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“““ JHW '

IE A STARMASTER?

ES TACTICS

THE JOYSTICK REPORT
AND 6 PAGES OF CAPSULES *

THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST
THE FANTASY GAME CENTER
THAT HAS IT ALU

n. o

If you're into Fantasy, then come
to THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST
where you’ll Find the largest
selection of fantasy related items
ever assembled. We carry all Role-
Playing Games, a Rainbow of
colored dice, every Fantasy and
Science-Fiction Gaming Magazine

currently in print, a complete line

-si iW p* lyp

of paints, bmshes, accessories

and the largest selection of fantasy
figures available. We also stock the
newest fantasy products as soon as
they're released. When we call
ourselves
THE COMPLEAT
STRATEGIST we’re
not just boasting
because we have
games, books,

magazines and figures for the
historica l gamer too!

There's a friendly atmosphere at
THE COMPLEAT STRATEGIST and our
staff is always ready to answer any

you with your purchases. Game
Rooms* are located in our stores so you
can start your “adventure" right away.

If you can’ t visit one of our stores, we
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THE

QMPLE4T

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Space Gamer

Number 65
Sept/Oct 1983

MEMBER OF

IKE GAME
MANUFACTURERS
ASSOCIATION

Publisher:
Editor:
Assistant Editor:
Art Director:
Advertising Manager:
Contributing Editors:

Business Manager:
Circulation Manager:
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Production:

■ritAJ-STF}*-

Steve Jackson
Aaron Allston
Richard Steinberg
Pat Mueller
Tonya Cross
W.G. Armintrout
William A, Barton
Ron aid Pehr
Elton FeweH
Shirley Miri
Scott Haring
J. David George
Liana Johnston
C. Mara Lee

fii

ART IN THIS ISSUE

Cover: "'Pioneers/' copyright 1983 by
David Martin.

Line Art: K.C. Ellis: 42. J. David George:
I4 r 15, 16, 17, Denis Loubet: 19. Bob
Schochet: Mailer cartoon. George Webber:
20, 22, 23, 28, 32.

Photographs and Game Art: Courtesy
Columbia Pictures, 39, Courtesy Fantasy
Games Unlimited: 36. Courtesy Grenadier:
38. Courtesy Hero Games: 10. Courtesy
MGM: 38. Courtesy Tri-Tac, Inc.: 2, 8.

SPACE GAMER (ISSN Q194’9977, USPS
434-250} is published bi-monthly by Steve
Jackson Games, P.0. Box 18957, Austin,
TX 7S7 60-89 57. Second class postage paid
at Austin, TX. POSTMASTER: Send

address changes to SJ Games, P,0, Box
18957, Austin, TX 7S76CX8957.

Printed in USA by Future Press, Austin.

Subscription rates , effective 5/1 5/S 3:
In the United States — 6 months (3 issues)
$8; one year (6 issues) $13; 2 years (12
issues) $23. A lifetime subscription Is $200.
In Canada, add 504 / issue for postage and
handling, for addresses outside the U.S,, add
$1 / issue for surface mail, Internationa!
rates subject to change as postal rates change.
Note: All payments MUST be in U.S. dollars,
made by International Money Order, or
checks drawn on a U.S. or Canadian bank.

ADVENTURE SUPPLEMENT

Superheroes in The Fantasy Trip * Ronald Pehr

As if wizards and heroes weren’t enough

ARTICLES

◄

FTL:2448/Fringeworthy Designer’s Notes * Richard Tucholka

Spaceships, portals, and the future of the future 8

The Joystick Report * W.G. Armintrout

A look at the new wave of joysticks for home computers 12

So You Wanna Be A Sfarmaster? * Stefan Jones

Dos and don’ts in Schubel & Son’s strategic PBM 14

Fleet Tactics in Star Fleet Battles * Wait Mizia

Ten tips for fleet action in SFB and Federation Space 16

REVIEWS

FTL:2448/ Fringeworthy * William A. Barton 2

Revised Champions * Russell Grant Collins 10

Capsule Reviews 34

SUPPLEMENTS: Adventure Class Ships Vol. II, FORCE, Illuminati Expansion Sets
1 & 2, Nomads of the World Ocean, Operation Morpheus. COMPUTER GAMES:
Serpentine. PLAY-BY-MAIL: Alien Conflict. MINIATURES: Dinosaurs, Gf Assault
Team, Soldiers of Fortune. GAMEABLE MOVIES: Octopussy, Spacehunter.

COLUMNS

Counter Intelligence * Aaron Allston 27

Where We’re Going * Steve Jackson 28

Murphy’s Rules * Ben Sargent 29

Game Master 30

Letters 33

News 40

Convention Calendar 40

PBM Update 41

Advertisers’ Index 44

Trademark Notice

Most game names are trademarks of the
companies publishing those games. In
particular: Dungeons & Dragons is a trade-
mark of T$R Hobbies, Inc. : FTL : 2448
and Fringeworthy , of Tri-Tac, Inc.; Cham-
pion s w of Hero Games: Starmaster, of
Schubel 81 Son; Star Fleet Battles, of Task
Force Games; and The Fantasy Trip, of
Meta gaming.

Use of a trademark to identify a product
commented upon in this magazine should
not be construed as implying the sponsor-
ship of the trademark holder.

All names of games published by Steve
Jackson Games are trademarks of Steve
Jackson Games, or used under license by
Steve Jackson Games.

Use of the name for any product with-
out mention of trademark status should not
be construed as a challenge to such status.

With Metagaming's loss and the delay
of In the Name of Justice, we're not
y—v likely to see TFT super-
I; . heroes soon right?

Wrong -try
f / page 19 . . .

Featured Review:

Diamond

FTL:2448 and

in the

William A.

Rough?

Fringeworthy

Barton

Most gamers I know enjoy playing
several different role-playing systems
from time to time. Unfortunately, most
RPGs use such different systems that new
characters have to be generated for each
campaign. Except for Chao si um with
their interlocking Basic Role Playing/
RuneQuest- based games, Hero Games
with the Champions j Espionage system
and, to some extent, FGU with the
Aftermath / Bushido j Daredevils RPGs,
most game companies seem to overlook
this cross-over tendency on the part of
gamers.

Enter Tri-Tac, Inc. “Who?” you might
say, if you're not from the Midwest area
and thus have never heard of Tri-Tac)*

To enlighten those not in the know,
Tri-Tac, Inc*, is a small Michigan game
company founded by Richard Tucholka,
one of the designers of the excellent
Morrow Project after- th e-holocaust RPG.

Tri-Tac has produced a line of inexpen-
sive, off-the-wall games with names such
as Escape from Westerville Stare, Geriatric
Wars and PteroducktyL These are games
that are simple, wacky, and fun. No
frills, no apologies, just a half- hour or
so of crazy enjoyment each, usually cost-
ing SL50 or less. Tri-Tac doesn’t have
big budgets, flashy production techniques
or worldwide distribution. It only has
gamers (the company is manned com-
pletely by gamers, not slick business-
men or PR hypers, etc*) — gamers who
know what makes a good game and can
produce items that companies such as
TSR or GDW don’t find profitable*
TheyVe got a sense of humor, which
spills over into their games. Best of all,
the folks at Tri-Tac, being gamers, have
a pretty good handle on what gamers will
like and find useful — such as RPGs that
use the same basic systems, so that one
doesn’t have to waste a whole lot of time

learning a whole new system when he
wants to play another type of game.

Over the past year, Tri-Tac has released
RPGs which use the same basic systems
for character generation, combat and
other overlapping areas: Fringeworthy
and FTL: 2448 (a third, Stalking the
Night Fantastic, geared to finding and
stopping monsters in modern times,
is due for release before this review sees
print). Fringeworthy and FTL are notable
in that they make use of the same game
systems for ease of play and interplay,
though each one should be considered a
major new RPG.

Since they do share so much in com-
mon, however, they will both be covered
in this review, with discussions of their
joint systems and the differences due to
the themes of each. To briefly note
their subjects:

FTL : 2448 is a science fiction game of
star travel, exploration and discovery of

— 2 “

THE STAGE

EMPIRE is set in a galaxy dominated by six starfaring races.
They have waged war against each other for thousands of years;
just as the Roman Empire began to crumble under the burden
of constant warfare- so have they. Wholesale destruction of
planets and peoples was commonplace. Nuclear weapons
were detonated indiscriminately on enemy worlds. Many
• proud races perished, never to be seen again.

The contamination of so many rich worlds caused mass
shortages of food and fuel. These shortages, in turn, led to a
breakdown of imperial control and gave rise to powerful
merchant traders.

The food, shortage is extremely critical. Rulers faced with
having to feed growing populations needed to find additional
sources of food. They .found the new sources in their alien
neighbors. — |

THE SIX EMPIRES

The Alliance of Signius. A totalitarian insec toid telepathic
empire that has emphasized speed in its military forces.

The Dacmitian Imperium, A totalitarian reptilian empire that
lias emphasized offensive firepower.

The Republic, A theocratic empire that possesses telekmetics
and has emphasized defensive capabilities.

The Imor Federation, An aquatic fascist offensive- oriented
empire.

The Tajh Colonial Empire. A human monarchy with an
emphasis on speed.

The Perseid Empire. A human Imperium with impressive
defensive capabilities.

THE PLA YER POSITIONS

As a player, you can assume one of three types of positions:
District Governor, Renegade Commander, or Merchant Trader.

In a Merchant position, you are the “president’ of a large
stellar trade corp oration with its fleet of merchant ships. By
protecting your trade routes with escort vessels and private
mercenaries, you can build your corporate wealth up to a level
where you can influence policy within the empire.

As a Renegade Commander, you control a piratical fleet
that preys upon Imperial and merchant shipping. The loot is
processed at. certain base worlds where the ruler turns a “blind
eye” in return for a percentage of the take. Your goals in this

position are to: retain your independence* and buildup your
private fleets with your accumulated wealth.

As a District Governor, you are in charge of a military
district within,, an empire. Six to eight inhabited systems and
the local armed forces are under your jurisdiction. By exacting
taxes, protecting local trade fleets* and carrying out imperial
policy, you try to expand your personal power and wealth as
Governor.

In all three positions, you will try to increase your personal
treasury (through taxation* trade, conquests* etc, . . .) so you
can produce more ships to defend your realm and expand your
personal influence.

JOINING THE GAME

If you are interested in joining EMPIRE, send in your
request for position type and empire. In the spaces provided,
please list your first, second, and third choice of empires.
While we can guarantee the position type you want, the
empire may not be as easy. If too many players request the
same empire, it may be difficult to honor your first choice.
Positions will be assigned on a first-come* first- serve basis.

EMPIRE may be entered for SI 5,00 which includes the
first turn, set-up, rule book, map, and all necessary material
Thereafter, it is just $3,50 for the “movement /construction”
sheet, and an optional $3,00 for the “special events” sheet.

We are sure that you will find EMPIRE a very enjoyable
game. So why not give it a try? Or perhaps just send $5.00 for
the rule book.

Name _

S tree t A d dre ss — —

City State Zip

$ # 3 ?

Position type desired:

Empire choices; 1) . —

2 ) —

3) ;

□ Enclosed is SI 5.00 for a starter package.

□ Enclosed is $5.00 for the rules only.

H&R ENTERPRISES
P.O. BOX 1 1 83, DECATUR, GA 30030

ft & Jl enterprises

new worlds and races, with adventure
situations building out of these. Super-
ficially, it falls in the same category as
earlier games such as Traveller \ Space
Opera and TSR 5 s recent Star Frontiers.
Its background “history' 1 and scope
make it somewhat closer to SO than the
other two, dealing with Terran-oriented
near future in which several alien races
figure as partners. Its systems (both the
ones shared with Fringe worthy and those
unique to FTL) are much less complex
than those of Space Opera , but yet are
more fully developed and less simplistic
in most instances than those of Traveller
or Star Frontiers. FTL offers the com-
pleteness of detail found in SO and the
playability of the other two games.

Fringeworthy, on the other hand, is
one of those rare animals in RPG — an
idea that hasn't already been done several
times over. Fringeworthy concerns inter-
dimensional travel to alternate realities
(of Earth and conceivably of other
planets and star systems that are also

"If you’re less concerned
with how the game plays
than with gaudy cover
paintings of ample-
breasted females fighting
side-by-side with wild-
looking aliens . . . then
look elsewhere."

accessible) via portals and “fringe paths/ 5
Alternate dimensions and travel between
them have been a mainstay of science
fiction for some time. It's surprising no
one thought of it as a vehicle for a RPG
before this; it is to Tri-Tac's credit that
they were the first. Both Fringe worthy
and FTL are the designs of Tri-Tac
founder Richard Tucholka. Aficionados
of The Morrow Project need little more
to assure them of the quality of these
games. They certainly are not perfect
(but what system is?), but they have
much to recommend them.

Production

I'll turn to the problem of production
on these games first. Simply put, if you're
less concerned with how the game plays
than with flashy graphics, gaudy cover
paintings of ample- breasted females fight-
ing side by side with wild- looking aliens,

extra componenets (character sheets,
maps, counters, GM shields, etc.) and the
like, then look elsewhere. You won't find
high- budget production frills in Fringe*
worthy /FTL. (If you're looking for good
gaming, on the other hand, read on . . .).

As noted, Tri-Tac is a small company
that can't afford flashy graphics. Produc-
tion on these games 3s poor to adequate.
Fringeworthy has a plain blue cover,
with silk- screened logo and illo of a
portal, and comes bagged. FTL comes in
a green plastic three- ring binder with
cover logo and a starship in white. The
three-hole-punched pages are color-coded
by section for the easy addition of
future expansions. Printing on both
books seems to have been computer-
generated rather than typeset, giving the
text a cheap look. Bands of zip atone
screen alternating with unshaded bands
on tables (in the old SPI style) make a
lot of the values covered by the screens
difficult to read. Illustrations are car-
toony and crude in places. And the text
is riddled with .misspellings, typos and
grammatical errors that should have been
caught in proofreading. If a company
such as TSR or GDW had produced
these booklets, I'd crucify them in print
for this sort of thing. However, for a
small company on a shoestring budget,
these products aren't really that bad.
If the game systems themselves were as
ineptly done as the production, I 3 d think
differently. Bui those who have enough
presence of mind to look beyond the
cover of a book will find themselves
amply rewarded.

