(TFT) Planned Metagaming TFT Material from 1982:

["Charles Gadda" <cgadda@earthlink.net>]

The following is a list of TFT Material that was in the works at the time of
Metagaming's demise.

1. "[Worlds/Nations/Realms] of Cidri"
A final title had not been decided on at the time of the proposal. The
booklet would have been a supplement aimed at the FM and would cover
outdoor/wilderness adventuring. Included would be information on how to
organize and establish a nation/continent/world, movement and scale in the
wilderness, random encounter tables (scaled according to terrain and climate
conditions), descriptions of regions and states suitable for adventuring in,
some new monsters, and mini-adventures or scenarios to get the FM started on
a campaign. Might also have included topographical maps. Note that Interplay
No. 5 had an article pertaining to winter conditions. (ref: Product Proposal
letter by Kevin Hendryx dated 3/16/82 and Status Report by Kevin Hendryx
dated Feb '82. See also Interplay No. 5)

2. "Affray"
TFT Aerial combat module developed by Ian Bell; was in playtest/evaluation
as of 2/19/82. This was originally requested in Interplay, to cover aerial
combat between creatures, specifying that "The best approach is to do
something that plays well but doesn't try for realism".  (ref: Status Report
by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and Interplay No. 2).

3. "Herodium" or "In the Name of Justice"
Comic book super-hero TFT supplement by Peter Christian. In Interplay a
different title, "In the Name of Justice" was given, and this may have been
the final title as this was mentioned in Interplay No. 8, months after Kevin
's report. (ref: Status Report by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and Interplay
Nos. 3, 7 & 8).

4. "Nosferatu"
Adventure supplement by Sullivan. Was not regarded as requiring too much
time to edit. Note that Interplay No. 3 had an article entitled "Vampyre" by
the same author; presumably Nosferatu would have used elements of this
article. (ref: Status Report by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and Interplay
No. 3).

5. Infantry
Listed as a Modern Military RPG - probably intended to be a TFT supplement
as a blurb in Interplay mentioned that a WWII supplement was in the works.
Authored by Thomas Trunzo (ref: Status Report by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82
and Interplay No. 1).

6. "Pthantium Hall"
Say this title ten times fast! A bonifide MicroQuest by Robert Schlott. No
other information available (ref: Status Report by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '
82).

7. "The Runesword of Regalan"
TFT adventure supplement by Anthony Affrunti. (ref: Status Report by Kevin
Hendryx dated Feb '82).

8. "Prison of the Spectral Demon"
Another MicroQuest by Robbins and Wittke (ref: Status Report by Kevin
Hendryx dated Feb '82).

9. "High Noon"
TFT Western gunfighter supplement by David Tepool. This was regarded as a
big undertaking, and one of the problems they were having was a lack of
suitable playtesters. This product had been officially accepted for $500.
Note that Interplay No. 2 published a rules set called "TFT: Wild West" by
Fred Askew; not clear if there was any relationship (ref: Status Report by
Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and Interplay Nos. 1-3).

10. "Sword of the Jorisseri"
Written by Jeff Edmunds. Not clear if this is TFT or not; the note indicated
that it was "unpublishable as is" but also that it had been "accepted,
unfortunately." Likely was a MicroGame, rather than a TFT related item, but
it is mentioned here for completeness' sake (ref: Status Report by Kevin
Hendryx dated Feb '82).

11. "Energy Crisis - Land Beyond the Mountains"
*THIS* is a fascinating little item. It is only referenced by title,
unfortunately, but it is clear that they were looking at all sorts of
adventures for the LBTM campaign. Written by Keith Gross (ref: Status Report
by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and draft notes of same dated 2/16/82).

12. "Dragons of Underearth"
Of course, this was published, but it is interesting that the original title
was "Dragonslayer" and that Keith Gross was paid $750 for it (ref: Status
Report by Kevin Hendryx dated Feb '82 and Interplay Nos. 3 & 8).

13. "Tollenkar's Lair" revision
Interesting, they were apparently thinking of revising the adventure. It
appears that they intended to both update and expand the module, perhaps
with better maps, counters, etc. (ref: Status Report by Kevin Hendryx dated
Feb '82 and Interplay No. 6).

