The Gamma World Game Day material arrived at my house today - YAY! 
The game day instructions state that all players must buy two booster packs and and all DMs must buy the entire game. Is it just me, or is this a lot to ask of people for a game demo? After reading through the game day adventure, Trouble in Freesboro, I believe the DMs at the store may be able to share a single copy of the game. (Since I am a Gamma World fan-boy from way-back, I have already bought the game and I'm willing to share.) Now I'm worried about the players' requirements. From my calculations, each player really only needs 5 Alpha Mutation cards plus one or two additional Alpha Mutation cards to handle Alpha Flux. If all discarded cards are added back into the deck (after the draw), the deck of 40 Alpha Mutation cards in the box set should be able to support roughly 13 players (two tables). (When cards are discarded, they should probably be taken to the other table so no repeats.) Any thoughts about these calculations or issues with the game day adventure? (Please remember to hide any spoiler info.)
Excited to try the new Gamma World,
Kerry
Game Day Extras
* Paper standies/tents for monsters - docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwSEGjOnxAb...
* A varient Game Day poster - docs.google.com /leaf?id=0BwSEGjOnxAb0Zjd...
* Origins hand-outs (by battles14) - www.mediafire.com/?79zm3f307mq1ljv
Trouble in Freesboro Adventure Errata
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Page 10
The 6 result on the Beta Chamber table states that "The creature regains hit points as if it had spent a healing surge." Gamma World does not have healing surges. I recommend that the result heals as Second Wind (i.e., bloodied value in hit points).
[/sblock]
If the DMs are familiar with 4e, they'll hardly need to the book in play. Just make sure the powers the players will have are down in detail on their sheets, and it shouldn't be a major problem. Monsters and all should be in the module, right?
If the DMs are familiar with 4e, they'll hardly need to the book in play. Just make sure the powers the players will have are down in detail on their sheets, and it shouldn't be a major problem. Monsters and all should be in the module, right?
Yes. The support material for this game day is actually pretty good. There is one new monster in the adventure. There are two promo cards to be given to players/DMs: Dehydrated Man (Omega) and Power Mimic (Alpha). The material includes a DM Cheat Sheet and quick reference sheets for character origins/powers.
Kerry
Can you give us a complete list?
Are there maps? How many encounters is the adventure?
Kerry
Or do you mean something other than "pre-made characters"?
It has power cards for the novice powers and the level 1 origin abilities so players don't have to copy it all from the rulebook. It also has a PDF of the character sheet (since I know alot of people are looking for one of those) I plan on blowing it up to a normal sized sheet since my laminated little ones are hard to read when you write with fine tip expos
. It also has the cheat sheet for dm's that goes over the basic rules (pretty helpfull)I'm surprised it has character hand-outs, since character creation is so fast.
Or do you mean something other than "pre-made characters"?
Adventure hand-outs would probably be a more appropriate term; they are props for the adventure. All characters will be created by the players. There aren't any pre-gens.
Kerry
I got my digital thing in my email today, I haven't picked up the adventure from my local store yet(will get it tomorrow). If anyone wants it I could email it to you.
Digital thing? I didn't receive anything in my E-mail. An electronic copy of the adventure would be awesome. (The only material available for download through the event link is the game day instructions.)
Kerry
How can I sign up to run this at my local FLGS? I've love a copy of the adventure if anyone would be willing to send it to me please.
Unfortunately, to be an organizer for the Gamma World Game Day, you would have had to register at least a month ago. (You register with the Wizards Play Network.) However, game shops are usually looking for game day DMs so there is still a chance you can participate at an already registered store. Use the Store & Event Locator to find a participating store near you and ask them.
Kerry
Though the IOP does include a nice cheat sheet of Rules Differences of 4e & GW, Weapon Stat List, and a little on basic attacks, skills, and ammo.
It also has a slanted scanned character sheet (from the box set).
And power boxes (can't call them cards) of all the 1st level At-Wills for the Origins.
The adventure is much better then the yawnfest in the box set.
It has 5 Encounters, one combat is optional if the game goes quick, and one non-combat encounter.
The non-combat encounter is well written and note it is NOT a skill challenge, though it does use listed skills to overcome problems in the encounter.