The Systems

Players of The Morrow Project will
feel right at home with much of the
character generation of Fnngeworthyf
FTL. While several of the characteristics
are different, and a few have been added,
most are rolled up on 4D6-4, giving a
range of 0-20 in the characteristics.
Others are calculated based on combina-
tions of the roiled scores. Fringe worthy
has nine rolled characteristics — (Strength,
Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intel-
ligence, Luck, Charisma, Wisdom and
Accuracy) — and three that are calculated
(Throw, which is the average of Strength,
Dexterity and Accuracy; Dodge, the
average of Strength and Agility; and
Hit Points, which is Strength plus twice
Constitution plus a DIO roll). FTL adds
another rolled characteristic, Psionics,
a calculated characteristic called Working
Psi (which is Psi and Constitution aver-
aged) and a Size characteristic derived
from a table of “alien” sizes. All the

characteristics function much as they do
in other RPGs, though some need a bit.
more explanation: Dexterity governs

hand-to-eye coordination and hand-to-
hand combat, while Agility governs speed
and coordination of movements: Intelli-
gence is learning ability, while Wisdom is
the ability to use sound judgment; Accur-
acy is what governs whether or not a
target is hit in projectile combat; Working
Psi is a reserve of psionic power. These
character values and the skill levels pos-
sessed are the main parameters in defin-
ing a character in FTL or Fringeworthy.

The number of different skills avail-
able in these systems is impressive. Fringe-
worthy boasts almost 200 different
character skills, including extra-legal
abilities; FTL adds skills designed specif-
ically for use in space. For characters who
wish to play doctors, there is an entire
page of additional medical skills to
choose from. Skills may be from work
experience, technical school, military
education, higher education, or self-
teaching.

The number of skills a character may
have is based on his intelligence. Char-
acters may choose skills from only one
area of learning (plus self-taught), with
the skill levels being determined by dice
rolls. One primary skill is received at a
level of D4+4, two related secondary
skills may be had at D4+2 levels, and the
rest of a character's skills start at D4
levels. Each level equals 5% chance of
success in that specific skill; thus, if
D4+4 equals 6, the percentage chance is
30%.

Fringe worthy /FTL skill system is

expeciaily nice in that not only is there
a wide range of skills from which to
choose, but that you can choose them,
unlike Traveller , in which skills are all
randomly rolled. A lot of the skills may
seem somewhat superfluous — how often
is bartering going to be needed, or cal-
ligraphy? — but this can be considered
quite realistic. Besides, how often in real
life do we have skills or pieces of know-
ledge that are always applicable to the
situation at hand?

The one really serious problem 1 find
with the skill system is that the skills
aren't defined at all; they're simply
listed. 1 imagine this was due to the
designer not wishing to restrict the
possible uses of a skill with a limiting
definition as in some games. Still, it
leaves open the possibility of misinter-
pretation of certain skills. While not
fatal, I think this lack of skill definition
is definitely a flaw in the systems. And it
is unfortunately repeated throughout the
books in other places where charts,

-A-

tables and rules are not adequately
explained.

To be fair , however, 1 must admit that
1 have yet to find a rule or table that 1
couldn’t understand with careful reading.
1 think the problem steins from Tri-Tac’s
confidence in lire ability of the average
gamer to be able to figure things out
without being led every step of the way.
With the condescending approach some
companies take, crediting players with
little intelligence, this is refreshing —
if somewhat inconvenient.

Another aspect of die skills system
that bothered me (until I read furtiier)
was the fact that a character with the
highest possible level in a skill only had
a 40% success chance. Or so it seemed
until 1 noted that the success chances of
any related skills could be added in to
the total. Tasks are rated for difficulty,
with simple tasks having an almost auto-
matic (95%) chance of success with the

"A character reaching
10th level . . . will gain a
minimum of 14 new hit
points — and a maximum
of 106! That’s enough to
allow a character ... a
chance of surviving a
direct hit from a LAW.”

skill level added to that , Harder tasks
have less chance of success, down to a
-95% for tasks that are impossible. There
are other modifiers to success — proper
tools, materials, etc. - which make the
skill use rules quite valid.

Now Tm afraid I must point out the
one part of character development in
the Fringe wor thy /FTL systems that I
really don't like — the experience system.
Personally, I prefer the Chaosium-type
system in which skill levels increase as
they are used successfully. Fve never
cared much for the D&D - type experience
systems in which experience points
awarded for adventuring allow the
character to rise in levels, each level
giving him greater abilities until he
becomes superhuman. Perhaps this can be
overlooked in a fantasy game, but to me
there's little place for it in science fiction.

A character reaching 10th level in the
FTL j Fringe worthy system will gain a
minimum of 14 new hit points — and a
maxiumum of 106! That’s enough to
allow a character to stand up to point
blank fire from an elephant gun or have
a chance of surviving a direct hit from a

LAW. (Under the combat system, how-
ever, hit points alone are not the only
thing that determine death; depend-
ing on where a character is hit, there is
a percentage chance of death shock,
which can kill superpowerful characters
just as easily as normal ones and which
prevents the added hit point rule from
being a fatal flaw,)

Combat in Fringe worthy and FTL
is quite detailed, yet is surprisingly clean
and playable. Time is divided into one-
minute turns and two- second actions,
an action being the minimum amount of
time to perform a significant act, such as
moving a short distance, firing a weapon,
etc. Hit determination is by rolling less
that (not equal to) your accuracy for
firearms or your dexterity for hand-to-
hand or melee weapons, on a D20, An
admirable number of modifiers to this
roll covers all likely combat situations,
including range, size of target, movement
on the part of the target and/or firer,
terrain, weather and light conditions, and
so on. The system is closer to Space
Opera than most other systems (and very
close, of course, to Morrow Project).

Unlike TMP, however, where damage
is by the bullet’s E-factor (a constant
value), damage in the Fringeworthy/
FTL system is a factor of the bullet or
shell, each type doing a certain amount
of damage determined by a die roll.
Armor can lessen damage, and damage
can even be absorbed somewhat by the
tougher tissues of the body (though this
often has more serious consequences
than taking straight damage). Aside from
rules for firearms and other weapons,
there are rules for determining damage
from toxins and diseases (these are
especially nice), radiation, shock, asphyx-
iation, falls, bums, blasts and so on —
nearly everything you could imagine. I
find this completeness most commend-
able, especially after years of playing
games such as Traveller, where damage
other than that from guns, blades, or
animals had to be arbitrarily made up due
to lack of guidelines. The specific hit
location tables are nicely detailed, if a bit
abstract. They remind me somewhat of
the old.fi/o-7 tables, but are much easier
to use. The tables in FTL have been
updated from those in Fringe worthy for
ease of play.

Those who like to have a long list of
detailed weapon statistics will like the
weapons sections in these books. Fringe-
worthy is the best of the two in this
respect, since it details with a wide variety
of realities and alternate ages of history.
Pistols range from old hand cannons and
wheellocks to modern magnums, rifles
from muskets to ACRs, and SMGs from

Thompsons to Uzis in the weapons tables.
There is a wide array of blade and blow
weapons as well, from chainsaws (for
those Texas massacre fans) to whips and
broken bottles. FTL doesn't have quite
the range of weapons as its companion
system, but it adds lasers and futuristic
versions of the slugthrowers — not to
mention ship- to- ship missiles, cannisters,
lasers and particle accelerators in the
starship section. Those who have Fringe-
worthy might note some missing material
in the rocket launcher section. Apparently
Tri-Tac’s computer got a bit hungry and
ate this; errata containing the missing
material — and more — appears as Fringe-
worthy Portals and Pathways, Book 0,
and is available free to anyone who has
purchased the game; just let Tri-Tac
know.

The two systems share other common
traits — some similarities will be found in
world generation, along with several
differences due to the focuses of each
game, and many items of equipment
appear in common on those tables (includ-
ing the incredible statement on the food
value table that bologna has twice the
nutrition of vegetables!). But it is the
differences that make each game unique,
and it is to those that I turn now.

Fringe worthy

Of the two games, I must say I prefer
Fringe worthy. FTL is good, but Fringe -
worthy is a fresh idea in role playing. The
game centers around the discovery in
the late 20th century of an ancient base
in Antarctica that permits in ter dimen-
sional travel to certain individuals termed
“fringe worthy” — those who can enter
the portals and travel the fringe paths
to other stations and to alternate worlds,
other planets in our solar systems and
other star systems. The portals and
transfer stations, it turns out, were built
by an ancient dim. en si on -crossing race
known as the Tehrmelern, wbo have
disappeared form the fringes for reasons
unknown. Unknown, that is, until fringe
travelers begin disappearing and the Mel-
lor make known their presence. (It
wouldn’t be fair to tell to much about
the M ell or for those who have yet to
learn through playing the game; let us
just say they are rather “mushy” fellows
and that they share some tendencies in
common with Campbell’s “The Thing”.)
Of course, the UN takes charge of the
protal station and the search for individ-
uals who are fringe wor thy.

Eventually the IDETs (Inter-Dimen-
sional Exploration Teams) begin to map
out the stations and the various worlds to
which the portals lead. Each station is

—5 —

built as a circle with 12 portals. Four
larger portals set 90 degrees from each
other lead to other stations; the smaller
portals lead to other worlds. Depending
on the station, these other worlds can be
alternate versions of our earth, versions
quite similar to our world or radically
different, alien places; other worlds in our

"Virtually any reality
which you wish to game
can be found among the
infinite number of worlds
available to the
fringeworthy."

solar system; worlds in nearby star
systems; or alternate versions of these.
The possibilites are limitless — which is
what makes Fringeworthy such a versatile
game. Virtually any reality which you
wish to game can be found among the
infinite number of worlds available to the
fringe worthy. Medieval worlds, fantasy
worlds with working magic and dragons,
1920s worlds, futuristic worlds — all can
be encountered. There's even a portal
that leads to the future world of FTL ,
further linking the two games.

Most of tire material in Fringeworthy
that is different from FTL revolves
around the fringepaths and portals,
their operation, the worlds the Tehrmelem
have left behind and the menace of the
Mellon Other material describes the
various materials, vehicles and other
factors involved in the exploration of the
new worlds beyond the fringe. Most of
this is quite good. There are a few odd-
[ties, here and there, but again nothing
serious. Fd have liked to have had more
vehicle descriptions than the four land
vehicles and three aircraft that are used
by the explorers. In the section on
generating intelligent technological civil-
izations there's a roll that allows a tech-
nology of 1895-levels to have early
orbital space flights — shades of Jules
Verne and H.G. Wells - which seems a
bit strange, until you remember that
we're dealing with all possible alternate
realities here. While somewhat sketchy,
these tables can serve as an excellent
framework on which a GM can build
a new world, if he hasn't any ideas of his
own. And several alternate worlds descri-
bed from the play test campaign, along
with a short “seen arioe tie'’ in Book
0, should further help jog a GM's imagina-
tion, should he need it with a concept
so flexible as this at hand.

FTL: 2448

FTV s main differences, of course, lie
in that it is a SFRPG in the classic sense
— the far future, starships, aliens and so
on. FTL adds psion ics to the system
(though like in Morrow Project, these
are difficult to obtain, except for those
alien races that are natural psion ics).
The medical section is expanded with the
addition of the autodoc, familiar to
science fiction. A future history is pro-
vided, one that, while dealing with
the inevitabilltes of war, economic
oppression and other nasty by-products
of civilization, is more positive than that
of some games, such as the history of
greed and decadence that seems inherent
in Traveller's Imperium. As the year 2448
dawns, mankind has entered a period
of renewed growth and expansion,
exploration and individual freedoms in
cooperations with several alien races.
There's much more promise in the game
than in Travellers almost perpetual
theme of fighting the oppression of the
megacorporation and tire sometimes
heavy hand of the Imperium. Only
F ASA's Star Trek RPG meets or sur-
passes the positiveness I find in FTL\
future. It's a nice feeling.

The aliens of the game system are
refreshing, too. Whereas too many game
systems either borrow heavily from
existing SF novels for their aliens or
produce dull, boring “aliens" like those
found in Traveller ; FTL t with a few
exceptions, has produced some real alien
aliens. Sure, the feline Dymnar are
undoubtably derived from Larry Niven's
popular Kzinti. But then there are the
Blox, eight-legged, eight- armed, toothy
balls of fur with an aptitude for bur-
eaucracy; the four-armed, three-eyed,
blundering Da be; the genetically engine-
ered, almost incomprehensible Krelvin;
the Frendle, who look like a cross between
crustaceans and lizards; and many others
that, while strange, are also quite fun to
play — more so than Aslan, Vargrs or
hermaphroditic gum by olds. There are
also random generation tables for creating
new alien races.

Other parts of the FTL system that
differ from Fringeworthy are equally
well-conceived, playable and fun to use.
The star travel system is much simpler
and easy to use than those of Space
Opera or Traveller . FTIPs phase drive
works very simply and logically, with-
out dozens of calculations. Fuel use is
simple and understandable, as is naviga-
tion in interstellar and interplanetary/
orbital space. The same can be said of
the starship combat system. I must

caution readers that the starship section is
one of those which will have to be read
closely in places for complete understand-
ing; you should have no problem if you
take your time and cross-reference from
section to section for explanations that
seem to be missing. The only problem
that really threw me was figuring out how
to determine a phase drive failure. To
save others some study, the answer is to
subtract any points the drive has lost due
to untuning from 100 and roll this value
or less on D100 to avoid a drive failure.

Star system and world generation in
FTL is quite detailed and is again a
ref re siting departure from Traveller ; where
a system is nothing but the main world
represented by a string of numbers,
with no info on the star, other planets or
anything else. While not quite as scien-
tifically oriented as Space Opera, FTL
will give you a lot of information —
probably more than you’ll really need —
about the spectral type of the star,
whether it's a single, binary or mul it pie,
what planets it has and what type they
are, and the characteristics of the main
world, including atmosphere, geology,
continents, oceans, ecology, intelligence,
technology, culture and more. There's
a lot more for the GM to work with
here than in lesser systems, though, again,
you'll need to read carefully in places for
complete understanding. And if every
detail isn't exactly true to scientific fact,
at least the fudging's been done for the
sake of playability, not rigid in-house
dogma.

