<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title></title>
	<atom:link href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com</link>
	<description></description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:36:34 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='alegisdownport.wordpress.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url>
		<title></title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/osd.xml" title="" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Alegis Downport &#8211; 2011 in Review</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/alegis-downport-2011-in-review/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/alegis-downport-2011-in-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:36:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=320</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here&#8217;s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/alegis-downport-2011-in-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=320&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.</p>
<p>	<a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/annual-report/"><img src="http://www.wordpress.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/annual-reports/img/emailteaser.jpg" width="100%" alt="" /></a></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an excerpt:</p>
</p>
<blockquote><p>A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people.  This blog was viewed about <strong>1,700</strong> times in 2011.  If it were a cable car, it would take about 28 trips to carry that many people.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/annual-report/">Click here to see the complete report.</a></p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/320/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=320&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/alegis-downport-2011-in-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://www.wordpress.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/annual-reports/img/emailteaser.jpg" medium="image" />
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Fantasy Traveller Part 4 &#8211; Characters and Equipment</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-fantasy-traveller-part-4-characters-and-equipment/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-fantasy-traveller-part-4-characters-and-equipment/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:45:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barbarian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fantasy Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rogue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RPG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=311</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I&#8217;m jumping back to my Fantasy-Traveller-esq planet of Grond, to add a bit more to the development process if I can make a simple conversion of Classic Traveller, to a Fantasy environment. I&#8217;m in the process put together a &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-fantasy-traveller-part-4-characters-and-equipment/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=311&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today I&#8217;m jumping back to my Fantasy-Traveller-esq planet of Grond, to add a bit more to the development process if I can make a simple conversion of Classic Traveller, to a Fantasy environment. I&#8217;m in the process put together a small dungeon to test out my two character types, a barbarian and a rogue. The aim of putting these two cannon-fodder characters is that I want to see how deadly hand-to-hand combat in a fantasy world, is in Traveller, comparing it with other dungeon-crawling RPG systems.</p>
<p>But first, some errata; When going back to the &#8216;barbarian&#8217; character creation, I noticed that I did not fully convert the mustering out tables. Therefore I&#8217;d like to preset them here (I&#8217;ll also update the original blog post).</p>
<p><em><strong>Mustering Out Table for Barbarians:</strong></em></p>
<p>1 Dagger<br />
2 Blade<br />
3 Blade<br />
4 Blade<br />
5 Bow weapon<br />
6 Ticket on ocean ship to next city<br />
7 Hovel / Place of residence</p>
<p>Something that I&#8217;m puzzled by, is why there was no entry for &#8217;5&#8242; in the original tables!?! Odd&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gronddesert.png"><img src="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gronddesert.png?w=640" alt="" title="Grond Desert"   class="alignleft size-full wp-image-315" /></a><br />
<em>I&#8217;ve been mucking around in Bryce again&#8230;</em></p>
<p>So, lets put together a couple of characters and equip them, using the rules as described in my previous Fantasy Traveller postings:-</p>
<p><strong>Character #1 (male)</strong><br />
<strong>Name:</strong> Magroc<br />
<strong>UPP:</strong> E78754<br />
<strong>Age:</strong> 24<br />
<strong>Number of terms:</strong> 2<br />
<strong>Skills:</strong> Gambling-1, Sword-2, Bow Combat-1 (Long Bow), Streetwise-1, Blade Combat-1 (Dagger).<br />
<strong>Benefits:</strong> 50000Cr (Grond &#8216;Groats&#8217; &#8211; lucky roll!), sword and a dagger.</p>
<p><strong>Character #2 (male)</strong><br />
<strong>Name:</strong> Tayllin<br />
<strong>UPP:</strong> 999877<br />
<strong>Age:</strong> 31<br />
<strong>Number of terms:</strong> 3<br />
<strong>Skills:</strong> Carousing-1, Riding-1, Bow combat-1 (Long Bow), Sword-1, Streetwise-1, Forgery-1.<br />
<strong>Benefits:</strong> 5000 Groats, 2 x Swords and a Long Bow.</p>
<p>Before our victims, sorry I mean heroes journey to gain fame and fortune, I&#8217;ve put together the equipment tables to use in Grond;</p>
<p><strong><em>Equipment Tables</em></strong><br />
From CT book 1, I&#8217;ve converted the weapons costs to Grond currency. The easiest way to do this is to simply add an extra zero onto the costs in CT book 1. Example, daggers cost 100 groats.</p>
<p>Weapons that are available, are:-</p>
<p><strong>Item             Cost (Groats) </strong><br />
Dagger               100<br />
Foil                 1000<br />
Cutlass              1000<br />
Sword                1500<br />
Broadsword           3000</p>
<p>Bayonet              100<br />
Spear                100<br />
Pike                 400<br />
Halberd              750<br />
Cudgel               100</p>
<p>As Grond is a pretty primitive world, I&#8217;m only making two types of armour available; </p>
<p>Jack, which is made from real leather. Cost = 500<br />
Cloth, basically a padded cloth jacket. Cost = 2500</p>
<p>From CT book 4 &#8216;Bow Weapons&#8217; table:-</p>
<p><strong>Item             Cost (Groats)</strong><br />
Sling                10<br />
Short Bow            500<br />
Long Bow             750<br />
Sporting Crossbow    1500<br />
Military Crossbow    2500<br />
Cranequin            1000<br />
Repeating Crossbow   1000</p>
<p>All ammunition prices are 20 groats each.</p>
<p><strong><em>Equipment</em></strong><br />
There isn&#8217;t much in the way of equipment listed in CT book 1 that can be used for such a low-tech world. So, I&#8217;ve added some stuff that I think will be useful:-</p>
<p><strong>Item             Cost (Groats)</strong><br />
Torch                10<br />
Oil Lamp             100<br />
Carpentry Tool Set   3000<br />
Metalwork Tool Set   15000<br />
Lock Pick Set        100<br />
