Freelance Traveller
[Editor's Note: Thanks to an agreement between BITS and Steve Jackson Games, all BITS supplements are available in North America through Steve Jackson Games. You can find contact information for Steve Jackson Games in the Traveller FAQ in the Freelance Traveller Information Center. Ordering information for all BITS products can be found on the Steve Jackson Games Catalog page.]
Overall, a well-written and very useful book. It neatly gives examples of how to stop Traveller governments becoming stereotypes (mainly because the GM never really understood how a 'Charismatic Dictator', for example, should rule). I would argue with some of the examples given for one or two of the government types, preferring them to be under another section, but these are very minor asides to an otherwise excellent book. There are a few typos (name an RPG book that hasn't got any), but they are few and far between and certainly don't detract from the quality of this supplement.
Each of the entries has a plot line to help integrate the specific government into the Travellers' visit to the world. What greatly increase its usefulness is that the book can easily be modified for any other sci-fi game, as can all of the BITS products I have read, with minimal effort; vastly increasing its use to the gaming community as a whole.
Quality 9/10 (good survivablility because of the plastic cover, clearly
printed and well laid out)
Usefulness (main entries) 9/10 (usable in any sci-fi RPG)
Usefulness (plots) 6/10 (some useful, others not so)
Overall 8/10 (buy this book!)