The most surprising part of the adventure is the URLs you can give to your players as the adventure states: "several key points in the adventure provide URLs of websites that players can visit on their mobile devices to learn hidden information, If you players don't have access to such devices, the adventure includes handouts."
Ive gone to the URLs, but none work (as of yet).
If you a Dark Matter fan you'll recognize the HoffmannInstitute.org
The maps are the best Gamesday Maps hands down!
Since Im sick of the dungeon tile posters they give us, but these are just incredibly done.
One side is two maps, a parking garage and an outside roadside encounter.
Both have automobiles (for you to shoot & blow up!) strewn about.
The other side is one map of a beautiful science lab.
These maps are gonna be used over and over again by all the DMs lucky enough to get them.
WOTC make some Gamma World Map Packs! Jason Engle is an incredible cartographer so use him!
The swag is 2 Cards, 1 Omega Tech (that the players earn in the adventure) and an Alpha Mutation that lets you copy a readied AMC on the table!
What is interesting is they are labelled 1 & 3 of 3, so I want to know what 2 of 3 is now?
I will give 2 thumbs up for the Gameday Adventure that has the best maps ever, some cool & interesting cards for swag, and some good exploring. The only downside is that does lean on being a dungeon crawl as it doesn't give any examples of how PCs could defeat encounters without combat or give more fluff & description of all the rooms.
I'm considering showing up there and running the short adventure in the back of the book, but I'd really prefer to run the real deal. I guess I'll check with my FLGS organizer and see if he actually received a packet from WotC or not.
There is one new monster in the adventure.
It turns out there is one entirely new monster, but three more new versions of monsters we already have, including a new Porker, a new robot, and an Elite boss, also a Porker.
All of this helps to flesh out the monster roster for future adventures, so it is nice to see.
Kerry
I look forward to seeing if there's any recognizable features of the 'Boro in the adventure.
Here's some useless trivia: The Freesboro of the title is likely my hometown of Murfreesboro, TN (author Robert Schwalb currently lives there).
That'd make sense, as it also references a nearby city - Ashville - which I assumed to be Nashville.
docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BwSEGjOnxAb0Zjd...
I just organized/arranged the images. They are copyright 2010 by Wizards of the Coast and the poster will be removed if a representative from the company requests it.
Kerry
I was hoping to run this at my FLGS, but apparently their organizer and Wizards are butting heads over something, so I am not sure that they actually ordered, or were able to order, the GW game day materials. Such a waste. I was looking forward to running it, and hopefully getting some players interested in GW.
I'm considering showing up there and running the short adventure in the back of the book, but I'd really prefer to run the real deal. I guess I'll check with my FLGS organizer and see if he actually received a packet from WotC or not.
My FLGS is getting the runaround as well! I've been a GW fan since 1st edition! As soon as I heard they were releasing the new GW I volunteered to run the Game Day for him, but they won't call him back, despite his many calls to his WotC person.
There's an error in the adventure! Well, a minor one, only thing I noticed so far.
The LAST page, not counting handouts... just above the About The Author.
There's a d6 table for something.
The last 2 words are "healing surge"
Lol.
As the kits have already been sent out, it's pretty much too late.
Your best bet now is ebay.
You need to sign up through your FLGS to run the Gamma World Game Day.
As the kits have already been sent out, it's pretty much too late.
Your best bet now is ebay.
That sucks. I emailed WotC over a month ago to ask about GW game day but never got a reply & had no idea how to sign up. The WotC website was unhelpful. I hope WotC will at least make the adventure available to the rest of us after GW Game Day.
Still, I do know this, one of the local FLGS had their order lost and when they finally got in touch with WotC were told all the packets had been claimed and they could not be readded to the system.
You need to sign up through your FLGS to run the Gamma World Game Day.
As the kits have already been sent out, it's pretty much too late.
Your best bet now is ebay.That sucks. I emailed WotC over a month ago to ask about GW game day but never got a reply & had no idea how to sign up. The WotC website was unhelpful. I hope WotC will at least make the adventure available to the rest of us after GW Game Day.
Game Day events have to be registered by your STORE, not by individuals.
Your store gets in touch with their Wizards Play Network (WPN) rep and it goes from there.
Because it's a store based event, it has to go through stores, not individuals.
In my case, I told my store owner I wanted to run and he said "OK, you're in" and handled the rest.
