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ENCOUNTER CHANCE: Check once per watch. The time at which an encounter takes place during the watch can be determined randomly (see Watches).

BORDER ENCOUNTERS: % chance in a hex bordering on a different region of rolling on that region’s encounter tables.

EXPLORATION ENCOUNTERS

Exploration encounters only occur during watches in which the characters are traveling or otherwise exploring the area. They do not occur during watches in which the characters are resting or otherwise stationary.

LOCATION: This exploration encounter indicates that the characters have encountered a keyed location within the hex. Most hexes have only a single keyed location. For hexes with multiple keyed encounters, determine the location encountered randomly. (Some locations may have occurrence probabilities.)

On Road/River/Trail: The location is on a road, river, or trail. Parties traveling along the road, river, or trail will automatically encounter the location. Parties not on the road, river, or trail will usually not encounter the location.

Visible: The location is large enough or tall enough to be seen anywhere within the hex. Parties entering the hex automatically spot the location. (If a distance in hexes is given, then the location can be seen from that many hexes away.)

Hidden: The location is difficult to spot. When this encounter is generated, make a second encounter check. If an encounter is not indicated, the location has not actually been found. (If the party is in exploration mode, make the second check twice.)

% LAIR: The percentage listed is the chance that the creature is encountered in their lair. If the creature is encountered in their lair, the encounter is considered an exploration encounter.

Note: This check functionally generates a new location for the current hex (the lair of the indicated creature type). Over time and thru play, this encounter system will continue to add new content to your hex key (helping to fill the vast, howling emptiness of a typical hex).

% TRACKS: The percentage listed is the chance that the creature’s tracks are found (not the creature itself). Tracks are only found as an exploration encounter. Characters must make a Survival check at the appropriate DC to notice the tracks. Tracks are usually 1d10 days old. DMs can determine where the tracks lead (although they’ll usually circle back to the creature’s lair in both directions).

Note: Check to see if the encounter is tracks. If it is not, then check to see if it’s a lair. If it is not, then it’s a wandering encounter. Notice that these additional checks will substantially reduce the odds of a night time encounter (when the party is not on the move).

SAMPLE ENCOUNTER TABLE

Encounter Check: 1 in 1d8

Border Encounters: 50%

Encounter Type (1d20):

1-10: LOCATION

11-20: OTHER

Note: I indicate hexes which are already keyed as potential lairs for this creature type. This can inform the nature of wandering encounters and/or suggest a potential origin/terminus for tracks.

Go to Part 5: Spot Distances

This material is covered by the Open Game License.

Tagline: This is a beautiful book which some will find useful but which all should find wonderful.

The Making of a Universe: Heavy Gear Design Works is something which has never been done in the roleplaying industry: A peek behind the wizard’s curtain. Fans of speculative fiction have seen this type of thing before – the worlds of Middle Earth, Pern, and the Wheel of Time (among others) have all been subjected to visual tours, atlases, and looks at the “research materials” their creators produced before sitting down to write their stories.

What makes Heavy Gear unique, however, is that the universe was conceived as a whole. It was not produced so that a story could be set in it, but rather as a product which could stand on its own. Its creation was a collaboration, combining not only the written word but also the visual elements of the world in an organic whole (unlike Middle Earth, Pern, and the Wheel of Time wherein artists would come in after the author finished and conceive visually off of a finished concept). The result has been widely touted as one of the most original and creative settings ever designed – not just for roleplaying games, but period. And, in my opinion, the world of Heavy Gear deserves every one of those kudos.

And The Making of a Universe gives us a look at the design process which led to the creation of this wondrous place. That’s a pretty cool concept.

Indeed, this book lives up to it. It’s cool. Despite its half-size format (which has since been abandoned by Dream Pod 9 after the complaints associated with Crisis of Faith) The Making of a Universe is a visual tour-de-force showing in great detail the gradual development of the style, the Gears, the tech, the culture, the architecture, the creatures, the characters, and an entire living world. It’s breathtaking.

So that’s what this book is – a wonderful guided tour of how a universe was made (check out the title!); so what is it not?

