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GD W's Magazine of Adventure Gaming

s:s the lmperium

.,'&,Gary Thomas
L..

r Tmvelle~2300-
i:Tb-- Year Star List and Mu,
- I.:'
by Marc W Miller

ra vel1er"s Aid socie&

 ACADEMY OF ADVENTURE GAMING ARTS 81 DESIGN
OFFICIAL ORIGINS AWARDS NOMINAVON BALLOT
For the ear 1986, to be resented at Ori ins '87, July 2-5,1987, in Baltimore, MD
(for inkrmation about &gins '87. writes 0 Box 15405, Baltimore, MD 21230)

The Origins Awards, ~ e n t e d , aOrigins

t each, year, are an 9. Best Professional Miniatures Magazine, 1986
internat~onalserles o awards almed at recognlzlng outstanding
acheivements in Adventure Gaming. The awards are comprised
of the Charles Roberts Awards for boardgaming,and the H. G.
Wells Awards for miniatures and role-p!aying ames. An Awards
Committee of hobby~sts(some pmfess~onals.%utprimarily 10. Best Play-By-Mail Game, 1986
independents) d~rectsand admlnlstes the awards system.
INSTRUCTIONS. Read carefully. Print legibly or type
nominations. Ballots that are messy, not completed correctly,
or show attempts at ballot stuffin will not be counted. You may
list three nominees per category.?t does not matter in what order THE CHARLES ROBERTS AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING
you list them. To keep the voting as meanin ful as possible, do ACHIEVEMENT IN BOARDGAMING
not list selections In unfamiliar categories. Y ~ MUST
U SIGN
THE BALLOT! Includeyour address. You may vote only once. 11. Best Pre-20th Century Game, 1986
Nominations should be for products releasedduring the calendar
year 1986. Miniatures figureseries nominations should be for,
new product llnes or llnes whlch were substant~allyexpanded in
1986
Thisballot may be reproduced and circulated by any means 12. Best 20th Century Game, 1986
available orovided its contents are faithfullv cooied.
ALL Adveiture Garners are encoura ed tdvo@
YOUR VOTE makes a difference! ~Yinalballot IS prepared by
the committee and voted on by the members of the Academ of
Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Academy membership,
per ear, is open to active, accomplishedhobbyists, both
d.00 13. Best FantasyIScience Fiction Game, 1986
proLssional and amateur. Membership guidelines are available
for a SASE from the addresses iven below. Correspondence
should be mailed to the U s adcfess.
Present members ma renew by sending their checkwith their 14. Best Professional Boardgame Magazine, 1986
ballot. Checks shouldYbe made payable to GAMA for $3 U S.
The Aca9m and the Awards Committee well as the Origins
Convention Iielf, function under the author~tyof GAMA, the
Game Manufacturers Association.
15. Best MilitarylStrategy Computer Game ,1986
DEADLINE: MAY 2,1987
THE H. G. WELLS AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING
ACHIEVEMENT IN MINIATURES AND ROLE-PLAYING GAMES
16. Best Fantasy1Science Fiction Computer Game ,1986
1. Best Historical Figure Series, 1986

17. Best Screen Graphics in a Computer Game, 1986

2. Best Fantasy/ Science Fiction Figure Series, 1986 (Given a particular computer's limitations)

3. Best Vehicular/ Accessory Series, 1986 18. Best Amateur Adventure Gaming Magazine, 1986

4. Best Miniatures Rules, 1986 19. Best Graphic Presentation, 1986

.5. Best Role-Playing Rules, 1986

20. Hall of Fame, 1986

6. Best Role-PlayingAdventure, 1986

Name
Address
7. Best Role-Playing Supplement, 1986
Signature
Sendyour ballot to only one of the following addresses by the
deadllne, May 2, 1987.
8. Best ProfessionalRole-Playing Magazine, 1986 Australia & New Zealand
Awards, Adrian Pett
Awards Breakout Magazine
GAMA P 0 Box 162
P O Box 2712 M6oroolbark, Vic 3138
Fairfax, VA 2203 1 Australia
 No. 28

GDWs Magazine of Adventure Gaming

Managing Editor
Loren K. Wiseman

Associate Editor Amber Z o n e

Timothy B. Brown Behind the Scenes, by Gary 1. Thomas............................................ 26
Double Feature, by Marcus L. Rowland .............................................45
Spiritual Advisor
Marc W Miller
Traveller Articles
Art Director Across the lmperium, by Gary 1. Thomas......................................... 1 7
Barbie Pratt K'kree Starships- A Human Perspective,
by Rob Caswell and Timothy B. Brown.. ........................................ .22
Publisher
Game Designers' Workshop Twilight: 2000 Articles
Air Module II, by Frank Frey .............................................................. 3
Artists in this issue: Tim Bradstreet:
pp. 6, 10, 11, 24, 25; D.]. Barr: pp. 26, Wilderness Travel and Pursuit, by William H. Keith, Jr ......................... .6
2729; Liz Danforth: pp. 31,34; Laura Ultralights: A Closer Look, by William % Keith, Jr ............................. 11
Franz: p. 3; Tom Peters: pp. 17, 18,20,
21; Rob Caswell: pp. 24, 25; Steve Traveller: 2300 Articles
Venters: p. 41. Traveller: 2300 Designer's Notes, by Marc W. /Miller......................... .38
The Astronornischen Rechen-lnstitut, by Timothy B. Brown.. ............. . 4 1
Challenge, GDW's magazine of Adventure
Gaming is published quarterly and includes Features
the Journal o f the Travellers' A i d Society as From The Management .................................................................... .2
an internal section.
Journal o f the Travellers' A i d Society is
Just Detected................................................................................. -2
Game Designers' Workshop's registered Contact: The Sabmiqys ................................................................... 31
trademark for its science-fiction gaming E&C ............................................................................................. 4 7
Challenge Classifieds.. ................................................................... 4 8
magazine devoted t o Traveller.
Traveller is Game Designers' Workshop's
registered trademark for its role-playing game
of science-fiction adventure set in the far
future.
Twilight: 2000 i s Game Designers'
Workshop's trademark for its role-playing
game of survival in a devastated world.
Traveller: 2300 i s Game Designers'
Workshop's trademark for its science-fiction
role-playing game set in the 24th century.
Challenge is copyright "1987 by Game
Designers' Workshop. Printed in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. ISSN: 0 1 93-3124. All
editorial and general mail should be sent t o
Challenge, P.O. Box 1646, Bloomington, IL
61 702-1 646.
The individual issue price is $3.25. One
year subscriptions are $ 1 3 in the United
States and Canada. Foreign subscriptions
(outside the U.S. and Canada, but not to APO Page 17
or FPO addresses) are $25 per year, which in-
cludes airmail postage. Please make all
payments in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S.
bank.
Submissions: We welcome articles and il-
lustrations for Challenge. Please inquire
before submitting manuscripts, enclosing a Page 26
stamped, self-addressed envelope; we will
send manuscript guideline and format sheets.
Foreign inquiries (except APOIFPO) please in-
clude an International Reply Coupon.
2 Challenge GDW

Management
Tim Brown and I (and a few others) CONVENTIONS
have been talking it over, and we
ave decided that there is now sufficient TRI-STATE CON '87
I demand for a combined errata and question & March 27-29, 1987, Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati's first
answer column, and we will begin one with this issue. It will regional convention will be held at the Tangeman Student
be called E&C, which requires some explanation. E&C stands Center on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Events
for Errata & Corrigenda. Everyone knows that errata are will include games and tournaments of all types, an auction,
mistakes, but few people are aware that corrigenda are cor- and a dealer's area. Prices are $10.00 in advance and $12.00
rections, and that what most people call errata sheets are more at the door. For more information, contact Lonnie Barnett, 5661
properly called errata and corrigenda sheets (since they are McCarthy Ct, W. Chester, OH 45069.
a listing of both errors and corrections). For those of you with
less technical outlooks (or less picky ones), you can simply GAMES PLUS DAY
think of E&C as standing for errata and clarifications, and leave April 4, 1987, Mount Prospect, Illinois. Tournaments, auc-
it at that. tion, and dealers' room as well as other events are featured,
In any case, the first installment of E&C appears on page to be held at the Mount Prospect Holiday Inn. For informa-
47, and clears u p a few points about Traveller: 2300 and tion, write Games Plus, 20 W. Busse Ave, Mount Prospect, IL
Airlords o f the Ozarks. Readers are encouraged to submit ques- 60056, or call (312) 577-9656.
tions of general interest. -Loren K. Wiseman
GAMEX 1987
Issue 27 feedbacked as follows: May 22-25, Pasadena Hilton Hotel, Pasadena, California.
Adventure Scenario: Chosen at Random ...................... 3.58 RPGs, wargames, miniatures, computer and family boardgame
The Mexican Army: 1998-2000........................................ 3.38 tournaments, flea markets, auction, seminars, demonstrations,
The Inland Waterway ...................................................... 3.55 and exhibitor area. For more information, contact Gamex 1987,
Target: 2000...................................................................... 3.63 C/O DTI, PO Box 8399, Long Beach, CA 90808, or call (213)
Twilight: 2000 Consolidated Price List.......................... 3.80 420-3675.
Fighter Profile: The Rampart IV and V .......................... 3.86
Church of the Chosen Ones .......................................... 3.94 MAGAZINES
Grandfather's Worlds ..................................................... 4.00
The North American Research League..........................3.61 SECURITY LEAK
Journalism and the Stars................................................ 3.86 A new Traveller fanzine from Sorag Laboratories. They pro-
From the Management ................................................... 3.25 mise brand new adventures (each loaded with intrigue and
Just Detected ................................................................... 3.27 action) with detailed background, floorplans, new technology,
Ship's Locker: Vargr Grav Platforms.............................. 4.11 new weapons, new medicines, and columns on a diversity of
Bestiary: Oegongong...................................................... 3.72 subjects. Subscriptions are $12 for four issues, $4 per issue,
Small Cargos-Three for the Road................................ 3.94 please make checks and MOs payable to Gregg Giles (send
Traveller News Service.................................................... 4.00 no cash, please).
Casual Encounter: Cain .................................................. 3.91 Publisher: SORAG Laboratories, 1408 Shady Lane 28, Bed-
Challenge Classifieds ...................................................... 3.69 ford, TX 76021-5521.
Issue 27 as a Whole ........................................................ 4.06

GDW products (including Traveller) are available through distributors as follows:

West Germany: GDW products are imported and distributed by Fantastic Shop, Kon Kordiastr. 61, Postfach: 3026,4000 Dusseldorf
1, West Germany. Some titles are translated into German.
Japan: GDW products are printed and distributed by Hobby Japan Co., LTD, 26-5,s-Chome, Sendagaya, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo,
japan. Titles published are translated into Japanese.
United Kingdom: GDW products are imported and distributed by Games Workshop, LTD., Chewton St., Hilltop, Eastwood,
Nottingham, UK; by Games, 89 Victoria St, Liverpool, L1 6DG, UK; and by Virgin Games Centre, 41-43 Standard Rd, London,
NWIO 6HF, UK.
Italy: GDW products are imported and distributed by Pacific Enterprise Italia, Via R. D i Lauria 15, 20149 Milano, Italy.
Sweden: GDW products are imported and distributed by Hobbyhuset, Box 2003, S-750 02, Uppsala, Sweden and by Target
Games, Frihamnen S-100 56, Stockholm, Sweden.
New Zealand: GDW products are imported and distributed by Blackwood Gayle, PO Box 28358, Auckland, New Zealand.
Australia: GDW products are imported and distributed by Jedko Games, PO Box 164, Moorabbin, Vic, Australia 3198.
GDW Challenge 3

Air Module 17
The Twilight: 2000 Air Module in 1 +
+40 IR: 40 Armament: 2 x 30mm Am- ment: 2 x 30mm Ammo: 8 0 x 30mm Tr
Challenge #26 proved so popular that mo: 80 x 30mm Tr Mov: 1110 Com Mov: Mov: 975 Com Mov: 1350 Agility: 1016 Turn
more information seemed i n order. De- 1500 Agility: 915 Turn Radius: 901150 Acc: Radius: 100160 Acc: 1400 Fuel Cap: 3243
mand was greatest for more aircraft, so 1500 Fuel Cap: 3800 Fuel Cons: 3500 VVt: Fuel Cons: 3000 Wt: 7.3 tons TO Run: 1450
here they are. All types listed are fixed- 7.4 tons TO Run: 800 m Land Run: 750 m m Land Run: 1555 m Cargo: none Load:
wing aircraft. Cargo: none Load: 9500 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 8243 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (30),
1 Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (25), T (30) Damage
MIRAGE F1-J T (30) Damage Chart: C. Chart: C.
A French-built, all-weather fighter air-
craft, supplied t o Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, MfRAGE 4000 / AN-32 CLINE
and Qatar before the start of the war. A French-bu ilt, multi-role combat air- Special Features: none. Price: $2,500,000
Special Features: Cyrano IV radar Price: craft. Special Features: All-weather (RIR) RF: none IR: +40 Armament: none
$2,500,000 (WR) RF: +40 IR: +40 Arma- avionics, one CFP at 2000 kilograms, four Ammo: none Tr Mov: 530 Com Mov: 735
ment: 2 x 30mm, one CFP 2000 kg, t w o UFP at 750 kilograms each, two UFP at Agility: 211 Turn Radius: 40120 Acc: 450 Fuel
UWP 1000 at kilograms each Ammo: 500 kilograms each, two UWP at 500 Cap: 5500 Fuel Cons: 1100 Wt: 15 tons TO
80 x 30mm Tr Mov: 1050 Com Mov: 1450 kilograms each, t w o UWP at 100 Run: 1200 m Land Run: 1600 m Cargo: 6700
Agility: 814 Turn Radius: 80140 Acc: 1450 kilograms each. Price: $8,000,000 (WR) RF: m Load: 12,200 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 5 +40 Ar-
Fuel Cap: 4300 Fuel Cons: 1500 Wt: 7.4 +
+ 40 IR: 40 Armament: 2 x 30mm Am- mor: FF (25), CF (25), RF (25), W (30), T (20)
tons TO Run: 640 m Land Run: 610 m mo: 80 x 30mm Tr Mov: 1600 Corn Mov: Damage Chart: B.
Cargo: none Load: 8350 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 2200 Agility: 1017 Turn Radius: 100170 Acc:
1 Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (30), 2000 Fuel Cap: 11,400 Fuel Cons: 10,000 DNC-6 OTTER
T (25) Damage Chart: C. Wt: 8 tons TO Run: 900 m Land Run: 845 A twin-turboprop, STOL (Short Take-
m Cargo: none Load: 18,600 kg Mnt: 40 OffILanding) transport aircraft. Special
MIRAGE 2000 Crew: 1Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W Features: none. Price: $1,500,000 (WR) RF:
A French-built, multi-role combat air- (30), T (30) Damage Chart: C. n o n e IR: +40 Armament: n o n e
craft. Special Features: Antelope V Ammo: none Tr Mov: 750 Com Mov: 350
ground-scanlall-weather radar, one CFP KFlR C-9 Agility: 412 Turn Radius: 60125 Acc: 300 Fuel
at 2000 kg, t w o UFP at 750 kilograms The final variant of the Israeli Kfir C-2 Cap: 1446 Fuel Cons: 300 Wt: 1.9 tons TO
each, two UFP at 500 kilograms each, two jet. Special Features: All-weather avionics, Run: 366 m Land Run: 320 m Cargo: 1900
UFP at 500 kilograms each, t w o UWP at three CFP at 1000 kilograms each, four kg Load: 3346 kg Mnt: 35 Crew: 2 + 18 Ar-
500 kilograms each, two UWP at 100 UWP at 500 kilograms each. Price: mor: FF (20), CF (20), RF (20), W (20), T (15)
kilograms each. Price: $5,000,000 (WR) RF: +
$4,500,000 (WR) RF: + 40 IR: 40 Arma- Damage Chart: B.
4 Challenge GDW

Acc: 1400 Fuel Cap: 6100 Fuel Cons: 2000 Wt: 14 tons TO Run:
TRANSALL C-160 300 m Land Run: 1070 m Cargo: none Load: 4000 kg Mnt: 40 Crew:
A French-built, medium-range transport aircraft. Special 2 Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C.
Features: none Price: $3,750,000 (WR) RF: none IR: +40 Arma-
ment: none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 400 Com Mov: 555 Agility: 211 F-14D TOMCAT
Turn Radius: 30115 Acc: 300 Fuel Cap: 19,050 Fuel Cons: 4760 Wt: Special Features: All-weather avionics, two CFP at 900
8.9 tons TO Run: 990 m Land Run: 550 m Cargo: 16,000 kg Load: kilograms each, t w o UWP at 500 kilograms each. Price:
+
35,050 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 3 90 Armor: FF (35), CF (35), RF (35), +
$6,000,000 (WR) RF: + 40 IR: 40 Armament: 1x 20mm Ammo:
W (30), T (25) Damage Chart: B. 225 x 20mm Tr Mov: 930 Com Mov: 1300 Agility: 1018 Turn Radius:
100180 Acc: 1600 Fuel Cap: 7350 Fuel Cons: 3675 Wt: 18 tons TO
PANAVIA TORNADO IDS II Run: 400 m Land Run: 825 m Cargo: none Load: 10,150 kg Mnt:
Special Features: AII-weather avionics, blind strike capacity, 40 Crew: 2 Armor: FF (30), CF (301, RF (30), W (25), T (25) Damage
one CFP at 1500 kilograms, two UFP at 1000 kilograms each, Chart: C.
two IWP at 500 kilograms each, two OWP at 250 kilograms each.
Price: $5,500,000 (RIR) RF: +40 IR: +40 Armament: 2 x 25mm SU-24 FENCER-G
Ammo: 60 x 25mm Tr Mov: 900 Com Mov: 1250 Agility: 916 Turn Soviet combat aircraft. Special Features: All-weather avionics,
Radius: 90160 Acc: 1250 Fuel Cap: 10,000 Fuel Cons: 8500 Wt: 14 blind strike capability, four CFP at 1000 kilograms each, t w o
tons TO Run: 900 m Land Run: 370 m Cargo: none Load: 15,000 IWP at 1500 kilograms each, t w o OWP at 500 kilograms each.
kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 2 Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (25), T (25) +
Price: $5,000,000 (-IR) RF: 40 IR: + 40 Armament: 2 x 23mm Am-
Damage Chart: C. mo: 300 x 23mm Tr Mov: 900 Com Mov: 1250 Agility: 612 Turn
Radius: 60120 Acc: 1000 Fuel Cap: 13,000 Fuel Cons: 10,000 Wt:
A-105 THUNDERBOLT I I 19 tons TO Run: 1000 m Land Run: 1250 m Cargo: none Load:
Special Features: All-weather avionics, one CFP at 2200 8000 kg Mnt: 45 Crew: 2 Armor: FF (401, CF (401, RF (401, W (25),
kilograms or two CFP at 1500 kilograms each, plus t w o UWP T (25) Damage Chart: C.
at 1500 kilograms each, t w o UWP at 1100 kilograms each, and
t w o OWP at 450 kilograms Price: $3,500,000 (WR) RF: +40 IR: SU-27 FLANKER-B
+ 30 Armament: 1x 30mm Ammo: 330 x 30mm Tr Mov: 600 Com A Soviet multi-role fighter. Special Features: All-weather
Mov: 830 Agility: 714 Turn Radius: 40120 Acc: 550 Fuel Cap: 4800 avionics, iook-downlshoot-down radar, t w o CFP at 800
Fuel Cons: 2400 Wt: 11 tons TO Run: 1220 m Land Run: 616 m kilograms each, four UWP at 300 kilograms each. Price:
Cargo: none Load: 7200 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (50), CF +
$7,000,000 (-IR) RF: +40 IR: 40 Armament: 1x 23mm Ammo:
(50), RF (50), W (40), T (40) Damage Chart: D. 100 x 23mm Tr Mov: 1300 Com Mov: 1800 Agility: 1017 Turn
Radius: 100170 Acc: 1750 Fuel Cap: 10,000 Fuel Cons: 10,000 Wt:
A-7 CORSAIR I I I 17 tons TO Run: 1000 m Land Run: 1250 m Cargo: none Load:
Special Features: All-weather avionics, two IWP at 225 1280 kg Mnt: 45 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (35), CF (35), RF (35), W (25),
kilograms each, two IWP at 7100 kilograms each, four OWP T (25) Damage Chart: C.
at 1500 kilograms each Price: $3,000,000 (RIR) RF: + 40 IR: 40+
Armament: 1x 20mm Ammo: 300 x 20mm Tr Mov: 800 Com Mov: M16-27 FLOGGER-Q
1100 Agility: 815 Turn Radius: 40130 Acc: 800 Fuel Cap: 5600 Fuel A Soviet ground-attack aircraft derived from the M i G 23.
Cons: 2240 Wt: 8 tons TO Run: 1700 m Land Run: 850 m Cargo: Special Features: All-weather avionics, one CFP at 1000
none Load: 8650 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (30), CF (30), RF kilograms, t w o IWP at 750 kilograms each, t w o OWP at 500
(30), W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C. kilograms each. Price: $4,000,000 (-IR) RF: +40 IR: +40 Arma-
ment: 1x 30mm Ammo: 200 30mm Tr Mov: 625 Com Mov: 870
AVSB HARRIER Agility: 915 Turn Radius: 90150 Acc: 1250 Fuel Cap: 6000 Fuel Cons:
A British fighter manufactured under license in the U.S and 3500 Wt: 9.5 tons TO Run: 900 m Land Run: 900 m Cargo: none
other countries. Special Features: All-weather avionics, VSTOL Load: 9500 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (35), CF (35), RF (30),
(VerticalIShort Take-OffILanding) capability, one center pylon W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C.
at 450 kilograms, two IWP at 900 kilograms each, t w o CWP at
450 kilograms each, t w o OWP at 280 kilograms each Price: M16-29 FLOGGER-M
+
$3,750,000 (RIR) RF: + 40 IR: 35 Armament: 2 x 25mm Ammo: The final variant of the Soviet MiG-23 series. Special Features:
200 x 25mm Tr Mov: 700 Com Mov: 970 Agility: 915 Turn Radius: All-weather avionics, look-downlshoot-down radar, one CFP at
60140 Acc: 650 Fuel Cap: 4100 Fuel Cons: 2000 Wt: 6 tons TO Run: 2000 kilograms, t w o CFP at 1000 kilograms each, t w o IWP at
370 m Land Run: 0 m Cargo: none Load: 8650 k g Mnt: 40 Crew: 250 kilograms each. Price: $3,500,000 (RIR) RF: + 40 IR: + 40 Ar-
IArmor: FF (30), CF (30), RF (30), W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C. mament: 1x 23mm Ammo: 150 x 23mm Tr Mov: 750 Com Mov:
1000 Agility: 1016 Turn Radius: 100160 Acc: 1500 Fuel Cap: 5750
Fl5E STRIKE EAGLE Fuel Cons: 3400 VVt: 8 tons TO Run: 900 m Land Run: 900 m Cargo:
Special Features: All-weather avionics, thermal sight and im- none Load: 10,250 kg Mnt: 40 Crew: 1 Armor: FF (301, CF (30),
age intensifier for weapons officer, one center pylon at 1000 RF (30), W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C.
kilograms, t w o IWP at I000 kilograms each. Price: $3,750,000
+
(RIR) RF: + 40 IR: 35 Armament: 2 x 20mm Ammo: 200 x 20mm
Tr Mov: 1100 Com Mov: 1500 Agility: 1017 Turn Radius: 100170
1 MIG-31 FOXHOUND
A Soviet high-performance interceptor. Special Features: All-
GDW Challenge 5

weather avionics, look-downlshoot-down radar, four UWP at k g Load: 3950 k g Mnt: 30 Crew: 2 + 20 Armor: FF (15), CF (15),
600 kilograms each. Price: $8,000,000 (WR) RF: 40 IR: 60 Ar- + + RF (15), W (15), T (10) Damage Chart: B.
mament: Pods Ammo: none Tr Mov: 1500 Com Mov: 2000 Agili-
ty: 915 Turn Radius: 90150 Acc: 2000 Fuel Cap: 17,000 Fuel Cons: AN-2P COLT
17,000 Wt: 21 tons TO Run: 1380 rn Land Run: 2180 rn Cargo: Soviet-built, single-engine, biplane transport aircraft. Special
none Load: 19,400 k g Mnt: 50 Crew: 2 Armor: FF (40), CF (40), Features: none Price: $750,000 (WR) RF: none IR: + 40 Armament:
RF (40), W (25), T (25) Damage Chart: C. none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 200 Com Mov: 275 Agility: 412 Turn
Radius: 30115 Acc: 50 Fuel Cap: 1200 Fuel Cons: 300 Wt: 2.8 tons
AN-28 CASH TO Run: 200 rn Land Run: 100 rn Cargo: 1500 k g Load: 2700 kg
A Polish-built, twin-engine, STOL transport aircraft. Special Mnt: 30 Crew: 2 + 10 Armor: FF (20), CF (20), RF (15), W (15), T
Features: none Price: $1,000,000 (RIR) RF: none IR: +40 Arma- (15) Damage Chart: A.
ment: none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 335 Com Mov: 465 Agility: 312
Turn Radius: 30115 Acc: 75 Fuel Cap: 1960 Fuel Cons: 650 Wt: 3.7 AN-12 CUB
tons TO Run: 360 rn Land Run: 315 rn Cargo: 2000 k g Load: 3960 Soviet-built, four-engine, transport aircraft. Special Features:
FF (15), CF (15), RF (15), W (15), All-weather avionics. Price: $4,000,000 (WR) RF: none I
Armament: none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 630 Com Mov: 875 A ili- y
ty: 311 Turn Radius: 20110 Acc: 100 Fuel Cap: 13,900 Fuel Cons:
PC-6 TURBO-PORTER 2500 Wt: 26 tons TO Run: 800 rn Land Run: 650 rn Cargo: 14,500
A Swiss-built, single-engine, high-wing monoplane, STOL +
k g Load: 28,400 k g Mnt: 45 Crew: 5 100 Armor: FF (30), CF (35),
transport aircraft. Special Features: none Price: $800,000 (WR) RF (30), W (20), T (20) Damage Chart: 6 .
RE none IR: +40 Armament: none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 250
Com Mov: 350 Agility: 513 Turn Radius: 40120 Acc: 75 Fuel Cap: BOMBS
480 Fuel Cons: 120 Wt: 2.2 tons TO Run: 110 rn Land Run: 80 Type Dam Arm BR
+
rn Cargo: 500 k g Load: 980 k g Mnt: 30 Crew: 1 8 Armor: FF (15), 100 k g x 50c x 10 3 rn
CF (15), RF (lo), W (15), T (10) Damage Chart: A. 200 k g x 60c x8 6 rn
350 k g x 65c x6 10 rn
ARAVA 202 450 k g x 70c x4 15 rn
Israeli-built, twin-engine, STOL transport aircraft. Special 1000 k g x 80c x2 25 rn
Features: All-weather avionics. Price: $850,000 (WR) RF: none IR:
+40 Armament: none Ammo: none Tr Mov: 300 Com Mov: 415 -Frank Frey
Agility: 412 Turn Radius: 30115 Acc: 100 Fuel Cap: 1600 Fuel Cons:
400 Wt: 4 tons TO Run: 470 m Land Run: 470 rn Careo: 2350

GREEN DRAGON HOBBY ULSTER IMPORTS, LTD.