Of course, my store is a Premier store, and he runs lots of events.
Talk to your store owner about getting Game Days organized. There aren't any coming up soon though.
Just got my packet.
There's an error in the adventure! Well, a minor one, only thing I noticed so far.
The LAST page, not counting handouts... just above the About The Author.
There's a d6 table for something.
The last 2 words are "healing surge"
Lol.
You seem to have a misprint. My adventure shows the entire table and it concerns the Beta Chamber. I have added the information to the first post on this thread.
Kerry
His sheet is not misprinted. Palmerkun was pointing out that GW does not HAVE healing surges. So the Beta Chamber table makes no sense.
Doh! I totally misunderstood...
Kerry
I was hoping to run this at my FLGS, but apparently their organizer and Wizards are butting heads over something, so I am not sure that they actually ordered, or were able to order, the GW game day materials. Such a waste. I was looking forward to running it, and hopefully getting some players interested in GW.
I'm considering showing up there and running the short adventure in the back of the book, but I'd really prefer to run the real deal. I guess I'll check with my FLGS organizer and see if he actually received a packet from WotC or not.
So... eating my words. It looks like regardless of whatever was going on between my local game store's organizer and WotC, they sent the GW gd packet. So, looking forward to picking it up this weekend and getting up to speed to run a table.
1 encounter calls for 5 of a creature.
Another calls for 4 of the same PLUS a unique of that species.
There are only 4 tokens for that creature.
Grrr.
(This is ignoring the 5 of a creature which is new to this set)
Time to go through my minis looking for cool stuff to sub in.
The counters are a little inconvenient. I also don't like that they are different front-back. Not just that there's a different monster on each side instead of a bloodied condition, but that they're different from counter to counter. If all the badders were, say, dabbers on the other side, it'd at least be a little easier to find what you're looking for.
Someone was suggesting that this could be run without the game box, but then you leave out the alpha mutation deck from the game master. We are inviting anyone who bought the game and wants to show up with some friends to play the adventure, they will get the promo cards and the adventure as a thank you.
Otherwise, I have 2 tables lined up... sadly way low for a gameday event for us (we usually have 9-10 tables run for these things)
For Gamma World we're expecting two or three tables.
If you have any D&D Orc miniatures, they'd work for the porkers - especialy if they're really old leads (there were /some/ of the pig-looking orcs done, weren't there?). ;)
The Game Box is supposed to be required (it says one Game Box per table in big print right on the materials). I pre-ordered mine, have had it a week, so no worries there.
If you have any D&D Orc miniatures, they'd work for the porkers - especialy if they're really old leads (there were /some/ of the pig-looking orcs done, weren't there?). ;)
Gammorean guards from Star Wars would probably make decent porkers.
I'm using Gruts for Porkers and Marro for Klickies (Heroscape) myself.
(It looks like they scavanged the Hoffman Institute from a different game promo?)
www.otherworld.me.uk/oseries.html - Pig faced orcs!
With a flail and battleaxe, no less!
Anyone else tried the .../stupendico/.. links in the module. All I get is the word 'welcome.' I take it they'll go live for Game Day?
(It looks like they scavanged the Hoffman Institute from a different game promo?)
Yeah, the links aren't live yet. I hope they go live soon.
Hoffmann Institute was from Alternity's Dark*Matter setting.
I hope the pages go live by about 6pm Friday night, so I can print them off at work (no home printer)
Remember that ability score modifiers get a bonus, for monsters, of 1/2 the monster's level. So if you see a 16 in a score, and it has a bonus higher than +3, that's because the monster has +1/2 level as a bonus.
I'm new to DMing 4e stuff so I did not know about the bonuses to mods. Where is this located? DMG? MM? It doesn't say anything in the GW book that I could see...It just says "Use the adjusted ability score modifier..." (paraphrasing).
Gamma World Rulebook p 59 has a table with the ability scores and their modifiers. In the case of the monster you were asking about, the half level thing like what DoctorComics (love that name btw) says. It looks pretty normal to me as well. Pay close attention to the resists for that monster too!
The monster in question has 1/2 its level added to it's stat mods. This is the first time I've ever heard of this being done to any critter in D&D 4e. I looked through the other monsters in the book and, sure enough, they have that applied as well.
