Sixth World, Sixth Edition

The world has endured much in the last eight decades in what has been an interesting twenty-first century. December 24th, 2011, marked the end of the five-thousand-year Mayan calendar and the beginning of the next, and with it came unimaginable change. U.G.E., or ‘Unexplained Genetic Expression’, gave rise to the birth of mutant and changeling children, followed by ‘Goblinisation’, in which a tenth of the population mutated into hideous forms. Although their appearance triggered global race riots, they became recognised as Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, and Trolls, separate species in their own right, members of Metahumanity known as the Awakened. Dragons appeared in the skies and were greater than anyone even imagined, owning corporations, becoming media stars, and one even getting elected president—before being assassinated on the day of his inauguration. Corporations were recognised as sovereign states unto themselves, so rose the power of the mega corps, all chasing status on the ten-member Corporate Council, regulating their activities where once national governments had done so. Recognition of the corporations and their extraterritoriality weakened the United States as the Native American demand for recognition turned into an armed struggle that would eventually force Canada, Mexico, and the United States to recognise the Native American Nations under the terms of the Treaty of Denver. Worse was to follow with the data Crash of ‘29 as a killer virus destroyed data and systems worldwide, toppling governments and threatening to destroy the USA. In response, operatives co-opted by the US government and using advanced cybertechnology entered cyberspace and fought the virus. Not all survived, but several of those who did took that technology to market, ultimately leading to personal cyberdecks which allowed individuals to easily access cyberspace and travel anywhere from the comfort of their own homes. In the wake of the Crash of ’29, what remained of the United States merged with Canada to form the United Canadian and American States in order to save both their economies and resources. It was followed by the secession of the Confederated American States four years later, and the founding of Tir Tairngire, an Elf nation just outside of Seattle. The rise of two types of technology—cybernetics and virtual reality would lead to widespread adoption of cyberware as augmentations and the Matrix, the descendant of the World Wide Web, its virtual reality or augmented reality accessed via cybernetic implants, a commlink, even the natural ability of the Technomancer, has run parallel with the rise and study of magic through various traditions.

By the year 2080, the divide between rich and poor, between SIN and SINless has only got wider. A SIN or ‘System Identification Number’ provides state and corporate recognition, access to education, healthcare, and potentially a job, but that job is going to be as a wage slave serving the interests of a corporation. Some of the SINless see their not being part of the system as a badge of honour. It enables them to undertake jobs and tasks that having a SIN would make very difficult, whether that is protecting the rights of fellow slum dwellers or becoming Shadowrunners. Shadowrunners do the jobs, perform the heists and personnel extractions, steal data, babysit assets, investigate mysteries, and the like that corporations and other agencies with a budget big enough do not want to be seen doing. Employed by a ‘Mister Johnson’, they are a corporate fixer’s deniable assets, willingly paid to do underhand tasks that would otherwise ruin a corporation’s reputation, until that is, the Shadowrunners become a liability!

This is the setting for Shadowrun – Sixth World, the roleplaying game originally published in 1989 by FASA, Inc. and subsequently developed over the course of thirty years into novels and short story anthologies, miniatures games, card games—collectible and otherwise, computer games, and more, including, of course, a detailed background and history of the Sixth World setting itself, which also spanned the roleplaying game’s thirty year history, from 2050 to 2080. It combines three genres in particular, two of them particularly not being obvious bedfellows—Cyberpunk, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. It is a roleplaying game in which the Player Characters take the roles of Shadowrunners, freelance operatives trying to get by without attracting too much attention, but getting involved anyway.

Shadowrun – Sixth World is the latest iteration of the rulebook, published by Catalyst Game Labs essentially the sixth edition for the setting’s Sixth World. It introduces the setting, provides the means to create the numerous types of Player Characters possible, run the different aspects of the setting—primarily magic and the Matrix, details a wide array of threats and other NPCs and creatures, lists numerous items that the Player Characters can equip themselves with, and hidden at the back, almost like an afterthought, provides a handy introduction to the Seattle of 2080 that includes several NPC contacts and almost twenty scenario hooks! This is all peppered with fiction set within the world of Shadowrun that helps to impart its flavour and feel, examples of the rules in action, and a pair of pullout sections that showcase just a little of the artwork of the roleplaying game’s past thirty years. Veteran players will recognise many of these pieces.

One of the first things Shadowrun – Sixth World does is highlight the differences between it and previous editions. This is aimed at the veteran player coming to the new edition. So, what then are those changes? First, and foremost, it includes faster easier rules for Edge, the undefinable element of risk taking, guts, and heedless ignorance in the face of danger, stripped down skills, Armour not being part of the Damage Resistance test, the Elimination of Limits, a hangover from the previous, more complicated rules, simplified action, spells no longer needing Force, and altered Matrix functions. The aim is to provide simpler, more streamlined mechanics that encourage greater, faster, and more dynamic action, whilst ultimately making play easier.

A Player Character in Shadowrun has a mix of physical, mental, special attributes, typically ranging value between one and six. The four physical attributes are Body, Agility, Reaction, and Strength, and the four mental attributes are Willpower, Logic, Intuition, and Charisma. The four Special attributes are Edge, Magic, Resonance, and Essence. Of these, only magic-using Player Characters have Magic and only Technomancers have Resonance, whilst all Player Characters have Edge and Essence. The latter measures how much cyberware, bioware, and other augmentations that a Player Character can have before he becomes too machine-like. It also measures the capacity for a Player Character to use magic. Install too many augmentations and the Player Character’s Essence is reduced, and so is his capacity to use magic. Skills, on the same scale as attributes are divided between active skills and knowledge skills, plus languages. A Player Character has a Metatype—Dwarf, Elf, Human, Ork, or Troll—which conform to the classic fantasy versions of them, plus a Lifestyle, ranging from Street and Squatter to High and Luxury, which apart from Street has to be paid for and maintained. He can also have Qualities, positive or negative, such as Analytical Mind, Catlike, AR Vertigo, or Combat Paralysis.

A Player Character will also have a broad role, either Arcane Specialist, Face, Street Samurai, or Technology Specialist, but within them there are several ways of achieving what each role is designed to do. The Arcane Specialist can be a Mage, a Shaman, or an Adept, the latter being able to focus his magic inwards to enhance himself either physically or socially; a Face can be skill based, a social Adept, or augmented with the right cyberware or bioware; and a Street Samurai can be all skill focused, a physical Adept, or heavily augmented with cyberware. The Technology Specialist can either hack into the Matrix or operate vehicles and drones, either through technological means or innate magical means. The Decker uses technology to hack the Matrix, whilst the Rigger uses it to control technology. The Technomancer uses innate magical ability to hack the Matrix, whilst the Dronomancer uses it to control technology. In general, Player Characters will be specialists in their role. There is some flexibility in terms of character design and the degree to which a character is augmented, but that degree will always be limited by how much a player wants his Arcane Specialist character to be able to use magic.

