Second Thoughts About Gamma World 1e

Gamma World 1e is an early TTRPG product.

It shows.

I had plans to run Gamma World 1e sometime this year. To kick the tires on the system, I made a couple of characters for the 2026 Character Creation Challenge. There were issues.

I no longer have plans to run Gamma World 1e for the foreseeable future.

I wonder if my players would revolt if I dropped their OSE characters into Gamma World?

There are loads of things missing from the rule book. No starting equipment. No starting funds. No equipment lists to use the non-existent starting funds on. Good luck figuring out what a new character starts off with!

There is the argument that Gamma World 1e emphasizes the magic items technological artifacts acquired from dungeon delving exploring post-apocalyptic ruins. This argument misses the point. The rule book does not reveal what a character has going into their first ancient ruin.

Equipment and related rules could be imported from D&D or AD&D, but Gamma World 1e was released as a separate game system. I would feel differently if it were marketed as a D&D or AD&D supplement, but it wasn't. As it stands, both gamemasters and players were expected to already own and have a working knowledge of D&D or AD&D before picking up this product.

It is obviously possible to work around these flaws. Folks have been running Gamma World 1e since it came out in the days of yore. On the other hand, my criticisms come from a round of character creation. It's certainly not ready to go straight out of the box. Running a game of Gamma World 1e potentially calls for more work than I'm willing to invest in it at this time.

All this gets Gamma World 1e kicked firmly into the "later, maybe" of the "games I'll be running anytime soon" category for me. That's a pity. I enjoy running older games from time to time. It satisfies my limited sense of nostalgia and helps to preserve the memory of these games. At this point, I'm wondering if the lack of complete rules contributed to Gamma World 1e remaining a niche product in the TSR lineup and a relative footnote in TTRPG history.

Getting Back Into Magic After a Brief (30 Year) Hiatus

Sorry about the lack of updates, y'all. The gambling addiction that menaced my youth has resurfaced to threaten the sanity and finances of my current self. I speak, of course, of Magic the Gathering (MtG). And I have my own flesh and blood to blame!

Let's back up a bit.

The first boosters I bought since Homelands. Photo taken back in February.

"A planes walking wizard! Prepare to duel!"
"Stay thy hand! I wish only to parley."
"Okay. Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Where am I? I awakened to find myself in this strange, yet familiar place."
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"The Dark. The fall of empires. An age of ice. Homelands. I ended up frozen in a glacier."
"Wow. You've been out of the game for a long time. At least thirty years."
"WHAT?!"

I'm coming back to MtG after a thirty year gap. And processing the past three decades of the game's developments - it's a lot.

I lay the blame on two of my children and my wife. One of my sons expressed interest in the Final Fantasy expansion. My daughter bought him a Final Fantasy starter set for Christmas. I pulled my thirty year old collection out of storage to show it to him. Then I looked into what was out there for MtG and made the mistake of mentioning the existence of the Doctor Who expansion to my wife.

My wife is a lifelong Doctor Who fan.

And then the buying frenzy started. We've sent way too much money to Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and stores that sell their products.

Of course, I'm overstating things for comedic effect. I take full responsibility for my part in our family's MtG antics. I'm just not taking all the blame.

We've implemented a budget to keep the MtG spending under control. One thing I've done personally is curb the number of boosters I've been buying. Boosters are fine if the goal is to bulk out a collection, but they're a gamble if the goal is getting a specific card. Buying the particular card needed for a deck gets to the point much more efficiently. Something else I'm doing is looking for deals on booster bundles and pre-release packs. It's still a gamble, but it's cheaper than buying the boosters individually.


"Help me get my bearings. What's the latest expansion?"
"In universe, that would be Secrets of Strixhaven. The current one is a Universes Beyond product."
"Universes Beyond?"
"WotC started releasing products not set in Dominaria or any other in-setting plane awhile back."
"You mean like Arabian Nights?"
"More like licensed properties."
"Licenses carefully curated to fit into the existing Magic setting?"
"No."
"Can you give me an example?"
"The current Universes Beyond product is Marvel Superheroes."
"Like Marvel Comics?"
"Yes, although there are movies now."
"..."
"It's set in New York City."
"Okay. What about the one before that?
"Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles."
"Are you fucking serious?"
"Also set in New York City."
"TMNT's still around? They were overexposed thirty years ago!"
"What can I say? What goes around, comes around?"

