The Magazine of Adventure Gaming $3.00 Space Gamer Coes = a Cae fae Rett Ame CUCU) ae : Frank Chadwick ee C11? eee ee) ANN os rol) Rick Loomis George Mac Donald .Now you can become the absolute master of one of Earth's atari eever ure acm tate cucect Cuan cny your orders. Your mission is nothing less than Total World Pra lela ddd dd dddd ddd’ cl Taos “HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!” Se ee RUC LM The Fast, Exciting, New PBM Game Of Intrigue And Strategic Conflict Blo) tala] ee aa Cen aCe ree meet! oe Memeo) Seek urea Se Cuenca) EN Cae ct cg foe TM CRUE oc lus od Simple, easy-to-complete turnsheet Detailed reports on all results, in English eee a Meck Pe aac ee) Completely computer-moderated ese Ue Over 7,000 turns processed $15 (U.S.) for setup, rulebook, and 3 free turns CoC ED a eeu Se eT , great action, just an incredibly great game!” —Jeff Ferris a eC eT ey Cy P.O. Box 22305-F Houston, TX 77227Space Gamer Editoran-chiet: Warren Spector ‘Aaslatant Editor: Alon Varney Contributing Editors: Willam A, Barton Matinew J. Costelo erry Epperson. Bob MeLain lok Swan Publisher: Steve Jackson Production Manager: Marie Mahoney Production Stat: C. Mara Lee Kyle Miler Business Manager: Mark Chandler ‘Advertising Manager: Caroline Chase (Circulation Manager: Creede Lambars ‘ART IN THIS ISSUE Cover: Kye Miler. Line Art: Kyle Miler. Game Art: FASA Corporation: 16, 18 Game ‘Designers’ Workshop: 14, Pacesettor Lid. 4, 8, 10. Most game names are rademarks ofthe com panies publishing those games. in paricviar: Bungeons & Dravons, Advanced Dungeons ‘D&D, and ADAD, are trademarks er Teh Wc; Marvel Super'Hooee a ah Marvel ‘characters, of the Marvel Comics Group; Chi, Timemaster, ard Star Ace, of Pacesetter Lid; Battledroids, of FASA Cor poration; Twilight: 2000, of Game Designers’ Workshop: ‘Paranolo snc. StarTrek: The ‘Adventure Game, of West End Games: Cham- bblons, Danger international, and Justice Inc., of Hero Games; and Duelmasiers, of Fealty Simulations. Use of a trademark 10 'entty @ product commented on in this maga ine should not be construed as implying the Speers of the vacemart hdr Ogre, ‘Muminati, Autoduel, Convoy, Card: our Herowe,Undved, Kil, be eheosig pyramid, and the dstinelve likeness of the Ogre are registered. ademarks of ‘Steve ‘Jackson Games Inc.All names of ather games published by Steve Jackson Gamoa Ino. are trademarks of Stove Jackson Games Inc., Used under license. Use of the name of any Product without monton of trademark status should note construed as a challenge to such Status, Number 75 July/August 1985 SPECIAL SECTION Instant Starships + Paula Woods and Sam Bowne Get your superhero or espionage campaign off the ground with these easy rules for constructing and fighting in your very own spaceship. Writ- ten for the Hero System, these rules are adaptable to any campaign... . 21 ARTICLES Twilight: 2000 Design Notes « Frank Chadwick The combat system and its rationale, plus a reply to our review ... 12 ‘Nuclear Winter * Greg Costikyan World War Ill for real 215 Baitledroids Verlants * George Mac Donald ‘Weapons and options for FASA’s giant robots 7 The Hellgate Society * Gregg Sharp ‘An evil agency for contemporary RPGS 119 Keeping Posted: Rick Loomis on PBM The founder of the industry on its history and future . 35 REVIEWS ‘The Pacesetter Line * Warren Spector With design notes by Cari Smith of Pacesetter Battledroids * Aaron Allston Keeping Posted: Duelmasters * Reg Reid Capsule Reviews GAMES: Hammer's Slammers, Dragonriders of Per, The Lonely Mountain, Wizards’ Realm, Wiichlord. SUPPLEMENTS: The Secret Wars, Signal GK, Rangers of the North, Trall of Tsathogghua, Throne of Evil, Moris, The Romulans, Margin of Prof, Demand of Honor, The iron Wind (point) counterpoin), Monsters of Myth and Legend, Ghost of Lion Castle. PLAY AIDS: ‘Marvel Super Heroes Adveriure Fold-Up Figures. PUBLICATIONS: The Fist and ‘Socond Gail Compendia, MINIATURES: Teenage Mutant Ninja Tunes, Cotesia! ‘Dragon, Gols, Folklore Creatures of the Night, Dragon Lords Ninja & Samurel ‘Aaventurrs REGULAR FEATURES Counter intel 2 Letters 3 Where We're Going » Steve Jackson 37 Scanner 46 Index to Advertisers. 