The original edition is set on a generation spaceship, the starship Warden, which has been struck by an unknown cataclysmic event that killed many of the colonists and crew. The characters must survive their missions in the ship, which they believe to be a world. They no longer understand the technology around them, and they encounter numerous mutated creatures.
Players can portray a human, a mutated human, a mutated plant, or a mutated creature. Articles in Dragon expanded those options to include clones and robots as well as adding rules for cybernetics. Players have five characteristics: radiation resistance, mental resistance, dexterity, strength, and constitution. Humans have a sixth characteristic, leadership potential, while mutated humans and creatures add a random number of mutations, both physical and mental. Metamorphosis Alpha's combat rules resemble those in the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
Metamorphosis Alpha is the intellectual precursor to Gamma World (1978), also produced by TSR.
Though often credited as the first science-fiction RPG, it was beaten to press by Ken St. Andre's 1976 game Starfaring.[1]
In 1980, TSR released AD&D module S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. The module was based on the idea that a starship such as the Warden (though not the Warden itself, according to TSR founder Gary Gygax) becomes marooned in a D&D universe. In the module's foreword, Gygax writes that the module was written to introduce Metamorphosis Alpha to the wider D&D audience and to demonstrate how one might undertake science fiction/fantasy crossover.
Inspiration
James M. Ward, the game's author, stated that the original inspiration for the game was Brian Aldiss's science fiction novel Non-Stop (also known as Starship, 1958). In the British RPG magazine White Dwarf, issue 1, Ian Livingstone wrote a review of the game and published his own additional rules for playing Metamorphosis Alpha on Aldiss's ship. However, it is often suggested that the game was inspired by Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 novel Orphans of the Sky.[2][3] James M. Ward has stated that he was not familiar with the 1973 Canadian TV series The Starlost, a show with a similar concept, and that Metamorphosis Alpha is not based upon that series.[4]
Ownership and rights
The rights to Metamorphosis Alpha were owned by James M. Ward. Ward also owned the rights to all Metamorphosis Alpha material previously published in Dragon. WardCo. (Ward's publishing business) was granted permission by Steve Jackson Games and by Judges Guild (the estate of Bob Bledsaw Sr.) to host and republish some material. In 2008, Ward requested via public forums that sites hosting unlicensed copies of his original rules and the material previously published in Dragon magazine remove them, as they were a breach of his copyright and directly competed with products that he is selling. All permissions to host the Metamorphosis Alpha rules and the Metamorphosis Alpha articles in Dragon magazine, other than those being sold on behalf of WardCo., at sites other than at the official homepage have been rescinded.[5]
In 2010, Signal Fire Studios acquired the rights to produce a new edition of the game based upon Hasbro's 4th edition D&D.[6]
In 2011, Ward announced that he had negotiated a deal to produce a graphic novel of Metamorphosis Alpha.[4]
On April 11, 2024, Christopher Clark announced that "all rights to James M. Ward’s Metamorphosis Alpha, the core rulebook and all its derivative works, including The Starship Warden, Dark Outpost and Dark Visitor, along with James M. Ward’s Tower of the Scarlett Wizard, and James M. Ward’s Monte Haul Dungeon Series (including Monty Haul’s Lesser Tower of Doom and Monty Haul’s Heavenly Haul) were purchased by Para Bellum Consulting."[7] This deal was made and finalized prior to the death of Jame's Ward in March of 2024.
Editions and supplements
Metamorphosis Alpha was first published in 1976 by TSR. It was written by James M. Ward and illustrated by Dave Sutherland III.
In 1981, Ward announced plans to rewrite the game as Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega, a supplement for the 1st edition Gamma World rules [8]. The Gamma World supplement was never completed, but in 1994, TSR used the title Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega for an Amazing Engine supplement ( ISBN1-56076-851-7) written by Slade Henson.
In 2002, Ward's company, Fast Forward Entertainment, published a new version of the game, entitled Metamorphosis Alpha: 25th Anniversary Edition. It was designed by Ward himself.
In 2006, Metamorphosis Alpha 4th Edition was released by Mudpuppy Games ( ISBN0-9763601-2-8). This edition contained original material by Ward and additional new material and photography by Craig J. Brain. The book cover and interior illustrations were painted and drawn by Jim Holloway with most of the cartography by Ryan Wolfe.[9]
In 2007, WardCo. released an official errata sheet for Metamorphosis Alpha First Edition, which is available from the official website and released a revised edition of the first-edition rules through OneBookShelf as a PDF.
In 2010, WardCo. released The House On The Hill adventure module ( ISBN145360412X) for Metamorphosis Alpha (1st edition) as a PDF through OneBookshelf and the printed edition through Amazon. The adventure was written by Craig J. Brain, with bonus content by James M. Ward. The illustrations for the adventure were by Lee Smith and Dave Sutherland III.[10]
In 2012, WardCo. released a reprint of the original edition of the game via Lulu with the addition of a new adventure and a number of corrections.
