# Best edition of Gamma world?



## zonetrooper1 (Feb 1, 2011)

I owned the very first edition of Gamma world back in the day and played the second edition a few times, but we never really progressed much beyond that point. Now I've been looking around the Internet to see what edition I would want to get to play some adventures with my sons and I'm not sure which one I want. What was the best edition of Gamma world? Is there much of a difference between the 2nd and 3rd editions?

Keep in mind, I'm leaving pathfinder to return to AD&D 2e and I haven't been real happy with much of anything d20.

So what do you think?


----------



## scruffygrognard (Feb 1, 2011)

I dug 4th edition Gamma World (the TSR version from the early 90s). The problem is that it's hard to find and a little pricey once you do:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Gamma-World-Rules-Book-7514/dp/1560764015/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1W6MQWECICU21&colid=S6O0NPENPIYH"]Amazon Link[/ame]


----------



## zonetrooper1 (Feb 1, 2011)

cperkins said:


> I dug 4th edition Gamma World (the TSR version from the early 90s). The problem is that it's hard to find and a little pricey once you do:
> 
> Amazon Link




Oh I know, it's nuts the prices they ask sometimes. I just want to play it you know? They act like it's got gold trim or something. Every now and again I can find someone on ebay who really has no idea what it is and I can get it at a good price. Not often enough though.


----------



## Twowolves (Feb 1, 2011)

There was a massive difference between 2nd and 3rd editions, with the latter going with a universal task resolution chart (like Marvel Super Heroes). I'd say 4th ed was the best, if not 2nd ed (but that may just be nostaldia). 4th ed is missing skills and is very much a beta version of 3rd ed D&D/3.X in places, but with a page from the SIEGE engine from Castles and Crusades, I think it should be more than doable.

And I have no idea why it would be so expensive now. I was buying up used copies at used book stores every chance I got back int he 90's, so I probably have 3-4 copies of the core rules and at least 1 of every sourcebook and adventure.

But then again, I am an old school Gamma World fan.


----------



## Lancelot (Feb 1, 2011)

The current version. Fun, fast and thematic.


Random character generation that still guarantees that every character played can be useful and cool.
High production values: great art, excellent poster maps, concise and very readable rules.
Keeps what is good about 4e D&D (some semblence of balance, variety of PC actions, fast prep time for the DM, less fragile low-level PCs) and bins what is bad about 4e D&D (healing surge management, combat complexity and length, bland classes).
Alpha Flux and Omega Tech are terrific in play; great random elements.
Easily skinned to either a serious post-apocalyptic game, a complete gonzo freak-show, or something in-between (e.g. the Fallout CRPG).


----------



## Diamond Cross (Feb 1, 2011)

I really enjoyed third edition of Gamma World.


----------



## Erik Mona (Feb 1, 2011)

I liked Jonathan Tweet's OMEGA WORLD in Polyhedron years back. A nice, simple distillation of the rules and good for one-off play.

--Erik


----------



## Reynard (Feb 2, 2011)

I'm biased toward GWd20 because I worked on it but my favorite is TSR 4E. I bought and am itching to try the D&D4E version -- despite not much liking 4E-- but haven't had a chance to play it yet.


----------



## Whizbang Dustyboots (Feb 2, 2011)

Erik Mona said:


> I liked Jonathan Tweet's OMEGA WORLD in Polyhedron years back. A nice, simple distillation of the rules and good for one-off play.



Is that still available anywhere? I remember hearing a lot of good things about it, similar to the (mostly) positive things about the one-system Spelljammer riff.


----------



## scourger (Feb 2, 2011)

Erik Mona said:


> I liked Jonathan Tweet's OMEGA WORLD in Polyhedron years back. A nice, simple distillation of the rules and good for one-off play.




Yep, Omega World is a great game.  And, it is nice to see a compliment from the publisher.  I bought 3 copies, and it is a steal of a download for $4.95:

http://paizo.com/dungeon/products/issues/2002/v5748btpy7zeq

I would run or play it again in a minute, d20 & all.  The defects can be a little harsh, and I reduced them in a past game.  In the future, I would further reduce or eliminate them; although they are very flavorful and "classic" GW.  I especially love that all my D&D & Star Wars minis could get reused with their simple stat cards.  

I ran a mini-campaign of it using the adventures from the Alternity Gamma World book.  That version had a great setting & story, but I didn't "grok" the Alternity rules.

