6 February 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net

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Detailed Unarmed Combat Stealth Suit

FEB 05, 2010 01:40P.M. FEB 05, 2010 01:40P.M.

It may seem anachronistic but even in a universe where high energy The stealth suit is designed to conceal its wearer from detection and
blasters and personal force fields are common features, there’s still a make him harder to hit if he is detected. It is made from crystal lattice
need for skilled hand-to-hand fighting techniques. Technology breaks fabric and incorporates sonic dampeners and a photo dispersive field.
down, runs out of power or can be confiscated. It might not work in
certain environments and when it does it, there are telltale signs which AV: 5
are obvious to all in the form of noise or light. As a result, ancient DV: 10
fighting techniques are still known and taught. Sometimes they are used Weight: 3 kg.
as a means to foster esprit de corps, build the body and sharpen the Bulk: 0.5
mind. In other cases they are the difference between life and death in an Cost: 3562$
unforgiving society.
Created by: Greg Videll
In order to take advantage of the rules presented here, a character must
have specialized in an Unarmed Combat Skill. It doesn’t matter whether
that specialization is in karate, judo or some wholly made up martial arts
form. It is good practice to characterize the Skill to some extent. For ROGUE FEED
example, a judo-like art will involve throws and blocks as opposed to one
consisting of strikes and kicks. Attempts to perform a move which is out Unarmed Combat and Dodging
of character with the art should carry a penalty of some sort since no one FEB 05, 2010 01:39P.M.
set of techniques is equally effective in all ways. There are always trade-
offs of some kind, many of which are dictated by the circumstances An unarmed combat attack can be dodged, using the Dodge Skill, or the
under which the art was developed. Unarmed Combat Skill. In both cases the degrees of success are
subtracted from the attacker’s degrees of success.
Once the general character of the art is understood, develop move
packages . . .

Created by: Greg Videll ROGUE FEED

Tangler Resistant Coating

FEB 05, 2010 01:36P.M.

In order to reduce the effectiveness of Tangler on armor and equipment,

a special purpose chemical coating was developed. The coating creates a
barrier on any surface it is applied to which reduces the Tangler
compound’s ability to adhere. In game terms, the coating subtracts three
degrees of success from any Test involving the use of Tangler. If no
successes remain, the Tangler fails to adhere to the target.