"Instead of spending
time trying to fill in the
gaps in the game design,
you can get down to
actually playing, because
the designer has
included charts, tables
and guidelines for easy
reference. . . "

FTL covers a lot of other aspects of
future culture — robots, trade, space law,
cargo, colonies — far more than can be
dealt with in this review. Suffice it to say
that the coverage in most instances is as
good as, and often better than, in most
comparable games. As a SFRPG, it's a
good compromise between playability

— 6 —

and completeness. There are flaws and
peculiarities, but none are serious obsta-
cles to play. (For instance, in a recent
Murphy's Rules, the fact that there was a
1% chance not to detect a gas giant at
under 300 feet away was played up,
ignoring the fact that for this to occur,
one first had to miss the 99% chance to
detect it at each of several other ranges,
something that would only happen with
malfunctioning instruments). FTL how-
ever, probably won't prove as popular
ul tim a te ly as Fringe worthy , sh oul d e i th er
or both of these games receive the atten-
tion they deserve, simply because the idea
behind FTL has been done before. That's
really a shame. Having played Traveller
and FTL , I prefer FTL for the simple fact
that there's so much more that can be
done with the system. Instead of spend-
ing time trying to fill in the gaps in. the
game design, you can get down to actu-
ally playing , because the designer has
included charts, tables and guidelines for
easy reference to cover what happens
when you're exposed to radiation or your
shuttle crashes or a bullet grazes your left
sh Gulden Instead of worrying about hese
things, you can get down to role playing.
The lack of restrictions on what you can
or can’t do in a scenario due to designer
fiat, as evident in Traveller , allows you to
let your imagination roam and develop

into some interesting games (last week
our regular role-playing group used FTL
to put TV's A-Team into space — it was
silly, but it was fun!}.

Of course, T don't expect a lot of
people out there to abandon Traveller or
Star Frontiers (if they're actually playing
that), or whatever their favorite system
is, for FTL , although Td suggest they give
it a try before making that decision. But
even if you insist on sticking with your
own favorite SF system, I'd suggest pick-
ing up FTL: 2448 as a sourcebook for
filling in the gaps in that system. Unless
you're playing Space Opera, which is
pretty complete already, FTL will neatly
complement and fill in for a lot of
missing info in Traveller, Star Frontiers t
Star Rovers , whatever. And despite what
those who may criticize the game for its
“overreliance" on tables and charts think,
such items come in handy quite often —
more so than fancy ship construction
rules, vectors or elaborate trade systems.

Summary

I guess the bottom line is that 1 like
these games, despite their poor produc-
tion, their sometimes faulty explana-
tions their quirks and the experience
system. They may look amateurish, but
they certainly don't play that way.

Fringe worthy I view as the most inventive
of the recent new RP systems for its
first- of its- kind alternate worlds theme.
I believe it to be deserving of an award
of some sort for creativity and innovation.
FTL, while not treading any new paths,
at least makes an admirable effort to
cover aspects of play that too many other
systems have ignored or made needlessly
complex. If nothing else, I’d highly
recommend it as a sourcebook for exist-
ing SFRPGs.

Above all, both games are fun. I enjoy
playing them whenever the opportunity
presents itself That is perhaps the great-
est recommendation I can give. So I
urge you, look beneath the covers and
give Fringe worthy and FTL : 2448 a
tiy. Even if you end up as M ell or bait,
I doubt you'll be sorry.

Fringeworthy and FTL: 2448 are both
designed by Richard Tucholka and
published by Tri-Tac, Inc., P.O. Box 61,
Madison Heights, Michigan 4807L Fringe-
worthy is an 8%” x 11" 78-page hook ,
bagged, and retails for $12.00. FTL:
2448 comes with 102 814” x 11” pages in
a plastic three-ring hinder and retails for
$14.00. Fringeworthy Paths and Portal^
Book 0 f and an errata sheet for FTL are
available from Tri-Tac free of charge.
Both games were published in 1982.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS ...

SUPERHERO

SPY

PIRATE

PULP HERO

Be a hero with Hero Games!

92A - SG 21st Ave., San Mateo , CA 94402

- 7 -

FTL:2448 and Fringeworthy

Designer’s Notes by Richard Tucholka

if you asked a number of game design-
ers how their games came into being* yon
wouldn't receive any single answer. We be-
gan with a series of stories we'd written :
The first was called “The Morrow Project”
by Robert L. Sadler. Next was a space
novelette, “Starheat,” followed by “Sym-
phony,” my fantasy novelette of inter di-
mensional war and the supernatural. That
was ten years ago.

In the late 70s, we were searching for
something more in games than killing ores
and rabbits, so we dusted off a few manu-
scripts and turned one of them into a
“real” science fiction role-playing game -
something called 77re Morrow Project
The Project was good, fun, and educa-
tional in a real-life sort of way. Bob's story
made a great vehicle for my game systems.
We had a few qualms with the Project's
final draft, a few missing utility sections
and skills, and a half page missing out of
the PSI information, but it was good.
Shortly after The Morrow Projects
publication, Bob and I suddenly found
ourselves free of Timeline Ltd, and won-
dered what to do next. We were asked to
join a new corporation, Tri-Tac, Inc.,
where we planned for the release of FTL:
2448 , a space role-playing game of the
near future. The story “Starheat” and its
companion “Ventura Odyssey” provided
a fantastic yet plausible outline for man-
kind's near future. While working on FTL:
2448 , we became side-tracked on the con-
cept of inter dimensional exploration and
quickly finished Fringeworthy, a game on
this topic ; Fringe worthy became Tri-Tac's
first RPG. It was based both on my story
“Fringe worthy” and die Tehrmelem, an
alien species created by my wife Kathy.
Fringe is unique among SPRPGs in that

Art above courtesy Tri-Tac, Inc,

v l ;;:d LL"L„

it- uses a rational concept to open an easy
path to a multitude of other worlds, rimes,
and dimensions. For the role- player, this
was an open invitation to create and use
worlds as fantastic as the GM could im-
agine. Linking the worlds together with
portals and walkways between dimen-
sions made travel and exploration easy*
and so the system was created along with
a history of the Tehrmelern pathway
builders. The Melior race was included as
a rare but necessajy evil to explain the
abandonment of the paths and to add a
touch of continuing horror to what would
otherwise be a game of simple explora-
tion.

After serious funding and printing
problems, we released die first edition
in June of 1982. We learned, improved,
found a new editor, and returned to pro-
duction of FTL: 2448.

Without the stock concepts of a galac-
tic empire and murderous aliens, FTL
would be a realistic look at the future a
few hundred years from now. We wanted
a usable and complete game system, as
simple as Fringe worthy , but with more
detail. FTL expanded the role-playing
systems of Fringeworthy but added new
ideas and some necessary revisions, FTL:
2448 became the grubby, but hopeful,
future where mankind i.s working for the
betterment of itself and alien races.

For FTL we tried a new packaging con-
cept by using a rules binder which could
be updated or revised. We never realized
that most gaming distributors don't like
binders. Someone also started a nasty but
untrue rumor that the pages fall out of
the binder.

As role- players, we wanted game sys-
tems that were easy to use. In an action
situation, it's never any fun to run through
a flow chart for half an hour to resolve a
single action. We set our sights on a lot of

utility and technical realism without sac-
rificing playability. We began with char-
acter generation.

When you design a character, you want
detailed information and the freedom to
develop a character's talents and personal-
ity. We started with the 4d6-4 system of
statistics creation suggested by Mark Lar-
dis. (It gives nice bell curves and is easy to
relate to a percentile or 20-sided roll.) We
used a few of the usual statistics and be-
gan to see that we needed a few more;
Dexterity and Agility had to be separate;
Throw* Dodge. Luck, and Accuracy be-
came later additions. Skills were created
and a system was designed for their use
involving levels of difficulty. A system of
experience levels was added to give play-
ers the ability to improve their characters
and skills.

Damage tables cover most contingen-
cies of damage in the game. Damage be-
came a problem until we realized that
there are two distinct and yet related sys-
tems that give the player-character his
health. Constitution became the first set
of “hit” points and general body struc-
ture the other. Many types of killing dam-
age do very little actual physical damage
(strangulation, radiation, poisoning, etc.)

Our original body tables for The Mor-
row Project were replaced here by a sim-
pler, less detailed system. We furnished
one of the most detailed but easy-to-use
medical systems created to date for an
RPG.

One of the most complex areas of the
book is the Detail Body tables. Working
with a local forensic expert, I broke the
human body down into (roughly) one-
inch squares and catalogued them into a
simple system of what's generally at each
location. From there we set death percen-
tages and other details. This system is
great fox showing firearm damage and can

^ 8 -

^ be generalized for animals* With, a Tit tie"
imagination, you will find that it can be
used three- dimensionally, it even helps in
a wide range of other uses never suspected
while it was being designed — including
bone breakage, shrapnel hits and knife
damage to specific areas,

SF gamers enjoy the use of modern
firearms, especially known brands and
specific types. The only problem involves
designing a system for using them which
everybody likes and agrees with — I learn-
ed this early. The fun part was the flak
we got from “armchair gun experts" who
criticized picky little mistakes on load
speed, grain weight, and the guns’ general
performance in combat situations,

in Fringeworthy, we covered necessary
historic weapons that could be found
across a wide time period. FTL did not
need such a range and included a firearms
generation table. Stalking the Night Fan-
tastic, a so on -to- be released game, will
cover a very wide range of modern and
special weapons .including a few popular
brands.

Morrow's E factor worked well, but
was a bit static in regard to damage. {The
variable E table was lost somewhere in ed-
iting the first edition,) Later, unable to
use our Morrow systems, we settled on a
dice of damage system to give the general
^ punch of a bullet through a set mass, in-

dexed by the bullet’s type and range, A
few “experts” have disagreed with the
system, though most find it playable and
fast. In the near future, a second weap-
on damage system will premiere on our
Equipment and Weapons supplement as
an alternate system. Damage will be rela-
ted to projectile weight, caliber, velocity,
and a few thousand other factors.

One of the most exciting design areas
fox us was the creation of a system to gen-
erate cultures on human and alien worlds.
With three years of college sociology and
a smattering of anthropology, I pondered
the general validity of the Technological
Levels so universally used in gaming. Rath-
er than using Tech levels, we designed a
system of designing a technology from
the ground up, starting with die use of
energy. As a GM generates a society, the
general levels of the society’s general ad-
vancement in a large number of social and
technological areas are created. This gives
a far wider and more interesting develop-
ment to a culture than a general tech -level
system. In a future Fringe worthy and
FTL: 2448 supplement, we will expand
upon the development of societies, each
tailored to its respective game.

At Origins, Tri-Tac, Inc* will release
our new RPG, Stalking the Night Fantas-
tic, a game of hunting the evil supernatu-
ral of the 1980s. The agents of Bureau 13,

"a super-secret government organization^
travel the roads of America in search of
the supernatural. The book will include
more than 100 types of encounters, char-
acter design, and a realistic magic system
in 104 pages. Rules for Stalking are de-
signed in the same format as FTL and
Fringe, with many internal improvements.
Stalking will retail for §13, By the end of
the summer, we will also be releasing an
adventure and expansion module for each
of our RPGs as well as a universal Systems
Shield for Fringe worthy, FTL and Stalk-
ing. The shield may be ready for Origins.

Upcoming supplements will include
Starpirates for FTL: 2448, and an FTL
catalogue of ship designs, plans, andheavy
equipment. A universal (historical to mod-
em and beyond) catalogue of weapons,
equipment, and vehicles for RPGs is in
the works.

Our long-term plans are for the games i
to be boxed by the end of 1983, FTL:
2448 Will move from a binder to a book
f orm a t an d th re e sy ste ms e xp a n si on $ will
create new games with use of existing
products. These include: Rogue 417 , af-
ter- the -holocaust survival for use with
Fringeworthy; Hagu , the alien invasion of
Earth, for use with Fringe worthy ; and
FTL: 3248 , the 800-year expansion of
FTL , And then there’s Fringemagic , but
that’s for the future, j

YOU ARE IN COMMAND ! I !

Featured Review:
CHAMPIONS

by Russell Grant Collins

Champions has been revised and re-
issued, Since the basic game has already
been reviewed ( Space Gamer 43), tills re-
view will serve more to introduce those
familiar with the game to changes in the
game system.

The revision is particularly good news
if you referee the sort of players who like
to create superheroes who are to uglier than
Superman by taking advantage of loop-
holes in the rules. For example, buying
increased Endurance Cost and Reduced
Endurance Cost for the same power once
resulted in a low-cost power that was very
strong yet cost little Endurance to use.

This is now illegal So is using a Multi-
power within an Elemental Control or
vice versa.

The basic game system is unchanged.
Most of the powers are the same, although
occasional modifications have been made
to improve the game. Combat in Darkness
and the use of Invisibility are explained,
A power advantage to counteract Armor
Piercing attacks has been added. More ex-
amples are used. The “Breaking Things 55
rules from the Stronghold scenario is ex-
panded and here made the official damage
system for objects.

The scenario book, Viper's Nest , has

three adventures pitting newly-created
heroes against the hordes of Viper. These
adventures are nice with beginning heroes,
but less challenging if the characters or
players are experienced. A hero with Ego
powers can easily eliminate the need for
the second scenario, and is hard to limit
in any of the three. Also, the information
on UNTIL is not as complete as in the
game’s first edition. Since It is the primary
lawful-agent group in the Champions cos-
mos, this omission is distressing. The in-
formation for Microfilm Madness in Space
Gamer 61 fits in here nicely (as does the
scenario) and it should have been here,
(Actually, Microfilm Madness was indeed
written for Viper's Nest; it was cut for
space considerations and subsequently
submitted to SG. -AA)

l also wish that the rulebook were avail-
able separately, for those of us who would
like the revised rules but don't need the
scenarios, map or dice again.

Should you buy this material? I think
so, if you are interested in superhero RPGs,
If you hated the original Champions rules
for more than their slight omissions and
loopholes, don’t bother. The changes
aren't all that significant. If you’re happy
with the old version, weigh your decision
carefully. Your players will grumble if
their characters need drastic revision, as
some probably will. If you do get the new
set, much of the old book becomes obso-
lete, so it won’t even serve as a backup
copy. On the other hand, the new mate-
rial is very useful, I don’t regret having
made the change, but you might Be
warned, though, that any new material
Hero Games releases will be based on the
revised rules*

Revised Champions { Hero Games);
$14. 95. Designed by George MacDonald
and Steve Peterson. One 814 x 11” 80-
page nd ebook, an 814 x 11” 16-page Vi-
per's Nest scenario book , a 17 x 22” hex-
map with a street perspective printed on
one side, and 6 six-sided dice , boxed. Pub-
lished 1982 ,

- 10 ^

UNIVERSE III

A comp uter- m oderated correspondence
game in which each player commands a
hip entering a new universe ... to explore,
and conquer new worlds . . . contending
other players and unknown hazards! Each time
send in a turn, the computer evaluates it with
respect to the current game situation and other players’
moves, and sends you a printout showing the current status
of your ship, plus any territory you control. When you
“meet” other players, you can send them messages - to
share information, trade, negotiate, or intimidate.