14. "Conquerors of Underearth"
CoU (also called CUE) is mentioned as having been very close to publication.
Another Keith Gross game, this one at least was described in some detail,
taken from a Designer's Introduction to DoU by Keith Gross in Interplay No.
8:
  -  DoU was actually a *byproduct* of CoU, but got published first owing to
its simplicity
  -  CoU was intended to be a combination MicroGame-MicroQuest
  -  A full designer's intro to CoU was intended to be published in
Interplay No. 9 (which, naturally, never saw the light of day)
  -  CoU was intended to use DoU characters on a LoU scale strategic map,
with MicroQuest paragraphs
  -  CoU dealt with adventurers entering a Goblin fortress and encountering
organized military units, and as such involved 10-20+ warriors per battle
  -  There was an implication that CoU was originally intended to be a TFT
supplement, but because of the large numbers of combatants, use of AM/AW/ITL
slowed things up too much, thus the decision to design a streamlined "Son of
the Fantasy Trip"

It was also mentioned that CoU could use more playtesting, and that some
rules had been omitted from the manuscript, that were considered critical to
the continuity of the other Underearth games. Further, about twice as much
editing would be required over DoU, since it is a complete game with
scenarios rather than a set of RPG rules (ref: Status Report by Kevin
Hendryx dated Feb '82, Interplay Nos. 6, 7, & 8).

15. "Soldier City - Shaylle"
This, interestingly enough, did get published as "City of the Sacred Flame"
by GameLords, Ltd. for their "Haven" campaign under the "Thieves Guild"
rules system. Originally written to describe the capital of Darok in detail,
GameLords rewrote it fairly extensively when Metagaming tanked by removing
some of the TFT specific stuff and changing names, but kept all of the basic
encounters. There is, thus, a very noticeable "substrate" of TFT material in
the module, if you look closely. Certain mentioned spells, talents, and even
creatures are straight TFT (one description of a pet "monkey" shows how
quickly they edited this thing - at the end of the paragraph they forgot to
put "monkey" in place of "slinker", showing the original intended critter).
Indeed, one could rewrite it back to something closely resembling its
original intended form - which is something I am working on, actually. The
hard part is figuring out the names and especially some of the historical
background, as they ended up changing a lot of details to "fit" into the
Haven campaign. Worse, since they only had the Darok and Dihad components,
they made the two of them mortal enemies, rather than their mutual enemy,
Muipoco. Of note is that the encounters that I have read through are
actually pretty interesting and well thought out; it'll take sharp players
to catch what is really going on (ref: "City of the Sacred Flame", Interplay
No. 7, and 1/3/93 e-mail from author Walter Hunt, formerly of GameLords,
mentioning how it was altered after HT cancelled the contract.)

16. "Intrigue in Plaize"
As with "Soldier City" this was similarly rewritten by GameLords and
published as "In the Tyrant's Demense." Detailed the capitol of Dihad.
Again, this one could also be "restored" to something like its original
state, though my first impression is that this one seems trickier than the
Shaylle module. (ref: "In the Tyrant's Demense" and 1/3/93 e-mail from
Walter Hunt, formerly of GameLords, mentioning how it was altered after HT
cancelled the contract.)

17. "TFT Yearbook"
Published only once as the "Fantasy Master's Codex," it was intended to be
released annually with updates, new material, errata, and so forth.

18. Campaign Guides
There was a stated intention to introduce TFT supplements to detail
particular cultures, such as medieval Japan ("Samurais") and China, Vikings,
Egyptians, Aztecs, Zulus, Hellenes, Mongols, and Incas. Interest was also
expressed in creating fantasy campaign backgrounds, to include new races,
monsters, magic and so forth (ref: Interplay Nos. 1-2)

19. Monster Manual
In a reply to a reader's inquiry in Interplay, Trace Hollowell mentioned
that some sort of a monster compendium was in the works. William Gustafson
also mentioned that a new monster book was to be the first book for a
revised 2nd Edition of ITL. (ref: Interplay Nos. 3-4 and Space Gamer No. 12)

20. 2nd Edition TFT/ITL
Mentioned in Interplay No. 4. William Gustafson was to be the author. (ref:
Interplay No. 4 and Space Gamer No. 12)

21. Religion Rules Supplement
This was requested in Interplay #2, and that it was intended to be "broad
enough to handle all Terran religions and religions for other races" and
emphasized that a separate form of magic should NOT be created. Paul Manz
wrote a set of rules in Interplay No. 4 that were basically inspired by D&D
(ref: Interplay Nos. 2 & 4).

22. Mounted Combat MicroGame
To be used with Melee to augment the fast rules given in Advanced Melee.
Don't know how this relates to the article in Space Gamer #18 (ref:
Interplay No. 2 and Space Gamer No. 18).

