Mongoose Books

I love the way Colleen Coble writes her mystery stories. This was another exceptional book of mystery and intrigue, plus a little bit of romance as well. I couldn't wait to read the next book in her series.

In BLACK SANDS, we are gifted with what Coble does so well--a furry little creature named Wilson (who I would love to have curled up in my lap at this moment), a setting we can smell and touch, and an ending that leaves us satisfied.

Even though this is book two in her Aloha Reef series, don't worry if you haven't read DISTANT ECHOES. This one stands alone.

I like this book.

Black Sands is the second installment in the Aloha Reef series by Colleen Coble. While I enjoyed the first book in the series, Distant Echoes, the characters in Black Sands truly resonated with me.

Annie, the middle child in the Tagama family, is always the one behind the scenes keeping everything running smoothly, especially since her mother's death. Mano, her brother Tomi's best friend and Annie's childhood crush, has been like part of the family for years. But that all changes when Tomi is reported dead and Mano implicated in part for his death.

When Mano returns Tomi's belongings to the Tagama family the same day Annie's sister Leilani goes missing, Annie is forced to turn to him for help in finding her sister, in spite of her very mixed feelings.

The twists & turns of the story are exciting, but it is Annie & Mano who touched my heart. They are both strong but very human characters dealing with their individual weaknesses in realistic and faith filled ways. The spiritual growth of the characters, especially Annie, is as compelling to me as the suspenseful storyline.

I would recommend this book highly.

I am a loyal true-blue fan of Colleen Coble. She didn't disappoint me with Black Sands. Wonderful story, beautifully crafted with nail-biting tension. The setting was wonderful, I felt like I was there. The characters were so wonderfully flawed and real. The plot kept you guessing and everything they tried to do only compounded matters like the lava building up under the islands. I loved Mano and Annie, as they stumbled through the mystery and their growing attraction to one another. I loved Wilson. I have to get me a mongoose now, :0). The secondary characters were also well done, I closed the book feeling like I had made a whole bunch of new friends. (I also stayed up until 2:00am to finish it because I couldn't bear not knowing what happened.)

The book is not preachy, but it has definate take away value. At least it did for me. I know Colleen only wants to do God's will. I want her to know that she touched me with her work.

And now I can quit hiding it and let my son have it to read. (I think my hubby read it during the times I didn't have it clutched in my hands.) Can't wait for Dangerous Depths.

If you've never read a Colleen Coble novel, click on the BUY NOW button IMMEDIATELY. If you love suspense with clever twists and turns, a romance that will warm your heart, and a storyline that leaves you filled with hope and promise, you won't be disappointed!

Black Sands, the second book in the Aloha series, blew me away! While in a series, Black Sands is easily a stand-alone novel. Set in Hawaii, Coble weaves the island culture and scenery into the story so masterfully that you can almost feel the ocean breeze kissing your face! With a strong heroine and an even stronger hero, you can't help but fall in love with these characters--become emotionally involved in the drama they face--and root them on to not only find the heroine's missing sister, rediscover the love they are destined to share, but also to be refilled with their faith.

This book is one of the best I've read in a long time! Get it. Read it. Devour the pages. It's a must-read!

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This is a very fun RPG game. Great for one shot sessions. Imagine Logans Run mixed with Monty Python. You play a Clone in Alpha complex. You have six clones. You will need them .The computer that runs the complex is insane. You go on troubleshooting missions for the computer and try to have traitors arrested or killed. You are a traitor, as is everyone else on your team. You just don't know it yet ! It pits the players against each other and the DM runs them through scenarios. Its really fun. And goofy.
The computer is your friend. Hail the computer. Remember happiness is mandatory. If your not happy report for termination.

This is the single most entertaining RPG book on my shelf. As far as reading the material goes, it's a perfect example of what you can do by turning normally frowned on RPG behavior into a drop dead riot of a game. The emphasis here is on the drop dead part.

While the text of the game goes to great lengths in instilling in the reader a sense of how the game is supposed to be played, in the end there are only two rules that need following.