Why is UNIVERSE III the “state-of-the-art” in play-by-mail games?

SIMPLICITY - No complicated “codes” to learn - you
tell us in plain English what you want to do and we send
you the results!

NO WAITING TO ENTER - Entries are processed on
receipt. You’ll be in a game within two weeks or your
money back.

NO WAITING TO PLAY - Our turn system lets you
move every week if you like - or take as long as you want
between turns. Your results will generally be in the mail to
you the same day we receive your orders!

NO DEADLINES - Since you set your own “turn length,”
you can’t miss a turn!

NO EXTRA CHARGES - Our fee is $3.00 per ship or
colony turn. We don't tack on extra fees for combat,

NO RIG DEPOSITS - Our entry fee is only $10.00,
which covers a setup for one ship, a copy of the
rulebook, and two turns.

UNIVERSE III is waiting for you. Your starship will be
assigned as soon as you send your name, address, and
entry fee to:

CENTRAL TEXAS COMPUTING

710-S SOUTHWEST TOWER, AUSTIN, TX 78701

The Joystick Report:
A Look at Home
Computer Game
Hardware

by W.G. Armintrout

The War of the Joysticks has begun.

The homes of America* filled with video and
computer game systems, are beginning to
hunger after more sophisticated control systems.
Arcade-quality joysticks. Home trackballs.

Space Gamer has begun to receive equip-
ment for review. This, then, is our report,
A basic joystick consists of four compo-
nents: the Stick, the Base on which the stick is
connected, the Firing Button, and the cord
which connects it to the game system being
used.

The Stick produces nine different signals,
depending on which position it is in. With Atari
system s, these positions and their code numbers

are:

15 - normal
position
14 - front
13 - back
7 - right
1 1 - left

6 — front/ right

5 - back/right

9 — back/left

10 - front/ left

Contrary to popular myth, joysticks do not
care how far or hard they are pushed. A “grad-
ual left” and a “hard left" are all the same to
the joystick, (The next time you see a player
struggling to bring his starship through a tight
turn, his knuckles white on the stick, remember
to chuckle.)

The Firing Button is even simpler — it is
either in its normal position, or it is being
pushed, and so it tells the machine. Like the
Stick, the exact function of a Firing Button in
any game depends entirely on the game pro-
gram - it might fire shots, provide thrust, or
cue art information display. That has nothing
to do with the joystick itself.

Reviewing a joystick is largely a ques-
tion of taste. Assuming that it works correctly
and doesn't fall apart, any analysis comes down
to such subjective questions as: Is it responsive?
Is it comfortable to hold? Is the firing button(s)
convenient? Is the cord long enough?

Or, in short: Can I get a better score with it?

The following joystick reports are based on
the responses of a number of arcade experts
recruited for this project. Joysticks were tested
with several games, both on video and compu-
ter game systems. Each reviewer was required
to put in sufficient time to become familiar
with the joystick in question before making his
review.

Joystick Controller (Atari). $9.95*

Base 3 ‘A" x 3 Stick 3”. Cord 4\ Firing
button on base.

This is the old familiar joystick from Atari.
Those clamoring for the new wave of equip-
ment claim its defects are:

* Base too small for adult hands.

* Cord too short (at least, it is when a
half dozen people are fighting over who gets to
play Frogger next).

• The Stick begins to feei wobbly after

time.

• The Firing Button has a “cheap" feel.
Two of those claims are misleading. The

“wobbly” Stick and “cheap ish” Button have
little to do with play performance - the
joystick works just fine, regardless of the feel.
“Feci” is only a psychological factor. And the
Stick, while short, has the advantage that it can
be worked with only thumb and forefinger.

Command Control Joystick (WICO). $28.95

Base 4 X A” x x 1 W\ Stick 5”. Cord 5Yi\
Switch on the base selects between two Firing
Buttons — on the base, and at the top of the
stick.

This is the standard joystick from WICO, a
commercial arcade game control manufacturer
now branching out into home arcade acces-
sories. Its good points include:

* All prices based on local retail
at the time of writing.

• We II- engineered Base, with finger rests
and grip pads for table-top use.

• Very easy-to-use “bat handle” Stick.

• One-hand operation (assuming you have
it on a table top, and use the stick-top Firing
Button.

• Excellent, built-to-last construction.

Two points can be raised against it. First, it

is heavier than the Atari joystick you may be
used to — that win take some time to become
familiar with. (It isn't too heavy - just heavier
than you're used to.) Second, the extra-long
Cord provides length at the expense of storage.
The extra- long Cord means there is that much
more Cord to try to wind up after use, or to
trip over.

Tire Champ #1 (Championship Electronics

Die.). $12.95

Base 6” diameter x 2” (saucer shaped).
Stick 6”. Cord 10’, retractable. Two non-
selectabie Firing Buttons: forward “trigger”
and stick-top.

The Champ has an eye-catching style
and a number of innovative features, which
include;

• “Directionless” Base. Instead of pushing
the Stick towards the word “top” on the Base,
the Champ’s Stick has a front (where die trigger
is). Pushing the Stick forward always means
“top”, regardless of where the Base is facing,

• Ret act able Cord.

• Just the “look” of the joy stick impresses
some people - frankly, it looks as though it
were lifted out of somebody's cockpit

The strikes against it are;

• Reliability. It uses calculator key action,
which will not wear as well as the components
used by the other joysticks on review, (One of
our Champs broke down during evaluation.)

• Awkwardness. The round base is hard to
get a good grip on, and hard to set on a table
top.

• Weight. (This is a problem only for those
who don’t totally unwind the retracted Cord
before play.)

• Buttons, While the forward Trigger but-
ton works fine, it is hard to use the stick-top
button without hitting the Trigger button. For
all practical purposes, this should be considered
a single button joystick.

For a practical evaluation, our experts
chose their favorite game and used each of die
joysticks. Our question: Did any joystick have'a
significant effect on point scores?

To our amazement, there were no correla-
tion, Once familiar with a joystick, a player
seemed to work with it just at well as with any
other joystick (despite how much he cursed die
stick or complained about its design).

(I, who find The Champ hard to use, man-
aged to set my personal high score record at
Star Raider using it . . .)

As for popularity, die Command Control
joystick ranked slightly ahead of the Champ.
The Command Control stick is unanimously
agreed to have an excellent design and quality
guts. On the other hand, the Champ's look and
style were what more people wanted — deter-
red only by what some felt was an awkwardness
problem.

Yet the point to be remembered was that
there was no connection between the joystick
used and the points scored. In that respect, the
old Atari product — much maligned as it is —
proved to be equal to ail of its competitors, and
at a lower price.

On to trackballs,

A trackball is a bail mounted in a box, along
with a Firing Button and a Cord. It provides a

— 12 —

game machine with the exact same signals that
a joystick would, though it mixes and matches
the signals depending on the direction and
speed with which the ball is rolled.

Trackballs are not limited to Missile Com -
mand only. They can work with almost any
game. A trackball's advantage is that it gives
precise control, much finer than a joystick. It
excels at positioning cross-hairs over an enemy
target, or at positioning pieces in a computer
boardgame such as chess. In order for it to give
a constant command, however - such as
"right 11 — the player must keep spinning the
ball to the right in order to keep the command
going.

A trackball, for instance, works fine with
computer chess, (I even like it with Eastern
Front (1941), though you have to be careful
when giving orders — the computer game gives
an annoying buzz whenever you accidentally
hit a diagonal.)

A trackball is an interesting experience
in a game like Star Raider i where it is required
to both center cross-hairs when firing and
manuever the ship during combat It shoots
magnificently, but bringing the ship around to
face an enemy to aft is a good way to wear
your hand off

A trackball has no business playing a maze
game like Pa c- Man, where there is no need for
precision and diagonal orders are disregarded.
Trying to keep up with the speed of a joystick
in such a game would be impossible.

Command Control Trackball (WICO). S70

Base 5” x 6” x 2*\ Ball is 2” across at
the Base, SW Cord. Single base-mounted
Firing Button (two buttons on the Apple
II version).

I will admit to being amazed when I pulled

this device out of its box. The box art, which I
had seen in the stores, had led me to expect a
lightweight box with a Ping Pong- style plastic
ball. The box art is totally deceiving - this unit
comes with a ball that looks like you can play
pool with it, solid and heavy, and the base is
built to match,

WICO claims this design is identical to the
one they put in arcade machines. I cannot fault
them — I have seen smaller trackballs in arcades.

Good features include :

* Thick, long cord (though storing it is a
problem).

* Non-skid rubber feet for tabletop use,

* Excellent, built-to-last workmanship.

The bad points, none serious, are :

* The ball will not perform correctly if
tilted more than 30 degrees or thereabouts.
TIi ere fore, it is best used on a tabletop rather
than handheld. (It is also heavy for holding in
your hands, unless braced on a leg or arm of a
sofa,)

* The Firing Button sinks rather deep
into the Base, and is hard to fully depress
without arching your thumb, (Then again, you
don't need to push the button down all the w r ay
to make it fire.)

* The Ball takes colors very easily - keep
small kids and magic markers au r ay from it!

There seem to be minor variations in models.
Some trackballs are depicted as having finger
rests, which mine does not - but they aren't
important in a trackball.

There’s no question in my mind that the
Command Control trackball is a superior
product. It is better than a joystick for some
purposes, particularly games of the Missile
Command style and computer boaidgames (E),
The only question is whether you really want a
trackball, particularly at this price.

Comparing trackballs to joysticks Is like
comparing, apples to oranges, but our panel of
reviewers tried out all of the joysticks versus
the trackball with the game Star Raider (where
both devices have their advantages and disad-
vantages), It took a while before players were
familiar with the feel of the trackball with
such a game, but when they were (and to
our surprise) the trackball was competitive
scores wise with any of the joysticks. The
reviewers, however, were sharply but evenly
divided between those who liked using the
trackball in that type of game and those who
did not.

In summary: "We couldn't prove that any
arcade control device will improve your game.
The Command Control products are quality
products (but at a quality price). The Champ is
stylish but imperfect. The old Atari joystick,
wobbly and cheapish, still works just fine.

Choosing among them is a matter of taste
and money. Get your hands on one and try it
before you buy.

Atari Joystick Controller, the Champ,
and Command Control products are directly
compatible with the Atari Video System, Sears
Video Arcade, Atari 400/800/1200 computers,
Commodore VIC- 20 computer, and the NBC
PC-6001, With WICO adaptors , the Command
Control joystick will work with Odyssey
Video Games (plug-in controls), Radio Shack
TRSSO Color Computer, and Apple II and
Texas Instruments home computers, A Texas
Instruments joystick will be released this year.
Special Command Con trot trackballs will work
with Texas Instruments Home Computers,
Apple II, TSR80 Color Computers \ Odyssey
Video Games and (later this year) the IBM
home computer.

The Past, The Present, The Future!

from

Available from your hobby store or direct from CENTURION GAMES, P.O. Box 10, Northfield, N.J. 08225

Add SI .00 for orders under S18,00. Canada add $2.00. Overseas add S2.00 per game.

Sicily, summer 1943, 100 counters. 17”x 22” game map. Operational level. Price $9.95

FLEETS OF ALIEN SHIPS ATTACK HUMAN HELD PLANETS.
ALIEN CLONE SOLDIERS INVADE PLANETS IN THIS GALAXY.
HUMAN DEFENDERS ORGANIZE THEIR FORCE TO COUNTER
ATTACK. • HUMAN FLEETS ATTACK INVADING ALIEN FLEETS
AND ATTEMPTTO RECONQUE R PLANETS.

• ALIEN ARMADA

Human defenders struggle against invading fleets of aliens
and their clone soldiers. 300 back printed counters, 22’ ’x 34’ ’
game map, and separate player record sheets. Price $18.00

AlSO * SILO— 14

Available 100 secon <3s of man-to-man combat. Stop the missle
silo’s crazed commander from launching WWIII. 100
back printed counters, 17”x 22” game map. Price
$9.95

• CRISIS IN THE UKRAINE

Russian front, spring 1944, 200 back printed
counters, 22 ”x 34” game map. Price $18.00

• GELA BEACHHEAD

- 13 —

Star Master, the grand- strategic PBM
,• game run hy Sch libel & Son, lias received
. a lot of negative criticism for various rea-
sons. Many who enter, or order the rule*
book out of curiosity, are put off by the

♦ ■ “hidden” turn fees. Others, even those

with big bank accounts, find that the
often vague and poorly-explained rules
make play difficult or impossible. As a
result, many potential or new players

* never start the game, or drop their em-

• 4 pires after the first turn for a refund.
, However, it's a game worth playing, in

spile of its Haws. This article is written
for people who are thinking about joining
‘the game, and want to know what they
are getting into.

* The Dough Problem

The ads for SM state, somewhat decep-
- lively, that the turn fees are S3. 50. This is
only partially true: hoi this basic fee, the
player gets to produce strips, ground units,
and forts on his or her home world, may
move six forces of ships to different des-
. filiations, and perform one exploration
order at Ihose destinations (such as map-

* ping a world, doing a preliminary survey
l/ of a solar system, or scanning deep space

m * loi usable systems). Thai is basically all;
for ft 3. 50, SM is a fairly good space ex-
ploration game, livery thing else coloni-
zation, trade, combat, diplomacy and
special actions costs another $3.50 per
each type ol action.