I'm not a fan of every IP featured in Universe Beyond (UB). There are some I like and others I have no interest in, but I don't begrudge others the joy they feel when they see their favorites on cardboard. I feel the same joy when I see my favorites on MtG cards.

And, let's face it, UB isn't going anywhere as long as it makes Hasbro's investors money.


"Walk with me, my Commander pod is meeting up in the next town."
"Commander? Is that another game like Magic?"
"Oh, yeah. I should explain formats."

There's a bunch of different ways to play MtG these days. I'm not going through a complete list, because it's a long one. Let's focus on the ones I've actually played.

My main focus is Commander due to its social aspect. Basically it's casual multiplayer MtG with some modified rules. Commander started off as Elder Dragon Highlander, a game developed to kill time in between tournament rounds. WotC made it an official format awhile back and now it can't be put back in the bottle. The feel is similar to a board game. Perfect for a beer and pretzels night when a TTRPG session gets cancelled.

We've also played Draft as a way to justify all the boosters we've been buying. Everybody shows up with three booster packs, opens them, passes them around picking cards, tries to make a functioning deck with the resulting pile of cardboard (adding basic lands as necessary), pairs off, and plays. Dueling like this is closer to my old MtG days. My son is far better at it than I am.

Limited is also fun. It uses Jumpstart booster packs made for purpose. Each player buys two Jumpstart packs, opens them, shuffles them together, pairs off, and plays. Quick and easy. All it takes is money, but Jumpstart boosters offer more cardboard for fewer dollars.


"What happened to all the flavor text on the cards?"
"Officially, the Magic's increasing complexity demands that explaining what the card does gets priority over presenting lore."
"That seems reasonable."
"Personally, I think it's because worldbuilding doesn't make money."

Buckle up! It's rant time!

Not putting flavor text on cards does more damage to Magic's story than anything else, including UB. A player can easily go through an expansion with little idea of what happened in universe. Most of the story is told on the MtG site. Secrets of Strixhaven was the first set in years to be featured in a novel. Other than that, fans are left to hunt down the story.

Mark Rosewater's explanation that the space is needed for rules text is reasonable for mechanically complex pieces. But the nth reprint of a straightforward card? A quote, a short description, or tiny vignette sheds a ray of light into what's happening in a set.

The decades-long move away from flavor text puts much of the burden on the art. Returning characters are easily recognizable thanks to the work of the artists, but new ones need to be important enough to warrant their own cards for us to learn their names. The art alone can't provide the context needed to justify an Old West setting. The artists did a beautiful job with Aetherdrift, but players were left bewildered at the presence of car races in their fantasy setting. And players might not realize why the set symbol for Edge of Eternities is a black hole without knowing the lore.

With flavor text, reading the card explains the setting. It's not a substitute for longer texts that offer more detail, but it plays its own small role in conveying the story.


"Black Lotus still unbelievably expensive?"
"Oh, yeah."

It's somehow comforting to know that the Power Nine will always be out of reach of the vast majority of us.


"WotC spent awhile kicking itself in the tender bits and otherwise self-sabotaging the image it presents to its own customer base. Much of it involved D&D, but there have been plenty of mishaps involving Magic. More misprints. Delays in shipping exclusive products like Secret Lair."
"Secret Lair?"
"Limited availability cardboard. Exclusive to the MtG site. People get up early just to get a place in the virtual line. WotC typically runs out of stock while folks are still waiting to check out with one in their cart."
"Fucking late stage capitalism."
"Yeah. There was also the Pinkerton thing awhile back. That really stood out."
"The Pinkertons? Those union busting thugs who commit thuggery for corporate money and never meet a civil right they wouldn't trample? Those Pinkertons?"
"The very same. Oh, and speaking of union busting..."
"SON OF A..."

WotC can't seem to resist stepping on rakes. There seems to be a PR incident ranging from "black eye" to "disaster" once a quarter, at least.