46 Convention Calendar : 47 Murphy's Rules « Michael von Glahn - 48 ‘Space Gamer (ISSN 0184-9977, USPS 434-280) pulse bk monihy by Stove Jackaon Gams Ineamporatea, PO, Box 18057, Aust, TX 787607087. Second ‘ass postage plo at Austn, TX. POSTMASTER: Send address changes Space Gamer 0. Sox T8967, Ausin, TX 78700-0957, “Al atari! copyright © 1505 by Sve ckaon Games ncorporsied. Ad rights served ‘reed in U.S.A: by Fura Press, Ain, ‘ubeciton rate, efectve 10/7784 Inthe Unto Staoe — 6 montns (3 laues) 8: ore yea 6 letuee) $13: 2 years (12 ates) $29. atime subscripton ‘$200, in Gena 24508 pt ue fr postage and har i ‘or addresnes outta the US and Canada, to $1 pt wave for eurace rai Texas odes poms ‘2555148 sales lax Inertial atu suo lo change So Portal ats change, Not: Al payments MUSY be US dolar, mage ntmatons honey Oger, oF ‘checks drawn on a U.S. of Canadian banCounter Intelligence Matthew J. Costello Solo Games: A Modest Proposal Iwas playing West End's Star Trek — The Adventure Game when an odd thought struck ‘me. I realized that here was a two-player game where both players are, in reality, playing a solitaire game. Oh sure, dere ae some small bits of interaction. If two players are at the same planet they can ‘“bid” to explore it. And the Klingon player can use agents to sabotage Federation ships. But beyond that, players in this imergalactic game are in their ovm litle worlds. Solitaire appears to be hot, Sear Trek being ‘the latest major effort to pay more than lip ser- vice tothe solo player. There was a time when all a solo player could do was adapt a multi- player game. Star Trek, on the other and, is really a solo game adapted for two players. on Greenwood, editor of The General, thas made his view quite clear that solo play is simply inferior to face-to-face gaming. Considering the number of The General's readers who play solo, that’s an unfortunate ‘atiude, The Avalon Hill Game Company's Tone solo, B-17, is a bland festival of dice ‘throwing, Remarkable, but hardly a game I'd play twice... why bother, since it virally plays itsel? AH's Hitler's War, onthe other hand, makes a terrific solo, And as one who's suffered through many face-to-face games filled wit tedious waiting that results in a less- than-exciting move, I'll uke a fast-paced solo any day. Itseems that everywhere you turn, solitaire ‘gaming is being given some kind of atention, Most new roleplaying systems (Paranoia James Bond 007, Justice Inc.) come with & Sample solo adventure designed to teach the ‘asics of the game system. Most new board- games (Sanctuary, Starship Duels I and I, ‘The Lonely Mountain, Dragonriders of Pern) ‘come with special solitaire rules. Solo adven- tures for fantasy roleplaying systems continue to arrive, with TSR releasing its “magic Viewer" series to replace the ‘‘invisible ink” modules. Blade continues to release solos for Tunnels & Trolls egulariy. And, of course, there's that solitaire champ, Ambush, with is recent additions Move Out! and Purple Heart. ‘And yet Id like to propose thatthe design- cers and companies are missing the mark with these effors. I suggest that three misconcep- tions are preventing the best solo game design. Misconception #1: A solitaire game must do the thinking for the player's “‘pponent”” (and sometimes even for the player himsel) ‘While adminedly a major design accomplish ‘ment, Ambush isthe worst example ofthis. A ‘ood deal of Ambush’s muscle is devoted to the mundane movements of opposing forces. Using Victory Games’ special viewer to move ‘enemy soldiers box-by-box becomes, ultimate- ly, incredibly tedious, But more importantly, ‘the enemy's move isnot that thrilling to begin with. Decision-making, even when moving ‘opposing units against your own forces, shouldn't be out of