Character creation itself is not an easy process and takes some getting used to. It uses an updated version of the Priority System first seen in Shadowrun, First Edition in 1989. A player sets the priorities for his character’s Metatype, points to assign to skills and attributes, Magic or Resonance capability, and Resources. Metatype also includes Adjustment Points, which are then spent on Edge, attributes for that Metatype, and either Magic or Resonance. Resources are not just spent on weapons, armour, and other equipment, but also cyberware. At the end of the process, a Player Character receives some Knowledge and Language skills for free (but can purchase more), chooses Contacts and some Qualities, and spends Karma to customise the character. This is in addition to a series of questions designed to help the player envision his character and his motivation as well as his place in the Sixth World. Alternatively, a set of ten pre-generated archetypes provide ready-to-play Player Characters or examples to show what the end result looks like.

Kimama Sanchez
Metatype: Ork Role: Shaman
Racial Qualities: Low-light Vision, Built Tough 1

Body 6 Agility 4 Reaction 3 Strength 6
Willpower 4 Logic 2 Intuition 2 Charisma 5
Edge 4 Magic 6 Essence 6

Attack Rating: 9 Defence Rating: 6+3 Initiative: 5+1d6
Composure: 9 Judge Intentions: 6 Memory: 4 Lift/Carry: 10

Skills: Astral 1, Athletics 1, Close Combat 1, Conjuring 5, Influence 1, Perception 1, Sorcery 5 (Spellcasting +2)

Knowledge Skills: Spirit Types, Seattle Dive Bars

Languages: Or’zet

Spells: Analyse Truth, Antidote, Armour, Confusion, Detect Life, Detect Magic, Heal, Mindlink, Stabilise, Stunbolt

Rituals: Circle of Healing, Ward

Qualities: Mentor Spirit (Bear), Combat Paralysis, Quick Healer, Built Tough (2)

Contacts: Bartender (Connection 2/Loyalty 3), Beat Cop (Connection 2/Loyalty 3), Fixer (Connection 3/Loyalty 2), Mechanic (Connection 3/Loyalty 3), Mafia Consigliere (Connection 3/Loyalty 1), Mentor (Connection 3/Loyalty 3)

Equipment: Extendable Baton, Combat Knife, Lined Coat, Metalink Commlink, Credstick, Lifestyle – Squatter (Prepaid, One Month), Evo Falcon, ¥3557

Mechanically, at its most basic, Shadowrun – Sixth World is quite simple. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls a dice pool of six-sided dice, results of five and six counting as successes or hits. If more than half of the results consist of ones, then there is potential for a glitch or critical glitch. The dice pool typically consists of the total of an attribute and a skill, a task having a threshold, which represents the number of hits a player has to roll to succeed. This is a straightforward Simple test, whilst an Extended test consists of two Simple tests, the side rolling the most hits winning the outcome. Extended tests are essentially a series of Simple tests, the Player Character having a period of time in which to roll them in order to achieve a greater threshold. Alternatively, a player can buy hits, dividing the number of dice in his dice pool by four and counting the result as the number of hits.

Edge gives an advantage to a Player Character’s action. The cost ranges from one to five Edge. So, for example, a one-Edge Boost will enable a player to reroll a die or add three to Initiative; a two-Edge Boost lets him add one to a die, give an ally an Edge, or Negate an Edge used by an enemy; a three-Edge Boost grants an automatic hit or heals a some Stun damage; a four-Edge Boost can add Edge to the dice pool and make results of six explode or reroll all failed dice; and a five-Edge Boost can make results if two count as glitches for the enemy or create a special effect, that benefits the action. These are not the only Edge Boosts, but in addition, there are Edge Actions. These include making a Big Speech, a Called Shot, a Knockout Blow, or gaining Sudden Insight, all of which have their benefits. Lastly, Edge can be permanently burned to gain a ‘Smackdown’ when a Player Character really, really has to hit hard, and ‘Not Dead Yet’ when otherwise, it looks like the Player Character should be.

Edge is integral to play. A Player Character can earn Edge through play, especially in combat encounters, up to a temporary maximum of seven, so a player should not only be looking for opportunities to earn it, but opportunities to spend it too. Thus, ideally, there should be a constant turnover of Edge as play progresses. Yet, this is hampered by the sheer number of Edge Boosts and Edge Actions to choose from and they are a lot to remember. In fact, too many to remember without having a reference sheet to hand for every player, let alone the Game Master.

One Saturday night, Kimama Sanchez gets home from the bar where she has been drinking to find four gangers, members of the 7th Avenue Slashers, attempting to lift her Evo Falcon. They have a Professional Rating of two, so their attributes are all two with skills to match, except for their intimidating manner and willingness to throw their weight around. Kimama Sanchez just wants to go to bed, so to avoid a fight, she attempts to intimidate the gangers. As a tough-looking Ork, Kimama is definitely more physically powerful than any of the gangers. This gains her an extra point of Edge from the Game Master. Kimama’s player keeps that in reserve and rolls her dice pool, which consists of six dice, equal to her Charisma + Influence. This will be opposed by the gangers’ Willpower + Intuition, equal to two each. The Game Master rolls this as a group, stating that for each hit that Kimama’s player scores more than the gangers, one of them will flee. The Game Master rolls three, three, six, and six. Kimama’s player rolls two, three, four, six, six, and six, a good roll, but only enough to affect one ganger. Fortunately, Kimama has the extra Edge awarded because she is tough-looking and her player decides to use it as well as a point of her innate Edge to purchase a two-Edge Boost to add one to one of the die results. She turns the result of four into five and now has two hits. This means that she has successfully intimidated two of the gangers, who after Kimama asks gruffly, “Hey, squishies, you really wanna be trying this, this time of the morning?”, decide that taking on a tough-looking Ork this time of the morning is not for them.

The core mechanics are used throughout Shadowrun – Sixth World, including all of the mechanical subsets that handle the different aspects of the rules—magic, Technomancy, the matrix, rigging, and so on. Combat is surprisingly treated in just twenty pages, but that also includes plenty of examples that really help the Game Master grasp the rules. At the core, combat revolves around comparing Attack Rating to Defence Rating, and if one is greater than the other by four or more, that combatant gains a point of Edge. More Edge can be gained from the situation, from gear, and more. Edge can be spent before or after the roll. Damage can be soaked by rolling hits generated from a roll based on the Body attribute. Damage is applied to the defendant’s Condition Monitor. Overall, the combat covers ranged and melee combat, grappling, knockdown, explosives, gas attacks, spray attacks, and more.