I've spent years despising WotC over Dungeons & Dragons. Now I get to sneer with contempt at them for a completely different set of reasons.


"Oh, they have spacecraft now."
"Like in Star Trek?"
"Oh, that doesn't come out until November."

Edge of Eternities is one of my favorite sets and I'm looking forward to the Star Trek expansion. Yes, spacecraft don't fit the fantasy vibe. Don't care.

2026 Character Creation Challenge Speed Run: Another NPC Adventuring Party for OSE

Entries for January 13-18.

This is another rival, but not necessarily evil, party of NPC adventurers for use in our ongoing OSE Advanced Fantasy campaign. The previous bunch were made up of traditional character classes and backgrounds. This one experiments with some of the new stuff introduced in various issues of Carcass Crawler. I used Necrotic Gnome's NPC generator to create the initial stats and modified them to fit, since it doesn't offer the full range of options I was trying out. I also used Fantasy Name Generators to inspire the names. As before, all alignments are listed as to be determined (TBD).

This was the only photo with my copies of Carcass Crawler that I had handy.

Cleeg, Goblin Assassin

Level 3 Assassin (NPC)
Armour Class 7 [12] (leather armour + shield)
Hit Points 7
Attacks 1 × dagger (1d4)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D11 W12 P11 B16 S13
Alignment TBD
STR 10 INT 9 WIS 7
DEX 9 CON 9 CHA 10
Items None

Cleeg is underwhelming as an assassin, but the talents from his goblin heritage go some way to making up for that. He mainly serves as a scout while looking for a chance to strike from the shadows. Cleeg's biggest worry is that somebody will discover that he owes his training not to the Assassin's Guild, but to a secret cabal of goblins who operate in competition to them.


Vester Costigan, Mutoid Thief

Level 3 Thief (NPC)
Armour Class 2 [17] (leather armour)
Hit Points 8
Attacks 1 × two-handed sword (1d10+1) or sling (1d4+1)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D13 W14 P13 B16 S15
Alignment TBD
STR 12 INT 9 WIS 11
DEX 18 CON 9 CHA 12
Items Two-handed sword +1, Sling +1
Special Scales

Vester is descended from a noble family that was on the losing side of a secession dispute. They ended up being imprisoned and experimented on by the new court wizard. Another regime change resulted in them being released. With nowhere else to turn, the surviving Costigans came to live in the hidden spaces of the capitol. Vester dreamed of becoming a great warrior, but found himself employed as an enforcer by the Thieves' Guild. He finds the life of an adventurer to be more to his liking.


"Crown of Thorns" Mycelian Cleric

Level 3 Cleric (NPC)
Armour Class 4 [15] (chainmail + shield)
Hit Points 9
Attacks 1 × mace (1d6+2) or 1 × spell
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D11 W12 P14 B16 S15
Alignment TBD
STR 16 INT 11 WIS 15
DEX 9 CON 12 CHA 11
Spells cure light wounds (cause light wounds), light (darkness)
Items Chainmail + 1

"Crown of Thorns" isn't their name, but simply what others call them. Exactly how Crown joined a major church and rose up to be an adventuring warrior-priest is something that they are keeping to themselves. However, his status is accepted without question by members of his church. Crown normally casts the reversed form of light to counter their sensitivity to bright light. They are also seeking leads on something called an "umbrella" to help with sunlight exposure.


Ornella, Tiefling Bard

Level 3 Bard (NPC)
Armour Class 2 [17] (chainmail)
Hit Points 15
Attacks 1 × sword (1d8+2)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D13 W14 P13 B16 S15
Alignment TBD
STR 10 INT 10 WIS 9
DEX 16 CON 11 CHA 14
Spells entangle, speak with animals [See Advanced Fantasy]
Items Sword +2 (Venger) [See Advanced Fantasy]

Ornella sees herself as a warrior poet. She's not far off with her swift movements and prized magical sword. That stated, she's still a hit whenever she performs with her lyra.


