Since I received the print copies of Fight On! #12 and #11 (and the +4 compilation) that I ordered, I'm better able to read them more thoroughly and provide some short reviews of the material that stood out for me. I'm starting with FO! #12, the current issue, which is dedicated to James Ward and has a Gamma World/Metamorphosis: Alpha focus. Several of the articles are meant as supplemental material for Mutant Future; I haven't really done mutant/post-apoc gaming, even though I owned the early versions of GW and MA, so I skipped the mutant adventure and only skimmed the Geologian article.
However, Planet of the Apes is a very old, very dear childhood love for me, so I took particular interest in Andrew Trent's article on The Apen, the dominant civilized race on a planet where apes evolved from men ("It's a madhouse! A madhouse!") It hits all the major points necessary to do PotA in Mutant Future and similar games, and can be adapted pretty easily to OD&D and related games; just ignore the reference to hit dice and drop ability mods for the three subraces of Apen (or reduce them to +1, perhaps limiting the mod to just Strength for gorillas, Wisdom for Orangutans, and Intelligence for chimpanzees.) The stats for the three NPCs should work just fine in OD&D, although I'd lower the 19 scores to 18 and reroll hit points for all. I'd also tie starting class to Apen subrace: gorillas start as Fighters, orangutans as Clerics, and chimpanzees as Magic-Users (or optionally Thieves, if used;) they can switch to another class later if they have a 16+ prime requisite for the second class.
Andrew Trent's article made me want to play Planet of the Apes in OD&D, so I'm giving it a big thumbs up.
Hey, Talysman! Thanks for the nice review of the Apen article. I'm glad you found it useful/inspiring, amigo. It's always a delight to find that something I released into the wilds of Fight On! did someone some good :)
ReplyDeleteI think your approaches to using the core concepts with OD&D are spot on and should lead to a very enjoyable game. Please let us all know if you get around to playing/running such a thing. The world needs more PotA in its PA gaming.
Cheers, Andrew Trent
No, thank *you*! For a long while after Eden Studios released Terra Primate, I toyed with the possibility of buying it, but was stopped by several things, including the fact that I already had All Flesh Must Be Eaten and wasn't all that keen on the Unisystem. Your article pointed out that I don't actually need anything other than some version of D&D.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome, amigo. I never picked up Terra Primate, but I was tempted by it on more than one occasion. Unisystem just kind of turned me off, too.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy some good ol' D&D-based monkeyshines when you get a chance!
Cheers,
-at-