Disguise Kit         10000<br />
Tarpaulin            100<br />
Tent                 2000</p>
<p>I’ve added a few other items to bolster up the equipment list, taking some inspiration from the 5th edition rulebook of Tunnels and Trolls:-</p>
<p><strong>Item             Cost (Groats)</strong><br />
Clothing and Pack    50<br />
1 day of provisions (includes matches) 20<br />
Explorers pack (Mirror, wax, chalk, salt, twine, needle and matches)     100<br />
Rope 30ft Length     200<br />
Skin of Oil          30<br />
Boots                50<br />
Sandals              30<br />
20 Climbing Pitons   200<br />
Piton Hammer         100</p>
<p>For the next post, I&#8217;ll get them to pop round the local shops and equip themselves, before taking the trip to the local dungeon, to try their hand&#8230;</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/311/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=311&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-fantasy-traveller-part-4-characters-and-equipment/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gronddesert.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Grond Desert</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quick Worlds 20: Atargatis Review</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/quick-worlds-20-atargatis-review/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/quick-worlds-20-atargatis-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:31:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller TNE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atargatis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quick Worlds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RPG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=299</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This Quick Worlds release from Gypsy Knights Games differs slightly in that it is being offered as a free product, to prospective purchasers. The aim is to introduce buyers to the Quick Worlds line and feedback from purchasers is actively &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/quick-worlds-20-atargatis-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=299&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This Quick Worlds release from Gypsy Knights Games differs slightly in that it is being offered as a free product, to prospective purchasers. The aim is to introduce buyers to the Quick Worlds line and feedback from purchasers is actively encouraged, so that future products can be improved. An email address is noted inside the book should buyers wish to do this.</p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97770.jpg" alt="QW20 Cover" /></p>
<p>The book can be downloaded from <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=97770" title="QW20 Atargatis" target="_blank">Drivethru RPG</a> for absolutely nothing as a PDF and is 13 pages long. The book is presented in the familiar Quick Worlds style with system data (and the monochrome system map), government and planetary information. Possible adventure hooks are dotted throughout the book, the layout is clear and I only noticed one typo.</p>
<p>The background to the world is a former member of of a ruling technocracy has taken over and become dictator. Security on Atargatis is extremely tight and can be perceived as out of proportion to the numbers of inhabitants.</p>
<p><a href="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/atah2.png"><img src="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/atah2.png?w=640" alt="Atah" title="atah2"   class="alignleft size-full wp-image-307" /></a></p>
<p><em>Image: A depiction of Atah, one of the moons of Anat, which is inhabited by a mining colony owned by the Blaylock Mining Corporation. (c) S.Attwood, created in Bryce.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Adventure Link</strong></em><br />
A representative of one of the dictators wives contacts the players regarding some suitable work opportunities. She would like the players to provide some &#8216;off-worlder feedback&#8217; on some aspects of the palace construction.</p>
<p>However, when Audreta speaks to them in person, it is with an entirely different proposition. She is getting fed up of having to share her husband with Bernice and wants her &#8216;framed&#8217; so that she falls out of favour and the husband forces a divorce with Bernice. It will be up to the players to come up with a plot to frame Bernice and make it look as though she wants to assassinate her husband.</p>
<p>The palace, being a construction site, should provide plenty of opportunity with the hazards that it presents. There are areas of scaffolding on the outside of the palace (ideal places for falling objects), dodgy electrical cabling that could cause electrocution or ways to slip and fall from a great height.</p>
<p>Once aware of the plot, it could be entirely possible for the players to double-cross Audreta and detail the plot to Bernice. She may want to try the same sort of thing against Audreta and increase up the players fee.</p>
<p>Though Atargatis doesn&#8217;t offer any extra graphics illustrating the planet or lists of creatures, such as found in <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/combining-the-some-quick-worlds/" title="Tal' Kalares Review" target="_blank">Tal &#8216;Kalares</a>, it does provide an excellent way to see what the Quick Worlds line offers. At zero cost to the prospective customer, this is great value and I&#8217;d recommend any Traveller or sci-fi gamer to take a look.</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/299/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=299&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/quick-worlds-20-atargatis-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97770.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">QW20 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/atah2.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">atah2</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Chivalrous Traveller &#8211; Quick Worlds 18 and 19</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-chivalrous-traveller-quick-worlds-18-and-19/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-chivalrous-traveller-quick-worlds-18-and-19/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:35:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller TNE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Era]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Etxarte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quick Worlds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=287</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I want to look at another of the most recent of the Quick Worlds series by Gypsy Knights Games, &#8216;QW18 Era&#8217; and &#8216;QW19 Etxarte&#8217;. Again, I&#8217;m going to combine the two products into an adventure-review which I hope you &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-chivalrous-traveller-quick-worlds-18-and-19/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=287&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today I want to look at another of the most recent of the Quick Worlds series by Gypsy Knights Games, <strong>&#8216;QW18 Era&#8217;</strong> and <strong>&#8216;QW19 Etxarte&#8217;</strong>. Again, I&#8217;m going to combine the two products into an adventure-review which I hope you will find useful and interesting.</p>
