IntroductionGamma World. Those two words take me back to my high school days. A couple of friends and I were all pretty good students and our science teacher would allow us to play Gamma World in his classroom during lunch. Pretty cool of him when you consider the time period (D&D was considered the work of Satan). Gamma World was the second RPG I had been introduced to (D&D, of course, was the first). I loved Gamma World back then and still do. As a backer of Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) I was excited when the announcement for Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC) came out. I’ve had the PDF of the core rules for a while now and read through them a couple of times. I thought I would offer up my thoughts on it, by chapter, in case anyone else is considering picking it up.
Chapter One – Character CreationIf you are familiar with DCC, MCC is no different. It is 100% pure Old School Revival (OSR) goodness. Character creation is, for the most part, quick and easy. And that’s a good thing because that 0-level character you create will die pretty much the same way- quick and easy (only 1d4 hit points!). In fact, you are encouraged to create and play multiple characters at the start because the ranks will certainly be thinned by the end of the first adventure. My only complaint with this chapter is it does not contain everything you need to generate a character. If you are trying to fill out a blank character sheet with just this chapter it won’t work. You have to go deeper into the manual to find things like Artifact Checks, combat attacks/damage, base speed, etc. A minor but annoying issue for me.
You can create one of four genotypes to play. Pure Strain Human, Mutant, Manimal, and Plantient are all there. There are tables for things like appearance and geno sub-types. One thing a bit different from Gamma World that I’m not sure I like is 0-level characters will not “gain” their mutations until they reach 1st level. I understand that’s probably because you don’t want to waste time generating mutations for a character that’s probably going to die anyway. But I would also argue that the character would have a better chance of surviving if the mutations were in place at the start. Besides, why wouldn’t they have been born that way?
Level advancement is also simple. Just surviving an encounter will get you up to 4 experience points (XP). And every character class uses the same, basic advancement table.
Chapter Two – Character ClassesIf your character is lucky enough to survive the first adventure you get to choose a character class. If you are a Mutant, Manimal, or Plantient you pretty much already are your character class. If you a Pure Strain Human, you can choose to be a Sentinel (warrior), Shaman (wizard), Healer (healer), or Rover (thief). I guess mutants just can’t break that glass ceiling in Terra A.D. Each character class level brings increases in hit points, critical/action dice, artifact checks, etc.
Okay. I’ll just go ahead and say it now. I do not like the Shaman class. Yes, I’m an old school Gamma World fan. I don’t like the idea of spells in my post apocalyptic settings. Shamans are wizards. Their “gods” are Patron AIs: ancient, super Artificial Intelligences that cover the entire world. Instead of spells Shamans “access” what are called wetware programs. I’m rolling my eyes just typing all of this. It’s a matter of personal taste and I’m sure there are a lot of people that love the idea. For me, there probably won’t be any Shamans roaming around Terra A.D.
Chapter Three – MutationsMutations come in three forms in MCC. Physical, Mental, and Defects. Each of the mutation types has two sub-categories, active and passive. Active mutations are used by the character at-will and require check rolls. Passive mutations have permanent, lasting effects on the character.
When you gain a new level you can choose to re-roll passive mutations and even use up Luck or give up Attribute points (Glowburn) to improve the result. There are a lot of mutations listed in this chapter and the book does an excellent job of describing what they are and do.
Chapter Four – CombatLike everything else, combat is quick and simple. There’s a check for surprise and rolls for initiative. Attacks are just a roll of the die (or dice) against the defender’s Armor Class (AC). Combat occurs in 10 second intervals. There are critical hits and critical failures (called fumbles). There are plenty of critical hit tables for each of the character classes and levels to keep things interesting. Death occurs when a character or creature’s hit points reach 0. There are ways to save a character should that occur but it is not easy on Terra A.D. I like the basic combat and think miniatures (preferably those weird rubber toy ones) would work great with this game.
Chapter Five – Archaic AlignmentsNot much different here if you are familiar with Cryptic Alliances from Gamma World. There are several organizations on Terra A.D. with different agendas. One wants to rid the world of all mutants. Another wants only animals to rule. There are benefits to being a member of one of these organizations but you are not required to join one.
Chapter Six – Artificial IntelligencesThis chapter includes information on all forms of AI including computers, androids, robots, and holograms. There are tables to generate AI types and personalities. Again, this chapter follows closely to the AIs as presented in Gamma World. There are recognition checks to see if the AIs will interact with you or not. Some AIs haven’t fared so well after the Great Disaster and are completely insane (and very, very dangerous). There are also several types of pre-generated types of AIs in this chapter. Domestic bots, guard bots, holograms, etc.
Chapter Seven – Artifacts of the AncientsI found this chapter to be a bit thin. The old artifact flowchart from Gamma World is gone and replaced with an artifact check die roll/table look up. There is also a very basic table to generate “everyday” artifacts of the ancients. It is left up to the Judge (GM) to fill in the details about these mundane objects. The Artifacts of the Ancients table is a bit more useful. It contains weapons, power cells, medical supplies, vehicles, etc. of the ancients and explains them in great detail.
Chapter Eight – Bestiary A.D.Again, I thought this chapter was too thin. I think even the author felt this way as he started off this chapter saying to remember that there are additional “monsters” listed as the AIs in Chapter Six. I get the feeling that this chapter was neglected the most. There are not a lot of creatures listed. Maybe there will be an add-on book later? That would be nice but there should have been more included with the core rules. On a positive note, if you own DCC you can bring over monsters from that into MCC. The two systems are designed to be used together.
Chapter Nine – Patron AIsYou already know my thoughts on the Patron AIs. These are the “gods” of Terra A.D. Each world spanning Patron AI has its own agenda and seeks out followers. They grant spells, er, wetware programs to the wizards, er, Shaman that follow it. Heck, they even fight amongst themselves just like the old gods! This chapter gets credit for detailing the Patron AIs and providing a decent list of spells, er, wetware. There is a lot of information in this chapter.
Chapter Ten – Optional RulesNot really so much optional rules here but just a mention that you can use DCC stuff with MCC stuff and the other way around. A party from one world could visit the other. Included is a table for Artifact Checks for the DCC character classes.
Final ThoughtsThe MehI would have liked to have seen more thought put into the Archaic Alignments. They feel a bit thrown in at the last minute. The chapter on monsters was too brief. And, as if you couldn’t tell by now, I don’t think the inclusion of wizards and spells were necessary to this setting. I wouldn’t mind using a single Patron AI type in one or two adventures, but to turn them into world spanning gods is a bit too much for me. Fortunately it’s easy enough to homebrew them out. One other thing that I didn’t like was the included world map. It looks more useful for wall art than using in a campaign.
The GoodIf you like old school, post apocalyptic role playing games, especially Gamma World, I think you will really like this game. It’s a fast and fun game system that I think people will enjoy playing. The system rules work for either a gonzo style or more serious style of play. There is also lot of original artwork in the book that makes owning a hard copy a must.
I highly recommend Mutant Crawl Classics.