1. The GM is always right.
2. Happiness is mandatory!

It's that simple, and it couldn't be more fun to read this book. Once you understand that every bit of it is cleverly written to convey the theme of Paranoia to the reader, you don't feel like you are being lectured yet again on the proper application of an attack roll. Rather you are learning what it is to be a GM/Player of this great game.

I only hold one complaint which is so minor that it didn't even effect me giving this game a perfect score.

Normally I don't find it necessary to print two seperate books for the core of a game. I actually prefer many games where GM and player information can be easily included together in one well laid out tome. Basically I don't think it's normally necessary to have to have two or more books to play and run a game. However in this case I think I would've preferred a division of the book into a distinct Player's guide and a distinct GM's manual. I think this is truly one of those games where the player's are better served to discover the ins and outs through regular play. In the case of Paranoia, the fun is in the failure.


ADVICE TO ASPIRING TROUBLESHOOTERS:

If you intend on playing this game, take the books advice and don't read the GM only section. Trust me when I say the tension caused by the unknown is the bread and butter of an enjoyable Paranoia session.

If you're the one buying the book for your group, gather the money together from fellow players and give this as a gift to your GM. He'll thank you, and any GM worth his weight will itch to run this game once he gets his hands on it. After all, what's the point of owning a book you are only supposed to read 48 pages of. PLAY THE GAME FIRST, AND THEN AFTER A WHILE BUY THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF. DON'T RUIN THE FUN BY READING TOO MUCH!

All in all, even if you do intend to ignore my advice and read it all, you'll have a blast doing so. I haven't had this much fun reading an RPG in a long time (with the possible exception of Godlike).

STAY ALERT! TRUST NO ONE! KEEP YOUR LASER HANDY!

Paranoia XP is the newest and in my opinion best version of the Paranoia game line. Here are people who need not apply (just to get you guys on to games better suited for your playstyle):

Gamers who like heavy combat tactics needn't look into Paranoia XP. Most of the weapons will kill a clone in one shot.

Gamers who like strategy in character generation or advancement needn't look into Paranoia XP.

Gamers who tend toward heavier systems (D&D, Rifts, HERO, GURPS) probably should tread with caution, as Paranoia XP's system is one die roll-under for everything. The rules are simple: roll a d20, get under Skill. Then if the GM decides you succeed, you succeed.

Gamers intent on character growth and development can find some support for such here, but under Classic rules, characters die often and hilariously.

If you like intra-party harmony, a good idea for nearly all RPGs, shouldn't look here. Paranoia is about backstabbing your fellow Troubleshooter.

If you enjoy having larger than life heroes, don't look into Paranoia XP. Paranoia XP characters are incompetant, ignorant, and insane.

Well, if you're still here, you either don't care about the above, or you're still interested to hear about the game itself, well, here goes:

By the way, you might have noticed I'm not bothering with any "HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY!" or "NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE!" stuff, because I know it can be quite offputting to those looking into the game. It's an "in" joke, and using it against people who aren't "in" yet is a bit mean and/or foolish.

The game is about a complex, an underground post-modern utopia called the Alpha Complex, which is run by an AI called The Computer. Or it would be a utopia, if The Computer wasn't insane and paranoid, looking for commie mutant traitors. The Computer has security cameras everywhere, and regulates everything in the complex: air, food, plumbing, industry, economy, etc. Everything. But that's not the worst of it.

The mass of population is heavily medicated, usually happy in their existence mowing about the complex and doing their assigned duties. But not the player's characters! They have gotten the honor of being moved up in security clearance, from a lowly INFRARED to the slightly less lowly RED. Their job has been reassigned to Troubleshooter, and they get a laser gun! They go on fantastic suicidal/impossible missions for The Computer to root out commie mutant traitors, secret society members, and other sabateurs of The Computer. There's only one problem...

All the characters are mutants, and all belong to a Secret Society (perhaps even Communists). All the characters are traitors. And it's not like players don't know that everyone is a traitor. Instant mayhem, just add water and stir.