the question. A staggering ‘sccomplishment, Ambush lost my interest because it did 100 much for me, while 1 was eft with a lot of viewer juggling. ‘Misconception #2: Solitaire play must be simple and automatic. The solo variants for ‘Sanctuary and Dragonriders of Per are good examples of this problem. In each case the solitaire play is so mechanical that there's litle point in playing. Sanctuary, a terrific board= game, becomes a total zero in its solitaire {uise. More thought, and more challenging Mules, could have provided a solitaire variant worth playing. ‘Misconception #3: True freedom of choice ‘cannot exist in a solo roleplaying adventure. ‘This is perhaps the most prevalent problem, and the one I find most irritating. Look at ‘early any solo adventure from TSR or Blade, 8 well asthe mini-solos in Paranoia, Bond, and Justice Inc., and you see the same tired {ormat, a forma currently used by a horde of juvenile Choose Your Own Adventure books. layers begin ata certain point and then follow various branches to arrive atthe end. And it's surprising how litle difference a. player's choice can make. There's litle chance to decide where to go, to return to different places, or to play any kind of strategy. You're fon a train line where you get to throw the setches. While it might be okay for spawning salmon, people deserve better. ‘West End Games’ well-written Star Trek suffers, to some degree, from all ofthese. The world you explore is randomly drawn, and subsequent events are determined by a random die roll. While you do decide what actions to take, the results depend on what offices just happen to be aboard your ship. Derivative of the solo system found in FGU's Star Ex- pplorer, Star Trek is enjoyable largely due to the inviguing writing of designer Greg Costkyan. The game itself lacks meat “So, Big Shot” (a voice from the crowd shouts out), “what do you propose t0 do?” Glad you asked. ihink i's time for a couple of things to happen. First, solo adventures have to stop leading players by the hand. More design effort, more thought, and more challenging systems are needed to provide & solo worth playing. The adventures should be designed so that players can decide where 1 go (you ‘know, jus ike in real life), moving freely and ‘ot just flowing down an irreversible stream, That, as we now know, is for the Kiddie adventure books. Solo variants and games should allow play cers to play against themselves, while altering any double-blind rules. Solo games can have built-in surprises, but it’s not necessary (or Fel ar rvew, Dt yu cn use the Pacer Sistem wo anemia sons of game words ‘reba Puoter ye fexble or at Sper" — enoah to cove ea) al he Sta pound mow payers rere. Cy fic tiouphoncr se one wee, bale vames dene, am gt songs Osyses e ex — fn you ony have fe one st fre. 1 thee erough complet, ewoush deta, enoaph vary bre oheepenpevece lepers oe Chill or Winning = 2ia.cecim ee Soecreoteemtiorcss tet ae et ae inet peat the Race? econ vee wa ¢ eee ey renew sucasayieetater! icons i ore ere PSs ee ee Se ea See Sena eeme Eo Res pat eaied ea = Sacer rat Borer el eiy Sas" hoe nguitson sr oe Sonne ienctaen a oot ocean Featured Review fer chen as nr ‘ions of te organization give players directions they baule the forces of ev. This isa great boon © by Warren Spector Sposa eeetess the game's simple run aeOpening the Chil box, payers find two books =the Gt-page "Campaign Book,” with neatly all ‘he information a player or ""Chllmaser" (CM) will nee in order fo play, andthe 32-page “Hor tors From the Unknown" book, with dats om the ‘various ba guys CMs can throw at player characy ters, The Paceseter games are all marked by = song, personal syle. You won i find beter, more conse entering Wing in ys of ae “The artwork, by Fin Holloway. i almost super ‘array unever — sometimes terre, sometimes, ‘well, not #0 toric. ‘The layout of the books, especialy the handling of charts and tables, i Teoking and borerplaying game. Lit things