TRAVELLERB by FASA PO Box 1748
Champaign IL
THE HARRENSA PROJECTITHE STAZHLEKH REPORT
This booklet contains not one but two complete Traveller LIMITED QUANTBTIES!
adventures! Bradley AFVs
The Harrensa Project deals with industrial espionageon a hostile
planet. and
The Stazhlekh Report centers on a commando operation geared Hummers
to gather vital military intelligence.
W e have a limited quantity o f 20rnrn scale Hummer and
GET BOTH TODAY! Bradley AFVs, in metal, imported from the UK. Send
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The Harrensa ProjectIThe Stazhkekh Report................. $4.50
To order, send check or money order to: Warning: Figures contain lead and are not recornrnend-
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Please add $[Link] for shipping. Ohio residents add 5% sales tax.
Traveller is a registered trademark of Game Designers' Workshop.
6 Challenge GDW

Wilderness navel and uit

choice and may be
dictated by the situa-
judicate travel tion (the flat, open
through wilderness land around a town or
areas. Normally, this camp, for example.)
will not prove too dif- At the end of each
ficult: the referee 15-minute period, the
simply adds a few referee rolls 2D6 on
days to the time re- wilderness travel table
quired to cross the I, again o n wilderness
area. But when the travel table II, and
players are chased by again on wilderness
hostile NPCs (a militia travel table Ill.
or particularly virulent If the result of the
marauder band, for table Ill roll indicates
instance), the players water, a fourth roll is
might appreciate the made on wilderness
increased level of travel table IV (Water).
detail this article If the result of this roll
presents. Use of these is 11 or 12, a 5th roll is
rules is completely made o n wilderness
travel table IV-b
cluded to increase the (Water-special.)
realism of the scenario by simulating the travelling through at that moment. If the result of the table Ill roll indicates
difficulties encountered in extended "other," a fourth roll is made on
travel across backcountry wilderness MAPS wilderness travel table V (special-
areas. Use of the rules in this article requires natural). This may result in "water," re-
more detailed maps than are normally quiring a roll on wilderness travel table
INTRODUCTION found in the adventure modules. The IV, or it may result in "other," in which
Large reaches of .the world are un- most ideal maps for this purpose are case a 5th roll is made o n wilderness
spoiled wilderness. Even the continental topographic survey maps, printed by the travel table V-b (special-artificial.)
United States boasts sizable remote United States Geological survey. Large The referee informs the characters of
areas. I n Airlords of the Ozarks, for ex- libraries often have these maps, as part the result, which will be a combination
ample, the upper reaches of the area of their own map collections, or as a part of table I (level, hill, or steep hill), table
called Lost Valley were not discovered of the federal map repository program II (cover, if any), and table Ill (any special
until as recently as 1945 by student- (check the local library for information). terrain, if any). They will be able to see
explorers hiking in the area. Even The maps are also available directly from the indicated terrain ahead and be able
populated areas remain relatively the U.S. Geological survey (write USGS to plan their next move.
isolated from one another by farmland, Public Inquiries Office, 1028 General Ser- If the characters decide to proceed
woods, streams, and hills. vices Building, 19th & F Sts, Washington ahead, the referee determines the
Twilight: 2000 referees taking DC 20244...tell them the specific state distance they will be able to travel in the
characters through such remote areas you're interested in). next 15 minutes. He does this by taking
may wish to make use of the following Rate of movement and other con- the base travel rate (either .25 or times
set of special encounter tables. The siderations for an individual map will de- ad applicable travel modifiers). If a
referee should modify the results to pend upon the scale of the map used modifier is variable (such as (1D6 -2)/10),
reflect terrain as shown in the area and will have to be worked out for an in- he makes this roll but does not tell the
through which they are travelling on the dividual map by the referee. characters the result. If a variable
map. If, for example, their course on the modifier result is 0, of course, the
map brings them to a river,'the referee WILDERNESS TRAVEL characters will make n o progress at all
should deliberately introduce a river A basic travel rate is established by in the next 15 minutes. Otherwise, all
result to play rather than rely on chance. characters depending on whether they modifiers are multiplied times the base
The tables in this article are pretty much are going uphill, downhill, or across travel rate in order to create a modified
self-explanatory and should present no more or less level ground. Progress in travel distance for the next period.
problems. The referee simply uses wilderness travel i s measured i n For example, the characters are mov-
whatever table seems most appropriate 15-minute periods. ing uphill (base travel distance of .2 km)
depending on the terrain the players are The first 15-minute period is made over through moderate woods (modifier .7).
GDW Challenge 7

The actual distance travelled i n 15 minutes is .7x .2= .I4 km., tivities in the wild. The referee may roll on this table occasional-
or about 140 meters. ly instead of regular area encounter tables, or he may make
If the hill had been covered with mud rather than moderate periodic rolls on this table in addition to normal area table rolls.
woods, the referee would have rolled 1D6-2. Had the result
been 0 or less, the way would have been impassable, but the SPECIAL WILDERNESS ENCOUNTER TABLE
characters would not have realized this until they tried. If the Die Results
result was 3, it would have been divided by 10, then muliplied 2-3 Special terrain
times the other factors, giving a result of .3 x .7 x .2= .042 km, 4-9 No encounter
or 42 meters. 10 Special encounter
Characters may check terrain to either side before deciding 11 + Danger
which way t o go. The referee should keep track of the terrain
through which they have just come i n case they want to dou- WILDERNESS ENCOUNTER RESULTS
ble back. Special Terrain: The referee makes an additional extra roll on
The referee should use common sense in using these tables one of the special terrain tables, (table IV-b, V, or V-b) as
which are provided as a guide only. A lake at the crest of a appropriate.
very steep hill or at the top of an overlook is quite unlikely. Special Encounter: This encounter is entirely at the referee's
The referee should change such results to something in keep- discretion. It could be a terrain feature drawn from any of the
ing with reality. (Mud or rough terrain might be found on top special terrain tables, such as a cave or cliff.
of the hill, rather than a lake, for example.) A right-angle turn Danger: This will be a special encounter requiring a saving
will not make a lake or sheer cliff vanish in 15 minutes; and throw by one or more of the characters. The nature of the
if they return to their original course, they will still see the lake danger will depend on the local terrain. Possibilities include
to one side or may be climbing a steep slope alongside the an encounter with a poisonous snake (most likely in rough ter-
cliff they tried to avoid. The results of earlier rolls should be rain or near a stream), a cliff or ledge giving way under foot
carried over into the referee's determinations of new terrain. (on a steep slope, hill, along the edge of a cliff or a steep-banked
Similarly, the referee should not introduce new terrain in stream), a log bridge giving way (while crossing a stream), a
front of the characters until they have actually covered the severe storm (anywhere), or a cave-in (in a cave, or inside an
original basic travel distance. He may occasionally introduce abandoned or damaged house or other building). The referee's
new elements which might logically be hidden from the player application of this encounter may be deferred to an appropriate
characters (a house, stream, or clearing hidden from their time later in the Chour period.
original position by moderate woods, for example), but if he Actual damage sustained by failing a saving throw is up t o
tells them that the next .2 km. consists of a steep hill and they the referee but may be anything from I D 6 points of damage
only travel 50 meters in the next segment, he should not then to something life-threatening. Saving throws will generally be
roll again and tell them the hill has been replaced by something made against Agility (to avoid falling or being crushed) but may
different. Each of the referee's revelations about the terrain sometimes be made against other skills. Recon skill, for exam-
should flow logically and consistently from previous ple, may be used to find shelter during the approach of a sud-
revelations. den thunderstorm.
The referee should also keep track of the characters' pro- Fatigue: These rules add additional detail to the basic rules
gress on the game maps. If their accumulated travel distance for fatigue given in Twilight: 2000.
and direction of travel suggest that they are travelling up the Each type of terrain lists a fatigue factor. These are ac-
face of a mountain or approaching a town or large river, the cumulated as the character traverses various types and com-
referee should modify the results of his die rolls accordingly. binations of terrain. For example, a character climbing a steep
The wilderness travel tables are provided only as a general hill covered with heavy woods will accumulate 10+4=14
guide for travel in wilderness country, particularly when be- fatigue points in 15 minutes. If the next travel segement is u p
ing pursued. a steep hill with moderate woods, he will add 10+2 fatigue
points to his total for a new total of 26.
REGULAR ENCOUNTERS For every 15-minute travel segment spent resting, 4 fatigue
The referee should continue t o make regular encounter rolls points are eliminated.
every four hours in addition to rolls for terrain. Encounter rolls Sixeen fatigue points lost constitute one fatigue level as
will provide such events as animals, enemy patrols, or civilians described in the play manual. When a character's fatigue point
encountered in the woods. The referee should choose some total passes 16, he loses one point each from his STR, AGL,
particular (and different) 15-minute travel segment during each CON and INT. All other basic rules concerning fatigue are
overall Chour period in which to introduce an encounter, unchanged.
however, rather than always having the encounter occur at the This rule reflects how tiring vigorous cross-country travel can
beginning of the period. be in rugged or steep terr9in over an extended period of time.

SPECIAL WILDERNESS ENCOUNTERS SPEED

The following encounter table can be used any time the The base distance travelled can be doubled or tripled, allow-
characters are travelling in wilderness areas. This table should ing a character to cross 1 or 1.5 kilometers on level ground
be used to supplement the regular area tables in order to pro- in 15 minutes. This has the effect of doubling or quadrupling
vide additional flavor and background to the character's ac- the character's fatigue point loss in the same period of time.
 Challenge GDh

These values represent increased paces but not an all-out run. fluence pursuit are self-explanatory and are the result of ter-
rain which slows the fugitives (rough, woods) or disguises their
PURSUIT trail (rivers, streams). The following actions require special
In some cases the characters may be pursued by hostile explanation:
forces. The mechanics and random chance of such a pursuit Woods MovingIRemaining Still: As long as the characters are
can be simulated in the following manner. on the move, the woods will tend to slow their progress, han-
Each type of terrain through which the characters travel has dicapping them more than their pursuers (who, after all, can
a different pursuit number. Pursuit numbers are higher for work in relays or teams to keep the pressure on the prey). If
open country, lower for thick and tangled terrain where a the characters find a place to hide and remain there, they have
fugitive will have an easier time hiding. If the pursuers have a better chance of avoiding the pursuers' net by remaining
bloodhounds on the trail, however, the pursuit number is quiet. This tactic i s best used if the characters are able to win
automatically increased by 4. If they have aircraft (including a large lead first (this is especially true if the pursuers are using
helicopters, dirigibles or ultralights) in the immediate area, the dogs).
pursuit number is increased by 2. Finding Concealment: Applied to any use of caves, rough ter-
Whether or not the pursuers have bloodhounds or aircraft rain, rocks, or other terrain to hide. The advantage does not
available to devote to a manhunt is left entirely to the referee's quite offset the pursuers' use of dogs, however.
discretion. Resting: Remaining in one place for a full &hour period
Once every four hours, the referee secretly rolls 2D6 for the drastically reduces any lead the fugitives have over their
players, applies the pursuit modifiers as needed, then subtracts pursuers.
the pursuit number for the dominant type of terrain through Special Tricks: Inventive or ingenious players may devise
which the characters have been travelling. Certain localized special tricks to throw the hunters off (climbing trees, wading
types of terrain (streams and rivers, for example) will provide up creeks, hiding in hollow logs, using game or blood to
additional DMs to the 2D6 roll. These are listed on the terrain distract dogs, etc.) If the players can convince the referee that
tables as pursuit DMs. what they have in mind would work, he may assign a D M of
The result, plus or minus, is recorded. The result of the roll between +I to +6 for the attempt, or roll I D for a random
and calculations four hours later is added to the first, and so result.
on, creating a positive or negative number which continues
t o change as the chase continues. The result of all rolls is kept PURSUIT NUMBER TABLE: TERRAlN
secret from the players. If, however, the pursuers are using Add 4 if the pursuers are using dogs. Add 3 if they are using
bloodhounds, the baying of the dogs will be heard incessant- aircraft.
ly as soon as the player characters' running total drops below 0.
If the total drops to -20, the pursuers will catch up. Terrain Type Pursuit ki
If the total reaches +30, the pursuers will lose the character's Flat, open, terrain; fields 10
trail and the characters will have escaped. Light woods 8
Throughout the pursuit, the charcters should continue to roll Moderate woods 6
for terrain type and for encounters. Many normal encounters Heavy woods 4
will have a direct impact on the pursuit.
Pursuit Modifiers: Various pursuit modifiers are listed for WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE I (Hills)
various types of terrain. These are listed below, together with If previous roll 4 or less, D M - 3. If previous roll 10 or more,
other factors which affect pursuit. DM+3.
Fatigue Pursuit
PUWSUlT MODlFlERS Die Result Points DMs Distance
Terrain DM 2-3 Steep uphill 10 0 .05
Heavy woods (moving only) -1 4-5 Uphill 5 0 .2
Heavy woods (remaining still) +1 6-8 Level 1 0 .5
Dense underbrush (moving only) -2 9-10 Downhill 2 0 .2
Dense underbrush (remaining still) +3 11 + Steep downhill 4 0 .I
Small stream +1
Moderate stream +2 WlLDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE II (Cower)
Wide stream +3 If last roll was 5 or less, D M -4. I f last roll was 9 or more,
River +5 D M + 3.
Steep, slippery, or muddy bank -2 Fatigue Pursuit
Mud, swamp, flooding -3 Die Results Points DMs Distance
Sheer cliff, overlook, way blocked -5 2-4 Clear 0 0 x1
Rough +2 5 Clearing 0 0 xI
Path, road, firecut, railroad -2 6-7 Light woods 1 0 x .9
Finding concealment +3 8 Mod. woods 2 1 x .7
Remaining in one place, resting -4 9-10 Heavy woods 4 -I/+? x.4
Special tricks +ID6 11 + Dense underbrush 10 -2/+3 x1D10/20
Pursuit Modifier Explanations: Most of the factors which in-
GDW Challenge 9

character travels at a basic rate of .5 kilometer in 15 minutes.

WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE I l l (Special terrain) Downhill: A steady, downhill slope. The character travels at
Die Results a basic rate of .2 kilometer in 15 minutes.
2-9 No special terrain Steep Downhill: A slope of 400 or more. Tiring over long
10-11 Water periods. The character travels at the basic rate of .I kilometer
12 Other in 15 minutes on a steep downslope. The terrain may be skirted
by changing direction by 90' for 15 minutes (treat terrain as
WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE IV (Water) downhill) before returning to the original course.
Water result automatic if following water. Clear: A field, wide clearing, or other treeless area. There is
Roll each time for "Special." no effect on travel.
Fatigue Pursuit Clearing: An open area within a woods. If previous roll was
Die Result Points DMs Distance clear, treat this result as more of the same. There is no effect
2-6 Small stream - 1 + xI on travel.
7-8 Mod. stream - +2 x .7 Light Woods: Scattered trees, little or no underbrush. Reduces
9 Wide stream ID6 +3 x .3 movement slightly.
10 River 1D6x5 +5 x .I Moderate Woods: Average density woods with slight to
11-12 Water-special - - - moderate underbrush. Includes heavy woods with little or no
underbrush. Slows travel slightly.
WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE IV-b (Water-special) Heavy Woods: Many large trees with broken ground, fallen
Fatigue Pursuit trees, and moderate to thick underbrush. lmpedes travel. Tir-
Die Result Points DMs Distance ing over extended distances.
2-4 Spring - - - Dense Underbrush: A nearly impenetrable barrier of trees,
5-6 Pond, lake - - x ID6110 tangled ground vegetation, andlor thorn-bearing shrubs. Irn-
7-8 Steep bank 5 -2 x .9 pedes or blocks travel entirely. Roll 1D6-I. A result of 0 in-
9 Fordlbridgellog - - - dicates no progress at all. A result of Ito 5 i s divided by 10
10-11 Mudlswamplflood 15 -3 x(ID6-2)/10 (.I to .5) to give the actual travel multiplier.
12 Other - - - Small Stream: A narrow, shallow creek. Does not impede
travel at all.
WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE V (Special-natural) Moderate Stream: A stream several meters wide and up to
Fatigue Pursuit one meter deep. Requires wading. Slows travel slightly.
Die Result Points DMs Distance Wide Stream: A stream over ten meters wide, up to two
2-5 Water - - - meters deep. May be waded at ford or swum. Slows travel.
6 Sheer drop - -5 x (ID6 -4)llO River: Generally refers to a particular river such as the Buf-
7-8 Sheltered area - - - falo. Over ten meters wide, two meters or more deep in the
9-10 Rough 1D6x3 +2 x 1D6110 middle. May be waded at ford or swum at any point. lmpedes
11 Cave - - - travel.
12 Other - - - Spring: A fresh water spring flowing from ground. Probable
(though not certain) source of good water. No effect on travel.
WILDERNESS TRAVEL TABLE Vb (Special-artificial) Pond, Lake: A large, stagnant or backed-up body of water.
Pathlroad, etc. i s automatic if one is being followed. Depth and size vary. May be swum. lmpedes travel depending
Fatigue Pursuit on the size. Roll 1D6-2. A result of 0 or less means the lake
Die Results Points DMs Distance is too wide, deep, or soft-bottomed to wade and must be swum
2-4 Town - -3 xI or skirted. Divide a result of 1 through 4 by 10. The result (.I
5-6 House/ruins - - - to .4) is the multiplier necessary to wade across. The water may
7-8 Pathlroad - -2 x 1.5 be skirted by changing direction for 15 minutes before turn-
9-10 Lone Build. - - - ing back to the original course.
11 Industrial - - - Steep Bank: A bank of a river or a stream which requires care
12 Cache - - - traversing. Requires saving throw against Agility to avoid fall
and 1D6-2 (less than 1 =0) damage points. lmpedes travel
TERRAIN FEATURES EXPLANATION slightly.
Uphill: A steady, uphill grade. Tiring if continued over a Ford, Bridge, Log: A way across a stream or river. Fallen logs
period of time. A character can travel at a basic rate of .2 bridge small and moderate streams only. Fords cross medium
kilometer in 15 minutes going uphill. and wide streams and rivers. Bridges occur only where a road
Steep Uphill: A slope of more than 40°, requiring frequent or path crosses the water and could introduce the characters
rests. Very tiring over a long distance. The character has a base to same. Allows characters to cross water without impeding
rate of .05 kilometer (50 meters) in 15 minutes of climbing a their travel.
steep slope. The steep section can be skirted by changing direc- MudlSwamplFlood: The ground is muddy or submerged. May
tion by 90° for 15 minutes (treat terrain as uphill) before turn- be the result of flooding or a recent rain, or it may be a per-
ing back to the original course. manent swamp or drying lake. lmpedes or blocks travel. Roll
Level: The terrain is more or less flat or gently rolling. The 106-2. A result of 0 or less indicates the area is impassable
10 Challenge GDW

and could require a saving throw against Agility to avoid quick- Other: Another terrain feature of the referee's choosing. This
sand. A result of 1 through 4 is divided by 10, and the result could be a second roll o n the same table (allowing, for exam-
(.I to .4) is the modifier for wading through the swamp. Skirt- ple, a cave and rough ground together-indicating a possibly
ing the swamp requires a change of direction for at least 15 hazardous area, prone to cave-ins). It could also indicate a
minutes before turning back to the original course. special discovery such as a hot spring or allow a roll on the
Other: This could be any of a number of possible special en- special (artificial) table.
counters of the referee's choice, including the discovery of a Town: A collection of buildings and roads ...anything from
second stream or river tributary to the first, a lake into which a gas station and two houses u p to a large city. Movement
the stream flows, a waterfall, beaver dam or man-made dam, through an inhabited town increases the chance of encounters.
or any special (natural) or special (artificial) feature. A deserted town has no effect.
Water: This will be a body of water of some type: stream, HousctlRuins: A lone house or farm, more or less isolated from
river, lake, pond, swamp, or reservoir. When encountered other dwellings. May also be the foundation or ruins of a long-
while following water, it may mean a second body of water, vanished or recently-burned building.
such as a tributary stream or a lake. PathIRoad: Any man-made cut through woods or other ter-
Sheer Drop: An extremely abrupt interruption of the terrain, rain. A road or path is automatically discovered at a house; and
such as a cliff, bluff or overlook. It is at the referee's discre- a road, path, or railroad is automatically discovered at a bridge.
tion whether the characters find themselves at the top look- At least one road and possibly a railroad is automatically
ing down or the bottom looking up. It will completely block discovered at a town. Moving along a road speeds travel but
or severely impede travel without special equipment. Roll increases the chance of encounters.
1D6-4. If the result is 0 or less, the cliff cannot be climbed Lone Building: A special building generally found far from
or descended without special equipment. Divide a result of other buildings. Mills are found on moderate to wide streams
1 or 2 by 10 t o give the multiplier for the area if it can be tra- or rivers. Ranger buildings are found o n former state or federal
versed. The area can be skirted by changing course by 90° for parks. Fire towers are found on any wooded terrain. Microwave
15 minutes (treat as u p or downhill terrain) before turning back relay stations are found only on the tops of high hills.
to the original course. industrial: A former mine site. Mine may be a mine shaft or
Sheltered Area: An area sheltered by boulders, trees, a rock strip mine. Logging area will have buildings, a sawmill, and
outcropping, or even an open area under the extended canopy large, cleared areas. A quarry will be a large pit, with supply
of a single tree or layer of vines. It offers a sheltered camp area sheds and possibly buildings nearby. A quarry pit may impede
and provides cover from observers but does not protect the travel (treat as a swamp) at the referee's discretion.
characters if they are being tracked by dogs. Cache: A special find, at the referee's discretion. May be a
Rough: Extremely rugged, broken, or boulder-strewn ground. cache of food, arms, or supplies left by a hunter or trapper,
May also denote extremely unstablelloose/dangerous rock or avacation house stocked with food or other supplies, the body
ground on hills, steep hills, or cliffs. Roll I D 6 and divide by of a man carrying food or weapons, an abandoned vehicle with
ten to give a multiplier (.I to .6) for travel over this terrain. salvageable parts, or an encounter with an NPC who has sup-
Cave: A natural cave in a hillside. It may be dry or wet, shallow plies. It could also be an encounter with a natural source of
or extensive, with an easily seen entrance or a narrow, well- food or supplies, such as a deer or other animal, a patch of
hidden one. Details are u p to the referee. It provides shelter blackberries, or an outcropping of flint for making fire.
but may be a trap. -William H. Keith, Jr.
GDW Challenge 11