If this sort of game doesn't interest you, Paranoia XP is not for you.

This is one of the best RPG's I've come along in a long time...it's extremely unique, fun, relevant to the times, and hillarious! Imagine a dark, dystopian, 1984-like future...except more comic, more insane, and more deadly. It's worth it to buy just to read the book, it's written very well with a dashing brand of twisted humor. My brother loved it too, and just *had* to borrow it once he had read through a bit.

The rules though, I have no idea about...whenever I GM an RPG, I just skip most of the rules and run things in a more story-based, freeform way. So that I can't vouch for...but even if they suck, the setting should make up for it :)

The new Paranoia XP (PXP) is a refreshing breeze for the game. Well written, obviously very thought out, without the problems of 5th edition. It's hard to give a review without comparing it to older editions, of course. Suffice to say that this might be the edition that brings Paranoia out of gaming limbo.

Everything is well thought out, from mutations to secret societies to the history and functioning of Alpha Complex. The increased use of personal computers, PDAs and the Internet is now reflected in PXP. The humor is present, but in measured doses, and there was (thank goodness) no attempt to go "over the top" with things. No acronyms simply to make funny acronyms, for instance. Character creation is notably different from previous editions (no stats for Strength, Intelligence, etc.), but now characters can improve themselves. With the addition of three play styles - Zap, Classic, and Straight - they may actually live long enough to do so! ("Straight" Paranoia, for instance, presumes a dark, gritty, realistic game, while Classic is 1st/2nd edition style, and Zap is simply "everyone shoots everything and each other".)

The downside? Well, the index isn't as helpful as you might think, and it's hard to find the chapter breaks. Several times when I wanted to look up a specific table or information, I ended up leafing through the book to find what I wanted.

Also, a mention on the artwork. Jim Holloway was the original Paranoia artist in 1984. He's been tapped again for PXP, and it appears his style has not evolved or improved in 20 years. Paranoia purists might enjoy it, but I was hoping for something a little more updated, more in keeping with the times. No, that doesn't mean I wanted a "manga" look, but there have been other Paranoia artists (Greg Guler, Valerie Valusek, Brian Schomburg, Sonya Obrochta, etc.) who might have been used. I've played Paranoia since 1st edition, and Holloway's artwork has not aged well. Unfortunately, the official word is that Holloway's art will continue to appear in PXP products.

Art and index issues aside, this is a good return to the series' roots. Old-school Paranoia fans should be pleased. I hope PXP will bring new fans into the fold as well.

Greg Costikyan may well be the best writer you never heard of. He has crafted gems of comedy, and is master of twisting the predictable on its ear. And then some.

Our young hero is born the son of a god, and carries a prediction that he will lead his people to a bright new future.

And he does. But not the way you would expect. Along the way we learn why dragons capture virgins, the long-term economic ramifications of giving a fraction of your kingdom to the hero who rescues your daughter, and one really amazing thing that can be done with a sharpened stick.

The humor flows naturally, never forced, from the situations and the characters, as this adventure unfolds. Costikyan is an excellent writer, who has labored for years in the obscurity of games writing, with occasional publications in some rather high-brow political policy magazines. (His political savvy only partially shows up in this book, for a better exposure to it, check out 'First Contract').

Highly Recommended.

I read this book after I read another day another dungen and loved it! I wish every teenager could fill the supence that this book holds! And read it because this man is a genuis!!!!

I like this book. It is about a boy-young man who used to be a Plains Indian but ran away to have many adventures, including funny ones, humilliating ones, and just plain tense, scary ones. I think you should read this book because it is just plain good.

I like this book. It is about a boy-young man who used to be a Plains Indian but ran away to have many adventures, including funny ones, humilliating ones, and just plain tense, scary ones. I think you should read this book because it is just plain good.

