tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post6580219341534775708..comments2024-03-29T00:32:33.920-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: The Setting of Gamma World (Part V)James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-74351403520687917712024-01-10T15:03:16.318-05:002024-01-10T15:03:16.318-05:00GW4 expanded on the CAs greatly, including descrip...GW4 expanded on the CAs greatly, including descriptions of Traditional and Reformed sects (that were either more moderate or extremist than the founding group). They also included guides for PC interaction and membership.michaeljpastorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16947206255545619757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67841793223618802023-04-18T09:51:14.856-04:002023-04-18T09:51:14.856-04:00Sound slike an RPG version of task Force Game'...Sound slike an RPG version of task Force Game's alarmingly-titled 4th Reich, which is actually a post-apoc wargame based on Norman Spinrads Iron Dream - which is framed as a being an review of a terrible scifi novel called Lords of the Swastika written by an alt-history Adolph Hitler who moved to the US early in life and become a pulp writer. Adolph's novel (and the game) has the nonmutated survivors of humanity fighting off hordes of mutants in post-nukewar Europe.<br /><br />Interesting game, although the title and Nazi-ish imagery on the cover are hard to get past - a problem Spinrad's book also suffered from, despite being very much a mockery of Hitler's aspirations and ideals. 4th Reich is also noteworthy for working a section of the Guernica painting into the cover artwork of the mutant hordes - lot of people miss that detail.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-74958018048598476562023-04-18T09:38:01.275-04:002023-04-18T09:38:01.275-04:00All of which are different from GW's Cryptic A...All of which are different from GW's Cryptic Alliances, not to mention being extremely tongue-in-cheek concepts - especially when you read the descriptions of their military forces, all of which cleave closely to their faction's particular theme. For ex, the Men In Black vehicles are all (black) saucer shapes, their infantry are wearing (black) suits (with concealed body armor, of course) and sunglasses, and their fortresses are always disguised to look like they belong to a different faction, only to have the deception spoiled by being (inevitably) panted black.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-42191202968132828072023-04-18T09:31:34.619-04:002023-04-18T09:31:34.619-04:00They definitely didn't get fleshed out officia...They definitely didn't get fleshed out officially, but given how early GW was I have to wonder how much just the mere existence of the Cryptic Alliances influenced the more developed factions so common in later RPGs. In particular, I see their fingerprints all over Paranoia's Secret Societies. Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-20237216058924822652023-04-17T16:23:30.963-04:002023-04-17T16:23:30.963-04:00Dragon issue 88, great backround material! (and on...Dragon issue 88, great backround material! (and one of my favorite Dragon Magazine covers ever by the talented mr Holloway!Francisco Verdugohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688083926283386191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61486654197337767372023-04-16T03:26:33.461-04:002023-04-16T03:26:33.461-04:00I once ran a GW campaign where the players were al...I once ran a GW campaign where the players were all PSHs and members of the Knights, tasked with wiping out all mutants. Ethically dodgy for sure but still a fun campaign especially when one player developed a mutation and the whole party started to question what they were doing and began to undermine the Knights from within. I thought in general players as members of a Cryptic Alliance was an interesting road to go down. Captain Blaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11582988423795002336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-26388510501707376332023-04-15T23:01:01.698-04:002023-04-15T23:01:01.698-04:00Each player in the Gammarauders boardgame would ch...Each player in the Gammarauders boardgame would choose 1 of 6 different Cryptic Alliances to play.fantasygamebookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05240994072742026340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-32575845622958857792023-04-15T19:39:37.712-04:002023-04-15T19:39:37.712-04:00Later rpgs would really take the ideas of alliance...Later rpgs would really take the ideas of alliances and run with them. Ars Magica for example had their various Houses, with detailed information about each House and how they interacted with other houses. Vampire had a similar approach as I recall. I don't know that the GW Cryptic Alliances ever approached that level of detail.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13467431641317104916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73752826783047418982023-04-15T18:14:16.518-04:002023-04-15T18:14:16.518-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Bill Slocumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05870693240402072887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36800909533998625572023-04-15T18:12:58.120-04:002023-04-15T18:12:58.120-04:00"I was frustrated by how little any of them h..."I was frustrated by how little any of them had achieved. Despite their presence, the setting of Gamma World largely remained a shattered wasteland, even more than a century after the End, which seemed unlikely to me."<br /><br />In contrast, I thought that most of the cryptic alliances (especially the Knights of Genetic Purity and the Restorationists) were fighting quixotic battles doomed to failure. I figured that the Apocalypse had so thoroughly destroyed the engines of industry, and so profoundly plunged mankind into ignorance and incompetence, and so utterly mutated the very fabric of earthly life that there was no going back. For example, a necessary basis of civilization is farming and animal husbandry. Good luck with those, since the animals and plants have their own ideas now. The mutants keep making more little mutants, while the artifacts of the ancients keep getting more and more rare. Pure strain humans would be ever more out-classed and out-gunned. The mutants (whether animal or plant) will inherit the earth.Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01532604288018770703noreply@blogger.com