   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 21:03:14 -0700
   From: John Horton <jhorton@admsvcs.csun.edu>
Subject: [gworld] Metamorphosis Alpha articles

Fellow Mutants,

To anyone who doesn't already have them, I'd like to offer copies of some
old Dragon articles relating to Metamorphosis Alpha.  I picked up a copy of
"The Best of The Dragon" a while back, and it includes three short pieces (1
to 2 pages each) designed to supplement MA.  They could be useful for GW
too, IMHO.  The articles are:

"How Green Was My Mutant" (by E.G.G. himself) - tables for randomly
generating the appearance of NPC humanoids.  Includes tables for skin/hair
color; skin characteristics (e.g. hair patches, warts); color pattern
(stripes, spots, etc.); shape of head, neck, body, face, hands, feet, arms,
legs; and number of fingers and toes.  Also has some cool drawings which,
unfortunately, look better in color than they do when photocopied.  Still
not bad, though.

"Some Ideas Missed in Metamorphosis Alpha" (by James M. Ward, co-creator of
GW) - includes descriptions of tech items like Chemical Radiation
Neutralizers, Radioactive Material in Containment, and a couple of others.
Also some thoughts on the use of poison.

"An Alternate Beginning Sequence for Metamorphosis Alpha" (by Guy W.
McLimore, Jr.) - Could be good for those looking for plot ideas.  Lays out a
basic plot that the characters in MA, instead of being tribesmen from one of
the clans on the Warden, are clones grown by the computer to try to fix the
ship.  Of course, those embryos have been frozen a long time, and what with
that radiation leakage... you get the idea.  Includes general descriptions
of some "skills" which are actually mental mutations.  Some of these are not
already part of GW (e.g. Mental Battery - using mental energy to power devices).

Anyway, e-mail me if you want more info before deciding, and if you'd like
copies of some or all, e-mail me with your address and which ones you'd
like.  As with Matt, my work will pick up the tab for the copies ;-), and
(depending on the volume of requests) I don't mind kicking in some postage
to help out the few, the proud, (the widely-scattered) GW-gamers!

John H.

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   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 20:51:19 -0700
   From: John Horton <jhorton@admsvcs.csun.edu>
Subject: Re: [gworld] campaigns

At 10:48 AM 6/7/97 -0400, TimC27@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 97-06-06 22:11:13 EDT, you write:
>
>> I'm a 30 year old GM who just came back to RPG's after
>>  a long dry spell. Anyone have campaign suggestions/ideas?
>
>Gosh.  What books do you like?  Use them as the basis for a story.  Rip
>something off.
>
>Really, you need to do the same old thing that has been the basis for
>storytelling since the dawn of time:  Make them feel important, and betrayed.
> Do Hamlet.  Do the Oddysey.  Do Eleanor Moraes (my favorite).
>
Ok, I'm willing to show my ignorance.  I don't recognize that last one (or
am I just missing the joke?)  BTW I've found "Odyssey"-type adventures to be
the best for D&D, but my GW stuff has tended to be more like the Labors of
Hercules (probably because GW characters tend to be more like Hercules, both
in power and temperament.  Or maybe it's just the players... :-).

John H.

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   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 20:51:17 -0700
   From: John Horton <jhorton@admsvcs.csun.edu>
Subject: [gworld] thirtysomething

At 08:03 PM 6/6/97 +0100, James wrote:

>And BTW, you're not the only one here in his 30s.
>
Yes, I think there may be quite a few of us "old fogies".

John H. (who remembers being excited when "Legion of Gold" first came out...)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 20:51:15 -0700
   From: John Horton <jhorton@admsvcs.csun.edu>
Subject: [gworld] Increasing mental prowess (was Espers)

[Esper discussion snipped]

At 09:30 PM 6/4/97 -0500, GameMaster wrote:
> Unlike most physical mutations, I think
>mental ones would get better with practice. A sharpening of the mind so
>to speak.
>
Well, back in the days of first ed. (the only one I've played, actually),
your mental strength increased by one for every 5 _successful_ mental
attacks.  Likewise it increased by one for every 5 _successful_ mental
defenses.  Did that get changed or omitted somewhere along the line?

John H.

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  Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 22:47:30 -0500
   From: CdBd3rd <cdbd3rd@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [gworld] Mutated Greetings

Tormentor wrote:
> {hack}...This has left my wonderful "Tormentor"
> character and his band of radioactivists stranded...{& slash}

YES!! Brethren of the TRUE faith!  And to have survived through so many
editions, you must truly be blessed!!

[have bookmarked your site and will examine thoroughly as life allows]

Later,  Gary
--
                ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
		REVEL IN THE DIVINE RADIANT GLORY !!!
		   [Gary] CdBd3rd@Worldnet.ATT.Net
          -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 22:33:00 -0500
   From: Tormentor <jneilwhi@memphisonline.com>
Subject: [gworld] All hail the radiant glow

Greetings once again:

James wrote -

> I am honored that my site has been dubbed "mother of all GW sites".

It is.


> I'll add your site to my list next time I update my pages, if its okay.