The coating takes some time to apply and at least a day to cure but will
last for three to five years depending on the actual environmental
conditions it is exposed to. It can also be rendered ineffective if damaged
by physical impact or exposure to high energy. The coating cannot be
used on “active” surfaces such as those incorporating LCD camouflage or
photo dispersive fields.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
Cost: +10% to the cost of the armor or equipment.
Created by: Greg Videll
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LCD Camo Mod
FEB 05, 2010 01:36P.M.
This is a variant of the paint-on LCD universal equipment mod but
specifically designed for use as camouflage on armor. This mod imparts a
TN-2 penalty to Tests when attempting to spot the armor wearer in the
visible light spectrum only. Note that damage to the surface of the armor
will degrade, if not destroy, the LCD matrix in the effected area.
Cost Modifier: +20%
Created by: Greg Videll
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Armor Tactical Computer
FEB 05, 2010 01:35P.M.
The ATC is designed to promote awareness of what’s going on around
the armor wearer via a helmet heads-up display. Its most basic function
is to provide a terrain map complete with waypoints and notable
geographic features (if there are any). It is also capable of tracking the
user’s movements in three dimensions. When linked to a
communications system, the ATC provides the location and identity of all
similarly equipped friendly forces within range and allows for the
exchange of images and data. Last, the computer will fuse data from
multiple sources to provide a composite picture of the battlefield.
Cost: 350$
Weight: 2kg.
Created by: Greg Videll
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6 February 2010
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Armor Mods
FEB 05, 2010 01:34P.M.
• Armor Tactical Computer
• LCD Camo Mod
• Tangler Resistant Coating
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Stunners
FEB 05, 2010 01:31P.M.
Stunners are a non-lethal form of energy weapon which were designed to
incapacitate their target by overloading the central nervous system. A
Shoot Test is used when firing a stunner. A person hit by a stunner beam
makes a Body Test to resist its effects. The number of successes earned
from the Body Test is subtracted from the successes from the Shoot Test.
Any remaining successes are deducted from the target’s Dexterity. If the
target’s Dexterity is reduced to zero, the person collapses. Any additional
successes after this point are totaled and compared to the character’s
Body Ability. If the total number of successes equals or exceeds the
characters Body, he is rendered unconscious. The effects of being
stunned last one Round for each degree of success the target is hit for.
Multiple hits in the same or subsequent Rounds have a cumulative effect.
Licensing requirements for stunners are commonly rather lax because of
their non-lethal nature although this can vary from place to place.
Stunners are ineffective against individuals wearing space suits or armor
which fully covers the entire body. Personal force fields also block
stunner fire. A TN-2 penalty to the Shoot Test is applied when the target
is only partially covered by armor. (This figure can be adjusted up or
down by the GM as the situation warrants). Additionally, the
effectiveness of a stunner may vary depending on the species or clade
involved.
Stunners are pistol sized weapons with a range value of 10m. They cost
around 800$ for single shot versions and 1100$ for fully automatic
models.
Created by: Greg Videll
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
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Quaddies
FEB 05, 2010 01:30P.M.
Quaddies are genetically engineered Terrans who were designed to fill
the role of zero-g workers prior to the advent of artificial gravity. The
most noticeable difference between them and baseline humans is that in
place of legs they have a second set of arms. This modification not only
provides additional hands with which to carry out tasks but also allows
them a finer degree of movement while doing so. As a side benefit,
Quaddies were also designed to be more resistant to radiation and suffer
less from zero-g related conditions such as calcium loss in their bones.
The downside of their “design” is that they are less mobile in a gravity
environment. Quaddies are capable of a kind of scuttling motion or
walking on just their lower appendages but are slower when doing so.
The invention of artificial gravity put the Quaddies in an awkward
position because virtually overnight it looked as though they were out of
the job they were created for. In response, the Quaddie community as a
whole made for the farthest reaches of the jump network hoping to carve
out a home for their kind. They were successful and today are in nominal
control of a group of systems which have been dubbed Quaddie-space.
Although Quaddies tend to be found near their home systems, it’s not
uncommon for them to be found across the Thousand Suns, mainly
working as zero-g riggers. While in a gravity field, most Quaddies use
personal floaters to get around more easily.
The Quaddie species package looks like this:
Two extra arms
No legs
+2 Acrobatics Skill
-2 to any movement related Skill while in gravity
Resistance to radiation, calcium loss and muscle shrinkage in an orbital
environment
Note: Quaddies are the invention of Lois Bujold. They feature in a
number of her books and stories, most notable among them being
Falling Free, which tells the story behind their creation. No challenge to
copyright is implied or intended.
Adapted by: Greg Videll
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6 February 2010
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Species
FEB 05, 2010 01:26P.M.
• Quaddies
• Tenkoot
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Stasis Field
FEB 05, 2010 11:55A.M.
Stasis field is the common term for an artificially created barrier which is
impervious to all known forms of matter and energy. In form, the field
always encloses a volume of space and has a contiguous exterior. There is
no known way to “leave a window open” in one. Anything contained
