Fear of the Ruins in Gamma World and Mutant Future
Many adventures in Gamma World and Mutant Future are written as if the characters are fearless explorers of the unknown. It isn’t a bad idea and one that does go back to the early days of role playing games. But there is another campaign theme, one I think should be used more (and not because Halloween is around the corner)- fear.
The characters are entering the places of the dead where skeletons are all the remain of their ancestors. Places where there hasn’t been any maintenance since the world ended so long ago (and thus the buildings may fall on them). Places that are holes in the ground and may contain bad air or something worse. And that doesn’t even consider what lives there now.
Ruins, no matter what they are, should keep the players and their characters on edge. Death can come from any angle, even those beyond X, Y and Z, and accidents are just as lethal as monsters that phase through walls or artifacts that melt down when the wrong button is pushed.
Fear does not prevent heroes from being heroes, but it can slowly wear away those qualities. In Mutant Future I suggest that each location has its own Willpower score and makes a mental attack (pp. 47, 55) against the characters when they encounter something that is frightening. Those who are “hit” suffer a –1 to their Willpower score for further mental attacks from any source. When their score reaches zero, they must do anything to escape the location, even taking dangerous or foolish actions. After they escape, the characters regain one point per day until they return to normal.
In the 5th edition of Gamma World, I suggest a mental resolve check with a +1 step penalty. Those who fail their check take another +1 penalty and when the amount reaches higher than their Will modifier, they likewise must escape the location.
In any case, fear is a powerful motivator and if the characters are afraid to go in, the riches that could be earned should be worth the effort and harm to mind and body.