Useful Load: Gross recoveries. Stall speed refers to the air-

weight minus empty craft's speed in still air. A headwind will
weight. The total further reduce the aircraft's actual speed,
weight which can be giving it a higher stall speed. Meticulous
carried aloft in- referees may wish to incorporate this fac-
cluding the pilot, his tor into their calculations. In most cases
clothing and gear, it can be ignored.
his fuel (1 Climb Rate: The basic rate of ascent at
liter = about 1 kg), full throttle, allowing calculations of how
and any weapons, long (and how much fuel) it will take to
ammo, or other reach a given altitude.
cargo he carries with Sink Rate: The basic rate for descent at
him. minimum throttle, allowing calculations
Construction Time: of how long it will take to reduce altitude
The time, given in gradually.
man-hours (i.e., what Takeoff Run: The distance required for
1 man can do in 2 the aircraft to get clear of the ground on
hours, 2 men can do takeoff. This stat may be disregarded
in 1) required to during midair launches from airships.
assemble the aircraft Distance to Clear 15 m: The distance
Space considerations in Airlords of the from kit form. Most ultralights can be past the liftoff point required to build
Ozarks prohibited dealing with ultralight assembled from kits using ordinary tools. enough lift to clear 15 meters. This is a
aircraft in any but the most cursory This stat is included in case the good average height to clear most
fashion. Since these will prove to be very characters are able to capture one or obstructions such as telephone poles,
popular with players and referees of more kits and find they must assemble power lines, and medium-sized trees.
Twilight: 2000, 1 felt a closer examination them. Reducing the assembly time by in- This stat is important in takeoffs from
of these fascinating aircraft is warranted. creasing the number of helpers usually sheltered fields or clearings hemmed in
Please note that the rules in this article cannot take it below half the original by trees or other obstacles. It may be
and those given in Airlords of the Ozarks construction time given. disregarded during launches from
are not compatible, and are not intend- Field Assembly Time: The time required airships.
ed to be. These rules are an optional to assemble an ultralight disassembled Landing Roll: The distance required
replacement for those in the adventure, for storage. This is the time required to after touchdown for the aircraft to come
not a supplement to them. ready an ultralight for launch from a to a complete stop. Ultralights do not
Several ultralight models may be en- dirigible in flight. have brakes. The figures given assume
countered during the course of a Never Exceed: At the stated speed, the a concrete runway. The landing roll can
Twilight: 2000 adventure. The stats for a aircraft is in serious danger of breaking be reduced by about half on a grass field,
representative selection of ultralight craft apart from the stress. A saving throw but an additional pilot skill roll is
are given below, but first I will give a against the pilot's ultralight skill is necessary t o prevent what is
brief explanation of the terms involved. necessary to reduce speed and prevent euphemistically called a "ground loop."
Wingspan, Length, Height, Wing Area, the craft from disintegrating in midair. Ceiling: The maximum altitude to
Engine: Self-explanatory. Ultralights cannot be launched from which the aircraft can climb.
Fuel Capacity: How much fuel the craft dirigibles travelling at more than this Range at Cruise Speed: The distance the
can hold. It may be possible to extend speed. aircraft can travel at its most economical
this by carrying extra fuel cans and a Top Level Speed: The top speed at- throttle setting, allowing for extra fuel
makeshift hand-pump rig aloft. tainable by the aircraft at full throttle in burned on takeoff. This range will be
Fuel Consumption: Liters consumed per level flight. reduced somewhat by maneuvers or
hour at cruising speed. Climbing, com- Cruise Speed: The most fuel-efficient combat.
bat, or flying at top speed uses fuel 40% speed, usually at 50% to 65% of full
to 50% faster. throttle. ULTRALIGHT CHARACTERISTICS
Gross Weight: The weight the aircraft Stall Speed: Of vital importance in This article does not pretend to be a
can carry aloft, including its own weight piloting ultralights, stall speed gives the complete description of the range of
plus the weight of fuel, pilot, and cargo. lower limit of the aircraft's speed. Slower ultralights available. The models de-
In other words, the weight of the craft than this the aircraft's wings can no scribed are commercialy available today,
fully loaded. longer provide enough lift and it starts and similar models will presumably be
Empty Weight: The weight of the air- to fall. Dirigibles should be travelling at flying in 2000. Additionally, players may
craft without pilot, cargo, or fuel (but in- just slightly faster than the ultralight's find the materials to construct such air-
cluding the empty tank). stall speed for midair takeoffs and craft. In the latter case, the referee will
12 Challenge GDW

have to determine the characteristics of the craft by compar-

ing its dimensions with the closest example given below. SUN RAY
Specifications: Wingspan: 10 m Length: 4 m Height: 1.8 m Wing
SNOOP Area: 12 m2 Engine: 35 hp Kawasaki Fuel Capacity: 7.6 liters Fuel
Specifications: Wingspan: 10 m Length: 4.9 m Height: 2.6 m Consumption: 5.7 liters Gross Weighl: 236 kg Empty Weight: 113
Wing Area: 15.3 m2Engine: 35 h p Cuyuna UL 11-02 Fuel Capaci- kg Useful Load: 123 kg Construction Time: 150 man-hours Field
ty: 11.3 liters Fuel Consumption: 5.6 Iph Gross Weight: 235 kg Assembly Time: 10 minutes
Empty Weight: 108 kg Useful Load: 127 kg Construction Time: Performance: Never Exceed: 136 kph Top Level Speed: 101 kph
30 man-hours Field Assembly Time: 45 minutes Cruise Speed: 88 kph Stall Speed: 43 kph Climb Rate: 195 rnpm
Performance: Never Exceed: 88 kph Top Level Speed: 80 kph Sink Rate: 80 rnpm Takeoff Run: 61 m Distance to Clear 15 m:
Cruise Speed: 64-72 kph Stall Speed: 29 kph Climb Rate: 180 rnpm 91 m Landing Roll: 45.5 m Ceiling: 3000 m Range at Cruise Speed:
Sink Rate: 90 rnpm Takeoff Run: 15 m Distance to Clear 15 m: 144 km
45 m Landing Roll: 30 m Range at Cruise Speed: 128 km The Sun Ray i s a highly advanced ultralight with an enclosed
The Snoop is an ideal aircraft for inexperienced ultralight pilot's compartment and a hull made of lightweight Kevlar. The
pilots. It is a cable-braced, high-wing monoplane with a pusher engine is mounted behind the pilot, the main wing is an in-
propeller and tricycle landing gear. The pilot cage is located verted gull above and behind the canopy, and the aircraft has
at the craft's center of gravity, eliminating the need to change a forward canard rather than a tail assembly. An added advan-
trim for pilots of different weights. tage is the outrigger pontoons at the dihedral wing breaks,
making the aircraft fully amphibious.
EAGLE 2-PLACE The Sun Ray must be modified to be used offensively in com-
Specifications: Wingspan: 10.6 m Length: 4.5 m Height: 3 m bat, since the pilot is completely enclosed behind his canopy.
Wing Area: 16.4 m2 Engine: 50 h p Rotax 503, two-cylinder Fuel Either the canopy must be removed, or a machinegun is
Capacity: 15 liters Fuel Consumption: 7.5 liters Gross Weight: mounted to the outside hull with slots cut for ammo feed and
295.5 kg Empty Weight: 125 kg Useful Load: 170.5 kg Construc- and a remote firing mechanism.
tion Time: 75 man-hours Field Assembly Time: 15 minutes
Performance: Never Exceed: 88 kph Top Level Speed: 80 kph FLIGHTSTAR
Cruise Speed: 72 kph Stall Speed: 54 kph Climb Rate: 137 rnpm Specifications: Wingspan: 9.1 m Length: 5 m Height: 2.3 m Wing
Sink Rate: 100 rnpm Takeoff Run: 76 m Distance to Clear 15 m: Area: 13.4 m2 Engine: 35 h p Kawasaki TA 440A Fuel Capacity:
91 m Landing Roll: 76 m Ceiling: 2400 m Range at Cruise: 120 km 18.9 liters Fuel Consumption: 6.8 Iph. Gross Weight: 227 kg Empty
The Eagle series of aircraft suspend the pilot's cage and a Weight: 113.5 kg Useful Load: 113.5 kg Construction Time: 20
tricycle landing gear from a main overhead wing mounted man-hours Field Assembly Time: 30 minutes
above the engine with a pusher-type propeller and a canard Performance: Never Exceed: 112 kph Top Level Speed: 101 kph
suspended forward on the main wing's keel tube. The airframe Cruise Speed: 80 kph Stall Speed: 40 kph Climb Rate: 260 mpm
consists of wire-braced aluminum struts held together with Sink Rate: 112 rnpm Takeoff Run: 30.5 m Distance to Clear 15
bolts. m: 91 m Landing Roll: 61 m Ceiling: 3600 m Range at Cruise Speed:
The Eagle 2-place is not a true ultralight within the prewar 240 km
definition of the term and had to be registered as an amateur- The Flightstar is a strut-braced, high-wing monoplane with
built aircraft and piloted by someone with at least a student a tractor propeller and tricycle landing gear. The pilot's canopy
pilot license. It was, however, often used by Eagle dealers to is an open cage with a fiberglass nose and windshield. A V-
train students to fly ultralights, taking advantage of the side- strut assembly supports the wing. The Flightstar has a reputa-
by-side, two-seater pilot's cage. The 50hp engine allows an tion as an excellent flying machine.
unusually large payload-either a passengerlobserver or an ex-
tra load of fuel, weapons, grenades, or jury-rigged bombs. SPECIAL SKILLS
Referee's Note: Ultralight Pilot Skill (UPS) is a special skill
created for the purposes of these rules. It is a subclass of Pilot
Specifications: Wingspan: 10 m Length: 3 m Height: 1.8 m Wing Skill and allows characters to fly ultralight aircraft.
Area: 14.6 m2Engine: 38 h p Kawasaki 440 Fuel Capacity: 18.9 liters Instructor skill allows them to teach the skill to others.
Fuel Consumption: 7.5 Iph. Gross Weight: 216 kg Empty Weighl: Ultralight Pilot Skill can be acquired by player characters in
100 kg Useful Load: 116 kg Construction Time: 8 man-hours Field the same way (instruction or observation) that other skills are
Assembly Time: 30 minutes acquired. Detailed rules are provided to allow the players to
Performance: Never Exceed: 101 kph Top Level Speed: 101 kph role-play ultralight flight and combat for this reason.
Cruise Speed: 72 kph Stall Speed: 37 kph Climb Rate: 152 rnpm Most maneuvers can be carried out in a fairly straightforward
Sink Rate: 712 rnpm Takeoff Run: 23 m Distance to Clear 15 m: fashion. For simple patrols or straight line flights, the infor-
61 m Landing Roll: 23 m Ceiling: 2000 m Range at Cruise Speed: mation provided in the specifications and performance data
182 kph will allow the players and referee to calculate how long it takes
The Foxbat is a hang glider (called the Fledge)with an engine to travel a certain distance, and on how much fuel.
and tricycle landing gear attached. It can be assembled and When a player character faces an enemy NPC in air-to-air
flown either as an ultralight or as a hang glider. There is no combat, it will be necessary for the referee to keep track of
tail assembly; the rudders are set into the vertical wingtips and the relative position of each aircraft o n a blank sheet of paper
are controlled by slider bars. which serves as a map called a plot. The vectors of the air-
GDW Challenge 13

craft can be recorded using arrows of different lengths. 100-65=35% faster rate. A fuel consumption rate of 1.5
Combat occurs in normal combat turns of 30 seconds each, literslhour would increase to about 2 literslhour.
which may be further divided into com bat rounds of 5 seconds Sink: The aircraft loses altitude at any rate up t o the stated
each. To determine distance travelled in 1 combat round, sink rate for that aircraft. The maneuver is used to reduce
multiply each ultralight's speed by .008. in 30 seconds, an altitude. No special rolls are necessary.
ultralight travelling 40 kph will travel .008 x 40= .32 kilometer. Dive: Aircraft loses altitude faster than its sink rate. For each
Relative vectors can be determined by drawing arrows to scale meter of altitude above its sink rate lost in one combat round,
with the distance covered in 30 seconds. For example, .32 add 1 kph to the aircraft's speed. A saving throw must be made
kilometer is represented by an arrow 32 millimeters long, while against the pilot's skill to pull out of the dive. If the throw fails,
.45 kilometer is an arrow 45 millimeters long, and so on. the aircraft continues to dive during the next round, continues
When things are happening very quickly, or when two op- to gain speed, and continues to lose altitude. Pulling out of
posing aircraft are within a few tens of meters of one another, a dive is an AVG task. Control systems damage will make this
it may be necessary to expand the scale. Movements are plot- a DIF task. Pulling out of a dive once the never exceed speed
ted on the map every 5 seconds instead of every 30. All speed is passed, or if the dive is uncontrolled, is a DIF task.
vectors are divided by 5 and a larger scale is used. For exam- A catastrophic failure in the saving throw may result in the
ple, a vector arrow of .32 kilometer (32 millimeters) becomes aircraft breaking apart (regardless of actual speed), going into
.064 km (an arrow 6.4 millimeters long). For convenience, the an uncontrollable dive or spin, or it may (at the referee's op-
scale is increased by a factor of 10, so that the arrow represent- tion) simply make future attempts to pull out of the dive a DIF
ing .064 km-64 meters (medium range for an M16)-is now task.
64 millimeters long. When the scale is increased, all factors, Uncontrolled Dive: An uncontrolled dive may result from
including the distances between all aircraft, must be increased damage, or from failure to recover from a stall. It i s handled
as well, of course. in exactly the same way as a controlled dive, but pulling out
The range between aircraft can be determined by measur- is a DIF task.
ing the distance between their positions on the plot. With the Pulling out of an uncontrolled dive once the never exceed
expanded 10-to-I scale, a distance of 50 millimeters represents speed i s reached, or with damaged control systems, becomes
50 meters. a VDIF (very difficult) task; the pilot's skill level is divided by
Though it won't always be necessary, precise range can be 3 rather than 2.
calculated between aircraft when the aircraft are at different Side Slip: The aircraft moves to the left or right a distance
altitudes by using the formula AZ+ B2=[Link] which are equal to up to half of what it would travel at its current for-
separated by a range of 100 meters o n the plot, and which are ward speed and loses altitude equal to half its sink rate. The
200 meters apart in altitude, are the square root of maneuver is an AVG task and is used to close with or other-
10,000+40,000, or 223.6 meters apart. wise outmaneuver an opponent, or to make it more difficult
Maneuvers require rolls against the pilot's skill as ESY, AVG, for an opponent to hit you.
and DIF tasks. The following maneuvers are possible. Some A catastrophic failure in the throw may put the aircraft into
may be intentional; others are decidedly unintentional. a spin, or may damage the control systems.
Takeoff: Requires a piloting roll of AVG difficulty. Failure Turn: The aircraft turns, logically enough, to change direc-
results in a mishap, or may result in a collision if there are tion. Turning is an ESY, AVG, or DIF task depending on how
obstacles within the aircraft's stated distance to climb 15 m per- sharp the turn is. Turns are made during combat rounds of
formance stat. At the referee's option, catastrophic failure 5 seconds each.
would result in a particularly bad crash. An ordinary failure A turn of 45O or less (measured with a protractor on the plot
could result in something as relatively minor as slight damage sheet, or simply estimated) is an ESY task.
to the controls or a loss of power. A turn of between 45O and 90' is an AVG task.
Landing: Requires a piloting roll of AVG difficulty. Failure A turn of 90° to 120' is a DIF task.
results in a mishap, with a catastrophic failure resulting in a A 90° (right-angle) turn could be made in a single 5-second
particularly bad mishap (such as flying into a tree), at the round, but this would be an AVG task. The pilot could, instead,
referee's option. spread the turn across two or more 5-second periods as two
Climb: The aircraft may gain altitude at u p to its climb rate. or more ESY tasks; a gentle turn is easier to complete than a
No special rolls are necessary. Climbing uses fuel at a rate ap- sudden, sharp turn.
proximately 50% faster than cruising. Thus, an aircraft with A successful turn will result in the desired change of heading
a fuel consumption rate of 1.5 liters per hour would use 2.25 o n the plot sheet. Failure of a throw may result in a stall (if
liters if it spent the entire hour climbing. The actual amount the aircraft's speed is within 10 kph of its stall speed), a loss
of fuel used can be calculated by determining what propor- of control, or simply failure to achieve the desired heading by
tion of an hour is actually spent climbing, and calculating the some arbitrarily determined amount. (The degrees remaining
fuel consumption accordingly. of the desired turn could be divided by ID, for example, with
Level Flight: Requires n o special rolls. Level flight is general- the result being the actual number of degrees turned.)
ly carried out at cruising speeds and the stated fuel consump- A turn may be combined with a sink maneuver. Failure in
tion figure is used. The pilot may choose to apply full throttle the piloting roll will result in a spin.
to increase his speed. This will increase fuel consumption. For Stall: A stall occurs when the wing's angle of attack is so great
example, if an aircraft cruises at 65% throttle and the pilot (in a steep climb with insufficient power, for example) that the
wants to increase to full throttle, he will use fuel at a airflow across the wing's upper surface is broken, causing loss
14 Challenge GDW

- -

of lift. to dictate, from damage to the aircraft to loss of control or an

In game terms, the aircraft goes into a stall when its forward uncontrolled spin. The referee may simply require a second
speed falls below the listed stall speed. The aircraft will lose saving throw to be made to represent some last-second
5 kph from its speed, lose altitude equal to its sink rate in one maneuvering in a sudden crosswind or tight spot, with unfor-
turn, then regain the lost speed at the end of the turn. The tunate consequences if this roll fails as well.
pilot must recover from the stall at the end of the turn, Docking: Ultralights may also dock in flight with a dirigible
however, or he will go into a spin or an uncontrolled dive. by coming u p underneath the dirigible's hangar deck, match-
The pilot may go into a deliberate stall in order to begin a ing speeds, and easing forward onto the landing platform. This
dive since this will reduce his forward speed and extend the is an AVG task. Success results in a successful docking aboard
range of his dive. He may also use a controlled series of stalls the dirigible. Failure results either in damage to the aircraft as
to reduce altitude without increasing speed-on a landing ap- it flies into the dirigible structure, or a stall, depending on
proach, for example. A stall may also occur as the result of whether the pilot was approaching too fast or not fast enough.
damage taken in combat. It could also result in loss of control. On a failed roll the referee
Recovery from a stall is an AVG task. Failure to make the sav- may simply require a second saving throw to represent some
ing throw results in a spin. tricky last-second maneuvering, with unfortunate conse-
Spin: A spin is a rotation of the aircraft about a vertical axis, quences if this roll, too, fails.
coupled with a drastic loss of altitude. It may occur as the result Glide: Ultralights are descended from hang gliders, and while
of damage (such as loss of the tail section) or as a result of a not generally designed as gliders, they will serve in that capacity
stall while turning. if the engine quits.
In game terms, an ultralight in a spin does not move forward An aircraft in a glide may continue to fly and maneuver nor-
at all but remains in the same location on the map. Its altitude mally. However, it will descend at its sink rate. The only way
decreases, however. to gain speed is to go into a dive; otherwise the aircraft's speed
In a controlled spin, altitude will decrease at a rate of 30 will remain at the speed at which it was travelling when the
meters130 seconds until the aircraft's sink rate i s reached. engine quit.
In an uncontrolled spin, altitude will decrease at a rate of All maneuvers are one level more difficult while gliding than
30 meters130 seconds until the aircraft's never exceed velocity with powered flight. Thus, an ESY turn becomes AVG, while
is passed. It will then maintain that speed until the aircraft a DIF maneuver becomes VDIF. Automatic tasks such as level
crashes or the spin is controlled. flight become ESY tasks requiring a roll to succeed.
As soon as an aircraft goes into a spin the pilot must make Gliding ultralights cannot climb. The referee may allow brief
a roll for an AVG task to control the spin. If he fails, the spin periods of level flight as an experienced pilot takes advantage
becomes uncontrolled. A pilot in a controlled spin must make of thermals (rising columns of warm air) but these will be sharp-
a saving throw every 30 seconds to retain control of the spin. ly limited.
When the pilot wants to pull out of a controlled spin he must Once the aircraft drops below 15 meters the pilot i s com-
make a separate roll as an AVG task to do so. The spin will mitted to a landing. Rough ground or tree-blocked terrain is
end at the aircraft's current altitude at the aircraft's stall speed. likely to cause a crash or mishap. It will be up to the referee
The aircraft's heading at this point will be random, and deter- to determine the pilot's chances of finding a suitable landing
mined by the referee. place given the area over which he was flying.
A pilot in an uncontrolled spin must make a saving throw Gliding may be used to extend an ultralight's range with the
as a DIF task to make the spin a controlled spin. Catastrophic pilot killing the motor for periods then turning it on to gain
failure results in the breakup of the aircraft. Failure means the altitude.
spin (and fall) continues. Success means the spin becomes a Complex Tasks: Flying an ultralight and engaging in combat
controlled spin with velocity reduced to the aircraft's sink rate, at the same time can be tricky. The pilot must keep one hand
and the pilot must make another saving throw to come out (or both knees!) on the control stick while using one or both
of the spin altogether. hands to aim and fire his weapon. All flying tasks attempted
If the rate of descent of an uncontrolled spin reaches the while engaging in combat become one level more difficult.
aircraft's never exceed velocity, the aircraft may break up, or Thus, automatic tasks (such as holding the aircraft steady in
it may suffer damage which will make pulling out of the spin straight and level flight) become ESY tasks, requiring a die roll,
more difficult. In any case, the pilot is in serious trouble. ESY tasks (such as a 20° turn) become AVG, and difficult tasks
Never Exceed: Once the never exceed speed is passed there (such as pulling out of an uncontrolled dive) become VDIF,
is a basic 10% chance, rolled at the beginning of each combat requiring division of the pilot's skill by 3 rather than 2.
round, that the aircraft's structure will fail and an additional This reduction in skill is applied both to flying and combat
20% chance that the aircraft will suffer damage to its control tasks. Attempting to turn and fire during the same combat
systems. Thus a Dl00 roll of 510 results in the breakup of the round will result in the range being effectively increased for
aircraft in midair, while a roll of 11-30 will result in systems that shot. For example, a character trying to fire at an oppo-
damage and greater difficulty (or disaster,) in subsequent at- nent at medium range while turning his aircraft 40' must roll
tempts to regain control. for the turn as an AVG task, and must resolve his attack as for
Midair Launch: Ultralights may be launched from a dirigible long range with that weapon. Weapons normally requiring two
in flight. This requires a roll for an ESY task. Success results hands and a steady position to fire them (such as a submachine
in the aircraft flying 10 meters below the dirigible at the same gun or rifle, as opposed to a pistol) will have their base to hit
course and speed. Failure results in anything the referee cares Continued on Page 46
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GDW JTAS 17

