Toys

Toys are something for a child to play with. These can vary from material objects to small animals. In the case of adults it encompasses to mechanisms or machines, including other people in some twisted sense of ownership to them.

I mention the word toy is that it is more concerned with the RPG or game setting regarding the so-called toys in that area. It generally encompass weapons, armor, vehicles and mecha to point out. It has become something as a material pleasure of sorts to be in the presence of objects that represent a number of virtues or qualities. Of course, utility can be considered as one obvious quality.

I speak of this on recently perusing a copy of the "Out of The Vaults" technology sourcebook for the latest incarnation of Gamma World under the D20 system. Since this newest incarnation of the game has shifted the focus on the outdated concept of post-atomic mayhem, it deals more with the nanotech and biotech consequences which mutated the landscape of a war-torn Earth.

Toys of note have stayed the same for some while others no longer exist. The infamous Black Ray weapons are still there. Laser weaponry is still de rigeur in this setting. The fusion rifle is also present though its illustration in the book reminds one more of a more stylized proton pack of Ghostbusters' fame. Mark V and VII rifles of the current version are now plasma discharging weapons replacing the older incarnation idea of force-field breaking sonic blasters. High-end and high-tech armor has been more relegated to sleek and nano-driven/constructed suits compared to the more old hardtech constructed varieties of Powered Armor: Energized Armor, Inertia Armor, Powered Alloyed Plate, Powered Assault Armor, Powered Attack Armor, Powered Plate Armor and Powered Scout Armor. Above mentioned armor types may have built-in weapons. Atomic Power Cells not included. Medical supplies in that book are different from what I know. No more days of subsisting on Sustenance doses when food supplies are scarce but the current incarnation Universal Cooker makes up the lack of it in a way. A lot of stuff has been changed or no longer presented since the newer trends dictated in the world of sci-fi and real science plus political correctness of today's times.

Reading through the latest incarnation of that new book made me dig up my old copy of the game and draw my comparisons on the tech. It was a good stroll through memory lane in gaming for that one. Next time. *Marches back into the doghouse. Servos within a well-used suit of Powered Assault Armor moves him effortlessly towards the doghouse.*