  A very good chance that there will be a half derailed train somewhere along the tracks. 

4.  West of the forest:  The next few miles are open terrain.  A low 3 ft greenish haze covers the area.  Nothing grows, the ground is rocky and treeless.  Radiation Lvl 9 if moving thru it.  Moving around it there will be the following encounters. 

Badders AC4, HD6 - Mutant badgers

Zarn AC7 HD4 spits poison. 

5.  Old car being pulled by a green large oxen.  Two human men walking alongside.  They are heading east towards the trading city.  (merchant & guard).

Guard:  Sheath armour AC4, HD8, stun rifle

Merchant:  Sheath armour AC4, HD6, dagger.  Mutation:  Double physical pain, poor dual brain (second brain takes over once in awhile, speaks slower).

Treasure:  50 Domars, 4 weeks rations, 4 stim packs, 50 arrows, textiles, office copying machine, pocket television. 

Oxen:  Photosynthetic skin, green in colour HD8.

Rumours & Information: Merchant knows of a base to the west, very radioactive but manageable  to get into.  If you skirt the perimeter and  come around from the east.  Lots of humanoids camped nearby.

The rest of their party died, killed by plants in the jungle near a van.

They are willing to pay for guards to get to the city.

6.)    Parn (mutated beetle w/thorns) AC6, HD10, 9 barbed spikes 2d6 dmg, 4 sword arms 3d6 damage.

Parn is feeding on the carcass of a 2 meter long elk.  Nearby is a storage trailer overtuned (semi).  Trailed is locked.  Inside are crates of canned food, jug of gasoline, 100 domars, 2 tear gas grenades. 

7.)  Strewn about are the corpses of humanoids. Chewed body parts are everywhere.  One of them has a hand written note detailing a spy operation on the locals (PCs village).  these were archivists, they were killed by Zoopremists. 

8.)  Frenzied robot building something large & mechanical made out of scrap metal, car parts,etc.  Robot is very busy and won't answer any questions, just keeps working.  It will only answer "no time, there is no time for this".  He can be reprogrammed with a chip.  Worker Bot AC3 HD9. 

9.) Burrowhill:  Large hill with multiple holes, surrounded by wood fencing with spikes.  Home of ground hog mutants, they are standoffish but friendly if offered food.  They can heal players 1d6 hp a day.  AC 9 HD2 daggers/bow & arrows.

10.)  Group of tribesmen - Hiding in trees and bushes, 8 total.  AC6 HD3