Gamma World inspiration

[Gallo22]

I thought it would be fun to list movies and books with a GW like theme. Here goes my start, please add yours...

Movies/Shows:
Thundarr the Barbarian
Omega Man
The Ultimate Warrior (great movie)
Road Warrior movies
Death Race 2000

 

[Unseelie]

If you can find them, first and foremost:

Hiero's Journey, Sterling Lanier
The Unforsaken Hiero, Sterling Lanier

Those are out of print, sadly, but you can generally find them in used bookstores for a reasonable price. Read those and you will know exactly where Gamma World came from.

Also good reading:

World, Enough and Time, James Kahn
Time's Dark Laughter, James Kahn
Time Fall, James Kahn

I've only read the first two, but these are a lot of fun. It's a world that, at first appears to be a fantasy world, but as you get in to it, it becomes clear that the various 'fantasy' races are as a result of genetic engineering and such.

 

[Biohazard]

I thought it would be fun to list movies and books with a GW like theme. Here goes my start, please add yours...

Movies/Shows:
Thundarr the Barbarian
Omega Man
The Ultimate Warrior (great movie)
Road Warrior movies
Death Race 2000

Hmmm...I'd almost say that the world of Death Race 2000 is too "civilized" for a Gamma World setting. Granted, the culture is a barbaric one (they don't call it Death Race for nothin') but to me Gamma World has always been about anarchy, the lack of any true culture or government or media or civilization. What's The Ultimate Warrior? Sounds interesting...

Here's a couple of additions to the list:

FILMS
Damnation Alley
The Day After (more of a background to a Gamma World)

SHORT STORY
Philip K. Dick, "The Great C" (Hard to track down, but man is it an awesome Gamma World story. A group of tribal-types huddle in fear of a sentient computer. They repeatedly talk about "The Big Smash" and even walk around with gieger counters. Great story.)

NOVEL
Philip K Dick and Roger Zelazny, *Deus Irae* (Gamma World-type setting with mutants and cyborgs, some very bizarre)

 

[Unseelie]

FILMS
Damnation Alley
The Day After (more of a background to a Gamma World)

The only thing cool about the Damnation Alley movie was the Landmaster. At least it didn't have a monkey like Ark II did. The book is much better.

I question the usefulness of The Day After for Gamma World, as it's the world of the 1980's, which then has 'The Big One'. No ultra tech lying around, etc.

 

[Biohazard]

The only thing cool about the Damnation Alley movie was the Landmaster. At least it didn't have a monkey like Ark II did. The book is much better.

I question the usefulness of The Day After for Gamma World, as it's the world of the 1980's, which then has 'The Big One'. No ultra tech lying around, etc.

Good point. It's important to remember (talking to myself here too ) that Gamma World is not just post-apocalyptic, but it's ultratech post-apocalyptic. This is one of the unique flavors of the game, IMHO. You don't just walk through the ruins of McDonalds and Pepsi machines (though you certainly can), but you also walk through the ruins of spaceports, robot assembly lines, and, uhh, other futuristic type stuff. [Damn, gotta stop posting when I'm half-awake]

On the other hand, Damnation Alley has mutated, man-eating cockroaches.
That's gotta count for something, man!

 

[Rolzup]

Lemme see here....

Books:
King's _Dark Tower_ books. Particularly _Wizard and Glass_, and the new one, _Wolves of the Calla_. Good stuff, semi-postholocaust, but difficult to really pin down to a genre.

Axler's "Deathlands" books. I was a 10 year long campaign based on these books, so I'm kinda biased here.... "Men's Adventure" books, not super well-written, but fun.

David Brin's _The Postman_. I know nothing of the movie, and don't really want to. Good book, though.

Gordon Disckson's _Wolf and Iron_. Set right after the big war, and more of a gritty survival novel than anything else. It's been a while; I should re-read it anyway.

Television:
"Samurai Jack". No, seriously -- without the magic, and with mutants instead of aliens, this is much the sort of thing that I'm aiming for with my own Gamma World game.

Rolzup

 

[Fredrik Svanberg]

Comics:

Jeremiah, Hombre, Druuna, Axa

I'm sorry I don't know who created these, and I don't have time to look it up but I'm sure you can google it if you want to know more.

 

[Unseelie]

On the other hand, Damnation Alley has mutated, man-eating cockroaches.
That's gotta count for something, man!

I forgot about the man-eating cockroaches... okay, it has two cool things.

That's still not enough to make up for the typical Hollywood ending where everything is fixed in the end.

 

[Tetsubo]

A Boy and His Dog. It even inspired some of the content in one of the GW modules.

 

[GPEKO]

Comics:

Jeremiah, Hombre, Druuna, Axa

I'm sorry I don't know who created these, and I don't have time to look it up but I'm sure you can google it if you want to know more.

Jeremiah !!! I know it was created by Hermann. Great stories. I like his idea of Natives taking up arms and trying to control the post-apocalyptic America. Also, Kurdy & Jeremiah are a great duo.