Caeda Varajor, Wood Elf Ranger

Level 3 Ranger (NPC)
Armour Class 6 [13] (leather armour)
Hit Points 12
Attacks 1 × two-handed sword (1d10+3) or spear (1d6+3)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Alignment TBD
STR 16 INT 9 WIS 14
DEX 15 CON 10 CHA 14
Items Ring of Spell Turning, Two-handed sword +1 (+3 vs Regenerating Creatures), Spear +1

Caeda has used a bow since childhood, but prefers the heft of a greatsword in battle and the solid feel of a spear while hunting. The forest is home to her, but the dungeon is a relatively new experience. Her only failing is that she sometimes gets in over her head.


Ashlee, Dragonborn Fighter

Level 3 Fighter (NPC)
Armour Class 2 [17] (plate mail + shield)
Hit Points 17
Attacks 1 × Rod of Lordly Might as mace (1d6+2)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Alignment TBD
STR 16 INT 11 WIS 9
DEX 10 CON 12 CHA 12
Items Rod of Lordly Might [See Advanced Fantasy]

Ashlee is a proud and brave warrior who seeks glory and wealth as an adventurer. Unfortunately, her family are a line of professional soldiers. There's no overt pressure for her to conform - the real black sheep are the ones who turned to mercenary work - but the support Ashlee receives from her family is less than enthusiastic. This bothers her, but not enough to turn her away from what she sees as her calling.


Another six characters done, thirteen remaining!

2026 Character Creation Challenge Speed Run: NPC Adventuring Party for OSE

Entries for January 7-12.

Sometimes a GM needs a NPC adventuring party handy. They could be rivals, allies, enemies, or just passing through. These are for use in our on-and-off-again Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Nostalgia Tour campaign. Note that all alignments are listed as to be determined (TBD) since I won't necessarily know what role they'll be playing until I drop them into the campaign.

Full disclosure - the stats for these characters were produced using the NPC generator on the Necrotic Gnome website. Some were modified afterward to better suit what I had in mind. Others stuck with whatever was determined by the generator, even if it's counter intuitive. That's especially true of some of the weapon selections. I usually prefer to create characters by hand, but I've been wanting to test out the Necrotic Gnome generators. I also used an online name generator, either using names as is or as inspiration. All of the narrative backgrounds are my own creation.

OSE Generators (Necrotic Gnome website)

Fantasy Name Generators

Zath, Half-Orc Barbarian

Level 3 Barbarian (NPC)
Armour Class 4 [15] (chainmail + shield)
Hit Points 17
Attacks 1 × hand axe (1d6)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D10 W13 P12 B15 S16
Alignment TBD
STR 15 INT 9 WIS 12
DEX 9 CON 14 CHA 6
Items None

Zath is not the most charming, graceful, or intellectual sort, but he's robust and has the cunning to know that strength lies in numbers. Unfortunately, this particular party has fallen on hard times. His trusty sword broke awhile back, forcing him to rely on his hand axe. Gethwine's magical greatsword is a tempting replacement, but Zath doesn't like his odds against her. If somebody offered him a deal that looks better than the what he has going on right now, he'd seriously consider it.


Edraele Rosatra, Elf Magic User

Level 3 Magic-User (NPC)
Armour Class 12 [7] (unarmoured)
Hit Points 5
Attacks 1 × dagger (1d4) or 1 × spell
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 120' (40')
Saves D13 W14 P13 B16 S15
Alignment TBD
STR 11 INT 15 WIS 13
DEX 3 CON 12 CHA 13
Spells light (darkness), magic missile, phantasmal force
Items None

Edraele's arcane talents are limited by her complete lack of the litheness associated with her people. She is able to carry out the movements necessary for spell casting. Her stiff gait is distinctive and her clumsy nature got her kicked out of magic academy. Edraele's family connects could get her a position as an academic, but she is determined to prove herself on her own merits.


Reinhold, Human Cleric

Level 3 Cleric (NPC)
Armour Class 5 [14] (chainmail + shield)
Hit Points 10
Attacks 1 × mace (1d6+1) or 1 × spell
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D11 W12 P14 B16 S15
Alignment TBD
STR 10 INT 10 WIS 13
DEX 7 CON 8 CHA 6
Spells light (darkness), remove fear (cause fear)
Items Mace +1

Reinhold had his heart set on becoming a warrior priest. Although he's not the quickest or most hardy, he passed the tests and received training in the arts of fighting. His superiors had one piece of advice for him, though - don't try evangelizing. He doesn't have the personality for it.


