Using Mutant Future for Met. Alpha

[Brunomac]

My last Gamma World or Metamorphosis Alpha game was baaaaack in the day (last one of those probably mid-80's).

Been thinking lately about what to have as an alternative to my regular AD&D, and Met. Alpha sounds like some old school fun. Prob is that I no longer have those rules and don't feel like buying them.

Enter Mutant Future! So similar to those old school joints, and so d**n easy. My knuckleheads could have characters up and running in an hour or less (important, because we only play for around 3 hours on a Wed night).

So, having no experience with Mutant Future, and those games of yesteryear happening a long time ago, I was curious about how some other folk do things, like:

Have you used Mutant Future for Metamorphosis Alpha settings? Work out OK?

Has anyone used any kind of alternate to the random mutation generation? Don't want to change it too much, I'd just like a little bit of a more even power distribution in case a lot of folk want mutants (and who wouldn't?).

Has anyone used skills in any way, shape, or form in MF?

Does anyone use an alternate hit point method for NPC's? I really don't want every NPC in the game running around with 30-60 hit points. I was thinking something like this:

0 level non-combatants (villagers, farmers, etc.) would have half their CON as hit points. You gotta have some normal mooks who can be killed with a single sword thrust.

0-1st level rugged types have their CON as hit points.

1st level and higher "heroic" type NPC's have hit points as PC's do.

Does any of that sound like too big of a change? I want to keep the spirit of the rules, but I am always modding something or another.

Brunomac
Templeofdemogorgon.blogspot.com

[Malcadon]

Actually a space colony is really neat, because it could be both a setting and a mega-dungeon in one! If you use the the Ark from the classic sci-fi show The Starlost, you could have dozens of habitat domes, with an endless amount of rooms and corridors in between. There are all sorts of layouts you could use (Bernal sphere, Stanford torus, O'Neill cylinder, and such) besides what you find in MA.

You could rule that Mutants could have a static chance of having a defective mutation per roll. That is, you could say that for each mutation rolled, on a 1 or 2 of a d6 roll, it is a defect, and good and bad mutations have their own roll chart. This could help counter the high about of physical defects.

I have been trying to experiment with a task resolution system that would use the Mental Attack table like the Resistance Table from the Chaosium games. So instead of using Willpower, the PC could sneak around (with Dex used in offense) an alert NPC guard (with Int used in defense). Static target numbers would be used if their are no NPCs. This system is easy to figure out, because you can add 10 to the Defensive score, and then subtract the Offensive score to get the target number.

With this system, I was also thinking about Skill Bonuses that would be added to the ability score when the related tasks are being preformed. Unlike the d20 system, skill bonuses should not be dished out like Halloween candy, nor should these bonuses limit the character's actions. That is, even if a PC has no bonuses to riding animals, he should be able to ride them - these bonuses make them do somethings better then normal, as PCs should be able to do almost anything they put their mind to.

Giving NPCs HP equal to, too twice their Con (x1, x1.5, or x2) is a good method, if you want them to be squishy. Just to let you know, most of the monsters in the MF book have been beefed-up to count for the PC's higher HP.

If you want more character options, or you want to add magic to your setting, you could allow players to take classes in place of the normal advancement rules (PCs advance as Fighters, by default).

There is a community of MF fans at the Goblinoid Games Forum that can also help you.

[Deleted]

I posted a reply to your similar comment on my Mutant Future blog (mutagenicsubstance.blogspot.com/), I will post it here too:
"The HP changes you suggest would not be a big deal at all. It might change the general tenor of the game slightly, making the PC's a little more heroic and out of the ordinary, but the vast majority of the villains and monsters they face would not be affected by that change.

As far as the mutation generation, the only change I made was to say that if a PC had as many or more harmful mutations as they did beneficial, they could reroll all the mutations. None of the players (and I have 11 players, and several of them have already gone through a few characters) have been disappointed with the results.

If you were going to go to some form of a choose your mutation situation, you would have to be really careful that you don't end up with a bunch of uber PCs that you would be hard pressed to challenge. You might want to consider ranking mutations as Highly Beneficial, Beneficial, and Mildly Beneficial, and doing the same for the drawbacks; then, if the player chose a Highly Beneficial mutation they would have to choose a Highly Disadvantageous Drawback. Just a thought.

I haven't missed skills at all, I just rule on the fly based on the characters back ground, but I can't imagine that you would have any problem adding them. Mutant Future is based on B/X D&D, after all, which is easily modified without upsetting any sort of intricate game balance (unlike 3e or 4e, for instance). All in all, I think Mutant Future is both an excellent game as is and a strong base that could withstand a lot of tweaking.

Let me know what you end up doing, I seriously considered doing a Metamorphosis Alpha campaign instead of my current post-apocalyptic Willamette Valley shenanigans!"

[Brunomac]

Will do, Carl. I think I actually discovered your blog last week and hooked up to it. Looks like I will be having a lash at this next month when an important player is missing from my regular D&D, so I will for sure post my plans and the final results over at my blog templeofdemogorgon.blogspot.com.