Metamorphosis Alpha Radiation Resistance and Constitution

 I decided to look at Radiation Resistance and Constitution as a two for one subject because I am also examining what happens in Gamma World and D&D. First I shall look at how Radiation is dealt with in the games.

Metamorphosis Alpha

“This ability deals with a player character’s resistance to the damaging effects of radiation. Since there are many different types of radiation and different radiation levels (or intensities), it is necessary for the referee to be always aware of what type (intensity) of radiation the being is exposed to. Treat radiation damage just like hit dice damage (explained later), with the stronger the radiation the more damage occurring. Therefore a player with a resistance of 18 to radiation can withstand a level 17 intensity radiation for 1 melee turn. This resistance, white good for 1 melee turn, will not keep the player unaffected for longer periods. The referee is to treat longer exposures as a minus 1 resistance point per melee turn (only while they stay in the radiation). The player with an 18 resistance is considered to have only a 17 on his second melee turn of exposure, a 16 on his 3rd turn. and so on. Radioactive material does not have to glow or show its presence in any way (except for the burning damage it does). There are protective devices and chemicals, and even mutated materials that make a being more resistant to the effects of radiation, but nothing will save players over the long run.” 

“The graph reflects exposure after one melee turn. The “D” represents death caused by exposure for that 1 melee turn no matter how many hit points the player or creature has. A number is the number of dice of damage a being sustains each melee turn while exposed to the radiation.

When the chart indicates death, there is a 20% chance that the player or creature will be mutated instead of dying. The referee will roll randomly to determine if the mutation is physical or mental (50% chance for each) and to see what it is using the whole chart (good as well as defective mutations). If this instance occurs in a human, his leadership potential is negated and his followers will at first feet uneasy around him and later leave no matter what he does. Also if there is damage done by radiation, there is a 1% chance per die of damage received for a mutation to take place. This mutation will show itself within 1 week’s time.”

Now Gamma World uses the Constitution score for Radiation Resistance, however in many respects this works similarly to Metamorphosis Alpha’s system. If we compare the charts from the two games and we can see the similarities and differences. Both charts have a similar layout but Gamma World appears to be more deadly.

In addition the Gamma World chart includes an automatic new mutation. The D still indicates the possibility of mutation at the same rate vs death as Metamorphosis Alpha. 

“ The number obtained indicates how many dice (d6) of damage the radiation victim sustains. M indicates that the victim has received a new mutation (roll for one randomly on either the physical or mental mutations chart). D indicates that the victim has a 20% chance of receiving a mutational defect (determine randomly) and an 80% chance of death. Any new mutation will manifest itself in one week of game time. There is no known antidote for radiation.”

Now the Constitution score in Metamorphosis Alpha does a couple things.

“This category is used for 2 things in the game. First, the constitution rating is used to find how many hit dice a player has. This roll is never increased unless some new variable in the form of a mutation is added to the game. Example: a radiated berry that adds one die to a player’s constitution or takes one away depending on what season it is picked in (and when it is eaten after picking).

If a player rolls a constitution of 13, he then rolls 13 six-sided dice to determine the total number of “Accumulative Hits” he can take. Thus the player rolls 13 times and gets scores of 4, 1, 1, 3, 6, 5, 1, 1, 2, 5, 1, 1, 3, totaling 34 hit points. This number is the number of points of damage the player could sustain before death. Whether or not sustaining hits (thus subtracting hit points) will affect, slow down, or impair player performance is left to the discretion of the referee.

The other aspect of the constitution roll is for the surviving of poisons. The Poison Chart is used to determine if a being survives the contact with poison. There are many types and strengths of poison, as with radiation, and the chart gives the reaction of the body to any given poison. “*” means that the poison has no given effect on the being. “D” means that the person is dead no matter how many hit points they have. A number is the number of dice rolled to determine how much damage the being sustains. The poison will affect the being in the first melee turn.”

“While some might think that the chances of surviving poison are rather low, when you consider that there is an antidote for almost any type of poison, the chances of living increase. If a proper antidote is given to any player that received a “D” within 2 melee turns, he or she will survive the effects with only 1 die of damage.

Because of the damaging power of a poison dart, arrow, or sword, there is a high incidence of natives and mutations wearing light body armor of many different types, and using poison weapons.