<p>Both <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=97259" title="QW18 Era on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Era</a> and <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=97769" title="QW19 Etxarte at Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Etxarte</a> are available from Drivethru RPG for $3.99 each and are 15 and 14 pages in length respectively.</p>
<p>Something I should note is the system maps, which have been undergoing a number of changes. Era features a system map in the newer &#8216;colour&#8217; format, wheras Etxarte employs the older monochrome map. I&#8217;ve had discussions with John Watts regarding his plans regarding these and I&#8217;ve been privileged to see one of the new format colour maps that will be appearing in later releases. I&#8217;d like to commend John and the team at Gypsy Knights Games on the way that they take constructive criticism and feedback from the Traveller community and that they use this to improve their products. Agreed, it has lead to a certain amount of inconsistency between older and newer books, but at least you are assured that as a small publisher, GK Games are continually trying to improve their products.</p>
<p>Anyway, I digress; back to the book descriptions:-</p>
<p><em><strong>The Tourists Guide to Era</strong></em></p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97259.jpg" alt="QW18 Cover" /></p>
<p>Era is an unusual world where the populace have decided to live in particular periods of Earth history. This is based on a consensus that &#8216;things were always better in the past&#8217;, so the planet is effectively divided up into regions of (recognisable) Earth history. For example, one region is alike medieval England, another like ancient Rome. Technology is of course restricted to the same of the period and strictly enforced. However, the less &#8216;pleasant&#8217; aspects of these periods of history such as slavery or violence are not allowed, though some crimes are region-specific so visitors should be careful to note local laws. All visitors to Era must pass through the orbiting station &#8216;Highgate&#8217; in order to gain access to the planets surface; here restrictions on what dress and items can be taken to Era must be observed.</p>
<p><em><strong>Travellers guide to Etxarte</strong></em></p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97769.jpg" alt="QW19 Cover" /></p>
<p>Etxarte is comprised of a system of 6 worlds and 3 asteroid belts. Government-controlled mining operations take place in the three belts and there are some other interesting research stations based around the system. The main planet is ruled by a King, who declared himself dictator some ten years ago. Trade on the world is pretty relaxed, with some unusual exceptions but it is recommended that you don&#8217;t transgress the local authorities or you might find that you disappear&#8230; The climate of the Etxarte does have some extremes which may catch out Travellers who are used to more temperate climes.</p>
<p><a href="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkg5d.png"><img src="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkg5d.png?w=640" alt="" title="Era and Etxarte"   class="alignleft size-full wp-image-296" /></a></p>
<p><em><strong>Adventure Idea Linking Etxarte to Era</strong></em><br />
A well known public personality has recently started attacking the bards of Etxarte, who are employed continually sing the Kings praises. The latest attack has resulted in the death of a bard and the King has sent this person to a rehabilitation centre as he was declared insane at his trial.</p>
<p>However, the wife of the public figure wants to arrange for the rescue of her husband and contacts that players during their visit to Etxarte.</p>
<p>She wants the players to break her husband out of the rehabilitation facility and get the two of them to Era. There she has arranged for them to hide out in the era of &#8216;Albion&#8217; with friends. She wants the players to act as bodyguards for the next month to ensure that they are not found by agents of the King of Etxarte. However, the downside is that the players will have to dress and arm themselves at the same TL as Albion so as not to draw attention to themselves. There is the additional complication of getting through Highgate customs&#8230; Or the players could sneak down to the surface directly&#8230;</p>
<p>After the period of &#8216;protection&#8217; has been passed, it will be safe to assume that the escape was completely successful and the Kings agents are not in pursuit. </p>
<p>The adventure presents some challenges for the players; breaking the husband out of the rehabilitation facility, getting through Highgate customs and protecting their charges with minimal, low-tech weaponry. Some of the players may enjoy the opportunity to strut around in full plate armour and a two-handed broadsword, however&#8230;!</p>
<p><em><strong>Review Conclusions</strong></em><br />
Era is an enjoyable product, its a quite unusual setting and can give the players a change from the usual plying the spacelanes type of adventures. It has some nice colour graphics to break up the text and aside from one paragraph typo, is well laid out.</p>
<p>Etxarte has some similarities with other Quick Worlds books (dictator ruling the planet, certain restrictions on various activities), however as mentioned in previous reviews, there is benefit in reading the book carefully and there are some very interesting things going on in Etxarte which the referee can make great use of. I won&#8217;t mention them here but they help to push the book above an &#8216;average&#8217; rating so I&#8217;d recommend that you take a look!</p>
<p>I&#8217;d also like to thank John Watts for supplying the freebie copies of the Quick Worlds books for me to review.</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/287/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=287&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-chivalrous-traveller-quick-worlds-18-and-19/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97259.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">QW18 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97769.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">QW19 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkg5d.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Era and Etxarte</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Combining the Some Quick Worlds</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/combining-the-some-quick-worlds/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/combining-the-some-quick-worlds/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:35:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller TNE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quick Worlds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Serapis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tal' Kalares]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vasynov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=253</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First of all, Happy New Year to all Traveller&#8217;s and visitors to this site! For this blog posting, I want to take a different approach to reviewing some of the latest Gypsy Knights Games products. Due to real life stuff &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/combining-the-some-quick-worlds/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=253&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>First of all, <em>Happy New Year</em> to all Traveller&#8217;s and visitors to this site!</p>