Across the
tures, personalities, and
THE BIG DIFFERENCE technology.
From The Traveller Book:
"To begin [playing Traveller], TRAVELLER BOOKS
start out small, especially if Don't cheat yourself. A
you are also new to Traveller. wide-ranging campaign is dif-
Don't try to run something of ficult and there i s no reason
breathtaking scope the first for you to make it harder than
time out; the record-keeping it needs to be. Make use of
alone will overwhelm you, the many Traveller products
and your players will rapidly available that will do some of
lose interest." But now you've your work for you. The Atlas
played those smaller cam- of the lmperium is out of
paigns. Both you, as the print, but you may still be
referee, and your players able to find it in your local
have learned the basic store, or a friend might have
Traveller rules, and they feel a copy you could borrow.
comfortable with the game. That book alone will save you
They're ready for a big hours of sector generation.
challenge, and you want to (Naturally, if you enjoy doing
give it to them. this, don't let the availability
But it isn't easy. Large-scale of the book stop you from
campaigns have different rolling up your own personal
problems than do smaller gaming sessions, or adventures that universe.)
begin and end in a few sessions. Record-keepingi s one of the Book 6, Scouts, has a wealth of additional information for
biggest headaches in bigger games, but there are other pro- world generation as do the books Grand Survey and Grand Cen-
blems, too. This article will give you hints and tips to simplify sus by Digest Group Publications. The GameLords environment
your life as the referee when you're ready to take this ambitious series can be useful for details of individual worlds also. For
step and give your players a more complex large-scale creating NPCs, books such as 7001 Characters, 76 Patrons, and
campaign. Citizens of the lmperium can be precious time-savers.
If large-scale campaigns are so much work, are they worth If you or a friend can program a computer, let it do much
the trouble? Definitely! While shorter "one-shot" adventures of your generating "grunt work." It's fun to hand generate
are fun, they don't equal the satisfaction you and your players worlds and characters, of course, but in a large-scale campaign
can derive from a well-orchestrated campaign that spans a you might need so many that you'll wear all the spots off your
wider range of space and time in a consistent fashion. dice if you don't have some help. A computer can kick out hun-
My own expertise in this area comes from running what is dreds of worlds instantly, letting you pick the good ones. Most
now the largest-scale campaign for Traveller ever published. importantly, this assistance gives you the time and mental
As editor of the Travellers' Digest, I have helped shepherd four energy to do the real creative work of the campaign, fleshing
characters across five sectors, from the Spinward Marches to out the numbers to come up with a consistent world.
Core. Future issues will take these adventurers on to Terra, into
Aslan space, and back to the Spinward Marches across the J-5 HELP FROM YOUR PLAYERS
route. This grand excursion has taken the players 24 months You need not do all the work yourself. Let your players help
of playing time so far, with eight quarterly issues already in out if you are short on time. They can each roll up a world's
print. (The characters have spent more than 36 months doing basic library data stats. You can then take up where they leave
this.) off to create the bells and whistles that the players will discover
I'm still learning new tricks all the time from several sources. only as you lead their characters through the adventure.
Traveller is a big enough game to keep learning more rules This method also adds extra color just because your players
(which are more ways to keep excitement high for the players). will do things a little differently than you would have. Variety
The players themselves keep learning, and as they mature in i s the spice of life, whether that life is genuine or played in
terms of the game, they make my life both easier and more a game. Remember that Traveller has this solitaire playability.
challenging as I strive to keep them interested and they think When the whole group cannot get together, you or some of
up new responses to scenarios. Player interraction should give your players can still play the game by doing such things as
you plenty of ideas about their desires concerning future generating worlds and characters, conducting trade, and
adventures (if they're bored with the present scenario, don't designing ships. Traveller's more advanced rules, such as High
make the next one similar to it-try something new). And the Guard and Scouts make these sessions almost as challenging
"real world" keeps growing, giving me new ideas for adven- and interesting as play itself, and more often than not sharpen
18 JTAS GDW

In the Travellers' Digest, for example, we have made use of

both of these methods. In the first adventure of the campaign
we set up a situation that would result in the characters being
knighted by the Duke of Deneb. Emperor Strephon then
desired that the characters come to Capital to be officially
knighted in an Imperial ceremony. By providing them with Im-
perial space-required vouchers, he made travel there easy. This
made use of the "courier" concept because the characters had
to deliver themselves to Capital. The situation simultaneously
solved the problem of travel expenses for at least part of the
trip.
For the next major leg of their journey, we will use the
historical method; the characters will continue o n to Terra,
which is interesting as the homeworld of the human race.
Since such travel must be made through the Imperium, to
be a wide-range adventure it is necessary to use an "imperial"
reason for travel, something that involves more than one loca-
tion. A local affair will not work for this.

TRADE
Another more obvious source of interworld travel i s trade.
If the characters have a ship, you can manipulate the markets
in such a way that their most lucrative profits can be made by
everyone's Traveller skills. continuing t o travel farther and farther in one direction. his
works in a campaign only when there is no hurried time table
A FEW WORDS OF WARNING that the characters must meet. Trade also has the advantage
I can't tell you how to successfully run a large-scale campaign of providing a means of travel as well as a motive.
in five words, but I can tell you how to wreck a large-scale cam-
paign using that many-let i t grow too fast. Don't lose control THE WHEEL METHOD
of your game. When a player character becomes a sector duke, A simple way to run a far-ranging campaign is what I call the
or when they each have personal Ancient artifacts that "wheel method." Start the player characters at a certain world
disintegrate opponents with a thought, you'll find it harder and and then let them radiate out into surrounding areas like the
harder to think up challenging scenarios. spokes of a wheel from a central axle. This allows you the
Keep things a manageable size. Naturally, a large-scale cam- pleasure of developing one world in more detail, since the
paign has more in it than a short adventure, but that's no ex- characters will be returning to it again and again.
cuse to let things get away from you. Stay o n top of the situa-
tion with advance organization, and you'll find life a lot simpler. BACK AND FORTH CAMPAIGNS
Take your time in developing your campaign, and you'll find Sometimes twice as much work is easier. That is, when plan-
that it grows naturally by itself. Sure, it will need regular water- ning a long-range campaign, start it at both ends with two
ing and fertilizing, but if you're spending all your resources groups of characters (played by the same players, of course).
pruning the overgrowth, neither you nor your players will find They can work toward each other, meeting in the middle or
time to enjoy the game. retracing steps to get back to one of the original endpoints.
This has several advantages. One is that the referee can use
SIZE AND SPACE the two different locations to develop two different types of
The primary necessity for a large-scale campaign is a large overall environment and culture, perhaps crossing an Imperial
area of space. To get this, the easiest way is to pick two loca- border t o get two different "flavors" at the two ends.
tions some distance apart. The first is the beginning and the By playing back and forth between the two locations, this
second is the destination. This seems easy enough, but more method also gives the referee time to develop more intricate
important is a motive for the travel between the two locations. plots at one end while the characters are busy at the other.
There are several approaches that can be used to develop these The players themselves are happy because of the variety of
motives. playing multiple characters. At the same time, less experienced
One of these approaches is the "courier" method. If the players will learn good habits in playing more than one
characters need to deliver a person or a package to the destina- character. One common problem is that new players have an
tion, the entire problem is solved. By making sure that there improper tendency to share possessions between their
are plenty of interferences between the two locations, the characters. If the characters are far enough away from each
adventure keeps moving. other that they don't even know each other, this possibility
A second technique is the "historical" or "tourist" approach. is eliminated.
With this method, the referee presents a situation so that the This technique also makes it easier to use more than one
characters are interested in travelling to the destination by vir- race in the campaign, since different groups of characters at
tue of its historical importance. 1 different locations would be more likely to be from different
GDW 19

races. It would be easy, for example, to have a campaign span source. We saw an article once about the problem of space
the border between the lmperium and Vargr space. Vargr debris becoming a hazard to satellites orbiting the earth. This
player characters could start at one location and humans could became the basis of a piece of library data mentioning the
start at the other. destruction of a Vargr vessel that collided with just such debris,
Very intricate plots can be developed by working both ends just more local color in that case, but it was food for thought
against the middle. It is difficult even for a good referee to think for players, reminding them again that Traveller was different
of all the ins and outs of a situation immediately. But if there from their daily lives.
are "vacations" from the campaign, the referee has an oppor- Another article on the possibility of new fruits and vegetables
tunity t o develop events that will stimulate the players. through the use of cloning is clipped and filed away. Some
Remember that everyone is active, not only the player day we will use it in an adventure as flavor. It could end u p
characters. Political groups will continue to grow (or shrink, as a library data entry, or as part of a continuing look at how
as the case may be). Trade will go on. Battles and disagreements life at high tech levels is different by showing such advances
will not disappear just because the players are busy with a dif- in the course of an adventure. Such a description of a product
ferent part of the campaign. To handle this, keep in mind that would also add interest to a ship's cargo.
absent characters are still active, then think logically about what Any newspaper can fill the bill for this purpose, particularly
their actions would be. While the player characters battle the if it is one that your players do not read. Go to the public library
intricacies of one adventure, you have time to invent new and find the Christian Science Monitor or the Sunday New York
characters and new situations at another location, giving the Times (this won't work if you live in New York) or another large
illusion that all of these events were preplanned. This way small newspaper with regular science and human interest sections.
acorns can grow into large oaks. Find the science magazines and read them with an eye to how
you can use new discoveries in an adventure setting. Almanacs
A VARGR EXAMPLE and trivia books can serve the same purpose. Seek and you
For example, in our campaign we once prepared some library shall find.
data for a sector that mentioned that a certain world was
popular with Vargr because it was an Ancient site and an un- PEOPLE AND OTHER LIVING THINGS
named Vargr had written a number of books about it. The en- Personalitiescan make or break a campaign. No, I don't mean
tire mention was only a line or two in the library data. Several the personality of the referee or of the players, I refer to the
months later, we wanted to center an adventure around an An- personalities of the NPCs. If a campaign is wide-ranging,
cient site a whole sector away. We also wanted to include some characters will meet more NPCs than they would otherwise,
Vargr in the adventure to give it extra spice. and this means more work for the referee.
Naturally we thought of the earlier mention of the Vargr, Fortunately, there are ways to make this effort easier and
although we had had nothing specific in mind at the time we more worthwhile. As discussed before, reuse characters if
invented him. He was just "color" added for no real reason. possible to fit in with the theme of the campaign. Since the
At this time we rolled him u p as an NPC and put him in charge player characters are "travellers" by definition of the game,
of an excavation at an Ancient site. Here the illusion for the the individuals they meet are more likely t o be travellers also.
players was that we had planned this whole scenario in If your player characters meet a certain trader in a spaceport
advance. on Junidy, i t should not be too surprising if they see him again
To continue with the example, at that time we wanted some at the Regina spaceport. Don't overdo this or you will have an
extra peculiarity in the Vargr. We took a small paragraph from entourage tailing your characters, but an occasional "chance"
the Vargr module which mentioned the Church of the Chosen meeting (you decide if the meeting was really accidental, of
Ones and developed a belief system for them. We put a few course) gives a sense of continuity to the campaign. If your
adherents in the adventure and they served their purpose at characters go through Vland customs once and must deal with
the time. A few months later we dug this mine again t o create a pesky official, the next time they arrive at Vland you can use
another Vargr character for a later adventure. that official again.
Again the repeat of the earlier theme gave a sense of con-
tinuity to the campaign even though the ideas were developed MORE NPC ADVICE
at quite different times. Who knows; one of these themes may Where can you get NPCs and how can you make them seem
even appear again in another future adventure. We won't know real to your players? Read a lot. Meet a lot of different people
until we decide t o use one, but the players will not know this yourself. Learn the diversity present in your fellow man. Then
was not planned all along unless we tell them. draw upon this well in your campaign. If you have the time
When themes reappear, the players have a sense of playing and the inclination, take a cultural anthropology class at a local
the game in a "real" universe, because over time they grow university. Plutarch's Lives o f the Ancient Greeks and Romans
accustomed to old "friends" cropping up. As a referee, I get is a beautiful book for different personalities and motivations,
a real kick out of hearing one of my players say, "Oh, yeah, and I guarantee you will be able to find it in your library.
we met one of these guys at that adventure we played in Deneb One of my favorite techniques for "instant" personalities is
last summer." to use a real person. When the characters question the clerk
of the local TAS hostel, I think of a friend I knew in high school
THEMES AND MORE THEMES or college, or one of the teachers. I saw these people day in
Where can the referee get these themes? Almost anywhere, and day out for years, so it's pretty easy to guess their reac-
as long as he knows how to look. Newspapers are an excellent tions, and to mimic their personality traits. This will take a lit-
 Health in a long-term campaign is an important issue. If a
character dies or is otherwise unable to actively participate,
another character must be introduced for the player who has
lost that character. If you use the wheel method, your players
may play several different characters from a particular world

In this case, if a character is out of the action, the player can

use one of his other characters from the same locale. You as
referee must make sure that the introduction of the character

If a player does not have another character already available

in the same area, then a new one must be generated and you
must again make sure that the addition of this character into
the campaign makes sense.
There are other methods that can be used to help characters
continue in the campaign as long as these methods are not

tle practice if you're not used to it, but your players will then in life-threatening situations.
always encounter three-dimensional characters instead of card- This does not mean that you should "make life easy on the
board cutouts. Since everyone seems "real," your players won't players." When combat happens, it happens, and you must
know which of these encounters is important and which is "just not interfere with it when it does. If characters are hurt, they
some guy in the starport." are hurt, and the players can only hope that medical science
can bring them back up t o full health. If you fudge rolls or give
WAKING UP FROM THE BOOKKEEPING NIGHTMARE characters rewards that they have not earned, you will find your
How can you best organize all of this material? Get a three- campaign becoming weaker rather than stronger. Anything
ring binder with divider tabs. Label one tab for each world. worth having is worth waiting for.
Then put in your information. Use books such as Scouts, In the field of medical science, there are some things that
Grand Survey, and Grand Census to create more world detail can be done to save a favorite character from the jaws of death.
and put that in the book. Develop important NPCs ahead of At higher tech levels, doctors can revive "dead" patients in
time and put them in the book. Maps of the world and its im- some circumstances, and working toward a successful
portant cities should also go in. If you can, put the gist of the "rebirth" could form an adventure scenario in itself. (Natural-
information on a separate page which you can show to the ly, the player involved would have to run a different character
players for library data. They should never see the material for these sessions.) See Journal # I 1 for the details of this
straight from your notebook because it contains too much in- medical procedure.
formation for their tender eyes.
If an NPC moves from one world to another, then move the KEEP IT SMALL
page with his information to that section of the book. Keep The secret to having a successful wide-ranging campaign is
a table of contents at the front of the book with each NPC's not to let it grow larger than you can handle. The key is to start
name in alphabetical order. When you move the pages for that small. Begin with one or two worlds worked out to some
NPC to another world, make sure that you update the table degree of detail. Give your players characters on each of these
of contents so you can find that information later. worlds, then let them loose. If you have not decided on a theme
Moving these pages physically automatically makes sure that or two you will probably find that your players come u p with
NPCs are "real." That is, you must not move a page more than a few by themselves. A character that steals something precious
once every week since travel time must be kept in account. may be chased halfway across the galaxy. The reoccurrence
When you move a page for a certain date, jot down the details of his pursuers gives a (pleasant?) feeling of continuity to the
of the trip, time, and means of passage so that you can refer campaign while with each new world reached for refuge, your
to it later on. In effect, each NPC has his own diary page. If campaign gets bigger. This step-by-step growth is easy to han-
you keep these up to date, when the characters arrive at I dle and you are not swamped with work by a sudden deluge
another world you can flip to that section of the notebook and of worlds.
instantly tell which NPCs they might run across while there. If your characters move too fast for you, erect barriers to
Different colors of notebook paper can be used t o instantly them. Make sure these barriers are genuine by thinking them
alert you if an NPC i s a particularly important patron, merely u p ahead of time. A high law level world can help by locking
a clerk, or some shade between. Similar systems using note up part of the group. Once thought up, these barriers can be
cards or computer files can be developed. used whenever appropriate-just keep a list of simple ideas
GDW JTAS 21

You should have a general idea ahead of time concerning i s a red herring. The fun of a large-scale campaign is that you
who made off with this thing, but you can change this later and your characters have the time for some real fishing. You'll
as long as it fits with the facts so far. If this is too difficult, but find that some of these red herrings become important themes
you want t o connect the incident to some other group some that later recur. You don't have to tell the players that this
distance away, let the second group swipe it from the original wasn't what you had in mind from the very beginning.
thieves. Just remember to have a motive.
YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN
THE MAGIC QUESTION Perhaps you've played Traveller for years, and you've run a
Before any NPC does anything important, make sure you can few big adventures already. If you've read this far, you must
reasonably answer "Why?" Practice this, and you'll soon find have learned something you can inject into your campaign to
yourself with a multitude of usable ideas. In the incident just give it some extra spice.
mentioned, think of five reasons for stealing something before If you've never run a large-scale campaign, your head may
reading on. be spinning with all these tips. This issue's Amber Zone arti-
Got 'em? Compare yours to mine: I ) the obvious cash value; cle shows you step by step how a large-scale campaign can
2) religious or cultural importance; 3) desire to get others in be developed. Try it out and let me know in a few years how
trouble by leaving false clues that point to them; 4) the item your adventure is progressing.
is part of a set, and the thief owns the rest of the set; 5) the -Gary L. Thomas
museum personnel were rude, and the thief is performing a
quick snatch-and-run "revenge." If yours don't match, then Reading Gary's article reminds me of my first attempts to play
that means you have more than five ideas now, and two or Traveller. I set immediately to work mapping out a huge star
three of these already sound like the basis for a mystery adven- cluster with perhaps three thousand systems in it. I designed
ture. Pick the one you like best, and then leave clues for one about twenty worlds to my satisfaction, and then promptly lost
of the other motivations. Let your characters loose and presto, interest-before play could even begin.
instant scenario. M y point is that the temptation to make things too large is
Why is it so important to be able to come u p with these "in- hard to ignore. Gary is right when he suggests you keep even
stant" scenarios? Because in a large-scale campaign, you need your large-scale campaigns as small and manageable as possi-
a lot of things going o n at once. Even if you aren't running a ble. If you don't, not only you but your players will lose in-
"solve-the-theft" adventure, you can still broadcast the loss terest as well. If you plan to roll-up the entire galaxy, go ahead,
over the evening news and leave your players wondering but don't expect to have an exciting campaign because of all
whether it's important or not. your random data.
M y two cents? Even in a campaign which spans the galaxy
RED HERRINGS involve a most-likely straight line journey. Design the worlds
These false leads go by the general name of "red herrings." on the most likely route first, then go on to some of the more
Over the course of time, you'll need hundreds of these in a interesting worlds just off of that route. Only a spectacular
large-scale campaign. NPCs need interesting motivations; event or attraction will draw the players far off their course,
worlds must have their interesting features; events take place. so design those last. Cut your work whenever possible.
Any of these not directly germane to the main adventure theme -Timothy B. Brown
22 JTAS GDW

A Human
K9kree Sta~ h i p s :Perspective
Note: The author of this piece is Brian Stokes, a Vilani Pro- ferred to often; keep these available for occasional inspection.
fessor of Sociology at the Tomutov Institute, Antares. His The Hull: From the outside, the Xeekr'kir! is a huge vessel
travels have made him something of an authority on K'kree in the shape of a flattened sphere over a hundred meters
behavior and methods- Mr. Stokes is a familiar face to holovi- across. In human terms, this would be a huge merchant vessel,
sion viewers throughout the Antares sector. but to the K'kree it i s merely a run-of-the-mill ship capable of
The K'kree have not taken as readily to spaceflight as have carrying a moderate amount of material.
their human neighbors-among their own kind it is still the The hull is a polished white poly-ceramic sitting on three sup-
"madman" who will even submit to work within such a con- port legs. Access to and from the vessel is gained through the
fining device as a spaceship. The lmperium relies heavily on rear of the vessel using a ramp which lowers from the hull to
its space lanes and the flow of people and materials between ground level. The upper front of the saucer-shaped ship houses
planets; they need thousands of ships to keep moving every the bridge, and this area is a clear ceramic, allowing direct
standard day. The K'kree, on the other hand, call upon each visual contact for the comfort of the otherwise confined bridge
of their worlds to support its own population; far fewer ships personnel. I n the vessel I travelled in, this ceramic was one-
need move between K'kree stars. way, allowing light from the outside in but appearing glossy
But commerce does take place, nevertheless. K'kree mer- black to the outside observer.
chant vessels carry mostly specialized materials such as ex- The Ramp: Entering a K'kree vessel for the first time will be
otic foodstuffs and scarce repair parts between worlds. Only something of a shock to an unprepared human. We are used
in special instances are great amounts of material necessary to stainless steel, well-groomed spaceships, steward service to
to keep a world's population supplied, and these are general- our staterooms and overall cleanliness of the ship and its
ly taken care of by larger tug-type freighters. passengers. Be warned that a K'kree ship is more like a stable
Relatively small K'kree merchant vessels are still almost than a starship. There is dirt and mud everywhere, tracked
floating cities compared t o human equivalents. The Xeekr'kir! around from the central areas through the rest of the ship by
type merchant, for instance, carries relatively little cargo (on- the excessive number of individuals aboard. Sanitation is un-
ly 34 tons are dedicated to cargo), but has sufficient space common, to say the least (this will be discussed later), and the
to accommodate 74 individual K'kree. It is their race's resulting smell is enough to deter any would-be humanoid
claustrophobia which prevents them from taking fuller advan- visitor. I personally had to wear a filter mask for most of my
tage of ship design technology for their purposes-K'kree ships trip from Antares into the Two Thousand Worlds-the smell
must be enormous by human standards for t w o reasons. First, will literally take your breath away!
each K'kree requires considerable space for his personal com- Cargo: Directly off the large, grubby airlock are the two sec-
fort and sanity. Second, each K'kree actually involved in run- tions of dedicated cargo. These areas are rather confined, and
ning the ship comes with a retinue, or family, which balloons would be difficult for a K'kree t o enter and move about in.
the complement of the ship with non-productive personnel. Therefore, each compartment has a specifically designed cargo
handling robot built into it. The robots can detach themselves
THE HUMAN PERSPECTIVE and move freely, but only when in need of repairs-their only
For humans to understand K'kree ship design and method functions are to handle cargo in these locations.
is difficult. The best way to arrive at such an understanding The Main Compartment: Most of the ship's interior is
i s to actually visit a K'kree ship, particularly while in operation, dedicated to the main compartment, where the K'kree con-
and observe the differences firsthand. This author has done gregate during the long intervals between planets, comforted
just that, travelling as a guest of the Khiir' family in their by their numbers. Any other comforts are artificial. The follow-
Xeekr'kir! class ship from Antares to Kirur and back between ing K'kree-made disguises attest to both the cleverness of the
1109 and 1111. M y experiences have led me to respect this her- designers and the psychological necessity for the illusion of
bivorous race in many areas, not the least of which is their abili- nature.
ty to produce and operate ships despite their natural At either end of the large open compartment are the en-
prejudices. trances to the airlock (aft) and the bridge (forward). These en-
If possible, to more fully comprehend this essay, a tour of trances are hidden by hedges which stand approximately three
a K'kree vessel would be of enormous help to the reader. Such meters off the ground level. Similar hedges circle the compart-
vessels can occasionally be found operating in the trailing por- ment, hiding the exterior walls of the compartment from the
tions of the Imperium-proper petitions to the owners of the ground level up to the beginning of the smooth, featureless
vessel might yield an audience on board. Care should be ex- domed ceiling.
ercised in regard to diet-violent reactions can be expected The compartment has a dirt floor-literally-which is pro-
from the K'kree if the correct precautions are not taken. bably one-half meter thick. There is a ground cover of grass
from end to end, and random plants growing all around the
THE XEEKR'KIR! compartment. O n my vessel there were gardens planted in
We will examine the Xeekr'kir! vessel in the order it would various areas, where many of the non-specialized K'kree spent
appear to a new visitor. The diagrams here (holographic, video, many hours each "day" tending crops of delicacies for both
or paper, depending on the version of this essay) will be re- enjoyment and consumption.
GDW JTAS 23