Magic is divided into two traditions, Hermeticism and Shamanism, the former being academic in nature, the latter more experienced and performative in nature. The first relies on Logic as its attribute, the second on Charisma as its attribute. The rules cover spells, conjuring, summoning, enchantments, alchemy, and more. Adepts have innate powers, such as Astral Perception, Danger Sense, Killing Hands, and more. One danger of using magic for any tradition is the possibility of Drain because using or casting magic is tiring. Every spell has a Drain Value, and when it is cast, the magic-using character’s player must make a roll to withstand its effect. For every hit, the Drain Value is reduced. Any Drain Value left over inflicts stun damage, but this is stun damage that cannot simply be healed. It must be rested to recover from!

It is Sunday morning following a Seattle night out and Kimama is still facing down two gangers who want to steal her bike and were not put off by her intimidating manner. One of them draws a streetline special and points the pistol at her and with a sneer says, “Whatcha gonna do ’bout it, trog?” The other one pulls out a knife. Things have taken a bad turn, one which Kimama wanted to avoid. Combat is about to ensue, which begins with initiative. The Game Master will roll one die and add four for the gangers, whilst Kimama’s player will roll one die and add five. However, Kimama has the negative Quality of ‘Combat Paralysis’, which not only halves the result, but means that she goes last in the first round. The Game Master rolls one, adds four, for a total of five. Kimama’s play rolls a five and adds five for a total of ten. Halved, this is five. What this means is that after the first round when Kimama has to go last due to her Combat Paralysis, she has the same Initiative as the remaining gangers. However, since her Edge is four compared to their one from their Professional Rating of one, this breaks the tie and she will go first in subsequent rounds.

The lead ganger, armed with his Streetline Special, opens fire at Kimama. The Game Master rolls the ganger’s Firearms 2 + Agility 2, Kimama’s player will be rolling Reaction 3 + Intuition 2, whilst the Attack Rating of the Streetline Special is compared against Kimama’s Defence Rating. The Streetline Special has an Attack Rating of eight, whilst Kimama has a Defence Rating of nine, which includes the benefit of her lined coat. Since the Attacking Rating is not four greater than the Defence Rating, there is no Edge benefit. From the situation, the Game Master states that it is dimly lit in the alley alongside Kimama’s squat, but since she has low-light vision as an Ork, gives her a bonus Edge. The Game Master is rolling four dice, getting a result of four, six, six, and six, whilst Kimama’s player rolls two, three, three, five, and six. The Game Master rolled one more hit than Kimama’s player. This is added to the damage value of the Streetline Special, which is two, for a total of three damage. Kimama’s player now rolls to soak this damage, which is six for her Body. Her player rolls two, three, four, four, five, and five for two hits, leaving Kimama with a point of damage to suffer. Given how tough she is, this really is a scratch! This is marked off on the Physical damage Track of her Condition Monitor on the character sheet. Fortunately for Kimama, the other ganger thinks that the pistol is enough to change her mind and does not attack this round.

It is time for Kimama to act. She is not keen on violence, so decides to cast Stunbolt at the ganger with the gun. Kimama’s player will roll her Magic 6 + Sorcery 5 (Spellcasting +2) for a total of thirteen dice! This is definitely four higher than the ganger’s Defence Rating of three, so Kimama is awarded a bonus point of Edge, plus another one because of the poor light conditions and her Low-light Vision. So, she has two. The ganger will oppose the roll with his Willpower + Intuition total of four. Kimama’s player rolls one, one, one, one, three, three, four, four, four, five, six, six, and six, which is four hits and four ones. Fortunately, for Kimama, the number of ones rolled is not enough to cause a glitch. Her player decides to spend the two bonus points of Edge to turn two of the fours into fives, and now she has six hits. This is added to the total effect of the Stunbolt, which is five. The ganger is about to take eleven points of damage, though it is only stun damage. Since damage from direct combat spells cannot be resisted, this is applied directly to the ganger’s Condition Monitor, which is only nine. So down he goes, asleep in charge of a cheap gun. Still, Kimama must check for the effects of Drain because she has cast a spell. Stunbolt has a Drain value of three, so Kimama’s player must roll three hits or more, using her Willpower 4 + Charisma 6, to negate the effect. Kimama’s player rolls one, two, two, two, four, four, six, six, and six, which means three hits and no effect due to Drain! In the meantime, the last ganger is standing there with a knife, just having seen his compatriot fall over, wondering if he should run for it, grab the gun, or use his knife…

The general effect of simplifying the mechanics is to streamline play, most notably with the different subsystems. The magic feels a lot more fluid and easier to run, whilst the rules for handling the Matrix, hacking, and the Decker character type have been adjusted so that Hackers are no longer quite playing what was essentially a separate game or combat to the rest of the Player Characters. This has been done by reducing the number of hacking related skills in the roleplaying, just as the number of skills have been reduced elsewhere in the rules; keeping Noise—the factor, such as distance, which occludes hacking attempts, which ensures that a Decker is on-site with the other Player Characters rather than somewhere else; and by shifting the timeframe of hacking attempts to be in line with that of the other Player Characters in the ‘real’ world. It is still quite technical, so actually something that both Game Master and a player whose character is a hacker, need to learn, and do so separately from the other players. As does the Technomancer, but there is a more personal feel to the play of this character type in comparison to the Decker. Similarly, the Rigger has a lot to encompass in terms of what the role can do, with the Technomancer’s equivalent feeling a bit more fluid. All of which stems from the efforts of the designers Shadowrun – Sixth World to ease play and reduce the seemingly insurmountable technicalities of the different subsystems in previous editions. This is not to say that they have not been removed completely, but they have been reduced.

The other aspect of Shadowrun—cyberware, is listed at the back of the book in the lengthy chapter of gear. Here is where the Game Master and her players will find all of the guns, katanas, armoured trench coats, cyberdecks, and cyberware they will need. Much of it is illustrated, and it also includes vehicles and a wide range of tools as well, all of which can be used to outfit the Player Characters as well as the NPCs, the latter according to their NuYen, the latter according to the needs of the budget. Here is where the players will spend the amount of money listed under Resources in the Priority Table for character creation.

For the Game Master there is a good selection of NPCs, including threats and surprisingly detailed contacts for the Player Characters, and critters, both mundane and awakened. Many of the latter are quite nasty, such as the Basilisk, the Ghoul, and the Vampire, and listings also include dragons, though not the named dragons of the setting. The section on running the game is fairly short, but the advice is good and there are rules here too, for handling ‘heat’, the measure of which the Player Characters might have come to the attention of the authorities. Beyond this—and beyond the numbered pages of the book, the Game Master is given an extra set of bonus content. This includes an overview of Seattle in 2080, its isolation and independence from the United Canadian and American States making a good spot in which to base a campaign, just as it did in the 2050 and the first edition of Shadowrun. There are even some extra Qualities which a Player Character can have as an inhabitant of particular districts in and around the city! The four NPCs given are fully rounded out and detailed, all ready for their involvement in some of the plots and hooks listed here at the end of the book. There are almost twenty of these, all ready to be fully fleshed out by the Game Master, so they will need some work to prepare for use with a playing group. Overall, the support for the Game Master is generous.

