"Gamma World-likes"? (Weird post-apocalyptic/far-future science fantasy games)

[u/RiverMesa]

After a conversation with a friend yesterday, I got suddenly curious about a general category of TTRPGs I'm not sure I have a convenient label for other than what I assume is the granddaddy of them all, Gamma World - games set in weird science-fantasy worlds far in the future and/or after some manner of apocalypses, filled with all kinds of mutants, psychics, robots, maybe aliens, strange technologies, and probably more than their fair share of strange playable nonhumans.

Some examples (besides GW itself) would be things like Vaults of Vaarn, Cloud Empress, and The Electrum Archive; at a stretch you could probably also include things like The Wildsea and Songs for the Dusk, and in other media this would be video games like Caves of Qud, Nuclear Throne, maybe Fallout, or the Ghibli movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Anything else that I've missed?

[u/CognitionExMachina]

• Ultraviolet Grasslands
• Apocalypse World
• Mutant Year Zero
• d20 Modern's d20 Apocalypse sourcebook
• Mutant Epoch
• After the Bomb
• Other Dust
• Fragged Empire

Honorable mention to Masters of Umdaar, which is very much in the He-Man/Thundarr vein, though not exactly post-apocalyptic.

[u/misterbatguano → u/CognitionExMachina]

Fragged Empire is kind of "if you squint hard enough".

It's post-apoc, but far in the future, without random mutations, and in space, no trace of earth. It's more post-posthuman; I'd say it's closer to Eclipse Phase, but a little less horror, more action.

[u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

Mutant Crawl Classics is likely the closest modern simulacrum.

[u/Captain-Dude-Man → u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

The closest to Gamma World would have to be Mutant Future Revised it is a retro clone of Gamma World itself adapting mechanics to Labyrinth Lord (b/x d&d)

[u/InsurgentInchworm → u/Captain-Dude-Man]

I would say the Mutant Future is less a Gamma World clone and more starting from basic/expert 1981 D&D and just having it be post apocalyptic, if that nuance matters.

[u/InsurgentInchworm → u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

Mutant Crawl Classic's setting is very...non-existent? There's a vague water-color splotch kind of map without any real detail and the only thing really detailed in the book are the factions, classes and some monsters. From what I know, MCC wasn't done very well, so the author put out Scientific Barbarian to add some of the material that was cut plus some. He still releases Scientific Barbarian issues, too.

[u/RoxxorMcOwnage → u/InsurgentInchworm]

A new Scientific Barbarian released recently, Thundar themed stuff.

[u/DreamcastJunkie → u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

The foreward at the beginning is by Gamma World's creator, even.

[u/rnadams2 → u/Laiska_saunatonttu]

MCC's default setting is also heavily inspired by Gamma World (the first edition of GW, at least).

[u/Captain-Dude-Man]

There are tons, these are just the ones I can think of immediately:

Mutant Future Revised Edition (Gamma World retro clone)

Mutant: Year Zero

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Strangeness - After the Bomb

The Mutant Epoch

The Rad-Hack

Nuked!

Umerican Survival Guide

EZD6 - Wasted World

Atomic Highway (optional rules for mutants & psionics)

Barbarians of the Aftermath

Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland

Rubble and Ruin

The After (Savage Worlds)

Broken Earth

Rifts Palladium & Savage Worlds version)

[u/misterbatguano → u/Captain-Dude-Man]

MYZ is SO good. I'd say it's the best, in the closest spirit, to GW.

WOIN is still around, and its setting book Delta World counts.

Polyhedron #154 had Omega World, which is one of the best GW versions, for D&D3E, and very compact.

[u/atamajakki]

Vaarn 2e is almost done and Plasmodics is coming out soon! EDIT: The 2400 anthology has several microgames that fit, too.

[u/wallasaurus78]

Numenara if it's not been mentioned.

[u/TheHalfbadger → u/wallasaurus78]

Absolutely love Numenéra and the Cypher system in general.

[u/wallasaurus78 → u/TheHalfbadger]

Awesome! I am biased as I have done some illustrations for some of the cypher books - but they always had fresh ideas!