The central feature of the main compartment is a huge tree rapidly as well. The bacteria is also airborne, and is carried by
at its very center. This is an artificial tree disguising a pillarlstrut the simulated breezes t o be distributed more evenly around
essential to the structural integrity of the ship. It also houses the main compartment. The grasslbacteria symbiont was
many of the environmental controls essential to the mental genetically engineered especially for this task.
well-being of the K'kree o n board. Certain Imperial worlds have taken great measures to isolate
For instance, the "tree" houses an image projector for the K'kree ships from their ecospheres out of fear of this bacteria
domed ceiling of the main compartment. When in use, the pro- use. They feel that the bacteria will be a danger when it leaves
jector regularly simulates the light level of the K'kree home the ship during any landing on their planet, be it by air or on
planet, Kirur, complete with a moving sun, an image of Kirur's the hoofs of the K'kree themselves. However, this fear is com-
large satellite Kirrixur, and a daylnight cycle exactly simulating pletely unfounded. The bacteria is designed t o cycle only
a standard Kritur, or K'kree day. Clouds are projected to move through the grass on the K'kree ships. If it does not do so, it
overhead, and storm clouds are timed to coincide with a light dies. Even if an area of the engineered grass were to be
misty rain generated from the ceiling and the top of the tree. transplanted into the ecosphere, its related bacteria would only
The simulated rainfall is quite important to the K'kree survive in that limited area, where i t could be detected and
passengers. It gives them a great deal of comfort and soothes removed if it were doing any harm. The bacteria has been
them while i t lasts, and is almost the sole contributor to their thoroughly tested and is harmless to all lifeforms.
personal hygiene. With the rain and the simulated sunlight a M y "stateroom" o n this flight was any particular place I
variety of native plants grow and flourish within the ship. To wished to sleep. Obviously, my stay with the K'kree on their
complete the effect, there are breeze generators (fans) located ship was more like a camping trip than an interstellar voyage.
in the tree which regulate the airflow in the compartment, I had a tent t o keep out the wind, the rain, and what smells
creating winds which vary in direction, intensity, and I could. M y foods were limited to what I brought with me and
temperature. what I could stand to eat from the gardens of my hosts. In short,
Also, I found out, much to my chagrin, that the odors readi- travel on a K'kree ship is really roughing it.
ly in abundance from the K'kree complement on the ship were The Bridge: The K'kree bridge i s larger than one might be
scarcely enough to simulate life on the plains of Kirur. To sup- on a human ship. Obviously, K'kree are larger than men and
plement these smells, special odor emitters are also housed they wish to be as comfortable as possible while on duty. The
in the tree which pump out all the native smells of Kirur, in- ceiling of the bridge is clear ceramic, giving the bridge crew
cluding natural plant odors, the smells of the sea airs, etc. a striking view of the stars around them. This also gives the
However, to my nose these were "drowned out" by the emis- room avery open feeling it would lose to walls and bulkheads.
sion of sufficient K'kree body odors to simulate not tens of The bridge area is characterized by its interesting K'kree work
K'kree but a plains herd of thousands of them. Needless to stations. Each station is recessed into the floor (a metal floor
say, my trips to the vicinity of the central tree were rare and in the bridge) into which the K'kree sits with his four hind legs.
of short duration. This leaves his forelimbs free t o operate the control panels
Despite my objections, however, the area around the cen- spread out on the floor in front of each station.
tral tree was a preferred area among the K'kree themselves. The captain's station is in the center of the bridge, and can
M y ship had in excess of fifty individuals in it, and except for rotate as necessary. The navigational and engineering stations
occasional departures by a few K'kree to tend gardens or per- are fanned out on the floor in front of him. Scientific stations
form ship's duties, the entire group congregated around the are located o n either side of the bridge.
tree for the entire voyage. The grasses flourished around the Below Decks: The engines and power plant of the Xeekr'kir!
exterior of the main compartment, but were trampled flat are located below the main compartment of the ship on a deck
around the tree. roughly one to two meters in height. This level has no gravity
As a side note, the fire control for the ship is located in the or atmosphere, and is the abode of a master engineering robot
vicinity of the tree, but is concealed underground until need- and his three slave robots. All engineering functions are taken
ed. During an emergency situation an alarm is sounded. The care of by these robots-the level is too small for K'kree t o
K'kree assured me that this is a simulated cry of the long ex- enter. From the main compartment occasional activity can be
tinct Cnaak. However, to my human ears the alarm was heard from below, but rarely anything substantial. The
somewhat less threatening, sounding more like the gobbling engineering robots move about tirelessly, maintaining the
of a Terran turkey. The fire control stations emerge from the machinery t o which they are tied.
dirt floor to be operated by K'kree gunners in the safety and The Xeekr'kir! is designed specifically for the K'kree race.
comfort of the main compartment. Remote fire control is the Humans would find it difficult to control the vessel or use it
rule among K'kree ships. for their purposes without extensive modifications.
The methods of waste removal on the Xeekr'kir! are at once The Two Thousand Worlds can offer us in the lmperium
primitive and highly sophisticated. N o specific facilities are ap- endless possibilities for trade, cooperation, and fascination.
parent for the removal of K'kree waste, which, over the period Brief encounters such as mine can yield valuable information
of a one week jump, would be expected to pile pretty high about their culture, their everyday lives, and themselves. The
in the simulated meadowlands. Instead, there is a symbiontic K'kree, I'm certain, would also like to learn more about us. Con-
relationship between the grasses of the floor and a bacteria tact on the personal level is the first step toward interstellar
designed to immediately decompose K'kree wastes. The cooperation between our two races, and it i s u p to the in-
bacteria breaks the waste down much more quickly than nature terested individual to begin that contact in his own way.
would be able to, and the grass absorbs the nutrients more -Rob Caswell and Timothy B. Brown
 Using a 6000-ton hull, the K'kree merchant is typical of most commercial
starships in the Two Thousand Worlds, and is frequently encountered as
a vessel operated by a merchant family-it i s a standard mustering-out
benefit for some K'kree merchants. It has jump drive-2, power plant-2,
and maneuver drive-I, giving a performance of jump-2 and I - G ac-
celeration. Fuel tankage of 1320 tons supports the power plant and
allows one jump-2. Adjacent to the bridge is a computer Model12.
Accommodations for u p t o 80 individuals are available. There
are 12 hardpoints and 24 tons set aside for fire control; no
weapons are initially mounted. There are no ship's vehicles.
Cargo capacity varies with crew size; 34 tons are always
available, plus 48 tons per individual not carried on board.
The ship is unstreamlined.
The merchant requires a crew of six: pilot, four
engineers, and medic; retinues of these individuals can
provide needed technicians, gunners, servant and
stewards, etc. A total of 74 family members or
passengers can be carried. The ship costs MCr2322.18
(including 10% discount for standard designs) and
takes 33 months to build.

K'kree Engineering Robot Master

54010-02-NP32E-P475
Fuel = Interfacelbattery Duration = Indefinite11 hour
TL=13
Speed = 0
20150 (mesh)
4 light arms
Basic sensor package, magnetic sensor, radiation sen-
sor, mass sensor, neutrino sensor
Power interface
Master unit
Radio, distant
TL13 holo recorder
Laser welder
Mechanical tool package
Electronic tool package
Engineering-4, Mechanical-4, Electronics-4, ConstructionlFab-
rication-2

The master engineer is immobile, positioned in the center of the

lower deck. Its arms are capable of reaching and manipulating many
of the engine components-those it cannot reach it instructs a slave
t o attend to. The constructionlfabrication program in this case allows
the master to fabricate some engine parts when spares are unavailable.

Front View
-4
Engineering Deck
26 GDW

Behind the Scenes

This Amber Zone is different from many I thought that an interesting scenario
that have been published in Challenge or could be woven to include it.
in The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Socie-
ty in the past. For one thing, this Amber
Zone i s a large-scale Amber Zone, cover-
AM~ERZONE The first thing I did, having chosen this
sector, was to use highlighter markers to
color in the "mains" of the sector. Start-
ing a wider region than is typical. Second, this Amber Zone ing with any color at any world, I proceeded to color in all the
will allow the referee inside my own thought processes to gain worlds that could be reached using only a jump-1 vessel. (Use
a "behind the scenes" look at how to construct and run a large- a photocopy of the page so you can later use different color
scale campaign. schemes for other information.) This was meant only as a rough
rule-of-thumbindication, so I blithely included starport X desert
IN THE BEGINNING worlds in my mains, even though such a world would effec-
Every campaign, large or small, has to start somewhere. For tively stop a jump-1 ship from arriving there. I did not include
this Amberzone, I thumbed through theAtlas ofthelmperium non-Imperial worlds in the mains, and left them uncolored.
and chose the Antares Sector. Why? It was a new sector to me, It turns out that most of the worlds in the central and rim-
so I could have free rein in whatever I did; but there i s more ward areas of Antares Sector belong to one large main, stretch-
to it than that. Look at the sector map more closely, and you'll ing from Antares 2505 at the top, clear down to the bottom
see that it is chockful of opportunities for adventure situations of the sector. This looked good, but there were still enough
involving many elements. gaps and travel inconveniences that I made a mental note to
Most of its coreward edge consists of Vargr worlds, outside consider jump-2 transportation for the characters.
the reach of Imperial law. The coreward-rimward corner con-
tains part of the Joint Action Confederation, labeled "jr" on AND WORLDS
the map. Just coreward of Antares lie the worlds of the League For the next step (still in preparation, without player
of Antares, labeled "la." Finally, this sector contains Sabmiqys assistance), I rolled up UPPs for some of the worlds around
(Antares 2117), and having some foreknowledge of this world, Sabmiqys. At this stage of the game, I am still drifting without
a fixed goal, letting my mind wander into whatever nooks
and crannies it can discover on its own. Genius, as they
say, is 99 percent perspiration and one percent inspira-
tion. Rolling up worlds is part of the perspiration.
I used a Pascal program to simplify the process. I let
it print out 40 random worlds for each starport class, and
then fitted world stats onto the map as appropriate. If you
don't have a computer, roll 'em by hand. Keep alert in
this step-we're looking for anything out of the ordinary
that we can spin into an adventure.
Remember, too, that you are the referee; if you want
to do something your own way, go ahead. You're the boss.
Things don't have to come out randomly, and sometimes
your flat decision is the key that turns the lock and makes
the adventure click. When I was writing my Shudusham
adventure, I hand-rolled more than 25 different worlds
until I got one that I liked. In the end, I combined the
physical characteristics from one with the cultural
characteristics of another world.
Was this a monstrous waste of time? No, because the
random nature of the rolls made me consider some op-
tions I would have otherwise overlooked, and one of these
options (the perspiration) gave me a good idea (the
inspiration).
Of course, other methods may be used to come up with
random world statistics. For instance, it is possible to steal
them from Atlas of the Imperium, possibly mixing up the
physical and social statistics from world to world. This way
the random nature of the worlds is preserved, and your
players are not likely to arrive at the next gaming session
convinced they've been to this planet before.
Here's what we have generated so far for the Antares
GDW 27

notebook. When the player characters suddenly decide to in- lector to find out, or perhaps wants the artifact himself, or...
vestigate a world that you hadn't planned on, you'll be ready. The beauty of a long-term adventure is that we don't have to
The players ask about this new world, and you can flip to decide yet. We can play it by ear until we reach that crossroads,
your list and tell them the world's name with little hesitation. I and then give the players what we think they would enjoy the
You'd be surprised how often a definite name adds veracity most.
to a situation, particularly to red herrings. If it i s "just some
world," the players can guess that it is unimportant to the BEGINNING OR END?
adventure, but if it's "Nove" or whatever, your players can't We still have a little more work to do before we can let the
be sure without playing the situation out. scenario loose on the players. They have to start somewhere,
You might also keep a list of UPPs handy, too, for exactly with their own characters, in some situation. As mentioned in
the same reason. You don't need to assign these precisely un- the accompanying article, we can choose a spot as the origin
til necessary, but when the players ask, "What tech level i s or as the destination of an adventure, we can fan out from a
Nove, anyway?" you'll be able to give them a ready answer with central point, or we can work both ends against the middle.
a straight face by picking a set of world stats from your list. Since this is a "puzzle" type adventure, probably with some
action thrown in, it's apparent that we have to work toward
wno AND WHY the answer, so let's start somewhere else. We'll have plenty
Clothes make the man, so the proverb goes. In the same way, of red herrings along the way; we may as well start with one,
characters make the adventure, dressing it up in memorable too. We can set this up then so that the search for the origin
ways. Besides, characters are the best sources for motivations, of the artifact is a "long leashIualways pulling the characters
and without motivations, player characters would tend to just in one main direction over time, even though minor incidents
sit. along the way may entail short detours.
Here's the idea for a patron then. A collector purchased an Looking over the worlds above, Antares 2712 (A56576B-A
unusual artifact from an art dealer. The collector has shown (non-aligned) Ag. Ri.) looks good for the characters'
the device to several technicians at a local university, but none homeworld. With a tech level A and a starport class A, it is solid-
of them knows where the device came from or how it works. ly within the interstellar community, and its position outside
The collector wants to find out. the lmperium may give us some advantages later. Since we
Watching things from behind the scenes, you can probably have already thought up the name Nove, let's use it for this
guess that the artifact I have in mind came from Sabmiqys, with world.
its tech 17 civilization. But your players won't know this unless The artificact is much higher tech than anything on the world
you tell them the adventure concerns Sabmiqys. Mum's the or known as Imperial technology. Maybe it could be an An-
word-and we can proceed with some more frills. cient artifact. I looked in Adventure 12, Secret of the Ancients,
The collector's curiosity provides one motivation, but the to see what I could dig up (sorry about the pun). Here again,
more the merrier. Perhaps another NPC doesn't want the col- perspiration led to inspiration. Listen to this:
28 GDW

"The lmperium has strict laws controlling traffic in artifacts, this mystery. Sounds a little like a noble. Use Citizens of the
which cannot be legally sold unless registered with the Im- Imperium to roll one up, and put him in charge of some smaller
perium...there is an illicit traffic in artifacts. Any artifact besides area on Nove. Double-check the world's UPP:the government
a piece of rubble can usually be sold for more money in the type is captive government or colony. Let's use captive govern-
illegal market than it can to the Imperium." And this: ment, and that will help explain why this guy is here. Choose
"The lmperium has long searched for Ancient sites, but it some nearby world to be the "big bosses." Antares 2812 could
has never been able to find them all. Aware of this, the Im- work, but I'll leave that decision u p t o you-1 can't do all the
perium has established a series of incentive bonuses designed work.
to encourage the reporting of newly located Ancient sites to We want the characters to travel rimward. We may as well
the authorities. A payment of Cr50,OOO is made for reporting overshoot the distance we need to go because then we can
a previously unknown Ancient site to the authorities. A subse- have a bigger campaign and start new characters at the other
quent bonus of between CrlOO and Cr1,000,000 is made de- end. Let's put that off for now, because your players can han-
pending on an analysis of the site i n depth." dle only one character apiece in any given gaming session, so
Notice that magic word, "incentive." Monetary reward could let's begin with Nove.
be a strong motivation for these characters, and the complete Ansenz (Antares 2425) is a good distance away, but it's not
picture starts to fall into place. even generated yet. No problem-we just look up our list of
The collector has an Ancient artifact, which he bought from pre-generated stats and find one that fits. It's a high popula-
some antique dealer who didn't realize what he had. The col- tion world with a B starport, so we can use B656AD8-7. This
lector now wants to trace the source of this artifact, which must one came out of my computer, and it has several salient
be a new Ancient site, since none have been reported in this features. Tech 77 Hmm. Religious dictatorship? Hmm.
part of Antares Sector. The characters' motivation is the initial Possibilities already spring to mind.
discovery bonus, and perhaps an "extra" bonus depending
upon each individual's sense of personal honesty: they could PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
strip the site of the most valuable materials before they report So the noble on Nove wants to find out exactly where his
it to the Imperium. Ancient artifact came from, and he knows his dealer picked
it up at Ansenz. Again the magic question comes into play:
ON WITH THE SHOW why? Always, always, always, test NPC motivations, and your
Simple so far, isn't it?We need to roll up the collector; some- players will not detect any seams in your campaigns.
one rich and powerful but unable to travel himself to solve The situation here is that the noble is hiring the characters
GDW )TAS 29

We do need a good rousing start, and we haven't yet solved

the problem of transportation for the characters. Traders with
a jump-2 vessel could work: if we use a subsidized vessel, we're
sure that the characters are still "hungry" enough to take on
some sideline work.
Mercenaries could also participate in this adventure. They
were hired on to settle some petty squabble on Nove and hap-
pened to meet this nobleman. How do we decide which setup
to use? Let the players do it. They have their own preferences
for the character types they like to play. At the game session,
before you start this campaign, just ask them which they plan
to use for the next scenario, then design accordingly.

THE FIRST STOP

Look at the stats we generated for the worlds near Nove so
we can decide on the first session's scenario. Antares 2611 i s
a client state, quite small, with only a few hundred people on
the world, but a naval base in orbit. Antares 2612 is non-aligned,
with only a few hundred people and no government at all. An-
tares 2512 is within the Imperium, again with only a few hun-
dred inhabitants. If we come up with an idea that doesn't need
very many people, we could use it anywhere.
I now turn to 10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Projects and
to discover the information. Why does he hire the characters? Reports, a book I sometimes refer to for "idea seeds." (I got
Why not travel to Ansenz himself?(We already solved this one.) mine at the university bookstore.) Opening it at random, I find
Why not just talk to the dealer himself? (Maybe he's dead- "genetic bases for aging." Fortunately, I don't have to write
that's simple enough.) Why not write to someone on Ansenz? a thesis, but I can still use this as a jumping-off point for a
Look at what we have to work with: Ansenz is part of the scenario. Maybe a world is doing special research. Anagathics
League of Antares, and Nove is outside the Imperium, so com- spring to mind, but they need tech level 15 and these worlds
munication may be censored. Ansenz's low tech level may in- are all eight and nine. But this still might work. After all, we
terfere with the mail. Its religious dictatorship may censor or invented these UPPs a while ago, so we can feel free to change
totally prohibit incoming letters. Any of these could do the job, them to suit our convenience.
so let's use... But this isn't always the case, and I don't want to take the
Hold it right there. This is the beauty of a large-scale cam- easy way out. Suppose we're stuck with eights and nines. We
paign. We know there's a reason, but we don't know what the still have some loopholes: libary data is sometimes incorrect,
player characters will do over the next few months. It's good after all. Sometimes the tech level in one specialty will be
enough for the noble to say that he has sent inquiries to Ansenz significantly higher or lower than the general tech level. But
over the past several years, but he has never gotten any that still feels a little like cheating, and I don't want to do that
response. He doesn't know why; so he's sending the characters in a how-to article.
to find out. So we scrap the anagathics idea, right? Wrong. As long as
This way, the theme has a chance to "brew" in your sub- we went to the trouble to think it up, let's jot it down in our
conscious. When you think of an interrelated theme for this notebook. We'll encounter a tech 15 world sooner or later, and
adventure, you can choose the reason that fits with it the best. we might be a little dry on ideas at the time.
Or maybe you'll think up an entirely new reason. Maybe some- So back to the idea book-this time with an entry on "fac-
one on Ansenz i s intercepting these messages, and will be tors contributing to organized crime." Here we have
waiting for anyone asking questions. Maybe...but you get the something. One of these worlds is actually run by hoodlums,
idea. I'm sure you've thought of a few yourself. say. If your players rolled up mercenaries, send them in to clean
up the place. If they're using merchants, tell them after they
SLOW AND EASY get to the world. They'll find out soon enough.
Now look at what we've done. Playing Traveller is an invest- We can also use more than one idea and meld them together.
ment in time that pays off in fun, and with any investment it's For example, we can go back to the idea book and look up
better to get a bigger return than a smaller one. To develop another entry-this time we come up with "scientific research
this scenario, we've spent about an hour rolling dice and five grants." Now add this to the hoodlums idea, throw in a little
or ten minutes looking over a map and talking to ourselves. imagination, and see what we come up with. Perhaps the
This minimal investment already gives us the basis for a hoodlums are actually a front for a bogus research company
scenario, and at the same time protects us from unfortunate accepting grant money from a university or the lmperium itself.
"losses" on our investment. Suppose the player characters Or maybe the scientists are for real, but they are oppressed
show no interest in this assignment-we've lost little time, and and intimidated by the new thugs in charge. If the player
most of the work we've done can be adapted to another theme characters are going in to clean things up anyway, these new
in the same part of space. problems might add flavor to the scenario. Maybe there is a
30 JTAS GDW

reward for uncovering the fake researchers, or will there be or two worlds. Don't get me wrong; a single world can never
some spoils from grateful scientists? be described in complete detail (think of the diversity of
I won't give you the whole scenario for this adventure. Once peoples and geography o n Earth), and the task should not be
you have the idea for an adventure with a small population taken lightly. But to come u p with information on several
overrun with thugs, it's easy enough to make it u p yourself worlds, or several dozen, will take time and effort. If you don't
in a few hours. All I'm showing you here are ways to integrate have the time, however, there are means for having the work
these smaller scenarios into a bigger campaign. done for you.
Obviously, if you're planning to set your long-range cam-
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ... paign in the Imperium, Atlas o f the Imperium will be a life-
Speaking of bigger campaigns, you may be wondering saver. First, lots of the information is already there for you. Sec-
whatever happened to Sabmiqys and the Ancients. See how ond, if you don't use Atlas you're running the risk that a rules
the adventure i s going later on; you may decide to switch lawyer player will complain that this is not the "real" Imperium.
horses in midstream. Maybe your characters get all the way But maps are not the greatest gift offered by already pub-
to Ansenz before turning around and coming back. Maybe they lished materials. All the adventures ever published for
get to the real source earlier. It's u p to you and your mood. sciencefiction games (both Traveller and others) by any com-
If they never reach Ansenz, you haven't lost more than about pany (Game Designers' Workshop, Digest Group, etc.) are
five minutes work. And you may come up with another theme goldmines of information to fill in holes you haven't time to fill.
that has more sparkle to it between now and then. The most common misconception about adventures i s that
When the time comes and the characters do reach Sabmi- their locations are carved in stone. This is simply not the case.
qys, use the contact piece for more adventure ideas. If your Any adventure can be adapted to take place somewhere else
players have already read the thing, or if you change your mind, in the Imperium, or in any part of space for that matter. You
there's nothing stopping you from choosing some world as simply have to make a few adjustments. You might have to
an Ancient site after all and letting your characters dig it up. change Vargr pirates to Aslan clansmen-a formidable task, but
After all, if it was interesting enough to make a good red her- not impossible. You might have to change several of the planet
ring, you should be able to use it as an adventure. names, but this is simplicity itself. In no time at all you can
fill up your campaign area with interesting situations for the
PUBLISHED MATERIALS players to run across. These can tie in with the main theme
Large campaigns such as this one will require quite a bit more of your adventure or be independent, as you desire.
legwork than will an adventure or scenario situated on just one -Gary L. Thomas
GDW JTAS 31