The Making of a Universe is not a roleplaying supplement. It was not designed to be useful to a roleplaying session in the same way which a sourcebook or a campaign book would be. It treats the Heavy Gear universe as being separate from the roleplaying or tactical games – as something with a legitimate existence outside of “gaming”. It does so deservedly, but this has lead to some confusion over this product. Understand that if you are looking for something which would be useful for your gaming experience this book is probably not going to be your best buy. If you love the Heavy Gear universe as much or more than you love the actual game (and I know this statement applies to a lot of Heavy Gear players), then you’ll love The Making of a Universe. Buy this book.

Before closing, let me say that The Making of a Universe isn’t entirely worthless as a resource. In much the same way which the Illustrated Guide to Pern would be useful in running a Pern game, so The Making of a Universe is useful to a game set in the Heavy Gear universe. For example the Gear Showcase groups together a lot of information which I occasionally use as an uber-resource in referencing the broad spectrum of Gear technology (similar sections exist for ground and air vehicles). The section which shows detailed, isolated pictures of weapons, sensors, and other technical equipment has proven to be ocassionally useful in the extreme. So this book isn’t useless for such applications – that’s just not what it’s primary goal is and it shouldn’t be judged as a roleplaying resource.

Style: 5
Substance: 5

Author: Dream Pod 9
Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9
Page Count: 112
ISBN: 1-896776-31-0

Originally Posted: 1999/04/13

In many ways, this is a book without a clear identity. (And, as my review tried to explain, that’s more than okay.) But that lack of a clear identity also posed a challenge for me in reviewing it. I remember struggling mightily with that challenge. And, in retrospect, it’s a challenge that I ultimately didn’t conquer.

Still a good book to check out if you’re a Heavy Gear fan, though.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Go to Part 1

In general, you can either navigate through the wilderness by landmark or you can navigate by compass direction.

NAVIGATING BY LANDMARK

Generally speaking, it’s trivial to follow a road, river, or any other natural feature of the terrain. It’s similarly easy to head towards any visible landmark. The landmark or terrain feature will determine the route of travel and there’s no chance of becoming lost, so you can simply track the number of miles traveled.

IDENTIFYING LANDMARKS: If the PCs are unsure of a landmark but have had previous experience with it, it may be possible to identify it with a Survival check at the DM’s discretion. The accuracy and detail of the identification will depend on prior experience.

Example: A ranger is passing through the woods when they encounter a river. If it’s a river they’ve walked up and down before, the Survival check might let them confirm that it is, in fact, the Mirthwindle. If they’re less familiar with the region, the check might tell them that this is probably the same river they crossed earlier in the day – it must be taking a southerly bend. If this is the first time they’ve ever seen this river, the Survival check won’t tell them much more than “this is a river”.

NAVIGATING BY COMPASS DIRECTION

Characters trying to move in a specific direction through the wilderness must make a navigation check using their Survival skill once per watch to avoid becoming lost.

A character with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge (local) pertaining to the area being traveled through gains a +2 synergy bonus on this check.

BECOMING LOST: Characters who fail the navigation check become lost and veer away from their intended direction of travel, as indicated by a 1d10 roll on the diagram below. When lost characters exit a hex, they will exit through the face of the hex indicated by the die roll.

Note: Characters who are lost remain lost. In the new hex neither their intended direction of travel nor their veer will change.

If characters who are already lost fail another navigation check, their veer can increase but not decrease.

Example: A lost party is already veering to the left when they fail another Navigation check. A roll of 1-4 on 1d10 would cause them to exit two hex faces to the left of their intended direction, but any other result would not change their veer at all.

ALTERNATIVE VEERS:

Absolute Degree: Roll (1d10 – 1d10) x 10 to determine the number of degrees off-course.

Compass Direction: Roll 1d10 and consult the diagram below. (The blue arrow indicates the intended direction of travel.)

USING A COMPASS: Compasses grant a +2 bonus to navigation checks. In addition, they automatically eliminate veer at hex borders even if the user doesn’t recognize that they were lost. (Even if you don’t recognize that you ended up off course, the compass constantly reorients you towards your intended direction of travel.)

LOST CHARACTERS

Recognizing That You’re Lost: Once per watch, a lost character can attempt a Survival check against the Navigation DC of the terrain to recognize that they are no longer certain of their direction of travel.

Characters who encounter a clear landmark or unexpectedly enter a distinctly new type of terrain can make an additional Survival check to realize that they’ve become lost.

Note: Some circumstances may make it obvious to the characters that they have become lost without requiring any check.

Reorienting: A character who realizes that they’ve become lost has several options for re-orienting themselves.

