We have given a lot of thought to the concept of supplements to Traveller, and, I think, have evolved a quite nice scheme for their presentation. The seminar I held at Origins 78 on Traveller gave a lot of feedback on player attitudes toward supplements, both positive and negative, which helped to solidify my position.

To my mind, there are four basic types of supplements possible, each with a different appeal.

Supplements are things that players or referees themselves could do, if they wanted to and had the time. This concept includes list of characters or animal encounter lists, or pre-generated subsectors. The question is one of relative value; it may just be cheaper and more enjoyable to buy the supplement than to do the work yourself.

An example of this is Supplement 1, 1001 Characters, which we released at GenCon XI. It's meant for people who need a non-player character on the spur of the moment. Randomly select one from the book, and voila! Coming up soon (possibly by the end of the year) is Supplement 2, Animal Encounters, which provides a set of animal encounter tables for use in adventures.

Books are extensions of the basic three Traveller booklets. Each contain new rules and procedures for a specific area of human endeavor. Book 4, Mercenary, is an example, containing an expanded character generation system, more weapons and details on recruiting troops, fighting battles, and other aspects of armies for hire. Adventures fit somewhere in between. An adventure presents a great deal of information to the referee about a certain area or thing, as well as details, rumors, encounters, etc. which will allow the players to come upon and deal with this thing. The Traveller tournament at Origins 78 included draft material from Adventure 1, The Kinunir. It deals with a class of battlecruiser, and the many ways that ordinary adventurers can meet and deal with it.

Games are a wide-open category. They include any boardgame which is published for use with Traveller. Mayday is the perfect example, translating Traveller starship miniatures to a smaller, faster playing boardgame.

This general area of supplements also requires some consideration as to price, as they all have varying values to the players. In general, Supplements are priced at $3.98, Adventures at $4.98, and Books at $5.98. Games are priced depending on their contents and size.

Also of interest to Traveller players, Judges Guild has acquired a license to produce supplemental material for Traveller, and we are working to have some Traveller miniatures produced by a major miniatures company.

While at GenCon XI, we picked up John Edwards (the designer of Russian Campaign, War at Sea, Fortress Europa, etc.). Avalon Hill is apparently going to publish an American edition of FE, perhaps by next year. John tells me he has already revised the Australian edition of Russian Campaign, but that AH will probably not pick up the changes for their edition.

There is a lot of controversy about awards going on, but I must say, my opinion of TSR's Strategist's Club Awards soared last month when they voted Imperium as Best Game of 1977. Seriously, they have taken great steps to insure a broad base of voting, encouraging everyone who can to vote, and running ads in quite a few 'zines showing the ballot and how to express your opinion. That is quite a change from the Charles Roberts Awards which now depend pretty much on those who actually attend Origins.

At GenCon XI, we also had a demonstration game introducing System 7. Using a modified set of Fire and Steel rules, System 7 provides Napoleonic counters, with accurate frontages and printed in the appropriate uniform and facing colors, substituting for the miniature figures themselves. With a ground scale of 1" equalling 40 yards, a large scale (by miniatures standards) battle was fought in a reasonable area. Sets of System 7 counters will be released soon, each representing a mix of troop types from a specific nation. The first four sets will be French, Austrian, Russian, and a set of mixed German states that includes the entire Westphalian army.

Works in Progress: The following games are in various stages of design and development here at the Workshop.

Frank is working on TacForce (still), after just finishing up Mercenary. A little farther down the pike is ETO, a corps level game of the European Theatre of Operations, 1939- 45.

Rich is working on System 7, including future sets for release during 1979, and a revision /rewrite of Fire & Steel rules specifically for use with System 7. Marita-Merkur is also on his schedule, with publication currently planned for the turn of the year.

I have just finished 1942 and am now working on Double Star, a science-fiction game of warfare in a binary star system. In addition, I am putting together the Animal Encounter supplement for Traveller, and working on the manuscript for the Kinunir Adventure.

Joe Phalen is working on Outpost, a science-fiction game of Soviet-American combat on the moon, about 1990.

John Harshman is finishing work on Dave Williams' Russo-Polish War, and will then set to work on developing Lynn Willis' Bloodtree Rebellion.

One last thing I would like to mention are Counter Clips, which made their debut at GenCon XI, but so far no one seems to know about them. Tim Orisek (co-designer of The Iliad) has gone out and had a custom extrusion of magnetic plastic made which just fits the standard GDW size counters (the 1/2 inch size). Each clip holds one counter securely, without pasting or gluing, and still allows access to the back if it is backprinted. They can be stacked up to ten high, and work perfectly on a paper map placed on any (ferrous) metal sheet. The result is a great deal of insurance against disarray, plus improved handling of the counters. A box of 100 costs $6.00, from Orisek Industries, Box 52, Hinsdale, IL 60521. If you've been looking for a magnetic mounting system for counters and maps, I think this is probably your answer.