Disclosure: I was among the play testers for this product, and got my copy for free, but do not have a financial stake in the matter.
"Personal Weapons of Charted Space" is the first in a series of PDF publications that will describe aspects of the venerable Traveller sci-fi game universe. It is produced by Quicklink Interactive to support its upcoming D20 Traveller line, as well as providing the first new material for the recently reprinted Classic Traveller game. The PDF's can be bought individually or by subscription, but the subscription will also make one eligible for the print "best of the PDF" issue. It is available at their website: http://www.travellerrpg.com/
The layout is actually very nice. There’s a decent cover illustration and a number of good line drawings of some of the weaponry described (thoughtfully with page number references).
The first half of the 45-page book is taken up with background description on Imperial Weapons permits, and the descriptions of the various weapons themselves (largely free of game-rule material).
Then the game stats for all the weapons described are given both in terms of d20 and in terms of Classic Traveller. (10 pages total).
The last ten pages or so are taken up with descriptions of various Imperial Weapons corporations and specific variants and special versions of the weapons already described. This is followed by a "Catalogue" describing what company sells what model under what brand name. Finally, there are a handful of variant game rules covering area and suppressive fire and sneaking weaponry past security.
As to the weapons themselves, they are ones that a player character will likely posses or encounter in the hands of criminals, police, security or civilians. Included are such things as all melee weapons, bows, black powder guns, “modern” firearms, and a few higher tech items such as lasers and gauss pistols. What are excluded are high tech military rifles and support weapons such as gauss rifles, plasma and fusion guns, grenade launchers and machineguns. There is also quite a number of new weaponry added and interesting variants that might give the players a surprise or two or an ace in the hole: things like “pepper spray”, flechette launching batons, “handmines” etc.
One excellent feature to this book is that various weapons that have entered the Traveller universe after the Classic Traveller era, e.g., laser pistols, gauss pistols, “thud guns”, assault shotguns, Snub SMG’s, are finally provided with Classic Traveller stats and are finally collected in one place. Also, The broad range of personal weaponry provided should also be useful in any d20 modern or Sci-Fi game since the stats are compatible to d20 norms.
On the whole I am well pleased by the product. It contains a good supply of material that players will want to use and is presented in a way that fits well into the Traveller background. I’d recommend it without reservation to any player or GM who is playing Classic Traveller or any modern or science fiction d20 game.
I do have two very small gripes. The first is probably due to my 1993 vintage bubble-jet printer. The 45 pages took forever to print out and used a lot of ink, I think a white rather than colored background would be better for those of us who don’t use their laser printer at work. The second is that I have never heard anyone else refer to a “Sawn-off Shotgun.” I know that the past participle of “to saw” can be either “sawn” or “sawed” but when it comes to shotguns I’ve never heard anything other that “Sawed-off.”
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(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)