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In the late 70s and early 80s a series of colourful books were authored by Steward Cowley et. al. which presented an early interstellar Earth and its encounters with neighbouring, and not always friendly, aliens. With the benefit of hindsight the timeline was somewhat optimistic in terms of some technology; the first book, published by Hamlyn in 1978, was entitled Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD. Other books of the canonical “Terran Trade Authority” series included Great Space Battles (1979), Spacewreck: Ghosts and Derelicts of Space (1979) and Starliners: Commercial Travel in 2200.
In addition to these, a further six books were released in the “Galactic Encounters” series and “The Space Warriors”, which have been defined as “adjunct” material to the Terran Trade Authority official timeline. To give a very quick summary; ion and plasma nuclear engines are developed in the 1980s, commercial flight and Lunar settlements in the early 2000s, contact with Alpha Centurians in the 2030s, leading to trade agreements. In the late 2040s contact is made with the Proxima Centurians, who prove to be aggressive, leading to interstellar war which runs for 15 years, with eventual victory for the Terran/Alphan forces. Following the reconstruction there is a period of exploration and discovery, with further alien artifacts, ghost ships etc, discovered. So there's three great and traditional roleplaying narrative opportunities; contact, war and investigation.
The New TTA
In 2006 the Terran Trade Authority reappeared in the publishing world with Spacecraft 2100 to 2000, Local Space, and roleplaying game, all released Morrigan Press, primarily authored by Jeff Lilley, Scott Agnew and, of course, contributions by Stewart Cowley. Most fans of the original series have reacted somewhat negatively to these releases, although the largest complaint was that there was insufficient new material in term. What was new included significant alterations to the fictional history to match real world changes from 1978 to c2005 and then beyond have meant that there are now two, somewhat competing, Terran Trade Authority narratives, “classic” and “new” - the new timeline wasn't that different really; just a more contemporary grounding and shifting the space exploration period ahead by one hundred years into the future.
The artwork in the new books also has been considered slightly inferior to the originals, which were sourced from different authors with CGI retouching. The game universe, more fully elaborated in Local Space, suggests massive control by megacorporations, corrupt governments, and a highly divided class society. Again, whilst this represents an updated version, and plausible version, of the Terran Trade Authority history, it was not entirely well received by the fans of the classic timeline who preferred a less politically charged and benevolent world. In a very real sense, the new books postulated a more “realistic” and less “space opera” background.
The Game
On to the roleplaying game itself (finally!). Weighing in at a hefty 416 pages, this book comes with an attractive colour cover and a collection of mostly good, mostly colour and mostly about spaceships internal art. The text inside is single column justified with a large serif font with far too much white space and fat margins. Unfortunately these do not provide immediate chapter sections and nor do they make page numbers particularly explicit. This is despite the fact that the seven chapters of the game (The TTA Universe, The Rules, Skills, Character Creation, Equipment, Spacecraft and Space Travel, Gamemastering) have very clear subchapters; there is also an excellent index. The writing style is very much on the verbose side, lacks flair and has far too many one sentence paragraphs. This combination does not make an interesting or short read.
The first chapter takes up a quarter of the book, some 94 pages, is largely setting information, which has already been described in the first paragraphs. The game system is Omni; roll 1d20, add skill or attribute, minus difficulty. A result of 0 or less is a mishap, 1-5 is a failure, 6-10 a partial success, 11-19 a success and 20 or more a critical success. All abilities, attributes, skills etc, are rated a bonus to the Omni roll. Actual tests are carried out with a d20 plus either the attribute and relevant skill, and with difficulty modifier which are described in some detail. Opposed rolls are conducted as a modifier to skill check to the active character (e.g., Stealth skill +9 verses Perception attribute +3 means the Stealth skill check is at +6). Multiple actions per round (roughly six seconds) are conducted at a -5 cumulative penalty.
Attributes and Actions
There are eight primary attributes (Intelligence, Will, Strength, Constitution, Perception, Charisma, Dexterity, and Speed) all rated with a average of 0, with modifiers either positive or negative. In addition there are six secondary attributes (Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Psi, Renown, Piety and Hit Points). Close Combat is based on the average of Strength, Dexterity and Speed), rounding down, whereas Ranged Combat is based on Perception, Dexterity and Speed. Psi is normally 0, but if the background allows can begin with Intelligence, Will and Charisma divided by, oddly, 2. Hit Points are racially determined; but with Quirks modifying. When primary attributes are used by themselves on the Omni table, the modifier is doubled (but not, as the example shows above, as penalties). Standard attribute range is between -5 and + 5. Primary attributes can also be improved by experience points.