Meldris Doriana, Half-Elf Ranger

Level 3 Ranger (NPC)
Armour Class 6 [13] (leather armour)
Hit Points 12
Attacks 1 × long bow (1d6)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 90' (30')
Saves D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Alignment TBD
STR 11 INT 8 WIS 9
DEX 15 CON 9 CHA 10
Items None

Meldris' passion for archery is her defining trait. Drawing and releasing an arrow is a mediative experience for her. However, this party isn't what she was hoping for - most of her share of the loot is going to spent on replacing her arrows. Cutting her losses and looking into alternatives is awfully tempting.


Sir Michael Gerard, Knight

Level 3 Knight (NPC)
Armour Class 2 [17] (plate mail + shield)
Hit Points 17
Attacks 1 × dagger (1d4+2)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Alignment Chaotic
STR 17 INT 9 WIS 9
DEX 9 CON 15 CHA 12
Items Dagger +2 (+3 vs orcs, goblins and kobolds)

Michael's sword fell down a bottomless chasm. That leaves him with nothing but his trusty poniard, much to his irritation. The idea of taking Gethwine's magical greatsword sorely tempts him, but Michael knows such an act would be dishonorable. Being hungry, tired, lost, and looking at a payout of a few coins isn't the glorious campaign he was looking for.


Gethwine of Kinkirk, Fighter

Level 3 Fighter (NPC)
Armour Class 5 [14] (chainmail)
Hit Points 18
Attacks 1 × two-handed sword (1d10+1)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement Rate 60' (20')
Saves D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Alignment Neutral
STR 11 INT 13 WIS 12
DEX 10 CON 10 CHA 10
Items Two-handed sword +1 (Flaming)

Hailing from the north, Gethwine is barbaric in appearance and temperament. Striking out to see the lands beyond her home seemed like a good idea at the time. Now she's having doubts. Zath and Michael covet her magical greatsword. And this party's ill fortunes are waring her down. There has to be a better way to make a living.

Six more down, nineteen to go!

2026 Character Creation Challenge Speed Run: Starfleet Task Force 777

Entries for January 3-6.

Are ships characters? I pulled this stunt last year, more than once, and nobody showed up to stop me.

All ships are stated out for Star Trek Adventures 1e.


Historical Brief

Records of Task Force 777 date back to the United Earth Starfleet and continue to its current incarnation. The first Task Force 777 was a relief force formed in the aftermath of the Earth-Romulan War. The designation was deliberately outside the format used during the war to avoid confusion with combat formations. Ships rotated through Task Force 777 as they became available or were needed elsewhere. It was disbanded as larger scale rebuilding efforts came online with the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

At least three different Task Forces 777 operated during the 23rd century. One was formed in the 2340s to respond to various emergencies emerging on the Federation's outlying settlements and outposts. Another operated during the Federation-Klingon War (2256-57) as a reserve and rear area security force, but is known to have seen front line combat. The third was created in 2393 to assist in repairing the damage caused by the Praxis disaster.

A Task Force 777 existed during the Federation border conflicts of the 2340s-60s. It mainly operated to provide security to vulnerable settlements and installations. It also provided emergency relief to stricken colonies and engaged in combat on occasion.


Task Force 777 (2380s)

Starfleet's current Task Force 777 was formed during the Dominion War (2373-2375) as a reserve and rear area security force. Task Force 777 was often called to respond to emergencies far from the front lines as it was the only substantial Federation Alliance force available. This sometimes resulted in facing grim odds against Jem'Hadar or Breen raiders. Happily, it also led to two first contact scenarios as Task Force 777 was called in to investigate odd sensor readings.

The mission and composition of Task Force 777 was changed after the Dominion War to assist in rebuilding. Its mandate was broadened to include relief and emergency efforts of all kinds as the years went on. This mission continues in the 2380s.

