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Universe (role-playing Game)
Universe: The Role-Playing Game of the Future is a science fiction role-playing game published by Simulation Publications, Inc (SPI) from 1981 to 1983. It was praised for its innovative and tightly organized rules for such sci-fi RPG concerns as generating planets, applying character skills to in-game situations, and resolving the initial moments of alien encounters; however, it was also criticized for its cumbersome encounter/combat system and its lack of compelling background material. ''Universe'' was also noted for its "striking" Interstellar Display, a poster-sized, astronomically accurate map of all stars within 30 light-years of Earth. ''Universe'' was SPI's answer to Game Designers Workshop's award-winning ''Traveller'' sci-fi RPG. ''Universe'' co-developer Gerry Klug (who was an experienced ''Traveller'' referee) set out "to 'fix' all the ill written and illogical rules efelt had been perpetrated on the science fiction role-playing community". The first edition of ''U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Klug
Gerard Christopher Klug is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Trained as a theatrical lighting designer, Gerry (Chris) Klug worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, opera, and toured with various 1970s rock bands. He won two New Jersey Critic's Circle Awards for lighting designs at the New Jersey Theater Forum. Klug then began writing adventures for Simulations Publications's line of role-playing games. He assisted with the design of ''Universe'', ''Horror Hotel'', ''Damocles Mission'', and the second edition of ''DragonQuest''. Klug and Robert Kern had first talked about publishing an espionage role-playing game while working as designers at SPI; after SPI was purchased by TSR in 1982, eight SPI employees quit and Avalon Hill hired them to form a subsidiary called Victory Games. Klug began working on his espionage design again, which would have been called "License to Kill", but when Victory Games decided to pay for a Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percentile Dice
Dice notation (also known as dice algebra, common dice notation, RPG dice notation, and several other titles) is a system to represent different combinations of dice in wargames and tabletop role-playing games using simple algebra-like notation such as 2d6+12. Standard notation In most tabletop role-playing games, die rolls required by the system are given in the form AdX. ''A'' and ''X'' are variables, separated by the letter ''d'', which stands for ''die'' or ''dice''. The letter ''d'' is most commonly lower-case, but some forms of notation use upper-case ''D'' (non-English texts can use the equivalent form of the first letter of the given language's word for "dice", but also often use the English "d"). *''A'' is the number of dice to be rolled (usually omitted if 1). *''X'' is the number of faces of each dice. For example, if a game calls for a roll of d4 or 1d4, it means "roll one 4-sided die." If the final number is omitted, it is typically assumed to be a six, but in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR (company)
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxed Set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands with an extremely long and successful career often have anthology or "essential" collections of their boxes of music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks. Some box sets collect previously released boxes of singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist such as Pink Floyd's '' Oh, by the Way'' and '' Discovery'' sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums such as Pink Floyd's ''Immersion'' box set versions of their '' The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), '' Wish You Were Here'' (1975) and ''The Wall'' (1979) albums. Pink Floyd have also released '' The Early Years 1965–1972'' box set which features mostly unreleased ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DragonQuest
''Dragonquest'' is a science fantasy novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the sequel to '' Dragonflight'', set seven years later and the second book in the '' Dragonriders of Pern'' series. ''Dragonquest'' was first published by Ballantine Books in May 1971. Origins According to her son Todd, McCaffrey's agent Virginia Kidd and editor Betty Ballantine provided crucial advice and assistance in her struggle with the sequel to ''Dragonflight''. After the agent first read a draft, the author followed her advice to "burn it", and she met with the editor in long sessions. It was near completion before she emigrated to Ireland in September 1970, with her two younger children Todd and Georgeanne, one month after divorcing her husband. She finished it soon after the move. Plot summary As it opens, tensions are rising between the Oldtimers, those dragonriders who came forward in time 400 turns (Pernese years) to help the undermanned contemporary dragonriders prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ares (magazine)
