From: ahankin1@cc.swarthmore.edu (A. Luke Hankins)
Subject: Re: Gamma World
Organization: Swarthmore College
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 18:11:42 GMT

ejd@yabba (eRic Donaldson) writes:


>I have a few questions for all you old gamma world hackers out there.
>I just started a campaign last night with my roommate and some others.
>Anyway, it's been a while since I've run GW, and I have a few
>questions on how to run it smoothly and quickly.  I am using the 3rd
>edition rules (the one with the pretty all-purpose chart), mainly b/c
>I haven't found the 4th edition yet.

>1.  When characters attack those evil monsters and mutants in melee, the
>rules state that the characters use their rank, plus character's phys
>strength modifier, minus defenders DX modifier.  Now, if the
>characters are rank 1, which is what they start out at, it seems that
>it is almost impossible for them to hit/damage the defenders,
>especially when question 2 (below) is taken into account.  So, am I
>doing this right, or missing something crucial.  And for the flip
>side, it seems that monsters use their hit dice for the attacking
>column, making it likely that the characters will be hit.

yes, this is all true. however, there are mutations and talents that can
allay this a little bit. i suppose that the most important thing here is
that you keep the character's weakness in mind when planning the adventures
- get them thinking for the first bits of their adventure. also in this is
the idea that they don't have to attack all npc's. i give pc's xp's equal to
the npc's morale times the number of npc's for each parley encounter.
 you might also notice that starting pc's have _way_ higher hp's than the
npc's they'll encounter...

>2.  The rules also state that for each AC, 5 points of damage is
>absorbed.  This seems like an awful high amount.  Especially if it's
>hard for characters to hit.

yes, this is high. in my opinion toohigh and unrealistic. however this does
encourage teamwork and group efforts in defeating a beastie (note that the
damage subtraction is per round, not per attack.) because of the "unreal"
factor, however, i have changed this to 3x AC per _attack_, and have found
this to work _extremely_ well.

>3.  What is a Mental Shock, or rather, what are its effects?  This
>happens with a Gamma Eye, I believe.  For every mental attack that is
>successful, does the defender save with their mental strength?

_every_ mental attack. yes. i think the rules for shock are in the rules.
mental shock acts as shock except where the rules say physical, you use
mental.  if they aren't (i don't have my stuff with me...) then i'm sure you
can figure some appropriate rule.

>4.  For the mutations, each mutation has an ability that is used to
>modify it.  Does this apply to both the attacker and the defender?  If
>it applies to just one, what does the other get to use?

i'm not quite sure what you mean...

 the attacker modifies the mutation score by PS/MS mod and the mod listed in
the description (at least, the way i use them...). the defender (if
defending with a mutation) gets their own mods. eg: attacker uses Radiation
eyes at a modified rank of 12, the defender has Radiation absorption at
modified rank of 10. an attack roll is made and then a save, by the defender
on column 10. if the defender does not choose to recieve this attack, his
dex mod is subtracted from the attack roll, because it is a physical attack.
aside from trained abilities (skills or talents) or mutations, there is no
defensive modifier for mental attacks.

>Well, that's it for now.  I'm sure I'll have more as time goes on.
>That is, of course, if I can speed up the combat.  It took 45 minutes,
>real-world time, for 5 characters to destroy 2 hissers.  SLOW!

>thanks for your help and prompt replies.

hope things go well. i've put a lot of time and effort into GW3d. if you
have any other questions (and have found this useful), feel free to ask.

>---

>eRic [sic] Donaldson
>(ejd@babypuss.mitre.org)


-- 
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===Starman-* 		|	ahankin1@cc.swarthmore.edu
			|	tnx luke
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