I first read this book in the library many years ago. I re-read it again & deceided to buy the book, but it saddens me to say this book is now out of print. From start to finish, its a non-stop interesting story. It about boy from a tribe following their common ritual quest to manhood. There are unexpected comrades & enemies that help come to his aid & jepordizes his quest. Finally, in the end he is unexpectedly greatly rewarded. Back then, I remembered that I couldn't wait for the next installment! I swear I thought this book was book one to a trilogy. I think Greg Costikyan is a great writer but he has very little works of art published. Those of you who wants to read a good old fashion fantasy, I think this will be a great book for you.

An excellent work both theory and analysis. Provides an insight about the math requirments for the Marketing Researcher. In certain areas it gives the basic ideas - pp 752,753 - Fig.13.1 Histogram and Frequency Polygon of Incomes of Families in Car Ownership study. The Preface states- this edition, is designed to avoid such extremes by providing the student with a thorough treatment of the important concepts, both simple and complex - This aspect is proved in every section of the book. Really it will help the student to develop their creativie and analytical marketing skills. A very good work.

This is the new edition of the book we used in the marketing research course at the Michigan Business School. It was great then and is even better now that they have tightened it up and slimmed it down a bit. It reads clearly, is focused, and doesn't pull any punches about the benefits, tradeoffs, and limitations of the various problems and methods involved in this subject.

Rather than focusing on decision support systems or marketing information systems, this book is focused on a project based approach. The authors help you recognize a problem, how to formulate it clearly, present it to decision makers for approval, designing the research to be done, data design and collection methods, they offer sample designs which is very helpful. They then do a fabulous job on data analysis and conclude by showing you how to present a proper research report.

There are several helpful appendices providing statistical values for those calculator based problems, but, really, who doesn't use a spreadsheet or SPSS or some similar package anymore?

There is also a glossary, a subject index, and an author index.

This is a standard text on the subject, and it is terrific.

This is a huge work of marketing research, both in terms of volume and importance. Although intended as a grounding in the foundations of market research, the book takes you further than that. As a result I was using it as a text at post-graduate level.

The book sets out to explain how to: Formulate your problem. Determine your research design. Design your collection method and forms. Design your sample and collect the data. Analyse and interpret the data. Prepare your research report.

It is then subdivided into sub sections. I was particularly impressed with the section on ethics, which was so clearly laid out that I used it as a guide when writing a pure ethics paper.

The book is amply supplied with examples and case studies to illustrate the text and make it useful in a more practical sense.

All in all a clear, accessible, well laid out and well indexed textbook.

This book is an excellent introduction and advanced resource for all those that wish to be a marketing research professional (or to those that just want to understand it). The authors present in-depth explanations of the field's theory populated with day-to-day examples.

I have read it attentively more than once and it was a very useful resource for two courses in my masters: 'Research methods in markets and in organizations' and 'Data Analysis in Marketing'. In both courses, the Professors were really weak, and I learned most of the topics thanks to the book. Some of the themes treated in the book are:

Part 1: Marketing Research, the Research Process, and Problem definition. Part 2: Determine Research Design. Part 3: Design Data-Collection Method and Forms. Part 4: Sample Design and Data Collection. Part 5: Analysis and Interpretation of Data. Part 6: The Research Report.

The book fits academic as well as industry readers and the content justifies the price.

Well, I would like to collet a set of the lone wolf series but I lack of Book 5,16,17,18,19,20. If anyone willing to sell PLEASE contant me at Epyon_13@yahoo.com.sg. Thank you

I've always enjoyed the Lone Wolf adventure book series. I own may, and am hoping to get a set to play the whole game from start to finish. If you have any doubles, or just plain don't want any, please e-mail me at Julius_98_98@yahoo.com thank you for your time to read my review.

"Shadow on the Sand," is a fun adventure overall. There are some exciting fight sequences and your adventure will take you from horseback, to ships, to flying in the air. This book should not be missed if you are a fan of Lone Wolf.

My only complaint about this book is the advertised "Super Edition: Including Two Adventures" on the cover of the book. There are "two adventures" in this book, but they are both considerably short. I remember getting to the end of the first adventure and thinking, "that's it? That's the end of the first adventure? How disappointing, I barely did anything." Up until now, every Lone Wolf book has had 350 numbered sections. This book has 400, and each adventure has 200 numbered sections. Therefore, each adventure is 150 numbered sections shorter than all the other adventures. It is noticeable, too, because each adventure is short and there is not a lot of freedom and choices to make.