Backtracking: A lost character can follow their own tracks (see Tracking, below). While tracking allows them to retrace their steps, they must still recognize the point at which they went off-track. If a character is successfully backtracking, they may make a Survival check each watch (using the Navigation DC of the terrain). If the check is successful, they’ll correctly recognize whether they were previously on-track or off-track. If the check is a failure, they have a 75% chance of reaching the wrong conclusion.

Compass Direction: It requires a Survival check (DC 12) to determine true north without a compass or similar device. On a failed check, randomly determine the direction the character thinks is true north.

Setting a New Course: A lost character can attempt to precisely determine the direction they should be traveling in order to reach their desired objective by making a Survival check (Navigation DC of the terrain + 10). If the character fails the check, they immediately become lost. Determine their direction of travel like any other lost character.

Conflicting Directions: If several characters in a single party all attempt to determine the correct direction of travel, make their Survival checks secretly. Tell the players whose characters succeeded the correct direction in which to travel, and tell the other characters a random direction they think is right.

FINDING LOCATIONS

The difficulty and complexity of finding a specific location within the wilderness varies depending on the character’s familiarity and approach.

VISIBLE LOCATIONS: As described under Exploration Encounters, some locations are visible from a great distance. Characters within the same hex as the visible location (or within a certain number of hexes, as indicated by the key) automatically spot a visible location.

ON ROAD: If a location is on a road, river, or similar trail, then a character following the road, river, or trail will automatically find the location. (Assuming it isn’t hidden, of course.)

FAMILIAR LOCATIONS: Familiar locations are those which a character has visited multiple times. Characters within the same hex as a familiar location can be assumed to automatically find the location. (Within the abstraction of the hexmapping system, they’ve demonstrated sufficiently accurate navigation.) Under certain circumstances, characters may also be considered “familiar” with a location even if they’ve never been there. (Possibilities include possessing highly accurate topographic maps, receiving divine visions, or using certain types of divinatory magic.)

Note: If characters are flailing about in their efforts to find a familiar location – by repeatedly “missing the hex”, for example – the DM can decide to treat the location as being unfamiliar until they find some way to reorient themselves.

UNFAMILIAR LOCATIONS: Unfamiliar locations (even those a character has been to previously) are found using encounter checks.

Characters spending time to specifically search a particular area enter exploration mode. They make no progress towards exiting their current hex, but the DM continues making the necessary encounter checks (to represent the result of their search).

If the party is looking for something specific that they suspect might be in the area, the DM may allow a third check each watch for that location and only that location. (Any other encounter indicated is ignored. Obviously if the location they’re looking for isn’t in the current hex you can skip this check – they are, after all, looking in the wrong place.)

Note: The extra check represents their ability to narrow their search based on the information they have available. If they don’t have enough information to narrow the search, don’t make the extra encounter check. Alternatively, if they’re somewhat familiar with a location the extra encounter check may be employed and any success used to indicate to them that they’re not in the right area.

Go to Part 4: Encounter Tables

This material is covered by the Open Game License.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a novel written using the English language. It was written by J.K. Rowling, who has also written several other novels.

As far as the novel goes, it has a nice cover featuring a picture of Harry Potter on a broom. It wraps-around fully and even goes onto the inside flaps. It’s rather whimsical and is one of the reasons that I bought the book. The book is a 6″ x 9″ hardcover with a glue binding. The type is very legible in 12-point Adobe Garamond. The interior art is all pencil drawn and of decent quality. I have seen better in other books, but it’s not bad. The margins are fairly large and the type is widely spaced. I did not notice any problems with proofreading.

On the contents. The inside covers are blank and navy blue in color. The first page contains the title, then there’s another page with title, author, and illustrator. The third page contains the copyright notice followed by a table of contents. There are seventeen chapters.

On page 9, the action starts. Harry Potter is a young boy who has been orphaned. This goes on for 17 pages, then we skip ahead a decade or so. Things proceed in a linear narrative from that point forward.

At the end of the book, there’s a couple pages detailing the type font and various other credits.

Overall, the novel was quite good. The format is a bit worn (young hero does heroic stuff), but there is a good mix of mystery and magic to offset this. It is supposed to be the first in a series of novels focused on Harry Potter, so the characters should see some much-needed development in the future.

I recommend this novel and await the next installment.