Sehubel & Son lias slated in the rule-

* book that these extra Inrush eels and ae-
. lions are optional; this is true in the sense

. that no one at tire company forces you to
use them (except for an occasional $1.50
defense fee, mandatory if your forces are
attacked by another player or CM-con I rol-
led “Bogey” force). But in order to gel
, . any tiling near the full potential enjoyment

creasingly primitive ground-military tech- J
nology, but remain roughly equal to the
average in aerospace and industrial tech-* '
nology-. The atmosphere and terrain ol sr *
player’s home world are generally only im-
portant when the player colonizes other • 1

planets: The attrition of the colonists dc- 9 *
pends on how similar the colony is to the
% * ■ home world environment,

# •* # J Very large and very small worlds will *

m _ * • # have different types of technology and * *

■ m * weapons, but though they differ in de- .*

* . . ’ * , tail, the weapons of the. three different

" ’ tech types (Hot, Cold and Chemical) are #

from die game, you will need many or . equal in combat at similar levels of tech- *

most of the “optional” turnsheets. Pole n- nology.

fial SM players, be warned: If you plan to > The race a player chooses lias initial
do any conquering, building of vast em- effects on technological level at the begin- 4
pires, or advancing in technology or ex- ning of the game (species with improved *
ploration beyond a lew standard orders senses or extra intelligence start three to

and fairly simple special actions, doiTt four tech levels higher than those of a reT

count on spending less than ft 7 .00 a turn. aiively human species on a similar world), *

and continuing effects on ground com- .

In The Beginning ' bat: Very strong, agile, fast, or tough races

* get bonuses when fighting planctside. An- p * ,

The most important single turn that a other factor is a species’ society type: * .

player of SM will ever write out is the set- Choices include individual, like humans; *

up of his empire, hi this turn, the player Caste, like a termite nest; or Hivemind,

designs his species, using a list of body animal-like creatures joined by telepathy ; ; J

parts and a budget of “bio-points” and ■ in a “gestalt/ 5 Caste systems allow the *

constructs his home world. The home world player to design two to six specialized

design is of tremendous importance: Its ■ castes under the control of a psionic lead- * ^

size determines Tire amount of P.P. (Pro er, and can provide for some interesting

duction Factors) that wilt be available each characteristics, but they also build space- . ,

turn, the amount of population available, ■ ships at a slower rate than Individual in- 4 *
and, indirectly, the level of initial tedinol- telligence races. However, they can often

ogy ; the larger the world, the greater the ■ trade profitably with Individual species
production. due to differences in trade prices, another

I would suggest a very large world fora point in their favor. Hivcminds are able to
player’s first game; a world of 200 earth- ■ lake outrageous measures and liberties*

masses (equal to six earth -gravities; the with its species’ individuals, but are oth-

uumber of “megaei ties” on-planet is equal erwise not recommended. New players

to “g” times 200, and determines the basic - should stick to Individual or Caste species. *
productivity of the world) is generally a If a species comes out wretched, don’t de- «

good base. Larger worlds lend to have in- spair: At second-generation technology,

- 14 -

some useful bio-engineering projects can

* help rep air the d ama ge ,

Once a player has had his race and
.horn eworld placed in the game, the first
order of business is exploration. Use the
pre-game production to build some fast
' * scout ships, enough to scan the nearest

* (adjacent) 26 sectors to your home map-
. 'cube. Ask for a second turn sheet so you

* ’ , can move nine or ten scanning forces and

have a few ships left over to send to plan-
ets in your home system. On the first few *

. _ turns, the GMs are not checking for exist-
■ ing systems in the map-cubes your vessels
scan: They check each cube for the possi-
bility of a system, and randomly generate 1
" them as they turn up. If you do things
right, you can “find* 5 a few systems com
veniently close to home.

The Turnsheets

* Each turnsheet type has its uses, though
some are more useful than others. A de-
scription of each is given below.

. * The Colony Status Sheet: This sheet is

used when moving ships full of colonists
to new worlds. The attrition and remain-
ing population at a colony is computed
each time new people are brought in. The .
six movement blocks on the sheet can also

* , be used to move forces of ships which are

^ not doing any exploration, combat or .
trade, which is handy if you're only set-
ting up one colony on a given turn.

New players should start building trans- ■

* ports as soon as possible, and as soon as

* two or three likely planets are located,

* begin shipping out settlers. A force can t
move several times in a turn, using one
movement block each time, given suffi-
cient movement points. This will allow
you to start a fleet of colonist-carrying

* ships at your homeworld, and move the
force between homeworld and colonies
two or three times on one sheet. Make
colonies big: The more units you have on
a world, the more freighters the colony
can service, die greater the volume of

, trade, and the higher the potential return .
per turnsheet.

Once you have set up several large col-

f onics and/or have found friendly players .

* . or neutrals, start trading. Start a force of

• ■ < freighters at your homeworld and move it

. between worlds in die route most profita-
ble per ship. Trade between species of dif-
ferent society type is three to four times
as profitable as with a similar species.

Trading results in E.U., economic units,
which are worth 100 million dollars each.

. These units can be used to bribe neutrals,

* pay for special engineering projects, re- .
search new weapons, and examine ancient
artifacts. Most importantly, E.U, can be

** used to raise the technological levels of ’

the player's empire. This is vitally impor-
tant; higher tech levels mean greater pro-
duction, deadlier weapons, and faster
spaceships. Because of the design of the
space combat system, a spaceship of a
tech level twice that of another ship of
equal size can outfight that vessel two-or-
more to one.. Ships become more cost-
efficient as tech levels rise, carrying more
guns per ton of ship. Trade is absolutely
vital to raising technology, and thus im-
portant to your empire's success.

Combat Turns: Any sort of attack that
requires digging through records or com-
puter time costs die attacker $3.50. The
cost of an assault on a village of pygmies
is the same, in cash terms, as a massive bat-
tle between space fleets. You must thus
judge the real worth of a battle before
attacking. If you plan to plunder a world
which will yield a measly 5000 E.U., you
may be better off using the money to do

“Fortunately/such •
big guys stick to .
blasting each other.-
If you meet one 9 be,,
friendly but be
prepared to move .
your capital . .

another trade sheet. Stick to peaceful res-
olution of conflicts unless you're into ex-
pensive entertainment.

Diplomacy: This type of turnsheet is
used to deal with the NPCs of the game.
These range from primitive races armed
with swords to the vast elder races of
yore. Like Combat turns, they arc only of
value when you stand to profit by the di-
plomacy. if you're lucky, you may be
able to merge your civilization with a
. Hermit neutral and gain access to its high
technology, or get a trade pact with a
neutral with excellent trade prices; on the
other hand, you may never even find a
neutral.

Special Actions: This is one of the
game's most useful turnsheets. Special
Actions (S.A,) allow a player to do things
not normally allowed by the basic rules.
If a colony world has too-high attrition,
the player can use an S.A. sheet and a few
E,U. to suggest extra measures of equip-

ment that the colonists will use to improve
their chances. Special training can be giv-

- en to soldiers to earn a combat bonus;
spaceships can have ECM pods or holo-
graphic projectors added for increased
effectiveness. Ancient artifacts and cap- ^ 9
tured ships can be analyzed to learn their

. * secrets; crafty maneuvers can be used to
sway neutrals. Properly written and back-
ed up with E.U.s and other resources, an * .
S.A. can lead to increased tech levels, bo-
nuses to production or combat, or new

- knowledge of great importance, S.A. s can
pay for themselves by increasing the effec-

- tiveness of other turnsheets. If you start
play in SM, ask friends and allies for ideas
for S.A,s. They are worth the money and
add a personal touch to the game.

The Political Situation

What will you meet up with if you join * -
5ft/? New players are set up in “develop- *
ing regions," with other new players of .
roughly equal ability. As time passes, in-
terstellar society develops, in the form of*

* trading and defense alliances. Eventually,

, larger alliances form, with tens or hun-
dreds of members, and these begin figh t-
ing, Reassuringly, the “nice” alliances tend
to last longer than the evil ones, but the
latter add much flavor to the game and
give your empire a reason to grow and
spread out

Another factor is the mega- empires, /
vast multi- wo rid empires who loot and
plunder millions of Production F actors -
and run multi-million E.U. trade lines. ,
Properly run, any empire can rise to this ^
status, but they are very rare. Some, such 9
as the dread Valk Lifewringer's Vakyri-
' ans, have single-handedly blasted entire
planets to dust and atomized billions of
man-years of labor. Fortunately, such big
guys stick to blasting each other. If you *
meet one, be friendly but be prepared to ■
move your capitol to a secluded colony.

Unless you're in the game for the fun
of it, don't think mindless combat after
combat will m ake you r em p i re str ong, Th e
. good guys don't always win, but they do ,
tend to live longer. If you need to loot to

■ keep growing, stick to conquering dropped
player-empires (there are lots of these, of-
ficially of neutral status) and the larger
neutrals; they arc easier to conquer and
don't have allies who'll go after you!

* *

Conclusions

■ * *

StarMaster is not a game for every-
body; it takes patience, imagination, and
lots of money. But if you want to try a •*
simulation that will show you how de-
tailed and sophisticated a PBM game can
■ be, try it.

Fleet Tactics
in Star Fleet Battles

by Walt Mizia

In SFB fleet actions, a gamer will have
to make many decisions about the distri-
bution of his fleet's firepower. This
article will identify these choices and
provide tips to help the gamer determine
which options are the best in given
circumstances. Note that this article
presumes that SFB Expansions 1, 2, and
3 are in use.

In fleet actions, fleets will array them-
selves in one of two ways: As a dispersed
group, with wide separation between
individual ships, or as a tight formation,
with ships separated by no more than one
or two hexes,

Dispersed formations have few virtues.
They can cover a wide front, but not
efficiently. The space between the ships
of a dispersed fleet prevents the ships
from supporting each other. The poten-
tial use of weapons in mass is wasted due
to the different firing angles and myriad
of ranges that will occur with widely
separated platforms. Coordinated attacks
on single targets are not possible. The
shots will hit different shields, dissipating
the attacks. Dispersed ships cannot
mount a coherent defense against fighter
and drone assaults. Defensive phasers
cannot be concentrated against a threat.
Each portion of a dispersed fleet is sub-
ject to a sudden enemy action — especially
massed fire concentrated on unsupported
elements.

A tight formation, on the other hand,
has the effect of creating a super ship.
The massed weapons bear on the enemy
equally and from the same angle. The
heavy weapons (disruptors, photon tor-
pedoes, drones, and plasma torpedoes)
can pound the enemy from long range.
The phase rs, ADDs, and shuttles form an
invincible screen, turning aside enemy-
drone and fighter attacks. Targets can be
singled out and decimated by salvos that
strike the same shield, penetrating it,
ripping into the vitals of the enemy star-
ship.

Lesson Number One: Concentrate the
force for mutual support and to focus
the massed firepower of the fleet.

In multi-ship engagements, the main
objective is the reduction of the enemy
fleet at a faster rate than the friendly
fleet is reduced. To accomplish this goal,
it may seem logical to fire at as many
enemy ships per turn as possible. All this
does is to spread the fire over many
targets, allowing the shields of the enemy
to absorb the hits. The best use of the
fleet's firepower is to concentrate it
against one target each turn. With up to
ten ships firing, an enemy is subjected to
the same amount of hits as he would
receive in ten turns of normal ship -to-
ship combat. Over ten turns, the enemy
has the opportunity to reinforce his
shields ten times. When all this damage is
inflicted in one turn, nine turns of poten-
tial shield reinforcement is negated and
all the extra damage is applied directly
to the destruction of internal systems.
When a ship is hit with up to one hundred
points of internal damage in one turn,
it does not stay around long to return
fire.

Lesson Number Two: Concentrate fire
on one target each turn to effectively use
the fie efs firepower.

When choosing which enemy ships to
fire at, remember that the strongest ship
will be the hardest to reduce. For example,
the Federation heavy cruiser and the
Federation destroyer have identical wea-
pon suites. However, the destroyer's
forward shield of twenty boxes is only
two-thirds the strength of the heavy
cruiser's thirty boxes. The destroyer has
only one-half the power generation
capacity of the heavy cruiser, further
reducing the potential defensive protec-
tion of reinforced shields. A blast of
twenty-five damage points on the de-
stroyer will eliminate the forward shield
and cause five internal hits. The same
attack on the heavy cruiser would not
penetrate the shield. Obviously, in
the first few turns, the destroyer-types
are the preferred targets. As the battle
progresses, the choice of targets will not
be so cut and dried, as various ships take
damage and lose offensive firepower; but
one principle will remain: Attack the

ships that are most vulnerable to internal
damage.

Lesson Number Three: Limit the
enemy *s ability to return fire.

Some ships are designed to have their
main attack strength forward, like the
Federation ships. Other races favor broad-
side attacks with right- side /left- side fields
of fire. Deny the enemy his favored field
of fire while maximizing that of friendly a

units. Maneuvering is one way to accomp-
lish this. Approach the enemy from the
flank, allowing him the use of only one-
half of his weapons. Plot your fleet's
movement so that your weapons on the
side away from the enemy can be brought
to bear with only a turn or two. Do not
cross the axis of the enemy ship's flight
path: prevent his opposite side weapons
from getting in a shot. Stationary fleets
can use tactical warp maneuvers to
achieve maneuverability, turning to
unmask weapons and present new,
undamaged shields to the enemy.

Often overlooked are the overlapping
fields of fire that exist where firing arcs
of adjacent weapons converge. For
example, weapons firing left-side and
right-side will all fire directly ahead and
directly behind the ship. Targets caught
in these areas will take double hits from
the firing ship. All ships have these areas.

Avoid approaching an enemy ship along
these “straight- ways" and at the same
time look for the opportunity to use the
straight- ways of friendly ships.

Lesson Number Four: Maneuver to use
all available firepower every turn and to
avoid the enemy's weapons.

While only one enemy ship should
receive the benefit of the fleet's offensive
punch each turn, delivering this damage
in one impulse is not the most efficient
method of attack. Instead, the attack
should be carried out over a series of
consecutive impulses. The first attack
impulse should occur immediately after
the target's movement, so that the enemy
cannot change the shield facing the c

attackers. The first attack must be strong
enough to penetrate the shield and do
some internal damage. Fo!iow r this
initial salvo with a series of shots calcu-
lated to cause about ten hits each. What
this procedure does is to keep the damage
inflicted in the “A" column of the Dam-
age Allocation Chart. The “A” column
will produce 28% weapon's hits, 22%
power hits, and 6% control hits. Hits in
the other columns of the Damage Alloca-
tion Chart decrease in the percentage
of “good" hits until the very end of the
chart is reached. This tactic destroys
the enemy's weapons and vital systems at

— 16 —

a faster rate than if all the hits were
scored in one single impulse,

L esso n N um b er Five ; Stru dure an
attack to destroy a high rate of vita i
systems for the amount of hits scored.