While this book may be a "Super Edition," I think that had this been a "Super Edition: One 400 sections adventure!" would've been much better. This book still is fun, and necessary to read to finish off the first series. After this book is the Magnakai series, which is unbelievably fun!

Finally, Joe Dever has authorized the free distribution and licensing of his Lone Wolf series which are available online. This resource has the unabridged editions which makes it great. I will not give out the URL as part of the reviewers agreement but with a little searching you should be able to find it. However, I still prefer to read the paperback versions instead of an online version.

In Shadow on the Sand, YOU are Lone Wolf, and are adventuring to promote peace with the new Zakhan, namely Zakhan Kimah, but arrive in his town only to find that he is sided with the darklord Haakon! You must avoid capture or escape capture, depending how good you are, venture to the long-lost Tomb of the Majhan, resting place of the famed Book of the Magnakai! But don't expect a simple archeological dig and discovery, as the evil Haakon has plans for it, and you as well! Recover the great Magnakai artifact, and cause the downfall of the evil darklord!

Why can't every gaming book on magic and magical items be this good? All the rest are just stat blocks and creation rules for superfantasy nukes.

if you love dnd, you will love conan. the game is more violent, and you can still have hard core roleplaying too!!! it has a power point system for spells, and the type of spells are way differant than dnd, better. the game is set up to have no negative effects from game play by having a group of all soldiers or all scholars, the game is awesome like that holmes, buy it see you later G!

(and, frankly, PRE-Hyborian Age magic). "The Scrolls of Skelos" is, on its face, a magic rules supplement for Mongoose's "Conan the Role Playing Game" (Conan RPG); additionaly, the Scrolls are an ancient, dreaded grimoire mentioned in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, and this book describes those ancient scrolls (and others) in their game applications. The book adds several new paths of sorcery (an area about which I was unclear since I don't have the Conan RPG rules!), dazzling new feats, and descriptions of some of the greatest wizards and sorcerers of the Hyborian Age and the magic devices which help to make them so powerful. Ever wonder how to incorporate the Heart of Ahriman into a d20 campaign? "The Scrolls of Skelos" tells you how. Pictish magic, Acherontic magic, Stygian and Vendhyan magic -- it's all in here.

"The Scrolls of Skelos" is intended for use with the Conan RPG, but any good GM should be able to find plenty of inspiration in it for (mostly NPC) magic. Magic in the Hyborian Age is frequently tied to "evil" acts, and acts of mind-shattering cosmic horror, so the average good or neutral PC won't find much of use in "The Scrolls of Skelos," but sometimes it is necessary to "fight fire with fire" as Xaltotun learned in "The Hour of the Dragon" when the aforesaid "Heart of Ahriman" wound up in the hands of a *good* priest, and not a Stygian or Anacreontic necromancer. Conan fans will know whereof I speak.

I give "The Scrolls of Skelos" 5 stars and wish that I could afford the main rule book, too! (The revised one, please, not the one with all the typos!)

Civil war rages in Helgedad where your mortal enemies the Darklords struggle for control of the Black City. you have vowed to restore the Kai to their former glory and now seek the Lorestone of Varetta, a treasure that holds the power and wisdom of your warrior ancestors. You follow the path of the first Kai Grand Master, a path that takes you deep into hostile lands. But your quest is a race against time, for the Darklords will be hot on your heels as soon as they have crushed the unrest in their city. You must make haste! Choose your skills and weapons with care, the future of your country depends on it!

Me sorprende que otros lectores no encuentren a este libro al mismo nivel que el numero 2 o al 4. En mi opinion el mayor exito de Dever es la densidad del entorno y como te envuelve en el. Cosa que para mi consigue en este y en los otros dos mencionados.