However, as complete as Shadowrun – Sixth World does feel, it is not perfect. Whilst it goes out of its way to explain what the changes are with the new edition and what the slang means in the setting, what it does not do is give a glossary of game terminology. That would have helped in places where game terms are mentioned before they are properly explained. There is no full example of character creation, so it is different to know quite what you are doing with the creation process, at least initially. There are just too many nuances to it for it to flow easily. There is no example of play. There is plenty of in-game fiction and examples of the rules, but not of general play, and again that would have helped ease the learning process of the game. In terms of background, anywhere beyond Seattle is glossed over, which is disappointing for anyone coming to the city from the surrounding area, especially from any of the Native American Nations or Tir Tairngire.

All that aside, the biggest issue with Shadowrun – Sixth World is its complexity. It is a complex game, one with several separate sets of rules for handling the activities of various roles in the game. All of which need to be learned and understood by a player and the Game Master if they are going to be brought into play. None of which is insurmountable, but it is a hurdle nevertheless, and it always has been since Shadowrun first appeared in 1989 and subsequent supplements and rulebooks added new roles. That said, the rules for Shadowrun – Sixth World really have been streamlined and they do a great deal to reduce the complexity. The challenge of learning to play is still there, but it has been eased.

Physically, Shadowrun – Sixth World is decently presented. In general, it is well written, but it does need an edit in places. The artwork though is good, and it is very nice to see the artwork of past editions presented in the book’s several pullouts.

Shadowrun – Sixth World is a great setting with a lot to explore and experience. That is not quite present in Shadowrun – Sixth World, which instead hints at it whilst presenting the means to access it and explore the wider world presented in other supplements. That means—magic, hacking, rigging, technomancy, combat, and more—have been reworked to be streamlined, and faster and easier to run and play, and so make playing or running Shadowrun not as daunting as it has been in previous editions. That is an impressive feat, and whilst Shadowrun still remains a roleplaying game that calls for more than a casual commitment, Shadowrun – Sixth World has made it more accessible and easier to learn.

—oOo—

Catalyst Game Labs will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Diamond Doctor II

In 2013, Cubicle 7 Entertainment celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the world’s longest running Science Fiction television series, Doctor Who, with the ambitious launch of a series of sourcebooks for its Ennie-award winning Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. Beginning with The First Doctor Sourcebook, each of these would detail the complete era of one individual Doctor, his adventures, his companions, his character and outlook, the monsters he faced, and the themes of his incarnation, all supported with content that the Game Master can bring into her own campaign. The result has been a very well done series of sourcebooks that in turn has enabled the Game Master and her players to explore the different eras—all twelve of them to date, though there are more to come—and run adventures set during this period and encounter monsters and threats from this period. Ten years on and in 2023, the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who was celebrated. What would the publisher release to celebrate the world’s longest running Science Fiction television series this time around? The answer is Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure.

Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure is a two volume set which together provides an overview of Doctor Who, his Companions and adventures, themes and adversaries, from the First Doctor to the Thirteenth Doctor—and not only that, but the Fugitive Doctor too! Plus, the two volumes include a complete campaign between them, ‘A Lustre of Starlight’, which encompasses every Doctor and more. The two volumes of Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure are divided into Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One and Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two. Both are, of course, written for use with with Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game – Second Edition, but easily compatible with the first edition. Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. Each book details a different era of the television series. Thus Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One examines the First Doctor all the way up to the Eighth Doctor, essentially ‘Classic Who’, whilst Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two details the period of the Ninth Doctor to the Thirteenth Doctor (and the Fugitive Doctor) before acknowledging at least visually, the Fourteenth Doctor, which of course, is all ‘Nu Who’.

Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One introduced both the pair of volumes in the series and to Doctor Who, explaining its origins and history from its inception in 1963 to the beginning of its interregnum following the Doctor Who film in 1996, before explore the eras, companions, and adventures of the First Doctor through to the Eighth Doctor as well presenting the first eight parts of ‘A Lustre of Starlight’, a campaign that ultimately all of the Doctors detailed in the two volumes. Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two picks up where Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One left off with another introduction. This though, is not of Doctor Who in general as with the first volume, but of what it calls ‘The Revival Era’. This gives an overview of the last—almost—two decades and thirteen series of Doctor Who, including the Fiftieth Anniversary, as well highlighting the differences between the old the new. Not just the budget, of course, and the single story episodes, but with the arrival of the Ninth Doctor and his encounter with Rose Tyler in ‘Rose’, how the stories of Doctor Who were not just about the adventures of man—and with era, woman as well—in a blue box that could travel in time and space, but about his companions too and how they reacted to and were changed by those adventures and their time with the Doctor. In roleplaying terms, what this sets up is a greater role for the Companions. They cannot be the Doctor or even his equal—except under very special circumstances, because there are always circumstances—but they can run alongside him, be the best that they can hope to be, and see the universe and the future and the past all at the same time.

The format for each volume in the Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure set is the same for each Doctor. Every Doctor’s era opens with an introduction, asks who each Doctor is and who his Companions are, what the themes of the era are, gives an overview of his adventures, and details both the Doctor and each of his campions, complete with stats for use with Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game – Second Edition. Each of these sections is given a couple of pages each, with the section dedicated to the adventures typically being double that, though there are exceptions and for very good reason. Rounding out chapter is the next part of ‘A Lustre of Starlight’, the campaign which runs throughout both books.

Thus, for the Tenth Doctor, he is unlike the initially callous and slightly arrogant Ninth Doctor, who carries the burden of his predecessor’s actions and his belief that he destroyed Galifrey to prevent the Daleks from winning the Time War, and so is direct and forceful in manner. He would retain many of these characteristics throughout his Generation, but the presence and influence of Rose enables him to heal and his manner to soften. The Tenth Doctor retains the smile of his predecessor, but otherwise is younger, more energetic, and always, always running. His combination of compassion and pride will see him confront danger after danger, attempt to reason with the madness and the madmen of the universe, but ultimately be his undoing. The themes of the Tenth Doctor revolve around change. There is the change in the place of the Earth in the universe in the twenty-first century, because this is the era when humanity is confronted by the fact that they are not alone in that universe, and there is change in terms of how the earth is protected. First with the founding the Torchwood Institute following the werewolf attack on Queen Victoria in 1879 and then its destruction and collapse following the Battle of Canary Wharf.

