The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is not your father's MA. It is still an Old School RPG, 64 pages, staple bound, and leaving lots of room for fleshing out. The game engine is based on a 3d6 standard resolution system for everything. This helps to unify things, and makes learning easier. Robots and androids get an expanded treatment and character generation, but humans and mutants are somewhat slighted. A large bestiary and a short mutation list are provided. The phased play concept seems to be one of the strong points of the game. I usually hate metaplots, but this one I like. The Warden struck an asteroid filling it with the strange radiation that killed the crew and left it open to invasion by aliens. The first phase is robots doing cleanup, then androids are activated, finally human combat troops are thawed out of suspended animation to deal with the aliens. Play in any phase as long as you like, then progress the campaign to the next one. More details on the aliens would have been nice, but the forthcoming Asteroid supplement may cover that. As it is enough hints and information are provided to run the game. This is not a game for deep immersion play. There is no elaborate skills system and no experience system. This is Beer & Pretzels gaming. Kill aliens and mutants, solve traps and puzzles and explore the starship. That is correct. No Skills! Robots get some nifty built in equipment and Androids get access to programs that give situational bonuses, but no skills.

Action resolution is based on the "Doing Things Table" a matrix of the character's ability score vs. the difficulty level of the action. This chart works like the Chaosium games Resistance Table. Cross-indexing the two sides gives a target number; roll this number or higher on 3d6 to succeed. The same method is used to determine the effects of poison, radiation and mental attacks. Combat uses weapon class versus armor class to determine the "to hit" number needed. This can include automatic hits or misses.

It is definitely an old school game, it would be easy to add a skills system if you wanted one, skills would simply provide a bonus to the "Doing Things Table"

A quick and easy system, but it may take some getting used to for players of more Modern games.

I liked it, and found many old friends from the original game still with us.

Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe, 25th Anniversary edition
Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe, 25th Anniversary edition Capsule Review by David Crowell on 17/05/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) A re-working of a clasic RPG. A good introduction to Metamorphosis Alpha. Longtime fans may be dissapointed at some of the changes. An "Old School" game, it requires some fleshing out on the part of the GM and players. Product: Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe, 25th Anniversary edition Author: James M Ward Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Fast Forward Entertainment, Inc Line: Metamorphosis Alpha Cost: $14.99 Page count: 64 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-9713234-9-6 SKU: FAF 3000 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by David Crowell on 17/05/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction Far Future Space Post-apocalyse	This is not your father's MA. It is still an Old School RPG, 64 pages, staple bound, and leaving lots of room for fleshing out. The game engine is based on a 3d6 standard resolution system for everything. This helps to unify things, and makes learning easier. Robots and androids get an expanded treatment and character generation, but humans and mutants are somewhat slighted. A large bestiary and a short mutation list are provided. The phased play concept seems to be one of the strong points of the game. I usually hate metaplots, but this one I like. The Warden struck an asteroid filling it with the strange radiation that killed the crew and left it open to invasion by aliens. The first phase is robots doing cleanup, then androids are activated, finally human combat troops are thawed out of suspended animation to deal with the aliens. Play in any phase as long as you like, then progress the campaign to the next one. More details on the aliens would have been nice, but the forthcoming Asteroid supplement may cover that. As it is enough hints and information are provided to run the game. This is not a game for deep immersion play. There is no elaborate skills system and no experience system. This is Beer & Pretzels gaming. Kill aliens and mutants, solve traps and puzzles and explore the starship. That is correct. No Skills! Robots get some nifty built in equipment and Androids get access to programs that give situational bonuses, but no skills. Action resolution is based on the "Doing Things Table" a matrix of the character's ability score vs. the difficulty level of the action. This chart works like the Chaosium games Resistance Table. Cross-indexing the two sides gives a target number; roll this number or higher on 3d6 to succeed. The same method is used to determine the effects of poison, radiation and mental attacks. Combat uses weapon class versus armor class to determine the "to hit" number needed. This can include automatic hits or misses. It is definitely an old school game, it would be easy to add a skills system if you wanted one, skills would simply provide a bonus to the "Doing Things Table" A quick and easy system, but it may take some getting used to for players of more Modern games. I liked it, and found many old friends from the original game still with us.

Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe, 25th Anniversary edition