Pyramid Review
Gamma World Player's Handbook (for d20 Modern)
Published by Swords & Sorcery
Written by Bruce Baugh, Ian Eller, Geoff Skellams, Lizard, & Mikko Rautalahti
Illustrated by Ed Bourelle, Mike Chaney, Jeff Holt, Jeff Laubenstein, Brian LeBlanc, James Stowe & Tim Truman
248-page b&W hardcover; $34.95
The roleplaying hobby has reached an age when many of its first releases -- some classics, others not -- have cause to celebrate their Silver Anniversary. For Dungeons & Dragons, that came in 1999, while 2001 saw the silver anniversary of TSR's science fantasy RPG Metamorphosis Alpha. Its original author, James M. Ward, celebrated the event by releasing Metamorphosis Alpha Universe RPG published by Fast Forward Entertainment, a rewrite of the original concept that combined an interesting campaign premise with a set of ill-judged and woefully archaic mechanics. If an anniversary rewrite of a classic like Metamorphosis Alpha could fail, what then of its offspring? For if Metamorphosis Alpha is the granddaddy of all post-apocalyptic games then Gamma World is their father, and it is Gamma World that celebrates its own Silver Anniversary in 2003. Since the release of that original in 1978, the Gamma World game and concept have gone through at least six editions, only really deviating with the last few versions. The first of these was for TSR's Alternity game system that stripped out many of Gamma World's core elements, and the second was a return to the Metamorphosis Alpha concept with . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: January 2, 2004
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