Task Force 777 is mainly deployed in situations that would overwhelm a single starship. Additional ships are rotated through Task Force 777 as needed. Only the ships permanently assigned to Task Force 777 are described below. These ships are intended to provide a wide variety of capabilities.

USS Vasquez

USS Vasquez, Galaxy class, NCC-71874

USS Vasquez is an example of Dominion War emergency construction. None of the things that define the Galaxy class were part of its original construction - no carpets, no wood paneling, none of the luxuries intended to support years-long deep space exploration missions. The ship was all gunmetal interiors, additional fusion powerplants, extra phaser arrays, and rough edges. After the Dominion War, the ship was refitted to peacetime standards, but the rough edges were never really buffed out.

USS Vasquez is the command ship of Task Force 777. It provides plenty of capability on its own and coordinates the efforts of the other ships.

I named this ship in honor of Vasquez Rocks - a location long a part of Star Trek.

USS Edmonton

USS Edmonton, Parliament class, NCC-70419

A support ship is required for Task Force 777's current mission. A California class was considered, but all ships of that class are fully committed to second contact missions. USS Edmonton provides additional support for relief and emergency missions.

Edmonton was the first name of a Canadian population center that caught my eye.

USS Katherine Johnson

USS Katherine Johnson, Nova class, NCC-73216

USS Johnson is Task Force 777's dedicated science ship. It provided analysis and research facilities when needed. Otherwise, the ship is detached to perform long term observation of phenomena along Task Force 777's patrol route.

Katherine Johnson was one of the first African-American women to work at NASA. Her calculations - often manual - were essential for Projects Mercury, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle program. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Silver Snoopy Award, a NASA Group Achievement Award, the Congressional Gold Medal, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (posthumously) in recognition of her accomplishments.

USS Jeanne de Clisson

USS Jeanne de Clisson, Defiant class, NCC-74300

USS de Clisson is Task Force 777's dedicated combat ship. It provides area security, carries out patrols, and escorts any transport convoys supporting Task Force 777. This results in a surprising number of hostile encounters due to the value of relief and medical supplies. Fortunately, the reputation of the Defiant class often acts as a deterrent.

Jeanne de Clisson, also known as the Lioness of Brittany, was a French/Breton noblewomen who turned privateer after her husband was executed by King Philip VI of France. She led her three ships from her flagship My Revenge in a campaign of commerce raiding against the French. She regularly killed off almost the whole crew of the French ships she targeted. It was her practice to leave at least one sailor alive to carry word to King Philip VI.

Would Starfleet name a ship after somebody like Jeanne de Clisson? I can see the arguments against it, but this is a Defiant class starship.


Four more down, twenty five to go!

2026 Character Creation Challenge Speed Run: Gamma World Goodness

Entries for January 1-2

It's the middle of the last week of January. Is it too late to catch up? Let's find out!

Gamma World 1e box cover art.

Gamma World 1e is an early TSR product that didn't fall far from the D&D tree. It's a sci-fi dungeon crawl set generations after the Shadow Wars. The post-apocalyptic setting explains where all the high-tech ruins come from. Mutants and robots replace fantasy monsters. Mutant powers replace magic. Technological artifacts replace magic items. It borrows heavily from James M. Wards' earlier work in Metamorphosis Alpha.

I might run it down the road. It will likely hit the table as the X-Men meet Mad Max with a dash of Gene Roddenberry's Genesis II mixed in. My usual approach of familiarizing myself with a game involves reading the rulebook and generating a character or two.

The Gamma World 1e rulebook is as poorly organized and incomplete as I've come to expect from products of its era. What equipment do starting player characters have access to? How much starting funds do they have? The book doesn't say.

Let's take armor as a specific example. The Gamma World 1e book only lists a single price for armor, but the armor class table describes various types. Even if technological artifacts are eliminated, that still leaves a range of armors available. Are furs and skins, cured hide, plant fiber, and piece metal armors all the same price? Even if they are, those accustomed to D&D may assume that more protective armors come with offsetting factors like weight. Surprise! Gamma World 1e doesn't seem to have encumbrance rules.

