OCTOBER 1980 NUMBER 32 ee aa i) il 3 SPACE CAMER THE MAGAZINE OF ADVENTURE GAMING ee Cee ic. VELLER 3 * ISSUE. ITHILIEN CLASS SCOUTSHIPS AZHANTL_HIGH LIGHTNING ALIEN CHARACTERS CALCULATOR PLAY ee YAQUINTO COMPANY REPORT TEN CHARACTERS | WOULDN’T ? LET IN MY UNIVERSE ~ AND 9 PAGES OF REVIEWS!Poor TAKE BASIC COMBAT ] ] BASIC | Deatl Dentl || Grail MAGIC | Test | Quest / CREATE. YOUR 7 ows J SDVENTURES 7 Advanced Rules an The Te | Hoe Tollenkar’s mee fait coming! Game Blaster’s Game Master P| Aids & For the Experienced i Advanced Melee Advanced WisardTHE SPACE CAMER NUMBER 32 — OCTOBER, 1980 Articles ALTERNATE CHARACTERS FOR TRAVELLER * by Forest Johason ‘Generating elon an peeudo han charters. EXPANDING TRAVELLER * by William A. Barton A look at supplements and play aids .. 8 ITHILIEN CLASS SCOUTSHIPS * by Mark Chittenden The winner of the Ship Design Contest . . ratetepinnesceeacedl GAME DESIGN: THEORY AND PRACTICE * by Schuessler and Jackson Part VI: More about movement .—.. i“ COMPANY REPORT: YAQUINTO PUBLICATIONS * by Steve Peck | One of the newer game publishers... -....0++eeeeeseeeseveccedT TEN CHARACTERS I WOULDN'T LET IN MY UNIVERSE Ten NPCs to boggle players with . 22 Fiction MINUS TWO REACTION * by Lawrence Watt Evans One night ina local bar. . . * Computer Gants DEUS EX MACHINA * by W.G. Armintrout Using programmable calculators in wargaming. .. . SOFTWARE SURVEY An update: several more producers of game software . Reviews AZHANTIIIGH LIGHTNING * by Wiliam A. Barton. . CAPSULE REVIEWS. . coenaiet GAMES: Barbarian Kings; iri; Final Frontier; Gamma World; ‘Norad, SUPPLEMENTS: City of Lei Tabor: The Gateway Bestiary; GrailQuest; Hellpits of Nightfang: The Temple to Athena. PLAY AIDS: The Compleat Fantasis, COMPUTER GAMES: Invasion Orion; The Mean Checkers Machine; Planet Miners; Sargon I; Taipan. BOOKS: The Complete Book of Wargames. PUBLICATIONS: The American Wargamer. Departments WHERE WE'RE GOING Seiten ste i GAME MASTER ...... 00. .e cece eee eee ADVERTISERS... 0... 0.0 sees GONTEST 5s ccsamsisess itd eaikween es ERRATA -: LETTERS... NEWS & PLUGS .. CALENDAR... READER ADS. iets “ART IN TMS ISSUE: Lint Campenela: 26: Joan K. Chladek: 6; Albrecht Durer: 20: Kevin ©. Elis: 3, 14, 18: Greg Holmberg: mailer cartoon: Peul Jaquays. 22: Denis Loubet: 4, Li: Nors Moples: 12, 24; Richard Mather: 17; Erie Richards: 32; Oris White: cover (Photos on 8 courtesy of Marian Metals) naeress artis 050) q In This Issue Traveller is without question the lea ing sf role-playing game on the market. It seemed like a more than worthwhile ‘topic for a special issue. So. . . we've got a number of Travellerrelated game and supplement reviews, a variant article, and the winner of the Ship Design Contest, (There wasn't room to print the runnerup — but let it be noted here that Ron Shigeta’s design ran a close second.) The winner was Mark Chittenden; his design appears on page 11. ‘This month's cover is by Chris White, who has done quite a bit of illustration for Avalon Hill — notably the box art for Dune and Magic Realm, For the fantasy fan, we've got “Ten Characters I Wouldn't ‘Let In My Uni- verse.” And for gamers in general, @ report from Yaquinto Games, ~Steve Jackson THE SPACE GAMER Publisher: Steve Jackson Editor: Forrest Johnson Art Director: Denis Loubet Contributing Editors: William A. Barton Ronald Pehr Nick Schuessler Bruce F. Webster Business Manager: Elton Fewell ‘Cireulation Manager: Aaron Allston Utility Infleder: Elisabeth Barrington THE SPACE GAMER (ISSN 01949977, USPS 434-250) is published monthly by The Space Gamer, 7207 Onion Crossing Dr., Austin, ‘TX 78744. Second class postage pa at Austin, ‘TX. POSTMASTER: Send addres changes to ‘The Space Gamer, P. 0. Box 18805, Austin, TX 78760. ‘All material is copyright 1980 by The Space Gamer. All ights reserved Printed in U.S.A. by Futura Press, Austin Subscription rates, effective 5/15/80: US Canada’ Other foreign Oneyear $21 $24 ‘a1 Twoyeus $39 $45 319 Lifetime. $250 $260 NIA ‘All prices are in U.S. dollars payment must bein US. dollarsWhere We’re Going More Pages! Starting next month, TSG will be 8 ppages longer. We'll keep up the new larger size as long as advertising allows. Basically, we don’t ever want TSG to be more than 25% advertising. Even that is really too much, So... when there are too many ads for 32 pages, we go up to 40, Fortunately, having that many ads lets us afford 40 pages. That means our advertisers are the ‘ones bringing you those extra pages s0 show your appreciation by spending some money with them. Steve Jackson Games 77 Now the big news, Effective sight row, I'm back inthe games business. And very’ pleased about it, too. It's what T've wanted to do for a LONG time. publish my own game designs. I set a high standard for my own work; I hope ‘you approve of it, (There is a basic conflict of interest between) “quality-oriented designers and profit-oriented publishers. Both are vital 10 the hobby, but incompatible under the same roof. Only an independent designer ‘can guarantee the eventual quality of his design.” Randy Reed, in resigning his post 1s VP of Research and Design at Avalon Hill ‘That sums it up, right there. If you want to make sure something is done right, do it yourself. I want to design playable, Fun games that will se cheaply and have really nice components. If have to publish them myself — well, that’s the way it goes. I expect to have & Jot of fn with this over the next few years. Il do my best to make money at it, too . .. that's the only way you can Keep a company going! But, again, that’s up to you. (A digression, This doesn’t mean that I won’t sell designs to other companies. 1 probably will. It also doesn’t mean that 1 will publish only my own designs. Pm already publishing one “outside” design. Til probably do others. And I'll work with the designers as I'd want a publisher to work with me ... but the final respon- sibility for the quality of the game will be mine, because it'll have my name on it ight after that designer's.) ‘The First Batch There are four initial offerings. The planned release date for all four is Octo- ber 15, As I write this, it’s September 3; by the time you get to read it, it'll be late September or early October, So if you want any of these, go ahead and order now. By the time your order gets here, We ought to be ready to fil it. You can read all about the new games in the ad on the inside back cover — but ve got to say a litle bit here, too. ‘There are three games. They'te alike in ‘that each is printed in color on glossy stock, each has 112 3-color counters, and. each comes in a ziplock bag. Other than that, they're very different. One is sf, ‘one is modern, and one is historical. KUNG FU'2100 you've already seen; it was in TSG 30, We've dressed it up and fixed a few glitches, but it's the same game: martial arts in the far future, ONE-PAGE BULGE is another Battle ‘of the Bulge game, The gimmick: Red- ‘mond Simonsen wrote not long ago that multiplayer gaming. Non-pbm features will include: runners-up Next Issue Next issue’s theme will be play-by-mail games... computer- moderated and otherwise. We'll ead off with a survey of the play-by-mail game companies. Also coming up: A WarpWar variant - suitable for either play-by-mail or face-to-face Reviews of Warp Force One, Empyrean Challenge, and Universe H. A Company Report on Schubel and Son, moderators of “Tribes of Crane,” “StarMaster,” and other pbm games. Ant Ogre/GEV short story and game scenario. The winner of the Trap Contest, and several of the more fiendish complete with diagrams! And all the regular columns — including lots of capsule reviews. Also: next issue we go up to 40 pages. More of everything! he wondered if a wargame could be writ- ten with one page of rules. Yes, it can, Here iti. Good game, 100. RAID ON IRAN: What would have hhappened if the helicopters had gone into Tehran_on schedule? A game about something that could have ‘hap- pened, and sil could happen. ‘The fourth product isn’t a game; it’s miniatures set, Cardboard miniatures. ‘These are full-color, 25-mm, front-and- back paintings by Denis Loubet. The baw picture in the ad hardly does them justice; you have to see them, These may ‘make a lot of fantasy gamers throw away their old playingpleces, They're beautiful, Anyway, Steve Jackson Games is now in business, Wish me luck, Subscriber Benefits For various reasons, the new game company is an entity separate from TSG. Nevertheless, there'll be close coopera: tion. And there will be benefits for TSG subseribers purchasing the new games. Right now, it's free postage on game orders. Non-subscribers ordering games can pay 25 cents per game for 3rd-classrail, or $0 cents per game for first class. (First-class costs, but it sure shortens the wait!) However . . . TSG subscribers pay no postage fee when they order. You get $3 game for $3, flat. And, for a while at least, subscribers will get’ their games first class. Back issues, posters, etc, will still go out by second or third class. Eventually (especially if postal rates go up) we may drop back to third-lass postage to subscribers, with an option to pay a lite extra and get first-class postage. I can’t make any long-tenm promises; postal rates are unreliable, Demon Poster We've had a supply of posters printed ‘up, showing the ‘“demon-summoning” picture from TSG 28 . . . but BIG. These are 17” x 22" — and they look GOOD. You can order these for $1.50 each, plus 25 cents postage (50 cents for first class, or free postage for subscribers). Or... you can get one free. If you take a look at the cards bound {in this issue, you'll see that one of them makes a free offer. We're trying to build ‘up our mailing list of retail game stores. Send us the address(es) of your local ame retale(s). Anyone who provides us with a new store name will get a poster, free. Check the card for details. Credit Purchases You've probably noticed that our order forms now allow credit-card pur- chases on either MasterCard or Visa. It’s an experiment, We know not every- ‘one has a credit card; still, some people prefer to use them. It's a lot faster to write down your credit card number than it is to dig out the checkbook, One request: please don’t use your card for purchases of less than $10. There’s just 00 much paperwork, ~Steve Jackson ADVERTISERS Attack Internationa . GAME MASTER GAME MASTER extett 10 answer quections on your favorite games If you have a rules ‘question or play problem, send iti. Questions {0 be answered wil be chosen on the basi of ‘general interest. They wil fost be referred t0 the game publisher