In the past few weeks, I've been on a pretty serious post-apocalypse and western kick, so I've been trying to find a fun game to scratch that itch. From the posts that I've read about people's Mutant Future games, it seemed like a sure bet. Fun random mutations and lost technology in a gonzo post-apocalyptic wasteland. What's not to like?
Except there's this weird assumption in Mutant Future that the technology level of the post-apocalyptic society is going to go straight back to default D&D medieval level, with literally what seems like the entire Labyrinth Lord equipment list reprinted verbatim, manacles and spyglasses alike. The book is full of illustrations with weird, weapon-wielding mutants, but then tells you about hiring longbowmen and light cavalry. Does this strike anyone else as a little weird? Maybe 'post-apocalypse' is a bit like 'pulp fantasy' in the sense that it can mean radically different things to different people. For some it may mean Thundarr-esque wizardry, to others it's far-future dungeoncrawling for high tech artifacts. For me, it's always been a weird, far-flung western, with bandits, trains and six-shooters alongside mutants, killer robots and Mexican wrestlers.
I guess it's just hard for me to fathom a post-apocalyptic setting with no cars. Is Gamma World (any edition) better about emulating that kind of western post-apocalypse feel? Or should I run with Mutant Future and just add the elements that I want to it? I think that the system's probably pretty solid, I just feel like I'd have to rewrite the entire gear section until I like it.
I own MF, but I didn't realize it clung to LL so much. Not really my thing, either.
ReplyDeleteI thought MF had futuristic weapons and technology, but that it's kind of rare. I can't remember, I lost my PDF when my hard drive failed. I seem to remember robots? Or am I just remembering Gamma World. GAH! I hate getting old...
ReplyDeleteI don't own MF. Odd that the writing doesn't mirror the setting...isn't that the draw? Anyone can slap a style on a ruleset. The only post-apocalyptic setting I've played was Armageddon, a Unisystem product, and that was crazy. All the gods come for Earth and it's frenzied, brutal gameplay. You could tweak it to use mexican wrestlers and mutant people, and it might be worth it because their vehicular combat is fairly extensive.
ReplyDeleteThe equipment list is on the one part of MF I don't like. So I ignore it. When I ran MF PCs generated random equipment using charts less medieval and more stupid. Blackpowder weapons were noticeably more common in my world. Though they never made it to the part of the setting with sufficient infrastructure to keep cars fueled and maintained.
ReplyDeleteI totally ignored the Mutant Future equipment as well. I agree that it was a total cop out to just import Labyrinth Lord equipment. Here is a post with a bunch of weapons from my Mutant Future campaign, may be helpful...
ReplyDeletehttp://mutagenicsubstance.blogspot.com/2009/09/guns.html