like tables which are Undifferentiated frm text and. & too-kimpy index which lists “Armed Combat’ ‘without giving page aumber are problems which shoald have been exught before Chill weat 10 the enter "Alto in. the Chill box. are 140_ cardboard ‘counters with adequate (ut no Bete) stations ‘of player characters, creatures, and aPious types of househol! furnishings. The standard Paceener two-sided map is aso included. One side offers a ‘world map (n color) poiming out ares of super- ‘tural activity. This side — reminiscent of the map provided with Coll of Cthulhu —isof ited ut fy. The ote side depits the three flrs of War- ‘Wik House, site of the inroductory Chill adventare ‘which comes withthe game. “This adventue is wonky of comment. Many roleplaying games come packaged with adventures buts as fr a6 1 know, Chil isthe frat include an Imroductory folder advising players to begin pay Ing that adventure before they've read the rues of the game! To begin, players have ony to read a ‘The slogan Pacesezer. .. We Move! suns up oar company pidosophy. Atone time, weal ‘worked for TSR, Inc. We lef to form our wn Company because we saw a chance 0 design in- ovatve games and cover new ground in the Adventure guming industry. As of January 23, 1985, Pacesoter wes one Year old. Te, May 1988, Chill was published. We ‘ough the hard part was over, but life was jst begiming to grow complicated. Aer complet. ing Chl, we had to support. By the end of 1984 we had Timemaster and Star Ace 10 sup- portal. Too many good games have damaged {emselves wit inadequate support products ‘To avoid this, we provided « steady seam of Aiventure and seeworie afer each game's introduction ‘Our games are aimed st 2 wide audience ‘Many roleplaying games ether consciously oF unconsciously parallel the demographics of DAD. In abition to expanding our demo: ‘raps, we wanted to iclode reser se of Investigaon. and interaction in roleplaying, postive etni ole models, nd emphasie pla. renied adventures. We chose game themes ‘which were fan aod which filed market post ‘don that were largely empty o at worst, nade gusty fled. Pacesener games emphasize using wits and ot just brawn In fit, plier characiers who ‘2 ahly without thinking often run afoul of the Taw. Too many games ignore skills and deviees which prove useful in a gamer’ hands suchas Iimpersoaation, modelling, acing, and forgery ‘Ofen games dwell ons: which are sty ‘male and combat oriented, Paoeseuer game themes try tobe universal with ther emphasis on adventure, Gothic hor for, romance, and historical fiction, We want to offer something for everyone. Our game designs ‘res the following points. 1. Complexity isnot beter, just longer. 2. All games have an element of finasy, either whimsical, pseudo-cientific, or roe fantaty. Each game aims ata par ticular variety of fantasy 3, Game themes and adventures should en ‘hie charcterzation and plot 44. Exch adventure should. provide = mystery Emphasize problem solving and fnvestigave skills s0 they are just as Important as combat sil ‘5, Each game mast be wsertiendly with gqualiy component, atractive artwork, Ad perceived value for the money @ ner pays fori ‘Te pretest ase of any Paceseer game is The Word from Pacesetter is inmprated system. One reviewer caracer- ized this system as “simple elegance." Two facets of ths elepance are character generation and the ation tube, player character can ‘move from one game system to another witout Aiiculy or a lengthy revision of sats. The c- ‘on table fei combat, ability, and sil ‘hocks Using this bogies the CM not ony 2 fen of the ston, but gradates ici desire. Referees can run a complex combat quickly and efficiently, and still maintain the favor of a ‘asl more chartoriemed, complex system ‘without all te page-inping required by some times. Elpant mechan alow Pacesecer to {oeus on character and siory, such asin the Vengeance of Dracula adveniure. Having the ction ible asa Bridge Between systems gives ‘gamers a