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Cryptic Alliance in the new GW?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
greyseer
Oct 07, 2010 21:06:36 Just curious if some, none, or all of the old Cryptic alliance make a return in the latest version of GW.
#2
doomed_prophet
Oct 07, 2010 22:23:23 Cryptic alliances just get a small text box in Chapter 4, which is a bit surprising regarding how important they were in earlier iterations of the game. Not that it will stop a proactive game master from coming up with some benefits and drawbacks to membership in a cryptic alliance. (Yep, already working on that since I feel that CAs are vitally important to post apocalypse life.)
#3
dudesock
Oct 08, 2010 11:20:44 Included in the rulebook is:

Archivists
Bonapartists
Brotherhood of Thought
Knights of Genetic Purity
Radioactivists
Restorationists

Which means they are missing:
The Created
Followers of the Voice
The White Hand
Iron Society
Peace Brigade
Seekers
Zoopremists
Order of the Mind
Red Death

I hope the next box puts more emphasis on the Cryptic Alliances too.
#4
BRJN
Oct 08, 2010 20:48:47 It looks like they picked the "easy-to-handle enemies" list of CAs to put in the book. (Leaving the "hard-to-handle enemies" and "friends" CAs for later.) At least we have some hard-to-defeat foes lurking in the background. They also stayed away from the silly groups; a good thing, IMHO.
#5
doctorcomics
Oct 08, 2010 21:22:57 According to the Gamma World discussion at GenCon, which you can watch on YouTube, one of the first two adventures -- I -think- it is the first one, Famine in FarGo -- will introduce Cryptic Alliance cards. Presumably the cards will give you a special benefit of some sort, representing the influence that particular Alliance can wield on your behalf, special training, resources, or what have you. We don't know yet if the Alliance cards will be dealt out randomly or how often, but off the top of my head I might guess "Draw a new Cryptic Alliance card at the beginning of each session of play."

Each of the adventures has 160 page books the same size as the GW book, so they are essentially rule expansions, not just 15-encounter adventures. It looks like Cryptic Alliances got pushed to one of those books, for reasons of space.
#6
greyseer
Oct 09, 2010 13:15:27 Thanks Doc, well with Famine already on pre-order at my LFGS I will wait and see what it has before I start ressurecting the ones I loved (Followers of the Voice)
#7
seroth
Oct 16, 2010 19:12:58
I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition...

Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW?
#8
trojanrat
Oct 16, 2010 19:42:15

I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition...

Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW?

From the book:
"These nonmutated humans seek to eradicate all mutants from Gamma Terra. (Good luck with that)."

And that's all it says about them.
#9
FlashbackJon
Oct 16, 2010 23:09:00 In other words, the perfect opposition for the players.
#10
Tony_Vargas
Oct 17, 2010 4:15:15
I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition...

Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW?

The game assumes all PCs are mutants (well, some are androids), but there are some particularly-human ones with the 'Engineered Human' origin.

You could model a PSH with /just/ the Engineered Human origin (in some versions of the game, PSHs were /not/ ordinary 20th century-style homo sapiens, but superior humans resulting from gene therapy or simply surviving the apocalpyse), or, as a EH primay, mutant-secondary using the 'What is Human?' sidebar and explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment. Or, you could use D&D to creat a human with a martial or psionic class and just adapt him to the rules.

#11
Chandrak
Oct 17, 2010 8:24:32 Pure Humans aren't exactly absent. As Tony_Vargas mentioned, theres a section on 'What is Human' in the Engineered Human section, which provides suggestions on how to tread a character who is human.
#12
seroth
Oct 18, 2010 20:44:19
I don’t own the game (I do have played Gamma World before) but I lost my interest in this new product when I heard about this topic. Most people have complained about the collective card game aspect of this new edition but I think the major change between this GW and the previous ones lies here (in the absence of a classic character type: the Pure Strain Human.)