Some enemy ships will be too large to
destroy or severely damage in one turn. If
the shield can be penetrated, it can be
crippled. Cripples can still return fire, but
they make thier commanders nervous.
The commanders will try to keep their
damaged shields away from the opposing
fleet. This limits their maneuverability.
The remaining weapons on the damaged
side are not often used for fear of taking
more hits on the weakened side. If the
damage is critical, the enemy may even
withdraw the cripple, which is the next
best thing to a kill. The firepower needed
to cripple the target is less than that
needed to destroy it. h\ a tight battle, go
for crippling the enemy first; then, later,
go back and finish off damaged enemy
ships after the encounter is decided.

Your own cripples which are damaged
beyond the point of being an asset in the
battle should be withdrawn. They are too
easily blown up. causing collateral damage
to near-by ships. If successfully with-
drawn. cripples can be repaired for
use in a future battle.

Lesson Number Six: Use only enough
firepower on a target to prevent its
effective use in battle.

Another priority is the early elimina-
tion of targets that have the potential to
cause problems throughout the length
of tire battle. Carriers can launch and
reload fighters. Scouts can interfere with
achieving lock-on. Ships with a large
drone-launching capacity can make the
opposing fleet use its weapons to fend off
wave after wave of drones, while the
dronc-flrer escapes retribution. Any enemy
unit which can cause a disproportionate
amount of damage or divert the offensive
fire of the fleet to the defense should be
taken out of the battle early. To illustrate
this, take the example of an enemy
carrier. Its main offensive battery is its
fighter squadron. These fighters launch
from the carrier, approach the opposing
fleet, launch their drones, return to their
carrier, reload drones, launch and repeat
the cycle. Each cycle draws off the
phasers of the friendly fleet for drone
defense and the enemy fleet starships
escape the diverted phasers effects that
turn. In addition, the carrier has the
ability to affect the ECM/ECCM balance
in the enemy’s favor. The early elimina-
tion of the carrier breaks the cycle and
Hie rest of the enemy fleet can be sub-
jected to the firepower that would
have been used for drone defense.

Lesson Number Seven: Destroy the
enemy’s combat potential before he has
a chance to use it.

Keep some firepower back for seeking
weapons. Drones and plasma torpedoes
can alter the tactical situation quickly
and drastically, “Wild Weassels” are only
part of the answer; they are limited in
numbers and can be countered with
staggered launches of the seeking wea-
pons. The tactics to neutralize drones
and plasma torpedoes are (a) to maintain
distance from the enemy launchers and
(b) to retain the ability to shoot down
these ship-killers. Distance is a partic-
ularly good tactic against plasma torpe-
does, The warhead dissipates as the
distance to the target increases. The dis-
sipated warhead can then be further
reduced by phaser fire at close range.
Drones are not affected by distance
except that, if their travel time can be
spread over two turns, they may be
taken under fire by the same weapon
twice.

In either case, if the enemy has seeking
weapons, their effects must be respected.
Shield the fleet by reserving phasers,
anti- drone defenses, and even regular
drones to counter these powerful weapons.

Lesson Number Eight: Protect the
fleet from enemy seeking weapons, even
at the cost of the fleet's offensive fire-
power.

(One Free Tricky Tactic: Some

players like to launch an entire turn’s
worth of drones at once from a tight for-
mation. If a ship can be blown up while
the drone wave is within four hexes of
the unfortunate ship, the collateral
damage will usually take out the entire
drone wave. This works with fighters
and shuttles too, but it only works once.)

Stay at long range in fleet actions. A
fleet can depend on massed long range
weapons, such as disruptors and photon
torpedoes, to do significant damage to
the enemy. When fleets get close, phasers
become effective, and things start explod-
ing too fast. The damage suffered and
inflicted can be regulated by control-
ling the range. The effectiveness of whole
classes of weapons can be limited if you
stay outside their effective range; this
range can be determined by consulting
the CRT of the weapons involved.

If the enemy has drones, his other
main weapon will be his phaser battery.
By keeping the range at fifteen hexes
or more, you make the enemy phasers
useless for offensive action. The phasers
of the friendly fleet can be used for anit-
drone defense, while the main long range
weapon (in this case, let's say disruptors),

can wreak havoc on the enemy starships.
The proper range will depend on the
opposing fleet’s weapon combinations
and the CRTs involved will be the guide
in determining that range.

Long range in the initial turns has
other advantages. The enemy’s intentions
can be sized up while your fleet is rela-
tively immune to surprise tactics. All
the action will occur to the front of the
fleet; flanking maneuvers will require too
much power to allow the enemy to rein-
force shields, charge weapons, and use
ECCM to assure a lock-on. Sudden speed
changes by the enemy toward your fleet
can be countered on the next turn
with the elbow room granted by the
extended battle range. If the enemy
weakens, you still have the option to
close the range; if the battle goes the
wrong way the escape route is open.

Lesson Number Nine: Range is a
weapon. Use it to advantage .

Fleet actions are usually fought as
part of a war. The phrase “Discretion
is the better part of valor/’ is not empty
with starships in short supply and replace-
ments hard to come by. When a player
finds his fleet in dire straits and his forces
badly outnumbered, he should disengage,
if the loss of the fleet will not serve a
higher strategic purpose. The rate at
which opposing sides will lose ships
operates in geometric proportion to the
differences in their strengths. The weak
get weaker at an ever increasing rate while
the strong are able to fend off enemy
attacks while receiving less and less
damage. In a strategic game, the object
is to win the war, not w^aste ships in a
battle at bad odds for the glory of it all.

Lesson Number Ten: Retreat when
faced with a hopeless situation to save
ships for later battles.

For every battle between fleets, several
of the above “lessons” can be applied.
When deciding which enemy ships to fire
at, a gamer is making a subjective choice.
This article does not change that; it is
intended to help the gamer recognize his
options and to choose his proper course.
In ship-to*ship battles, the opponents can
hammer away at one another turn after
turn without inflicting critical damage.
In fleet actions, the combined salvo
of a fleet is so great that no single ship
can stand up to it for more than one or
two turns.

In effect, each fleet commander is
given a box of eggs and a hammer. The
rules of battle are simple. “Smash the
other guy’s eggs before he smashes
yours.” Some players do not grasp this
basic tenet. Well, the yolk will be on them.

— 17 —

of way will go to the

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Superheroes in
The Fantasy IHp

Outline for a
Superhero
Campaign
in TFT

by Ronald Pehr

— 19 —

One of the prime attractions in the
roleplaying game The Fantasy Trip is the
rapid yet involving method in which
combats are resolved. Unlike many
fantasy game rules, which are more
complex and lock the player into a real-
istic but rigid system, TFT is readily
adaptable to different gaming situations.
One such is the superhero role-playing
game.

In a superhero RPG, players take the
roles of costumed criniefxghters of the
1980s (or perhaps the 1940s or far
future, depending on which comics the
players prefer). Superhero background
worlds generally resemble reality as we
know it — except for the presence of
superheroes. In many ways, superhero
RPGs are easier for a referee to run than
fantasy RPGs. Players don't have to
behave as preliterate, p re technological
wizards and warriors. They already
understand their background world, since
it is essentially their own, and they are
not required to kill and loot in order to
progress in the game.

This article provides general guidelines
for the creation and play of characters in
a superhero world, using TFT rules. It is
compatible with TFT as much as possible.
Remember that a superhero world
resembles the one we live in; thus, the
pseudo-medieval economics of TFT ,
as excellent as they are, are irrelevant.

Superheroes in
The Fantasy Trip

Why Should Wizards and
Warriors Have All the Fun?

However, there is no reason heroes and
wizards from Cidri cannot operate
alongside superheroes, either in a super-
hero world or a fantasy world. The
culture shock alone is worth the price of
admission!

characters which populate a superhero
world and by describing the common
abilities available to such people.

Mundane s are essentially normal people
who are not player-characters or super-
level heroes or villains. Mundanes start
with ld6+24 points to allocate, minimum
8 each in JQ, ST and DX, Thus, they start
out below the standard of superheroes
and even beginning heroes and wizards
from TFT. Mundanes may purchase skills
from the “normal” skill list presented
later in this article, and have the listed
common abilities.

Heroes arc player-characters generated
in the standard TFT fashion: 32 points
allocated to ST, DX, and IQ, minimum of
8 in each. They may purchase skills from

the “normal” skill list mentioned, and
have the listed common abilities. These
are our non costumed heroes, superspies,
private detectives and superheroes' love
interests.

And then there are the superheroes.
Superheroes also start out with 32 points
to allot to characteristics. However,
instead of having a number of IQ points
equal to his IQ to spend on skills, a
superhero has a number of Creation
Points equal to his current number of
attribute points to spend on talents,
spells, and superpowers, A beginning
superhero, then, will have 32 Creation
Points to spend on these things* All these
points could go into talents if the char-
acter wishes — thus, he is not limited to a
number of skills dictated by his IQ,
although he cannot buy skills of a higher
IQ level than his own IQ. It's the super-
powers, though, which distinguish the
superhero from the common man — the
ability to fly, to throw cars around
the block, to project laser beams, to
bounce bullets off the chest.

There are several skills which almost
everyone growing up in a modern tech-
nological culture will have, and which all
characters from a superheroic Earth will
have. Unlike TFT Mundane Talents,
which are not terribly heroic but require
formal training, these common abilities
may be presumed to be available to
everyone who grows up in the society in
whicli the skills are common* They do
not require allocation of IQ points.
Common abilities always operate; you
don’t do any thing special to perform
them, and no check is necessaiy against

- 20 -

IQ, DX 5 or ST except in a difficult or
hazardous situation. The two significant
common abilities are Literacy and Driving.

In modern society, Literacy is a
common ability; it does not require the
allocation of any IQ points. All characters
may be presumed to be literate in their
own tongue, and in any tongue they
speak which uses the same alphabet as
their native language.

Driving means driving a standard four-
wheeled passenger vehicle. The ability to
drive more esoteric vehicles must be
purchased as skills.

These two skills operate automatically
under normal conditions. A Literacy
check — 3d6 vs* IQ — might be necessary
if the character is puzzling out a peculiar
word (e.g., figuring out that “pachyceph-
alosaur” indicates some sort of thick-
headed dinosaur). A Driving check
— 3d6 vs. DX — would be necessary to
keep control of a car if it has just hit a
curb or been sideswiped, 4d6 vs, DX if
this occurred on slick streets, or 5d6 vs.
DX if it occurred on an ice-covered street
during a snowstorm. These die vs. char-
acteristic rolls are made at the referee’s
determination; since so many varied
and different circumstances occur in a
superhero game, more so than in a
fantasy campaign, the referee’s ability to
make such determinations about a
character’s abilities Is greater here.

A note on magic: Magic is not com-
monly available to normal citizens of a
modern world. However, player-characters
can certainly learn magical spells from
TFT, given sufficient rationale and the
referee’s approval. Note that magical
spells are usually not as cost-effective as
superpowers, as they tend to drastically
decrease characters’ ST whereas powers
do not. A Superhero learns talents as a
Hero and spells as a Wizard; a Hero-level
character must choose to be either a Hero
or Wizard; Mundanes may not be wizards.

Talents are used by superheroes and
heroes in the same manner as any TFT
character uses them, by rolling a number
of dice to achieve a number equal to or
less than the relevant characteristic
governing the talent. For instance,

Acrobatics is obviously governed by
Dexterity*

Since education is more common in a
superhero world than in most fantasy
worlds, talents may be increased in ability
and utility more easily than in regular
TFT. Some TFT talents — for example,
Thief/ Master Thief — already have
built-in means of achieving higher levels
of expertise. Other talents aren’t subject
to improvement - either you have Sex
Appeal or you don’t. Those TFT talents
which don’t fall into the previous two
categories, and many talents from Section
IV, may be purchased at higher levels of
proficiency*

Consider there to be four levels of pro-
ficiency in a talent: Basic, Improved,
Advanced, and Expert. Basic allows use
of the Talent as described; each additional
level of proficiency allows you to sub-
tract one pip from a die-roll being checked
against the relevant characteristic, unless
otherwise specified for the particular
talent. Thus, basic Tactics allows a 5d6
roll vs. IQ to figure out an opponent’s
moves* With Expert Tactics, the roll Is
5d6-3.

Training to each new level of profi-
ciency is done exactly as If acquiring the
talent at its basic level: Allot JQ points
(Creation Points with Superheroes). The
Basic and Improved levels of the skill
each require the basic cost of the skill;
Advanced requires one point higher,
and then Expert requires 2 points higher.
Purchasing, for example, Expert Pilot
would require 1 1 IQ points — 2 (Basic)
+2 (Improved) +3 (Advanced) +4 (Expert).

Note that common abilities may be
bought up in proficiency. Consider them
1 -point IQ 7 skills. Thus, Basic Driving is
free, Improved Driving costs 1 point, etc.

Any character may attempt to use any
talent, even if he doesn’t have that talent.
A character attempting to use a skill he
doesn’t possess suffers some restrictions,
however.

If the relevant characteristic governing
the skill is DX, the character suffers the
following modifiers to his DX while using
the skill:

-4 for any TFT talent, unless specified
otherwise in TFT

-2 for any 1 IQ talent from this article

-4 for any 21Q talent from this article

-6 for any 3 IQ talent for this article

If the relevant characteristic is. IQ, roll
twice the number of dice usually rolled
against IQ.

Any skill which is exercised under
difficult conditions — such as lockpicking
in total darkness — is at -2 to the relevant
characteristic. A skill exercised under
hazardous conditions — such as hang
gliding with an injured arm — is at -4 to
the relevant characteristic.

111. Firearms

Although legally restricted in some
areas, firearms are available to most
people; even those people who don’t
normally use them will be vaguely familiar
with their use* Note that the TFT Guns
talent applies only to gunpowder wea-
pons common to the fantasy world of the
character’s origin (blunderbuss, musket,
etc,); a fantasy musketeer will not be able
to use an Uzi as though he’d been born to
it.

A character with no training in firearms
but with a passing familiarity In the
subject (i.e. , a modern character with a
modern firearm) may fire the weapon at
-2 DX and may reload it. He may not fix
malfunctions. A character with the TFT
Guns talent but no modem firearms
talent may fire modem firearms at -I
DX, and may reload them if he is familiar
with or has seen the reloading process;
he may not fix malfunctions. Likewise, a
character with only modern firearms
skills may fire antiquated firearms at -1
DX, and may reload them if he’s familiar
with or has seen the process, and he may
not fix malfunctions. A modern character
with no firearms skills may fire (at -2
DX) an antiquated firearm, but may
not load or fix the weapon. A fantasy
character with no firearms skill must,
make a 4d6 vs. IQ roll to figure out how
to use the weapon in the first, place (6d6
if he’s never seen or heard of such a
weapon) and will fire at -4 DX once he’s
got it figured out.