The Tenth Doctor’s companions begin with Rose Tyler, who like so many before her must adjust to the radical change in manner and appearance in the Time Lord she had come to know, but they quickly joined by her boyfriend, Mickey Smith, followed by the brave Martha Jones who would go on to work for UNIT, and lastly the brilliantly brash and curious Donna Noble and her reliable grandfather, Wilfred Mott. The run through of all the Tenth Doctor’s adventures has a lot to cover, so does feel slightly underwritten and all too brief, which is an issue the pervades the supplement for all of its Doctors and those of the first volumes. Thankfully, nearly all of the Doctors in this volume have their own supplement which details their adventures, adversaries, and so on in much more detail, beginning with The Tenth Doctor Sourcebook. The chapter comes to a close with the next part of the campaign which runs through both volumes of Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure. This format and level of examination is repeated over and over throughout the book.

There are two chapters that are notable exceptions to this format. This is because of the paucity of information upon which to base a chapter as fulsome as those devoted to the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Doctors, either because the Doctor made only the single extended appearance or a series of quite fleeting appearances. These are chapters devoted to the War Doctor, the unacknowledged Doctor between the Eighth Doctor and the Ninth Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor who appeared very late in the adventures of the Thirteenth Doctor. The inclusion of the War Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor top and tail the chapters in the book, and where the other Doctors have their adventures and companions detailed, neither of them have their adventures so described. After all, there is a dearth of adventures upon which they can draw upon and it is the exact same problem that beset The Eighth Doctor Sourcebook. Where the War Doctor has no companions (though one os suggested for his adventure), the Fugitive Doctor does have one in the form of Karvanista, the Lupari Warrior, who is bound to Dan Lewis, but adventured with the Fugitive Doctor long in the past. Here at both the beginning and the end of the sourcebook is where Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two is at its most interesting, examining the unexplored possibilities of Doctors whose stories have yet to be, and indeed, may never, be told.

The campaign, ‘A Lustre of Starlight’, begun in Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One, continues exploring the fate of the Taaron Ka, a mysterious diamond—perfect then for what is a treatment of the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who—over the course of thousands of years of history. Each part runs to three pages and three acts and is a complete story in itself, the connective thread being the diamond itself. As written, each part is designed to be played using the Doctor and his Companions of that era. For example, in ‘The Dalek Death Diamond’ for The War Doctor must team up with the Rani in a charge up the tower of a Gallifreyan time station in order to prevent the daleks getting hold of a Time Lord weapon of war, whilst for Ninth Doctor, ‘The Diamond Heist’ takes both him and Rose to south-east France towards the end of World War 2 where they team up with photographer Lee Miller to investigate an abandoned town where the Nazis have teamed up with aliens! The Tenth Doctor attends an auction on the dark side of the Moon in ‘Green with Envy’, whilst in ‘Search for the Stars’, the Eleventh Doctor comes to the aid of an Indian Space Agency mission on Mars that tumbles into the Ice Warriors. ‘Debt Repaid’ is set in twenty-first century India which is where Kate Stewart of UNIT sends the Twelfth Doctor where the Taaron Ka diamond was almost stolen and is likely to be stolen again, as is ‘Reparations’ for the Thirteenth Doctor, but in 1950, where the Taaron Ka diamond is being returned to its rightful place despite the objection of outside criminal interests.

Lastly, the secrets of the Taaron Ka diamond begin to be hinted at in ‘Division of Angels’ as the Fugitive Doctor and Karvanista, on the run from the Division and attempting to find something which will give them an advantage when dealing with the Division. This takes them deep into the Earth’s past and deep underground for a much more physical and combative encounter with the Weeping Angels. In general and as written, the episodes that make up the ‘A Lustre of Starlight’ campaign suggest three Player Characters—the Doctor and two Companions—but this does not strictly have to be adhered to. Each part should take no more than one or two sessions play through. Of course, a group is also free to create their own Timelord and set of Companions to play through the campaign, but if played as written, the players should swap roles from episode to episode based on preferences or bring in different Companions as needed.

This though changes with ‘An Unearthly Power’, the last part of the campaign, given in the first of the supplement’s two appendices. The Doctors—at least two, if not more, potentially all fifteen (not counting the Fifteenth, because he is not detailed in this supplement)—arrive, one by one, on a ‘Mystery Murder Cruise’ with a sixties theme on a steamship in the North Sea. This allows the players to go full Doctor, to each play one of the incarnations of the Doctor, their favourites bouncing off each other as personalities and quirks clash. Or possibly to dive deeper into troupe style play so that not only the players roleplaying their favourite Doctors, but their companions too! Where the previous adventures felt all too brief, this is a much more developed affair and so feels more realised and playable as a result. Consequently, this is the best adventure in the whole campaign, and it is a pity that others are each like a précis than fully rounded affairs.

Lastly, the second of the appendices in Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two looks at an aspect integral to the Doctor and Doctor Who over its sixty years—‘Regeneration’. This is a solid guide to the process and what it involves, drawing from the multiple times that the Doctor has regenerated.

Physically, Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two is superbly done. The cover is eye-catching and has a lovely tactile feel to it with the combination of lightly embossed text and the contrast between gloss and mat. The book is well written and laid out, but does need a slight edit here and there. There is, though, a nice use of colour and tone throughout. The paintings of each Doctor at the start of their respective chapters are excellent.

One thing that each volume does acknowledge is that the amount of information on the various Doctors is limited and that more information—in fact, much more information of each Doctor can be found in his or her respective sourcebook. This is also aided by the compatibility between the two editions of the roleplaying game. It is also a limitation for each volume, since there is going to be information in those sourcebooks which is not included in either of this set. Of course, neither volume of Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure is intended to be the definitive guide to a particular Doctor, but rather an overview of each era. For that, the reader and the Game Master will need access to the thirteen or so sourcebooks. Instead, each volume of Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure is something else.

As we reach—and pass—the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who, both Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One and Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two are a chance for the Game Master and her players to look back as the series moves forward with first the Fourteenth Doctor and second the Fifteenth Doctor, now newly arrived with his first series. It provides an overview of what has gone before and gives them a chance to visit that past and decide whether they want to explore it in more depth with the other sourcebooks. Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two continues the examination of what has gone before begun in Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One by looking back at the first two decades (or so) of Doctor Who’s revival in an entertaining and engaging fashion. Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two completes the pair, giving a solid introduction to roleplaying in the era of ‘Nu Who’ with the knowledge that there is more available.

Of the two, Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book One is the more interesting overall, because it is all in the past, and less familiar, but the Doctor Who: Sixty Years of Adventure Book Two has the most interesting content because it does encompass both the War Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor, both incarnations with untapped potential and scope for different stories.

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Cubicle 7 Entertainment will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Quick-Start Saturday: Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she can still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

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What is it?

Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules introduces the roleplaying game of the Undead in the Wild West. The Player Characters are the undead residents of Bardo’s Bluff—Skeletons, Zombies, Ghouls, and Vampires—who have returned to their unlife following their wrongful deaths, whether by accident or wrongly executed for a crime they did not commit.