or designe. If no response is received, GAME MASTER wil offer its own Interpretation ofthe ne. Sorry — no individual replies are portble, ‘CAME MASTER elo invites publishers to send errata or clariletions for thelr new games ‘They will be printed as space allows. I just played Kung Au 2100 and found it to bbe quite enjoyable. « however, Arnie Gold~ san just doesn't cut it asa name for a martial artist, Back to the game ite”... one patt I ound hard to swallow ie the relative lack of power of guns. think 1-S on the “gun vs in- active” and 1-2 on the “yun vs. Monkey Soul” fable would be more accurate. Peshaps this could be another optional rule to adjust play balance . (1) Role 6.1a states that Jellies may only be set up in a room or hall with a "3" init, Once released, can they go anywhere or are they still Limited to a room with a "J"? What about ser- vants and technleians? Also, should the loos tnd the lab access comidor have any letersi thea? {2) Can a Terminator exit loo occupied by 1 CloneMaster figure? On the whole, I liked this game and would enjoy seeing eupplementary material on It in future issues, [also would like fo see mare com- plete games. Just make sute they are really Jaames'and not merely half thought-out ieas like Tartar & Martyrs. Paul Laferriere Thanks for the comments. As you con see in ‘Where We're Going, KF2100 is now available as «@ separate gome ~ mostly due to praise from the people who played it, And your questions {and thoxe of several others led to clafiations nthe rates ‘Arnie partially for comic relief — but after al, not all martial artists are Oriental, or even want to be! As to guns: ths isa game about people who ‘Sight so well that they make guns look aimort lueless, But you're right: making the guns more ‘powerful would be an easy way to adjust pley balance in the Clonedester's favor, if necesar. To answer your rules questions: (1) Any figure can move to any square once released, ‘regarlss of the letters in the comer. They af fect setup ONLY. The loos and lab access ‘conidor have no letters because no figures may bbe ter up there ~ all those spaces are adjacent 0 doors, and @ figure cannot start next 10 0 door. (2) Yes, a Terminator ean exit ¢ loo ocew- ied by an enemy figure. However, if the enemy is-a Jelly, the Terminator must have ‘enough extra movement to pass By hin. Steve Jackson A couple of questions about Starfleet Bat- les (Task Force Games}: ‘G) If a ship starts with one warp engine, 4s it affected by loft and right warp engine hits? ‘@) The warp engines of the Tholian Patrol (Cruiser are not marked as left sight, and center. ‘What are their classifications for hit determin: ation purposes? —Eaul $, Cooley I {It looks as though Doth questions ott down to the same one’ How should warp engines be designated when na leftiighticenter desis. nations appear on the ship dagram? Several of ‘he Starflost Battles dlagrams show ships with ‘one or more warp engines but no Ire desi nations. The eatiest way out (and the one most in keeping with the geme system) would be to verte in designations ond sok 0 them. If a ship has only one engine, that engine can be assumed fo be “center” if it has two, one left, one is right. If It has three, they are left, center, ond right. I don’t think that onyihing else makes much sense. If for instance, a ship ‘with only one warp engine is affected by ANY “warp engine” Mit, then is single small engine fs somehow more exposed than either of the Dig engines ofe cruser. Steve Jackson (The Demon) from TSG 28. poster, write: RETAILERS AND DISTRIBUTORS Three games and one set of miniatures — each retailing for $3 — are now available from Steve Jackson Games. For details about these products, see the advertisement on the inside back cover of this magazine. Also available are back issues of THE SPACE GAMER, numbers 15 through 31, and a 17” x 22” full-color poster For wholesale terms and a free copy of the Demon Steve Jackson Games Box 18957 Austin, TX 78760TWO REACTION by Lawrence Watt-Evans Hanging half a meter from the top of the glossy black facade, glittering star- dust spelled THE ORIGINAL OLD-TIME, JOE'S BAR & GRILL; below, five fizzy edged. spots of depolarized transparency chased one another across the surface, saving passersby tantalizing glimpses of the dim, reddit interior. Xahh paused and peered longingly. The ruddy warm glow was painfully reminiscent of his far-off home. Varkles, he thought, why nof? Te wasn't due back aboard ship for five hours, and the door stood invtingly ajar just a meter away. He'd never been in a joint like this before, and had heard discouraging tales of the hazards, but that ftiendly glow made him dismiss such stories as xenophobic fabrications. The door swung open as he approached. The place was bigger inside than he hhad expected; one wall was covered with MINUS= game-machines, half the opposite wall with ispensers, and the remainder by huge, old-fashioned wood bar with omate brass and crystal trim. The rear wall was totally invisible, lost in the smoke and darkness. Close at hand there reared up a large brass serpent, polished to a muddy gold in the eximson gloom. Where its snout should have ended in a pair of slit nostrils, there were instead three upward-curving horns, each capped by # solid brass ball, and its mouth gaped ‘open impossibly. A’ sniff in its direction told Xahh’s sensitive nose that it was dispensing pure oxygen, for those who chose to start the evening’s intoxication with an oxygen ja. Psychbeat music filled the room, blending subly with the hum of conver. sation from the two dozen occupied tables. Xahh relaxed as its soothing cf fects reached him, and crossed to the bar. Clambering awkwardly onto an empty stool, he planced around at the other patrons and waited for the bartender to notice him. To one side were three unoccupied seats and the end of the bar; to the other side a single stool separated him from ‘an immense green lizard-creature, looking almost black in the red light, which sat contemplating a half-empty glass of some viscous purple fluid. Beyond it — or prob- ably him, but Xehh was uncertain — were arrayed three identical young pure- human women, presumably free clones, sniffing cocaine. They struck Xahh as being misshapen, with far more chest than seemed reasonable. There was 2 gap after them; at the far end of the bar there sat a withered old man with choco- late-brown skin, wearing a tattered andarchaic pressure suit but no helmet, The Dartender was talking to him, though Xahh couldn't hear a thing at ‘that dis- tance, Behind him sat a representative sam- pling of the port's groundling population: naked loading androids, human admin- istrators in uniform, gleaming metal mo- bile A.L, inhumaniy graceful cyborgs, and_all the other specialized or pure- bred people that one found in Terra’s greatest starport. “What'l it be?” The bartender’s voice startled him, distracted as he was by his study of the bar's patrons, He turned back around and said, “Ah, whisky and water, please.” It was the only local érink he was familiar with; he had been too timid to do much adventuring in his brief stay on Terra, but one of the old hands among his crewmates had introduced him to this concoction that was both cool and fiery at once. It didn’t have that same intoxi- cating effect on him that it did on hu- ‘mans, but 2 few of them would give him 4 slight feeling of euphoria He hed only seen the bartender reach below the counter, without mixing any- thing, but here his drink was. Obviously ‘an automatic drink dispenser was at ‘work, Some “old-time authenticity"! He barely restrained a snort as he handed the ‘bartender his credit card. Well, at least they had a human bartender; most bars hhad gone completely modern. ‘Assuming, that is, that the bartender was human. Xahh peered at him sus piciously, but couldn't decide, There ‘were no ‘visible signs that the bartender ‘was anything but pure, but they made convincing cybers and androids of even his own small people these days: # thing the size of that bartender, a portly two meters tall, could hold ay intelligence atound with room to spare. The man, if he was a man, returned the card, and Xahh restrained another snort as he saw is new balance registered ‘on the display. At these prices they could sure afford a human! Tucking the card away, he sipped his drink, and was pleas- antly surprised; it was good, almost worth what it cost. Whatever eke they might stint, the bar’s owners didn’t serimp on their booze. No wonder it was 2 popular Tocal hangout. He sipped again, and glanced up at the mirror behind the bar. His eyes met the reflected gaze of the lizard-thing, who seemed to be bleaily studying Xabih’s image. Xahh tured away, looking in- stead at a cobwebbed bottle below the mirror, as the stories of beatings and robberies at these dives came back to him, “Hey, Shorty.” ‘The unsteady voice came ftom the lizardecreature, who was now studying ‘Xshh himself rather than his reflection. “Yeah?” He hoped his voice didn’t sive away his nervousness. “You new "round here?” “Passing through.” “Oh.” The green creature turned back to his purple goo tong enough to suck up some through a hollow tongue, then went oon, “Wa’s yer name?” OXahA “Kha?” “Close enough; Xahh.” “Kah, tight. ‘Please meet yer. I'm called Argonath; Argo for short.” ‘Xahh nodded politely. “Gonna be ’round long?” “No, my ship leaves tonight.” “Ship? Oh. Never ridden one, my- self” ‘That caught Xahh by surprise; his crest twitched as he took another sip of, his drink, He looked up at the creature. “You're from around here?” “Yeah, From the plant down the road.” Holding its drink in one three- clawed hand, it motioned vaguely with the other, then hiccupped; Xahh saw sparks scattering from the thing’s mouth He would have liked to dismiss it as an illusion, but he couldn't imagine why he might be hallucinating. Had he gotten the wrong drink? Maybe whisky had effects he hadn't noticed before. He said, “Ob,” and took another gulp ‘of whisky and water. “Yeah, I'm a, I'm...” The creature tittered drunkenly, then abruptly stopped ‘and whined, “I’m a factory reject, tha’s what I am.'S'posed to be a dragon, for some entertainmen’ or somethin’, but 1 didn’ come out like they wanted.” “Too bad.” Xahh was honestly touched by the creatute’s pitiful expres sion, but he was also increasingly nervous of his own safety, 5 “Where you from?” “Nowhere special.” jou suce aren't a pure- bred, you must be from somewhere.” “i'm second pilot on a starship.” “Oh, s0 tha’s why yer so small! Save weight!” ‘ahh nodded. “Where y’ from