Downloaded Mutant Future

[dwayanu]

I just downloaded this, and at first glance it looks sweet!

As billed, it is not exactly Gamma World but rather a similar game based on Labyrinth Lord. Of course, GW was not exactly Metamorphosis Alpha .... but "Mutants? Check!"

[Zulgyan]

I'm totally gonna run a Mutants and Mazes campaign someday soon! Finally, someone did it!

[Rhuvein]

Woohooo! I gotta go get me one!!! ;D

[dwayanu]

From James Maliszewski's (Grognardia) review:

Oddly, Mutant Future includes a discussion of the threefold alignment system of Law, Chaos, and Neutrality, but I'm a bit baffled as to its purpose in the game, since it doesn't seem to serve either a thematic or mechanical purpose in the game.

A potential thematic purpose strikes me as even more obvious in the post-holocaust setting than in a typical fantasyland. Consider Law as those seeking to preserve and rebuild civilization, and Chaos as those who revel in ruins and savagery.

Examples from the Mad Max movies may come to mind.

[James Maliszewski]

Jun 4, 2008 23:38:40 GMT -6 dwayanu said:

A potential thematic purpose strikes me as even more obvious in the post-holocaust setting than in a typical fantasyland. Consider Law as those seeking to preserve and rebuild civilization, and Chaos as those who revel in ruins and savagery.

That's certainly correct and MF makes that connection itself. What I meant was that the alignment system, as presented, seems pretty vestigial mechanically. That is, there are no mutations or devices that detect alignment and alignment seems to have no in-game grounding other than being a shorthand for a vague "moral" stance. Granted, that's pretty much how alignment works in OD&D, at least at the beginning, but I found it jarring in a post-apocalyptic game. YMMV and all that.

[dwayanu]

I think that in OD&D, alignment is basically which "side" you're on (as Brits and Portuguese are aligned against the French in a Napoleonic game). It's important chiefly to reaction, recruitment and loyalty, and it's up to the ref to adjust those rules accordingly. None of that is spelled out, but it follows pretty naturally from experience with Chainmail. A Neutral Orc might serve a Lawful master, but not enthusiastically; a Chaotic one would be utterly untrustworthy if it even gave its pledge in the first place.

[Finarvyn]

Moving it to the GAMMA WORLD, etc. forum.

[jjarvis]

When I first spotted the aligment system in Mutnat Future I was surprised nd thought it out of place but after getting used to the idea I find it fits. Lawfuls build, Neutrals survive and Chaotics pillage.

[Deleted]

I like Labyrith Lords and so found Mutant Future to be fun as well.

Dunno why people find alignment strange in a non-fantasy setting. Use it to decide "us" versus "them" and keep playing.