<p>For this blog posting, I want to take a different approach to reviewing some of the latest Gypsy Knights Games products. Due to real life stuff going on, I&#8217;ve fallen a little behind with my latest reviews, so by combining several product &#8216;reviews&#8217; into one posting I can give the reader an idea of the product content and some ideas how to use the books.</p>
<p>The first two books I&#8217;m going to start with are <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=96087" title="QW15 Vasynov" target="_blank">QW15 Vasynov</a> and <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=96901" title="QW16 Serapis" target="_blank">QW16 Serapis</a>. The books both have attractive colour covers and are 14 and 16 pages in length. They are available from Drivethru RPG for $3.99 each as watermarked PDF&#8217;s.</p>
<p>The third book which I want to add to the mix, &#8216;Tal&#8217; Kalares&#8217; can be found on Drivethru RPG for the same price at <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=97258" title="QW17 Tal' Kalares" target="_blank">QW17 Tal&#8217; Kalares</a>. However, the book is much longer at 22 pages; even at this price all the books offer great value.</p>
<p><a href="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkgv4.png"><img src="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkgv4.png?w=640" alt="Sector Map" title="Sector Map"   class="alignleft size-full wp-image-277" /></a><br />
<em>A suggested sector map when running the adventures below. Map generated from <a href="http://www.travellermap.com" target="_blank">Travellermap</a> POST form, background generated by me using POV-Ray and some custom scripts.</em><br />
<P><br />
<P><br />
<P><br />
<P><br />
<P><br />
<P><br />
<P></p>
<p><strong><em>A quick summary of Vasynov:</em></strong></p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96087.jpg" alt="Vasynov Cover" /></p>
<p>Vasynov is a geologically violent world, part of a system of icy, rocky planets that are of great interest to mining companies. Visitors to the world will note its dry, arid and mountainous features with wind a constant feature. Trade with its 4 million inhabitants can be interesting as items previously considered as illegal, on the next visit could be perfectly legal due to the way the participating democracy works. This includes some forms of narcotics, so Traveller&#8217;s who trade on the other side of the law may find opportunities on Yasynov.</p>
<p><strong><em>Serapis &#8211; the quick tour:</em></strong></p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96901.jpg" alt="Serapis Cover" /></p>
<p>This is more temperate world, with about the same number of inhabitants as Yasynov. It is however, ruled by an eccentric dictator named Harlan Grant. Initially a popular figure, Grant now rules with an iron fist and it is not unknown for transgressors of the law to be sentenced very quickly; some even ending up on the prison planet of Sinope, which can be found around 8AU away from Serapis. Due to the way that women are treated on Serapis, marriage is controlled to a certain extent by the government and it is not unknown for men to take several wives.</p>
<p>In comparison to previous Quick Worlds books, the book does feature a replacement planetary system map format, which I find much clearer to use.</p>
<p><strong><em>Tal&#8217; Kalares &#8211; the visitors view:</em></strong></p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97258.jpg" alt="Tal' Kalares Cover" /></p>
<p>The world is dominated by its unusual geological features which are a mystery as to how they were formed. The landmass is divided into upper and lower regions, the latter being the more interesting for adventurers. A recent discovery of a number of ancient artifacts of unknown origin has created a sort of &#8216;gold rush&#8217; where adventurers and the planetary research teams are looking for more, but none have been discovered so far.</p>
<p>The book is illustrated with colour scenes of the world, along with statistics of some of the creatures that can be found in the lower regions of Tal&#8217; Kalares. The additional colour system map has been joined by the original format system map, this now forms the format used by future Quick Worlds books.</p>
<p><strong><em>Adventure links and hooks:</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Adventure 1:</em></strong> Whilst visiting Vasynov, the party is approached by a patron who has evidence of the possible location for ancient artifacts (aka &#8216;tools&#8217;), which can be found on the world of Tal&#8217; Kalares. The tool is reputed to produce water from the surrounding rock and dirt and considering that Vasynov is a &#8216;dry&#8217; world, the patron will pay handsomely for the players involvement in it&#8217;s find. The players will be hired to mount an expedition to Tal&#8217; Kalares and track down the tool. Obviously, a number of animal encounters can be used to impede the players progress (an extensive table of encounters is provided in the book). It should be noted that rival companies and individuals from Vasynov, also aware of the &#8216;magic water tool&#8217; will also be attempting to impede the players progress at every opportunity. Whoever possesses the tool, will become very, very rich&#8230;</p>
<p><strong><em>Adventure 2:</em></strong> Vasynov&#8217;s volcanism is going into overdrive and the planet&#8217;s super volcano is about to erupt. The party is contacted whilst out in deep space and is asked by the government to take a number of its inhabitants off-world and to safety. A representative from the government asks that the party takes the women first and for them to return for the menfolk as soon as possible. However, the reality is that the government of Vasynov has been infiltrated by an agent from Serapis. The government of Serapis simply needs more women; because of the way the government endorses men marrying multiple times, the female population is being depleted and the Serapis agent wants to direct the female refugees from Vasynov to Serapis, to bolster the female population.</p>
<p>Obviously, this is morally and completely abhorrent. However, the Serapis government is prepared to make an offer to the players that is too good to refuse. It will be up to the players to decide&#8230; If they decline the offer, the Serapis government may take things to their own hands and attempt a hijack of the players ship.</p>
<p><strong><em>Adventure 3:</em></strong> The government of Tal&#8217; Kalares needs the help of the players to help &#8216;influence&#8217; the latest public vote on Vasynov. The water dragon narcotic, currently illegal on the world, needs to be made legal again. There is a current illegal trade between the two worlds which demand on Tal&#8217; Kalares is outstripping supply. Making the drug legal on Vasynov will help improve the supply lines to Tal&#8217; Kalares, even though it will remain publically illegal. It should be noted that influential people in government are endorsing this change on Vasynov, but if the plot is exposed, it will be denied by the government of Tal&#8217; Kalares.</p>
