in early editions other types rolled 3d6 for each stat and pure strain humans got 4d6 so I was planning on incorperating something like that. maybe +2 to each stat or getting an extra 16 stat.
Also I thought something like:
Starts with 0 alpha mutations and if they gain one then it goes away at an extended rest
but
starts with 3 omega tech and if they ever have 0 readied they gain one at an extended rest.
I'm not sure what do do for the other abilities such as crit and novice trait though.
Make sure to including the "What is Human?" sidebar information, to justify using a second origin and Alpha mutations. A little application of imagination can turn any second origin or alpha mutation into something based on skills, technology, or natural talent.
I just noticed the new rules lack the rules for pure strain humans which was something I really liked in 1st and 2nd edition. How would you stat them up?
in early editions other types rolled 3d6 for each stat and pure strain humans got 4d6 so I was planning on incorperating something like that. maybe +2 to each stat or getting an extra 16 stat.
Also I thought something like:
Starts with 0 alpha mutations and if they gain one then it goes away at an extended rest
but
starts with 3 omega tech and if they ever have 0 readied they gain one at an extended rest.
I'm not sure what do do for the other abilities such as crit and novice trait though.
I've also considered creating a psh origin. The engineered human just doesn't sit quite right. I had hoped psh would be introduced in Legion of Gold, but it appears that the Barony is no longer somewhat prejudice against mutants.
I think you would have to give psh more in-built powers to compensate for the lack of Alpha mutations. Starting with more Omega Tech is a good idea. Maybe a psh can salvage as if he was a level higher? I'd probably do stats as 4d6, take 3 highest, with one chosen as an auto-18 or 20. (Supposedly, the 3d6 stat generation was intended as a replacement for mutation defects in previous editions so psh scores should be better.) Hmmm... what about an encounter power that lets a human "command" a robot/A.I. (either dominate or stun)? Radiation resistance seems to be a given.
Kerry
- As Engineered Human plus
- Resist 2X Level Radiation
- No alpha mutations ever
- Alpha flux becomes an Omega flux: Gain one additional use of an Omega Tech in this encounter
- When drawing an Omega Tech card, draw two and keep one.
How would you stat them up?
Check out the community origins compilation thread. We have a full Pure-Strain Origin with the full suite of powers that a nomral two-origin mutant would get, mostly focused around skills and weapons.
In addition, we have coming up an 'origins as classes' pdf, which you could use either 1 class + engineered human for a single-classed character, or two classes for a dual-classed. So if you have a hankering for Pure Strain characters, hop over and take a look
Here is the link. You can find PSH in the first compilation (the third one is still in progress, and PSH hasnt been added in yet to the full triple archive).
If you take away all alpha mutations, that seriously impacts the character's effectiveness in an encounter. Not all alpha mutations are created equal, of course, but at least if you get a really wimpy one for one encounter, there is a chance at getting a really powerful one the next, which is how everything balances out.
PSHs would be severely limited by taking them all away, and I don't think that the "draw two omegas and choose" and "Omega Flux" options really solve that problem.
Maybe if you gave them one free Omega use for an encounter, as a default trait... and then the Omega Flux gave them another one if they rolled a 1.
A free Omega use would mean that you don't have to roll for that omega tech at the end of the encounter... which has some potential for abuse of course... I can see someone spamming the same Omega tech each encounter with just their free use, so that tech never goes away... "I use my free use with my plasma sword again!" It could be that it's a free re-use, to remove that potential abuse.
I might boost their level for salvaging, as KJordan mentions. Maybe a flat +2 to level for salvaging?
An encounter Dominate power vs robots and AIs would be cool. Perhaps that could be their Utility?
Maybe if you gave them one free Omega use for an encounter, as a default trait... and then the Omega Flux gave them another one if they rolled a 1.
The community origins version does this after a fashion. It works, I've seen it in action. You start the game with extra tech, and you get a number of bonuses as you level up to help you salvage and charge Omega Tech pieces, as well as retain ammo and deal more damage with crits. It actually balances out fairly well, barring a few of the massively overpowered rare cards.
Double Tap + Salvaged Laser Pistol = Win. Just sayin.
Hmmm... what about an encounter power that lets a human "command" a robot/A.I. (either dominate or stun)?
The more I think about this, the more I think it is a good idea to allow PSH to dominate non-hostile robots and stun hostile by shouting commands. Jim Ward (the original creator of Gamma World) in a thread about robots in Metamorphosis Alpha (Gamma World's... uh, father?) suggests that PSH have a great impact on robots... even insane ones.
Kerry
Pure Strain is a concept from when the back story was based on radiation from nuclear war. There aren't any Pure Strain because there isn't a pure reality.
Then who are the members of the Knights of Genetic Purity?
Kerry
It would be fun to watch a bunch of knights fall apart under the evidence of their own unnoticed mutation. "What do you mean I have a backup spine?"
Gamma World is not a setting where something can't exist.
Yup. PSH's could be dropped in from somewhere else by FLUX or wake up from cryo-tubes or mutants might become Ex-mutants (great comic) or something...
Like minded EHs organize and fortify. They don shiny identical amor and helmets and carry a nasty melee weapon on their sides as well as an equally nasty blaster in a holster or over their backs and spread out over the twisted landscape. They will bring Genetic Purity back.
To create a random PSH roll d6 for base class and a + d? for advanced (I'm still looking at the number of Advanced classes...woo).
Most of the origin rules in GW can easily be applied to this format. The only problem are the prestige classes or advanced classes with 5 levels. I was thinking about applying the prestige and 5-level as something similar to vocations, but I'm still thinking about that.
I know that the d20 Modern rules weren't set up for this kind of mish-mash, but for GW it gives PSHs a goodly amount of power that I think matches that of GW.
For all the mayhem of convergent realities, I would assume humans would be common on many of those Earths and therefore would still be as common as dirt in the game world much like humans are common in Star Wars even with all the diversity of aliens. A PSH with a shovel, driving a broken down bus or running a food stand is familiar background and possibly a plot device.
Pure Strain is a concept from when the back story was based on radiation from nuclear war. There aren't any Pure Strain because there isn't a pure reality.
What about the reality where the Nazis won WW2, and the pure genetic race was founded! when the Big Mistake happened these enclaves or purists created the Knights of Genetic Purity to reclaim the shattered world that was stolen from them!