It's going to take some work to get this game table ready. The designers seem to assume that the GM already owns D&D or AD&D and will pull any rules not covered in the Gamma World 1e book from them. I'll likely look to OSE as an additional source.

For these reasons, the following characters don't have equipment listed.


Tom "Spacewalker" Christian

Pure Strain Human is the problematic term for humans genetically identical to those from before the fall of civilization. They don't get cool mutant powers. They do get a charisma bonus, some familiarity with advanced technology, and a better chance of passing as authorized personnel to automated checks when possessing the correct (stolen) credentials. I guess future AI is sometimes smart enough to question why the person with the identification of a high ranking scientist or military officer has too many arms of green, photosynthetic skin. On the other hand, those same AI don't seem concerned that the person in front of them don't match their identification, so maybe they're not that smart.

Mental Strength 11
Intelligence 10
Dexterity 13
Physical Strength 13
Charisma 18
Constitution 13

Hit Points 45

No mutations.

The stats are fairly straightforward to anybody familiar with any version of D&D. Mental Strength is used with attacking or defending against what D&D would refer to as psionics. Hit points are determined by rolling a d6 for each point of Constitution.

Tom Christian was born in village established within the security perimeter of an automated farm. He grew up tending crops and tinkering with agricultural machinery. The elders told stories of how one of Tom's ancestors walked the void above the skies (she was an orbital construction worker). Tom took the name Spacewalker when he came of age and left the village to seek his destiny. Nobody actually calls him that.


Bartholomew "Bart" Allen

Humanoids are what Gamma World 1e calls mutated humans. Since the game runs on 1960s-70s sci-fi tropes, mutations are more likely to result in strange powers than debilitating conditions. Although debilitating conditions are still possible. I used the rules that allow for choosing mutations rather than randomly determining them. However, the number of mutations is always random.

Mental Strength 14
Intelligence 14
Dexterity 17
Physical Strength 11
Charisma 13
Constitution 14

Hit Points 56

Physical Mutations
Increased Speed
Regeneration

Mental Mutations
Molecular Understanding
Planar Travel
Teleportation

Defects
Increased Metabolism (D)

This is an attempt to model a superhero speedster using the Gamma World 1e rules. Increased Speed is an obvious choice. Teleportation and Planar Travel simulate extreme speed and access to other realms unlocked by that speed. Molecular Understanding models a speedster "vibrating" to do more damage.

Regeneration allows for faster healing, but the amount of healing is based on the character's weight in kilograms. I couldn't find rules to determine such a thing in the book. Porting rules from AD&D doesn't work without conversion, since those are in pounds.

Increased Metabolism (D) requires a character to stop every fifth combat turn to eat. There are also comments about having to carry around more food. While the cost of a week's travel rations is given, I couldn't find out how much they weigh. And, again, there don't seem to be encumbrance rules in the game anyway. Also, the prices of other sources of food - a meal in town, for example - are not presented.

Bartholomew "Bart" Allen was born to a modest trading community. His powers made him a useful messenger and scout, although his enormous appetite was a concern during lean years. In time, Bart decided to strike out on his own. At speed.


Two characters down out of thirty one. More to come!

2026 Character Creation Challenge - A Late Start and New Plan

There's been a dearth of 2026 Character Creation Challenge entries on this blog. I have a plan to fix that. Is it a good plan? Ask me in February.

I'm mostly recovered from an illness that put me down for the last days of 2025 and much of 2026 so far. And by "illness" I don't mean "had the sniffles" or was a little tired. I was either sick in bed or indulging in prayer while on the toilet. I didn't test positive for either the flu or the infamous thing with the number in it. Plans for New Year's were abandoned and I'm behind on everything.

Regarding the 2026 Character Creation Challenge, I reviewed the rules and I have developed a plan. The only relevant requirement is 31 characters - one for each day of January. So I'm going to churn out and post multiple characters per day until I make the target number.

That means two things - simpler systems and groups of characters. Simpler games that I'm already familiar with makes character creation easier. Making multiple characters based on a theme - an adventuring party or spaceship crew, for example - also speeds things up.

That's the plan. Let's see how long it survives contact with reality.