The current Gamma World is very fun, too.  I like the fire & forget nature of the easy rules.  And, the use of counters and maps makes it very easy to bring to the table.  It feels a little light for ongoing character development, though; but it seems deliberate in the game design.  The boxed sets (2) are currently available, and the 3rd is coming this month.  There is a lot of information available if you web search, too.    

Either of there versions would be very fun for you, I think.


----------



## Achan hiArusa (Feb 11, 2011)

They all have their charms.  I have 1st, 3rd, 4th, and Alternity in my collection with bits and pieces of 2nd and all the modules.  I still haven't bought the new one yet.


----------



## zonetrooper1 (Feb 11, 2011)

Achan hiArusa said:


> They all have their charms. I have 1st, 3rd, 4th, and Alternity in my collection with bits and pieces of 2nd and all the modules. I still haven't bought the new one yet.




I had the first four, that all got lost in a move, but I only ever played the first and a little of the second. I'll probably end up buying the 3rd edition because it is the easiest to find on ebay and I'll still be able to use the dragon material with it. I hear 4th is the ideal edition but the only copy I can find on ebay is in Brazil and is $70. A little steep for my blood.


----------



## Walking Dad (Feb 11, 2011)

Nice to not see an edition war here.

I have not much experience with the older edition or retro-clones, but I really like the newest incarnation and the one from the Dungeon magazine.

Related question:

What is Gamma World about for you?

Serious apocalyptic gaming?
Weird fun adventures?

Anything else?


----------



## zonetrooper1 (Feb 11, 2011)

Walking Dad said:


> Nice to not see an edition war here.
> 
> I have not much experience with the older edition or retro-clones, but I really like the newest incarnation and the one from the Dungeon magazine.
> 
> ...




Pretty much serious apocalyptic gaming for me. I cut my teeth on the B-movies of the 80's and 90's so gowd knows I am steeped in the post-apocalyptic cheese of the time, and that's pretty much what I am looking for in my Gamma World game, minus some of the cheese of course. A boy and his dog, Metal Storm, Cyborg, and Ator just to name a few. The syfy channel tries to capture that feel in the crap they hand out today but they have never been able to capture the charm that those films had.

We used to us a city map of our town as our campaign world, which kind of got creepy at times because the GM was able to describe the desolation of an area but it was a place we were all to familiar with.

I was very disappointed when they introduced the mutant plant crap and I was even more disappointed when mutant animals stopped being humanoid. I'm nut much of a fan of the D20 system so I probably wont be messing with the new one at all.


----------



## Reynard (Feb 11, 2011)

When I run PA I tend toward He'll Comes to Frogtown, Six String Samurai and Road Warrior, with a good dose of Fallout 1 & 2 and Wasteland PC games. I actually don't like wahoo PCs but do like wahoo settings and adventures.


----------



## Achan hiArusa (Feb 11, 2011)

Pretty much we lay logic aside, just accept the world as it is, and have fun with it.  Whether it is exploring or rebuilding the world.  I don't mind the mutant plants or nonhumanoid animals, and I opened up the character creation system allowing androids, some of the races that were monsters, and symbiotic plants in addition.


----------



## geoidesic (May 6, 2020)

I've created a 3rd edition character sheet for Roll20: Roll20


----------



## DammitVictor (May 6, 2020)

My favorite is 4th. The next edition-- Alternity-- is alright if you can find a copy of _Mutant Moose and Gamma Squirrel_.

I don't have any experience with earlier editions, and the later ones are _aggressively unfaithful_ to the source material. If you're not dead set on a d20 version, stick to 4th or 5th; if you want to try d20 rules, I've heard good things about _Omega World_.


----------



## geoidesic (May 6, 2020)

wrt The OP's question on the differences between 2nd and 3rd ed...

3rd edition was a major departure. It has a completely different and unique rules and dice system that you won't find in any other game. This was simultaneously its best and worst feature. For some reason it has an immense appeal but the rules themselves were full of inconsistencies, errors and contradictions. Even after the errata was published it didn't feel like a finished game. However there's something about the system which is more exciting than d20-based systems. One has the feeling that anything can happen, so it feels dangerous and exciting. I loved it, despite its flaws.

I've not played other editions, however reading through the more recent editions I get the feeling these have been watered down and lack that exciting edge that 3rd edition has.

This is the reason I created the character sheet (as mentioned in my post above). I actually also created a compendium for the character sheet which fixes many of the problems in the original rules. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to publish it as it would infringe copyright.


