A Case of First & Second edition Gamma World & the Hand Drawn First Edition Gamma World rpg Campaign Map.

 

So let's pick it up from here the other day on the blog. Something has been bothering me about this map that Wayne's books posted on Gamma World first edition. First of all let's look into Wayne's Books Gamma World Resources here.  And the first edition campaign map that started all of this here. 

The truth is that this map bothers me on so many levels as a Gamma World player & DM. And that's because this map has more to do with the fact that much of this map seems erriely familar to me. 
And there's a reason for that. Sure the map is a first editon Gamma World map. And yes it's an artifact of play but what if there's more too it then that?! 
Look at the East Coast and the West Coast as well. These corrispond to the post apocalyptic locations of Gamma World first edition's The Dragon Magazine articles. Those early Dragon magazine articles really fleshed out the Cryptic Alliances and factions of Gamma World first edition. There were hints about all of this addition material within Gamma World second edition. There's more too it then meets the eye. Second Edition Gamma World's map bears a striking resemblance to all of this. 

Notice how everything lines up very nicely from our 'play through' first edition Gamma World Map and the second edition. My conclusion is that our prior owner of the first edition Gamma World set was actually charting not only the course of his players but incorporating details from both play & the optional articles from 'The Dragon' magazine into his or her campaign. 

How does this effect my own Gamma World campaign?! It effects it quite a bit because The Dragon magazine articles hit not only Gamma World but Metamorphis Alpha. There's a complete list here in PDF for download. 

Why is any of this important?! Because of the fact that the wilderness or wasteland plays such an important roll in both first & second edition Gamma World.. The wastelands are both the bane & boon to the future of Gamma Terra. And yes, I believe James Ward did this on purpose. Given the creative roots of Metamorphs Alpha and original Dungeons & Dragons back to the game's wargaming roots. There's a lot that plays across the fields of my mind. And it comes back to the fact that the original owner of the first edition Gamma World map put so much time & effort into it. 
The pink indicates rad zones and the yellow wastelands & deserts on this hand drawn map. Notice that it lines up with the 2nd edition map but not entirely. And this get's into the customization that happens with old school campaigning. 
This DM & thier players have gone about lovingly created thier own version of Gamma Terra. They've forged ahead & filled in tons of details and done adjustments as they needed them probably through actual play. 
Again this goes back into the wargaming aspect of original Dungeons & Dragons The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures By Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson. 

Exploring Original Dungeons & Dragons & Gamma World First Edition Rpg - Some Observations

 Tonight I've been examing Wayne's Books entries on Gamma World first & 2nd edition here. And as a long time player of Gamma World in almost every edition. There's something about first & second that makes either edition favorites along with the fourth edition as well. 

Gamma World first edition is unqiue among the various incarnations & editions of the Gamma World rpg for several reasons. First of all it's capability with original Dungeons & Dragons. 
The second is the fact that the first edition has a completely different feel then second edition & it's almost coheriant within it's origin for the Apocalypse that takes the world of Gamma Terra. And third is the complete view of the Cryptic Alliances & thier motives. Cryptic Alliances can be enemies, rivals, friends or anything inbetween. 
There's far and away a far more feeling of exploration and rebuilding civilization then is a part of other editions of Gamma World. Gamma World First edition is also some of the most pure of James Ward's GW rules, and writing. The man doesn't get half of the credit he deserves. 

One of the unique things about Gamma World first edition is the fact that it's so cross compatible with original Dungeons & Dragons. And its this fact that has me back reading through Original Dungeons and dragons - Book 3 - The underworld & Wilderness Adventures by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson.

Keep wondering if the Original Dungeons and Dragons - Book 3 - The underworld & Wilderness Adventures by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson could be used to fill in some of the underworld & dungeons of Gamma World? The short answer to this is I believe so. The various OD&D races existing along with the mutants of Gamma World isn't out of the question if we look at Ralph Bakshi's movie Wizards.  Cue Thundarr the Barbarian theme music here. Gamma World first edition has the origin of Gamma Terra.The machinations of the Apocalyse organization whom was responsible for the creation of Gamma Terra has never been settled. 

In all of the years of playing Gamma World first and second edition play  we only once ran across one of the Apocalyse's bases. And it was one of the deadliest ruins we ran into. The base was populated by robots, was almost entirely automated run by a homicidal bio computer. We barely escaped with our lives from that facility. Over the years I've compared this facility to Gygax's Tomb of Horror module. 
What I find odd is the fact that a particular marked out  Gamma World first edition USA map has the location of this facility on it as shown by Wayne's Books. 

I don't think that this was deliberate but simply an artifact of similar play. The fact is that Gamma World first edition Gamma Terra  bares a striking resemblance to many of the ideas mentioned in . And its this fact that has me back reading through Original Dungeons and dragons - Book 3 - The underworld & Wilderness Adventures by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson. To paraphrase Wayne's Books; "

And so began TSR's Gamma World game in 1978: A rich post-holocaust science fantasy setting.

• Finding relics in long-deserted cities of the Ancients...
• Encountering bizarre mutated animals...
• Thinning foliage that fights back...

And yet within original Dungeons & Dragons your looking for loot of lost civilazations. Encountering monsters, and horrors. And thinning back the wilderness.