pleasant sense of familiarity When joing from one Pacesetter game to another. “Another song feature of Paceseter gues is “Volos.” Rules and explanations of a game" ‘mechanics of meu ave usually 11d though sharcter associates withthe game. The sa ‘ascend ominous Raven who narrates Chil s tn example of voice. In Tinemaser, exh hi torical section oft "Guise tothe Continuum ‘s narrated by a character fom that historical tea. None realy ikes having o read and study the rules before he can enjoy his gume, and the we of voice allows us fo make the game rules fn to reas ‘Some Pacesene ystems appear too clean 0 the casual observer. A game should have simple tnd elegant mechanics. Afterall, more complex is not ‘beter, Some gamers equate ‘masive chars and ables with a detalled game fystem, We achieve detail thovgh maltple vse ‘of some chars and ubles, Iie more diffcl to ‘design an economical game stem which allows the referee to handle many stations with one bet of mechanics tani et detign score of (ferent ales which handle ax many diferent ‘tons. Games with oo many tubles often reflect thatthe designer didnot work on the problem long enough fo boli down, ‘Although Pacseter game systems bear a resemblance o eachother, each game appeals 0 ‘differen audience. Gamers may own al Pace seers games, and enjoy each fora diferent “The Chill game has wide appeal. Almost everyone hus at ies of what a horror movie i, ‘sal Chill appeals to universal experiences Everyone fears something. In shor, young and old, tale and female, hardcore end casual ater can relate this game "To facilitate scess © Chil, we devised the "Read Me Fist flder which allows player to read four pages, look over eight pre-gener- Carl Smith, Pacesetter Ltd. ‘aed characters, and then play a snteen-page introductory adventure before having 10 read citer the "Campaign Book” oe “Horrors from the Unknown’ book. To date, everyone seems to lke the concept of "Read Me Fist” and Several other companies have emulate i. ‘Chil is «game of horror and the super- ratral. In Chill we wanted to do more than ‘ghten player characters — we wanted to frighten players ‘Weanalyzed he elements of horor an tried to generalize what stations frightened people ‘Tree elements are 1. Inlation of an ndviual from society and evlisation, 2, Placing sm indivdval ina srange envie ronment oF changing his normal eairon- 3. Confroting a player with mysterious and ‘unknown oecrrences —we can dea wit {things we know and expet, but the unex- pected unmerves us. 4, Reversal of events — perhaps you hunt a strange creature, following Ws wacks, and then on your way home notice « second set of the creature's footprints which Seem to be following yours! 5. Confront horror indicat fist, and et the creatures (who are very powerfl) lay withthe characters rather than con- front them dicey from the begining. ‘To frighten players, we capalize on the feeling of uncertainty, which includes portions ofall fe elements of horror. Chill has 20 generic creatures. atleast no generic ere tures as fa as abilities, bit points, and 80 on ‘Some of the cretures used are very familia, but each is individu, as diferent from other creatures as one human being is from ancther Using that difeence, we hypodesized that although thee might be hundreds of ghosts, every On of ther woul! have its own. motive tions, special abilities, and variations from the oem. Each would have fs own unig reston forexisting et creature from the unknown, and Imessence, each erature becomes the nucleus of an entre advectre which would explain is raison dete "Keeping unceriny asa key clement of or- ror in mind, gumers ae prevented one kind of ‘ampire inthe base game spd two oer Hinds inthe Things book. The Vampires 96-page book ‘ads several other vampires as wells legends ‘od lore sbout the rulers of night and darknes. Kling a vampire will never agai be sx simple 25 going into he north fry and whiting down, ‘sapling for a night's diversion, \connued op. 7)