Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Why Gamma World Wizards Love Radioactive Cocaine

For the last few weeks I’ve been working to better incorporate heavy metal music into Gamma World. I’ve settled on creating a series of episodic adventures where the players are a mutated heavy metal band on tour. In each episode the band faces different challenges like fighting other rock bands or space aliens, or questing for better instruments (they start out with broken Ovation electro-acoustics and can work their way up to fusion-powered keytar synthesizers), radioactive drugs, mutated groupies, and/or receptive audiences. I’ve actually put a bit of work into this, and the first episode is now ready to roll!

HEAVILY MUTATED METAL

It’s important to mention that in this game heavy metal musicians may be wizards. Specifically, they may be magic point-based Oranjian Wizards like I described a few posts ago. The problem with this, of course, is how deal with the level/spell-casting advancement issue when there are no levels in Gamma World. Well…. heavy metal wizards can increase their magic power by snorting that rare rock n’ roll ambrosia: radioactive cocaine.

Whenever a wizard does a few lines of glow-in-the-dark coke they immediately experience dope magic and permanently gain 1d6 magic points. Why work hard for experience points to level up your magic when you can taste the magic through a tightly rolled confederate dollar? This is seriously powerful magic, yessss!

Any rockers, including wizards, that get high on radioactive cocaine must dust off their d12 and roll for an effect:

1. Overdose! Make constitution check or go unconscious for 1d4 hours!
2. It’s cut with Clorox! 1d6 damage!
3. My body heaves! Gain one new randomly selected physical mutation.
4. My brain burns! Gain one new randomly selected mental mutation.
5. Stand up for Exciter! Voice gains heavy metal falsetto ability.
6. Rock on! All damage for the next 3 hours is cut in half (round down).
7. Instant moustache! Rapid hair growth for one day.
8. Neogenetic glamor! Skin gains sparkling luster like sequins or metallic spandex.
9. Hard core! Skin becomes black leather. AC reduced by 1. Resistance to road rash.
10. Halfordian awakening! Sexual orientation changes.
11. Transex transmutation! Physical gender changes.
12. I am now ready to party! +2d6 HP for 1 day.


HALFORDIAN METAL WIZARD CONTROLS ROBOT

8 comments:

  1. The Hi Jinx d20 minigame from Duneon #99/Polyhedron #158 has a lot of cool ideas for PCs as band members... worth reading, I promise you'll find at least a handful of stuff to use.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gonzo gold!

    Man ... spell lists with heavy metal names ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I had me a robot that lifted me high above throngs of fans. Instead, I have to stand on top of a table while students throw crayons and half-eaten PBJs at me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't the words...but I'm raising devil horns high.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did Blair sneak in and write this post? This sounds like fun. With the right group. Fusion-powered musical instruments and heavy metal sorcery...plus mutants. What more could you want?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow. Oddly enough, this is the 2nd campaign I've seen with roaming rock bands. My friend Jeremy ran a 4th edition campaign with an all bard group that would hold Battles of the Band against other groups. He created a mini game (mostly skilled based, with combat elements) where each group would attempt to create and push a wave of rock toward one another and overwhelm the other band. *raises the devil horns in salute*

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.