It is an thirty page, full colour book.

The quick-start is decently illustrated with some excellent maps.

How long will it take to play?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules can be played through in a single session, or two sessions at most.

What else do you need to play?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules requires multiple six-sided dice.

Where is it set?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is set in and around the town of Bardo’s Bluff, a sanctuary located in California governed by vampires who keep the peace, but there is always something or someone determined to make their lives hell.

Who do you play?
There are four ready-to-play Player Characters given in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules. They consist of a Skeleton Bounty Hunter, a Ghoul Gravedigger, a Zombie Ranch Hand, and a Vampire Preacher.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character has four attributes—Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy—and a single stat, Life Force, plus one or more skills. He also has an Undead Form, a Former Life, and a Wrongful Death. Each Undead Form provides an Undead Boon, an Undead Hindrance, and a form of Healing. For example, has the Undead Boon of ‘Hard Target’, which means that all attacks against it, except at Close range, are at a Disadvantage and the Undead Hindrance is ‘Rattle of Bones’, which imposes a penalty on all Sneak checks because of noise he makes. His means of healing is to use the bones of any dead to repair himself.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules and thus Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG, uses the Year Zero engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. To have a Player Character undertake an action, a player rolls a number of dice equal to a combination of attribute and skill. A single roll of a six indicates a success. Multiple successes improve the outcome, especially in combat and conflict. 

If no sixes are rolled, the action fails. However, the Law Master—as the Game Master—can decide that the action succeeds, but with consequences. Alternatively, if the roll is a failure and no sixes are rolled, or a player wants more successes, he can Push the roll. This enables him to reroll any dice which did not result in a one or six. A roll can be Pushed once and any rolls of one on the Base Dice indicate that the Player Character has failed, but with greater consequences as the Law Master determines.

A roll can be made with Advantage or Disadvantage. Rolling with Advantage means that the player can Push the roll, but not suffer the consequences of any ones rolled. Rolling with Disadvantage means that the player cannot Push the roll.

How does combat work?
Conflict in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules uses the same core mechanics. The rules for conflict cover both ranged and close combat, or ‘Scuffles’, as well as special attacks such as wrestling and grappling, ambushes and mounted combat. The rules are a very cut down version of those available in the Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG core book, so the Law Master and her players will have to adjudicate in more complex situations. Nevertheless, they are serviceable enough.

There are no rules for social conflict and the Law Master will need to judge the use of the ‘Poker Face’ skill on a case-by-case basis.

What do you play?
The adventure in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is ‘Showdown at Scorpion Gulch’. A Warmblood bounty hunter comes to Bardo’s Bluff, offering the Player Characters the chance to come to the aid of a recently risen revenant before she has to kill them. They will have to travel north to the Warmblood town of Scorpion Gulch via mystical means and there determine where he has gone, persuade him that they are there to rescue him, and deal with rogue undead who would take advantage of the situation. 

The scenario includes two maps. These are decently done, as is the map of Death Valley

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules are easy to prepare, especially if the Law Master has any experience with the Year Zero engine. The scenario itself is quite straightforward and overall, it requires very little in the way of preparation.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules are a solid introduction to both its setting and its concepts, which are very easy to grasp as everyone is familiar with the Wild West and likely familiar with the Undead! 

Where can you get it?
The Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is available for purchase here.

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Critical Kit will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Friday Fantasy: The Jovian Visitor

A year ago, the astronomer Giovanni Conti died and his student, Vincenzo Costa, set out to fulfil his last oath to his master. That is to protect his master’s work, which the Roman Inquisition and the church has good reason to be heretical. Thus, he took several tomes and notebooks from Giovanni Conti’s Florence villa and hid them around the city. Since then, Costa’s work has enabled him to revisit these locations and check that the books are still there. However, now they are missing. In desperation, he hires the Player Characters. They will need to check on the former locations and follow up on the clues that Costa will give them. This will lead them to a cult which has stolen the books for their astronomical knowledge and is using to bring about the culmination of its aims—the summoning of a second God. So far, the activities of the cult, the Cult of Secundus Deus, have not attracted the attention of either the city authorities or the Roman Inquisition, so both activities and beliefs are heretical. Of course, there is the possibility of the Player Characters’ investigation attracting the attention of the city authorities and ending up before the magistrates…

This is the set-up for The Jovian Visitor, a scenario for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Designed to be played by three to five Player Characters of First to Third Level, it is written by Glynn Seal, best known as the creator of the Midderlands Old School Renaissance setting, this is, thankfully, a much simpler, shorter, and above all, cleaner affair than his previously, quite literally, excrescent Faecal Lands. Set in Florence in 1642, The Jovian Visitor can also work as a sequel to Galileo 2: Judgment Day. That scenario involved the persecution of the famed astronomer Galileo Galilei by Pope Urban VIII using a Automaton or ‘L’Assassino Meccanico’, and the attempt by the astronomer to escape his house arrest and the mechanical man who has been tormenting him. Now neither Galileo Galilei, or his assistant, Vincenzo Viviani, actually appear in The Jovian Visitor, Giovanni Conti and his student, Vincenzo Costa, are modelled on them. Replacing them with their real world counterparts is easy to do, and it makes the scenario more interesting if the Player Characters encountered him when playing through the events of Galileo 2: Judgment Day.

The investigation itself is relatively straightforward. Vincenzo Costa will be able to furnish the Player Characters with some initial leads, including the locations where he hid the four books and the identity of a previous assistant. Following these will lead them down a number of blind alleys and possibly into punch-ups with the citizens of Florence if they irk them too much or getting arrested by the city watch of they cannot explain their interest in the four locations across the city. It is encounter with the latter that the scenario is at its weakest, not quite explaining what the outcome is if the Player Characters are brought before the city magistrates. If, however, the Player Characters can avoid entanglements with the authorities, they will also learn that they are being watched by a mysterious lady in red. It turns out that she is an important figure in the Cult of Secundus Deus, and will go out of her way to persuade the Player Characters to curb their interest in the books.

Coloured a little by a random encounter or two, persistent Player Characters should soon learn that something is going on in the woods on the hills to the north of the city, where flashes of light have been seen in the sky. Clues found there point to the imminent fruition of the plans of the Cult of Secundus Deus. Can the Player Characters act in time to prevent the summoning of the Second God? And if he is not a god, just what is he? That though, is not something that the Player Characters, or indeed, the whole world really wants to find out.

Physically, The Jovian Visitor is well presented. The artwork is decent, and of course, the cartography is excellent. The map of Florence, in particular, is very nice.

The Jovian Visitor is a short affair, easily played through in a single session, two at most. It has the feel of Lovecraftian investigative horror scenario, though of course, without the Mythos, and that is no bad thing. That it can work as a sequel to Galileo 2: Judgment Day is a bonus, but even on its own, it is a serviceable, if short little mystery that can easily be added to a campaign or adapted to fit elsewhere. That is a whole lot cleaner than the last book from the author for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying is a double bonus!