Combat is based on a rolled initiative, modified by Speed, with fixed weapon value (modified by Strength, if melee) causing damage and minus armour. A partial success does half damage, a full success normal damage, and a critical success does normal damage plus a critical wound. Defenses are based on dodges (an action) or parry which are also rolled actions, like attacks. Different ranged weapons have variable rates of fire, with an assumption of three-round bursts. Skills are acquired through training and practise, “such as combat and magic”. “Magic” may seem a little odd here, but there is six (optional) psionic modes (attack, illusion, manipulate, influence, kinetic) which are treated like skills. The modes come with a variety of powers which are quite reminiscent of FRPG spells with duration, range, casting modifiers, and a description. Around one hundred skill plus specialisations are described, albeit minimally with most receiving a few sentences.
A variety of positive and negative quirks add to the personal, physical and social characteristics, some received automatically (and restricted to) from racial background, others from paths, analogous to character classes and backgrounds. This are usually very minimally described with specific bonuses; Alcohol Tolerance, for example, gives +2 to CON for the purposes of resisting the effects of alcohol. The Camouflage ability, native and exclusive to Alphans, receives about a page.
Characters: Terrans, Alphans and Proximans
Character generation consists of one of three “races” (read “species”), Humans, Alphans and Proxmians, with various ethnic groups within the populations (a nice touch, thank you), all of which are described in detail in terms of physique, general mental outlook, gender roles and norms, religious beliefs, politics, art, languages and so forth. Alphans are described as tall, wiry, and graceful with minimal sexual dimorphism or gender roles. Most remarkably is their chameleon-like abilities, although their lack of gradual old age is interesting as well (they just “crash”, go into a brief coma and then die). Alphan economic society is largely run by collectives, rather than corporate structures. And just in case you're beginning to think “elves in space”, yes they do have pointy ears as well. In contrast, the Proximans are short, stocky (more like fat australopiths than dwarves, though) with a natural shielding on their back, forming a sort of shell. They have two sexes (female and “potential”, which are changeable). They are also particularly prone to genetic engineering and surgical modification. Proximans are immune to most heavy metal poisonings, and are radiation resistant. Interestingly however, actual attribute modifiers are quite modest; the most dramatic is a +3 bonus to Speed for the Alphans. In many ways it is somewhat of a misnomer to call this massive, one hundred page, chapter “Character Creation” as very little is dedicated to the subject; most of it is an anthropology of the three species.
Equipment etc
By selecting one or more paths a character acquires additional skills and quirks, along with equipment and attribute adjustments. These are a combination of environmental (rural, urban, offworld, outcast) and professional backgrounds for the advanced (asteroid miner, colonist, criminal, diplomat, FLEA, free trader, veteran, pilot, courier, officer, physician, pirate, politician, scientist, engineer, marine, scout, information officer, xenobiologist). Personal equipment is, as often the case, has an emphasis on weapons, armour and medicine, although less than many other SF games and with fair collection of “other” items, including quite a range of robots and vehicles. Alphan weapons emphasise lasers and gravity snare, Proximan sonic.
FTL travel is achieved by the Terrans by De Vass bending of space-time, which the Proximans acquired during the war. Alphan FTL travel is based on gravity mass-drivers. In all cases FTL travel is a approximately 1 day per light year with a maximum of five light years and a recovery time between jumps. The game strikes a good balance between movement complexity and realism for aircraft, spaceships etc, with a variable scale depending on the type of movement. Vehicle combat rules are dovetailed neatly into the normal combat system, with initiative, bonuses, weapon damage, armour etc. Approximately twenty spacecraft are described.
The final chapter, GMing the TTA Universe, involves things like interpretation of the Omni table (mostly obvious), difficulty modifiers for actions (abstract and also pretty obvious), and some reasonable notes on campaign design and plot development. Perhaps most important are the rules for environmental effects such as radiation, drowning, gravity (including falling), atmospheric conditions, and diseases. Various basic astronomical data (e.g., star types) are provided before a penultimate lengthy exposition of the core narrative imperative of TTA; the unknown and exploration. As an unusual conclusion a few pages are dedicated a variety of Terran creature encounters and statistics.
Conclusion
Overall, the Terran Trade Authority Roleplaying game is middling, with a very standard set of rules for attributes, advantages and disadvantages, skills, psionics and equipment. The background information is hefty, but fails to excite The lack of maps of the worlds and starmaps was notable for its absence. The game system covers a lot of ground, but also fails to capture enthusiasm. The generic modifiers for skills and actions rather than specific examples for most skills was off-putting although the use of a largely unified resolution system was welcome. Certainly in a book this size a scenario or two would have helped as well; especially given the source material. Still, the game is quite workable, and it is great to see that the TTA exists as an RPG.
Style: 1 + .3 (layout) + .6 (art) + .7 (coolness) + .3 (readability) + .5(product) = 3.4
Substance: 1 + .8 (content) + .3 (text) + .5 (fun) + .4 (workmanship) + .4 (system) = 3.4