Each firearms skill is an IQ 7(1) skill.
Each skill covers all firearms in a given
class. Typical firearms classes include
pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and
shotguns.

A typical pistol is a .38 caliber six-shot
revolver. Most pistols do two dice damage.
People with the Pistol talent may elect to
use the TFT “dagger marksmanship”
rules when using the pistol. Otherwise,
pistols are fired as any TFT missile
weapon, subtracting 1DX for every
megahex of range to the target. A pistol,
however, may be discharged up to five
times per combat round. For each addi-
tional shot beyond the first, subract DX
as if the character were throwing an
equivalent number of sha-ken as per TFT.
If the shots are directed at different
targets, subtract 2DX per each additional
target.

A typical rifle is a bolt-action .30-06
which holds 20 rounds. Such a typical

- 21 -

rifle will do three dice damage per hit.
Rifles are missile weapons* and may be
fired twice per combat round, -2DX if
the second shot is against a second target.
A bayonet on the end of the rifle makes
the weapon the equivalent of a TFT
spear. Military rifles are semi- automatic*
hold an average of 30 rounds, and may be
fired up to five times per round as a pistol
(actually, the genuine rate of fire is
considerably higher, but this wilt keep
things a little more balanced).

A typical submachine gun holds 30
rounds per clip. It may fire in single-shot
action, doing 3d6 per hit, up to five times
per round, or on auto fire. Each auto fire
burst uses five bullets, doing 5d6 when it
hits and granting a +3DX to the firer; two
such bursts may be fired per round, A
burst may be sprayed into three connect-
ing hexes at -3 DX per target; each hit
does 3d6 damage.

Shotguns operate as a TFT blunder-
buss, doing four dice damage. They may
be fired twice per combat round; the
second shot, if it is not at the same target,
is at -2DX.

Science fiction guns — hand -lasers,
blasters, phase rs* etc* — fire once per
combat round, and act as TFT missile
weapons. An averate weapon of this type
will do five dice damage.

Note: Modern artifacts are not ade-
quately covered either by TFT or this
article* Readers will have to extrapolate
from examples or similarities in the TFT
rules (at least until articles expanding the
concept of Superheroes In TFT can be
written). For example: A modern flak
vest encumbers a character as TFT
chainmail but stops 6 hits; presume that
blows and missiles hit the vest on a roll
of 5-9 on two dice.

IV. Normal
Talents

With Heroes and Mundanes, each of
these talents costs a number of 3Q points.
With Superheroes, each talent costs a
number of Creation points. In neither
case can a character buy a skill which
requires a higher IQ than the character
possesses.

IQ 7 Talents

Grenade (1): Any character may

throw a grenade a number of hexes
equal to his ST, treating it as a thrown
weapon* With this skill* characters throw
them as missile weapons. Grenades
explode with an effect of half a TFT
Petard; they go off at the end of the turn
in which they were thrown* This skill
does not go through levels of proficiency;
the basic skill is all there is*

Bureaucrat (3): A character with this
skill will be able to understand official
documents, records, etc., when there is
some degree of confusion about their
contents due to legalese writing styles*
This requires a 3d6 vs. IQ roll* A bureau-
crat can detect forgeries of official docu-
ments on 3d6 vs* IQ (4d6 vs, IQ if done
by a Calligrapher, add ld6 for each level
of training of the Calligrapher)* and will
know if someone is attempting to lie
about official regulations just as if the
bureaucrat has the Detect Lie talent.

IQ 8 Talents

Blackjack (1): When one character
clubs another from behind, without the
victim’s knowledge and with the attacker
knowing the Blackjack skill* the skill
allows one additional die of damage to
the damage done by the club* When it’s
used with a blackjack or sap, the skill
allows the user to double the normal
damage for the weapon, but consider it
to be HTH, subdual damage* Having this
talent does not grant the user the stealth
to be able to sneak up on a victim. There
are no additional levels of proficiency
with this skill.

Fast Draw (2): Allows a character to
ready and fire a firearm in the same
round. There are no additional levels of
proficiency with this skill.

Parachutist (1): With this skill, the
character may use any sort of parachute*
When landing* he must roll 2d6 vs. DX
to avoid incurring ld6 damage from the

- 22 -

fall* Without this talent, a character may
use a parachute but must roll 4d6 vs* DX
when landing to avoid 2d6 damage.
Without the talent, in addition, a character
attempting to use a free-fall parachute
must roll 2d6 vs* IQ to successfully open
the parachute at all.

Scuba (2); only costs i if the character
already has the Swimming talent: This
skill allows die character to competently
operate scuba gear to breathe underwater,
and to swim as confidently as though
he had the Diving talent when using
flippers and facemask. In case of equip-
ment trouble, a 3d6 vs. IQ roll is needed
to fix failed equipment, avoid the bends*
etc.

Flight Device (2): Each purchase of
this skill allows the character to operate
one peculiar flight device, such as a jet-
pack (which allows one to fly as though
he were affected by the TFT Flight-
spell), hang glider, or hot-air balloon.
As with Driving, difficult circumstances
require a 3d6 (or worse) roll vs* DX.

Motorcycle (1): This talent allows use
of a motorcycle as a Common Ability
of Driving.

Truck (1): This allows operation of
a bus, trailer truck, etc. as a Common
Ability.

Tracked Vehicle (2); only (I) if also
have Truck Talent: This allows operation
of a tracked vehicle (bulldozer, tank) as
a Common Ability of Driving,

IQ 9 Talents

Pilot (2): Allows driving- type opera-
tion of aircraft* Requires a 3d6 vs, IQ
roll every round if it is an unfamiliar craft
(e.g., a jet plane when the pilot was only
trained on prop planes).

Marksmanship (3): A Missile Weapons
talent applying specifically to firearms.
The actual Missile Weapons still does not
apply to firearms. This has only one level
of proficiency.

Sharpshooting (2); only (1) if char-
acter also has Marksmanship Talent:
This allows +4DX (with any specific
weapon), provided the shooter fires only
once/melee round*

IQ 10 Talents

Sleight of Hand (2): On 3d6 vs. DX*
the character can palm small objects,
pick pockets, etc. This resembles the
Thief skill, but is more theatrical, and
substitutes palming of items for lock-
picking*

Trance (2): One 3d6 vs* DX, the char-
acter can feign death for two minutes*
He can also use this as a form of concen-
tration; on 3d6 vs. IQ and given an
uninterrupted minute (12 melee rounds),
the character may clear his mind to

PLACE

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enable him to use any knowledge Talent
at +1 IQ for the subsequent minute.

Firefighting (2); only (1) if the char-
acter also has Climbing Talent- The char-
acter, given access to sand, water, chem-
icals, etc., can extinguish a megahex
of fire or less per melee round on 3d6 vs.

Ambush j Assassination (2); Prereq:
Silent Movement and Tracking, or Dis-
guise. When striking from ambush, with
victim unaware he is under attack, a
character with this talent is +4DX and
does 2 additional pips of damage with
any weapon or U.C. Talent he has.

diture of i ST each time the Ranged
Power is used; the ST would be recovered
at the same rate as the Wizard’s ST lost
in spellcasting, and excessive power use
would have the same damaging effects
as ST lost through spellcasting. If the
activation roil fails the power does not
activate this round- Purchase of a Ranged
power requires the allotment of eight
Creation Points.

Enhancement powers do not need to
be activated; they usually multiply the
effectiveness of a hero’s characteristics.
Each enhancement requires the allotment
of 12 Creation Points; they may have
increased effects through the allotment of
additional Creation Points, depending on
the individual power.

IQ 11 Talents

Gambling (2): The character knows
both cheating techniques and odds at
games of chance. The skill allows +1 on
any sort of dice roll used to determine
outcome of a gamble.

Detective (2); The character can use
principles of criminology and obse rvation,
on 3d6 vs. IQ, to identify suspicious or
contraband items, similarities or ambig-
uities of physical evidence associated
with a suspect, etc. IPs similar to the
TFT Naturalist Talent, but for use on
people.

Powers

Personal Powers

Shadow i Allows the superhero to
duplicate the ability of the legendary
radio show character of that name.
If the superhero has one combat round
to concentrate (in other words, a round
when no one attacks him), and succeeds
in his 3d6 roll vs. the relevant character-
istic, he can move unseen as if using the
TFT Ivisibility spell Doubling this
power confers actual invisibility, usable
against animals or mechanical light
sensors as well as people. IQ is the rele-
vant characteristic.

Light : The character can glow, as per
a TFT lantern. Doubling confers the
equivalent of a Dazzle spell for each turn
the power is activated. ST is the relevant
characteristic.

There are three categories of super-
powers: Personal. Ranged, and Enhance-
ment.

The superhero uses personal powers
when exercising paranormal abilities
which do not expel some sort of energy
over distance. Such powers include Heal-
ing, Flying, and Shapechanging. Each
personal power costs six Creation Points
to buy; allotment of an additional six
‘‘doubles” the power, as explained for
each individual power. To use a personal
power, a superhero activates the power in
the Movement Phase of a combat round,
either in lieu of or together with actual
movement (depending on the power).
To activate the power entails rolling 3d6
vs. the relevant characteristic specified
for the power.

Personal powers may be continued
indefinitely, without loss of ST, by roll-
ing against the relevant characteristic
in the same phase as wizards renew their
spells. If the attempt fails, the superhero
may then attempt to renew the power in
the Movement Phase of the same round.
If a power such as Flight “fails”, docs not
activate, it does not mean that the flier
suddenly drops like a stone, but rather
that he cannot fly in any specific direc-
tion until he regains control.

If a referee wishes to limit the capacit-
ies of personal powers, he may specify
that they can only be used a number of
times per day equal to the relevant
characteristic.

Ranged Powers are those which
allow superheroes to hurl energy across
distances. They operate similarly to TFT
Missile spells, except that they do not
deplete the superheroes’ ST. They require
a 3d6 roll vs. the relevant characteristic
to activate; the roll occurs in the Action
Phase, when the character uses the power.

IQ 12 Talents

Gadgets (2); only (1) if the character
has Mechanician Talent. This skill allows
use of specific weapon or “gadget’ 5 which
is not commercially available, on 3d6 vs.
IQ; it does not confer the ability to fix
or modify the object.

Criptography (3): This is the ability
to decode secret writings, ciphers, etc.
on 3d6 vs. IQ,

Escape Artist (2); Prereq: Sleight of
Hand: The character can escape ropes on
3d6 vs. DX. Escaping handcuffs, jail
cells etc. requires 5d6 vs. DX+IQ.

IQ 13 Talents

Lawyer (3): When the legality of a
character’s activities is called into ques-
tion, or when he is confronted by hostile
law enforcement officials, a character
with this Talent can avoid the confront-
ation by recourse to legal knowledge and
a convincing speech on 3d6 vs. IQ.

Eidetic Memory (3): On 3d6 vs. IQ,
character will remember anything he has
read or been told. He must have made
the effort to commit the info to memory;
it is not automatic. However, the memory
is permanent thereafter.

IQ 14 Talents

Interrogation (3): If the character has
an uninterrupted 12 turns to question
someone who Is not inclined to answer
a question, and makes a 3d6 vs. IQ roll,
he will obtain the answer by techniques
of interrogation (subtlety, misdirection,
deceit

not torture). The victim may
save vs, his own IQ. as per resisting a
Control Spell; however, the interrogator

may continue the questioning another
1 2 turns.

If a referee wishes to limit the use of
ranged powers, he may require an expen-

—23—

jsr

Detection : With this power, a char-
acter may, once per turn, say that he
is trying to detect a specific object,
emotion, person, or other item — such
as magic, or the nefarious General Willkie,
or radiation, or falsehoods; with a 3d6
roll against the relevant characteristic,
TQ, he may detect any examples of his
subject within a three- megahex radius
area. Doubling allows him to know what
the specific example of that subject is --
i.e., “two pounds of plutonium” instead
of “radiation” or “confusion spell”
instead of just “magic.”

Force Field : This power allows the
character to project a protective force
field. If he stands still, he may create
a force field covering a megahex (he is
at the center of the megahex). The force
field repels incoming missiles or any
character with a lesser ST than the caster,
(Attackers of higher ST smash their way
through and the force field drops until
reactivated.) Doubling allows the char-
acter to cover a mega-megahex area. ST
is the relevant characteristic.

Fire : The character can produce the
equivalent of a TFT Fire spell in his own
or an adjacent hex. Doubling allows the
superhero to create a me gab ex- sized
flame, with one hex adjacent to his own
hex (unless he wants to project it on the
hex he's in). The caster is immune to his
own flame. IQ is the relevant character-
istic.

Armor: The character can harden his
own body, giving him the equivalent of
Stone Flesh (stops 4 hits). Doubling
makes it equivalent to Iron Flesh (6 hits).
ST is the relevant characteristic.

Regeneration : The character regener-
ates damage he has taken. At the begin-
ning of each round after he has been
injured, the character makes his 3d6 roll
against ST; if the roll is successful, he
gains 1 ST. This power will not raise a
character’s ST above his starting, unin-
jured, total. A character trying to per-
form regeneration may not do anything
else for the rest of tire round. Doubling
this power means that the roll against ST
is only 2d6.

Healing : As Regeneration, above, but
usable instead upon other people. The
superhero must touch the intended recip-
ient of the healing and make a 3d6 vs.
IQ roll (2d6 if the power is doubled).

Fly : Acts as a TFT Flying spell.

Ranged Powers

Telekinesis: Acts as the TFT Tele-
kinesis spell. Telekinesis acts at the super-
hero’s “original” ST, not the ST granted
by certain enchancement powers. IQ is
the relevant characteristic.

Mind fist i Allows a character to punch

someone at range; use the character’s own
attack ST to determine the normal HTH
damage, which with use of this power
may be applied at range like a missile
spell, IQ is the relevant characteristic.
Fire j Lightning) Cold j etc: These are

direct-damage powers. Despite their many
forms, they basically operate in the same
way: Some sort of energy gouts from the
superhero and damages what it hits,
(The referee may determine any addi-
tional effects of the power, such as fire
setting objects aflame, cold blasts nullify-
ing fire blasts, radiation blasts not pene-
trating lead shielding, etc.) Unlike the
cost-to-purchase of other Ranged Powers,
these powers cost 6 Creation Points per
die of damage each blast is supposed to
do, ST is the relevant characteristic.

