Lately I've been picking up Starfinder Flip-Mats and minis from the old Star Wars Miniatures game in preparation for an upcoming project that the boys and I will embark upon. Inspired by Matt's innovative 5e adaptation and his Gamma World-esque campaign, we're going to create a sci-fi 5e system that will allow us to explore the future of the Shattered Realm campaign setting. I need to get the story squared away before we dive too deeply into the rules, but so far it's been a fun exercise. More to come!
Showing posts with label Gamma World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gamma World. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
New Campaign!
Matt's new Gamma World-inspired campaign started up over the weekend and we faced off against cuddly, spear-wielding little bears and a skyscraper-sized chicken. Can't wait to see what Matt cooks up next!
Oh, and my character is a surly badger...
Oh, and my character is a surly badger...
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Gamma-rific!
Matt has been cooking up a Gamma World-style Fifth Edition variant and it looks amazing! We're now going to put our transcontinental Shattered Realm campaign on hold while we test out his rules and campaign setting.
This campaign isn't Gamma World, but whenever I think of that radiation-infused post-apocalyptic setting, I'm reminded of a classic '90s tune from one of my favorite bands, Fountains of Wayne. Here they are with "Radiation Vibe"...
This campaign isn't Gamma World, but whenever I think of that radiation-infused post-apocalyptic setting, I'm reminded of a classic '90s tune from one of my favorite bands, Fountains of Wayne. Here they are with "Radiation Vibe"...
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
BAM!
The venerable Cyberwars campaign and its many sequels and spin-offs has been a staple of the Front Porch multiverse since 1991. About five years ago, we started up a Cyberwars storyline in a post-apocalyptic setting and used the most recent Gamma World rules for game play. The event that led to the wacky mutations that are characteristic of Gamma World was a reality-rending cataclysm known as the Baryon Asymmetry Modification -- or BAM! The idea for the BAM came from the problem that the Big Bang Theory (the actual theory, not the TV show) predicts far more matter in the universe than we can actually detect. What, then, became of this missing matter? In the campaign, all that matter came back with a vengeance. In real life, it seems, the story of the missing matter is not quite so explosive...
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Conversion
We're just barely into Fifth Edition -- still without the Player's Handbook, Dungeonmaster's Guide, and Monster Manual -- but I'm eager to turn the page on the previous era. Henceforth, I'm a one-edition kinda guy, and that edition is 5e. (Oh, and sorry, Pathfinder. You're really special, but I was just using you to make D&D jealous.)
This means that I've got some conversion work to do. All of my notes for Front Porch multiverse settings assume a 4e system, or at least a system based on 4e (such as the modern Gamma World game). My first order of business will be to update these notes so that any new multiverse campaigns (for example, something set in the Shattered Realm world) will be playable using 5e rules.
The Druid Cycle campaigns present a more difficult problem. Not everyone has a strong opinion about which rules we're using, but I know that some folks like the way their characters work in 4e. I don't want to mess with that. I don't want to pressure people into abandoning a build they enjoy, only to have them find that rebuilding the character in the new edition makes it less fun to play. (Side-note: Are there faint echoes of Obamacare here? "If you like your character build, you can keep your character build!") We probably won't know until the new PHB comes out whether it will even be possible to create a 5e character that closely mimics a given 4e build. It's going to be hard enough to turn a 4e fighter into a 5e fighter, to say nothing of the fact that quite a few races and classes from 4e simply do not exist yet in 5e -- and may never exist, for all we know. We have a couple of guys who converted their 2e and 3e/3.5e clerics into invokers. Now what? Do they convert them back into clerics?
Aside from the character quandary is the matter of expense. A lot of us (including myself) have invested our hard-earned cash in numerous 4e books. I haven't heard directly from any of our usual gang on this subject, but I expect there may be reluctance to sink money into another set of rulebooks so soon after 4e came out. (Indeed, 4e is younger than my six-year-old kid. I first saw the announcement that 4e was in development on the day after he was born.) Basic D&D is free (and I applaud Wizards for that bold decision), so the availability of Basic may mitigate this problem somewhat, but Basic includes only the fighter, cleric, rogue, and wizard classes -- not exactly a vast array of options.
So where do we go from here? How do we handle the conversion of existing Druid Cycle characters? Let me know what you think.
This means that I've got some conversion work to do. All of my notes for Front Porch multiverse settings assume a 4e system, or at least a system based on 4e (such as the modern Gamma World game). My first order of business will be to update these notes so that any new multiverse campaigns (for example, something set in the Shattered Realm world) will be playable using 5e rules.
