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(WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS)

"BEANSTALK", OVERVIEW.

"Beanstalk", by Lester W. Smith is an adventure book for the "2300ad" (aka "Traveller 2300") roleplaying system created by GDW. The three adventures contained within are designed to form with the adventure, "The Tricolor's Shadow", which was supplied with the rules, a short campaign, set on the fourth planet of the star, Beta Canum Venaticorum (Referred to in this review as BCV-4).

Following the introduction, is the history and physical description of the planet BCV-4. This is followed by an NPC dossier and techinical information on the planets main man-made feature, an orbital elevator or "beanstalk", from which the books title is drawn. At then end of the technical material, is a "tourist-guide" style handout which is meant to be photocopied and given to the players.

This is followed by the three adventures. The author begins the adventure section by providing a synopsis of the events of "The Tricolor's Shadow" and advice on how to use the adventures in this book if they do not have that adventure.

In the first two scenarios the players are working for a company called "Rebco" as "troubleshooters", in the third they are leaving the planet, as a result of their activities in the previous adventures. The three adventures are:

"THE EXFOLIATION PROJECT"

In this adventure the PC's are asked to help a Dr Geiger, he was the designer for the BCV-4 beanstalk, thrown off the project by the French authorities as part of their (successful) effort to gain control of the beanstalk.

He believes that the material of the beanstalk is reacting with the planets ionosphere, and that if the reaction is not stopped then the beanstalk with break in two with catastrophic results. He has presented his findings to the official in charge of the beanstalk and been ignored. Dr Geiger wants the PC's to obtain more compelling evidence by collecting atmosphere samples from the area around the beanstalk, at the point it exits the atmosphere.

This is probably the weakest adventure of the three, while the opening portions emphasise roleplaying and provide an opportunity for the players to gain contacts/obtain evidence that is useful in the later scenarios, the 'climax' of the adventure is a long, boring ride in a beanstalk cargo pod to obtain the needed samples.

"THE GIANT AND THE BEANSTALK"

The PC's second job for "Rebco" is assisting a newly formed British food processing company obtain an export licence, the company director is certain that the French authorities who control the beanstalk are stalling, he wants either proof of this or any other evidence that could be used to embarras the French into giving his firm the needed licence.

If the PC's have made friends with Dr Geiger in the previous scenario, he will have told them of another report he submitted to the beanstalks administrators, one concerning an accident that resulted in 40 beanstalk pods, including 3 passenger pods, falling off the beanstalk to their destruction. This should lead them to investigate the officer in charge of beanstalk maintenance. Searching his office reveals that this person was responsible for the accident through the use of poorly trained personnel and that he used bribery and murder to keep this quiet.

If the players do not have the information from Dr Geiger, then searching the office of the official responsible for the stalling of the export licence will reveal evidence pointing to the maintenance supervisor, however to make any charges stick, then his office must be searched as in the previous paragraph.

This is adventure emphasises stealth and investigation over brute force, and if the GM does his job then the players are in for a tense and exciting adventure.

"ASSASSIN!"

Because of the damage to French interests caused by the PC's in the previous adventures, the French Authorities on BCV-4 have decided to 'encourage' the PC's to leave, this encouragement takes two forms:

1. The players have been offered free tickets offworld.

2. To ensure the PC's accept the tickets, French agents have been tailing the PC's every time they leave their accomodation.

Once the PC's accept the tickets they will be escorted to the beanstalk terminal for a ride offworld. On the third day of the trip to the orbital terminal a message will be sent to the passenger pod.

It seems that the maintenance official the PC's implicated for murder in the previous adventure has decided to take his revenge on the players by concealing aboard the passenger pod a radio device that will cause the pod to fall off the beanstalk.

Unless the players can find the device, they will suffer a horrific death as after a long slow fall, the pod burns up on hitting the planets atmosphere.

The resulting race against time, requires negociation, to gain access to the other passengers cabins and brute force to enter areas normally locked in the journey to orbit.

Following the adventures is some addtional background material on the planet, it's importance in the "2300ad" setting and some of the local lifeforms.

"BEANSTALK", VERDICT.

With the exception of the first adventure ("The Exfoliation Project") I like the material presented within this book, especially the 'tourist handout'. Each of the NPC's are well drawn and their motivations are clearly explained.

However the book is not without problems, while the Steve Venters cover picture, showing two men falling to their deaths from an open beanstalk cargo pod is effective, the interior artwork is barely average. There is also the matter of the equivalent of 1 to 2 and a half pages of white space this could have been filled with extra information on the system or BCV-4.

Overall I rate this one as strictly average, three out of five for style, three out of five for content.

