Freelance Traveller

reviewed by Peter Newman

[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.]

101 Lifeforms is a digest-sized 44 page book. It has 6 pages of copyright, table of contents, and introductory material (including skills for animals) at the beginning. It has 5 pages of Index and Glossary at the end, including two complete indexes one alpha by animal name and one sorted by habitat type. The remaining 32 pages are filled with the description of the 101 Lifeforms (mostly animals with some plants & exotics). Each page of the book has about 3 animals on it. About 20 of these animals are illustrated in small black & white line drawings within or color illustrations on the cover.

A sample animal is as follows

48. Dragoon
Beach, marsh, swamp (rare 2d) [native terrains & frequency]
Amphibian Pouncer 200kg A9 F6 [type, size & behavior]
S 0.5 [land] / 3S [water] 0/1 [armor value] 20/11 [hits] Bite2d, Butt
1d. [This block also has useful icons for armor (a shell), hits (a
heart) and damage (a crocodile about to bite).]

 

Description: This 3m long swimmer has rough skin, lines of tiny spurs down each side and four stumpy flippers. Its underside is flattened and covered with suckers. The top of the head is protected by a plate of thick skin. It has a pair of large eyes and a beak.

 

Referees Notes: [about 175 words snipped, some animals have ref notes of only about 50 words or so - this is actually one of the more interesting parts of the animal description]

 

Habitat: Dragoons can spend long periods floating totally motionless in the water waiting for large prey to pass nearby. Their body is remarkably flexible, allowing them to move easily through root-filled swamp water.

This is a useful book. It includes notes on the lifeform's habitat, range, domestication if applicable, etc. Recommended.