The Sabmiqys
In -5889, Scouts from the First Im-
perium conducted a sub-orbital flyby of a
1 technology did they possess?
The sykan ~ederitionwas the first to
world in the habital zone of Antares 2117 use meson screens as a protection against
(see the Atlas of the lmperium ).The flyby meson fire, which ultimately opened the
I
was part of the routine precontact process I way for surviving to contadt the in-
for a-world suspected of harboring intelligent life forms. Dur- habitants of Gashukubi shortly after the-founding of the Third
ing the flyby mission, the ship's boat reported a series of unex- Imperium.
plained internal explosions and shortly erupted in a final During the 70s and 80s, two starships with meson screens
catastrophic explosion. The incident was reported as an un- attempted to land on Gashukubi-one was destroyed. The
fortunate accident. other starship that did survive to land was never heard from
Over the next several months, numerous Scout ships were again after only a few hours. Even though knowledge of the
sent to contact the world-in every single instance any star- inhabitants of Gashukubi still remained a mystery, this inci-
ship attempting to contact the local culture was destroyed by dent proved the alien's meson weapons were survivable.
some unknown weapon (apparently emanating from the In 311, the Gem of Fornol (a starship with new tech 13 meson
planet) which induced the ship to explode from within. Baffled, screens) managed to land on Gashukubi and finally make con-
the Scouts declared the world a navigational hazard and off tact with its inhabitants.
limits to all starship travel. The Scouts named the system
"Gashukubi," which in Vilani means "Certain Death." THE EARLY CONTACTS
Toward the end of the Interstellar Wars between the The Gem of Fornol's crew (wearing vacc suits, routine pro-
Solomani of Terra and the Vilani of the First Imperium, cedure in all first encounters) were met by a horde of large,
Solomani breakthroughs in starship weapon tech nology pro- ugly metal robots wielding a nasty array of weapons. Many of
duced the starship mounted meson gun. The first time the the crew were herded off at gunpoint, never to return to the
Vilani encountered meson fire from the Solomani, the Vilani ship. The remaining crew members finally left while their ship
were horrified-their ship was induced to explode from was still intact, for fear that they too would be captured.
inside-just like the Gashukubi legends. Rumors of the The world was classified as a red zone which harbored a
"gashukubi" weapon of the Solomani did much to break the highly xenophobic race. The Scouts were puzzled as to why
Vilani's will to continue the fight. the inhabitants were so "afraid" of offworlders. So much so,
With the founding of the Second Imperium, it didn't take in fact, the locals never met the Scouts face-to-face; the locals
long for the Vilani to realize that the mysterious starships' ex- sent their robots instead.
plosions in the Gashukubi system was almost certainly caused The next contact party a few years later noticed a surprising
by meson fire from the planet's surface. Thus came the start- difference from all previous contact attempts-no more meson
ling truth: the mysterious inhabitants of Gashukubi had a fire, Why had the fire stopped?The Scouts were unable to find
superior weapons technology. Curiosity about Gashukubi out, for they met with a fate similiar to that of the Gem of For-
abounded-Were these aliens another major race?Was this nol's crew.
a world inhabited by the "Ancients?" What other superior The Scouts stepped up efforts to establish friendly relations
32 jTAS GDW

with the Gashukubi locals during the First Survey. Even though
the next several contact parties continued to lose a high THE TRUTH COMES O U T
percentage of their members, a gradual understanding of the In the late 600s, a Scout contact party visited Sabrniqys and
locals developed, and from that followed a rapport of sorts. stumbled upon a robot repair facility. To the party's amaze-
ment, a "living" Sabrniqys was undergoing extensive repairs.
CULTURE A N D HISTORY The Sabrniqys in the repair facility was, in fact, an extremely
The local inhabitants call their world "Sabrniqys." Sabrniqys sophisticated pseudo-biological robot. Shortly thereafter, the
(Antares 2117, X160056-H) is a desert world, possessing a mere party learned the entire remnants of the "race" inhabiting the
3 % hydrosphere. Apparently, long ago, the world's surface was planet had been pseudo-biological robots all the time!
about 25% water, but most of the water was lost due to some Slowly, the sad tale of the "great ancestors who brought
prehistoric cataclysm. Sabrniqys orbits its star in a highly ec- down death from the sky" unfolded.
centric orbit, making the world's seasons and environment Around -8000 (shortly after the Vilani had invented jump
quite harsh. drive), the Gya Ks had sent out one sub-light ship t o a nearby
As the Scouts managed to learn the language of the local star system one parsec distant (their space travel technology
culture, the Scouts were able to communicate to the local was far behind their computerlrobotics technology).
robots their desire to meet "those in charge." Finally, the It appears that the sub-light ship returned on robot auto pilot,
Scouts got to meet the actual Sabmiqys instead of their robots. all its passengers dead from an unknown cause. Once the Gya
They found the race to be from omnivorelgather stock, about Ks on Sabrniqys were able to determine the cause for the
2.5 m in height, and massing about 100 kg. They were thin and mysterious deaths, it was too late, for they too were infected
lithe, with no body hair and a bumpy, thick, spongy grey hide. with the deadly virus harbored on that ship.
They had two legs, four tentacle arms with four finger The toxic effect of the virus was near symptomless until the
manipulators, a head with two eyes, four nostril slits, and a very end. Medical robots frantically looked for a cure-global
wide mouth with over 100 teeth. panic struck overnight as millions that were fine one day were
There were very few of the aliens left. Most of the society dead the next for no apparent reason. The very fabric of Gya
consisted of robots of all kinds. The Scouts had a very difficult Ks' society unravelled overnight-bedlam and anarchy
time estimating the tech level of Sabmiqys, for much of the prevented the coordination of effort that might have otherwise
technolgy seemed very advanced, almost incomprehensible. led to a cure.
Over time, various contact parties managed t o learn some The study of the mysterious ship had lasted for 6 months-
mind-boggling facts about the Sabrniqys. They claimed to the incubation period of the virus. Once the deaths started,
replace their body parts as they wore out (although the Scouts from beginning to end, it was all over in less than 10 days-
never witnessed this firsthand; this was not too surprising, for the death of an entire world in 10 days.
the most advanced Imperial medical facilities could do this as The million or so robots left on the world decided that space
well). What really shocked the Scouts, however, was that a few travel is of little or no value, and thus have never put any ef-
of the living Sabmiqys claimed to be nearly 10,000 years old! fort into pursuing interstellar exploration.
This was never verified though, because the Sabmiqys would
never let the Scout Medical Experts examine them despite their SABMIQYS IN 1100
interest in the medical expertise of the Imperium. Currently, Sabmiqys is still an interdicted red zone world.
The Sabmiqys had several strange cultural "quirks." The second survey UPP stats for the world of Sabrniqys are
They referred to themselves as "Gya Ks," and their ancestors X160056-H. Note the world UPP does not list the robot popula-
as "Egya Ks." In time, the Scouts came to understand the tion, since the lmperium i s divided over the question of
reference a little better. More appropriately the term seemed whether or not the robots should even be considered "sen-
to mean "our great ancestors who brought down death from tient." Prevailing opinion is that the robots should not be con-
the sky." Just what significance this had, the Scouts were sidered sentient, no matter whak The robots are not biological
unable to determine. beings; they are artificial imitations, even if they are quite
The Sabmiqys appeared to require little sleep, and retired intelligent.
to their quarters once a day to eat in private. The robots that populate the world vary from highly in-
It was difficult for the contact parties to learn a great deal telligent pseudo-bios to dumbot servants. The bulk of the in-
about the Sabmiqys because they were very secretive, and party telligent robots are of contoured configuration, resembling the
members would continue t o disappear from time to time. Gya Ks.
When asked about the missing members, the Sabrniqys would The controversy within the lmperium over whether or not
gladly offer to show the curious party member-who would the Sabmiqys robots are true sentients continues to rage on.
I also fail to return! If pressed for an answer, the Sabmiqys would Travellers are cautioned not to go to Sabmiqys for any reason.
lead off the offending party member at gunpoint, who would Many who have violated the red zone restriction by visiting
also never come back. the world have never returned.
Several mercenary parties hoping to rescue the missing
humans travelled to Sabrniqys, never to be heard from again. REFEREE'S NOTES ON THE SABMIQYS
So the Scouts learned it was better not t o ask what had hap- The following information is not common knowledge, and
pened to the missing humans. In fact, in certain parts of the is available only to the referee.
service, Sabmiqys became a byword for any potentially Because Sabmiqys orbits its star in a highly eccentric orbit,
dangerous mission. the intense heat of the hot season would shrivel the 25%
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34 GDW

Imperium Scouts showed up on the scene, the robots naturally

decided that destroying the "scourge from space" was the
proper decision.
When the Imperial Scout ship was finally able to penetrate
the meson defenses in the early 80s, the Sabmiqys robots (not
the pseudo-biological robots), met the humans at their ship
with guns in hand. The robots were expecting other robots
or worse yet, infested alien Sabmiqys. They were totally con-
fused by the humans who came out. The robots took the
humans to the leader robots (the pseudo-biological models).
The robot leaders decided they needed to find out more
about these creatures and "dismantled" several of them. The
medical robots discovered these biological beings carried the
virus which wiped out their creators long ago. They now had
a source for the virus, and biological beings to experiment with.
They must allow these beings to come to their world, so that
they can pick other subjects to experiment with.
As various contact parties arrived, the Sabmiqys hand-picked
their experiment stock, and began to breed their laboratory
"animals." After about 150 years of experimenting, they final-
ly isolated what they thought was a possible cure for the virus.
Unfortunately, they had no live Sabmiqys to test the serum on.
hydrosphere to a mere fraction of its original size as most of At this point (around 500) the Sabmiqys took a strong interest
the surface water evaporated into the atmosphere. in learning more of the Imperium's medical technology. They
The cooling season would bring o n monsoon rains in cer- soon learned that the lmperium (then at tech level 13) was us-
tain areas, depositing much of the water in locations different ing high-tech cloning techniques to clone new body parts.
from where it was in the prior season. The lakes, rivers, and The robots had enough foresight to cryogenically freeze
seas would move about from season to season on the world's several Sabmiqys shortly after they had died from the virus-
relatively flat surface. some of their body cells were still alive when they were frozen.
Since the original pre-Sabmiqys of prehistoric times had few With luck, a Sabmiqys could be cloned from suspended
natural enemies, the harsh environment itself was the primary corpses.
factor that drove them to intelligence. After another 300 years of frustrating cloning experiments
The Sabmiqys developed an impressive skill in world on humans, the Sabmiqys managed to push their medical tech
terraforming in a few short millenia. At the time of the disaster level to 13. Another 175 years of experiments produced a suc-
on Sabmiqys, the environmental sciences had reached tech cessfully cloned full-grown Sabmiqys. The robots had succeed-
level 17. The other highly advanced science was computers and ed in reviving their race!
robotics, which had also reached tech level 17. Currently, in 1100, there are several hundred biological Sab-
The other sciences were not so advanced. Energy technology miqys on the world, immune to the effects of the death virus.
was around tech level 15, as was communications and military Unfortunately, now that the robots have solved the problem
technology. Because the Sabmiqys possessed few biological that plagued them for nearly 10,000 years, they have forgotten
enemies on the world, their medical tech level was only 11. that their creators were their superiors. The Sabmiqys and the
The Sabmiqys had never possessed a great racial drive to reach humans continue to reside in the labs, being used in further
the stars, and had barely managed to achieve tech level 9 in biological "contests."
space travel. A few humans and Sabmiqys have escaped the cities from
Globally, the Sabmiqys were discordant, often having time to time and are living a meager existence in the wilds.
disagreements and spats. The Sabmiqys' way of settling a harsh The harsh environment away from the cities makes life a con-
disagreement was to have a "contest." The contest consisted stant struggle for these escapees, and some die during their
of a test wherein the contestants would each build devices to first year in the desert.
perform some agreed-upon function. The builder of the best
device won the argument. This method of settling 664X2-A4-PQ522-MFE7(P) Cr38,356,000 840 kg
disagreements fostered many technological advances. Fuel = 155.225 Duration = 21.56 TL = 17
The Sabmiqys used their sophisticated environmental 501122 (mesh)
technology to store most of their world's water in vast 4 Med tentacles
underground aquafers. Their robots did all the work, including Head (10%)
supervising the project. In fact, in many areas the robots real- 2 eyes ( + 2 pass IR), 2 ears, voder, 2 olfactory sensors, touch
ly ran the world. They were the doctors, the policemen, the sensors (+extra sen), taste sensor
professional "contestants" (soldiers), the clerks, and the 2 Power interfaces, brain interface, TL17 holo recorder (3D)
janitors. Electronic circuit protection
Since the time of the ill-fated starship, the robots have always Admin-4, Emotion Simulation
had a severe distrust of anything from space. When the First --Joe Fugate
1
 ODERN JET AIR COMBA
pe to Libya and the Far East, air power ments for gaining domination of the skies, and Air
an extension of foreign policy or as an Superiority puts you at the controls. Thirty aircraft
f war-put yourself in the action where are completely rated and ready t o go, from the
decisions make the difference between relatively outdated MIG-21 Fishbeds t o the super-
defeat in Air Superiority! sophisticated F-19 Stealth Fighter.
Air Superiority rules cover the basics The Components: Air Superiority is a boxed ga
combat, air-to-air missiles, radar, and containing 2 4 0 color aircraft counters for the com-
electronic warfare, using the more realistic hex and bat aircraft of the U.S., Europe, and the Soviet Union.
hexside movement and direction system. The rules Thirty aircraft data cards present the game informa-
re organized in easy-to-learn sections, with scen- tion about each unique fighter. There are four ma
rios that may be played at the plus a scenario booklet, brief
end of each one, Air Superiority booklet and rules booklet.
is of intermediate complexity. Air Superiority is $22.00,
The Hardware: Jet aircraft and available from your local hobby
heir capabilities are stru- store or direct from GDW.
MINIATURES FROM GRENADIER MODELS

Jus' cause a big chunk o' the

world's gone kablooey, ain't no
reason to let discipline slip! I'm
only gonna give these orders
once and anybody else that
screws up is gonna find my boot
in his backside. Got it?
Your mission is: To hit your
local hobby shop and get yourself
some Twilight: 2000 miniatures
from Grenadier, the best blood-
and-guts miniatures this side 0'
Moskow, all in 20mmlWO scale
so's you can use 'em with model
trains, tanks, towns, whatever!
Whadda they got? Gluckrnan,
only you would hafta ask that!

got Polish Infantry to keep things hoppin' in Paratroops have landed in Twilight: 2000 Blister
Warsaw. In a tight spot? Send a courier out to #411 and three mounted Polish Lancers hit the
get some Partisans from pack #404. trail in #412.
For the heavy artillers, Grenadier's giving you At $2.50 a pack, you can afford to raise a
#405--U.S. Support Weapons and #406-Soviet pretty good-sized fightin' force and besides,
Support Weapons, both with enough operators to when yer runnin' fer yer life in a nuclear winter,
keep the enemy pinned down. Pack #407 has it's nice ta have a bunch o' well-armed guys
Soviet Cavalry on horseback. It's back to the around ya ta keep off the chill o' the grave.

At your local hobby shop D-I-I-at-I-I-S-MISSED!

GRENADIER MODELS
Price and Pine Sts.
Holmes, PA 19043

Dealer Inquiries also Invited

Twilight: 2000 is Game Designers' Workshop's trademark for its role-playing game of survival in a devasted world.
 i
/#
Th< Near Star Cataloq ,L*

The Traveller: 230@/universe deals

i with star systems withinJ50 light years of
G a m e Systems Earth. Extensive research and analysis has
Playable sealism. Many games which a produced the most accurate star map eve
realistic can't be played; most play"ale made. Never before has such a monum
games aren't terribly realistic. Traveller: tous task been undertaken, either i
2300 is both at once, balancing exquisite ing or in science fiction. Over 700
History detail with simple, accurate game systems. over 500 systems, on a 22" x 2 s full col-
,
Traveller: 2300 plays against a
" The heart of ~ r a v e l l e r : ~ 2 3 0is0 its task
background of Earth 3 0 0 years after the resolution system. qthpit, the referee has riiagnitude are all do
cataclysm of the Third World War. Set in, a plethora of exam6les and precedents to g star catalog.
a world where nations still clash, civiliza- use in any situation, and the players have '
2

tion has crawled back to its prewar,levels, a rea~onable~idea what their options will be white dwarves, red giants, and warm yello
and then beyond. The world is dominated on any given task. Rules cover all aspects stars like our own. The map extends fa
by the Third French EmpireyEarth's hun- of conflict resolution from arguments to all- beyond the furthest reaches of human set-
/dred nations have colonies among the
stars. First contact happened long ago, and
commerce with alien intelligences is now

Traveller: 2 3 0 0 includes complete rules for science fiction r

,* of Sol with accompanying stellar data, and an introductory adventure
/" i P
i

7
J
38 GDW

DESIGNER'S
NOTES
THE NEAR STAR LlST A N D MAP I N TRAVELLER: 2300 based on height in the Z axis. The final product was produced
Maps of the stars have long been of interest to science fic- as a poster map measuring 22 by 25 inches. At the same time,
tion game designers and players. Because state-of-the-artgames the data files were sorted alphabetically by star name, format-
and simulations depend on the quality of the information they ted and transferred to a Compugraphic typesetting system for
present, there i s strong pressure from the marketplace to pro- final production. The data was then printed as an eight-page
duce maps that accurately represent the neighborhood of Sol. list of near star data. But don't think the project was easy: it
consumed nearly two months of effort on the part of a designer
PREVIOUS MAPS and a typist, and that doesn't count the further work performed
Triplanetary (GDW, 1973) started the modern realistic genre by the art department to finish i t off.
of science fiction games with a vector movement structure set The result was not only a beautiful map of space around
in the solar system. The map in Triplanetary used a hexagon Earth; it is the most accurate map of nearby stars ever pro-
grid and an astrology text to place the planets for the year 2000. duced. The Near Star Map from Traveller: 2300 shows, to the
Stellar Conquest (Metagaming Concepts, 1974) was an in- best that modern science can determine, what space is actually
terstellar exploration and warfare game which sidestepped the like within 50 light years of Earth. Because true spatial relation-
problem of true stellar positions by setting its situation in a ships are maintained, you can tell at a glance what stars are
hypothetical globular cluster. Star Force (Simulations Publica- near what other stars, and which ones have no real
tions, Inc., 1975) produced a 3D map of the stars within 30 light connections.
years of Sol and touted it as the most accurate map yet Pro-
NEAR STAR LlST ON COMPUTER MEDIA
duced. However, no supporting data was produced, and some
starnames on the map were obscure or fanciful. Universe (SPI, The data o n the Near Star Map and in the Near Star List is
1982) upgraded and revised the Star Force map, but it still also available in the following forms.
lacked a solid source listing for its stars. lmperium (GDW, 1977) Apple I1+ Text Files: Two DOS 3.3 disks containing 19 files
produced a 2D map of the region near Sol which became less with the basic data formatted for random access. A file editor
accurate with distance (although at least one reviewer was (Basic language) is included on each disk. A file printer (con-
taken in and marveled at its accuracy). Traveller (GDW, 1977) figured for MX-80) i s also included. Use of the data will require
used the lmperium map as a basis for its Solomani Rim (GDW, some knowledge of Applesoft Basic. These files contain the
1982) maps of portions of an interstellar empire in the far future. entire list of stars from Gliese's Catalog o f Nearby Stars. They
are in rougher shape than the Macintosh files (below), and con-
TRAVELLER: 2300 tain some typographical errors (primarily in names).
The decision (in 1985) by GDW to proceed with the design Macintosh Files: One Macintosh 400K disk contains files for
of a science fiction role-playing game using state-of-the-art gam- MacWrite, MDS Edit (also accessible by other applications),
ing rules created a requirement for a state-of-the-art stellar en- Record Holder, and MacSpin. It also contains supporting
vironment as well. The underlying philosophy of the game was documentation in MacWrite files.
established as "playable realism," and a realistic star map was The MacWrite file is used for printing out the basic data. The
considered absolutely necessary. Record Holder file i s used for data base purposes. The MDS
The basic reference for near star data is W. Gliese's Catalog Edit i s a generic text file which can be accessed by other ap-
o f Nearby Stars, 1969. Naturally, we went to that first, and the plications (we used ZBasic for this sort of work). The MacSpin
+
catalog was keyboarded into a series of Apple II DOS 3.3 data file is used with MacSpin, a three-dimensional graphical data
files, proofread, and then transferred to a Macintosh. During analyzer. The disk contains only data files; no applications or
transfer, stars at a distance of greater than 50 light years were system files are included.
eliminated. These files are a subset of the Apple files (only stars with a
MacSpin (TM) was the essential program for this project, and distance of 50 light years or less are included). They have been
it was an invaluable resource; it allowed projection of the star edited to correct errors as they were found. Star names have
points onto a Macintosh screen to produce a 3D image of space been checked and correct constellation names included where
within 50 light years of Earth and then rotating it to discover possible.
the details of stellar locations. Using MacSpin (TM), we pro- The Traveller: 2300 game system required some fanciful
duced a view of the nearby universe as if looking down on it names; actual catalog names are appended to the fanciful
from a distant point. That view (an xv plot) was produced and names in the data listings.
saved as a MacPaint file, then blown up using Poster Maker -Marc W. Miller
and individual star names were added. Stars were size coded
based o n height in the Z axis. The final poster-sized map was
printed out o n an Imagewriter, taped together, and sent t o the
GDW art department.
The CDW art department executed the map, color coding
stars according to spectral class, and producing size codes
NEAR STAR MAP
The Science Fiction Gaming Resource
featuring APPROVED
@
TTLETECH
ARTICLES AND INFORMATION OFF THE
OVERLOOKED MODERN WEAPONRY
WITH DETAILED SPECS FOR
GAME SYSTEMS & ILLUSTRATIONS
SHIPS OF THE GAWX'9l WHEN AVAILABLE.
STAR SHIPS DESIGNED FOR FASA'S STAR TREK@
TACTICAL COMBAT SIMULATOR.

SCIENCE FICTION HARDWARE

!!# IN GAME FORMAT

QUESTIONS
R T HE

reviews
and adventures
DIUS
articles 'and
AVASLASLE AT HOBBY data
STORES NEAR Y a U ?
D a m % Waie Subscribe - for SF
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q 2 i s s u e s [Link]

8 . D RETURNPING THE ADVENTURE TO G A M I N 0

PUBLISHED BY RELUCTANT PUBLISHING, INC.

7732 AUBURN RD., UTICA, MI 48087
TELEPHONE (313) 739-1599
STARDATE is atrademarkof FASA [Link] Rights Resewed. BATTLETECH is a registered trademark of FASA Corporation. All Rights Resewed. STAR TREK is a
registered trademark of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Copyright 1987 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Right Reserved.
GDW 41

The tronomischen Reden-Institut

built a fleet of several
HISTORY scientific starships, each
During the political equipped to travel to and
upheavals which followed take measurements of
the discovery of stutter- astronomical phenom-
warp travel and the need enon. While France led the
for tantalum to achieve world to exploit the stars,
such travel, governments Germany led the world to
began to see themselves as study and understand
owning a chunk of the them.
heavens-staking out a few The Institut's Early Years:
planets for themselves, ex- The actual charter for the
panding their boundaries lnstitut was signed by the
in spite of their Earth- president of the University
bound geographic limita- of Heidelburg and the Ger-
tions. The world had man Prime Minister in
already been through 2144. The Azanians re-
several oil shortages and frained from signing the
had seen its metal reserves charter, preferring to keep
begin to disappear. The their involvement under-
stars held the solution to publicized. The first scien-
the problem of depleted tific craft for the lnstitut
resources and space for a were at that time already
growing world population under construction, con-
as well. tracts having been award-
At the time, these conclusions were more or less valid. Lit- ed to mostly German firms. However, at the time, though the
tle did anyone know that most of the nearby worlds were cer- technology for building a working stutterwarp drive was
tainly not garden spots. Nor could they be expected to know available to everyone, only certain French industries were ac-
that the local neighborhood harbored other intelligent and tually tooled to manufacture them. It was with as little fanfare
sometimes, as the current situation on the French Arm in- as possible that the Germans sent across the border [Link]
dicates, hostile races. for their new ships.
No, the stars were not the answer to man's biggest problems. From its conception, lnstitut efforts have been split into two
Those answers can only be found within himself. However, the broad categories. One portion of the lnstitut would expand
race for the stars was on and no man was allowed to stand the knowledge of spacecraft and spaceflight, this partially at
in its way. the request of a German government anxious to begin cashing
In Germany, at the University of Heidelburg, hundreds of in on the budding starship industry. The other portion would
professors and students, the greatest minds in the entire na- use that technology to obtain firsthand observational data-
tion, were already assembled. Their minds were cultivated and pure research of the stars and planets and all manner of
allowed to grow by an unusually foresighted regime interested astronomical phenomenon.
in expanding theoretical and hard knowledge, especially in the Expanding the Technological Envelope: Early stutterwarp drives
sciences. Before the spread to the stars, these intellectuals had had enormous disadvantages, including extremely limited
brought home to Germany the reputation for brilliance and range and very complex computer navigation systems. The first
ingenuity it had lost centuries before. Great minds from around French-built craft sent by ESA to Alpha Centauri had to carry
the world travelled to Heidelburg to study at what had become three stutterwarp drives with it-each one had only range
the largest, best equipped university/laboratory complex on enough to get the ship halfway there. A drive unit reaching
the planet. its range limit in deep space was ejected from the vessel in
Naturally, as mankind moved to the stars, the University and favor of a new drive. Two of these three drives have been
its scientists soon followed. In a joint venture with the Aza- preserved and are on display in the Musee Imperial
nian government, endowed with a generous surplus of tan- Aerospatiale in Paris. The third drive was never recovered and
talum, the University of Heidelburg opened a specific depart- i s still somewhere in deep space between Alpha Centauri and
ment to deal with firsthand observations of stellar and planetary Sol.
events-the Astronomischen Rechen-lnstitut. In actuality, the Institut engineers addressed themselves to these limitations
Rechen-lnstitut had been a mathematical and astronomical quickly and efficiently. Their research yielded substantial
organization in existence for more than a hundred years, results in a very short time. They devised methods of extend-
centered in Heidelburg and closely tied to the University. With ing the range of the stutter drive to nearly double in their first
German industrial money and Azanian tantalum, the lnstitut three years of investigation, which brought the use of
faster-than-light travel into the realm of possibilities for com- Approved
mercial use. lnstitut engineers pioneered the construction of
the first Hauptmann-Mbasso stutter unit, named for its co-
For Use with TRAVELLER"
discovererldesigners, which vented the gravimetric charge
Undersea The Drenslaar Quest b v William
H. Keith, Jr. On the watery world
picked up during operations through a tantalum-ceramic coil, The Undersea Environment by J'
of Yarhfahl, the adventurers join
Andrew Keith. New rule systems
minimizing its effects enormously. The principles of the the race to salvage a valuable
simulating the underwater envi-
Hauptman-Mbasso enhancement are still in use in ships today. cargo from the Drenslaar, a
ronment: aquatic activities and
sunken star freighter. Will they
ESA soon took great advantage of advances made by the In- the use Of underwater
elude detection long enough to
stitut. Of course, the member nations readily exchanged ideas gear and and complete their task? Makes use of
and information, but the fact that France was the absolute events and help rules and information presented
construct underwater encounter
leader in the organization had a tendency to create more than in The Undersea Environment.
tables. (GL-1984 4 8 $5.95)
~ ~
(GL- 1985 64pp $6.95)
a little rivalry between itself and the other nations, especially
Germany. When French industrialists made an attempt to buy Ascent To Anekthor b y J.
into the Institut, German industrialists took specific actions to Andrew Keith. Lady Sandra
The Mountain Environment b y J.
avoid this. More than any other, this single event led to the Lockhart was rich, famous. . .
Andrew Keith. Travel and survival
and bored. A thrill-seeker and
transformation of the lnstitut from a large university depart- in rugged terrain. New rule sys-
daredevil, she was always on the
ment to a self-sufficient corporation, the first step on its road tems simulate mountaineering and
other activities and hazards found lookout for new horizons to
to becoming a foundation (see Transformation into a Founda- on mountainous terrain. Explains
conquer. Now she has set her
tion, below). In the century and a half since the conception sights on the triple peaks of
the use of mountaineering equip-
ment and includes a guide for the Anekthor where an old love and
of the Institut, relations have fallen off drastically between the an old hatred await Lady Sandra's
two nations of France and Germany-present day exchanges construction of specific mountain
challenge. Makes use of rules and
situations: special events, encoun-
of technical information are rare. ters, and adventures. (GL-1986
information presented in The
Exploration and Observation: Using the technical knowhow Mountain Environment.
48pp $5.95)
(GL-1987 56pp $5.95)
being generated by their Earth-bound couterparts, lnstitut ships
and crews set out from Earth by the hundreds in the latter half Desert Duneraiders b y William H. Keith,
of the 22nd century. Some of the greatest missions of discovery The Desert Environment b y
Jr. Riches, danger, and mystery
in that era were made by lnstitut personnel, including the in- lie within the arid wastes of Tash-
William H. Keith, Jr. Travel and
rakaar, a desert world peopled by
itial mapping of Beta Canum Venaticorum and Vogelheim and survival in a desert climate. New
the savage and enigmatic Dune-
participation in the historic deep penetration races held by the rule systems simulate all aspects
raiders. The adventurers soon
of desert survival, explains the use
member nations of ESA in 2188, 2198, and 2205. of desert equipment, and gives
learn that desert nomads and
Since that time, lnstitut ships and crews have visited hun- desert heat aren't the only
guidelines for setting up specific
enemies they face. Makes use of
dreds of star systems, most of which are within thirty-five light desert situations: special events,
rules and information presented
years of Earth. However, deeper penetrations into the unknown encounters, and adventures.
in The Desert Environment.
IGL- 1988 56pp $6.95)
have been undertaken by the Institut. Several expeditions are (GL - 1989 64pp $6.95)
currently engaged in long-range exploratory missions.
The Encyclopedia: Das Nachschlagewerk der Sternen is the
A d ~ e n f ~ ~ eStartown Liberty John
Marshal. startown :. . the rough
by