within a stasis field is entirely cut off from the surrounding universe.
Time stands still from the point of view of an outside observer. Also, the
inertial state of objects within are unaffected by external events. A field
can be subjected to acceleration and/or deceleration without its contents
being affected in the least. Interestingly, a stasis field will not work inside
of another stasis field, the contained field collapses automatically.
Despite its obvious utility, the stasis field’s practical applications remain
limited. Current science is unable to create a stable field much more than
one-third of a cubic meter in volume and even that requires a great deal
of power. (It would drain a standard power backpack in ten minutes).
They remain semi-custom devices which are built individually and
therefore tend to be rather expensive. Rumors persist that technology
yielding a larger stable field has been developed but this has yet to be
publicly confirmed.
Stasis fields are used in scientific research into the nature of space-time
and to contain hazardous, fragile and/or perishable objects.
Created by: Greg Videll
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
REVIEW: Advanced Edition
Companion
FEB 05, 2010 09:04A.M.
When I describe my earliest gaming days, I typically claim that I played
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons almost exclusively. After all, the books
and modules my friends and I were using had the AD&D logo on their
covers and we loved the depth provided by the reams of races, character
classes, monsters, spells, and magic items. Yet, if I were to be honest
about it, we weren’t playing AD&D at all, at least not according to the full
rules of the game. We ignored weapon proficiencies, segment-based
combat rounds, grappling/pummeling/overbearing, helmet rules, and a
host of other distinctive elements of AD&D. In truth, our games were
closer to Holmes or Moldvay, with lots of AD&D-derived options tacked
on. In speaking with many other players of my vintage, this seems to
have been a common experience.
That’s where Dan Proctor’s Advanced Edition Companion enters the
picture. Like its predecessor, Original Edition Characters, AEC is a
supplement to Goblinoid Games’s Labyrinth Lord, offering up optional
rules to emulate many of the distinctive elements of AD&D, but mated to
the elegant LL rules. Using AEC would thus be very close to recreating
the way my friends and I played “AD&D” back in the day, something
Proctor himself notes in his foreword: “the goal in writing the Advanced
Edition Companion (AEC) was to create an expansion of Labyrinth Lord
that is a natural evolution (with compatibility) of advanced first edition
but keeping the slick original game engine. I think you’ll agree that I’ve
succeeded. If you play using AEC you will be playing advanced first
edition rules as most people played them”
And succeed he has. AEC covers a wide range of topics within its 160
pages, presenting straightforward adaptation of AD&D distinctives for
use with Labyrinth Lord. So, you get expanded races and classes, along
with spells, monsters, and magic items — nearly everything you’d find in
AD&D — without most of the “fiddly bits” that most of us didn’t use
anyway. It’s all here, from gnomes to assassins to creeping doom and the
6 February 2010
demon prince Orcus. There are even plenty of inspiring tables (such as
random tavern patrons and random sounds), as well as discussions of
planar cosmology, potion mixing, and more. Reading through AEC, it
was very hard not to want to pick it all up and drop it into my
Dwimmermount campaign right away. Much as I’ve enjoyed the “purity”
of a more OD&D-inspired campaign, there will always be a part of me
that longs for the baroque diversity of Gygaxian AD&D and the Advanced
Edition Companion reminded me of this fact more than any other game
book I’ve read in recent years.
What’s most remarkable about this product is not its contents but that
the entire thing is open game content. That means anyone can use it to
create their own advanced-flavored products and I hope many people do
so. Heck, I’m tempted to do so myself. Goblinoid Games has helpfully
provided the complete text of the supplement (without artwork) for free
here, making it easy for anyone to create compatible and/or derivative
products of their own. I hate to gush about this, as it undermines what
little objectivity I might have on this subject, but I find it difficult to do
otherwise. AEC is a great gift to the old school community, particularly
publishers. That, in its outlines, it’s rather similar to my own idea for a
“D&D 0.75” probably says a lot about my own love of it.
The retail version of the Advanced Edition Companion is nicely
presented, looking very much like other recent Labyrinth Lord products.
The text is clear and readable and I didn’t notice any significant
typographical errors or editorial issues. The text is highlighted by many
black and white illustrations by Steve Zieser, Sean Aaberg, and Jeremy
Pea. Most of the artwork is superb, beginning with Zieser’s stunning
cover, although Aaberg’s illustrations of demons and devils are also
noteworthy for having won me over after initially disliking them. What I
most like about AEC’s artwork is that it’s all distinctive, harkening back
to the illustrations of the Golden Age without explicitly imitating them.
AEC, like Labyrinth Lord generally, manages to pay homage to the past
without feeling the need to ape it — a fine approach in my biased
opinion.
Advanced Edition Companion is available in three retail formats:
paperback ($22.95), hardcover ($32.95), and PDF ($5.95). This is one of
those rare products I’ll probably grab in hardcover at some point, in spite
of my distaste for Lulu.com. AEC is simply that good and I’d like to have
it in a format that’ll hold up to all the use to which I’m likely to put it,
both in play and in writing. I imagine I won’t be alone in this feeling.
Presentation: 7 out of 10
Creativity: 9 out of 10
Utility: 9 out of 10
Get This If: You want to add the depth and flavor of AD&D to your games
without all the additional complexity.
Don’t Get This If: You have no interest in the peculiar Gygaxian flavor of
AD&D.