My question is not what the stat mods are (those are easy to figure out and find). My question is: Where is the rule that monsters of higher level add half their level to their mods. I did not find it in the Gamma World book, did not find it in the 4e DMG 1, nor did I find it in the 4e MM 1.
Where is the rule that states that monsters add 1/2 their level to their stats? If it isn't in the normal places, how is one supposed to know to do that when applying levels to monsters to increase the PC's challenge?
***EDIT
My main issue is that if this is done, why isn't it explained in the rulebook? The GW book does not stipulate that you need any other books in order to play. That makes things like this irritating rule a pain in the butt for new DMs.
Anyone else tried the .../stupendico/.. links in the module. All I get is the word 'welcome.' I take it they'll go live for Game Day?
(It looks like they scavanged the Hoffman Institute from a different game promo?)
Yeah, the links aren't live yet. I hope they go live soon.
Hoffmann Institute was from Alternity's Dark*Matter setting.
I hope that when the links go live, they don't contain any Flash or other such silliness that does not work on smart phones, since that will be the most likely client for this content.
I also looked at the source code of the "Welcome" pages, in case there were any little hints or humor embedded in there. None. Bummer.
The monster in question has 1/2 its level added to it's stat mods. This is the first time I've ever heard of this being done to any critter in D&D 4e. I looked through the other monsters in the book and, sure enough, they have that applied as well....My question is: Where is the rule that monsters of higher level add half their level to their mods. I did not find it in the Gamma World book, did not find it in the 4e DMG 1, nor did I find it in the 4e MM 1. ... Where is the rule that states that monsters add 1/2 their level to their stats? If it isn't in the normal places, how is one supposed to know to do that when applying levels to monsters to increase the PC's challenge?
***EDIT
My main issue is that if this is done, why isn't it explained in the rulebook? The GW book does not stipulate that you need any other books in order to play. That makes things like this irritating rule a pain in the butt for new DMs.
You're absolutely right. This rule is not explicitly stated in the DMG or in GW. It's not your fault you are confused. It's an obscure rule.
However, if you look in your MM, you will see that every monster in that book has these bonuses. Likewise, if you have ever used the Monster Creator utility in DDI's Adventure Tools, that utility calculates these bonuses automatically and puts them into your monster.
The best way to figure out the rule for yourself is something like this: "What bonus do monsters use for Initiative, Perception, and other skill and ability checks? PCs get to add 1/2 their level to those checks. Do monsters? Let me check the Monster Manual. Why yes, yes they do."
Monsters don't roll ability checks and skills very often, but if you have ever tried to make your own monster and not added these bonuses, you quickly begin to notice that your monsters have lousy Initiative scores compared to the players, and then you begin to ask "What am I doing wrong?" and that is how I, at least, figured out this rule.
Wizards seems to be revising a lot of this stuff for clarity as they do the Essentials books. Unfortunately, monster creation seems to have been left out of the Essentials "DM's Book" and instead saved for the Monster Vault, which isn't out yet. So we cannot yet see if they have clarified this particular rule in the new edition.
So, it is assumed that those who buy Gamma World also have the 4e books, which is a load of hooey...Oh, well. Hope this reference helps other newb DMs out there.
Gamma World doesn't give you any tools or guidance for creating monsters that I noticed. So I suppose you're just supposed to take the numbers on faith. Not that there's anything wrong with 'reverse engineering' them, of course.
Wow, 9-10? We only had two tables at Red Box Game Day - two tables of 4 players each.
For Gamma World we're expecting two or three tables.
If you have any D&D Orc miniatures, they'd work for the porkers - especialy if they're really old leads (there were /some/ of the pig-looking orcs done, weren't there?). ;)
The Game Box is supposed to be required (it says one Game Box per table in big print right on the materials). I pre-ordered mine, have had it a week, so no worries there.
The best minis for porkers I've seen would be the Farrow minis from Privateer Press's Hordes game.
privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/minion...
and
privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/minion...
and certainly not least:
privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/minion...
I just checked the web addresses listed in the adventure and it seems they are still not operational. Is it this way to you all as well? Has WotC mentioned when these may be operational?
My understanding was "during Games Day" since looking at them beforehand would be spoileriffic.