''Ares'' was an American science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a wargame, complete with a foldout stiff paper map, a set of cardboard counters, and the rules. Publication history Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) began publishing ''Ares'' in 1980 as a science-fiction companion to '' Strategy & Tactics''.''Ares'' magazine was similar to ''Strategy & Tactics'', with a game every issue, but it focused on science-fiction and fantasy. SPI suffered financial problems and went into debt, and TSR bought the company and its assets in 1982. Shannon Appelcine stated that "TSR did very little with SPI's roleplaying games. ''Ares Magazine'' #12 (1982), which was prepared by SPI and published by TSR, included a game called 'Star Traders,' which was for use with ''Universe''; it was the last support for that game system ..As TSR turned further away ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hit Point
Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the form of hit points (HP), a numerical attribute representing the health of a character or object. The game character can be a player character, a boss, or a mob. Health can also be attributed to destructible elements of the game environment or inanimate objects such as vehicles and their individual parts. In video games, health is often represented by visual elements such as a numerical fraction, a health bar or a series of small icons, though it may also be represented acoustically, such as through a character's heartbeat. Mechanics In video games, as in tabletop role-playing games, an object usually loses health as a result of being attacked. Protection points or armor help them to reduce the damage taken. Characters acting as tanks usuall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Close Combat
Close combat means a violent physical confrontation between two or more opponents at short range.''MCRP 3-02B: Close Combat'', Washington, D.C.: Department Of The Navy, Headquarters United States Marine Corps, 12 February 1999Matthews, Phil, CQB Services, retrieved 29 July 2011: At his Specialist Close Combat Course, combat instructor Capt. William E. Fairbairn defined close combat as "fighting an enemy hand to hand or within 20 yards range.” Armed and unarmed confrontations Among many types of fighting encompassed by the general term ''close combat'' are the modern terms ''hand-to-hand combat'' (HTH) and ''close-quarters combat'' (CQC). Close combat occurs when opposing military forces engage in restricted areas, an environment frequently encountered in urban warfare. Military small unit tactics traditionally regarded as forms of close combat include fighting with hand-held or hand-thrown weapons such as swords, knives, axes, or tools. In modern times, (since World War II), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Initiative (role-playing Games)
In most tabletop role-playing games (RPGs), an initiative system determines in which order player characters and non-player characters take their actions, to avoid confusion on when a character gets to act. These derive from RPGs roots in tabletop wargaming, where similar systems are used. Rules for initiative vary from game to game, but often follow one of a few common methods: * Statistic-based: The most common method, used by games like '' Dungeons & Dragons'' and '' Fate'' is for each character to be assigned an initiative number based on a relevant attribute plus a random factor, and for people to act in that order. Some games determine initiative order once, some once per round. * Taking turns in groups: In some games, such as '' Tunnels & Trolls'', each faction takes its turn to act, and it is entirely up to the side acting who acts in which order for that side. * Shot clock: '' Feng Shui'' and '' Arcanis'' both use a shot clock. Each round is divided into segments or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hex Map
A hex map, hex board, or hex grid is a game board design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into a hexagonal tiling, small regular hexagons of identical size. Advantages and disadvantages The primary advantage of a hex map over a traditional square grid map is that the distance between the center of each and every pair of adjacent hex cells (or ''hex'') is the same. By comparison, in a square grid map, the distance from the center of each square cell to the center of the four diagonal adjacent cells it shares a corner with is times that of the distance to the center of the four adjacent cells it shares an edge with. This equidistant property of all adjacent hexes is desirable for games in which the measurement of movement is a factor. The other advantage is the fact that neighbouring cells always share edges; there are no two cells with contact at only a point. One disadvantage of a hex map is that hexes have adjacent cells in only six directions i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, mobility, protection or security, and shock action. Tactics are a separate function from command and control and logistics. In contemporary military science, tactics are the lowest of three levels of warfighting, the higher levels being the strategic and operational levels. Throughout history, there has been a shifting balance between the four tactical functions, generally based on the application of military technology, which has led to one or more of the tactical functions being dominant for a period of time, usually accompanied by the dominance of an associated fighting arm deployed on the battlefield, such as infantry, artillery, cavalry or tanks. Tactical functions Kinetic or firepower Beginning with the use of melee and missile weapons such as clubs and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
