To Challenge Tomorrow
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''To Challenge Tomorrow'' is a multi-genre role-playing game published by Ragnarok Enterprises in 1983 that can be adapted to any setting or time period. Reviews were mixed, with some reviewers saying there were some good concepts, while others found too many issues with the rules.


Description

''To Challenge Tomorrow'' is a universal system for historical, contemporary, or future settings. The rules are general, using a skill-based system, with skill scores heavily modified by a character's basic statistics. Character generation is done by distributing a pool of points between four main attributes, which then generates a number of secondary characteristics. Players complete the character by adding a number of skills from a long list. The
boxed set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
consists of three books: * "Past, Present & Future SF & Historical Rules" (32 pages), with rules for
character creation Character creation (also character generation / character design) is the process of defining a player character in a role-playing game. The result of character creation is a characterization, direct characterization that is recorded on a charac ...
, skills, psychic skills, and combat; * "Worlds of Adventure" (32 pages), which describes twelve time periods, from the 15th to the 30th century; "Adventures" (20 pages), which includes four miniscenarios.


Publication history

''To Challenge Tomorrow'' was designed by
Dave Nalle David F. Nalle (March 19, 1959 – February 13, 2021) was an American political writer, game author and type designer. He was active in the early history of the development of the internet. Nalle was at one time Chairman of the Republican Liberty ...
, and published by Ragnarok Enterprises in 1983 as a
digest-sized Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...
box containing three booklets and a sample
character sheet A character sheet is a record of a player character in a role-playing game, including whatever details, notes, game statistics, and background information a player would need during a play session. Character sheets can be found in use in both ...
. Ragnarok also published a number of supplements: * ''Worlds of Adventure'' (1983): Generic setting material for a science-fiction setting. * ''Triad: Expansion One'' (1984): Far-future setting material and three scenarios. * '' London by Night: Adventure in a Victorian City'' (1984): Historical and geographical information about Victorian London, literary sources that can be used by the gamamster, and four scenarios involving politics, the occult and investigations. Over the next ten years, Ragnarok published four editions of ''To Challenge Tomorrow''.


Reception

In the Special Edition #2 of ''
Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...
'' (1983), Jerry Epperson commented that "It is best suited to those who are looking for a simple, realistic, and quick RPG system that can expand to the limits of the imagination. It will be a tough act to follow." In the January–February 1985 edition of ''
Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...
'' (No. 72), William Barton commented that "if you can look beyond its production limitations, I think you'll find ''To Challenge Tomorrow'' a worthwhile purchase, even if for nothing else than several good gaming concepts.". In the January–February 1985 edition of ''
Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
'' (Issue #38), Matt Stevens outlined issues with several parts of the rules, commenting, ""The basic rules are probably the most important section of all, so it is pretty hard for me to recommend a game when the rules are terrible." Stevens concluded by giving it a below-average rating of 1.5 stars out of 4, saying, "While it seems that a lot of effort was put into this game, and while it does have a lot of original features, I can't really recommend it. It's unfortunate because I think this could have really worked." In his 1990 book ''
The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' is a book written by Rick Swan and published by St. Martin's Press in 1990 that explains role-playing games and provides reviews of those that were on the market at the time. Contents ''The Complete G ...
'', game critic
Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin' ...
called this "a fairly successful example of a generic game." Swan thought designer Dave Nalle had been "perhaps a little too ambitious ... utit's a nice effort, with some good ideas and a lot of potential." Swan found the four included scenarios "underdeveloped and graphically weak (the maps, for instance, are tough to read) — problems that plague the entire project." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying the game "boasts attractively simple rules, an admirable amount of research, and one of the best skill systems I've ever seen. But it suffers from inadequate packaging and too many ideas crammed into too little space."


References

{{reflist Ragnarok Enterprises games Role-playing games introduced in 1983 Universal role-playing games