From what I have read on this forum Engineered Humans looks more like mutants with human form (or humans with superpowers) and IMO that doesn’t fill the role of a pure human (the presence of humans on the devastated lands of Gamma Terra support the idea of the last days of humanity and gives more meaning to the post apocalyptic theme that was also part of GW.) The absence of pure humans also makes more difficult to make sense of an old cryptic alliance like the Knights of Genetic Purity that wanted to kill all the mutant humans of Gamma Terra or the Iron Society who wanted to kill all non mutant humans.

What the "What is human" section says?

Explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment can work. It's that the suggestion given in the "what is human" section?
#13
Tony_Vargas
Oct 18, 2010 21:11:41
What the "What is human" section says?

Explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment can work. It's that the suggestion given in the "what is human" section?

Yes. For instance, there's an origin called 'Felinoid' that makes you fast, stealthy and deadly, the 'What is Human?' sidebar suggests that an Engineered Human/Felinoid could be a 'Martial Artist.' Another example given in the section is that the Human is an 'Inventor' who has cobbled together some dependable Omega Tech - examples given are a flight pack to represent the 'Hawkoid' origin or a 'swarm' of nano-robots or trained animals for the 'Rat Swarm' origin - but it could work for many origins.

The idea that PSHs might not be quite what oridinary humans are today isn't new to 7th ed, it was first suggested, IIRC, in a Dragon magazine article for the 2nd Ed. And, I think 3rd or 4th may have alluded to the idea, as well. Certainly, from 2nd on, the PSH had things going for him beyond a +3 CHA bonus for looking like an ancient.

If the only thing holding you back from trying out the new Gamma World is the lack of Pure Strain Humans, you can stop worrying. It is possible to have a PSH, he just won't be at as severe a disadvantage as in pior eds.

#14
seroth
Oct 19, 2010 9:36:38
thanks Tony

that actually gives me new perspectives on the game.