I just checked the web addresses listed in the adventure and it seems they are still not operational. Is it this way to you all as well? Has WotC mentioned when these may be operational?
My understanding was "during Games Day" since looking at them beforehand would be spoileriffic.
Not for the GM.
... (It looks like they scavanged the Hoffman Institute from a different game promo?)
Hoffman Institue is from the Alternity/d20 Modern Dark Matter setting.
Kerry
To get the tokens that were missing, I just went ahead and set up shrinky dink versions. They're square, which is fine with me, but since I haven't actually shrunk them, I'll let you know how they turn out afterwards.
Just an FYI I think you can find a clicky on page 70 of the book. DDI has this image available in it's Gamma World art gallery.
There is one more encounter that I think you missed, it has 3 Laser Gun batteries. While not "monsters" per se, it's another encounter with a stat block. I also think that they are in a non-mapped room. Here's a tip though, if your store lets you, the poster for Gamma World game day has the evacuation plan on it, I *think* it's standard minis size. If that's the case, you have the extra rooms needed for the two non-mapped encounters.
Those standies are nice, i was thinking about doing that as well, but would need them for the PCs.
To get the tokens that were missing, I just went ahead and set up shrinky dink versions. They're square, which is fine with me, but since I haven't actually shrunk them, I'll let you know how they turn out afterwards.
Do you mean the various origin illustrations? I considered doing that, but with so many combinations, who can say whether a character would actually appear as the picture? My current plan is to pull out my box o' minis and let the players pick.
Just an FYI I think you can find a clicky on page 70 of the book. DDI has this image available in it's Gamma World art gallery.
I don't think that creature is technically a klicky. It appears to be more grasshopper/mantis than roach. However, I do like it better than the one I found. I'll update the standies soon.
Kerry
'Klicky' was in Omega World, it was like a race - if you were a mutated insect of any kind, you were a 'Klicky.' I played a Klicky in Omega World who was a giant a ladybug.
As far as scaling...
Show
All the creatures except the dabber are Medium. The dabber is Small and is sized accordingly.
All the creatures except the dabber are Medium. The dabber is Small and is sized accordingly.
I guess the one was kind of answered about the Beta Chamber, guess I'll use it as a second wind as suggested.
The others are the Klickies have climb (spider climb) but I didn't see where that ability is described, perhaps in Essentials?
One more was about engineered humans being able to overcharge everything +2, but as a secondary origin this shouldn't apply since only the primary origin's overcharge bonus applies?
A few notes: Shrinky Dinks are supposed to reduce to 1/3 their size and their thickness should increase by 9x. The thickness works well, definately.
The size is another issue. I scaled my originals at 3 inches per side to reduce to 1 inch per side. the actual dimensions when shrunk are 1.25 inches wide by 1.125 inches tall (1 1/4" x 1 1/8").
It's not perfect and if I wanted to sand them down, I would. But the long and the short of it? Nice, durable plastic tokens aren't bad at all. I can get 6 tokens out of 1 8x10 Shrinky Dink sheet (yes, you run it through an inkjet printer). @ 6 sheets per pack, that's 36 medium-sized tokens for 11$.
I'd say that's worth it for custom tokens when you need them. You can even make them with graphics chosen by your players for custom PC tokens. Not too shabby.
If you want perfect, print your tokens on a full-page label and stick it to a sheet of chipboard (cardboard like you can find on the back of pads of paper) and cut them yourself.
There are alternate character generation methods that would allow for a primary-Engineered Human. So, yeah, if you use the random method, EHs are always secondary, and never get that bonus. But, if you use an alternate choose-your-primary method, they could be primary and the bonus would aply.
You could also make an Engineered Human origin the primary origin since it's supposed to override looks and junk to make your character look more like an ancient...I might just do this for my games, though I'm still thinking about it.
I created some standies for this game day (instead of miniatures). The file can be downloaded from docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwSEGjOnxAb....
Kerry
Any chance you can number them? I really like having numbers on monsters especially if they look alike.
Sorry, for scaling I meant rules for adjusting the challenge level for 4 players or 6 players vs the default of 5. Sometimes an adventure will suggest adding or removing a creature of the encounter level. I really need to read the adventure... anyway, if there are scaling rules it looks as if you have the space to add any extras that might be needed.