"Kingdoms of Terror" is the best Lone Wolf book up to this point. It is the first adventure where you get to start learning Magnakai abilities. Most of these are just like previous skills you learned in the first five books, but with more abilities and different names. You can still use the original abilities and I once fought a monster in this book that said it was immune to "psi-surge" but not to "mind blast." This is the first book where you are able to use a bow.

This book really kicks the rest of the adventures off because you start to look for the lorestones that will help you unlock the power of the Grand Master kai warrior. As you progress through the magnakai books the abilities you have become stronger for each book, so choose wisely which skills you start with. Some of the neat aspects of the first book are expanded upon in the next few books. Truly a classic!

Adventurers must be careful, as I stumbled into a fair number of instant deaths! Good luck!

and I've bought several.

The simple, four panel screen gives you all the important charts you need as a Paranoia GM, and the glossy front of it is sure to inspire paranoia, as it's The Computer's ever-watchful eye surrounded by computerisms such as "Your actions have been logged." and "R&D wants you."

The companion mission blender is also a useful tool for times when GMs just don't want to bother thinking up another pointless suicide mission, and would much rather just roll one up. ;)

I'll keep this simple after all this is a review of a GM Screen.

Positive Traits
+ Sturdy!
This is one of the sturdiest GM Screens I've purchased in a while that is for use with a non-DnD game. Of course it should be, because with Paranoia more than any other game, the GM Screen goes hand in hand with keeping the players ignorant and fearful.

+ Well Layed Out!
This screen is nicely laid out, with all the right stuff printed inside for the GM to torme...er entertain his players. Some screens are too cluttered offering too much and making quick reference a chore. Such is not the case here.

+ Vertical Layout.
Personally I prefer in most circumstances a horizontal screen found most popularly in the current WotC offerings. A horizontal screen allows for a much less obstructed view for both sides. However in Paranoia, there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping your players in the dark. In fact, the bigger the screen the better, as all players are treasoness and need to be taught to keep their noses out of GM business! :P

+ Extra Booklet of Content!
All screens these days have them as the cover of this small collection of charts and forms will point out. This one is useful, and since Paranoia is just as easily played by the seat of your pants, having random charts for every aspect of the game is a welcome tool.

Negative Aspects
- Odd Arrangement of Player side. (Actually this is a positive as well!! Read on to find out why :D )
The player's side of the screen is simple, with a traditional large image of the Computer, reminding them that someone is always watching you. It does have a nice supply of phrases that fit in with the world printed around the image of the Computer, but they are arranged to read from one side of the screen to another probably making it sort of difficult for players to read them all and take inspiration from them.

(Wait...since the words are broken up quite frequently this can create confusion and discomfort amidst the players who attempt to read them. I guess in that sense it is entirely proper and it turns out my initial thoughts are wrong. There is nothing bad to be said about this product. The Computer is my friend.)

Shockingly entertaining screen package. The problem with screens in the past has always been a matter of making them worth the money - because cardboard is cheap and the screen generally just makes tables you already have a little more accessible. The vital ingredient in a screen is the extras - and here you get the essential tool for those PARANOIA sessions where you haven't prepared. Yes, of course you could just send the character out to round up a few Commies - but that can get old fast. So, with the Mission Blender, supplied with the screen, you can conjure up a far more imaginative and off-the-wall offering in the space of a dozen d20 rolls, and your players will never know you were totally unprepared. Excellent resource - with extra new forms too - well worth getting to enhance your PARANOIA gaming sessions.

A worthy upgrade for fans of classic 2d6 Traveller, although the book tends to be much more focused on rules and random generation than on providing information about the Traveller universe, especially compared to previous Traveller releases. This lack of setting shouldn't be a problem to those who are already familiar with the Traveller Imperium, and the openness invites those who are unfamiliar to create their own futuristic setting in the vein of Starship Troopers, Judge Dredd, Firefly, or Star Trek (the rules even include notes on alternate rules for different universe settings, including different types of FTL travel and variations on world generation). And though it may be lacking in the area of story material, the book includes all sorts of supplementary material that other, more financially focused publishers might withhold for further publication. The book contains everything you could possibly need to run your own campaign, from world creation and interstellar trade, to aliens and thorough random encounter tables (it really is possible to play a campaign with no premade material, and just randomly create settings and encounters). That said, Mongoose is releasing plenty of supplementary material in further books, which ought to provide the details about the Traveller setting that the core rule book lacks, as well as expanding player options (such as more detailed rules for playing aliens, as well as alternative career paths) and Referee tools (760 Patrons, for example).

