The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The INDIANA JONES game has never had a really solid rule book. In its original TSR editions, as I understand it, the percentile rules are slim and the boxed set not particularly expansive. West End's "World of Indiana Jones" boxed set suffered from extremely average layout, a distant look at the game world, and the MasterBook rules (which were far too complex for a game like Indy's). I bought that boxed set just because Henry Jr's name was on it, and I put all my old TSR adventures in there and thought I had a complete game. But when I spilled my ten-siders onto the table and got on the boat for Cairo, I discovered that the game just didn't have the crack of Indy's whip, and Williams' fanfare was too-little heard.

"Why," I wondered, "doesn't WEG use the STAR WARS system?" Back then, you see, it wasn't called the D6 system yet. Of course, WEG had already asked themselves this question, and offered the D6 book as their generic roleplaying rules. Now, I don't like rules systems without settings, and I think the two should be very tightly woven. (This is why, despite my respect for GURPS' quality products, I have never owned a copy of the rules themselves.) The D6 book didn't much sway me from my rut, but it is a wonderfully easy system and well-suited to STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES. Both games should be fast-paced and accessible to the average gamer. The D6 system is fast-paced and accessible to the average gamer. Voila.

So, West End Games put out a little book of adventures for the INDIANA JONES game called "Indiana Jones Adventures." Nice and direct; besides, Indy's name and adventure go together like bullwhips and fedoras. In this little book (96 pages small) are four game adventures using the D6 system and conversion/character creation rules.

The cover is very captivating. Drew Struzan (known for Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones movie posters) has painted Harrison Ford so many times I imagine Struzan could recreate any expression the man's ever made from memory. The richly colored portrait of the man in the hat could be the definitive look at Henry Jones Jr. And the eyes seem to follow me wherever I go. Weird.

Now, at first I didn't the book would have much in the line of D6 information, just a page of conversion formulas. Well, it has that page, but it also has 15 pages of skills, sample opponents, and new Advantages and Disadvantages. Is that enough to teach someone a game system? It is for the D6 system. D6 is best learned through experience, and the first adventure does just that.

THE CARLISLE INCIDENT

A beautiful girl. A treasure-hunter named Mack. A volcanic island. A sea plane. Japanese soldiers. A classic 1930's pulp adventure. "The Carlisle Incident," by WEG's former Peter Schweighofer (one of my favorite game designers), is a nice way for novices to learn the game. It's classic adventurism was also fun for me, though it didn't take me very long. A rousing finale makes me think about running the adventure for my friends. Hey! Look! There's even a suggestion for doing so!

ON ICE

Most of the time, I read the titles of INDIANA JONES game adventures as "Indiana Jones and ...," but this time I refuse to. Regardless, "On Ice," by Eric S. Trautmann, is a good example of how to write adventures for the Indiana Jones game that cover some ground other than Cairo or ancient treasures. Set in the 1920s in my sweet home Chicago, the adventure pits characters against such rousing Mafia villains as "Mr. Frost" and Nick "The Torpedo" Torponi. It also touches on such great early 20th century elements as secret liquor dives and classic radio stations (though I don't think WXXL ever really existed, I could be wrong). Best of all, there are several ways this scenario would be run successfully, allowing for a wide variety of character actions.

THE CITY OF DREAMS

John Robey gives us an expedition to the Australia of the 1930s that focuses on Aboriginal mythology and the Outback. I think the adventure seems incomplete and lacks some of the detailed flavor one should get for a trip to such an exotic land, the adventure itself is a good one. I would not suggest it as your characters' only excitement in the land Down Under, though. There's plenty of adventure opporunities in Australia not touched on "The City of Dreams." As a finale to a brief campaign, though, "The City of Dreams" could be invested with enough energy to get players going. As a special note, thanks to Brian Schomburg for the "broomhandle" Mauser on page 64. They're one of the most handsome firearms ever created, in my opinion.