There aren't any scaling rules in the module, but it's not hard to take out one monster if you need to, or add an extra one in. So yeah a few extra would be nice but eh just print another sheet, IMO.
The three lasers are in the final encounter in the Beta Chamber room. They're quite prominent on the included map.
Now that I look at the map, I see you're right. That makes things easier
On to finishing up the last few tokens I need.
There aren't any scaling rules in the module, but it's not hard to take out one monster if you need to, or add an extra one in. So yeah a few extra would be nice but eh just print another sheet, IMO.
For some creatures, it wouldn't even be necessary to print another sheet. All encounter standies are listed independently of each other so you actually have more standies than you technically need for any creature that appears in more than one encounter. Then again, if you want to smash them, burn them, or crumble them up and throw them at the player who killed them (not that I advocate this act of violence in any way
), you'll need to print more sheets...Kerry
Any chance you can number them? I really like having numbers on monsters especially if they look alike.
No! Never! Over my dead body! Well... maybe this one time. (I've added an extra critter to each encounter for scaling the adventure as well.)
docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwSEGjOnxAb...
Kerry
Even though I won't be able to run the Game Day event on the 23rd, I'd still really love to run the adventure for my shop.
www.mediafire.com/?79zm3f307mq1ljv
They should come in handy to streamline character creation this Saturday. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.
The utilities and expert powers are given at level 3 aaaand another level higher than 3 (4 or 5?). I don't have the book in front of me at the moment.
Characters gain the use of both novice powers for their origins at level 1, that's why the origin cards have only the Novice powers.
The packet sent to the store had all the novice powers, set up as cards. But on your half sheets you've expanded them and added utilities and an expert power. Are those akin to level 1 utilities and daily powers that standard 4th ed D&D characters start with? Was this done to shorten the time needed to create characters and to get right into the game itself?
Level 1 characters only get the "Novice" powers, which is why the cards that come with the WWGD packet only have those powers. I added the other powers to my sheets for two reasons. (1) So they can be used outside of the gameday. (2) So that the players at your table get to see a larger slice of the game. It would be a great idea to say, after you've passed out the half-sheets, "You can only use the Novice powers today, but the other powers on the sheet give you a great idea of how your characters will advance as you go through an entire campaign."
IMO, the purpose of WWGD should be to tell the players as much about the game as possible, and I've tried to do that in a limited way with the half-sheets.
Ok, I do like the idea of them seeing where the characters could eventually go. I was just going to cut those off the sheet to avoid confusion. Cause they already confused me. Each character has two origins, so therefore, will get two of these novice powers.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Shame, it was a cool idea.
Well, it is October 23 (here in Australia), I'm running a session of GW WWGD in 3 hours, and the hoffmann institute URL in Trouble in Freesboro still isn't working.
fwiw: www.hoffmanninstitute.org & hoffmanninstitute.biz work (but I believe they previously existed), and a prop brochure can be found here.
Also, can anyone with paint shop pro 8 can make a jpg out of this prop ID hoffmann institute card?
2 of them just lead to the handouts at the back of the module, not concerned.
The important one leads to an embedded youtube video (22 seconds).
The video is unlisted, so it can't be found by searching, only via direct link.
There's no wireless at my store and I can't count on Iphones, so I'm copying it to the hard drive of my laptop for local display
I'm printing some brochures now (I'm at work, hee!), nice score
Well, I ran Trouble in Freesboro today and despite the minor issue of the links not being active GW and the adventure were very well received. I had five at the table, only one of which (besides myself) had ever played any other GW editions. On the first round of combat a PC failed an overcharge roll using power mimic on another PC's Iron Body power and promptly game random porker no.1 15 temp hps and a +1 AC bonus! In the last fight a PC threw a dream grenade, rolled a 2 and knocked almost everyone in the room inconscious except one PC and one BG. One PC should have died except his readied Alpha Mutation meant that when dropped below zero hit points he regained hit points = to his bloodied value. The BG sniper was much pertubed when his head shot acutally cured the target!
Easy to learn, fun to play, I give GW a big tick.
Cheers,
Carl.
I've removed content from this thread because discussing illegal activities (copyright violstion) is a Code of Conduct violation. You can review the Code of Conduct here: wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg...