As exemplified by its cover, and true to Traveller tradition, the book isn't flashy. It has simple, retro, grayscale illustrations, in addition to straightforward deckplans and an example sector map (I actually prefer the illustrative simplicity, although I've heard others complain). The focus is really on the rules, on their clarity and playability. A comprehensive index to the book gives it an on-the-fly advantage over "Thousand Suns" and "Serenity" (or at least over the version of "Serenity" that I have).

The randomness of character creation in Traveller has always been both a blessing and a curse. Players want to be able to create and play compelling characters, and the Traveller rules aren't always so friendly; a player may find his bright-eyed naval pilot wannabe, after failing to pass the Navy's entrance exams, quickly degrades to an aged drifter plagued with multiple enemies and a limited skill set. The new rules seem to be tackling the sense of uncontrollability in character generation, and the changes to the generation process are very compelling. Each term spent in a career will yield--in addition to somewhat random skills or characteristic improvements--events which are interesting but loosely defined, allowing the player to fashion the background and "feel" of the character, even if he or she can't control the nature of the events. Furthermore, a Connections Rule has been added which encourages (through the reward of precious skill points) PCs to know each other through the events in their backstories. And for added insurance, each character in a Traveller campaign gets to select a number of skills from a skill set related to the campaign's general theme, thus ensuring that a pilot or medic will be available despite a lack of such skills in their backstories, or, at worst, some redundancy of skills among the characters. The rules also accomodate a couple point based character generation systems, but they're not as fun.

The book's list price is somewhat expensive, but I was able to get it for about $25 after taking discounts and memberships into account at my local bookstore.

The flavour has returned to 'classic traveller'. Mongoose rules seem to take all the good stuff from the latest generation of games (d20, White Wolf etc) and elegantly blend them into the original traveller setting. The basic task system uses 2D6 and you make checks against a target number and add your skill and ability bonuses, so players from d20 and d6 etc will have no problem getting into this system. The skills system has been updated to include 'modern' concepts such as opposed checks, degrees of success, timeframes, chained/sequenced and teamwork checks.

Character creation allows for a broader range of backgrounds than CT and optional rules are also given for point based creation, instead of traveller career based creation. At first parse, all the original elements of the game are included in this book - including much material (eg. deckplans) that used to be in supplementary material.

The text is well layed out and the black and white artwork is first class. I can remember when GURPS traveller came out, I was generally pretty disappointed because it was basically just a conversion tool to bring your Traveller campaign over to GURPS Space rules, and the artwork let it down. However I still have the GURPS stuff because the library data (background fluff) by Loren K. Wiseman was excellent. Mongoose have left the Imperial fluff stuff to a minimum much like the original traveller book. To address this they have released a separate book for the Spinward Marches sector (the default traveller setting).

If you liked the classic hardcover Traveller Book, then you'll LOVE this because it is magnitudes better. As a generic SF rpg, I think its much better than GURPS Space, as well. It certainly got me thinking about starting up a 'hard-SF' campaign.

I loved the original Traveller. The little black box, the cryptic mayday message, the 3 little books inside...

This is so close to the original that you could dust off your old game or even download the many pdfs that are easily found on-line. Unfortunately, judging by the price of this hardcover and the prices of the supplements in the pipeline, you would probably be better off finding the original and playing that instead.

This new edition of Traveller is, quite frankly, much better than I expected. It manages to evoke the style and mechanics of the original edition while consolidating information and updating content to feel slightly less dated. The whole game seems designed first and foremost with the goal of being playable.