Institut's ongoing contribution to the knowledge of mankind. A Pilot's Guide t o the Drexilthar
and tumble district on any world
Subsector b y J. Andrew Keith.
The Stellar Encyclopedia was originally published in 2189 and where travellers can find anything
From the navigational computer
has been continuously updated since that time. As new infor- from entertainment t o the worst
files of the lmperium comes a
sorts of crime and corruption.
mation is gathered and returned to Earth, the Institut's detailed explanation of a sub-
Condemned by the majority of
publishing staff sets to work, cataloging the information and sector on Reaver's Deep, in the
honest citizens, exploited by the
Imperial frontiers. Presents back-
publishing it in its own magazine and in other sources. When criminal subculture, and visited
ground information on the Deep
by starship crews looking for
sufficient material has been accumulated, the lnstitut re- and on the Drexilthar subsector
entertainment, information, jobs,
publishes the encyclopedia in a new edition. New editions are (setting for the adventures The
and almost everything else, this is
published every five to ten years in paper, computer chip, and Drenslaar Quest and Duneraiders).
"a wretched hive of scum and
Each world in the subsector i s
hologram chip forms. villainy" . . . this is Startown.
explored t o sufficient depths t o (GL- 1975 48pp $5.95)
Information contained in das Nachschlagewerk dersternen be the setting for one or more
originally pertained only t o scientific data on stars, their planets, adventures. (GL-2980 48pp Lee's Guide t o Interstellar
$5.95) Adventure: Volume 1 b y Gregory
and other stellar occurrences. However, now that man lives
P. Lee. The journals of the noted
among the stars, there are volumes of social information in- Wanted: Adventurers b y John
galactic wanderer Aramais P. Lee
Marshal. From the want ads of a
cluded as well, including nationalities, patterns of colonization have now been converted into a
starport news service come 20
and development, histories of systems and their populations, referee's aid. Lee's Guide provides
short adventure situations. Job
complete planetary specifications
and all manner of political and physical geographic opportunities abound for adven-
and detailed plot outlines for 10
information. turers in this collection of
worlds in which the situations
scenarios which can lead a band
lnstitut expeditions have been to hundreds of systems and taking place on the planet form
of characters into anything from
the basis for a varied range of
mapped thousands of planets (from orbit at the very least). luxury cruise to a mercenary
adventure opportunities, suitable
However, das Nachschlagewerk der Sternen benefits also from expedition. (GL-197148pp
for both small parties and large
$5.95)
other sources including all ESA documentation, the archives groups. (GL-1980 48pp $5.95)
of the Royal Society (more specifically the Foundation for Prac-
tical Knowledge), and an information exchange arranged with
GDW 43

the various American and Australian star services. in approximately 500 years. The return trip will take at least
The Pieiades: A manned mission to the Pleiades was planned ' as long. Opponents to the Entferntest project point out that
for the year 2297 on the Bayern, a ship specially designed for the ship will probably never reach its destination due to the
the project. The expedition was forced to return prematurely propensity for life forms in the galaxy. However, the lnstitut
because of technical difficulties, but plans to relaunch are in holds that a mission to the core will yield great information
the works even now. The Pleiades cluster promises to reveal for mankind and the expense and time factors should not enter
great amounts of information concerning the origins of stars into the picture.
and their creation. The cluster is approximately 350 light years
distant. (The approximate coordinates of the center of the REVENUE
cluster are x = 200, y = 300, z = 150.) Transformation into a Foundation: When French industrial in-
The Core: In the 2250s, the head of the lnstitut designed a terests made an attempt to economically take over the Institut
plan for a robot mission to the galactic core using existing just over a century ago, German backers did everything they
technology. The mission gained funding more from the Ad- could t o avoid it. Since the lnstitut was billed as an organiza-
ministrator's high prestige than from genuine interest by the tion open to all people interested in knowledge, the Germans
board of directors, but was under way nonetheless. The mis- had no legal right to keep the French from funding projects.
sion, dubbed Entferntest (Ultimate), involved the construction They found their only means of keeping out French money was
of an expensive, completely automated ship with multiple t o endow the lnstitut itself with sufficient funds that it could
backup and self repair systems built in. The plan for the mis- direct its own operations without the guiding hand of industrial
sion was t o visit the core and return with the information. interest. This would in turn keep German interests at bay, but
The core itself lies approximately 9000 parsecs distant, was at the time considered preferable to allowing French
generally in the direction of t h e Z axis (its coordinates are very money t o overwhelm the lnstitut and its principles.
roughly x = -2000, y = - 1000, z = - 30,000). However, since The original endowments included large areas of land on
stutter drives need to discharge in a gravity well every few light Tirene and some on Earth, plus outright gifts of some industrial
years, the ship must confine its travel to the arms, never to facilities, mostly of a technical nature. At the time, the Institut
venture outside of them. This meant that a straight line journey was short of administrators who could manage such facilities,
to the core and back was out-the distance to travel along our but cooperation from other University departments soon
arm of the galaxy is about triple the straight line distance. solved that problem. Soon the endowments were making suf-
The ship was completed after a decade of work and launched ficient profits that the lnstitut could begin taking its own direc-
in the year 2261. If all goes well, the ship will reach the core tion toward research. To this day, the lnstitut is landlord t o

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Al the excitement of a warp-
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44 GDW

many thousands of people on dozens of worlds. Ships: Nearly all lnstitut ships are specially designed and built
However, this source of income has dwindled by comparison by their own facilities. Exceptions are restricted to courier and
to the patents awarded to the lnstitut and its scientists. Scarcely cargo ships. These are necessary to foundation operations, but
a ship is built in the modern era which does not owe some virtually any ship will perform these tasks equally well from
royalty to the lnstitut for design features which improve its the point of view of the upper echelons.
performance. Specific installations are also built to order. For example, the
lnstitut maintains and operates a stellar observation station in
ORGANIZATION orbit around Vega. The strange flare activity of Vega i s pro-
All lnstitut activities are originated and closely monitored by viding volumes of research data, all gathered by an energy-
its headquarters on Earth. The very top echelon of the organiza- sufficient station tailored t o the energy output of the star.
tion i s the Economic Administrator. He, in association with a Overall, the lnstitut owns approximately two hundred vessels
board of directors and the heads of the major departments (in- and operates over twenty research outposts. I n cooperation
dustries, endowments management, space services, and each with a sovereign nation, however, the lnstitut can call upon
branch of research), makes policy decisions on large research considerably greater resources for some of its projects.
projects and the allocation of all resources. Sometimes these
decisions can concern a single project or the overall direction ADVENTURES
of an entire arm of research which will affect policy and prog- The Institut is often in search of persons with space service
ress for decades to come. skills andlor academicians. Recruiting teams are active in all
The current Administrator and board of directors are hard- nations of Earth and most human inhabited worlds, attempt-
liners-their unwavering dedication to pure research regardless ing to draw the cream of humanity into their fold. Admission
of outside input is renowned throughout human space. The into the ranks of the lnstitut is an impressive achievement for
lnstitut traditionally remains neutral in times of war, and has a person's life-they can afford to be very particular since they
even become impartial with respect to nationality in times of have all of humanity to choose from.
peace. The original bias toward German points of view has vir- In fact, there is a small contingent of aliens within the ranks
tually disappeared. of the Institut. As one of its few contacts with the Chinese Arm,
Cooperation with Nations: Nations wishing to join with the the lnstitut maintains an outpost on Beta Hydri which is stud-
lnstitut in certain projects may do so by petitioning the Ad- ying the Ebers there. The outpost virtually employs several
ministrator for cooperation. There are three rules applied by dozen Ebers in its operation as full-time objects of study and
the upper echelon of the lnstitut to all such cooperative ven- as workers and guides. Several Ebers have been sent back t o
tures. First, the lnstitut will conduct no research that it feels Earth from there and now reside as extraterrestrial citizens of
will be valuable in a military situation. Second, the lnstitut re- the foundation in Heidelburg.
tains partial rights to all information and methods discovered Being Admiad tothe Institut: Should the players be interested
as a result of the research in question. Finally, the lnstitut has in joining the Institut, it should be made clear to them that
the right to take over the research at any time by paying back they will need to be the best at what they do. Finding a
the original investment to the nation in question. recruiting team to which they can apply will be easy-being
This final condition has kept many potential cooperative na- qualified in their eyes will be difficult.
tions away from the Institut. The lnstitut promises only to en- In short, any character with a space crew skill or academic
force this condition if research yields knowledge which could skill of 5 or better will be admitted. Any other skills are less
be of danger to mankind for whatever reason. To this date, in demand by the foundation, but acharacter with some other
no such cooperative effort has called for implementation of skills of level 6 or better might be admitted.
the final condition. The Klaxun: Following the events in Energy Curve, the lnstitut
Lower Level Organization: The lnstitut retains many of its may be introduced to an entirely new alien race-the Klaxun.
university department roots, especially in its organization of If this is the case, the players may become part of an lnstitut
individual research projects. A reputable doctor in a given area +
research team sent to DM 17 2611 11. They will be charged
who is successfull in getting funding for a project will assem- with continuing contact with the aliens, learning about their
ble around himself a core of assistants from his particular habits and culture from the comfort of an orbiting ship.
department (biology, physics, etc.) Newcomers to the organiza- The Kafers: To date there have been no Kafers taken alive
tion must serve time with small projects, performing the menial for study. The lnstitut would be very interested in obtaining
tasks such as digging, rote research, and the like. live specimens for in-depth research. The player characters
Also, like a university, continuous effort is appreciated, but need not be accepted into the foundation for this mission. They
continuous results are not strictly necessary. Provided all in- need only offer their services to hunt down and capture some
formation is published regularly for inclusion in das Kafers and return them to Earth. For details o n the Kafers, con-
Nachschlagewerk der Sternen, the lnstitut is content to keep sult the adventure module Kafer Dawn.
projects running. Research: While the chief aim of the lnstitut is to conduct
pure research, pure research is not a very interesting game
SCOPE topic. The referee is encouraged to use this research to in-
The lnstitut is mainly confined to work within the French and troduce the players to a more adventurous situation. After all,
American Arms of human space. Overall they employ over research can take the players to many exotic environments and
500,000 people, over half of whom are dedicated scientists who to meet many interesting people throughout human space.
operate at the headquarters of the foundation o n Earth. -Timothy B. Brown
GDW JTAS 45

Double Feature
Professional holofilm masters are record-
PLAYER INFORMATION ed on 20 cm wide plastic tape, on 85 cm
Palantir (0886644 9 Ag G) is an isolated
world on a minor trade route. Recently its
climate has cooled, and local meteor-
AM~ERZONE reels. Each film occupies three reels, (one
reel is approximately an hour's screen
time) stored in humidity-controlled metal
ologists suspect that the change is the first sign of an ice age. transport cases weighing 45 kg. These cases are fitted with com-
Imperial experts disagree with this diagnosis, saying that the bination locks and anti-theft beeper alarms. The alarms are ex-
weather change is temporary. The cold weather has caused tremely sensitive and will accidentally trigger on a roll of 8-1-
several successive crop failures, and the government has been each day. Prolonged exposure to heat, cold, moisture, vacuum,
I
forced to borrow heavily from the Sector Treasury to finance radiation, or ultr>violet light will eventually ruin the masters.
I
the purchase of extra power plants, cold-weather seeds, soil The films can't be shown b n ship's entertainment projectors,
I
heating equipment and fertilizers. Now the Treasury refuses since they must be transferred to one of the formats used in
to finance further imports and has taken the unusual step of / the Imperium. Transfer requires the use of a master decoding
freezing Palantir's off-world credit. I strip, a section of holo-film carried by Pascal Gratzar, the corn--
I
The Treasury demands MCr4570 in loan repayments and in- pany president (described below). Formats used in the Im-
terest. The final repayment date is in six months. Palantir can't perium range from flatscreen optical projection, through
pay the entire debt, but Treasury sources have suggested that videotape and videodisk technology, to storage in data chips
a token 5% payment will make the Governor extend the credit and holographic memory crystals. They may also be converted
period and release Palantir's assets. If the loan isn't paid, Palan- into interactive computer games or sensory recordings.
tir will be bankrupt, and all external assets will be confiscated The officials who will accompany the shipment are Pascal
by the Imperium. The colonists will be forced to use a barter Gratzar, his wife Filar Gratzar, Trask Kimble, and Rezege, a male
economy, and trade will probably come to an end. It seems Vargr.
unlikely that the colony could survive such a blow. Pascal Graztar is the president of ExArt. He is secretly trying
Apart from agriculture, there is only one industry on to break the contract. Although the government of Palantir has
~alantir-~x~rts,Inc, 1
an entertainments corporation exporting promised to compensate him for the loss of the company, he
I
to several worlds of the sector. At present this company has would prefer to retain ownership and sell the films on the &en
I
two films ready to sell. There's only one problem-if they are market. He has been outvoted by other directors and
I
exported legally they will be confiscated by the sector shareholders. He will attempt to sabotage the deal or find a
authorities and held as part of the planet's assets. I way of making an extra profit. ow ever,-he won't talk to the
Imperial authorities, since this would lead to confiscation of
REFEREE'S INFORMATION the films.
The adventurers should be the operators of a merchant Filar Gratzar is a moderately well-known actress who appears
vessel, and this scenario is best played as one of several ongo- in both films. She sees their sale as her big break, a chance
ing plots involving their ship. It would fit in well with a long to become known throughout the Imperium. She will do
term campaign, such as The Traveller Adventure. Palantir anything to make the deal succeed. She doesn't love her hus-
should be three of four jumps from the sector capital. band and may seek romantic interludes with other passengers
The films are science fiction, the first two parts of a tetralogy or team members during the voyage. Her luggage contains
set in the remote future. They deal with the routine use of several costumes from the film, including a tunic incorporating
magic-like technology and travel through time and parallel a concealed grav belt and a prop weapon which looks like an
dimensions. The team will be shown excerpts, and the referee Ancient artifact but is actually a modern laser pistol.
should imply that neither seems to be particularly good. Trask Kimble is an actor/director, a former Scout and TAS
The small print of the contract with Makhidkarun, a com- member who was twice decorated while serving as a Navy aux-
pany interested in distributing the films, contains several iliary. He was once a brilliant star, but is now middle-aged and
clauses, which all seem to relate to the status of ExArts after tired. He knows that the films aren't his best work and realizes
Makhidkarun takes control. Computer analysis (roll 9 + , that Makhidkarun isn't trying to buy ExArt just to own them.
+computer, +administration) will reveal that they also give Rezage is the charismatic leader of a small Vargr communi-
Makhidkarun the right to reach "reasonable" levels of artistic ty on Palantir. The community owns 23% of ExArts, and he is
merit through editing. If delivery is refused, the contract will present to protect their investment.
be void and no payment will be made. These are actually ir- The player characters will be asked to use their ship to
relevant standard clauses-Makhidkarun wants control of Ex- transport these persons plus the films off planet. Keep in mind
Arts (and patents and shares owned by the company) and isn't that any constabulary will be watching for anything being
especially worried about the merit of the films, provided they smuggled off Palantir. Then, once safely away, the ship will be
are delivered. A company with Makh idkarun's resources can used for a meeting between the passengers and Makhidkarun
afford an occasional tax loss, or may simply sell the films in officials interested in buying the films (and ExArts itself). In-
a package with more desirable products. The films will be trigues by interested parties should keep the player characters
almost worthless to smaller distributors. guessing as the final deals are made. -Marcus L. Rowland
46 Challenge GDW

Continued from Page 74 Obstacles: Whether or not the aircraft hits an obstacle (tree,
numbers further reduced by x .5. building, telephone pole, another aircraft, etc.) is largely a
Failure to resolve a task involving control of the aircraft (turn- judgement call made by the referee based on the success or
ing, sinking, pulling out of a dive, etc.) will result in loss of failure of piloting throws by the pilot and the difficulty of the
control. terrain. The result will generally be the same as for a crash,
Loss of Control: Loss of control is just that: for that 5-second though colliding with a fence on takeoff may have less severe
combat round the pilot is not in control of his aircraft. The consequences.
character must make an immediate roll against his skill (an AVG A collision is possible any time two aircraft come within 10
task) to regain control. If this roll fails, the result will depend meters (the typical wingspan of an ultralight) of one another.
on what the aircraft was doing at the moment the pilot lost Determining range at this scale may be made as a judgement
control, according to the following table. call by the referee, or by expanding the scale used on the plot.
It may be necessary to map each aircraft's moves and
A ttempted Maneuver Result maneuvers 5 seconds at a time as they pass close to one
Fly level Sink another, with a 50% chance of collision in very close cases.
Sink Dive
Turn Spin ULTRALIGHT COMBAT
Landing Stall Combat can be carried out according to the usual Twilight:
Takeoff Stall 2000 rules within the constraints given for piloting ultralights
Climb Stall given above.
Sink Stall Damage is applied to ultralights with the assumption that
Slip Stall they have 1 point of armor from every aspect. Characters may
Stall Spin choose to aim at the pilot of an ultralight as if he were the rider
Dive Uncontrolled dive of a motorcylce or other small vehicle.
Spin Uncontrolled spin Any damage to the wings has a 20% chance of causing con-
trol damage. This will make piloting and maneuvering the air-
Regaining control can be attempted at the beginning of any craft more difficult.
combat turn, but it will be an AVG, DIF, or VDIF task, depend- Any damage to the engine has a 20% chance of causing the
ing on the circumstances. motor to quit, the fuel to leak out, or the fuel to catch fire,
Crash: When an aircraft's loss of altitude in a single turn ex- at the referee's option.
ceeds his current altitude and the pilot has not made a suc- Any damage to the landing gear has a 50% chance of caus-
cessful roll for a normal landing, the aircraft has crashed. ing a mishap upon the next takeoff or landing.
Damage to pilot and aircraft will depend on how hard they Any damage to the tail section or canard of an ultralight has
hit. a 10% chance of damaging the structure badly enough for it
The result of an uncontrolled dive or spin from altitudes to break off. This will result in an uncontrolled spin from which
greater than 15 meters is automatically fatal to both the pilot the pilot will be totally unable to pull out. At the referee's
and the aircraft. A crash resulting from loss of altitude (for any discretion, this damage may be deferred until the ultralight at-
reason) from an altitude of 15 meters or less, results in damage tempts a violent maneuver-such as a 90° turn-before it
points equal to the aircraft's speed when it hits-ie. 30 points manifests itself.
of damage for a speed of 30 kph. Damage is applied separate- Additional damage to a damaged part of the aircraft com-
ly to aircraft and pilot. Note that the performance stat distance pounds the chance of failure. For example, the chance that the
to climb 15 m can be used to determine the likelihood of col- tail will fall off is 10% the first time the tail receives damage,
liding with an obstacle 15 meters tall or less (such as a 20% on the second instance, 30% o n the third, and so on.
telephone pole) on takeoff. The referee may require special saving throws at any time
Mishap: Mishap is a euphemism for a minor crash. The during combat for the pilot to avoid dropping his weapon, fir-
referee may dictate this as the result of a failed takeoff or land- ing into his own aircraft, stalling, losing control of the aircraft
ing roll, because of damage to the landing gear, or for some while panicking, or running into an obstacle because he was
other reason. Damage can be incurred during a mishap on watching the other aircraft and not where he was going.
takeoff or landing, for example, if the aircraft hits an obstacle, Ultralight flying can be a hazardous sport (if only because a
suffers a landing gear failure, or goes into a ground loop. In mistake is potentially fatal) but trying to do it while engaging
this case, pilot and aircraft will each suffer I D 6 x 5 points of in combat is far more dangerous.
damage, the two totals being made in two separate rolls. The
referee may arbitrarily set a low rate of damage to machine BOMBS
and pilot if the speeds involved were low. Ultralights may drop grenades and other projectiles per the
The most common mishap is the ground loop-popular ter- conditions given in Airlords o f the Ozarks. Note the correc-
minology for the aircraft flipping over onto its back. This can tion to these procedures given o n page 47 of this magazine.
be funny at low speeds, but quite serious if the ultralight is
still travelling above its stall speed. CONCLUSION
The speed at which the aircraft is travelling depends on how In some ways, this set of expanded rules for ultralights is a
close to liftoff or touchdown it is, and hence is largely a game in itself. I hope that they will provide many hours of en-
referee's judgement call which can be resolved randomly. joyable play. William H. Keith, Jr.
GDW JTAS 47

This i s the first installment of a new Guiscard LL-98: The LL-98 is the standard
feature i n Challenge. I n future in- armament of the French naval and mer-
stallments, we will answer questions of chant vessels. Damage: x 1 Targeting: + 0
general interest to players and referees of Price: Lv97,OOO.
our various RPGs. From time to time we DunArmCo Amplified Particle System,
will also print corrections and clarifications to our other games. ALS-22: Australian DunArmCo is attempting to break into the
Readers with questions of general interest are encouraged space weapons field, introducing the ALS-22 in 2296. Damage:
to submit them for consideration i n this column. x 2 Targeting: - 3 Price: Lv146,OOO.
Referee's Manual, page 43: The Average Temperatures table
I TRAVELLER: 2300 indicates that the ranges are measured in Kelvin. They are ac-
Player's Manual, page 22: Under Finalizing the Character, Life tually measured in Centigrade.
1 levels, substitute "mass in kilograms" for "size." Con- The Map: O n the map itself, there are two stars on the far
sciousness level equals mass i n kilograms divided by 20; life right for which the dots were left off. DM -22 6219 should have
, level equals mass i n kilograms divided by 10. a red dot of the - 10 to - 30 ly size. Iota Piscium should have
Player's Manual, page 47: Under The Colonies o f Earth: For a white dot of the -10 to 10 ly size.
the Texas enclave on 82 Eridani, the star type i s incorrect; 82 O n the Z Axis Distance, the line which reads - 30 to - 20
Eridani is a G5 V star. iy should instead read -30 to - 10 ly.
Referee's Manual, page 12: Under Wound Effects, Shock Point,
the following line was omitted: AIRLORDS OF THE OZARKS
"The character is dead when his total of shock points equals O n page 26 it states that a grenade with a four-second fuse
his life level." dropped from a dirigible will fall 10 meters before exploding.
Referee's Manual, page 21: Under Arming Your Ship, the list This is not true, as any physics major will tell you. The error
of additional weapons is missing. Use the following: occurred when the text was edited (William H. Keith, Jr. knows
Hyde Industries Laser, Model EA122: Hyde Industries has better), and should say that it will fall about 78.5 meters. For
always been at the forefront of space weapons technology, and those of you who are interested, the formula for this is:
the model EA122 i s their most popular design. Damage: x I D = 1/2AT2
+
Targeting: 1 Price: Lv105,OOO. where D is distance, A is the acceleration due to gravity (9.81
Hyde Industries High Output Laser, Model EAA7000: The m/second2o n Earth) and T i s time (4 seconds in this case). Plug-
EAAIOOO is the high output favorite of most national space ging these numbers into the equation, we get d=78.48
fleets. This model is often adaptable t o use in detonation laser meters...a sizable difference.
devices. Damage: x 2 Targeting: 1 Price: Lv174,OOO. +
Allen Model BMZ 750MW Particle Beam Weapon System: An CHALLENGE 27
American produced weapon, the Allen was one of the first par- The correct address for the Traveller Computer Program Ex-
ticle weapon with sufficient targeting to be a viable space com- change is 526A Forney Loop, Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060, not Ft. Belvoir
bat asset. Damage: x 3 Targeting: - 2 Price: Lv212,OOO. WA, as was previously stated.