<p>The players will be asked to arrange that the electronic voting results have a positive outcome for the legalisation of water dragon. Characters with good electronic and computer skills will be beneficial. The job will involve breaking into a government building on Vasynov and connecting a specially adapted terminal (supplied by the patron representing the Tal&#8217; Kalares &#8216;client&#8217;) to access the voting results computers. Obviously security will be extremely tight and the target is located down several levels of the building. Once the terminal upload is complete, the players will need to get out without leaving a trace of the break-in or evidence of accessing the voting results computers.</p>
<p>A successful escape and expected result in the voting results will give the players a handsome pay-out from the patron.</p>
<p><strong><em>Overall Conclusion:</em></strong><br />
I like these three books, especially Tal&#8217; Kalares, which at the time of writing has now become a firm favourite. I like the addition of the encounter tables and a couple extra colour graphics help to increase the overall &#8216;value&#8217; felt when purchasing the product. There are a great number of adventure seeds to be gained from the book and the introduction of an unknown alien &#8216;element&#8217; to the background adds to the mystery. All recommended purchases and I hope the ideas above are of use!</p>
<p>In my next posting, I&#8217;ll be looking at the latest Quick Worlds releases!</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/253/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=253&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/combining-the-some-quick-worlds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://alegisdownport.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/gkgv4.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Sector Map</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96087.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Vasynov Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96901.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Serapis Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/97258.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Tal&#039; Kalares Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quick Worlds 14: Hiallt &#8211; Review</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/quick-worlds-14-hiallt-review/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/quick-worlds-14-hiallt-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:48:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiallt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quick Worlds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Continuing my series of reviews of the latest Quick Worlds books from Gypsy Knights Games, number &#8217;14&#8242; in the series &#8216;Hiallt&#8217; is based on a world ruled by an elected Duke, who is coming to the end of his rule. &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/quick-worlds-14-hiallt-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=238&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Continuing my series of reviews of the latest Quick Worlds books from Gypsy Knights Games, number &#8217;14&#8242; in the series &#8216;Hiallt&#8217; is based on a world ruled by an elected Duke, who is coming to the end of his rule. The book is available as a 16-page watermarked PDF from <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=96086" title="QW14: Hiallt on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Drivethru RPG</a> for $3.99. As in the past couple of releases, the cover features and attractive colour (raytraced) scene somewhere on the world.</p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96086.jpg" alt="QW14 Cover" /></p>
<p>Hiallt is part of a binary system and details of the orbital data for all the worlds are listed. The referee is presented with a number of interesting adventure hooks how to get the players involved in the political intrigue on the world and the change this brings, for example, through subterfuge or more direct means such as a mercenary ticket.</p>
<p>The populace has some interesting views on pre-marriage ‘relations’ and does present a few adventure ideas for getting involved in a little smuggling of ahem, eg. ‘video material’. Note that the government does monitor its people and the chances of getting caught are high&#8230;</p>
<p>I noticed a few typo’s and the graphic on page 3, depicting a Saturn-type world with rings, looked odd. The rings have hard black concentric stripes and had a distinct curved edge, rather than something ‘flatter’ and more transparent. This doesn’t look right and took the edge off what is otherwise a decent image. I won’t criticise too much though, I’ve personally been down the road of trying to create flat ring systems around worlds in Bryce and it ain’t that easy! Something that is also a bit strange, is the large feature mentioned in the Hiallt description. The &#8216;Grand Desert&#8217; is described, but the name of the desert is missing from the colour map. An oversight perhaps?</p>
<p>Other than these minor quibbles, the book has a lot of interesting content and settings for adventures. This is a good product and (what is now becoming usual for me doing these reviews), did get me thinking how I could adapt it for an adventure or two.</p>
<p>I would have like to have seen a rumours page listing some stories or background of what could exist in the Grand Desert. A couple of suggestions are listed below;</p>
<p><img src="http://mi9.com/uploads/landscape/4154/desert-sand_422_71936.jpg" alt="Desert" /><br />
<em>Image copyright: Mi9 / Kevin Reinwald</em></p>
<p>As Hiallt has a large agricultural manufacturing base, it may be suitable for the players to make a killing by purchasing cheap foodstuffs on the Hiallt open market. However, just as the PC’s ship is lifting off from one of the downports, they experience some sort of catastrophic ship-wide failure and crash in the Grand Desert. The referee could determine that a great deal of their foodstuffs and equipment has been wrecked. They have a limited amount of time before their survival is threatened; however there is a mysterious object not far from their location, seen glinting in the sun so its up to the party to investigate, if they are to survive&#8230;</p>
<p>Whilst the PCs are leaving Hiallt, a recent massive sandstorm reveals the shape of a derelict spacecraft (or other unusual object &#8211; a secret base perhaps?) which can be spotted from the air. Over to the players to investigate!</p>
<p>Overall, there is a lot to be gotten from this book and I can see a referee using it for some time. Well worth a purchase!</p>