The book is well-bound and sturdy. The layout isn't fancy or flashy, just black and white with grayscale tables. The art is mainly black and white line illustrations. I might have hesitated to pick this up at the $40 it retails for at most game stores; that price is the result of the brutal pounds sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate (Mongoose is a British publisher). Incidentally, the Amazon price is the best one that I have found for this game, and brings the price point very much into line with other rpg core books.

As for the contents, they are well-written, nicely organized, and easy to read. The game starts with a very brief introduction to the Traveller setting and the dice conventions. Basically, you roll 2d6, add the level of any appropriate Skill and any positive or negative modifiers for a relevant attribute (Dexterity if shooting at someone, Intellect if trying to crack a computer code, for example) and try to roll an 8 or higher to succeed.

The next 43 pages cover character creation. Just as in the original Traveller, players roll their character's six core attributes (Str, Dex, End, Int, Education, and Social Status) and then choose from a wide variety of career paths (Agent, Army, Citizen, Drifter, Entertainer, Marines, Merchants, Navy, Nobility, Rogue, Scholar, or Scout). Each career path has three specialized sub-paths that players must choose from. For example, an Agent could be a law enforcement officer, an intelligence agent, or a corporate espionage person. You don't get to just choose your skills in the standard character creation system--you roll to gain entry to a career and must make survival and advancement rolls to continue in it. Fail and you get kicked out of that career, collecting benefits based on how many four-year terms you've served. Then it's off to try another career path. Once you've served 4 terms overall, you start making aging rolls, which start off pretty kind and get harsher the longer you serve. Most players will probably start with 4-6 terms, which generate either a decent range of average skills or a few excellent skills and some basic knowledge, depending on how well you roll.

The process is really a lot of fun--there are lots of events on the tables designed to spark creativity and help create both a backstory and ties to other characters. There's also a simple point-buy system if you prefer that approach.

The next twelve pages deal with skills, with examples of tasks for each skill at varying degrees of difficulty. Then you get nine pages on Combat, seventeen pages on Encounters and Dangers (lots more tables here in the old Traveller tradition), nineteen pages of Equipment (which covers a very good range of armor, weapons, vehicles, and other gear), and about 47 pages on designing and operating spacecraft, including game statistics and deck plans for 18 spacecraft common to the Traveller setting. This is followed by rules for Psionics, Trade, and basic World Creation.

It's a very complete package, with pretty much everything you need to play a game in the vein of Firefly or classic Imperial science fiction in one book. The rules for creating aliens aren't very sophisticated as presented in this volume, but you can do most of the humanoid style aliens you see on television shows. The random roll tables are actually quite thorough and often creative in the types of events they produce. Career events are nicely tailored to each general career path, for example. It's all clearly done with the goal of producing usable results/inspiration for gamemasters without requiring lots of planning or lengthy writeups for NPCs (spaceships may require a bit more, but there are plenty of premade designs to choose from).

There isn't a whole lot of background fluff on the Traveller setting, but the mechanics/equipment provided reflect the assumptions of the Traveller backdrop quite well. Being more generic actually makes it easier to adapt these rules to other settings. I particularly like how the descriptions of the technologies feel less dated than the original Traveller material (based in 1970s science fiction) but stay grounded and easily accessible to most consumers of contemporary cinematic science fiction, much less readers of more sophisticated written s.f.

Overall, this is a very nice set of core rules that pleasantly surprised me with its accessibility, clarity, and quality.

Paranoia is a great game but sometimes it takes a lot of work and creativity to really wrap the players in plots and world that is out to get them. This supplement does a lot of the heavy lifting by creating that world as well as giving your players a history to work with. I use this supplement with new players all the time and it never fails to amuse them and get them involved. For my experienced players, it gets their own imaginations rolling and helps them create their own rope to hang themselves.

I feel this supplement is like having an experienced gamemaster standing over your shoulder while you are setting your game up.

All I have to say is this: any book that devlopes a multi-page flowchart for randomly generating PC backstories deserves five stars. Keep 'em coming, guys.