COME ON DOWN
The Compleat Strategist stores are your GDW supply depots at eight loca-
tions. We have the full line of Twilight: 2000 adventure modules, and we
carry the approved Twilight: 2000 miniatures by Grenadier. We have
Traveller, basic rules and modules, Digest Group products and Traveller:
2300, as well as other fine games and supplementary material. Drop in and
check us out.

tN NEW YORK IN VIRGINIA IN PENNSYLVANIA

THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST, INC THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST
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(212) 685-3880 (703) 532-2477 King of Prussia, PA 19406
Stop and check the new Compleat Strategist catalog for all your (215) 265-8562
favorlte scl-fl and fantasy tlUes. Write today for your free catalog with THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST IN MEW JERSEY
320 W 57th St THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST
hundreds of games In every category. New York, NY 10019 215 Glenr~dgeAve 2011 Walnut St
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. , 744-6622
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Boston. MA 02115 5406-8 Stirlina Rd
48 GDW

PUT YOUR W N T A D HERE. Any or have a game club, please contact us at

Traveller o r Twilight: 2000 related ads ac- (312) 336-0790.
cepted, subject only to space available and WANTED: Photocopy of High Passage
g o o d taste. Buy o r sell out-of-print #I, unpainted Martian Metals figures and
booklets. Advertise fanzines. Find people
to play against. Challenge Classifieds, Challen
Box 7646, Bloomington, IL 61702 WANTED: Will players andlor referees of Traveller in Lan-
JUMPSPACE: A new illustrated fanzine for
soon to be released. Send $4 for four quar
King, 50 Basin Drive, Mesa, WA 99343.
WANTED: Hotel Complex by FASA an
Robert Warfield. Will pay well for mint co
Box 1328, Kealakekua, H I 96750 Palamino, Beaverton, OR 97005.
GENESIS: Genesis is an IBM-PC and C
designed to assist the Traveller referee in
sectors of planets in a matter of minutes.
results in various formats. Copy of pr
documentation available as public dom
Send $5 to Synergy Software of Nebras
Papillion, NE 68046.
AUSTIN AREA: Gamers in and around
out Hexworld, Austin's game room, with
games, including Twilight: 2000, Travelle
campaigns for several RPG systems, as w
tabletop miniatures. Write Hexworld,
Austin, TX 78758. WANTED: Complete set of 2nd Edition Striker rules, in fair
BEASTMASTER: Generate Traveller
twist. In plastic cover, introductory pr
Write for details.
Also looking for Traveller, Twilight: 200
in N. Seattle/King County area. Jerry Ca
Kirkland, WA 98034. COMPUTER PROGRAM EXCHANGE FOR TRAVELLER: Public
NEW MAGAZINE: Will interested ro
dividuals in West Germany please cont
Strasse 14, 4784 Ruthen-Meiste, West
ning a role-playing magazine called
IMPERIUM STAPLE: Ten issues produced by Herb Petro, now
under new editorship. $6 for six monthly issues, or $11 for
twelve monthly issues (one year); $1.25 for sample issue. W.
Elmer Hinton, 20 Almont St., Nashua, NH 03060.
CONTINUUM: A new Traveller Newsletter by Herb Petro to
support miscellaneous writings and Traveller Data Base project
news. Send SASE for sample issue, $2 for 4 issue subscription.
For Traveller:
Herb Petro, PO Box 1515, Belmont, NC 28012.
A Decade of Traveller: Marc Miller takes an
WANTED: Photocopies of the Vangard Reaches and the look at the first ten years of the world's
Beyond Sector (published by Paranoia Press), and 50 Starbases foremost science-fiction role-playing game.
by Judges Guild. JamesP. Ward, 7907 Wynbrook Rd, Baltimore,
MD 21224. For Traveller: 2300:
THIRD IMPERIUM: A quarterly Canadian Traveller fanzine by In the Cards: This New Frontiers scenario is
M. Jackson, A. Berg, and D. New. Each issue contains new the first in what will become a regular feature.
equipment and equipment blueprints, starship deck-plans, a
For Twilight: 2000:
complete adventure, and more! $2.50 Canadian for a sample
Buildings: Loren Wiseman details a system
issue, $9.00 Canadian for a LCissue subscription. Mike Jackson, for classifying structures, and gives a few hints
No. 512, 4676 Yew St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6L 2j6. on how to determine their contents in more
GAMEMASTERS GUILD OF WAUKEGAN: The Guild invites detail than in the basic rules.
you t o become a member of a gaming guide. This will be a
directory of games, and people in the Chicago area who play
them. There will also be a list available for new people or out-
of-town people who wish to find opponents. If you play a game
I Plus: Our regular features, and more!
 ORIGINS AWARD-PARTIAL LISTING OF ELIGIBLE 3ODUCTS
See the inside front cover for details of the ballotir procedures
1 Best Historical Figure Series, 1986 US) Out Time Days (Twin Engine Gaming)
Agincourt (Miniature Figurinesl Nights of Dark Terror, All D&D (TSR, Inc) Outer Rim (Outremer Garnesl
All the King's Men line (Rafml Orcbusters, Paranoia (West End Garnesl Paths t o Glory (Triumph Games Systems)
American Civil War line (Stone Mountain Miniaturesl Pawns of Time, DC Heroes (Mayfair Games) Privateers (Tudor Garnesl
Armies of the CeaSarS (Rafml Pinnacle, Role-Aids (Mayfair Games) Quest of the Great Jewels (Zorph Gamesl
Armies of the Helinistic Period (Rafml Phantom of the Northern Marshes, MERP (Iron Crown State of War (Game Systernsl
Blue and the Gray line (Rafm) Enterprises1 Supernova (Rollins Thunder Gamesl
Elite Force Ultra Modern (Alliance Miniaturesl Queen of the Spiders, AD&D (TSR, Inc) Takamo (Advent 6ames)
Flint & Feather line IRafml Queen Victoria and the Holy Grail, Golden Heroes (Garnes Universe II (Clemens and Associates1
Hotspur series (Alliance Miniaturesl Workshop US1 1 1 Best Pre-20th Century Game, 1986
MicroArmour (GHQl Ravenloft 11, AD&D (TSR, Incl Chickamauga (West End Garnesl
Napoleonic Sailors and Marines Red StarILone Star. Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Condotteri (Wargamer #54)
Miniature Figurinesl Wnrkshool
. .-...-..-r. 1830: Robber Barons (The Avalon Hill Game Cornpany)
Napoleonic Saxons and Westphalians (Miniature Figurinesl Return t o Axnar, Star Trek (FASA Corp) The Emperor Returns (Clash of Arms Gamesl
Ninja. Citadel line (Games Workshop US) Search for New Gods. Dungeons & Dragons (Garnes Empires in Arms (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
Ottoman Turks (Alliance Miniatures) Workshop US) Glary Road (Wargamer #51)
Samurai, Citadel line (Games Workshop US) Spawn of Azathoth, Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium) Knights of Justice (Wargamer #501
War of the Roses (Miniature Figurinesl Statue of the Sorcerer, Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium) Napoleon and the Archduke Charles: The Battle of Aspern-
World War I (Miniature Figurinesl Swords of the Daimvo. AD&D ITSR. Incl Essling (Wargamer #491
2 Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Figure Series, 1986 Teen-age Mutant ~ i n j Turtlesa Adventures, Teen-age Mu- Pleasant Hill IS&T # I 0 6 1
Children of Fantasy line (TAG Industries) tant Ninja Turtles (Palladium Books) Railwav ~ i v a l sIGames workshoo LJSl
--
Children of the Nile (TAG Industries) Temple of Elemental Evil. AD&D (TSR, Incl ~ebel-sabersi ~ S i l s ~ I )
Citadel line (Games Workshop US1 Terror from the Stars, Call of Cthulhu (Chaosiuml Remember the M a ~ n e(S&T #I081
Dr Who line (FASA Corp) Trolls of the Misty Mountains, MERP (Iron Crown Shanga~Trader (Panther Gamesl
Dungeons and Dragons line (Games Workshop US1 Enterprisesl Terr~bleS w ~ f Sword
t (TSRISPI)
Fantasy Lords blisterpacks (Grenadier Models) War of Darkness, Role-Aids (Mayfair GAmes) Warlords (Panther Gamesl
Groo the Wanderer line (Dark Horse Miniaturesl Warriors Code, Dr Who (FASA Corp) 12 Besr 20th Centurv Games. 1986
Judge Dredd line (Games Workshop US1 Wizard's Revenge, Role-Aids (Mayfair Gamesl Aegean Strike (victory Games)
Laser Burn line (Table Top Miniaturesl You Only Live Twice II, James Bond 0 0 7 (Victory Garnesl Against the Reich (West End Gamesl
Legions of Darkness line (Rafml 7 Best Role-Playing Supplement, 1986 Air and Armor (West End Games)
Limited Edition blistercards (Gamesworkshop US) Acute Paranoia, Paranoia (West EndGames) Anvil-Dragoon: Southwall 1944 (Wargamer #60)
Lord of the Rings line (Games Workshop US) After the Bomb, Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles (Palladium Barbarossa (TSRISPII
Mandragon and She-Mandragon (Dark Horse Miniaturesl Booksl Battle Cry! (World Wide Wargamesl
Minotaur, Citadel line (Games Workshop US) Batman, DC Heroes (Mayfair Games) Battle Hymn (Victory Garnes)
Minotaur Lord, Citadel line (Games Workshop US) BattleTech Technical Readout (FASA Corp) Battleship (Simulations Canada)
Monster Manuscripts. Dragon Lords (Grenadier Models) Beastiary (Bard Gamesl Bloody Keren (Wargamer #591
The Monster Mash (Rafml Book of Lairs, AD&D (TSR, Incl Bundeswehr (Game Designers' Workshopl
Off-the-Wall Armies (Grey Cat Casting) The British in World War !I, Behind Enemy Lines (The Clash of the Epires August. 1914 (Wargamer #58)
Reaper Fantasy line (Table Top Miniatures) Companions) Counterstrike from France (Task Force Games)
Talismen miniatures (Games Workshop US1 Carse (Chaosiuml Duel for Kharkov (Peoples Wargamesl
Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles (Dark Horse Miniaturesl Cities (Chaosiuml Duel in the Desert (Wargamer #511
Undead Centaurs, Excursions into the Bizarre (Dark Horse Cthulhu by Gaslight, Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium) Dunkirk: 1 9 4 0 Operation Dynamo (Wargamer #53)
Miniatures) Cybermen, Dr Who IFASA Corpl Easter Front Tank Leader (West End Gamesl
3 Besr Vehicular/Accessory Series, 1986 Dragons, Role-Aids (Mayfair Garnes) First Team! (Vietnam (Wargamer #561
Colonial gunboats (Greenfield Garrisions) Dreamlands, Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium) Flight Leader (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
Hovels building line (Stone Mountain Miniatures) Dueltrack, Car Wars (Steve Jackson Games) Fortress America (Milton Bradley)
Ships with crews (Greenfield Garrisionsl Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, AD&D (TSR, Inc) France: 1944 (Victory Gamesl
Star Trek Miniatures IFASA Corpl Evael, Harn (Columbia Gamesl Korean War (Victory Gamesl
Starline 2 2 0 0 Miniatures (Task Force Gamesl The Federation, Star Trek (FASA Corp) Okinawa (Wargamer #551
Vietnam era buildings (Greenfield Garrisionsl Gadgets! (Hero GamesIlCEl Persian Gulf (Game Designers' Workshop)
4 Besr Miniatures Rules, 1986 Grimtooth's Traps Fore (Task Force Games) Race for Tunis (Wargamer #57)
Ancients 7 t h Edition (WRGI GURPS Autoduel, GURPS (Steve Jackson Games) RAF (West End Gamesl
Command Decision (Game Designers' Workshopl GURPS Fantasy Book, GURPS (Steve Jackson Garnes) Rommel at Bay (World Wide Wargamesl
1 8 t h Century Grand Tactical Quick Rules (Miniature Hero Bestiary (Hero GamesIlCE) Rommel in North Africa (West End Gamesl
Figurinesl Hi1 Sector Blues, Paranoia (West End Gamesl St. Lo (West End Games)
Fritzkreig Tactical Rules (Miniature Figurinesl Hivers, Traveller (Game Designers' Workshopl Second Fleet (Victory Garnesl
Jadgpanther (Greenfield Garrisionsl Kanday, Harn (Columbia Garnesl Snioer! ITSRISPII
Limeys and Slimeys (Miniature Figurines) King Arthur Companion. Pendragon (Chaosium)
Nach Paris (Courier Publishing Col Legion of Superheroes, Volume I-The Characters, DC
5 Best Role-Playing Rules, 1986 Heroes (Mayfair Gamesl
Delta Force (Task Force Garnesl Lords of Middle-earth, Volume I. MERP (Iron Crown
Freedom Fighters (Fantasy Games Unlimited) Enterprises) Warsaw Rising (S&T
Gamma World (TSR. Incl Lorien, MERP (Iron Crown Enterprisesl
GhostBusters (West End Games) The Nobles Book. Pendragon (Chaosiuml
GURPS (Steve Jackson Gamesl Oriental Adventures, AD&D (TSR. Inc) Aero Tech (FASA Coro)
Harnmaster IColumbia Gamesl The Platoon Leader's Pocket Guide, Behind Enemy Lines Bond Assault Game (victory Games)
Hawkmoon (Chaosiuml (The Companions) Citv Tech (FASA Cornl
Marvel Super Heroes Advanced (TSR, Incl Realms of Magic, Marvel Super Heroes (TSR, Incl ~ ~ ~ m i c ~ n c ~ " nEnd t ~Garnes)
r - ~ ~ ~ s t
The Mechanoids (Palladium Booksl RDF Sourcebook, Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Dark Emperor (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
MechWarrior (FASA Corp) Workshopl Elfquest (Mayfair Gamesl
Middle-earth Role Playing, boxed edition (Iron Crown Road Hogs. Mutant Turtles (Palladium Ellery Queen (Mayfair Garnesl
Enterprises) Booksl Federation and Empire (Task Force Games)
Price of Freedom (West End Gamesl Robots, Traveller (Game Designers' Workshopl Introduction t o Star Fleet Battles (Task Force Games)
Recon (Palladium Booksl Rolemaster Comoanion. Rolemaster (Iron Crown Kings & Things (West End Gamesl
Robot Warriors (Hero Gamesllron Crown Enterprisesl Enterprisesl Star Trek Combat Simulator (FASA Corp)
Robotech the Roleplaying Game (Palladium Books) Solomani, Traveller (Game Designers' Workshop) Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Games Workshop US)
Traveller: 2 3 0 0 (Game Designers' Workshopl The Squad Leader's Pocket Guide, Behind Enemy Lines 14 Best Professional Boardgame Magazine, 1986
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play System (Games Workshop (The Companions) Fire & Movement (Diverse Talents,lnc)
US) Star Trek IV Sourcebook (FASA Corp) The General (The Avalon Hill Game Cornpany)
6 Best Role-Playing Adventure, 1986 Super Agents (Hero GamesIlCE) The Grenadier (J. Tibbetts & Sons1
A Doomsday Like Any Other, Star Trek (FASA Corp) Thieves World Companion (Chaosiuml Strategy & Tactics (Dragon Publishing)
Adventure in Blackmoor, Expert D&D (TSR, Incl Uncle Albert's 2036 Cataloa. Car Wars (Steve Jackson The Wargamer (World Wide Wargames)
Alien Realms, Traveller (Game Designers' Workshopl Garnesl 15 Best Military/Strategy Computer GAme, 1986
Armies of the Night, Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Undead, Role-Aids (Mayfair Gamesl Battlefront (Strateoic Studies Grouol
Workshopl US Army Vehicle Guide, Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Battlegroup (Srrageg~cS~niulat~ons, lncl
The Awakening, Dungeons & Dragons (Garnes Workshop ..- ...- ..-
Wnrkshnnl Confllct In vletnam IM~croprosel
I$\
1--, ~ i 1 l a i n C ' ~ a m eBond
s 0 0 7 (Victory Garnes) Europe Ablaze IStrereg~cStud~esGroup)
Beneath T w o Suns, Role-Aids [Mayfair Garnes) Wilderness Survival Guide, AD&D (TSR, Incl Gettysburg: The Turning Point (Strategic Simulations, Incl
The Black Sword, Stormbringer IChaosiuml 8 Best Professional Role-Playing Magazine, 1986 Gulf Strike (The Avalon Hill Game Companvl . .
Clones in Space, Paranoia (West End Gamesl Adventurers Club (Hero Gamesllron Crown Enterprisesl Gunship (Microprose)
Conflict of Interest. Star Trek (FASA Corpl Autoduel Quarterly (Steve Jackson Gamesl Kursk Campaign (Simulations Canada)
The... Corinlis
. .Effect.
- (Hero GamesIlCEl Challenge (Game Designers' Workshopl Panzergruppe Guderian (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
Countdown t o Armageddon, DC Heroes (Mayfa~rGames) Different Worlds (Sleuth Publications) Rommel (Game Designers' Workshopl
D e c ~ s ~ oatn M~dnlght,Star Trek IFASA Corpl The Dragon (Dragon Publishing Col Spitfire 4 0 (The Avalon Hill Game Cornpany)
Delta Force Terror at Seas, Delta Force (Task Force Gamesl Dungeon (Dragon Publishing Co) Stalingrad Campaign (Simulations Canada)
Don't Ask, DC Heroes IMayfalr Gamesl Nexus (Task Force Garnesl War in the South Pacific (Strategic Simulations, Inc)
Doomsday Program, DC Heroes (Mayfair Gamesl The Space Gamer (Diverse Talents Incl Wargame Construction Set (Strategic Simulations, Inc)
Dragons of Glory, AD&D (TSR, Incl Traveller Digest (Digest Group Publications) Warship (Strategic Simulations, Incl
Dragons of Triumph, AD&D (TSR, Incl White Dwarf (Games Workshop) 16 Best Amateur Adventure Gaming Magazine, 1986
Dragons of Truth, AD&D ITSR, Incl 9 Best Professional Miniatures Magazine, 1986 Abyss
Dream Machine, DC Heroes (Mayfair Games) The Courier (The Courier Publishing col Alarms & Excursions
Element of Danger, DC Heroes (Mayfair Gamesl Miniature Wargames The Wild Hunt
Escort t o Hell, DC Heroes (Mayfair Garnesl Military Modeling he id we it wargarners Association Newsletter
Eternity, Inc, DC Heroes (Mayfair Gamesl 10 Best Play-By-Mail Game, 1986 Europa Nuts and Bolts
Fire and Ice, DC Heroes (Mayfair Garnes) Alamaze (Pegasus Productions) 1 8 Besr Fantasy/Science Fiction Computer Game, 1986
For Your Eyes Only James Bond 0 0 7 (Victory Gamesl Company Commander (Schubel and Son) Darkhorn (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
Four Horsemen of Apokolis, DC Heroes (Mayfair Games) Crack of Doom (Advanced Gaming Enterprisesl Gemstone Healer (Strategic Simulations, Inc)
The Gauntlet (Autoventures (Task Force Garnesl Duelmasters (Reality Simulations) Mission on Thunderhead (The Avalon Hill Game Company)
Ghost Toasties, Ghostbusters (West End Gamesl Epic (Midnight Gamesl Ogre (Origins Systems)
Going Home, Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Workshopl Family Games (Andon Gamesl Phantasie 1 I istrateoic Simulations. Incl
Graduation Exercise, Star Trek (FASA Corp) Feudal Lords (Graaf Simulations) Rings of Z~lfinl ~ t r G e ~ ~l c~ m d l a t i o nl sn,c l
The Grey Knight, Pendragon IChaosiuml First World (White Lion Enterprisesl Road War: 2000 IStrateg~cS~mulat~ons, lncl
Griffin Island, RuneQuest (The Avalon Hill Game Company) Fleet Maneuvers (Fantastic Simulations1 Shard of Spr~ng(Strateg~cSirnulat~[Link]
Hot Rods of the Gods, Ghostbusters (West End Games) Galactic Prisoners (Grandel, Inc) W~zard'sCrown istrateg~cSimularions. Inc)
King of Crime, DC Heroes (Mayfair Gamesl Galaxy: Alpha (Intergalactic Gamesl
Lost Telepaths, Spacemaster (Iron Crown Enterprisesl Global Supremacy (Schubel & Son)
The Mines of Selka, Star Trek (FASA Corpl Hyborian War (Reality Simulations)
Night of Seven Swords. AD&D (TSR, Incl It's A Crime! (Adventures By Mail)
Nightmare in Norway, Call of Cthulhu (Garnes Workshop Mazeworld (Acme Game Moderators)
 Airlords of the Ozarks
Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, 2001: On a mission
through some of the most rugged teriain in the central states,
I
*' the player characters must infiltrate and gather information
on New America, a bizarre right-wmg organization deter-
mined to build an empire from the ashes of the United States.
--- As a means toward that end some of their elements have
taken to the air in ultralight aircraft and dirigibles they have
found or made themselves-the airlords now have wntrol
of the skies over the Ozarks from which they enforce their
will. The player characters will also discover Operation
Eaglesttile, a plot involving salvaged cruise missiles. $7.00.

e f i a y to the SE
I
I h e Southern Caribbean, 2001: In the '90s, a replica of
the U.S.S. Constitution was wnstructed bv a California film
company, complete with masts, rigging and phony cannon.
Who would have s u s d at the time that tbat vessel would
have a serious role a real-life adventure in the Caribbean
just a few years later. As crewmembers on the new Con-
stitution, the player characters become embroiled in a Idd-
napping plot -and the various intrigues on Grenada in the
southern Caribbean islands. Pmm stranded Cubans to r e M
Americau Marines, fromthe pirates of CaniaEou to the har-

I
dy crew of the new Constitution, a great host of diverse
people are caught up in this exciting tale of piracy, plunder,

+=-
and adventure on the high seas of the Spanish Main.$7.00.

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Workshop
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Available at your local hobby shop or direct-

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I. (add $1 f i r handling). Seadfor our free catalog.

PO W M46, BloarnioStOa, IL 617M-I646