M-Space now has a very interesting adventure with a lot of useful material and a setting which could serve as the start of a campaign - highly recommended.

A very interesting alternative setting for the Cepheus Engine and related 2D6 science fiction games. I especially liked the detailed history of the setting and the comprehensive descriptions of the Terran society and of the societies of the various alien species, they make it easy to "get into" the setting. Of course, the other parts of the setting are also very interesting and useful, too. Overall highly recommended, even people who do not intend to use the setting itself can find and borrow some nice ideas. I am looking forward to additional material for this setting.

The d100 family of roleplaying games has been missing a set of rules for science fiction scenarios and campaigns for a long time. M-Space does not only provide such rules, it offers an excellent toolbox for the science fiction genre. I especially liked the chapters on Extended Conflicts and on Circles (= various types of organizations), but all the other chapters are equally well presented and useful. Since most d100 games are more or less compatible, M-Space is a very good supplement not only for Mythras (=ex-RQ6), but also for the other members of the family, from BRP to Open Quest. Highly recommended.

Outer Veil is a most welcome alternative to Traveller's standard setting, especially because it is much "closer to home", with a shorter history and a smaller explored space with lots of unexplored frontier. The 156 pages contain everything a referee needs, the detailed background information (history, politics, society, megacorpo-rations, etc.) as well as new character careers, starships with deck plans and star charts - and even rules for asteroid belting. This very well done material alone would be a good reason to buy Outer Veil, even if one does not intend to play the setting. I did not yet take a closer look at the introductory adventure, but what I have seen so far looks very interesting. All in all, another most useful Traveller supplement from SPICA with well deserved 5 stars. Highly recommended.

The Celestial Empire is the best supplement about China I have seen so far, with lots and lots of useful informations and ideas. It covers everything one needs for a campaign in China, and it is well written and well organized. Highly recommended for everyone who is interested in China, es- pecially if the focus is on a well researched historical campaign.

Populating my settings with interesting non-player characters has always been a problem for me, mainly because I have a tendency to become repetitive with my descriptions and to offer the players only "more of the same" instead of new original ideas. As you can imagine, I was very much looking forward to ACER.

ACER has about 50 pages of content, with 6 each of Allies, Contacts, Enemies and Rivals, 6 "individual nonplayer characters", plus the crews of a free trader, a detached duty scout and a mercenary cruiser, plus a PsiTac team (an excellent idea), an entire Marine Striker Platoon and 48 Red Shirts (combat values only).

All except the Red Shirts come with stats, important life events, money and equip- ment and a description of their appearance and personality. Many also come with really good illustrations that fit their descriptions very well - very nice pictures to show to the players. What I also like very much is that the descriptions did not repeat the usual cliches, the characters feel like plausible "real people" with belie- vable stories and quirks - and no silly names.

I will of course have to tinker with these characters a bit to fit them into my set- ting, but this will in no way be difficult, and the descriptions did already give me a couple of new ideas for plots to introduce these characters into the setting.

It is not difficult to see that I really like ACER, and why, I think.

Another excellent supplement from Spica Publishing, and this time it is even more than just a collection of (14 !) very interesting and useful careers. Just browsing the careers gave me a couple of new ideas for Traveller campaigns - ever had your player charac- ters start a campaign as (probably escaped or escaping) slaves ?

And I especially like the two alternatives for the background skills, the (pre-) career op- tions for University and Graduate School and the two new "psycho skills", Manipulation and Psychohistory, perfect for any (preferably evil ...) mastermind characters in a set- ting's dark corners.

Finally, the many very good illustrations add a nice touch and help to spark the imagina- tion.

Since I really cannot imagine a Traveller campaign that could not be expanded or impro- ved with some or all of the material in this supplement, in my view it deserves all five stars.

A very cleverly designed ship with a detailed description, a nice deckplan, details of three crews, three new vehicles and some good scenario ideas.

All in all a ship that is as versatile as the traditional Type S scout, but with far supe- rior technology (and, of course, a higher price tag) - the perfect ship for those cha- racters who have gained some money or have found a wealthy patron.

And, my view, excellent value for my real world money, too.

Ah, and that "Spinner" grav vehicle is a real beauty ...

A very nice versatile ship, I especially like the excellent deck plans, the new vehicles and the detailed description of the mercenary unit.

An excellent idea !

There are a couple of setting-specific careers I have to design for my next campaign, from Colonial Ranger to Terraforming Engineer, and this form makes it much easier to do so.

And it is free.

Thank you !

I was working on my new Traveller setting, adapting the core book's careers to the setting, when Career Book 1 was published - and did almost all of the work for me.

Eight very useful careers, some of them of a kind rarely seen before in Traveller ga- mes (e.g. Clergy, Militant Religious), some of them expanded in a way that really gi- ves more colour and depth to the game (e.g. Colonist, Worker), tables with lots of in- teresting ideas, pre-generated characters and some very nice illustrations make this book a real Traveller GM's friend.

Yes, I indeed like it - very much so.