Doing It My Way - Freelance Traveller

Critics’ Corner
d66 Compendium
reviewed by Jeff Zeitlin
d66 Compendium. Dale C. McCoy, Jr. and Albert Beddow, Jr.
Jon Brazer Enterprises http://www.jonbrazer.com
48pp, softcover
US$12.99
Jon Brazer Enterprises has taken a simple idea
and turned it into a convenient tool for the rushed
referee.
On the Shelf
The black cover is centered around a large
graphic of a starship-over-planet scene. Below the
graphic are the Foreven Free Sector logo and the
Traveller Compatible Product logo; above is the
Jon Brazer Enterprises logo (done in black with a
dark-green ‗glow‘) and the product title. The ‗d66‘
is rendered as the letter ‗d‘ followed by two die images
displaying the six side, rather than as numerals.
Initial Impression
The book is laid out well; with comparatively
large type and alternating grey and white bands in
the lists, it is not at all difficult to read. Most pages
have two lists per page; several have only one list
and some artwork (but the list items are long
enough to preclude putting a second list on the
page), and a very few pages – basically, just the
first page of a section – are essentially full-page art.
On Closer Inspection
The individual lists are generally unexciting,
and ‗prosaic‘ would not be inappropriate for some.
Few of the entries provoke sufficient interest in and
of themselves to cause players to ask ‗what is
that?‘; it is left up to the referee to establish the
context to provoke such questions. Arguably, that‘s
the right place for it, but would a referee who feels
the need to use a product like this feel himself generally
to be in a position to expand upon a mere
three-word description? For some of the lists – especially
some of the ‗ethnic‘ name lists – the player
or referee that is familiar with the Traveller canon
in some detail could question the sources for the
lists, but this doesn‘t really detract from the utility
of the product.
Summary
One can play Traveller, and one can play with
Traveller. Those who do the latter probably don‘t
need a product like this; in fact, they‘re the ones
that are most likely to create such products. Nevertheless,
for the referee who seeks to minimize the
time preparing for an adventure, or who suddenly
finds himself at a loss for a name or an item of
some sort, lists and compilations of lists like this
can be quite useful. On that basis, the sheer number
of lists makes this a good value.
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