Beanstalk
Beanstalk Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 01/04/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) An enjoyable, but not brilliant campaign. Product: Beanstalk Author: Lester W. Smith Category: RPG Company/Publisher: GDW Line: 2300 Cost: Page count: 48 Year published: 1987 ISBN: 0-943580-26-9 SKU: 1030 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 01/04/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction Space Espionage Conspiracy	(WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS) "BEANSTALK", OVERVIEW. "Beanstalk", by Lester W. Smith is an adventure book for the "2300ad" (aka "Traveller 2300") roleplaying system created by GDW. The three adventures contained within are designed to form with the adventure, "The Tricolor's Shadow", which was supplied with the rules, a short campaign, set on the fourth planet of the star, Beta Canum Venaticorum (Referred to in this review as BCV-4). Following the introduction, is the history and physical description of the planet BCV-4. This is followed by an NPC dossier and techinical information on the planets main man-made feature, an orbital elevator or "beanstalk", from which the books title is drawn. At then end of the technical material, is a "tourist-guide" style handout which is meant to be photocopied and given to the players. This is followed by the three adventures. The author begins the adventure section by providing a synopsis of the events of "The Tricolor's Shadow" and advice on how to use the adventures in this book if they do not have that adventure. In the first two scenarios the players are working for a company called "Rebco" as "troubleshooters", in the third they are leaving the planet, as a result of their activities in the previous adventures. The three adventures are: "THE EXFOLIATION PROJECT" In this adventure the PC's are asked to help a Dr Geiger, he was the designer for the BCV-4 beanstalk, thrown off the project by the French authorities as part of their (successful) effort to gain control of the beanstalk. He believes that the material of the beanstalk is reacting with the planets ionosphere, and that if the reaction is not stopped then the beanstalk with break in two with catastrophic results. He has presented his findings to the official in charge of the beanstalk and been ignored. Dr Geiger wants the PC's to obtain more compelling evidence by collecting atmosphere samples from the area around the beanstalk, at the point it exits the atmosphere. This is probably the weakest adventure of the three, while the opening portions emphasise roleplaying and provide an opportunity for the players to gain contacts/obtain evidence that is useful in the later scenarios, the 'climax' of the adventure is a long, boring ride in a beanstalk cargo pod to obtain the needed samples. "THE GIANT AND THE BEANSTALK" The PC's second job for "Rebco" is assisting a newly formed British food processing company obtain an export licence, the company director is certain that the French authorities who control the beanstalk are stalling, he wants either proof of this or any other evidence that could be used to embarras the French into giving his firm the needed licence. If the PC's have made friends with Dr Geiger in the previous scenario, he will have told them of another report he submitted to the beanstalks administrators, one concerning an accident that resulted in 40 beanstalk pods, including 3 passenger pods, falling off the beanstalk to their destruction. This should lead them to investigate the officer in charge of beanstalk maintenance. Searching his office reveals that this person was responsible for the accident through the use of poorly trained personnel and that he used bribery and murder to keep this quiet. If the players do not have the information from Dr Geiger, then searching the office of the official responsible for the stalling of the export licence will reveal evidence pointing to the maintenance supervisor, however to make any charges stick, then his office must be searched as in the previous paragraph. This is adventure emphasises stealth and investigation over brute force, and if the GM does his job then the players are in for a tense and exciting adventure. "ASSASSIN!" Because of the damage to French interests caused by the PC's in the previous adventures, the French Authorities on BCV-4 have decided to 'encourage' the PC's to leave, this encouragement takes two forms: 1. The players have been offered free tickets offworld. 2. To ensure the PC's accept the tickets, French agents have been tailing the PC's every time they leave their accomodation. Once the PC's accept the tickets they will be escorted to the beanstalk terminal for a ride offworld. On the third day of the trip to the orbital terminal a message will be sent to the passenger pod. It seems that the maintenance official the PC's implicated for murder in the previous adventure has decided to take his revenge on the players by concealing aboard the passenger pod a radio device that will cause the pod to fall off the beanstalk. Unless the players can find the device, they will suffer a horrific death as after a long slow fall, the pod burns up on hitting the planets atmosphere. The resulting race against time, requires negociation, to gain access to the other passengers cabins and brute force to enter areas normally locked in the journey to orbit. Following the adventures is some addtional background material on the planet, it's importance in the "2300ad" setting and some of the local lifeforms. "BEANSTALK", VERDICT. With the exception of the first adventure ("The Exfoliation Project") I like the material presented within this book, especially the 'tourist handout'. Each of the NPC's are well drawn and their motivations are clearly explained. However the book is not without problems, while the Steve Venters cover picture, showing two men falling to their deaths from an open beanstalk cargo pod is effective, the interior artwork is barely average. There is also the matter of the equivalent of 1 to 2 and a half pages of white space this could have been filled with extra information on the system or BCV-4. Overall I rate this one as strictly average, three out of five for style, three out of five for content.