Friday, December 18, 2009

Those Crazy Gamma World Charts

You know the ones I'm talking about:
These nearly amount to a game within a game. If it isn't obvious, or you don't remember or haven't seen 'em, they're the charts to consult when a player is trying to discover how to use an artifact. Basically, you'd roll on them up to a maximum of 5 times, at which point if you haven't figured it out by getting to "F" (you start at "S"), you can work at it for a straight hour (as long as you aren't interrupted) and you'll have figured it out. Die rolls take into consideration intelligence and mutations.

I haven't seen anything like this in an rpg that came before it or since. Mutant Future btw, uses a more familiar d% system, with base chances for the item's "Complexity Class", also taking into consideration INT and mutations.

Still, they make me smile.

8 comments:

squidman said...

They are creations of a madman! Don't look at them, they'll steal your soul!!!

Timeshadows said...

I have only recently begun to appreciate their (mad) genius. :)

Don Snabulus said...

This is what happens when you let project managers design a game.

JDJarvis said...

I love those charts. They are just missing a little bit of evocative information that would make them more entertaining.
The boxes could have bits like "oh, it beeped" or "Tab A does go into slot 4", "I don't think it's supposed to make that smell"

ze bulette said...

JD: I think that's part of the charm of these charts - they encourage you to do a litte extra role playing along the lines you were thinking. In game play I just improvised based on the device but a unique table to complement this might be fun too.

Chris said...

Didn't the same (or at least remarkably similar) charts see use in Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

ze bulette said...

Chris: Quite right- I'd forgotten about those. I'll post 'em up.

Yesmar said...

For the record, Gary Jaquet addressed the criticism that the artifact use charts developed for Gamma World were too difficult/unwieldy by producing a new artifact use chart. This new system appears in Dragon, Vol. III, No. 11, as "GAMMA WORLD ARTIFACT USE CHART."

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