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Gamma World
Gamma World was one of the first non-AD&D games that I ever purchased (the other was Traveller); I bought a copy of it in 1984 shortly after I finished Coast Guard Basic Training. I've always liked post-holocaust settings, and games set in them have a special appeal to me. Gamma World has become a favorite of mine practically since the moment I bought it, and I have run several campaigns over the years. (For the most recent one, which actually ran only a couple of sessions before dying in early 2004, click here.)
That first boxed set was the 2nd Edition version of the game. Years later TSR released a 3rd Edition (which I didn't like very much) and then a 4th Edition. The latter is my favorite, in part because it is compatable with AD&D 2nd Edition (my favorite version of D&D). There were a couple of subsequent editions of Gamma World, including a couple for the current d20 system, but I don't have much experience with them.
(Actually, I don't use the game "as-is" much anymore anyway; a couple of years ago, I started converting my Gamma World material into GURPS, which is my current game system of choice.)
MODULES
There have been several modules published for the Gamma World game, all of varying quality. Some are really good; others are just downright silly and/or don't make any sense to me. The ones that I have copies of are listed below, with my comments on them.
- Rite of Passage: This campaign pack came with the 2nd Edition Rules and is set in and around the city of Pittsburgh. The PCs start out as primitive tribesmen with a culture and technology similar to that of the Highland Clans of Scotland. I like this setting, and tend to use it when I want to run an extended campaign that focuses upon character development.
- The Cavern of the Sub-Train: An adventure from an old issue of Dragon Magazine, it basically covers exploring a (relatively short) section of an Ancient trans-continental subway line. It isn't really location-specific, so I will occasionally drop it into a campaign now and then.
- GWAC1 -- The Albuquerque Starport: The PCs are travelling in the Southwest when they encounter the remains of an Ancient spaceport near the ruined city of Albuquerque. I really like this adventure and have used it several times; my wife hates it, in large part due to some of the monsters encountered.
- GW1 -- The Legion of Gold: My all-time favorite Gamma World module, set in southeastern Wisconsin. Like Rite of Passage, I have heavily modified and expanded upon this module; it now takes up an entire 3-ring binder.
- GW2 -- Famine in Far-Go: This module appears to be intended more as a one-shot than the starting point extended campaign. Although the module never actually comes out and specifies where it takes place, it is set in eastern North and South Dakota. I don't mind it much, although I find the giant humanoid chickens that serve as the module's villain to be a bit of a stretch. I usually modify the module to serve as the starting point for a campaign that continues with Alpha Factor (below).
- GW3 -- The Cleansing War of Garik Blackhand: Set in what used to be Yellowstone National Park, this module involves humanoid tribesmen trying to deal with an active anti-mutant crusade by the local Knights of Genetic Purity.
- GW4 -- The Mind Masters: This adventure takes place along the Mississippi River. I seldom if ever use it, but may someday combine elements of it with some from Beta Principle.
- GW6 -- Alpha Factor: The first of the Quest for the Cities of Man series of modules designed for use with the 3rd Edition of the Gamma World rules, in which the PCs are recruited to investigate a mysterious tower of the Ancients. I read somewhere that this and several of the other modules in the series are set in the American southwest, but for my own reasons I like to set it in north-central North Dakota, with the Mindkeep facility being located just south of Minot.
- GW7 -- Beta Principle: Supposedly the second in the Quest for the Cities of Man series, but it doesn't really fit in very well and can easily be used on its own. I don't use it very often; when I do, I usually place it in northern Illinois as a follow-up to Legion of Gold.
- GW8 -- Gamma Base: The third in the Quest for the Cities of Man series, and the second that really fits into the series. The PCs are exploring a giant subterranean facility that I place beneath the ruins of Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota.
- GW9 -- Delta Fragment: The fourth in the Quest for the Cities of Man series, and supposedly located to the west of [b]Alpha Factor[/b]. In my campaign, that would place it in eastern Montana.
- GW10 -- Epsilon Cyborgs: The fifth of the Quest for the Cities of Man series takes place in a frozen wasteland south of Delta Fragment and west of Gamma Base...western South Dakota / eastern Wyoming in my campaign.
- GWQ2 -- All Animals Are Equal: I think that this is supposed to be set somewhere in Ohio, but for my own purposes I generally place it on the location of the Minnesota Zoo near Minneapolis.