THE KWEICHOW EXODUS

Not just a pretty title, Paul Sudlow's "Kweichow Exodus" is an old-school, straight-forward adventure along south China's river lands in 1933. Mr. Sudlow not only uses the proper names for locations of the time, he's even nice enough to tell us why. "Kweichow Exodus" reminds me why game scenarios were once called "adventures," and for the INDIANA JONES game they really should be. Chinese thugs, rope bridges, and a truck battle really make this trip seem like an adventure Indy himself could embark on. Two maps, one of south China, one of the city Wuchow, are included. Each is credited to the author and offer a more involving perspective than those included in WEG's boxed set. I particularly appreciate the author's detail in the Wuchow map. (By the end of next semester I should even be able to read the chinese).

Following all of this that single page of MasterBook/D6 conversion rules I mentioned to you. They're not flattering to the MasterBook game. Formulas, remainders, and division remind me why I never really got into that game system. I very much welcome the D6 system to the Indy game.

Next we have four templates for the D6 system (Archaeologist, Daredevil Pilot, Gangster, and Occult Expert). Arguably the most-used templates in a game of Indy, each was included in the original boxed set and is presented in this book with their original artwork. A new, blank character sheet is also included. This is actually one of the elements I most appreciate in this book. Not only is the sandy, rougher look with the striking copperplate typeface very appealing, I like it better than the STAR WARS character sheets. If WEG manages to stay in business and keeps the STAR WARS license (crossing my fingers), I hope they're reading this: please make sheets that look like the library images on the new Star Wars website. Please?

All in all, Indiana Jones Adventures is a much better book than I thought it was going to be when I first bought it. This should be considered the core product for the INDIANA JONES game. With the movies and soundtracks, you have an excellent assortment of game ideas to go off of. At $15 and 96 pages, the deal might seem a bit steep, but you will most likely get $15 worth of adventure out of this book.