originally?” Xahh ‘could smell the creature's acrid breath; it was leaning toward him, and he knew he couldn't avoid answering much longer. He considered lying, but he knew he wouldn't, It would be worse to be caught in a lie than to admit the truth, and he didn't know enough tercestrial geography to lie convincingly. “Arcturus I.” “are... 22" The dragon-thing sat up straight. “You're an alien?” “Yeah.” He might brazen it out yet, he thought, “An ALIEN?! In Joe's Bar?” He wasn't going to get away with it, he knew. With a gulp, he finished his drink, as conversation died and the oceupants of the bar all began to state in his dies. tion, One of the big-chested clones pulled «a needlegun from somewhere, and leaned past the dragon toward him, weapon raised and pointingat the mirrored ceiling. ‘The dragon itself was stil too astonished to do much but gape. She said nothing, merely glared, letting the weapon speak for itself. “Hey, buddy, this is a nice joint.” It was a naked, sexless android that spoke. “Yeah, we don’t need you here,” said 1 glittering, golden cyborg. “This isa Tercan bar, freak.” The monotone voice came from the wheeled box of a cryogente artifical, “An alien!” The dragon still gaped. Xahh knew when he wasn't wanted; he slipped from his stool and walked, with all the dignified calm he could manage, ‘out the door. Behind him he heard a clone saying, “Damn foreignerst C'mon, ‘Argo, Pl buy you a drink.” Fo tas cortat Dag Co. Fox 2307 Doone Ontarin. CANADAA MB 8,<4 % Where ate the aliens? Everyone who plays Traveller must wonder about that. Where are the Vul- cans and Wookies and other creatures that enrich science fiction? Everyone is so depressingly human, Where there is 4 role for an alien, as in Azhanti High Lightning, the game teats him much like 2 funny-looking human, GDW, in its wisdom, will doubtless five us some aliens in due course, For those who do not care to wait, I would like to offer some guidelines for creating alternate characters. Character Types Altemate characters may belong to one of a number of categories: Aliens, Non-humaniti, like the Vargr, and Humaniti subspecies, like the Zho- dani, may be included under this heading. Aliens have little in common but their diversity. Cyborgs, On some high-population worlds, it is common for parents to pay for modifications to their children, in ‘order to improve their chances of find- ing employment in adulthood. Cyborgs differ from other characters in that they have prosthetics which may give them higher effective strength oF inteligence, ‘or special abilities, but usually handicap ‘them in some way. Basically, a cyborg can have any of the features of a robot except programming, Cyborgs may be high or low in social standing, depending ‘on the profession for which their mod- fications were intended, Androids. Axtificial people. They re- quire some special comments, They are created on high-technology, low popu- lation worlds to supplement the mili- tary or labor force. Androids are organic constructs, not robots. They cannot be Alternate Characters for TRAVELLER programmed, In common practice, an android owes its creator twelve yeers of service. Then itis free, At best an imper- fect substitute for a human, an android ages (“wears out”) somewhat faster. This factor is offset by intensive development and training; an android’s effective career is just as long asa human's, Start an android character at “age 18." (its true age is much lower.) Give it the same enlistment oll as everyone else. (This represents the probability it will be assigned to the work for which it was ere- ated.) An android will serve three sequen- tial ierms. (It does not need to make a re-nlistment roll.) An android may con- tinue to serve in its profession beyond age 30 if it makes the required reenlistment roll, Check for age as humans. Androids are usually of low social status. Robots, Really machines, rather than characters. They have been’ discussed in ‘The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Thave nothing 10 add. Designing Characters The average dice roll for a Traveller character is 7. Hence, the average total of the six characteristics is 42. The GM may allow any character type he wishes, but to be fais, he should make sure that the average probable value ofits total charac- teristis equals 42 Since 2d6 is worth an average of 7 points, it follows that 2465+1 is worth 8; 1d6, 3%; 1d6+1, 44, and so on. One could go farther, and allow 1d3 to be worth 2 points, of 145 to be worth 3. For purposes of this article, we will stick to six-sided dice as a basis for character gen- eration, Since characteristics are supposed to range between 1 and 15, die rolls are lim- ited. A roll of 166-1 might result in 2210, 246+4 might result in a characteristic of 16. Therefore, we are limited to a range of die rolls between 146 and 246+3. by Forrest Johnson Example A player wishes to create a character who is a Vulcan. The GM decides that Valeans are stronger, smarter, and more dextrous than humans. On the other hand ‘they are likely to have difficulty if they try to establish themselves inhuman society. A Vulcan might be rolled up like this Strength 24641 (8 pts.) Dexterity 246+1 (8 pts.) Endurance 246 (7 pts.) Intelligence 246+1 (8 pts) Education 246 (7 pts.) Social Standing 146 (3% pts.) (Total: 41% pts.) Looking at his creation, the GM thinks 414 points is a very untidy figure. Besides, he has not allowed points for special Vulcan abilities ~ the Mind Lock and the Nerve Pinch. Consulting the basic books, he decides ‘the Mind Lock is the same thing as a psi- ‘onic probe (III: 36), not really a special Vulcan ability. The Nerve Pinch is prob- ably a close range combat ability, useful against Humaniti and a few similar spe- cies. The GM decides it is worth one point. But that raises the total average value of a Vulcan to 42% points, half a point too high. He decides a Vulean can- not use. a Nerve Pinch unless he has a skill at brawling, That reduces the value to 4, He now has a 42-point average and is ready to roll (Note that the 42-point total is only the expected average of the die rolls you make to create the character. Once the die rolls are made, your alien may have a high or low total, just like any human character .. . but the average alien should have about 42 points.) ‘Special Features As you may have gathered from the example, altemate characters may have special features, which should be eval- vated and subtracted from the 42-pointtotal, GMs should be most cautious about which abilities to grant, and at what price, Some examples: I-point features — gills, nocturnal vision, claws, epidermis equivalent to jack, or aging delayed 2 years, point features — extra limb, immun- ity to tainted air, stinger, epidermis equiv- alent to mesh, or aging delayed 4 years. point features — personal antigravity vace suit, thrasher, epidermis e% to cloth, or aging delayed 6 years. Obviously this ean get pretty expen- sive, To put things in perspective, remem ber that an ordinary man, with his full 42 points and a few thousand credits worth of equipment, can outperform a super- android with a bushel of builtin features. Special Handicaps In onder to increase its 42 points, the GM may gift an alternate character with some special handicaps. Special features subtract from the available points; special handicaps add. Some samples: I-point handicaps — colorblind, flabby (41 to be hit, spindly (takes +1 damage per hit), cannot use human drugs, or ages 2 years earlier than normal, 2point handicaps — smelly (-1 to all reaction rolls), neurotic (becomes hys- terical in the presence of large inverte: brates), requires special food or frequent recharging, or ages 4 years earlier than normal. point handicaps — unable to speak a human language, no. immunity to microbes (away from home planet), collapses under gravity of worlds size 7 and up, or ages 6 years earlier then nor- mal. ‘Another Example Military Service Android Strength 24642 (9 pts.) Dexterity 24642 (9 pts.) Endurance 246#2 (9 pts.) Intelligence 246-1 (6 pts.) Education 146 (3% pts.) Social Standing 146 (3% pts) (Total: 40 pts.) Spec) Fetes (wo ex ams 6 pts) Special Handicaps: begins aging at 30 (2 pts.) Comments: cheap, expendable, deadly in combat, A Final Example The Arcturan Strength 14641 (4% pts.) Dexterity 24643 (10 pts.) Endurance 14641 (4% pts.) Intelligence 2d6+1 (8 pts.) Education 2d6 (7 pts.) Social Standing 246 (7 pts) (Total: 41 pts) Special Features: sensitive nose (I pt) Special Handicaps: none, except pos- sibly @ tendeney to go slumming (Opts) Comments: a race well adapted to space travel. (Note that Xahh, in 7 The people in Joe's Bar just didn’t like aliens.) Playing Alternate Characters This takes discretion. One or two al- temate characters in a party add interest Twice as many are not twice as good. Until GDW sets some standards, each GM must decide for himself what kind of characters he will allow in his universe. If the GM won't let you play your bat- tle-armored cyborg with the builtin auto cannon, don’t blame me! the story, did not receive his bad reaction through any fault or un- —Ee—Eeeee TSG BACK ISSUES Did you miss an article you wanted to read? Some back issues of TSG are still available: No. 15. Wizard and Olympica designer intros; Robotics in Traveller; Floating Hus; ‘Ogre Update; Ores and thei Weapons; computes gaming, No, 16, WarpWar article; Cissis Simulated in Melee Alpha Omeea: Demons! (Motes in Melee); 1977 game survey results — and 1 LOT of reviews No. 17. GEV designer's intro; strategy for Chitin: I; variants for Imperium, Melos, and ‘a combination Opre/ Rivets variant; WarpWar tion. ‘No. 18, leWar designer's inzo; variant scenarios for Invasion: America and War of the Ring: additional equipment for Traveler, mounted Melce; “Referee, Declae Thy- e117 (folesplaying GM technique). No, 19. POND WAR; variant units and scenarios for GEV; combining Imperium and ‘WarpWar; Battlefleet Mars variant; reviews of Swords & Soreery, Runoquest, and ‘Raurnkrieg; MiczoGame design atic No, 20 Olymple acs Pons in Traveller; TARTARS & MARTYRS: Rely in 5 tactics for ing the Deryai ‘Ogre and GEV; spaceship miniatures; Black Hole variant rules, p Ito Melee: more reviews. No, 22, lee War tactics; Blck Hole physics; PARTY BRAWL; 1978 SF/fantasy game ‘survey results; Fantasy Trp short story No. 23. fnvasion of the Air Eaters designess article; Ogre meets lee Wat; Sticks & Stones ‘expansion; Vikings and Valde in The Fantasy Tip. No, 24. Black Hole designer's intro; “The Paychology of Wargaming”; Naval Melee; “sthe Four-Howitzer