The Druid Cycle campaigns present a more difficult problem. Not everyone has a strong opinion about which rules we're using, but I know that some folks like the way their characters work in 4e. I don't want to mess with that. I don't want to pressure people into abandoning a build they enjoy, only to have them find that rebuilding the character in the new edition makes it less fun to play. (Side-note: Are there faint echoes of Obamacare here? "If you like your character build, you can keep your character build!") We probably won't know until the new PHB comes out whether it will even be possible to create a 5e character that closely mimics a given 4e build. It's going to be hard enough to turn a 4e fighter into a 5e fighter, to say nothing of the fact that quite a few races and classes from 4e simply do not exist yet in 5e -- and may never exist, for all we know. We have a couple of guys who converted their 2e and 3e/3.5e clerics into invokers. Now what? Do they convert them back into clerics?
Aside from the character quandary is the matter of expense. A lot of us (including myself) have invested our hard-earned cash in numerous 4e books. I haven't heard directly from any of our usual gang on this subject, but I expect there may be reluctance to sink money into another set of rulebooks so soon after 4e came out. (Indeed, 4e is younger than my six-year-old kid. I first saw the announcement that 4e was in development on the day after he was born.) Basic D&D is free (and I applaud Wizards for that bold decision), so the availability of Basic may mitigate this problem somewhat, but Basic includes only the fighter, cleric, rogue, and wizard classes -- not exactly a vast array of options.
So where do we go from here? How do we handle the conversion of existing Druid Cycle characters? Let me know what you think.
Monday, December 17, 2012
2013 Game Event: Part 2
My goal for our yearlong game event is to tell a story that resonates with events in other Front Porch campaigns, past and present. If you participate in this event -- either as a player or as an observer -- you'll see a lot of familiar names and themes, and you may even learn some vital information that pertains to the storylines of your usual characters.
To keep the focus squarely on the story, I'm going to go very, very light on game mechanics. Those of you who have participated in email-based adventures know that tactical encounters tend to slow things down. Weeks or even months can pass as we slog through round after round of combat.
We do need some sort of game rules, of course, so I considered a number of options. As you know, the game will be set in the contemporary city of Demeter (home to the superheroes of Tales of the Ternion) but since it's not going to be a superhero story, I've decided against Mutants & Masterminds. It isn't sci-fi, like the Cyberwars / Ragnarok campaign, so I'm not going to use Gamma World. It seems to me that the best choice would be d20 Modern, which is well suited for a "realistic" setting and is based on the familiar D&D 3.5 rules. I'll provide more information once we get started (including a link to the rules and a quick way to create a character), but for now I'll sign off with a promise to reveal the major theme of the story in my next post in this series.
To keep the focus squarely on the story, I'm going to go very, very light on game mechanics. Those of you who have participated in email-based adventures know that tactical encounters tend to slow things down. Weeks or even months can pass as we slog through round after round of combat.
We do need some sort of game rules, of course, so I considered a number of options. As you know, the game will be set in the contemporary city of Demeter (home to the superheroes of Tales of the Ternion) but since it's not going to be a superhero story, I've decided against Mutants & Masterminds. It isn't sci-fi, like the Cyberwars / Ragnarok campaign, so I'm not going to use Gamma World. It seems to me that the best choice would be d20 Modern, which is well suited for a "realistic" setting and is based on the familiar D&D 3.5 rules. I'll provide more information once we get started (including a link to the rules and a quick way to create a character), but for now I'll sign off with a promise to reveal the major theme of the story in my next post in this series.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Anniversary Events
Now that the calendar has turned to December, we're less than a month away from our twenty-fifth anniversary. We had a few comments about options for the celebration, and a few folks voted in the poll, but I don't feel that I have a lot of data about what people would like to do. However, I used the information that I received as a starting point and came up with a preliminary plan...
- An online one-shot adventure: We'll gather in a chat room or use a free browser-based online gaming application to play a self-contained, one- or two-evening adventure. Suggestions for the rules system include Gamma World, Mutants & Masterminds, and "old school" D&D. I'd be up for running one of these events, and if anyone else is interested in gamemastering another session, just let me know. Depending on the level of interest, we could end up with a few of these throughout the year.
- A retrospective video: I have some photographs (especially from our early days), and I invite others to send photos, video clips, anecdotes, funny quotes, character sheets, maps, and anything else that you'd like to be included. I'll take whatever you give me and put it all together into a video, which I'll then provide to everyone on DVD or via a download site.
- A super-awesome top-secret experimental project: I'll give you a couple of hints now, and then more throughout the month. Here's all you're going to get for today: It will be an asynchronous (i.e., email-based) game event taking place between January and December. You can participate as a player (with a character you control) or as an observer (you get copied on the emails to keep up with the story, but don't actually control a character).
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