I have a recurring settlement that I use with some buddies when we play GW... it has a fair population of PSH... I think we could make it work if we decide to buy this new product.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 greyseer Oct 07, 2010 21:06:36	Just curious if some, none, or all of the old Cryptic alliance make a return in the latest version of GW.
#2 doomed_prophet Oct 07, 2010 22:23:23	Cryptic alliances just get a small text box in Chapter 4, which is a bit surprising regarding how important they were in earlier iterations of the game. Not that it will stop a proactive game master from coming up with some benefits and drawbacks to membership in a cryptic alliance. (Yep, already working on that since I feel that CAs are vitally important to post apocalypse life.)
#3 dudesock Oct 08, 2010 11:20:44	Included in the rulebook is: Archivists Bonapartists Brotherhood of Thought Knights of Genetic Purity Radioactivists Restorationists Which means they are missing: The Created Followers of the Voice The White Hand Iron Society Peace Brigade Seekers Zoopremists Order of the Mind Red Death I hope the next box puts more emphasis on the Cryptic Alliances too.
#4 BRJN Oct 08, 2010 20:48:47	It looks like they picked the "easy-to-handle enemies" list of CAs to put in the book. (Leaving the "hard-to-handle enemies" and "friends" CAs for later.) At least we have some hard-to-defeat foes lurking in the background. They also stayed away from the silly groups; a good thing, IMHO.
#5 doctorcomics Oct 08, 2010 21:22:57	According to the Gamma World discussion at GenCon, which you can watch on YouTube, one of the first two adventures -- I -think- it is the first one, Famine in FarGo -- will introduce Cryptic Alliance cards. Presumably the cards will give you a special benefit of some sort, representing the influence that particular Alliance can wield on your behalf, special training, resources, or what have you. We don't know yet if the Alliance cards will be dealt out randomly or how often, but off the top of my head I might guess "Draw a new Cryptic Alliance card at the beginning of each session of play." Each of the adventures has 160 page books the same size as the GW book, so they are essentially rule expansions, not just 15-encounter adventures. It looks like Cryptic Alliances got pushed to one of those books, for reasons of space.
#6 greyseer Oct 09, 2010 13:15:27	Thanks Doc, well with Famine already on pre-order at my LFGS I will wait and see what it has before I start ressurecting the ones I loved (Followers of the Voice)
#7 seroth Oct 16, 2010 19:12:58	I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition... Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW?
#8 trojanrat Oct 16, 2010 19:42:15	I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition... Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW? From the book: "These nonmutated humans seek to eradicate all mutants from Gamma Terra. (Good luck with that)." And that's all it says about them.
#9 FlashbackJon Oct 16, 2010 23:09:00	In other words, the perfect opposition for the players.
#10 Tony_Vargas Oct 17, 2010 4:15:15	I was interested in the new GW until I heard the Pure strain humans were eliminated from this edition... Anyway just for curiosity... without pure strain humans what's the knights of genetic purity agenda in the new GW? The game assumes all PCs are mutants (well, some are androids), but there are some particularly-human ones with the 'Engineered Human' origin. You could model a PSH with /just/ the Engineered Human origin (in some versions of the game, PSHs were /not/ ordinary 20th century-style homo sapiens, but superior humans resulting from gene therapy or simply surviving the apocalpyse), or, as a EH primay, mutant-secondary using the 'What is Human?' sidebar and explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment. Or, you could use D&D to creat a human with a martial or psionic class and just adapt him to the rules.
#11 Chandrak Oct 17, 2010 8:24:32	Pure Humans aren't exactly absent. As Tony_Vargas mentioned, theres a section on 'What is Human' in the Engineered Human section, which provides suggestions on how to tread a character who is human.
#12 seroth Oct 18, 2010 20:44:19	I don’t own the game (I do have played Gamma World before) but I lost my interest in this new product when I heard about this topic. Most people have complained about the collective card game aspect of this new edition but I think the major change between this GW and the previous ones lies here (in the absence of a classic character type: the Pure Strain Human.) From what I have read on this forum Engineered Humans looks more like mutants with human form (or humans with superpowers) and IMO that doesn’t fill the role of a pure human (the presence of humans on the devastated lands of Gamma Terra support the idea of the last days of humanity and gives more meaning to the post apocalyptic theme that was also part of GW.) The absence of pure humans also makes more difficult to make sense of an old cryptic alliance like the Knights of Genetic Purity that wanted to kill all the mutant humans of Gamma Terra or the Iron Society who wanted to kill all non mutant humans. What the "What is human" section says? Explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment can work. It's that the suggestion given in the "what is human" section?
#13 Tony_Vargas Oct 18, 2010 21:11:41	What the "What is human" section says? Explaining the powers of the secondary origin as special training or equipment can work. It's that the suggestion given in the "what is human" section? Yes. For instance, there's an origin called 'Felinoid' that makes you fast, stealthy and deadly, the 'What is Human?' sidebar suggests that an Engineered Human/Felinoid could be a 'Martial Artist.' Another example given in the section is that the Human is an 'Inventor' who has cobbled together some dependable Omega Tech - examples given are a flight pack to represent the 'Hawkoid' origin or a 'swarm' of nano-robots or trained animals for the 'Rat Swarm' origin - but it could work for many origins. The idea that PSHs might not be quite what oridinary humans are today isn't new to 7th ed, it was first suggested, IIRC, in a Dragon magazine article for the 2nd Ed. And, I think 3rd or 4th may have alluded to the idea, as well. Certainly, from 2nd on, the PSH had things going for him beyond a +3 CHA bonus for looking like an ancient. If the only thing holding you back from trying out the new Gamma World is the lack of Pure Strain Humans, you can stop worrying. It is possible to have a PSH, he just won't be at as severe a disadvantage as in pior eds.
#14 seroth Oct 19, 2010 9:36:38	thanks Tony that actually gives me new perspectives on the game. I have a recurring settlement that I use with some buddies when we play GW... it has a fair population of PSH... I think we could make it work if we decide to buy this new product.