Defense in Opre™; variants for Chitin: 1, The Creature that Ate ‘Sheboygan, and John Carter of Mars. No, 25. Stellar Conquest issue « .. designers article, tournament tactics, and variant ‘scenarios. Also ~ strategy in Rivets; benefit-cost analysis or foe War; “Everyday Life in The Fantasy Tap. No. 26. Oneworld designer's intro; tactics in GEV; varations on Wizard computers in ‘wargaming; Lifesized Mele; and a variant that puts human forces into Rives, No. 27, Hot Spot's designers intcoy Time Travel; Nuke the Air Estcis (gaming atomic ‘war}; Weapons for Hobbits in TPT; Muskets in TFT; Game Design Put 1; pages of ‘zane reviews, No, 28, 1979 Game Survey results; Overmen in TPT; A Guide to SF/Fantasy Game Pub- lishers; Task Foroe Games report; Waiters’ and Artiste guides; 7 paged of reviews; ‘Game Design Part 2; Deus Ex Machina ‘No, 29. Fantasy Tilp designers into; Palnting Fantasy Miniatures; Fantasy and $F game ‘magazines surveyed; Game Design Part 3; more Deus Ex Machina; 7 pages of reviews No, 30, KUNG FU 2100; Painsing Fantasy Miniatures Part Il; Index to Game Artists; ‘Game Design Part 4; Programmable Caleulators; 10 pages of reviews. No, 31. “Sam Beowult"; 1980 Game Software survey: Game Design Part S; Random ‘Maze Generation; 9 pages of reviews. ‘No, 32. Traveler issue ... Alternate Character Types, reviews of play aids, scenarios, and ‘variants; also Gamé Design Part 6; Deus Ex Machina; "Minus Two Reaction”; soft ware survey update; Yaquinto Games report; 8 pages of reviews, Send $2.00 per copy, plus 50 cents per order for postage and handling, to TSG, Box 18805, Austin, TX 78760. If you ar « TSG subscriber, you can get discounts on back isues. Use the order form ‘on the mailer cover of your subscription copy.Traveller, GDW's science fiction role- playing game, is a system that cries out for expansion, Its limits are as indefin as the reaches of outer space that serve as its background, In the past several months, a number of gaming companies ‘and groups (not to mention GDW itself) hhave heeded this cry and have issued what is rapidly becoming flood of supple- ments, adventures, and play aids (shades of D&D!). Among the best of these Traveller expansion materials are those of Judges Guild, all approved by GDW and entitled to the term “official” Traveller variants, In the following paragraphs, we will briefly review a number of Traveller offerings. ACROSS THE BRIGHT FACE/MISSION ‘ON MITHRIL, Traveller Double Adventuie 2 (For Referees Only), (GDW): $4.98. Designed by Mare Miler, 9” x 6” 48-page booklet, One referee and two to eight players; playing time indefinite. Published 1980. Cross-country advestuse is the theme of Traveller Double Adventure 2. Whereas Double ‘Adventure 1 took players inside two large alien structures, ACROSS THE BRIGHT FACE/ MISSION ON MITHRIL takes place mostiy in the opon, pitting adventurers against the elem ents as they cross the Bright Face of Dinom OF the frozen surface of Mithril In the Sword Worlds, “Although similar on the surface, cach adventure fs varied enough so that there will be ‘no feelings of dele ru when playing the second of the two scenarios, BRIGHT FACE features the players as bodyguards whose patton has been murdered in miner revalu= tion and who must avoid both pursuing min- fxs and treacherous terain to reach salety at the spaceport. MITHRIL concerns a mapping survey of three anomalous spots on the planet that the characters must conduct in exchange for vital repairs on thee ship. Hoth scenarios require only the Basie Traveller books and each provides a set of pregenerated characters and few, special equipment ~ inchding the hereto- fore absent laser pistol Introductory sections ‘describe each planet (with full-page maps) and the background situation for the players, Specific tevin and event tables are provided for the referee, MITHRIL lio features special animal encounter tables for peculiar planetary fauna and weather tables to reflect changing meteorological conditions. Stats for the ase, ‘operation, and administration of the Hocronon ‘wacked ATV used in both scenarios are located at the end of BRIGHT FACE. Either scenario ‘ill guarantee plenty of excitement for player and feferce ‘Several featuret of BRIGHT FACE/MITH- RIL are of note, particularly the upprading of EXPANDING «,, TRAVELLER! ace suits to the equivalent of cloth armor rather than the almost worthless jack armor, ‘which usually spelt certain doom for any vace: Suited character fred on. Also iti interesting to note that the pregenerated characters for MITHRIL are the Same as those used in Shad- ‘ows and, with one exception, Research Station Gamma,’ making it quite simple to string the thee into 2 continuots adventare-o-adventire campaign, find litle of which to complain in this double adventure. There is some uncertainty Involved with MITHRIL's weather table and the appearance of the ephemeral plades, and pro- ‘stone for the monorail mentioned in BRIGHT. FACE seem to be missing, but generally both adventures are quite wel done. ‘Allin all, ACROSS THE BRIGHT FACE/ MISSION ON MITHRIL will prove to be 9 helpful addition to the collection of any Trev eller wcferee ~ and player, =Witiam A, Barton DRA’K’NE STATION (ludges Guild); $4.95, Designed by Bill Puey. Adventure approved i use with Traveller. One 60-page 815" x 11 booklet, For two ot more players: playing time indefinite. Published 1979. Picture an alien research station constructed in the center of a huge asteroid, (vo miles lone by half a mile thick, armed with antimatter ‘guns, defended by" laserequipped security obots, shock traps and — possibly ~ survivors Of a longdead reptilian race and fully equipped with technological devices. of an unknown ature. Now picture yourself entering this sta tion, cither out of necessity oF just curiosity. “There ae several nice points bout this adventure, perhaps one of the most interesting Traveller scenarios et released by anyone. First {the completeness of deta. All twelve levels of DRA'K’NE. STATION "are completely upped out in typical Judges Guild fashion, Teaving no room for ambiguity — yet leaving enough features to chance or the referees Siscetion (whether of not certain systems are All working, A theze ate any living Dra'k'ne Aboard, ete.) to Keep the adventure fresh and Ineresting every step of the way. particularly Uke the "Table for Describing Indeccribable Kolek-Knacks™ that may be found in individ ual Dra'k'ne staterooms, The Dr'k'ne them: Selves are am intriguing race, mote so, I'm Afraid, than the few aliens GDW has allowed so Tar to'tckle into Traveller, The possiblity ltt ‘open for some of the players to take the part Of defending Drak'ne against the adventurers Should 'not be overlooked, The antimatter ‘weapon found on the station isa worthy ~ and quite lethal ~ addition to Traveller's arsenal ‘of ship-toship weaponry, ‘though referees Should be cautious about letting it fall inte the Ihands of overzealous players (the sort that want to overthrow the Imperium) ~ it could lunbslance your campaign drastically. (Poot! ‘Your battlecruiser just disappeared. The only minor flaw I see in the whole seconario the Tenath of time it will tke the adventures to salvage the station and to Jean Anything really useful from its research — Should they manage to survive that lon. again, this 182 minor complaint and shoulda sol ihe overall enjoyment of the game. ringing things to 3 close, [ recommend DRA'K'NE STATION 28 well Worth te invest- ‘ment for any Traveller afficionado who wants 4 challenging adventure and who doesn't mind the possiblity of losing s character ot two in the process. {look forward to Jodses Gulld's ext ofTerine, = Wiliam A. Barton FICTIONEERS (Stan Johansen Miniatures). $3.00. 28mm science Metion gues and acces tories for wargames, Released 1979-80. This line of figures is suitable for use with Traveller and other +f games, The sample pack have here isan especially nice one ~ a set of ‘6 computers and instrument banks, very "Star Trek™"looking. Could be useful for the dioram: ist, or just for the gamer who likes a contol oom to Took real. The $3 price ist unseason- Able for this amount of lead. Deval Is fasly food: ‘quality control high (no Nath vsble anywhere) My only criticism is that some ofthe pieces mast be handled very carefully once assembled fr You'll be regluing them every game ‘Recommended for sf miniatures play ‘Steve Jackson MINIATURES TOR TRAVELLER (Mate tian Metal); $2,9S/set. Twelve 15mm figures per set (except for the aliens set, which com tains ten figures), Released 190. ‘Nine sets aze curently available —adventur- ers (2 sets), soldiers (3 ses), thugs robots, Vargr, and aliens, Figures range tom Buck Ropersatvle to cteatuces from the movie Alle, ‘Almost all are armed, There is some duplier tion within each se, excep forthe adventurers, who areal diferent. “These figures go well with the game. A few sets are all you need 0 play Shapshot or Az Fant igh Lighining, ‘The mieiatures fi with fut fo0 much crowding on a half-inch grid. The detail nce and. the varity is spectacular Unfortunately, buyers wil ind 2 speckling of the usual probiems ~ flimsy weapons, inad- ‘equate bases, mold marks, and s0 on, Not too ‘bad, Most of the figures are OK; the rest can be fedeemed. More seriously, a jot of the fs ures ae spread-apled, with the arms away from the bods. Fasy to cast, But they look dumb, and canfot always be bent into shape without ‘tacking the lead “The seletion is good, but not perfect. Some ‘ofthe robots might be used with Reseerch Sta. ‘om Gamma, and three of the aliens are suit: able for Shadows. (There is, however, nothing resembling @ chigper.) Thete is a set of Var, but no Vargr antong the adventurers. There is 8-Zhodani among the adventurers, Dit 9ot (Yet) 2 set of Zhodani, ‘Allin all, 4 B plus effort. Recommended to Traveller fans and SF miniatures gamers in general Forest JohnsonTHANK YOU H.G. Wells Awards ‘System 7 Napoleonics Best Historical Figure Series System 7 Napoleonics Rules Best Miniatures Rules Kinunir, Adventure One for Traveller Best Role-Playing Adventure ‘The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Best Professional Role-Playing Magazine Game Designers’ Guild Awards Double Star Guild Select Award Bloodtree Rebellion Guild Select Award White Death Guild Select Award Road to the Rhine Guild Select Award Fire & Movement Readers’ Poll Awards White Death Best Operational Game Road to the Rhine Best Strategic Game and Best Game of the Year Frank Chadwick Designer of the Year ‘Thank you to all the gamers who have made GDW games so popular. And thank you