<p>By the way, <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=96901" title="QW16 on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Quick Worlds 16: Serapis</a> has just been released on Drivethru RPG &#8211; review to follow soon!</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/238/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=238&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/quick-worlds-14-hiallt-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/96086.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">QW14 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://mi9.com/uploads/landscape/4154/desert-sand_422_71936.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Desert</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quick Worlds 13: Chennai &#8211; Review</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/quick-worlds-13-chennai-review/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/quick-worlds-13-chennai-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:13:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quick Worlds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m going to be reviewing the latest three releases from &#8216;Gypsy Knights Games&#8217; in their &#8216;Quick Worlds&#8217; series in the next few postings, starting with &#8216;Quick Worlds 13: Chennai&#8217;. Available as a watermarked PDF from Drivethru RPG for $3.99, the &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/quick-worlds-13-chennai-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=232&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m going to be reviewing the latest three releases from &#8216;Gypsy Knights Games&#8217; in their &#8216;Quick Worlds&#8217; series in the next few postings, starting with &#8216;Quick Worlds 13: Chennai&#8217;.</p>
<p>Available as a watermarked PDF from <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?currency=USD&amp;products_id=95720&amp;filters=0_0_0_0_0&amp;manufacturers_id=3565" title="Quick Worlds 13: Chennai" target="_blank">Drivethru RPG</a> for $3.99, the book contains 14 pages including the cover and 2 pages for the copyright / licensing information.</p>
<p>The book follows the now familiar format from the other Quick Worlds series, broken down into system details and diagram, planetary information, map of the world itself, population and adventure hooks. The text is well-laid out and easy to read, aside from one &#8216;snaking&#8217; table (something which I&#8217;ve noticed has occasionally appeared in other products), I did not notice any typo&#8217;s.</p>
<p>There are no images inside the book, but its content does not suffer from this. The cover is attractive and colourful from Can Stock photo, featuring a spacecraft lifting off from Chennai and moons in the background. I feel that as more publications appear from the Gypsy Knights stable, the overall &#8216;feel&#8217; of quality is getting better and choice of images help draw the readers eyes to the book. </p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95720.jpg" alt="QW13 Cover" /></p>
<p>This book favours characters and parties that can think and actual role playing. This is not a &#8216;shoot first, ask questions later&#8217; type of adventure, unless they never want to come back to the planet! A degree of interaction is needed to get this most from this book, initially I struggled to come up with my own adventure seeds, but there are some good ones later in the book if you do get stuck for ideas.</p>
<p>However, after a little thought, this led me on to one of my own adventure hooks, where one of the party is sentenced to hard labour for a minor indiscretion. Because the citizenry are very law-abiding, thus could challenge the party to break out their colleague as there is an increased risk of being turned in to the authorities, or suspicious talk about the PC&#8217;s movements.</p>
<p>Another adventure hook I came up with set in the Chennai system, where mentioned at the start of the book, starships can stop off at the gas giants for refuelling. The most distant world in the Chennai system has a small research station located there, perhaps during a routine refuelling stop, the PC&#8217;s ship picks up a distress call or message that leads them to investigate an something quite unsavoury&#8230;</p>
<p>Something that I am gradually getting used to with the Quick Worlds products, is that to get the most out of the purchase, read the book very carefully! Close reading brings rewards and hints of adventure seeds for the Traveller referee! Though initially I wasn&#8217;t sure I was going to take to it, I enjoyed reading Chennai and can recommend it to other Traveller referees.</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/232/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=232&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/quick-worlds-13-chennai-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95720.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">QW13 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>More plots than you can shake a stick at &#8211; 21 Plots Too!</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/more-plots-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at-21-plots-too/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/more-plots-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at-21-plots-too/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:05:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller TNE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[21 Plots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[21 Plots Too]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[76 Patrons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cascadia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supplement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gypsy Knights Games have released a follow up to their well-received &#8216;21 Plots&#8216; Traveller-compatible supplement (my review can be found here). The book has as the name suggests, 21 different scenario idea&#8217;s for the hard-pressed referee in the familiar &#8217;76 &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/more-plots-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at-21-plots-too/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=222&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gypsy Knights Games have released a follow up to their well-received &#8216;<a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=91708" title="21 Plots on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">21 Plots</a>&#8216; Traveller-compatible supplement (my review can be found <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/gypsy-knight-games-21-plots-review/" title="21 Plots Review" target="_blank">here</a>). The book has as the name suggests, 21 different scenario idea&#8217;s for the hard-pressed referee in the familiar &#8217;76 Patrons&#8217; format, which presents 6 possible outcomes. The book is designed to give the referee a spark of inspiration for a gaming session, inserted into an ongoing campaign or an interesting diversion.</p>
<p>The product is available on <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95896" title="21 Plots Too on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Drivethru RPG</a> for the very reasonable sum of $4.99 as a watermarked PDF. For this, you get a 26 page file with an attractive cover (Can Stock photo &#8211; AlgolOnline).</p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95896.jpg" alt="21 Plots Too Cover" /></p>
<p>The book continues the &#8216;clean&#8217; page style that I favour (ie. no page edge arty-ness), with each outcome broken up with a pale grey highlight, making to easy to read through the list.</p>