Lastly, I'd like to wish the best of luck to WEG. I hope, one day, there might be "Further Adventures" for Indiana Jones.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Indiana Jones Adventures
Author: John Robey, Peter Sweighofer, George Strayton, Paul Sudlow, Eric S. Trautmann Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games Cost: $15.00 Page count: 96 ISBN: 0-87431-436-4 Playtest Review by Will Hindmarch on 07/23/98. Genre tags: none	The INDIANA JONES game has never had a really solid rule book. In its original TSR editions, as I understand it, the percentile rules are slim and the boxed set not particularly expansive. West End's "World of Indiana Jones" boxed set suffered from extremely average layout, a distant look at the game world, and the MasterBook rules (which were far too complex for a game like Indy's). I bought that boxed set just because Henry Jr's name was on it, and I put all my old TSR adventures in there and thought I had a complete game. But when I spilled my ten-siders onto the table and got on the boat for Cairo, I discovered that the game just didn't have the crack of Indy's whip, and Williams' fanfare was too-little heard. "Why," I wondered, "doesn't WEG use the STAR WARS system?" Back then, you see, it wasn't called the D6 system yet. Of course, WEG had already asked themselves this question, and offered the D6 book as their generic roleplaying rules. Now, I don't like rules systems without settings, and I think the two should be very tightly woven. (This is why, despite my respect for GURPS' quality products, I have never owned a copy of the rules themselves.) The D6 book didn't much sway me from my rut, but it is a wonderfully easy system and well-suited to STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES. Both games should be fast-paced and accessible to the average gamer. The D6 system is fast-paced and accessible to the average gamer. Voila. So, West End Games put out a little book of adventures for the INDIANA JONES game called "Indiana Jones Adventures." Nice and direct; besides, Indy's name and adventure go together like bullwhips and fedoras. In this little book (96 pages small) are four game adventures using the D6 system and conversion/character creation rules. The cover is very captivating. Drew Struzan (known for Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones movie posters) has painted Harrison Ford so many times I imagine Struzan could recreate any expression the man's ever made from memory. The richly colored portrait of the man in the hat could be the definitive look at Henry Jones Jr. And the eyes seem to follow me wherever I go. Weird. Now, at first I didn't the book would have much in the line of D6 information, just a page of conversion formulas. Well, it has that page, but it also has 15 pages of skills, sample opponents, and new Advantages and Disadvantages. Is that enough to teach someone a game system? It is for the D6 system. D6 is best learned through experience, and the first adventure does just that. THE CARLISLE INCIDENT A beautiful girl. A treasure-hunter named Mack. A volcanic island. A sea plane. Japanese soldiers. A classic 1930's pulp adventure. "The Carlisle Incident," by WEG's former Peter Schweighofer (one of my favorite game designers), is a nice way for novices to learn the game. It's classic adventurism was also fun for me, though it didn't take me very long. A rousing finale makes me think about running the adventure for my friends. Hey! Look! There's even a suggestion for doing so! ON ICE Most of the time, I read the titles of INDIANA JONES game adventures as "Indiana Jones and ...," but this time I refuse to. Regardless, "On Ice," by Eric S. Trautmann, is a good example of how to write adventures for the Indiana Jones game that cover some ground other than Cairo or ancient treasures. Set in the 1920s in my sweet home Chicago, the adventure pits characters against such rousing Mafia villains as "Mr. Frost" and Nick "The Torpedo" Torponi. It also touches on such great early 20th century elements as secret liquor dives and classic radio stations (though I don't think WXXL ever really existed, I could be wrong). Best of all, there are several ways this scenario would be run successfully, allowing for a wide variety of character actions. THE CITY OF DREAMS John Robey gives us an expedition to the Australia of the 1930s that focuses on Aboriginal mythology and the Outback. I think the adventure seems incomplete and lacks some of the detailed flavor one should get for a trip to such an exotic land, the adventure itself is a good one. I would not suggest it as your characters' only excitement in the land Down Under, though. There's plenty of adventure opporunities in Australia not touched on "The City of Dreams." As a finale to a brief campaign, though, "The City of Dreams" could be invested with enough energy to get players going. As a special note, thanks to Brian Schomburg for the "broomhandle" Mauser on page 64. They're one of the most handsome firearms ever created, in my opinion. THE KWEICHOW EXODUS Not just a pretty title, Paul Sudlow's "Kweichow Exodus" is an old-school, straight-forward adventure along south China's river lands in 1933. Mr. Sudlow not only uses the proper names for locations of the time, he's even nice enough to tell us why. "Kweichow Exodus" reminds me why game scenarios were once called "adventures," and for the INDIANA JONES game they really should be. Chinese thugs, rope bridges, and a truck battle really make this trip seem like an adventure Indy himself could embark on. Two maps, one of south China, one of the city Wuchow, are included. Each is credited to the author and offer a more involving perspective than those included in WEG's boxed set. I particularly appreciate the author's detail in the Wuchow map. (By the end of next semester I should even be able to read the chinese). Following all of this that single page of MasterBook/D6 conversion rules I mentioned to you. They're not flattering to the MasterBook game. Formulas, remainders, and division remind me why I never really got into that game system. I very much welcome the D6 system to the Indy game. Next we have four templates for the D6 system (Archaeologist, Daredevil Pilot, Gangster, and Occult Expert). Arguably the most-used templates in a game of Indy, each was included in the original boxed set and is presented in this book with their original artwork. A new, blank character sheet is also included. This is actually one of the elements I most appreciate in this book. Not only is the sandy, rougher look with the striking copperplate typeface very appealing, I like it better than the STAR WARS character sheets. If WEG manages to stay in business and keeps the STAR WARS license (crossing my fingers), I hope they're reading this: please make sheets that look like the library images on the new Star Wars website. Please? All in all, Indiana Jones Adventures is a much better book than I thought it was going to be when I first bought it. This should be considered the core product for the INDIANA JONES game. With the movies and soundtracks, you have an excellent assortment of game ideas to go off of. At $15 and 96 pages, the deal might seem a bit steep, but you will most likely get $15 worth of adventure out of this book. Lastly, I'd like to wish the best of luck to WEG. I hope, one day, there might be "Further Adventures" for Indiana Jones. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)