to all the gamers whose satisfaction earned GDW the awards listed above at Origins 1980. Look for these future award: winners from GDW at your favorite local hobby or game shop in the near future: ‘Azhanti High Lightning : The Fall of France - Asteroid - Twilight's Peak « Assault - Tacforce Game Designers’ Workshop TRAVELLER—ROLE PLAYING GAMES—HISTORICAL SIMULATIONS SCIENCE FICTION GAMES—SYSTEM 7 NAPOLEONICS Free catalog on request Dept. SG, 203 North St, Normal, IL 6176110 PENLATOL'S WORLD (Group One $7.95. Approved for use with Traveller. One ‘32-pago_mimeographed 8%" x 1” booklet, 23" 34 map, cover sheet, Bagged. One re sree and 7-12 players; playing thine indefinite. Published 1980. Published by an apparently new company. PEN-LATOL'S WORLD is an approved adver: ture for Troveller. And, nothing else, the de- signers of this adventure are most ambitious PENLATOL'S WORLD concerns the adver- tures of a scientific/mining tear on the afore- ‘mantioned world, It seems to encompass the entize planet in its scope, incuding a complete lien society, most of the planets biosphere and the customary niins of a lost civilization, row degenerated into barbarism. This time its fn abandoned city and an ancient planetary defense fortees situated inside a mountain ~ both well stocked with dangerous animal. A large, though flimsy, map illustrates the major planetary terrain features for the purposes of frou-county travel, ‘The most notable facet of PEN-LATOL'S WORLD is its lion race, the Ceashitsr. Group One has created tn these sixdimbed beings 2 fascinating ~ if improbable alien race (though itis possible to detect aces of the Green Martians of E.R. Burroughs’ Joho Carter ser ies), Unfortunately, the Cleashitar arent quite alien enough. A highly psionic human race ‘oul have served just as well I's a good 11 however, and_pethaps one that will lead mote aliens in Trevelle, In any event, the (Coathitar area step Inthe right direction. ‘The main weaknes of PEN-LATOL'S WORLD js that much of appears to have been 4 lastaminute rush job, An abundance of typos Clutter the rules booklet and numerous omis sions hinder one's understanding and total en- Joyment of the adventure, Several encounter ‘tuations seem incomplete, the floor plans for the miners’ camp ace left unexplained and it ‘soften dificult to corelate the small maps in the booklet with the main map — which, snc dentally, doesn't oven indicate which direction is north. A small typeutriten sip lying loos in the bag was all that revealed the map's scale. Clearly’ the game could have stood one more ‘editing before release. Al in all, however, Group One deserves « GT" (for “Good Try") rating on this offering. ‘Their next attempt should be. pretty. good. Considering the price and the game's incom: pletenes, though, I'd have to recommend it ‘nly to those who don't mind filing in a lot Of taps, For such highly imaginative gamers, PEN-LATOL'S WORLD will provide 4 wealth of playing tuations for any Traveller cam- aign. =Witiam Barton SCOUTS AND ASSASSINS (Paranola Press $3.00, Designed by Donald P. Rapp. Approved for use with Traveller One I0-page Si" x 8" ‘booklet and 11” x 17” insert. Number of play ers and playing time variable. Published 1980. For ‘those’ Traveler players. who have yearned for “more clout for Scouts” and yet have ‘wanted something more “official” than the variants that have appeared in The Dragon and elsewhere, Paranoia Press has produced Traveller suppiement that should fl this long- ings ~ and more. SCOUTS & ASSASSINS not only. features an expanded Mercenary-type Character generation system for the scout ser vice, but includes rules for creating an entizely new class of character — the assassin, In ad dition, thie slim but meaty booklet contains a ‘method for non-viclenly disposing ofa charac- ter who fails to make his survival roll, but who is too good a character to be kiled off, and an insert page with technical data and deck plans for the Serpent class scout ship, completely compatible with Snapshot. SCOUTS AND ASSASSINS designer Donald Rapp is no novice to Traveller; his Serpent: class scout ship was featured in The Journal of the Travellers” Aid Society uring his fst year and be is listed as a playtester for High Guerd. His experlence shows in how wel these ccharactet_generation systems mesh with the ‘original Traveller systems, ‘The scout system sends characters through a full year-by.yeat ‘asdgnment. schedule each term with 3 Scout Gceupational Specialty (SOS) table, genezel and specifle assignments, assignment resolution, fand specific skill tables, New shils for scouts include xenology (for contacting alien sentient life forms), Unguistics (for conversing. with said aliens), an emall hip tactics (for hand ling groups of scout ships). Enlsting your character into the League of ‘Assassins wil prove most exciting ~ and dan ‘perous(eurvval rll it even higher than that for Scouts) ~ and wil yield a formidable character with such skils as poison/antidotes, unarmed Combat, stealth, and disguise. He may even be awarded membership in the Assassins’ Gull. ‘And the Unit for Serice table was just made for the Traveller player who can’t stand to see a character he's nused through so much die on ‘what was to be his last ecm in service, ‘The only problem [ have with SCOUTS & [ASSASSINS i that, even with the insiuctions, ‘someone who is not familiar with Mercenary may experience some difficulty in following this system, This should, of course, be no trouble to an experienced player. The Unfit for ‘Service szction it also unclear as to whether dis- ‘charged characters sil receive mustering out Denefts, so players will have to decide this on ‘thelr own, Unt GDW publishes their own, if you want an “offical” scout system, SCOUTS & ASSASSINS isit Wiliam A, Barton SPACEFARER'S GUIDE TO PLANETS: SECTOR ONE @hoenix Games); $8.00. De- slgned by Ed Lipset. Pay aid for use with SF foleplaying games such as Traveller, Space Patrol, Space Quest, etc, One 60-page 8%” x playing time 11 book. Number of players a ‘arable, Publithed 1978. SECTOR ONE contins descriptions of noaely all your favorite planets from science ‘etion literature, from Suzette Elgin’s Abba to Lin Carter's Zha, from Frank Herbert's Arakis to Issac Asimov's Terminus, all couched in ‘gaming terms so that they can be easily inserted into any campaign, Now your characters can tuead the sands of Dune, fight the gravity of Mesilin, or brave the wrath of the Deathwoxld, Pymvs. And, in addition (o the planetary des- criptions, SECTOR ONE includes encounter charts to determine if your spacecraft might have a ruin with a ship from any of these Worlds and star system generation tables that low the referee to determine not only planet- fry characteristics, but star types, number of planets per system, moons per planet and Whether Or not the system has any “special” Teatures such as black holes, Ringworlds, or Dyson Spheres. Without question, SECTOR ONE is a study {in completeness. Each plane listed in the book 4g thoroughly described with notes on physical make-up, the mentality of the dominant race, the planet’s cultural quirks, its technology, {imports and exports and any unigue features suchas unusual flora of fauna of Imperial installations located on ite surface. Each planet is assigned planetary statistic numbers, similar to the universal planetary profile wed in Thar lle, for easy reference. Happily enough, the Individuat biography of each world is complete ‘enough so that players should not have’ any ‘wouble geting the feel of whatever planet they find themselves on. ‘The only problem evident with SECTOR ‘ONE is that in being designed to be broad ‘enough to At into several SE role-playing sys tems, it doesn’t gute succeed in fttine totally Into any single system ~ 2 common flaw with such “universal” play aids, SECTOR ONE ‘ssems best suited to mesh with Traveller, which was probably the major influence behind its ‘ation. It shoulda’t be too difficult, however, {for ingenious players to work SECTOR ONE into thei favorite system, SPACEFARER'S GUIDE TO PLANETS: SECTOR ONE should prove a valuable play ‘id inthe hands of any creative referes. William A, Barton STARSHIPS & SPACECRAFT (udges Gull; $5.50. Designed by Dave Sering. Playing aid approved for use with Traveller, Three 22" x 34" three-color sheets, Published 1979, Did you ever wonder exacly what Type S Scout ship looked like? Or what shape a Type C Cruiser has? And Just what ( the interior configuration of 2 type M Subaldived Me chant? If your Traveller campaign has over su- fered from such vislal_deficencis, Judges Guild's STARSHIPS & SPACECRAFT wil be & ‘boon fo your mind's eye. This pay ald consists fof three large shects of deck plans, technical ota, and summary shests of all the standard types of sarships and auxiliary erat listed In Traveller Book 2 (Starships). One side of each ‘of two sheets consists of deck. plant color coded in shades of blue, red, and black and White and laid out on a halfineh-square sid. ‘The other side is fled with technical data on cach starship auxiliary, accompanied by exter for drawings and descriptions, The thicd sheet thas ship's summary sheets and ship's papers on fone side and, on the other, deck plans (in back and blue ofly) and 2. large halinch-quare grid so that you can design your own ships should you wish. “The' size of the deck plan grid is such that the plans are completely compatible with Srap- shot (Traveller Game 2) and thus ean be inva ‘able as an expansion set for that game, increas ing their worth boyond thelr visual use in Trey eller itself. And the designer of STARSHIPS & SPACECRAFT isto be congratulated for avoid- ing the toocommon error of back-printing plans with data. ‘The plans for any particular Ship are on one sheet andthe data for that ship ison the other, making reference possible with ‘out disrupting ‘any on-board situation you've Set up with counters of miniatures. Another nice touch of realism on these plans isthe exis: tence of “freshers” aboard each ship, Ind out in convenient locations. T'@ alvays wondered i one was just expected to eliminate wastes out ‘the alslock, or wait until the next interstellar zest stop (ouch!). Now we know. ‘The only omissions T can find in STAR- SHIPS & SPACECRAFT i slack of deck plans for the lifeboat, aufeatt and ATV pictured.Perhaps those will be included inthe next such supplement, alone with ships. described. in Gtizens of the Imperium: the Corsair, Seeker, [Lab ship, and Safar ship. STARSHIPS & SPACECRAFT should prove quite helpful ia making your Treveller‘cam- paign even