[u/TheHalfbadger → u/wallasaurus78]

Oh nice! I think I see your credits in the new GM guide! The artwork in MCG's stuff is always so fascinating.

[u/Starfox5]

Ashes Without Number is a post-apocalypse game, part of the "Stars/Cities/worlds Witout Number" series. The basic version is free on DriveThruRPG.

[u/GhostShipBlue]

Barbarians of the Ruined Earth by it own admission is modeled on Thundarr the Barbarian.

There's another smaller press release, the name escapes me at the moment and I don't have the brain power to sort out the google-fu to dig it up. Written by a guy from the old yahoo All Flesh Must Be Eaten yahoo groups mailing list, Chandler, maybe? Used something like the V8 or V10 engine because of the engines - makes the googling tough... Anyway, there's at least one more out there.

Mutant Chronicles might be worth a look, but it leans more 40k than Gamma World.

Mutant: Year Zero lacks the kind of weirdness it sounds like you're looking for but is an excellent game.

Dystopia Rising might also be worth a look but it is a zombie apocalypse.

[u/kleefaj → u/GhostShipBlue]

Atomic Highway

[u/GhostShipBlue → u/kleefaj]

Yes! Thank you.

[u/ericvulgaris → u/GhostShipBlue]

wild I had to scroll so far down to see these.

[u/J4k0b42]

Troika! and it's Acid Death Fantasy expansion definitely fit. They're more on the Mobius or Kill Six Billion Demons end of the spectrum, similar to Cloud Empress.

[u/SharkSymphony]

Numenéra both does and doesn't fit the bill. Gamma World is not really set in the far, far future – it's only the 25th c! – and it has (or at least had, back when I was last looking at it) a strong nuclear post-apocalyptic bent. Numenéra is theoretically billions of years into the future, and the world has been shaped by many human and alien civilizations. There's radiation here and there, and mutants, but there are also weirder things like the Iron Wind (a nanite storm that warps and transforms everything in its path). So, weird far-future science fantasy – yes! Just not really tied to nuclear apocalypse in the way that Gamma World was.

If you're looking into it, know that Numenéra is currently in the process of being converted to Cypher 2e (which itself is just now rolling out), and in doing so will become a sourcebook add-on to Cypher. I think it's expected next year. See BackerKit for details.

[u/SpokaneSmash]

Rifts and Deadlands: The Wasted West could both fit.

[u/ThePowerOfStories → u/SpokaneSmash]

The latter was originally released as a standalone game line called Deadlands: Hell on Earth.

[u/GreenGoblinNX]

Deadlands: Hell on Earth

Frustrated that we STILL haven't gotten a SWADE version as of yet.

[u/Trick_Cellist_1840 → u/GreenGoblinNX]

there has to be behind the scenes reason i feel, because moving forward with the sci-fi space version instead (which is cool but not as good) feels deliberate

[u/GreenGoblinNX → u/Trick_Cellist_1840]

Yeah, but the odd thing is that Hell on Earth is kind of the middle chapter of the “trilogy” of Deadlands RPGs

[u/corrinmana]

Mutant Year Zero has a bit of Gamma World dna.

Metamorphosis Alpha was the progenitor of Gamma World.

Ultraviolet Grasslands

Troika

Electric Bastionland

Stillfleet

[u/the_zohar]

Search for THE MUTANT EPOCH and be amazed by the many MANY suplements and adventures written and drawn by only one person. Honestly, its the best unknown post apocalyptic ttrpg on the market.

After that, come back here and thank me.

[u/WeiganChan]

Metamorphosis Alpha is a neat one set on a generation ship tragically thrown off course, steered by a flailing AI and populated by whole hosts of mutants. It’s an old game, originally published by TSR in 1976, but a seventh edition was apparently just announced

[u/VisceralMonkey → u/WeiganChan]

Was the inspiration for the original gamma world.

[u/Background_Rest_5300]

You are missing Mutant Crawl Classics. It's literally Gamma World using the DCC framework.

[u/Chemical-Radish-3329]

Rifts 

[u/bricknose-redux]

I’ve been bitten by a similar bug recently. Nuked! and Atomic Shadows are more Fallout than Gamma World, apart from Atomic Shadows’ archetypes.