When a being or player uses any type of poisoned weapon or other poisoned device, it is necessary that the user take some kind of measures to insure that he or she does not become endangered by the poisoned weapon or the poison itself. These measures may take the form of tough hand coverings (gloves) or other types of protection. The referee should be guided by personal discretion.”

Gamma World’s Constitution is also used similarly as Metamorphosis Alpha. It is used exactly the same way to front load the hit points for the character. Like in Metamorphosis Alpha the rating never changes during the course of a character’s existence, unless some unusual mutational effect raises or lowers constitution ratings. In addition it is used for Poison and has a Poison Chart.

“Poison: Several types of poison are mentioned in these rules. Unless otherwise specified, the poison must somehow get into the bloodstream of a being in order to take effect (i.e. via puncture, cut, injection, ingestion, etc). Contact poison works merely upon touching exposed skin. When a being is poisoned, cross-index the intensity of the poison with the constitution of the individual on the following matrix:”

The number obtained indicates how many dice of damage the poison victim sustains, * indicates no effect. D indicates that the victim dies (or is paralyzed if the poison is paralytic), no matter how many hit points it possessed.

Each numerical intensity poison has its own specific antidote, i.e.: antidote for intensity 14 poison, etc. If this is administered to the victim within 2 melee rounds after obtaining a “D” result, he will survive, sustaining only 2 dice (d6) of damage. If another type of antidote is used (different intensity antidote for a different poison), the chance of it working is a base 50%, modified by 10% plus or minus for each intensity level it differs from the specific poison. For example, if a character is poisoned by a weapon with poison intensity 16 and suffers a “D” on the chart, an antidote may save him. If the antidote is for level 16 this is certain, since it is the antidote for that particular poison. If the antidote is for poison intensity 14, then there is a 30% chance it will work; if the antidote was for poison intensity 18, there is a 70% chance it will be effective.

Because of the large number of poisonous creatures in GAMMA WORLD, most inhabitants will wear light body armor of some sort, and often carry poison tipped weapons. When a player carries a poisoned weapon, it is necessary for him to take measures to insure that he is not poisoned by his own weapon, such as wearing heavy gloves, or carrying poison darts in special pouches, etc.”

The two charts are the same in these original versions of both games, the nuanced differences between the games occurs in Gamma World. Surviving the D of Death with the appropriate antidote in Metamorphosis Alpha is 1d6 of damage but Gamma World is 2d6. In addition Gamma World introduces the idea of a base 50% chance for the wrong antidote working minus or adding to survival by 10% for each number further away from the correct antidote. Thus though not dying in Gamma World from poison might hurt more it also in this respect it is more forgiving.

Now looking at D&D in the booklet Men & Magic we have this on Constitution:

Constitution is a combination of health and endurance. It will influence such things as the number of hits which can be taken and how well the character can withstand being paralyzed, turned to stone, etc.

Now in this original book all classes used d6 die for hit points as outlined in their classes level charts. This system was closely tied to the war game Chainmail’s mass combat. Constitution is used to determine various bonuses in addition to hit die in original D&D.

Constitution 15 or more: Add +1 to each hit die

Constitution 13 or 14: Will withstand adversity

Constitution of 9 - 12: 60% to 90% chance of surviving

Constitution 8 or 7: 40% to 50% chance of survival

Constitution 6 or Less: Minus 1 from each hit die* 

* minimum score of 1 on any die

In addition to these general modifiers D&D has a class based Saving Throw System based on the characters class. The Saving Throw System includes Poison but does not chart like Metamorphosis Alpha or Gamma World as it is specific to their class and not based on the Constitution. Depending on the type of damage and die roll there is either full damage for failure, no or half damage for a successful rolls. In this case of poison it is scored one-half of the total possible hit damage. D&D does not really have a Saving Throw for Radiation, however in the latter D&D Tournament Module Expedition To The Barrier Peaks Radiation uses the Poison Saving Throw.

I hope this slow study of these early versions of these games and their mechanics is helpful for folks either seeking to play them or convert ideas between the games. 

Rock your Role Playing Games!

Random Trivia Metamorphosis Alpha was the first TSR game to have Role-Playing Game appear on one of their gamer’s cover.