more realistic 10 players It deserves 4 place in your Traveller Wbrany Wii A. Barton THE TRAVELLER LOGBOOK (ludess Guild) $3.00. Designed by Dave Sering. AD proved supplement to Traveller. One 62-pag¢ 84" x 11" booklet, Published 1979. If you're one of those Traveler players who, aha hotshot ex-mperial Marine, has no trouble decimating whole planets with your handy PGMP-14 Plasma gun, yet find you con- stantly lowe your beat characters and you fin tat starships when those loose sheets of paper ‘on which they're recorded seem to be “gone ‘wien the tolar wind,” then rejoice! The LOG- BOOK contains printed record sheets on which you can log up to 10 characters with their ‘UPPs, sis, equipment, service records, names, ranks, ete. I also has summary sheets for sk ‘arehips — including impressive ship's papers, and, in addition, neasly all the useful charts needed to generate Traveller characters from Books 1-3 and from Mercenary for the player's convenience, Not bad for $3.00! In fact, the LOGBOOK would make an excelent fest pur- chase for that gamer whe wants to try out the Traveller system without taking the fall plunge of buying the ame itsel. (This is how got my ‘wife interested!) ‘Several addtional festures keep the LOG- BOOK from being mersly a dipest of already scleased Treveller materials. There is a sexes (of charts designed fill in the personal back: round of Traveler characters from physical appearance tables, generating such charac istics as Hight, weight, quality of sight, hearing and taste, (0 socal background determiners ~ including culeural motivation, number of par ‘ents (from none wp to 2 dice» I), their oeew- pations, family rank, reason for adventuring ah and more! These can be quite helpful in creat ing « character as role to play, rather than as a nere extension of one’s own personality. In its section on Starship Operation, the LOG- ‘BOOK brings all the tables and information on starship expenses and revenue, including. an casierfovead trade and speculation table than appeared in Traveller. ‘On the negative side (alas, there usually és fone), the LOGBOOK has no provisions on its record sheots for shlls = eet tactics, gravities, ‘bow combat ~ listed in High Guard or Cilcent Of the Imperium, making it necessary to pend such in should you deste to roll up a character ‘rom either ofthese rule sets, Neither ean you casly record 2 ship built with components listed in High Guard. There are no spaces for particle. actelerators, meson guns, or black Blobes on the LOGBOOK. ship's summary thee, Overall, though, THE TRAVELLER LOG- BOOK is well worth the price. In fact, no ser Jous Traveler player should be without one. Wiliam A. Barton ITHILIEN CLASS - $-2233321-000000-00000-0 The Conundrum State Shipyards are pleased to announce the winner of the ship design contest (TSG 28) is Mar K. Chitt, formerly of the Imperial scouts. Of the 13 entries, his is not the most original, but it is (1) commodious, (2) well-equipped for its role as a deep ex- ploration ship, and (3) cheap. As a special sign of favor, Her Splendiference, the Im- peratrice Ithilien bestows her name upon the class, Chitt is instructed to report to the shipyards, Day 300, 1067 PS., for the shakedown cruise of the prototype. It is anticipated that ships of the Ithilien ‘lass will be available for sale to the public after the shipyard satisfies the needs ofthe state. Budget for the proposed ship class: ITEM TONS COST 150 ton hull eu as Cone configuration — 1s Power plant 3 45° 18 Sump 3 6 Maneuver 3 78 5.25 Fuel purification 15 13 Fuel scoops = 115 Bridge 20 15 Computer 2 2 9 Hardpoint 1 A 5 staterooms 20 «25 Airraft 4 ‘6 Programs* = 24 Cargo = Tankage TOTALS 79.08 (All costs are given in millions of credits) *Programs: Jump 1 (-1), Jump 2 (3), Jump 3 (4), Maneuver (.i), Navigation (A), Autofvade (5), Library (3). (Note that Stateroom 1 can be used as an emergency intraship airlock if there is a loss of pressure either in the bridge or the crew area) 1. Avionics 2. Bridge 3. Computer room 4. Fire control cabinet 5. Stateroom 1 6. Stateroom 2 7. Stateroom 3 8. Common area 9. Ship's locker 10, Stateroom 4 11. Stateroom 5 12, Cargo HP Butzhead | Partition X tts Valve 1 stiging Door Access Panel Loading Door 13. Port airlock 14, Air raft 15, Purification plant 16, Drive room IT, Access corridor 18, Stem air lock 19, Tankage 20. Drives12 by William A. Barton There was a small, metallic “click!” more felt than heard ~ as the magnetic boots of the Solomani’s vace sult made contact with the hull of the Bard Endeav- ‘our, Turning his head slightly, he was re- warded with the sight of the rest of his arty touching down on the crippled Im- perial warship. It would only take his team minutes t0 force open the doors into the boat dock, he knew — and then what? He wondered if he'd live to see Old Terra again, It had to be done, though. The capture of such a ship as the Endeav- ‘our with its advanced weaponry could tum the tide of the war — could even ‘make possible a Solomani vietory and ~ «at last! ~ independence from the Empire. The doors flew open. Bracing himself, the Solomani officer flung himself into the opening — for Solomani indepen- dence! = followed closely by his men. Into the withering fire of a dozen Imper- ial Marines. ... Nobody ever promised that “Adventure Aboard an Imperial Starship” would be ‘easy. But it can be challenging — and fun = with GDW's new Traveller game, AZHANTI HIGH LIGHTNING. Designed to be easly integrated into the Traveller role-playing system, AHL is, neverthe- less, a fascinating game in itself. Even strict boardgame addicts who disdain all forms of role-playing should find plenty to pique their interest aboard the High Lightning. ‘The first thing one notices when pick- ing up this game is the beautiful cover painting of the Azhanti High Lightning herself — quite attractive, that! The sec- ‘ond will be the $22.00 price tag ~ ouch! And this on a box no bigger than that of Imperium? Rest assured, it's worth it. Once you see the components, 1 think ‘you'll agree. ‘The insides of AZHANTI consist of 4 sheet of 240 color-coded counters of Imperial erewmen and marines, intruders, adventurers, robots, Zhodani, the woi- like Vargr, plus alien blobs, wine (for one seenario) and wound markers; a combat chart; two fullsized dice (e tele? after the miniscule dice some companies in- clude); a 44page rules booklet plus 3 ‘4-page Traveller supplement (No. 5) on Lighting Class Cruisers; and 14 (count vem — 14!) sets of full-color deck plans ofthe various levels found on the Azhanti or het sisters (these alone are almost worth the price of the entire game). All components measure up to GDW's usual high standards of quality ‘The deck plans, each representing sev- ral decks of the same type, are nicely done with details that include color coded conduits, hatches and valves and even individual consoles and chairs on the various bridges and gunnery decks. Each deck is laid out with = halfinch square ‘rid, compatible with those of Traveler game 2, Snapshot, ané the Judges Guild Starships and Spacecraft deck plans, 10 regulate the movement of the counters or of 15mm miniatures, All details and areas on each deck are numbered and are ex- plained in the “technical manual” section of the supplement. The supplement itself, in addition to containing the deck-by-deck breakdown, outlines the entite history of the Light- ning clas, gives general specifications for the ships, names all the ships inthe clas, cites differences between those ships serving a5 naval cruisers and those con- verted to fleet auxiliaries, commercial service or to the Scout service, and trans- lates the various ships into High Guard statistics — from both first and second editions of High Guard. A handy tittle ‘booklet for Traveler lovers who are into High Guard-style fleet actions. CDW should consider releasing this separately later on. ‘The rules for AZHANTI are quite well- written with very few errors or ambigu- ities visible. They clearly set out all the general rules for play, the special rules and the advanced rules in such 2 manner that it isn’t necessary to puzzle over them for several hours before figuring out how to play. All the rules are simple enough to understand — yet complex enough to add depth to the game. These rules take up the first two-thirds of the rules book- Jet, the final third consisting of ten dif- ferent scenarios ranging from the Solo- ‘mani attempt to take the Bard Endeavour at “The Battle of Kagukhasaggan 2” to @ plan by mutineets to tum over the Obertindes Lines transport Emissary tothe Vargr Extents in “Brother Wolf.” Guidelines are given for creating original scenarios, and instructions are added for converting the AZHANTI system into Traveller and vice versa. Some glitches did creep in. For exam- ple, there is some confusion in the rule ‘on characters receiving collateral damage from explosions in their square. One sec- tions says that all characters in the same square receive collateral damage if an ex- plosion occurs in the square, and another says all characters in the same square receive collateral damage on a roll of 8 or more ~ unless they are specified as auto- matically suffering such (which according to the preceding section would be every- ‘body — so way roll the die at all). There is also some discrepancy between the rules and the counters on warbot weapon- ry. The rules state that warbots are armed ‘with fusion guns, the counters, plasma ‘guns. Most of these flaws can be easily remedied by an agreement between opponents. ‘The AHL game system involves, like its predecessor, Snapshot, the use of ‘Action Points. All actions on the part of a character — movernent and combat — are made through the expenditure of the ‘character's Action Point allotment. Snap- shot veterans, however, may not find it such a snap’ converting to AZHANTI ‘Action Point usoges between the two games are quite dissimilar, ‘The game is liable to go pretty slow, at least the frst few times played, due both to the necessity of keeping track of APs spent and to the numerous steps involved in each tum, These consist of a decision phase, in which each player secretly de- cides what each of his characters will do that turn, and five action phases for the character to carry out his “orders.” Each action phase consists of four sequential steps: covering fire, movement, aimed fire, snap shots. All action in a phase is otherwise simulataneous. The necessity of going through all these steps in each turn can make for slow going, especially in the scenarios involving large numbers of