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DISCLAIMER: The author of this review is an editor who has both edited titles for Lamentations of the Flame Princess on a freelance basis and edited titles for the author of this book on a freelance basis. He was not involved in the production of this book and his connection to both publisher and author has no bearing on the resulting review.

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Lamentations of the Flame Princess will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

The Other OSR—Forgotten Duty

The Book of the Key is an elaborate monastic chronicle written in the sixteenth century in an obscure Italian dialect that describes events and happenings so fantastical that they are at odds with the known history of the period, yet the work is anything other than a satire. The marginalia is even strange, annotations consisting of esoteric formulae and prayers dedicated to an unknown and unnamed god. The god is described as having the power to permit movement from this world to another, from this reality to another… It is currently held in the library of the University of Navarra, in the city of Pamplona, in north-east Spain. It is also rumoured to have been stolen from its previous owners, and that they, the Knights Hospitaller, seek to return to their possession. There are many reasons why someone might want to examine The Book of the Key. Perhaps to right a wrong by engaging in the many-worlds theory of quantum physics to shift to another reality where the right rather than the wrong took place. Perhaps to open, or even close, the way, perhaps to prevent access to our world by otherworldly entities such as Dimensional Shamblers or Hounds Out of Time. Perhaps the book points to the means to locate an artefact that will be inimical to a true enemy. Perhaps the connections to the Mythos of the book are already known and it has fallen into the wrong hands, and whoever that is, they need to be stopped from using it.

This is the set-up—or rather the set-ups—to Forgotten Duty, a modern day scenario for Cthulhu Hack, Second Edition, the Old School Renaissance-adjacent roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror published by Just Crunch Games. Whatever the reason for the Investigators to want to look at the book, the curator at the museum, Gustavo Ibáñez, will sadly explain that the book is currently not held by the university, but has been loaned to a benefactor to the university, Count Cielo Al-Hamrā. Fortunately, he can arrange an interview with the count and when this happens, the count will be very gracious and tell the Investigators that he has returned the book. The book though, has already been shipped off elsewhere, or has it?

There is a strangeness that runs deep not only into the question of the missing book, but also in the city of Pamplona itself. The inhabitants seem to be suffering from collective trauma, there are reports of missing persons and missing persons posters across the city, and the Investigators begin to suffer strange dreams, nightmares that point to the city’s dark history and the invasion of the Romans centuries before. Random strangers approach the Investigators, some to question their interest and reason for being in the city, others steal from them, or worse, assault them as an act of revenge, but for what? Then there is Count Cielo Al-Hamrā, a man that the Investigators have met, but whom nobody can quite recall too much about beyond his being a great benefactor to the city.

Ultimately, the investigation will point to Count Cielo Al-Hamrā as being key to getting to the heart of the mystery in Pamplona, let alone being key to locating the book. In fact, by this time, the location of the book almost becomes secondary to the need to find just what is really going on in Pamplona. Doing so will take the Investigators to the count’s home, a villa with an oddly unlived in feel and signs of strange activity, whilst the staff genially about their odd duties. This is to the extent that the Investigators may be able to explore the villa almost unimpeded, though something is surely waiting for the truly curious. Which should of course, include the Investigators.

Forgotten Duty supports the Game Master with details about Pamplona and the University of Navarra, descriptions and details of the odd encounters that the Investigators might have around the city, and the means to create the dreams that they begin to have. There are missing persons posters too, as handouts. Throughout, there are footnotes as well, and these will help the Game Master add flavour and detail to the scenario.

Physically, Forgotten Duty is decently done, but a little rough around the edges. It does need another edit as there is missing text, but the maps are good, as are the few handouts.

Forgotten Duty is a solidly weird and creepy scenario. It can easily be played in a single session and so be run as a convention scenario, in fact more easily than it can be worked into a campaign. It is also just as easy to adapt it to the roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror of your choice.

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Just Crunch Games and All Rolled Up will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

[Fanzine Focus XXXV] The Travellers’ Digest #3

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in June, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1111, the 152nd day of the 1111th year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure. For example, ‘Of Xboats and Friends’, the opening part of ‘The Grand Tour’ in The Travellers’ Digest #1 requires the supplement, The Undersea Environment, and adventure, The Drenslaar Quest, published by Gamelords, Ltd., are both useful for running underwater adventures—though they are really only useful if the Referee develops adventuring content beyond that presented in the issue. Alien Module 4: Zhodani may also be useful. Of course, that was in 1985, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created used the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest #3 was also published in December, 1985 and moved the date on from 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium to 335-1101, the 335th day of the 1101st year of the Imperium. The opening ‘Editors’ Digest’ discusses the planned presence of the fanzine at Origins ’86 in Los Angeles, the aim being to have The Travellers’ Digest #5 available for what would be the first anniversary of the fanzine, by which time ‘The Grand Tour’ campaign will have reached Vland. The editorial also highlights the new look of the fanzine and it is indeed tidier and cleaner in appearance.

The third part of ‘The Grand Tour’ in The Travellers’ Digest #3 is ‘Feature Adventure 3: Visit to Antiquity’. In addition to the standard books required by the campaign, the books Adventure 12, Secret of the Ancients, Alien Module 3, Vargr, Alien Module 5, Droyne, and The Atlas of the Imperium will all very useful. The adventure again breaks down the Universal Task Profile used throughout and again, presents the four pre-generated Player Characters. The adventure itself opens with the colour fiction, ‘Tourist Trap’, which explains why the quartet decide to travel to the world of Antiquity and its Ancient site. Doctor Krenstein decides that he wants to visit the world of Antiquity in the Ian Subsector of Corridor Sector in the Domain of Vland, expressing an interest in taking a tour of what is the most accessible and best-preserved Ancients site in the Third Imperium. Akidda Laagiir, the journalist, decries the suggestion, describing the site as nothing more than a tourist trap, and certainly not worth spending two weeks there. After some discussion, the quartet of travellers take a vote and come to an agreement, and visit for a week. Akidda Laagiir still thinks that it will be dull, but as the events of the scenario, it proves to be anything but that.

Antiquity is a moon of the system’s outermost gas giant, a dry world with a thin, tainted atmosphere, best noted for the blast crater at the centre of which is a dome constructed of and containing the fantastic high technology of the Ancients. There is a sleek, white plasticity to the whole complex, with inexplicably strange objects and features throughout. The scenario provides a complete description of the complex and the route that visitors guided along by the discreetly armed tour guides. There are some fourteen such locations, which to be honest, are more interesting to read about than play through. This is because the player and characters are essentially receiving one lengthy dose of exposition. However, it does serve a purpose because it contrasts with what follows.