<p>One of the immediate impressions I have about &#8217;21 Plots Too&#8217;, is that a great deal of thought has gone into the number of different variations within a single plot. The amount of text in each page has been increased in comparison to &#8217;21 Plots&#8217; which has benefited the introduction and how each option is developed. This makes the plot easier to pick up and elaborate further. Whereas in the previous edition there were a few plots that were a little &#8216;sparse&#8217; (for my liking) in the description text, the general level of description consistency across all the plots is very good. The only exception being the last plot, which I think is the weakest of the book and could have done with a bit more text. The one thing that I did note is that most of the plots assume that the party have access to a starship; In other reviews of &#8217;21 Plots&#8217; it has been said that this might not be a fair assumption to make. Personally I think it <em>is</em> fair to assume a party has a starship and something that most Traveller groups aspire to early in their adventures. The only situations that I can think of where they wouldn&#8217;t have a starship are if they&#8217;re just starting out, they&#8217;ve &#8216;lost&#8217; the ship through various means (piracy, gambling) or have become stranded. Therefore I think the product stands up well and good value can be gained from the ideas presented in it.</p>
<p>I found it difficult to choose a favourite from the book because of the overall high standard of all the plots. However, if I was refereeing a group, I&#8217;d like to run &#8216;Lunar Prisoners&#8217; as it presents plenty of opportunities for action. To develop the plot further or widen its context, it could be linked to the Classic Traveller adventure &#8216;Prison Planet&#8217; or similarly, the Mongoose Publishing version of the same name.</p>
<p>Obviously, some of the plots are linked to other Gypsy Knights products from the &#8216;Quick Worlds&#8217; series or &#8216;<a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95025" title="SS1: Cascadia on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">SS1: Cascadia</a>&#8216; (reviewed <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/ss1-cascadia-review/" title="SS1: Cascadia Review" target="_blank">here</a>), though these are limited to about one third of the book and in no way are they required to run a plot. They can be easily adapted to work in any referee&#8217;s Traveller &#8216;universe&#8217;. Additionally, another supplement that can help to identify suitable worlds to base some of the plots, is &#8216;The Spinward Marches&#8217; of both Classic and Mongoose flavours, for example the scenario&#8217;s &#8216;Mail Call&#8217; or &#8216;Bandits&#8217;. &#8216;System Defense&#8217; could be any red or amber zone world from the same sector.</p>
<p>Overall, this is a substantial improvement over the (but still good) original &#8217;21 Plots&#8217; book and I have no hesitation in recommending it.</p>
<p>As a final note, I would like to add that both &#8217;21 Plots&#8217; and &#8216;SS1: Cascadia&#8217; can now be purchased in printed book format, again via Drivethru RPG.</p>
<p>Second (final!) note &#8211; as John from Gypsy Knights has confirmed in his comment, &#8217;21 Plots Too&#8217; is now available in softcover from Drivethru RPG for a very reasonable $10.99. The option to purchase in this format can be found via the same link at <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95896" title="21 Plots Too on Drivethru RPG" target="_blank">Drivethru RPG</a></p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/222/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=222&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/more-plots-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at-21-plots-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95896.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">21 Plots Too Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>SS1: Cascadia Review</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/ss1-cascadia-review/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/ss1-cascadia-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:52:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the latest in the now long-line of Traveller compatible products from Gypsy Knights Games, detailing systems and worlds that provide a useful background for referees. Cascadia is a complete subsector, detailing 20 complete inhabited worlds in a &#8216;compendium&#8217; &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/ss1-cascadia-review/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=179&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is the latest in the now long-line of Traveller compatible products from Gypsy Knights Games, detailing systems and worlds that provide a useful background for referees.</p>
<p><img src="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95025.jpg" alt="SS1 Cover" /></p>
<p><em>Cascadia</em> is a complete subsector, detailing 20 complete inhabited worlds in a &#8216;compendium&#8217; format across 171 pages. Twelve of the worlds have been published previously in the &#8216;Quick Worlds&#8217; series, which have been bolstered with the addition of another eight previously unpublished worlds. It is available as a watermarked PDF from <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95025&amp;filters=0_0_0_0_0&amp;manufacturers_id=3565" title="SS1: Cascadia" target="_blank">DriveThru RPG</a> for a very reasonable $19.99.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ll start with the cover: a very attractive image, a spacecraft hanging in the misty blue skies of a distant world, a moon in the background. Very simple but atmospheric.</p>
<p>After the introduction pages, the reader is presented with a contents page and a subsector map (white on black background). The next page has a breakdown of all the world&#8217;s UWP&#8217;s in standard Traveller format. Unfortunately there seems to have been a problem with the formatting and the tabs have gone a little awry, resulting in a snaking list. The same also appears on the contents page, a simple formatting problem that makes these two pages look a little untidy.</p>
<p>The book then progresses into describing the worlds of <em>Cascadia</em>; There is an average of about eight pages of text per system data, system map, each systems physical data, a Traveller format icosahedron planetary map, geographic description, population including government, legal and cultural info, city data, population and any other interesting information that is particular to the system. The text is easy to read and there is enough information about each system to inspire a referee to anything from an evenings play or several sessions. I do have one concern in the system maps; though useful showing the orbits of each planet in the system, the text labels for each planet are far too small. I had to increase the zoom level in Adobe PDF to 200% to make the planetary data readable. I hope this is something that can corrected in a future release as it detracts from what is otherwise a well laid-out, quality product.</p>
<p>The system descriptions are broken up with a variety of good-quality colour graphics through the book, by artists including <a href="http://biomassart.wordpress.com/" title="Art of Ian Stead" target="_blank">Ian Stead</a> and Algol Online from Can Stock Photo&#8217;s.</p>
<p>To give you an idea of the variety of systems in the book, here is a breakdown;<br />