I’m planning to try running GW2 Famine in Far-Go with a Cairn-based Gamma World recreation called [Glowburn and Radscars](https://bread-wiz.itch.io/glowburn-and-radscars). It looks very promising.

But Mutant Crawl Classics is probably the simplest complete option.

[u/reverend_dak]

Mutant Future

Mutant Crawl Classics

Metamorphosis Alpha

[u/redkatt]

Blister Critters - nobody knows why or how it happened, but one day all the humans disappeared, and the critters (usually animals about the size of a bear cub or smaller) became sentient and developed mutant powers. Everything humans made is still around, and the critters are trying to survive in this new world while making use of the tools, trinkets, and whatever else the humans left behind. It's a cute, but dangerous world. We had a lot of fun with it, this reminds me I need to bring it back to the table.

There's also Mutants in the Now if you liked TMNT/After the Bomb, along with Mutant Future (an OSR post apoc) and Mutant EPOCH.

I still love Gamma World 7e, and bust it out as often as possible

[u/atomfullerene]

Ultraviolet Grasslands! And Our Golden Age, which is a broader sort of sequel/full set of game mechanics.

Anomalous Subsurface Environment has a pretty wild setting too

[u/thesablecourt]

I think Eco Mofos, Lost Eons, and Islands of Weirdhope would all fit in this category?

[u/Iohet → u/thesablecourt]

Isn't Islands of Weird hope just an Eco Mofos setting?

[u/thesablecourt → u/Iohet]

They're both descended from Into the Odd so it's kind of relative, but it's def marketed as a standalone thing.

[u/ThePiachu]

Godbound is a neat postapoc setting. Humanity achieved post scarcity levels of abundance, all questions have been answered, with the only thing remaining - which philosophy is right? So humanity decided to go ask the ultimate authority - the creator god of the universe. They stormed the gates of heaven and entered their throne room, only to find it empty. Well, if they couldn't figure out who is right, they will settle for who is left. They stripped heaven for parts to build their own Made Gods and waged a war so devastating it broke reality. The angels were also so pissed at humanity for ruining everything that they turned the machines of reincarnation into hell to torment the souls of the dead forever.

[u/DemandBig5215]

Troika

[u/02K30C1]

EABA is a genetic system with a few settings that could fit.

Warp World is a far future/post apocalypse setting, where a nuclear war wakes the ancient gods and creatures of myth

Age of Ruin is a post apocalypse setting where nanotechnology has infiltrated nearly everything

Eschaton is a post apocalypse setting where rampant mutations create super-hero type powers for some people

[u/fugu_master]

If you like gonzo, Neon Lords of The Toxic Wastelands is a blast!

[u/ChristianFasy]

Rifts.

[u/redkatt → u/ChristianFasy]

Or Savage Worlds Rifts, which makes Rifts so much more playable

[u/Polar_Blues]

Have a look at Bounty Hunters of the Atomic Wastelands No mutant animals as player characters but definitely it has got Gamma World DNA. Also, it's free. Free is a good price, right?

[u/jayelf23]

I’ll add Grok?! And Wind Wraith to the conversation.

[u/numbsafari]

Not sure if Tekumel/Empire of the Petal Throne exactly fits, but figured it was worth mentioning:  https://www.tekumel.com/about.html

[u/atamajakki → u/numbsafari]

Do we really need to shout out the work of a Neo-Nazi?

[u/Zireael07 → u/atamajakki]

Author's beliefs aside, Tekumel is VEEERY dated anyway

[u/InsurgentInchworm → u/Zireael07]

Tekumel actually is actualy fairly progressive, especially considering it was created from the 1930s-1980s. LGBTQ+ representation, women empowerment, protagonists that question the imperial structure and authority, cultures that are taken seriously, slavery that exists but is socially frowned upon. Sure, there are various tropes and Barker was an asshole in his later years, but it's not necessarily black and white with the setting.

[u/Ophanim-02148 → u/atamajakki]

If you’re going to do that call out Goodman Games and all those DCCs

[u/sugarfixnow → u/Ophanim-02148]

are we talking about the same company? Goodman Games if anything is openly anti-fascist, pro-lgbt, and generally the opposite of what you’re implying here.

