It’s no secret that Gamma World is due for some Errata. 4e Gamma World did a great job of updating the rules on its predecessor while still capturing the wacky fun that (I imagine) made the original Gamma World so fun to play!
However, several powers in the core book and in the expansion, Famine in Far-Go, have action types (minor, standard, move) and usage types (at-will, encounter) that are downright strange, and if taken at face-value, make the game a lot less fun to play! Furthermore, I think there are some pretty easy tweaks that can be made to the game system to increase balance and enjoyability!
Quick Note: I really appreciate the wackiness of Gamma World, but I think a certain balance in class powers is essential towards keeping up the fun atmosphere that this game encourages. For example, if I roll up a thematically interesting character but dread playing them because their powers are worse than useless, that hurts everyone’s game experience! So my goal with these errata and house rules is to make as many wacky combinations fun and playable as possible:
1. All [W] single target attack powers (not bursts or blasts) add + TWICE LEVEL to damage instead of + LEVEL. This includes basic melee and ranged attacks.
-Weapon powers fall way behind in damage at higher levels.
2. All [W] attack powers that can target multiple targets (including bursts and blasts) add + LEVEL to damage instead of not adding + LEVEL to damage.
-Weapon powers fall way behind in damage at higher levels.
3. All Novice Powers are STANDARD actions.
-Lodestone Lure is way too powerful as a minor action.
4. All Novice Powers are AT-WILL powers.
-Some powers are listed as Encounter for no obvious reason!
5. The Alien Engineering Power (Famine in Far-Go Page 9) adds 5 + INT + TWICE LEVEL extra damage instead of 5 + INT + LEVEL extra damage.
-This power needs to be updated to reflect change #1.
6. Nuke it From Orbit targets REFLEX instead of DEXTERITY.
-Clearly just a mixup.
7. Big Scary Monster (Famine in Far-Go Page 24) adds +2 to the attack roll vs AC. Multiplicitiy (Core Book Page 38) adds +2 to the attack roll vs AC. Power Dive (Core Book Page 44) adds +2 to the attack roll vs AC.
-Nonweapon attacks versus AC need a bonus, since AC tends to be higher than other defenses.
8. Expert Ape Training (Famine in Far-Go Page 25) DOES NOT have the +2 bonus to attack rolls. Exploit Weakness (Core Book Page 45) DOES NOT have the +2 bonus to attack roles.
-These already have appropriate bonuses to hit and in both cases it looks like the +2 bonus was placed on the wrong side of the page.
nice erata. Thanks. Looking forward to picking up the expansion, but will have to look out for what you mentioned here.
[…] Blog of Holding posted some unofficial Gamma World errata. Check out what they think is broken about the game. They have stuff from both the basic set […]
Robot, Eradicator Mk 3 (Core book pg 128). As written, Allow Tentacle is a basic melee attack, but is ranged 40. This means that attack technically provokes attacks of opportunity. (Really? A 200 foot tentacle?) Probably much better as a melee 5.
Sep (Core book pg 129) has Gone Under, which gives a 2d8 bonus to the next attack until end of encounter. It should probably be until end of next turn.
Erratic Rifle Hound (stock omega rad card 58). If it misses the attack, it attacks the user of the card as a free action. As written, it can be interpreted as continuously making attacks until it hits the player. To fix, import D&D’s rule update concerning free actions, where you can only make one free action attack per round.
Energy Mace (O; R; Ishtar; atom card 109). Salvage 4, but the fluff text says it requires level 6 to salvage. (I’d side with level 4.)
I agree with 100% for this errata and would like to offer something to it. The Alien Expert power “Nuke It From Orbit” happens to be the only Daily power in the game including the two expansions. I am of the opinion that this power is not big enough to be a Daily and should be an Encounter power.
It is a Burst 5 within 20 squares. Hit: 1d12+INT Mod+your level fire and radiation. Which is a huge boom but not really that much damage compared to other encounter powers. In addition, it just does straight damage with no carrier status effect and can hit your allies…
What do you think? Should it be an Encounter instead of a Daily?