Origins: Not Just For Mutants

For the past week, I’ve been spending a lot of time brainstorming ideas for tweaks to the Gamma World origins.  While some of my energy has gone towards alternate systems for choosing origins, like Monday’s post on specialized origin tables, most of it has been trying to think of origin ideas that are missing from the original Gamma World box and the previewed list for Famine in Far-Go.

The existing origins cover a huge range of mutations, but I think the focus on origins being mutations misses some potential design space where origins serve as non-mutation archetypes.

I jotted down a quick list of potential archetypes while brainstorming, and plan to do full entries for at least a few of them to test the concept.  My quick list had the following, but I am sure there are plenty of good archetypes for post-apocalyptic characters:

• gearhead:  “good at mechanics and jury-rigging gear”
• medic:  “devoted to helping other survivors”
• protector:  “defenders of the small settlements that dot the wastelands”
• ravager:  “half-crazed warrior”
• road warrior:  “vehicle-focused warrior”
• scientist:  “omega tech specialist”
• survivor:  “durable and self-sufficient”
• wanderer:  “seen the world and learned more than most”

The first one I set to work on was the Survivor.  The durable portion of the theme was easy to fit into the mechanics with a bonus to Fortitude and a self-healing utility that also boosts defenses.  To stress the self-sufficient portion of the archetype, a Nature bonus was an obvious choice and I also added a trait to allow Survivors to use ammunition twice in an encounter without running out.  Once I had added the ammo-preservation trait, I decided to gear the attack powers to gun combat going with Hit and Run to offer mobility and Covering Fire both to provide some group protection and offer a cinematic way to blow all of your saved up ammo.

You can download the Survivor origin here.

I’ll probably follow up with another one of these archetype origins in the next couple weeks, so if you really want to see a certain one let me know.

UPDATE: I’ve compiled all of my Gamma World material into a single pdf. You can download the latest version here.