char- acters, and involves quite a bit of paper work.” A game turn that represents only 15 seconds of game time could easily lst several minutes of real time. Strangely ‘enough, though, the system works. Once players’ get used to the game, it moves frirly smoothly, though not at breakneck speed. One great aid is that the AP costs for all actions are printed on a separate combat chart for easy reference, elimin- ating the need to leaf through the rules, as in Snapshot. The six AP per phase limit also alleviates such unrealistic occur- ences as @ character with high APs run- ning into a room of armed men, fring, and running out unscathed, as can happen in Snapshot. ‘The only real problem I see in the {game's sequence of play — other than its Jength — involves the rule that a character, ‘once commited to one of three actions (cover fire, sim, or move) in the decision phase cannot switch to any other action (though he can make a snap shot or ‘melee) even should conditions change and ‘2 new opportunity present itself. He can only abort and wait until the next turn. ‘This seems just a bit unrealistic, though the character’s ability to make a snap shot (if he has enough points) or initiate melee (no point cost) does somewhat rake up for this. The combat. system of AZHANTI HIGH LIGHTNING is the best feature of the game, In fact, GDW should seriously consider replacing the regular Traveller ‘combat system with this or a similar sys- tem, Gone at last is the highly unrealistic concept of using armor as a determining factor in whether or not a target ishit (a legacy from D&D?) In AZHANTI, armor protects the target to a certain extent after he is hit, rather than making him harder to hit at all. Each weapon (guns only; blades and the like are strangely ‘issing) is listed with an effective range, 2 Jong range and an extreme range, meas- ured in squares on the deck plans. These ranges differ for each weapon. There is a specific tohit roll for each range — 8¢ at effective, 10+ at long, 12+ at extreme — modified only for weapon skill and tar- get status (under cover, evading, etc.). Each weapon also has its own penctra- tion rating which differs at each range; i.e, a weapon hit does more damage at effective range than extreme. Yes, AZ- HANTI HIGH LIGHTNING definitely deserves an “A” for its combat system, 13 Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the melee system. It is one of the least satisfying aspects of the game. The whole thing seems 10 be merely a simplified form of brawling (with characters engag- ing in fisticuffs or clubbing each other ‘with gun butts). The method described elsewhere in the rules for converting Traveller characteristics to melee values appears to bear this out, It’s almost as if someone, at the last moment, noticed that they'd overlooked a rule for close combat and threw together a melee sys- ‘tem — no time for blades and the like. Still... it does work in the context of ‘the game, and that is what counts. But — Golly Gee! — where are those cutiasses ‘the Imperial Marines are always said to be ‘wearing? And surely the wily Zhodani carry at least daggers! Ah, well... While we're on the subject of last- minute nishes, there is some evidence ‘that AHL may have gone through one — at Ieast in parts — in order for the game to be out in time for Origins. This is most evident in the technical manual. Several numbered items or areés on the deck plans were overlooked in the deck des- criptions inthe supplement, What, for instance, is location no, 20 on the Main ‘Weapon Deck? Or location no. 10 on the ower level of the Power Plant Deck? Or no, 28 on the Gunnery Deck? And the Fighter Recovery Lock (location no. 16 ‘on the Hangar Deck) isn't located on the ‘map at all (though itis easy to guess by the description). Hopefully, these omis- sions will be corrected by GDW with ‘am errata sheet. In spite of such flaws, however, AZHANTI HIGH LIGHTNING stil rates high in quality — far above the releases of 2 lot of other companies, It stands as a welcome addition to the Traveller family of games and deserves a place on the shelf of any science fiction gamer who enjoys a welllesigned game that offers both com- plexity and playability. Designers Mare Miller and Frank Chadwick deserve a hefty round of applause for this offering. One wonders what they'll come up with next, All T ean say is, after AZHANTT HIGH LIGHTNING, Traveller game 4 is going to have to be a real planet buster to compete. EMPYREAN CHALLENGE EMPYREAN .. . is defined as “the highest heavens". Control of a star cluster comprising 100 solar systems and 500 planets is the goal of this 150-player hidden- ‘movement strategic science fiction game. For free details, send SASE to SUPERIOR SIMULATIONS, (524 Franklin Park Circle, Dept. SG1, Boise, ID 83709.14 GAME DESIGN: Theory and Practice Part VI: More about Movemen by Nick Schuessler and Steve Jackson With Part VI, we continue our dis. cussion of unit movement. Putting it Together So far, we have the level of play (stra- tegic, operational, tactical) terrain types (Clevation, water, foliage, man-made), and historical period (pre-gunpowder, pre machine gun, and modem) affecting our determination of refined movement. And we haven’t even gotten to the “chrome” yet: equipment, training, organization, leadership, morale, etc. Before we get completely mired down, it might be instructive to take an exam- ple of how these factors would influence movement. We'll assume a unit of 3,000 troops, represented by a single counter. Each hex represents 10 mi., and each tun represents two days. Our tnit has a base movement of 4 hexes/tum. Our unit leaves a town where it has formed up and moves down a road. The base movement would probably hold: four hexes. The leader decides to move “cross country” through clear exes. Believe it or not, the movernent rate would probably halve from four to two hexes/tum. (Or, in terms of movement point costs, the road would cost one movement point per hex, the “clear” terrain would cost two movement points per hex,) Certainly this lies in the face of most “conventional wisdom,” which treats “clear” terrain most generously. In walking through the fields and vales, our unit encounters a wooded area 10 mi, across (the whole hex is designated woods”). By rights, they should be able to pass through the woods in a litle less than two days. We round up, and assess all four movement points for entering the ‘woods hex. ‘The commander spots the enemy and wants to fight. Now if our unit was in 2 column, the last man in line is more than half a mile from the point ofthe column. So to get from a column to a line, we charge at_least_one movement point (equal to about four hours). All the figures used here are for 2 World War Il German infantry regiment — well-trained, well-led, and highly organ- ized in matters like marches and deploy- ment. Now imagine a mob in the same circumstances, and. most of the move- ment point costs will at least double, and ‘more likely triple and quadruple. In point of fact, movement in wargaming is always at a much faster tempo than in real life. Hore we've had no mistaken orders, no surprises, and the advantage of seeing the ‘whole map displayed exactly as itis, Even with “set-piece” conditions, the move- ‘ment is much slower than’ the typical ‘wargame. OF course, we could increase the tum length or change the hex scale to sive the unit more movement points. But the basic point — big bunches of folks just don’t move that fast — would remain the determining factor in refined ‘movement, Base Statistics After our example, it would be well to consider some basic statistics concerning movement: * A body of troops walking covers about 3 mifhr day or night, Under normal con- ditions, they can sustain this pace for about 7 or 8 hif/day. For shorter periods, the speed can increase to 4-5 mijhr. The average man, unencumbered by equip- ‘ment, can run about 8 mifhr for 1-2 mi. There are, of course, instances of “forced marches," where troops march continuously at 4-5 mifhr for 12-20 hours without stopping. However, there is a fatigue factor that begins to set in, de- pending on physical conditioning’ in- volved. This rate of march is determined by the unit organization and not the histor- ical period, since it is based on the aver- age walking pace. Even allowing for changes in physique throughout the ages, 20-mi/day isa good rule of thumb. * Horses walk at about 6 mifhr and can gallop at 10-15 mifhe for 3-4 mi. Again, you ean “force march” horses, but attri ton will set in after the averages are ex- ceeded. ‘+ Large numbers of motorized vehicles move in convoy at about 15-20 mifhr. ‘The determining factor isthe speed ofthe slowest vehicle, not the fastest ‘* Horse-drawn wagons move the same as infantry. Wagons are more affected by bad road and terrain conditions than either infantry or motorized vehicles, Now smaller sized units will always move faster than larger units, These aver- ages are based on groupings. Three thou- sand men average about 20 mi/day; 30 men could probably do 30-35 mifday without ilLeffect. Single vehicles travel at their rated speed rather than a road march speed, Offroads tend to halve all of these avctages! ‘silk! pediapd; lore «severe penalty for wagons, Cities and towns have the same effect as offtoad, One of the more interesting fictions in wargaming is that you can move through a builtup area at road speed. This is simply not true in most cases, Bridged water barriers will have the effect of off-road because of the “funneling” created by the bridge. Un- bridged water barriers are impassibie by wagons and many vehicles, but can often be traversed by infantry. Follage has two effects on movement: first, it obviously slows down the rate of march; second, it tends to disperse the formation. Thus, it takes time to assemble your troops when you come out of the ‘woods or forest. Elevation is mostly a question of how smuch, Moderate rolling hills with an easy gradient will have only a marginal effect fon the rate of speed. A steeper gradient, ot longer gradient, can slow a march to a minimal speed, On a true mountain, youmay prohibit any movement to all but specialized units. Supply Effects on Movement Earlier we talked about the varying importance of the supply train in differ- ent historical periods. The loss of @ sup- ply train, ora supply train located too far from the main body, will have an effect fon movement, Up to the introduction of gunpowder, the supply train was of neg- ligible importance, and probably shouldn't ‘even be represented, The one place where it would