OK so that question wasn't phrased right then, sorry about that,
The better question is: Will this adventure be made available by WOTC to us GMs who missed gameday?
I've removed content from this thread because discussing illegal activities (copyright violstion) is a Code of Conduct violation. You can review the Code of Conduct here: wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg...
OK so that question wasn't phrased right then, sorry about that,
The better question is: Will this adventure be made available by WOTC to us GMs who missed gameday?
That is an excellent question, and I do not know the answer; you might want to post it on the the Community Business Board, where you are likely to get a more speedy response.
Today was fun as well, the biggest issue was the length of combat and nobody knowing what the powers for their characters did (a lot of reading, rereading, and referencing going on) nor the Alpha Mutations or the Omega Tech.
People began using their Omega Tech during the 3rd encounter (we only did 4, the optional security halting was never run) and people were reluctant to use their Alpha Mutations. Second Winds were used with abandon.
Overall, aside from the slow combat, there was fun had by all. I could see some of the people getting bored while they waited for their turn to come around so during the final combat, I allowed them to make a Science check and spend a minor action to assign targets to the laser guns. This gave players something to do during the turn (rolling for the guns) since 2 people went down with a "Hoop-Tang" combo going on. It also sped the game up a bit since we ended up playing to 7PM o.O;
We were going to start a campaign in Gamma World in 2 weeks and playing the game today solidified those plans.
I think more than 4-5 players is a bit much for Gamma World though, so we're going to stick to that many players.
I started with 4 players, we did Encounter 1.
2 more joined, and we did Encounter 2.
2 MORE joined for Encounter 3.
I ran 4, scaled back (the bots were all 2 hit minions)
And as time was wasting, jumped into 5, cut back.
Just Tangh and 3 porkers.
The first encounter was brutal... the blood birds nearly did them in.
They breezed through everything else.
------
BEST CHARACTER AWARD.
Hawkoid Mind Coercer.
18 Wis, 16 Cha... and everything else was 7 or less.
So this guy has no HP and crap for attacks.
So he decides that he is a goddamn mind controlling
Flying Jellyfish
And it was so awesome.
Winning combo was to get enemies engaged with the Yeti Swarm (5 angry Teddy Yetis that fought Voltron Style) that used a stop sign as an axe... or the twin katana Speedster Hypercog...
And then coerce it into doing an RBA against an ally...
Which provokes an opp attack.
VERY effective.
Blbbpblp was definitely one of the most effective combatants as a result.
Definitely starting an ongoing game.
A Telekinetic/Speedster,
A Mind Breaker/Coercer,
A Telekinetic/Electrokinetic (who died),
A Felinoid/Electorkinetic (replacement for the above),
A Doppleganger/Hypercognitive,
A Plant/Engineered Human,
and An Android/*something*
Nobody really worked together, the TK/Speedster was a bit too young to play and his dad tended to take over his character most of the time and the kid literally threw the dice around the room. But everyone essentially did their own thing until the klickies and tangh when they realized they should gang up on one, defeat it and then move to the next.
The gamers tend to think hack & slash WoW and NwN without any roleplaying at all. So there are never any prisoners taken.
It was fun for them anyway, so that was cool, and we're going to start a permanent campaign. I think I'm going to look to RIFTS for campaign material, though it'll be turned to GW use and toned down a bit so it's less campy. A friend of mine from way back and I came up with an alternate Earth where Atlantis was built as a floating island dedicated to DNA research. So I'll be bringing in different things there (D&D Monsters will be awesome for that). And since we have the worldlines story, Earth will become a nexus of realities that will allow for a lot of variety.
My table had one young player and five that knew 4E well. We had a lot of laughs just during character generation. Players were good about using their ancient junk in funny ways (nerf gun to the forehead of a cockroach? Sure, that grants CA, why not!).
There were a lot of good moments, but my favorite was my contingency plan and how the players reacted. For gamedays I always like having a contingency plan in case the PCs are going to lose. I think of what I might introduce to save them. With GW, it can be something radical. So, my thought was that in the final battle a unicorn would fly out of the portal and could heal people. However, Tangh failed to open the door. More and more PCs were getting bloodied and it was looking as if several PCs might go down, which I wanted to avoid (I wanted everyone to be playing).