<em>Megara</em> and <em>Nyahururu</em> are two systems ruled by dictatorships. I reviewed <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/quick-worlds-12-megara-review/" title="QW12: Megara" target="_blank">Megara</a> back in August if you want to look at it in more detail.<br />
<em>Fairfax</em> details remnants of a disappeared race.<br />
<em>Monroe</em> is a high-population bureaucracy.<br />
<em>Catalunya</em> is a system with a Latin/Spanish background.<br />
<em>Roskilde</em>, a system ruled by a charismatic religious leader.<br />
<em>Hendershot</em> is described as an agricultural planet.<br />
<em>Gutierrez</em>, the foreboding mountainous world.<br />
<em>Slaren</em>, a planet whose primary export is beer (sounds like a fantastic world to visit!).<br />
<em>Gagnon</em>, the benevolent dictatorship.<br />
<em>Chance</em>, a world dedicated to gambling.<br />
Two ice worlds are described in <em>Campbell</em> and <em>Joseon</em>.<br />
There are two with some interesting cultural customs (<em>Kyiv</em> and <em>Dimme</em>).<br />
Another two systems that have tight government controls on the populace (<em>Antryl</em> and <em>Tlix</em>).<br />
The subsector world, <em>Cascadia</em> which is a high population democracy.<br />
<em>Marlowe</em>, an asteroid belt.<br />
<em>Talca</em>, a world ruled by scientists.<br />
Finally <em>Yangon</em>, a  desert world.</p>
<p>Each system benefits from close and detailed reading. For example, remote mining and refuelling stations are mentioned, which helps the referee to plan a session not just around the main world, but also travelling through the entire system, where encounters can be built-in. Gas giants are described with their orbits and distances. The final page in the book is another subsector map, but with black text on a white background, suitable for printing.</p>
<p>My favourite has to be <em>Chance</em> (the gambling world), which I reviewed back in July <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/quick-worlds-11-chance-review/" title="QW11: Chance review" target="_blank">here</a>. I think the weakest system detailed in the book is <em>Catalunya</em>; it has a very detailed cultural background, but it lacks adventure hooks.</p>
<p>Overall, there is a massive amount of variety in this book, though pitched as a Traveller-compatible product it can be used for the basis of a campaign, or short individual gaming sessions for almost any sci-fi RPG. I should note that a revised version of SS1 is being made available at the moment with the addition of some typo corrections and some credits. Highly recommended.</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/179/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=179&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/ss1-cascadia-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/images/3565/95025.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">SS1 Cover</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Fantasy Traveller &#8211; Part 3 &#8211; Rogues</title>
		<link>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-fantasy-traveller-part-3-rogues/</link>
		<comments>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-fantasy-traveller-part-3-rogues/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:41:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>techastro</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Classic Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongoose Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fantasy Traveller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rogue]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/?p=188</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Before I start coming up with some dungeons for my barbarians of Grond to start pillaging, I&#8217;m going to revisit CT: Book 4 Citizens of the Imperium and see what I can do to create a Rogue character class. I &#8230; <a href="http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-fantasy-traveller-part-3-rogues/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=188&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Before I start coming up with some dungeons for my barbarians of Grond to start pillaging, I&#8217;m going to revisit <em>CT: Book 4 Citizens of the Imperium</em> and see what I can do to create a Rogue character class. I thought this would better reflect the Conan-esq world I&#8217;m creating, in line with the original Conan films that were out in the eighties.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/conan_promo_image1.jpg" alt="Conan" /><br />
<em>Image credit: Shockya.com</em></p>
<p>Ok, so back to page 8 in book 4; enlistment is as described. However the benefits table is going to need some work. So, my idea is to change it to:-</p>
<p>1 +1 Dexterity<br />
2 +1 Social Standing<br />
3 Bow Weapon<br />
4 Blade Weapon<br />
5 Lock Pick Set (+1 DM to rolls for opening doors/gates)<br />
6 Blade and Bow Weapons<br />
7 -</p>
<p><strong>Cash Benefits Table</strong> (in Grond currency)<br />
1 -<br />
2 -<br />
3 1000<br />
4 2000<br />
5 5000<br />
6 10000<br />
7 10000</p>
<p><strong>Automatic Skills</strong> &#8211; Streetwise-1 remains the same</p>
<p><strong>Personal Development Table</strong> &#8211; I suggest keep this the same as listing on page 9 of book 4.</p>
<p><strong>Service Skills Table</strong><br />
Change &#8216;Demolition&#8217; to &#8216;Interrogation&#8217; skill.<br />
Change &#8216;Vehicle&#8217; to &#8216;Riding&#8217; skill.</p>
<p><img src="http://teleport-city.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2002/01/conan-destroyer.jpg" alt="Malak" /><br />
&#8216;Bloody hell Conan, your next challenge <em>is</em> grim; you&#8217;ve got to play the lead role in <em>Kindergarten Cop</em>!&#8217;<br />
<em>Image credit: Teleport City</em></p>
<p><strong>Riding</strong> skill definition &#8211; persons with this skill are proficient in riding beasts of burden such as horses, camels or mules.</p>
<p><strong>Advanced Education Table</strong><br />
Change &#8216;Ship Tactics&#8217; to &#8216;Tactics&#8217; skill.<br />
Change Computer to Water Craft &#8211; the definition being, choose from either operating small boat, or ship hand.</p>
<p>So, I now have two character types to use. I want to look at the viability of dungeon exploring and combat using the Classic Traveller rules in the next posting in this series. My initial feeling is that this is going to be deadly&#8230;</p>
<br />  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/alegisdownport.wordpress.com/188/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=alegisdownport.wordpress.com&amp;blog=21655949&amp;post=188&amp;subd=alegisdownport&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://alegisdownport.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-fantasy-traveller-part-3-rogues/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/48b29bb7683616a5a211e6089d7cfa06?s=96&#38;d=identicon&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">techastro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/conan_promo_image1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Conan</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://teleport-city.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2002/01/conan-destroyer.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Malak</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
