There are a few points in the very early history of the RPG hobby that stick out as events that have left an indelible mark. I like to add such treasures to my collection as best I can when I can find them.
Original Dungeons & Dragons (I own the OCE)
Empire of the Petal Throne (I own a copy of the boxed set - still in it's wrap when I got it - opened now)
Tunnels & Trolls (I own Ken's personal copy of the 2nd edition of the rules)
Metamorphosis Alpha - never owned and damn near impossible to find on the secondary market
Not so surprisingly, all of the above games have gone thru a number of revisions over the last 40 years. Even if they weren't, do old RPGs ever die? Or do they just fade away? But I digress.
Goodman Games, they of the amazing DCC RPG and the more amazing adventures that are written for said system are running a Kickstarter to print a reprint of the 1st edition of the Metamorphosis Alpha rules in hard cover. With an honest to God book jacket. The last RPG that I bought with a book jacket that wasn't from LotFP was Runequest 2 back in the day.
Yes, this is the original Metamorphosis Alpha written by James Ward of TSR fame. While I may not have much to say about James' run on the Castles & Crusades line, his classic work is just that - classic. James' first work that I ever encountered was the Gamma World "grey box" - my first non D&D purchase and simply an amazing take on a post-apoc world, especially in the early 80's when I found it. Metamorphosis Alpha was some unattainable fairly tale game to me, heard about in articles in Dragon Magazine and little else.
So yeah, I'm excited to get a chance to read the original predecessor to Gamma World. I'm also excited about the new content being added by some of the excellent writers over at Goodman Games. Michael Curtis and Jobe Bittman are writing adventures for the Kickstarter, as is James Ward himself. Actually, James is adding a decent sized chunk of new material to the game, and it should be interesting to see James return to one of (if not actually) his first gaming projects.
My only wish is to see a Harley Stroh adventure added to the mix of stretch goals. One can only hope :)
The project has hit 5 stretch goals already and has 8 days of funding to go.
$80 bucks for the hard cover isn't cheap (nor is adding the 3 adventure subscription for $30 bucks), but I've yet to see Goodman Games fall short on quality. I fully expect to get my money's worth.
Damn you Kickstarter! Damn you Goodman Games and Damn you James Ward! I'm going to need to work some overtime next week to pay for this, but it will be worth it...
The original Met Alpha is up on RPG now in PDF.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rpgnow.com/product/50526/Metamorphosis-Alpha-1st-Edition
I was eying that kickstarter, but you have to kick in a lot just to get stuff I already have - Met Alpha, the articles from Dragon, etc. (thanks Dragon Archive!).
Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in...:)
ReplyDeleteI pledged for this at GaryCon (got the exclusive/handsome dice bag they gave away to attendees who pledged as well). Although my KS budget was supposed to be $0.00 until July I went ahead and for this for two reasons. First, I think the world of Jim Ward and his game and second I have never bought anything from Goodman I didn't feel was a solid product.
I am willing to overlook the fact they impose Michael Curtis on decent people like me at conventions- but just barely. :)
I bought a reprint copy of the orginal rules on Lulu.com last year.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lulu.com/shop/james-m-ward/metamorphosis-alpha/paperback/product-1647436.html
Not sure if I want to pay $80 for a HC edition even with new content but I plan on at least getting the first new adventure.