Luckily, one player decided to try the code they had, and the door opened. Moments later the unicorn flies out of the portal, runs around the room, and back into the portal. Everyone it ran past (all the bloodied PCs and one porker) gain 5 HPs from its healing presence. Everyone loved it, except the young boy (playing the cockroach). He says, "wait, what do I get?". I rub my chin. "Ok, as you say that, and just as the unicorn is going into the portal, rainbows fly out of its rear end and streak towards you. And when the rainbow touches you..."
The kid interrupts, "I don't want that!"
"Well, do you want the unicorn's rainbow or not?"
He thinks. "Ok"
And then he got to draw an alpha mutation card, was happy, and we all had a good laugh.
The last foe is dropped and I summarize/wrap up that the PCs can now disable the machine. The players quickly inform me they have no such plans. "We want to go find unicorn mounts," says one! So, I summarized how they adventure through several strange worlds (candy world almost too cool for the cockroach to leave, ooze world, etc.) before finally finding their unicorn mounts. They then return to Gamma Terra and close the portal.
It was pretty classic.
The plot was a bit weak, but the maps were awesome and everyone liked the wackiness of Gamma World.
Everyone seemed to have a really good time from what I could tell. I was lucky enough to be able to get a chance to play rather than run the adventure. There was talk of the store running a weekly GW encounters, which I'm hoping happens as else I likely won't get a chance to play otherwise.
The adventure was interesting. The first encouter was brutal. I was worried that we would end up with a TPK due to the birds. The final encounter was also rather harsh, as we lost two party members and nearly had a TPK. Creative use of the Radio Head alpha power to mimic Tangh's voice, a bit of roleplay and a good Interaction check, followed by a grab attempt saved the day. Even so I barely had time to run across the entire map to make two science checks to stabilize the remaining two party members from dying. Both were on their last death saving throws.
Looking at that last encounter, with module in hand, it has to be designed with the knowledge that at least one or more party members will die.
We took turns going around the table rolling our Primary Origin, 4 of the 5 of us rolled Doppleganger in the beginning, then 3 of us rolled Mind Coercer as our Secondary. Our GM asked everyone else if they would like to roll something different, and almost all did. We ended up with a Hawkoid/(Cockroach?), a Grav Controller/Telekinetic, a Plant/Seismic, an Empath/Mind Coercer, and a Doppleganger/Mind Coercer (=me). My stats were nothing to speak of (my whopping 5 Dex, 3 Wis averaged out my 18 and 16 quite nicely).
My dice were not on my side all day, as I probably averaged an 8 or so with every d20 roll. The Blood Bird kicked my @$$, luckily the GC/Tk came to my rescue with the Science check (I didn't know about, I thought I had read the rules?). The fun began when the GC/Tk used Explode! to blow up 3 of the cars and 1 of the bugs in the garage, only to fail to coalesce until after the combat ended. We thought he was going to be gone for good! We bypassed the rubble going up the stairs inside, so I guess we totally missed all the URL's to look up (we never looked up anything the whole afternoon), so we jumped from the parking garage to the final encounter....
I thought I had it all figured out. My friend (the Emp/MC) was going to Dominate one of the Porkers to let us inside the room, but I was being way too cocky about it. I was going to use my Doppleganger to let us in (since we could use the monitors in the hallway to see in the room, our GM ruled that I had line of sight). I was all like "I totally got this". So we move up to the door, so I'm 5 squares away, and proceed to roll a 1 for my Science check to use the computers. Bad, right? No, our GM backs it up a step (I think she felt bad for me, I had been rolling crappy the whole day), and says "Wait, first roll your Stealth check to get to the door before your double goes inside". Yeah, I rolled another 1. If ever I felt like crying during a game session, I think this was it.
The final encounter still ended up cool. We never encountered the laser batteries because we fought about 90% of that fight in the doorway to the room. Myself and the Emp/MC took turns using Mental Push to control the Porkers to attack Tangh. (actually I missed about 60% of my rolls, and he made all his), and we ended with Pushing the Dabber to shoot the final Porker.
I still had a lot of fun!! I hope WotC brings out more material (can I wish for mini's?) for GW!!
The error is apparently related to a recent java update.
The direct video link is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpL241nit0
Many thanks to kapncarl for the information and link.