Ascent to Anek-thor

Review by William Barton

Written by J. Andrew Keith
Gamelords, Ltd. 18616 Grosbeak Terrace, Gaithersburg, NID 29879
Released: 1984
Catalog No. 1987
Price $5.95
Complexity; intermediate
Solitaire Suitability: Low

Ascent to Anekthor is a Travellers adventure with an original setting-the slopes of the towering peak Anekthor on the planet Glenshiel in the Reavers' Deep star sector. In it, adventurers are hired to accompany the wealthy noble Lady Sandra Lockhart on an expedition to the never-before-reached summit of Anekthor, highest mountain on Glenshiel. Lady Sandra's attempt is part of a contest between her and two other adventurer-nobles to be the first to reach the top.

Player-characters must assist Lady Sandra and other non player-characters (NPCs) in her quest, braving treacherous mountain terrain, dangerous animals, bad weather, plus a couple unexpected challenges. Evidence of sabotage originating from somewhere in the party itself appears, and the expedition increasingly becomes aware of the presence of the Windstalker--a legendary Yeti-like beast many have claimed to have spotted on Anekthor.

Included in the book are several pregenerated characters with mountaineering skill; a map and detailed descriptions of the slopes of Anekthor, generated from the rules in Gamelords' The Mountain Environment adventure; event and animal encounter tables for the various terrain types of the mountain, with detailed descriptions and illustrations of several native creatures; a map and data on Glenshiel; library data; stats for important NPCs; and notes for the referee. in spite of a statement on the back to the contrary, The Mountain Environment is needed for some aspects of the adventure.

Overall, I find Ascent to Anekthor quite well-crafted as a Travellerg adventure, and certainly a welcome relief from a trek through space or fight-the-megacorpotation themes. The scenario displays fresh thinking in finding a new setting for Traveller adventure even though it was designed primarily as a companion to The Mountain Environment supplement. The challenge of the expedition, plus the mysteries of its subplots, can make for several exciting sessions of play.

I did have a bit of trouble with the organization of this module though. Quite often I found myself stopping in the middle of one section to jump to another to find out exactly what some aspect of the plot, mentioned in passing, was all about. This isn't too serious, though, as by the time the referee has read through the module, all is clear. And a detailed table of contents is very helpful in finding exactly the piece of information you need, even if it isn't always where you'd expect it or like to find it.

I found the adventure itself quite suspenseful, as well as extremely versatile. it has two subplots in addition to the main adventure. A referee can choose to run the scenario simply as a challenging climb to the summit of Anekthor, in competition with the two NPC groups. Or if his players enjoy combat situations, he can add in the sabotage subplot, with its logical conclusions. Or if they prefer a mystery, ther6 the enigma of the Windstalkers to solve. If the players like a variety of situations, both subplots can be added to the main adventure for a more complex game.

Ascent rates high on authenticity, too, since its environment and situations are derived directly from The Mountain Environment, which is quite well-researched. The mountain generation system in that supplement has been simplified for this adventure, however, because of the height of Anekthor itself Those who are sticklers for detail can use the supplement to add additional slopes if 149 possible areas aren't enough for them.

Because of its detail, authenticity, and originality, I feel confident in recommending Ascent to Anekthor to any referees who are looking for new vistas for adventure in their campaign. I look forward to more such innovative adventures from Gamelords and hope other producers of Traveller support products will follow their example in the future.

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