History TabletopGame / GammaWorld

The game has gone through seven editions so far; TSR published the first three from 1978 to 1985 with their own unique rule sets. 1992's 4th Edition was based on the same engine as ''D&D'''s 2nd edition, and 1995's 5th was a supplement for the sci-fi RPG ''{{Alternity}}''. In 2002, WizardsOfTheCoast, which had since absorbed TSR, published a wacky homage to ''Gamma World'' entitled ''Omega World'' in ''Polyhedron'' magazine.

''Gamma World'' is notable for one rather odd trend: usually, only a handful of books would be released before a new edition came out and rendered all the previous books obsolete. This reached its zenith with the ''{{Alternity}}'' version, which had only a single, core rulebook released before being discontinued. Time will tell if 7th Edition will continue this trend.

* SuperSpit: A Dragon magazine #96 article on new mutant body parts included a mouth pump that allowed spitting hydrochloric acid up to four meters.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Adventure [=GW1=] The Legion of Gold. An amoeboid monster' body can withstand 1,000 HitPoints of damage, but its nucleus can only take 50 HitPoints before it's killed.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Adventure GW1 The Legion of Gold. An amoeboid monster' body can withstand 1,000 HitPoints of damage, but its nucleus can only take 50 HitPoints before it's killed.

* EverythingsWorseWithBears [[ItMakesSenseInContext Who Think They Are Napoleon]]

* AutoDoc: The 1st Edition MediKit

** The original game when it first came out. Its said to have popularized dark humor in [=RPG=]s.

* CollectibleCardGame
** 7th edition has its powers and technology sold on this model; [=GMs=] and players have to buy more cards in booster packs for more fantastic stuff to use in their RPG, instead of buying them in sourcebooks. [[InternetBackdraft This has not been well received.]]
** The core game ''does'' include include a full deck of mutations and Omega Tech (Loot), so players aren't forced to go out and buy boosters. The boosters certainly don't have anything that's any more game-breaking than what you get in the core box.

* SuperSpit: A Dragon magazine #96 article had a new mutant body part: a mouth pump that allowed spitting hydrochloric acid up to four meters.

* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: The original game, 4th edition, and ''Omega World'' are so far on the silly scale that it mutates and flies out into space. 3rd edition and 6th edition, on the other hand, land on the more serious part of the scale, but not to the very end.

* HomeFieldAdvantage: The adventure ''GW6 Alpha Factor''. Jeremiah Coot has filled his base Mindkeep with all sorts of traps, including false vines that cause any opponent who tries to swing on them to fall.

* CollectibleCardGame: 7th edition has its powers and technology sold on this model; [=GMs=] and players have to buy more cards in booster packs for more fantastic stuff to use in their RPG, instead of buying them in sourcebooks. [[InternetBackdraft This has not been well received.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The 6th Edition for ''{{d20 Modern}}''.

* AllTheMyriadWays: The seventh edition backstory features the Large Hadron Collider causing several different realities to intermingle and exchange places, in an event called "the big mistake". Furthermore, Dopplegangers create their doubles by pulling them out of alternate realites.

* XMeetsY: D&D meets {{Fallout}}.

** WingedHumanoid: Hawkoids.

* RecycledINSPACE: It's ''D&D'', but [-AfterTheEnd!-] [-[[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness And silly]]!-]

** CuteKitten/CatGirl: Felinoids.

** EverythingsCuterWithKittens/CatGirl: Felinoids.

* TheWormThatWalks: One of the possible character origins. Depending on your primary origin and your secondary origin, you could be anything from a horde of cockroaches, to a [[GreyGoo mass of nanomachines]], to a horde of ''[[EverythingsCuterWithKittens sentient, hive-minded kittens]]''.