The Mountain Environment

Review by William A. Barton

Designed by J Andrew Keith
Gamelords, Ltd. 18616 Grosbeak Terrace, Gaithersburg, MD 20879
Released: 1983
Catalog No: 1986
Price: $5.95
Complexity: Intermediate
Solitaire Suitability: Intermediate

The Mountain Environment is the second in Gamelords series of environment supplements approved for use with GM Traveller science fiction role-playing game. Not only is it one of the best supplements yet published by anyone for Traveller, but The Mountain Environment is also an excellent gaming aid for Gamemasters of any role-playing game (RPG) who wish an accurate, yet simply and clearly presented reference for generating alpine adventures.

Designer Keith has managed to pack into one 6" x 9", 48-page booklet everything any gamer could possibly need to know about adventuring in mountainous areas of earth or any other world. The supplement introduces a new cascade skill to Traveller-Mountaineering, which is further sub-divided into Mixed Climbing, Rock Climbing, and Ice Climbing with descriptions of each. it also covers, among its new rules, movement rates in mountainous territory; different types of accidents and equipment failures that might plague climbers; endurance losses at various altitudes; and the handling of vehicles, particularly air craft, in the mountains.

A section on equipment for use in mountain environments includes such handy items as pitons, hoists, grapnels, and various types of cold weather clothing. Referee sections provide rules on generating mountain terrain from the different types of slopes and cliff faces to the air pressure and weather types to be found at increasing altitudes; various encounters and events mountain climbers might face; and several brief adventure ideas, along with a sample pregenerated mountain for quick use by a referee in a hurry

The rules and descriptions of The Mountain Environment allow a referee to find any item he might need quickly and painlessly with a minimum of page shuffling. The table of contents helps in this, though an index would have been nice, too. In spite of its Traveller bias, the supplement is so well-written that a Gamemaster familiar with any other system should have very little trouble with conversions.

For example, I found The Mountain Environment a godsend for use in a Call of Cthulhu adventure I devised. Although I can't claim any personal mountaineering experience to use as a yardstick, the supplement appears as accurate and as faithful to its subject as anyone could possibly want in a gaming aid.

Since the demise of the FASA Corporation's line, Gamelords has been the company to watch for excellent supplements for Traveller, and The Mountain Environment bears this out. Only the fact that its uses are limited to a handful of scenarios in mountainous territory prevents me from giving this supplement the highest of possible ratings. Even so, if you're a Gamemaster who has even the slightest inclination to run an adventure for any RPG in a mountainous environment, I highly recommend The Mountain Environment as the almost perfect answer to any questions you might have on how to go about such a task.

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