Thanks, I appreciate it.  My site ain't much, but it will be growing.


> BTW I recall the feeling of pure joy when I discovered, after a year on
the Net this little but very active GW community. So I know how it feels.

It is good to feel validated. <grin>


Do any of you know how to set up a 'web ring' like the Palladium web
ring?  I am on the geocities freebie program so I do not have access to
the server-based programs(scripts) to host such a ring, but I think it
would help spread our cause to have one.


> And yes, I do remember your character generator, though in all fairness
> the new windows version is a killer.

That's it, drive a stake in my ego, trash my humble little childhood
endeavor.... (Just kidding....my character is a pompous egomaniac but
I'm not)

Yep, windows makes life easier for us programmers...sometimes.  No more
re-inventing the interface from scratch.  Writing printer drivers is not
my idea of fun, but building mutation engines is.

I know so much more now than I did when I was a kid, maybe I can do this
game some justice.  I am glad others were interested enough to make
generators.  I thought for a long time that I was the only sick one.  I
love making fully fleshed out NPC's with them.  Wouldn't build a
campaign without that kind of help.

I'll probably fire up that snazzy new windows generator to start
building a campaign so I can lure my AD&D friends back to GW.

Wish I could quit programming for business and program for fun again.
After coding all day, it is so hard to get motivated to burn code at
night...especially when there are web pages to be updated, games to be
played, worlds to be designed. <sigh>

--
Tormentor (Neil Whitlow)
radioactivist@geocities.com
Tormentor's Virtual Wasteland at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/4547/
Battletech CCG/Gamma World RPG/Steel Panthers II

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 18:51:55 -0700
   From: David Wheeler <wyldfyre@ns1.uconect.net>
Subject: Re: [gworld] Request: Looking for a copy of GW 4th edition

HawkLord@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Rob Mohr,
> 
> Over this weekend, I checked out the biggest gaming store in my area.  They
> had a few GW 4th edition accessories (including Gamma Knights) but no 4th
> edition rulebooks.  I apologize, I thought they had at least one in stock.
> 
> However, I finally broke down and bought a copy of Metamorphosis Alpha to
> Omega for Amazing Engine.  It is not so bad really, as long as you ignore the
> half of the book that is Amazing Engine rules.  There is still good
> information on the Starship Warden, just not much space to fit it all, so
> there is a lot of room for the GM to "develop the starship as he/she sees
> best."  In other words, "we didn't have the room to include any details about
> the starship, so you'll have to take it from here."
> 
> Tony

	The 4th edition rules are rare to find you might want to try one 
of the online stores (here are the 2 I have delt with). Good luck.

	http://www.dragontrove.com/index.html
	http://www.gatorgames.com/home_data.html

						David Wheeler

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   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 09:24:17 PDT
   From: "Tom Foster" <yoiko99@hotmail.com>
Subject: [gworld] losing my religion

Hey now,

Another interesting issue came up last game we had.  Where have all the
religions gone?  The only ones left are the ones that worship the
technology of the ancients. This doesn't seem quite right to me. The
worship of something intangible has been with the human race since the
first recorded history, with the worship of the forces of nature. From
there, the progression went to a more intagible god/gods/godesses, and
eventually monotheism. So where is this progression in Gamma World? It
doesn't make sense that the -only- religions practiced would be the ones
that involve the worship of artifacts and such. I can see how those can
exist, but I also think it would be natural that others, if they didn't
survive in some bizarre form, would rise also. It's almost like they're
making people unable to think in the abstract, which is pretty odd to
me. There could be a plethora of religions that could have developed,
especially considering the sentiency of animals and plants. But nothing
is detailed in the books on this. So, what do you all think? Does anyone
else run campaigns with other religions in it?

Tom

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   Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 11:47:55 -0400
   From: Ladd Everitt <leveritt@prime.planetcom.com>
Subject: Re: [gworld] Terminology Article

At 11:51 PM 6/5/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>If you're interested in getting the Dragon article on terminology from me,
>e-mail me your address and I'll get it out in the mail to you as soon as I
>can. 

Hey Matt,

My address is as follows:

        Ladd Everitt
        1630 R Street NW
        Apt. 121
        Washington, DC 20009

Thanks very much, dude!

-Ladd

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 05:45:45 PDT
   From: "Tom Foster" <yoiko99@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [gworld] Espers, a new concept...

>an Enforcer, whats the muscle-head good for? The Examiner's prime job
is not
>to be a frontline combat machine (or Esper for that matter, depending
on
>mutations and background etc.) but to decipher artifacts and tell the
rest of
>the party why they may have only a few minutes to live when strange
things
>start happening around them in that installation.  I'll tell you one
thing,
>if I was one of the other classes, I'd be very protective of the guy
that can
>tell me what my new toys do.
>   
I think a major factor of having difficulty doing that is the fact that 
we aren't running a huge party, where we can have a few front-line
fighters - our party is five characters, and _everyone_ must fight. My
GM is just too homicidal to allow the thinker-type characters to sit
back and let the combat be fought by the muscleheads.

Tom