Doctor Krenstein is recognised and invited by Irsaell, a Vargr scientist, to visit another excavation site where a Vargr scientific exchange team has made an amazing discovery. Objects known as ‘Madimge Eggs’, made of solid monadium as are both the museum and the new excavation site, have been found at both locations. Most are closed and sealed, but open ones contain a variety of crystals. To date, no one has found a means of opening or closing the ‘Madimge Eggs’, but Irsaell has. This is the chance for the quartet to visit somewhere new and interesting, and gives Akidda Laagiir the prospect of getting a better and more interesting story. He does not get the story he imagines. Again, the Player Characters are given a tour of the new dig site, but all of a sudden, the new dig site seals itself, trapping both the Player Characters and their Vargr hosts inside. Fortunately, the archaeological team is fully equipped and that includes supplies for several days at least, but the situation and the discovery of a ‘neo-Vargr’ genetic sample increases tension between the Charisma-dominated hierarchy of the Vargr of the scientific team. For the human Player Characters this will be problematic because they will find themselves relatively low down on this hierarchy, which means that the Vargr will expect them to act with a certain deference and if actions do not go their way, the Vargr may react with violence. That said, there are numerous means of expressing this violence, including verbally, a shove, a snarl, and so on, before resorting to physical harm.

Essentially, a ‘locked room’ mystery, ‘Visit to Antiquity’ is a fascinating look at an Ancients site and a fraught exposure to Vargr interaction. It is not an easy scenario to run though, because there are ten Vargr NPCs trapped with the Player Characters in the excavation site. There is some advice on both handling and portraying them and their interactions with the Player Characters to ensure that their alien nature comes to the fore. Included too, are some notes from various playthroughs so as to give the Game Master of how the events of the scenario play out. Overall, ‘Visit to Antiquity’ is an interesting scenario more than a good scenario. This does not mean that it is a bad scenario at all, but rather its scope and number of NPCs make it a challenging affair to run. However, Akidda Laagiir does get his story and the quartet’s ‘Visit to Antiquity’ proves to more than just a ‘tourist trap’—though of course, as tourist, it proves also be exactly that!

‘Playing the Characters’ continues the close examination of the pre-generated Player Characters provided for ‘The Grand Tour’ campaign. This time the spotlight is on Doctor Krenstein and here he is given a complete biography and explanation as to why he has decided to go on a sabbatical. In hindsight, it would have been useful to have had all of this information at the start of the campaign, but is still a useful addition to the Player Character and the campaign. ‘Library Data’ expands on the information provided as part of the ‘Visit to Antiquity’ scenario, complementing both Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M) and Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z). It covers the Ancients, Corridor sector, the Droyne, Monadium, and more, all information which would be available to the players and their characters.

Also complementing ‘Visit to Antiquity’ scenario is ‘Vargr language and Culture’. Written as an excerpt from “Vargr Culture: An Introductory Survey”, this is another article that the players and their characters could have access to. This emphasises the importance of Charisma for Vargr and how that is expressed, particularly verbally, an interesting aspect that the Game Master could bring into play. Included too are some Vargr proverbs, which the Game Master could also include, and an explanation of Vargr psychology in relation to their origins as a genetically manipulated species uplifted by the Ancients from Terran wolf stock. The reactions to this vary, including feelings of inferiority and the drive to overcome this by proving self-worth, leading to brash and dangerous behaviour, and the belief that that their origins make Vargr special. Even this varies, including some Vargr who believe in their species’ superiority over all others! Included is a ‘Gvegh’ alphabet for the dialect spoken by a majority of Vargr. Over all, this is a fascinating article, well written and with some good examples of Vargr interaction which will help the Game Master portray the Vargr in ‘Visit to Antiquity’.

The location of Antiquity is detailed in ‘Ian Subsector’, which provides a good overview as well as a subsector map. Besides Antiquity, notable worlds include Jubal, a Red Zone world with a derelict underground city home to a population of highly xenophobic Vargr, and Kiran, home to the best medical facilities for twenty parsecs.

Penultimately, The Travellers’ Digest #3 returns to the major focus of The Travellers’ Digest #1 and that is robots. ‘Robot Design Revisited, Part 3’ continues the expansion on the ‘Ref’s Notes’ article, ‘Robots’ which appeared in The Best of the Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society. Instead of looking at their construction or detailing different models, this looks at their role in the game and in the background of the Third Imperium. Thus, it discusses the nature and origins of ‘The Shudusham Concords’, the pre-Third Imperium basis for laws governing function, programming, weapons uses, and more of robots throughout its extents. It notes that robots only become common at Tech Level 12 and above and that pseudo-biological robots—such as Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’—are only available at Tech level 15 and above, and even then, are very rare and expensive. There are notes too on portraying the artificial intelligence of robots and a detailed breakdown of the apparent UPP for pseudo-biological robots, ‘Aybee’ being the example. Handling robot misunderstanding of instructions is covered and there is a ‘Universal Robot Profile’ for ‘Aybee’ as well, which provides a technical version of him rather than the Player Character version included as part of the campaign. The article brings the series to close with useful and interesting information that will help the Game Master portray the presence of robots in her campaign.

‘The Corridor Sector’ provides the X-Boat routes, maps, and Library Date for the Corridor Sector, further complementing content earlier in the fanzine. This contains lots of lovely details about several of the most notable worlds across the sector, but does leave you wishing for more. ‘The Gaming Digest: Damage and Repair’ gives a detailed guide to determine damage done to items of technology and how to repair, drawing on Striker and Traveller, to give a Universal Task Profile for making repairs and ‘Traveller Tech Briefs: Sensory Devices: Densitometers’ examines how a densitometers, or ‘mass detector’ works and can be used in play. On planets, they can be used to locate tectonic plates and ore deposits, whilst in space, they can even detect the presence of gas giants—from which a starship can scoop and refine fuel. Lots of uses, so nice to have idea of how they work so that they can be useful during play. Both of these last two articles are decent and nice additions for playing the version of Traveller at the time.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest #3 is, as with all of the issues so far, very obviously created using early layout software. Whilst it looks slightly rough by modern standards, this would have looked clean and semi-professional at the time.

The Travellers’ Digest keeps getting better and better, with The Travellers’ Digest #3 an improvement over The Travellers’ Digest #2. Several of the articles support ‘Feature Adventure 3: Visit to Antiquity’ whilst also being interesting in their own right such as ‘Vargr language and Culture’ and ‘Library Data’. ‘Feature Adventure 3: Visit to Antiquity’ is an interesting scenario rather than necessarily a good one, but it has a strong emphasis on interaction and roleplaying with the otherness of the Vargr, making it surprisingly sophisticated. The Travellers’ Digest #3 is an entertaining and informative issue with content that Traveller fans would appreciate today.