In 2014, WardCo and Goodman Games released a hardbound deluxe edition of the original 1st edition via kickstarter including new adventures and consolidated other content from magazines and new content.[11][12]
In 2017, WardCo and Goodman Games released Epsilon City[13], a boxed set expanding on their 2017 collaboration. The set contained a 272-page spiral-bound hardcover Epsilon City setting book, three 11”x17” maps, a 20-page cyborg supplement, and a 56-page adventure supplement. It was written by James M. Ward, with Jobe Bittman, Michael Curtis (role playing game writer), Jon Hook, and Jim Wampler. This was followed by the adventure Doom on the Warden in 2020.[14]
In 2021, WardCo and Troll Lord Games released The Starship Warden using the Amazing Adventures/SIEGE engine. It included a 656 page book, fully detailing the default setting of Metamorphosis Alpha and was accompanied by a number of supporting materials and was written by James M. Ward and fellow TSR alumnus Chris Clark.[15]
Reception
In Issue 10 of The Space Gamer, Robert R. Taylor concluded that "The game is definitely first rate and quite excellent. MA is highly recommended to someone interested in buying their first role-playing game since the rules are rich with guidelines to help the player in constructing his own ship."[16]
Writing in The Playboy Winner's Guide to Board Games, John Jackson found this game almost identical in scope and mechanics to another TSR science fiction game, Gamma World, sharing "a cast of mutated humans, animals and plants and the twin hazards of poison and radiation." Jackson recommended Gamma World over Metamorphosis Alpha based on better organization of material and a more interesting map.[17]
In the inaugural issue of Ares, game designer Eric Goldberg thought the game too limited in scope, saying, "Metamorphosis: Alpha is Dungeons and Dragons in space. Regrettably, one can only stretch a great idea so far; this offering is far too contrived to gain acceptance in the minds of most players." Goldberg concluded by giving the game a very poor rating of only 3 out of 9.[18]
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames, game designer Jon Freeman commented, "James Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha is an attempt ... by the people who brought you Dungeons & Dragons, and predictably, it shares many of the parent game's flaws. The rules are better constructed but the game takes itself too seriously." Freeman gave this game an Overall Evaluation of "Fair", concluding , "The game is Dungeons & Dragons in disguise; it could as easily been called Missiles & Mutants. As an honest fantasy, it would be no worse than most. As 'science fiction', it comes out looking like Gorgo Meets Star Wars."[19]
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan called this "Dungeons & Dragons in space ... Exploring the labyrinths of the spacecraft is not unlike roaming a cavern network or other dungeonlike enclosure." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, suggesting the old game's true value was as a collector's item.[20]
David M. Ewalt, in his book Of Dice and Men, commented that Metamorphosis Alpha was "notable as the first role-playing game with a science-fiction setting. The game takes place on the starship Warden, a vast spaceship built by the player characters' ancestors; in the aftermath of some unknown disaster, their progeny survive on the ship but don't understand its technology and must fight mutated creatures to ensure their survival."[note 1][21]
Metamorphosis Alpha was chosen for inclusion in the 2007 book Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Game designer Gary Gygax explained: "Metamorphosis Alpha is a game that breaks the typical level-progression reward mold but nevertheless offers a rich, if sometimes difficult to gain, array of player rewards — from the knowledge of the environment to beneficial character mutations, learned skills to the acquisition of tech items and other equipment. Furthermore it blends fantasy with weird and super science in a unique manner that is captivating to players with imaginations suited to such a startling mixture. Metamorphosis Alpha — in any edition — stimulates the imagination, encourages keen thinking, and breaks the mold of typical fantasy and science fiction roleplaying games. If that doesn't make it one of the best hobby games ever, I don't know what would."[22]
In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath questioned whether this game was truly science fiction, or was simply another fantasy RPG, pointing out that the setting is simply a large self-contained 17-level dungeon where "Players are left to explore the ship, hex by hex in the 'wilderness' or square by square in the dungeons of the engineering sectors, all for material rewards ... These sort of expeditions are the core of the D&D experience and that seems so closely tied to fantasy, for me, that even the presence of laser guns and mutants can't dissuade the association."[23]
Pandorum, a 2009 film written by Travis Milloy and directed by Christian Alvart which shares similar plot elements
Notes
1 2 Several sources call Metamorphosis Alpha the first science fiction role-playing game, but others name Starfaring as the first. Designers & Dragons: The '70s, p. 25, and the Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series 1976: July-December, p. 2992 give the publication date of Metamorphosis Alpha as November 1976, while Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series 1976: July-December, p. 3051 give Starfaring a publication date of August 1976, several months earlier. RPG historian Stu Horvath, in his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens and Holes in the Ground (p. 14), notes that TSR planned to premiere Metamorphosis Alpha at Origins Game Fair in July 1976, hence the July 1976 date in the foreword, but due to production delays it was not released until November 1976.
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