be important is in siege oper tions against a fortified area. Here the ab- sence of the supply train would simply prohibit an attack. With the introduction of gunpowder, the supply train becomes more critical. A lack of powder, and fodder for the horses hauling the cannon will eventually hhalt operations. We can generalize that in all strategic level games, the supply train should be represented by a counter; in ‘operational games it can be “abstracted” to a “supply line”; and in tactical level play, itis simply factored into the com- bat strength or made a special rule for the given scenario, The effect of supply on movement is indirect, Two factors will begin to influ- ence operations. First, time that might have been spent marching must be used to forage. Second, there will be a reluc- tance to engage in battle, Each soldier carries a “basic load” of ammunition. This basic load is normally exhausted in an engagement of any intensity. If there { no resupply available, movernent will tend to avoid engagements, and only fight when no other course is available (raw self-defense), In the post-machine gun era, the effect of supply on movement is pronounced. ‘You might entreat a man or horse for @ little extra effort, but pleading with a tenk out of gas is futile. Again, the effect fon walking troops is about ‘the same. ‘They still have 2 “basic load,” and (for 2 while) their rate of march is about the same. Lack of supply refleets the break- down of cohesion in the unit, which makes efficient and coordinated move- ment more difficult. For vehicles and artillery, there is also a “basic load.” But because these arms tend to be used in the most intense fight- ing, they are depleted somewhat faster than the infantry units. Also, the lack of timely resupply leaves the units virtually motionless. So in calculating the effects, wwe would say that after a motorized unit has moved (used its basic load) or fought, the lack of resupply would completely prohibit future movement, Aa Mode ‘One of the more recent concepts in ‘wargaming ~ which has a direct bearing ‘on movement — is mode. At the strategic level, the question of whether a forma- tion is in line or column is represented by movement point costs. But at the opera: tional and tactical level, how the unit is formed up (mode) will have an impact on its rate of march. Normal marches are in column, This mode makes most efficient use of the road network. However, as the unit gets closer to an’ engagement, it tends to redeploy from 2 column to a line. The line allows full utilization of the unit in terms of firepower. Now, it is very offi cient to march in column; itis very bad to fight in column (your “T” gets crossed). It is very efficient to fight in a line formation, but travelling in line is slow. Nearly the entire unit is off-road, and keeping the line “on line” is a diff cult exercise in command and control. If fone flank encounters especially bad ter rain, the whole line slows down to that pace. In modern times, the line is a fairly flexible affair, albeit turtle.paced. For carlier historical periods, getting into line was a complicated affair, and once in ine the only movement was forward. For purposes of calculating movement costs, we can formulate some general rules’ concerning mode. First, changing mode should be reflected in some move- ment point (time equivalent) costs. When you're going from line to column, you're not doing anything else; remember that guy a mile and a half to the rear. Second, road movement is only avail- able when the unit is in colurnn. Third, ‘when in line mode, the direction of move ‘ment should be somewhat limited. You shouldn’t be allowed sudden tums with- ‘out some movement point costs. Just imagine wheeling a mile-long line to a perpendicular course. Crowds and Confusion If we consider for a moment just what's going on when four or five coumt- cers are stacked in a hex, we can see that the hex capacity should slso have an ef- fect on movement. The hex scale gives us a fair indication of how many units can be reasonably supported in thet particular area, If that area is already occupied to capacity, the introduction of a new unit will probably have some adverse effect, ‘on movernent, The effect, though, is somewhat prob. lematical. In’ a situation where strong traffic control procedures are used, it 15 might be possible for a unit to move ‘through at its normal rate, On the other hhand, a wrong turn or a bioken down ve- hicte'could begin a chain reaction that leaves the whole hex utterly confused, To further complicate matters, the mode of the other units in the hex need to be considered. For example, it would be easier for 3 unit in a column to move through if all the other units were in line formation. ‘A more serious situation occurs when 4 unit retreats into @ hex. Oftentimes the best trafic control is negated by fear and selt-preservation, and the probability of a rest is increased, So what's the effect? Wel, ifthe dise integration takes place, there will be a cost in movement points (time) while the affected units re-form. Usually this would be handled by some kind of stacking limit, a dle roll for disruption if the limit is exceeded, and then a move- ment penalty if the’ disruption occurs. ‘Chrome and Trimmings ‘The number of things that can infu- ence movement is nearly unlimited. In dealing with terrain, supply, mode, and stacking. we have looked at the basics — items which ought to be explicitly in- corporated into a game design or at least considered and consciously rejected (or “factored in") for playability. For the sadistic designer, there are number of other consideration. However, ‘we should note that the actual effect on movement is marginal. If your base move- ‘ment is “6” and you increase that by “I” for whatever reason, you're saying that this “something” will result in a. 16% improvement, Perhaps that's true, but it seems that the training, leadership, organ- ization, or whatever would be pretty sig nificant to work out to 16%. In fact, the trend is to equalize movement for like type units, right down to where we don’t even print the movement factor on the counter. When we get into the real chrome, we end up saying more of such-and-such will result in better movement, As for precise figures, or even good approximations — well, that’s where the artistry of the designer comes into play: ‘A better led unit will move faster than a poorly led unit, A unit with better communica: tions will move faster. A better trained unit will move faster. A “Veteran” unit will move faster than a “green” unit. ‘+ A unit with high morale will move faster than a unit with poor16 morale. A unit in pursuit, immediately after a victory will not move as fast as a unit fleeing from 2 defeat. Curious but true. Ap- parently there is less incentive in the “thrill of victory” than in the “agony of defeat.” © When units have been re-formed after an engagement, a victor- ious one will move faster than a dofeated unit * The presence of a specific leader will cause a unit to move faster; the higher ranking the leader, the faster the move- ment, Learning that Lord Tota Shutnern Forests Tntantry. archers, angers, and cavaly. including the dreaded Insperal Guard, march boldly to the forest long vith their allies the wolves under Dinar the Red. and the winged warriors Unde Vandor, tend this teatro mankind's vers existance! ‘But Toland hoards are waiting with their ancsome vampee Thus eins mankinds greatest challenge, WARS OF THE HAVEN FOREST WARS is based on Graham Diamond's best slling fantasy novel “The Haven WARS OF T 00 ake You can play solitare you wish. $2.99 ing the creatures of the daek forest against thers, THE HAVEN, last stronghold of ma Nid. lunches preemptive strike on Toland's camp ii THE FOREST int a two more fo fllow this year. FOREST WARS ly the base up ay fantagy simulation and includes such refinements asa comat matt, ie Inhirty minutes, The advanced game for more experienced payers takers bt niger FOREST WARS comes with 2 Beautifl fullsize map, colorfal a tunique one piece bookcase box, The illustration above fs a reduction in back and white ofthe Tull color front cover. There is thoes ayn to mar the reproduction ofthis original piece of art The printing on the hack cover which has smaller full color orginal at. C ration above with what yo find nother works. You wil see the extra effort that went int this en FOREST WARS OF THE HAVEN may be purchased at the special intros HAVEN, and the five books ithe fantayy literature ~ fr only $13.95. Each back nthe HAVEN series i fllyMustrated THE TOWER OF ELBRITHis a preprogrammed dungeon for 106 players which does not need the ser Finally, we should add a note on the weather. There are certain historical in- stances where bad weather favored one side or the other; the Russian winter of 1941 is usually cited. In fact, the effect, of weather is rather uniform and simple. You don't move or fight in really bad weather. It is possible to devise compli cated weather rules and move low pres: sure areas across the map. All that hap- pens is that both players sit and move the game turn marker, waiting for the weath- er to improve. Then they get back to playing the game. For strategic level games, you prob- ably need some kind of weaiher rules. The turns are in weeks or months, and en actin, Th TAU CETIS.F. Panzer tke combat forthe planct Taw Ceti Special $6.49 ou can nat obtain these fine games at your local hobby store. they can be purchased through the mail directly fom us. Ans ord wil rein ou 3 iustrated catalog fre requested. The catalog s cI If you ilude the name ofthe Magarin im which vow Sas this ad insurances FREE? Dealer Inguiries Welcome if purchased bt the seasons do change. But even here, it really doesn't matter whether the weather arrives on a fixed schedule or as a result of the die, When the autumn rains or the winter snows come, the effects will either stop movement or allow it to continue on a limited basis. Either way, it nets out. In operational and tactical gaming, weather mules are either a curiosity to vance a scenario or a nuisance which slows down play. Whenever you can, Teave the weather to meteorologists, Where you must include it, keep it as simple as possible, Next: Combat and Play Sequence "THE HAVEN” has been so well received that slr there wargame with fantasy timings. I has been desi en ders, and moral, Even with al this you Can ta ploy the Dune sithauctte counters. abd am attractive rules bok, The game comes picks! in 3 ork

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