Force: This power pushes open doors,
overturns cars, etc., but will not do
damage to living entities or characters.
It acts in all ways like a fire /lightning/
cold/etc. blast, except for the fact that it
will not hurt living things. Each die of
possible damage costs 4 Creation Points.
ST is the relevant characteristic.

Psychic Blast: This power does damage
to a person’s IQ instead of ST. A character
may not die from being p si- blasted, and
his IQ never drops below 0. Characters
who have been psi- blasted act as though
they’d been Confused by the sped of
the same name; at IQ 6 they take on the
reasoning power of proot-waddles, and
the referee can enforce typical random
and irrational behavior; at IQ 5 the char-
acter loses the pow r er of speech and
can not distinguish between friend and
foe. Each die of damage to a character’s
IQ per blast costs 12 Creation Points. A
character regains 1 IQ per round, at the
beginning of the round. IQ, naturally,
is the relevant characteristic.

Darkness: This power acts as the TFT
spell of the same name, DX is the relevant
characteristic.

Empathy : If the attack roll is success-
ful, the target becomes friendly rather
than hostile. This power acts as a Control
Person/ Animal spell, but with the range
of a missile spell. IQ is the relevant
characteristic.

Enhancements,

Super strength : This power doubles the
character’s ST for purposes of lifting
weight and doing HTH damage. For each
additional +3 Creation Points, the ST
gains an additional multiple (i.e., for the
original 12 points, a character gets 2x
ST; for an additional 3 points, he has
3x ST; for another 3 points he has 4x
ST; and so on).

Invulnerability: This power grants the
character a higher resistance to damage.

Any incoming attack less than the char-
acter’s original ST does no damage to the
character. Each +3 Creation Points gives
the character 42 defensive ST for this
purpose only.

Toughness: The character’s ST is
doubled for purposes of taking damage.
If, for instance, he has an original ST of
12 and the Toughness power, he will not
be killed until fie takes 24 points of
damage. Each +3 Creation Points gives
another multiple to the effect (Le. 12
points means 2x ST, 3+ means 3x ST,
etc,, as with S up e rst r ength ) .

Speed: The character moves at 2x MA.
Each +3 points Is +1 MA.

Reflexes: The character is allowed two
actions per turn. (This does not mean
that he can run 2x MA in a turn, but
rather that he could move half or less of
his MA and then perform two attack
actions.) Each +3 Creation Points adds
2 to DX for purposes of determining
when someone acts in a round. If a char-
acter’s DX is doubled through this means,
it means he gets yet another action per
round; tripled, another action; and so on.

Intellect: This power doubles the char-
acter’s IQ for purposes of resisting
Control spells and powers and for figuring
out such tilings as codes, unfamiliar
devices, etc. Each +3 Creation Points
multiplies IQ by one more, as with Super-
strength.

Wrapup

Although the Powers listed, particularly
the Enhancements, will give superheroes
a great deal of combat ability, remember
that they are superheroes.

Naturally, the powers listed in this
article are only a few of the ones which
might be worked up for superheroes. This
article is not a superhero role-playing
game, but rather superhero guidelines for
TFT.

Note that these rules really do not
allow for characters such as DC’s Super-
man, who can juggle battleships, move
planets, squeeze coal into diamonds, and
annihiliate supervillains before sitting
down to breakfast. This was intentional;
Superman is a legend, and entertaining
to read about, but does not game out
very well.

This supplement package is only an
outline for a superhero campaign; it
would be impractical to publish a full-
length superhero TFT expansion in SG.
Let us know what you think about this
article, and whether or not you’d like to
see similar RPG expansions and variants
in the future.

I hope these guidelines will allow
players to begin superhero activities with
TFT rules, and will provide inspiration
for expanding those rules.

- 24 -

Superhero Character
Record Sheet

CHARACTER NAME: PLAYER: — _ —

DESCRIPTION: ___ —

OTHER NOTES: — _____

SUPERSTRENGTH:

INVULNERABILITY:

TOUGHNESS:

DX REFLEXES

INTELLECT:

SPEED:

POWERS/SKILLS:

Use this space for the drawing of your char-
acter, if desired.

Permission is granted to photocopy this form for personal use only.

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Counter Intelligence
by Aaron Allston

Con Games

Let me kick off this month’s column
with a couple of apologies:

Graaf Graaf Graaf Graaf Graaf: An
error slid into W,G. Armintrout’s “Star
Mail” review in issue 63 — Graaf Simula-
tions was misspelled as Grand Simulations
(which is hardly an insult, but still a mis-
take), and the reference to the sale of
Graaf s Feudal Lords to Flying Buffalo
was in error; FBI will be offering Feudal
Lords, but Graaf is also retaining the
game,

Wiseman, Wiseman, Wiseman , Wiseman t
Wiseman: In last issue’s Counter Intelli-
gence, I mentioned Evil Genius {and Jo ur~
nal of the Travellers' Aid Society editor)
Loren Wiseman, but spelled his name
Wcismam If s a recurrent gaming-industry
mistake which Loren and FASA partner
Jordan We ism an have been suffering
through for some time. (Perhaps the two
of you could follow in the footsteps of
Trevanian, Fabian, and Cher and dispense
with the last names altogether? No?)

The More Things Change

With Origins out of the way (by the
time you read this — if s still a month in
the future as I write It), we can turn our
eyes toward shaping up the magazines at
a slightly more relaxed pace. (We can also
look toward the next batch of game re-
leases, but thafs for Steve to tell you
about, not me.)

One important change which will be-
gin affecting the magazine next month in-
volves Pat Mueller, Pat, since she came
abord SJ Games a year ago, has had little
time to devote to her true love, which is
art direction and graphics design, Thafs
all changed, and pretty soon Pat’s more
creative graphics layouts will replace my
own, more stodgy, designs. People may
not consciously note die changes, but the
magazines will begin to look considerably
better and live up to their graphics capaci-
ties, which is quite all right with me.

Next up on our convention tours in-
clude Gen Con, Gateway, and WorldCom
The latter two are interesting because
they’re on the same weekend, on opposite
sides of the U.S.; Steve Jackson and Pat
Mueller will be attending World con in
Baltimore, while new convention manager
Scott Haring and I will be attending Gate-
way in Anaheim, Collectively, we hope to
see a lot of yon at one con or the other
around Labor Day.

The Great Schism

Reader reaction to the Fantasy Gamer j
Space Gamer split has been fairly calm and
favorable so far. There are still some com-
plaints floating around from people who
like the old mix; but, in general, people
seem to be taking the changeover pretty
well.

However, don’t be lured into thinking
that you can sit back and wait fora decent
issue of one magazine or the other to fall
into your mailbox every month. We’re
still looking for good and regular contrite
utors. In fact, we lost a couple of contrib-
uting editors with the changeover, and are
on the lookout for more.

Being a contributing editor to Space
Gamer and Fantasy Gamer simply means
producing good, usable copy on a depend-
able and regular basis for the magazine,
usually two to three capsules or an arti-
cle or featured review per month. The
benefits include a place on the magazine
masthead, regular correspondence with
the editorial office here, and preferential
treatment for reviews and article assign-
ments. And, occasionally, a contributing
editor achieves enough notoriety in the
industry that game publishers begin send-
ing review copies straight to him in addi-
tion to sending them to the magazine of-
fices. If you have an interest in writing
regularly for our magazines and think you
have what it takes, drop me a line; the ad-
dress is at the front of the magazine.

Fantasy Gamer

In Issue 2 (Oct./Nov. 1983):

Victorian London: Generic game-setting
for adventures in the era of Sherlock
Holmes, Jack the Ripper, the Order of the
Golden Dawn, and more;

DragemQuest Damage Spells;

Power Politics in FRP; and
Featured reviews of Silverdawn and
RuneQuest Companion.

In upcoming months:

A Thing in the Darkness, solo adventure
for Call of Cthu ihu ; and

Greg Costikyan's role-playing game of
cartoon action.!?)

Space Gamer

In Issue 66 f Nov./Dec. 1983):

A new space conflict game by Steve
Jackson; and

Featured Reviews of Star Trek: The
Correspondence Game and Attacks Inter-
stellar Wars.

In upcoming months:

Jules Verne Adventures (delayed from
#65), on gaming Vernlan escapades; and
The Island of Entellope, generic adven-
ture for after-th e-holocaust RPGs.

Autoduel Quarterly

In Issue 3 (Fall 2033):

Chassis & Crossbow, low-tech auto-
duelting;

Designer's Notes for Autoduel Cham-
pions; and

Vehicle Cost Analysis.

In upcoming issues:

Car Wars in shopping malls, for maniacs
and other absurdists.

Fire & Movement

in Issue 37 (October 1983):

Featured looks at Victory Games'
The Civil War and Peoples War Games'
Black Sea * Black Death; and

Part II of our look at the Solomon Seas.
In upcoming issues;

Analysis of Johnny Reb; and
A retrospective of SPFs Atlantic Wall.

- 27 —

Where We s re Going
by Steve Jackson

Curse me. Revile me. Put dead bats
on my head.

A few issues back I swore solemnly
that we would have certain things as
Origins releases — including the very-
long-awaited OgrejG.E 1 V supplement.
Well, guess what Isn’t out yet.

The reasons are simple: SJG is suf-
fering from growing pains. It's harder
to keep a 30-employee company or-
ganized than it is a ! 0-employee com-
pany, And Fm spending more time
managing and less time designing. Pm
not our only designer. Fm not even our
only in-house designer. But Fm still
the prime source of design and devel-
opment work — and when Fm too
busy to play games, new releases get
delayed.

In the long run, what I have to do is
find someone who has management
talent, understands games and the game
business, and is interested enough in
this business to work for (face it!) a
lower salary than he could command
from Uncle Sam or the oil companies.
When 1 find that person, Fll go back
to full-time game design. In the mean-
time, things will move more slowly than
they did last year.

We did have three “pre-Origins"
releases. Cardboard Heroes Fantasy Set
11 was another Denis Loubet set of
“generic" player characters. Fantasy Set

12 was painted by Robert Charrette and
comprised 36 assorted Japanese Figures,
Not much use if you don’t want to run
an Oriental adventure — invaluable if
you do. Finally, Car Wars Expansion
Set 2 included duplicate sets of the Car
Wars/Truck Stop /Sun day Drivers coun-
ters, plus a turning key. These arc all
S3. 00 items.

Our actual Origins releases number
only two, but they’re both major works.
The Car Wars Reference Screen is self-
ex plan atory. It’s cardboard, with three
x II” panels, and includes a copi-
able set of large-sized vehicle and pedes-
trian record sheets* It sells for S5.00.

The other release is something of a
coup — a combination supplement for
both Car Wars and Hero Games’ Cham-
pions, You want auto duelling in the
world of superheroes? You want super-
powered characters in your Car Wars
campaign? You’ve got ’em.

As far as 1 know, Autoduel Oiampions
is the first supplement ever produced to
seriously combine two different game
systems, from two different publishers,
in two different genres . . . and it even
works! It’s in two sections; you do not
have to have both Car Wars and Oiam-
pions to use Autoduel Champions ,
because it works with either. It includes
a large- sized double- sided map and an
11" x 17" bind- in sheet of full-color
counters in both Car Wars and Champions
scales,

Fm really pleased with this booklet;
Aaron Allston did a goodjob on the rules
(carefully watched over by the Hero
Games folks and myself to insure that
everything stayed true to the parent
systems) and Denis Loubet did his usual
great job on the cover and counters. I
know — Fm waxing a bit enthusiastic.
Hype, Steyie, hype. But this one really is
a lot of fun* Let me know what you
think about if

Probably the Last Word
on The Fantasy Trip

Last month in Fantasy Gamer l men-
tioned that, knuckling under to popular
demand, I had contacted Metagaming
about a repurchase of the TFT copyright.
I didn’t want to see the TFT system die,
and a lot of you didn’t, either.

Unfortunately, it appears that their
asking price is a lot higher — a whole lot
higher — than anything I could justify
as a reasonable offering price. (And if
T did have a quarter of a million dollars
to spare, I might find something else to
spend it on . . . ) At this point, Fm
afraid republication of TFT is unlikely.

However, your letters have impelled
me to get back to work on a new RFC
system — the one I’ve been mentioning
here for the last year or so. In my copious
free time, I’ll see what I can do, I might,
be able to get the character generation
and basic combat rules ready before
too much longer, if all goes well. (Ha!)

Computers Again

Some time ago, we gave up on the
idea of producing computer games our-
selves, and began semi-covert talks with
a number of larger computer companies.
Object: license them the games. Twice,
these talks got as far as contract drafts
before breaking down. (In both cases,
the company’s stock plummeted shortly
afterwards. This is only coincidence
... I think*) Anyway, we are now work-
ing on a deal with a new software com-
pany: “new” as in “not operating yet,”
and “software” as in “they don’t sell
computers, only programs.” This one
looks pretty good; I’ll talk more about
it when it’s final, but it’s just barely
possible that you could see Car Wars
and Ogre for the Apple, Commodore(s),
and/or IBM by Christmas,

— 28 —

"NOT SO CLUMSY OR RANDOM
AS A BLASTER--"

Tile present-day Marine sword drill
consists of little More titan a saftfbe,
Howaer, in GJ)W ■ S TRAVELLER/ the
Sfsce marines of tie distant future.
3re trained tfe mss -fcfieir cutlasses
in corwbafc {"'Forrest Joltn&h)

HOW ABOUT IF HE'S PEADr
In Task Eros's EOARPING PARIXtke rules explain
for tbs hard of thinking that a human pretendi^ to
be unconscious v may per&rw no other action
ftfale M«con5tiows«ess y '- {"St&e hPr&k}

HIGH-TECH TARGEHNS-

Dwarfebrs GW ARMOR features laser- fri^ yurts
-that are not afleotad by terrain between
themselves and their tarots - ■ they can -fee
GO wiles- ever any terrain —

^ #■

IGM0R1U& 0RRER5-

Miarocornpwter Games' TAC (Tactical
Arritor Command) tells ws in
tbs rale book that destroyi^an
infantry units transput vehicle will
kill the Cxeat. fsiir enoigb-
In the actual ^we, thot^k,
the- infantry unit Joss.

Hc£ die*- ("Ckrh Stuith y

- 29 -

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