----------



## Snarf Zagyg (May 6, 2020)

The answer is first edition.


What was the question?


----------



## atanakar (May 6, 2020)

I really enjoyed the 7e (d&d4e). We played a few games and had fun. I vaguely remember playing the version with the bunnies a using  hunting rifles illustration.


----------



## Todd Roybark (May 7, 2020)

I played a lot of 2e GW, and loved 3e.  The Techno Knight on an armored mutated feline, on the 3e GW  is a classic piece of TSR artwork.

7e GW, while I appreciated, how quickly one could jump into the game, felt like a one shot style game, not something that would sustain a long campaign.

Arcana of the Ancients, a Monte Cook Games product could serve as the basis of a 5e based set of rules for GW.  It covers mutations and has hundreds of Techno-Magic...and for 7e GW lovers is partially written by Bruce Cordel.


----------



## Richards (May 7, 2020)

atanakar said:


> I vaguely remember playing the version with the bunnies a using hunting rifles illustration.



That would be first edition, and to me that is the definitive illustration of a hoop (the humanoid bunny).




Johnathan


----------



## Retreater (May 7, 2020)

Todd Roybark said:


> I played a lot of 2e GW, and loved 3e.  The Techno Knight on an armored mutated feline, on the 3e GW  is a classic piece of TSR artwork.
> 
> 7e GW, while I appreciated, how quickly one could jump into the game, felt like a one shot style game, not something that would sustain a long campaign.
> 
> Arcana of the Ancients, a Monte Cook Games product could serve as the basis of a 5e based set of rules for GW.  It covers mutations and has hundreds of Techno-Magic...and for 7e GW lovers is partially written by Bruce Cordel.



I might be the exception, but I loved 7e GW and ran a successful "long-term" campaign with it (meaning it went on for several months and the characters reached max level). It's probably my preferred way to play using the base 4e mechanics.


----------



## atanakar (May 7, 2020)

Retreater said:


> I might be the exception, but I loved 7e GW and ran a successful "long-term" campaign with it (meaning it went on for several months and the characters reached max level). It's probably my preferred way to play using the base 4e mechanics.




Totally agree. That iteration of D&D 4e works really well with Gamma World.


----------



## darjr (May 7, 2020)

I love the first edition of gamma world, largely for nostalgia reasons, but also because it was both serious and silly. Or either depending upon our needs.

The D&D 4e one is, imho, the very best version of D&D 4e and a fantastic Gamma World.


----------



## Maxperson (May 7, 2020)

My favorite edition was the 2nd edition.  I thought it was fantastic.


----------



## John Desmarais (May 7, 2020)

I think my personal favorite might actually not be _Gamma World_, but _Mutant Future_, which is a _Gamma World_ inspired Labyrinth Lord derivative.


----------



## Gilladian (May 7, 2020)

My only problem with the Gamma World version for 4e DnD was the randomly changing mutations. When we played  a short campaign (I think it lasted 3 sessions), we ditched that aspect, and otherwise really enjoyed it (even though I disliked 4e D&D).


----------



## Richards (May 7, 2020)

I've only ever played the first and second editions of Gamma World, but when we played we used rules from both.  I'm currently running my D&D 3.5 players through Gamma Terra as a five-session story arc, using Gamma World concepts and creatures but the 3.5 rules set.

Johnathan


----------



## Randomthoughts (May 7, 2020)

zonetrooper1 said:


> What was the best edition of Gamma world?



My ideal GW was 7e (with house rules) combined with the lore and "old school feel" of 2e and 4e.  I ran it serious, but (obviously) not realistic. 

7e is the one based on simplified 4e D&D rules. Like a few others, I dropped rotating Alpha Mutations and house ruled Omega Tech so they were less fire-and-forget. Plus, I HAD to use the classic Artifacts Table. Otherwise, the rules worked perfectly and was easy to GM and make stuff up in terms of mutations, artifacts and creatures.


----------



## Reynard (May 8, 2020)

John Desmarais said:


> I think my personal favorite might actually not be _Gamma World_, but _Mutant Future_, which is a _Gamma World_ inspired Labyrinth Lord derivative.



Mutant Future is truly a wonderful game.


----------



## aramis erak (May 9, 2020)

I'll note that there's a T&T: GammaTrollWorld. Which was published by James Shipman... a notorious-to-the-T&T-fans IP pirate. Other than being an obvious moneygrab, it's not bad. I didn't know he was a pirate at the time I ordered it.


----------