Go to Part 1

HEXES

1 Hex = 12 miles (center to center/side to side) = 7 mile sides = 124 square miles

WATCHES

A watch is the basic unit for tracking time. A watch is equal to 4 hours.

Determine Time Within a Watch: To randomly generate a particular time within a watch, use 1d8 to determine the half hour and 1d30 to determine the exact minute (if necessary).

SPEED AND DISTANCE

Consult the table for movement per hour, per watch (4 hours), or per day (8 hours).

Hustle: A character can hustle for 1 hour. Hustling for a second hour between sleep cycles deals 1 point of nonlethal damage, and each additional hour deals twice the damage taken during the previous hour of hustling. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from hustling becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

Mounts: Mounts carrying riders at a hustle suffer lethal damage instead of nonlethal damage.

March: A character can march at walking speed for 8 hours between sleep cycles.

Forced March: For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a character must make a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour). If the check fails, the characters takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

Mounts: Mounts carrying riders in a forced march automatically fail their Constitution checks and suffer lethal damage instead of nonlethal damage.

MODES OF TRAVEL

Normal: No modifiers.

Hustling: Characters are assumed to be moving quickly in any watch during which they hustle. Navigation DCs increase by +4 while hustling.

Tip: For each hour that characters hustle during a watch, you can simply add their movement per hour to their total movement for that watch.

Cautiously: While moving cautiously, characters are purposely being careful. Movement is made at 3/4 normal speed. The chance for any non-exploratory encounter is halved. (If a non-exploratory encounter is generated, there is a 50% chance it doesn’t actually happen.) Navigation DCs are reduced by -4 while moving cautiously.

Exploring: While exploring, characters are assumed to be trying out side trails, examining objects of interest, and so forth. Movement is made at 1/2 normal speed. The chance for encounters is doubled.

Note: It is possible to move cautiously while exploring. Apply all rules for both modes of travel (including both movement modifiers).

Foraging: While foraging, characters move at 1/2 normal speed but can make a Survival check once per day. On a successful check, the character has gathered enough food and water for one day. They can provide food or water for one additional character for every 2 points by which the check result exceeds the DC. The DC is determined by the terrain type.

TERRAIN

The type of terrain modifies the speed at which the character can travel.

• Highway: A highway is a straight, major, paved road.
• Road: A road is a dirt track or similar causeway.
• Trail: A trail is like a road, but allows only single-file travel. A trail in poor repair requires a DC 12 navigation check to follow.
• Trackless: Trackless terrain is a wild area with no paths. +2 to Navigation DCs.

CONDITIONS

Poor visibility also increases the DC of navigation checks by +4 and forage checks by +2.

OPTIONAL RULE: ACTUAL DISTANCE TRAVELED

The distance cited on the tables is the average distance traveled. The actual distance traveled is 50% to 150% (2d6+3 times 10%) of that distance.

Characters can ascertain the actual distance traveled with a successful Survival check made at the Navigation DC of the terrain. On a failure, they assume the average value of the distance traveled.

Note: The purpose of this rule is to make accurate mapping more difficult. (You could actually adapt a similar rule to dungeon exploration in order to make accurate mapping of the dungeon environment more difficult, although the resolution time involved might be prohibitive.) Take 10 is an option, so experienced explorers will never have any problem accurately gauging how far they’ve traveled.

TRACKING HEXES

Movement on the wilderness hex grid is abstracted. In order to determine if a party has left a hex, you must keep track of their progress within the hex.

Starting in a Hex: If a character starts movement within a hex, it requires 6 miles of progress in order to exit any face of the hex.

Optional Rule: You can choose to bias a starting position. For example, you might see that a river flows near the western edge of a hex. If the PCs start traveling from that river, you might decide that it only takes 2 miles to exit through the hex’s western face and 10 miles to exit through its eastern face.

Crossing Hex to a Far Side: It requires 12 miles of progress to exit a hex through one of the three faces on the opposite side.

Crossing Hex to a Near Side: It requires 6 miles of progress to exit a hex through one of the two nearest faces.

Back the Way We Came: If characters deliberately double back along their own trail, simply reduce their progress until they exit the hex. If they leave back through the same face through which they entered the hex for any other reason (by getting lost, for example) you can generally assume that it takes 6 miles of progress to exit the hex unless circumstances suggest some other figure.

Go to Part 3: Navigating the Wilderness

This material is covered by the Open Game License.