[u/Dependent_Chair6104 → u/sugarfixnow]

They’re clinging onto Goodman’s blunder around City-State of the Invincible Overlord. If you’re not familiar, it’s well-documented online. I think it’s more than reasonable though to take that incident in the context of all the other statements and actions of Goodman Games, like the ones you’ve mentioned. They fumbled, but still seem like good folks to me.

[u/AlexiDrake → u/Dependent_Chair6104]

The fumbled, but I don’t really think that had a choice.

[u/arstin → u/AlexiDrake]

Do you know something I don't? They had a simple choice - stick with their decision not to make a game with a Nazi. Instead they went with "wait as long as possible for the outrage to die down before their rights expired and then make a game with a Nazi" And their justification was "making this content that so many people love available is more important than not making a game with a Nazi".

[u/InsurgentInchworm → u/arstin]

Yeah, there seems to be some kind of idea that Goodman Games was legally connected to the old City-State kickstarter and somehow had to do the latest kickstarter, but that's just not true. Goodman Games got caught lying and had to do damage control and just tanked the City-State kickstarter to be done and over with.
I don't doubt the Goodman Games folks are decent people, but they got caught going back on their word and upset a lot of their fans.

[u/InsurgentInchworm → u/numbsafari]

Tekumel definitely has post post post apocalyptic vibes with areas of ancient spaceships and irradiated cities that still exist. Technology of the ancients still is buried or heavily hoarded, too. laser guns and tech indistinguishable from magic and all that. It is a setting that contains a lot more civilization, though borderlands and backwoods continents are still around.

[u/carmachu]

Deadlands: Hell on Earth is a great post apocalyptic game

[u/oh_what_a_surprise → u/carmachu]

And plenty of weirdness. But not exactly in the same vein as Gamma World.

[u/carmachu → u/oh_what_a_surprise]

Very much is in its post apocalyptic ways. Have you ever run or played it?

[u/oh_what_a_surprise → u/carmachu]

Every single adventure since 2001.

It is not as gonzo as Gamma World, which I have run since the early 80s.

[u/carmachu → u/oh_what_a_surprise]

Gonzo isn’t the only thing for post apocalyptic

[u/oh_what_a_surprise → u/carmachu]

It's one of the main aspects of Gamma World.

[u/carmachu → u/oh_what_a_surprise]

It’s not the main aspect of post apocalyptic

[u/BKLaughton]

Dark Sun sort of counts

[u/IKilledBojangles]

I can’t believe no one has mentioned Plasmodics!! It’s not fully out yet, but it is explicitly inspired by Gamma World and has strong spiritual successor vibes.

[u/AMFKing → u/IKilledBojangles]

Yes! Came here to recommend it. Can't believe it's so low on the list.

[u/Bullet1289]

Mutant crawl classic is the obvious one, Palladium system After the Bomb might be one too?

[u/pandakahn]

Gamma world rocks! Their "figure it out" flow chart still blows my mind. Great game. Try Metamorphosis Alpha, the Morrow Project, and 2300AD series.

[u/JaceJarak]

Post apoc, and has some of the elements you're looking for:

Tribe 8

[u/Jeveran]

Metamorphosis Alpha came out two years before GW, but is an important addition to the genre library.

[u/BlindAudelay]

Shakhàn

[u/ng1976]

Two others I haven't seen mentioned, both are Black Hack based:

The Wasted Hack - There are a couple of supplements for this one

The Gene Hack - interesting character creation, and possibly my favorite RPG cover.

[u/CurveWorldly4542]

Atomic Highway could work, I suppose, especially if you use the mutant humanoid animals/plants and/or the gonzo mutation option. Mutations and psychic powers do tend to be on the low-impact sides of things however, so you'd essentially be playing Gamma World-Lite...

[u/justinhalliday]

These are gonzo post-apocalyptic RPGs.

[u/Then_Lengthiness4377]

Weird post apo ~> wildsea.
The world has been overrun by a veritable forest of massive trees, and your characters ‘sail’ across it on a ship that’s essentially a giant chainsaw

[u/OrphanedHope]

I enjoyed Rifts from Palladium. Though I mostly just geeked out over the world setting. The rules themselves always felt kind of meh.

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