23. Ship Combat Module.
Requested in Interplay No. 2 and intended to cover combat aboard and
presumably between ships in TFT terms. Something like this based on Ramspeed
appeared in Space Gamer No. 24. Interplay No. 6 mentioned that a new ship
combat module for use with TFT was in the works, to be done by the Ramspeed
game designer Colin Keizer (ref: Interplay Nos. 2 & 6 and Space Gamer No.
24)

24. Building Rules.
Intended to cover rules for construction, costs, time, etc. (ref: Interplay
No. 2)

25. Magazine expansions.
Interplay was slated to grow to 48 pages, with an increase in cover price. A
TFT specific magazine was proposed as well, a full colour quarterly
featuring an adventure in each issue and a cover price of 4 to 5 dollars.
(ref: Interplay No. 5)

26. Additional MicroQuests and TFT Campaign Modules.
In the works were 4 to 6 new Microquests and 3 to 4 TFT campaign modules. It
is likely that the campaign modules were for the Land Beyond the Mountains
campaign. Some of the other material has probably been described above.
(ref: Interplay No. 5)

27. Trevalia.
An offhand statement on p. 18 of "Warrior Lords of Darok" indicated that a
supplement for this province, located somewhere west of Darok, over the
mountains, was coming out ".when time permits." Presumably a separate module
might also have been written for this province's capitol, Triyal. (ref:
Warrior Lords of Darok)

28. Erewhon
This was to be a Fantasy Micro (-game? -quest? not specified in the summary
in Vindicator No. 4 that I took this from. I'll update when I get a chance
to read the relevant Space Gamers) by Steve Jackson. (ref: Space Gamer Nos.
9, 10, 11, 12)

29. Starman
A tactical man-to-man future combat intended to be compatible with TFT -
this probably became Starleader: Assault! (ref: Space Gamer No. 17)

30. Medieval Siege Game
Mentioned in Space Gamer nothing seems to have come of it. While it was a
stand alone MicroGame, there is a possibility that it might have been made
TFT compatible. (ref: Space Gamer No. 26)

31. LBTM Module for Muipoco
Mentioned in the introductions to Warrior Lords of Darok and Forest Lords of
Dihad, it was supposed to come out later in '82 - obviously that never
happened! One wonders what "theme" this province would have had, and how
they manage to survive fighting in a two front war (yes, the Soukhori are
manipulating things, but there *has* to be some superior military capability
to provide a basis for success). I'm guessing that it is a more prosperous
society with a good mix of Renaissance period tech and magic - maybe a
little like Venice in the 16th century, but with sorcery. Perhaps the title
could have been "Merchant Lords of Muipoco"? Has a certain ring to it, but I
have no idea what was intended... (ref: WLD and FLD)

32. LBTM Module for Soukhor
Also mentioned in WLD and FLD; would have been released at the same time as
the Muipoco module. This one, at least, is a little easier to get a grip
on - obviously a heavy focus would be on excavating Mnoren ruins and
investigating various technological artifacts. I can even hazard a credible
guess at what the title may have been: "Tech Lords of Soukhor". In fact, I
will go one step further and propose cover art for the module: have a king
or ruler sitting on throne, contemplating an offering brought in by some
peasant, who kneels before him holding up a broken TV; flanking the throne
are a pair of Reptile Men, armed with halberds and large six-shot revolvers
strapped to their sides. A hodge-podge of modern items may be seen displayed
as trophies on the walls of the room, including random car parts, a Stop
sign, a computer printer, a bazooka, etc. Well, I thought it was a good
idea, anyway. (ref: WLD and FLD)

Other Material:
According to the Introductions to WLD and FLD, companion volumes detailing
the life and denizens of the capitol cities for Muipoco and Soukhor were
also to be published. Beyond that, one might envision some sort of
supplement or MicroQuest involving Skull Rock in Darok, visiting the Dwarven
city of Rhuz in the Asenborgs, or delving into Mnoren ruins in Soukhor (I
suspect that this last may have been the root of the "Energy Crisis"
module - would that more information was available on it). There certainly
was plenty of room for further development, here.

One might think that more MicroQuests or even a Campaign Module might have
been called for as a sequel/expansion to either or both of the Death
Test/Orb Quest and Silver Dragon/ Golden Unicorn series. For example, I
could see a MicroQuest to bring down whoever it was that was gathering the
Orbs and attempting to bring down the Thorsz. With regards to the Dragonodon
Universe, I am trying to cook up something for it, but have gotten bogged
down in reading up on Meso-American history.

Elyntia could also have supported a number of modules, if only for the Duchy
of Dran, the Gargoyle Mountains, and so forth. An expanded map would have
been nice, as well, to show where everything (i.e. LBTM, Elyntia, Tanander,
Underearth) was located in relationship to one another. Of course, that
might well have been covered in Keith Gross' proposed "Realms (or whatever)
of Cidri"

Amazing what might have been, particularly when one considers the genuine
quality of Orb Quest, Land Beyond the Mountains modules, and the final
capitol modules intended for Darok and Dihad. It's truly a pity that
Metagaming couldn't have held on for another several months, at least; there
were quite a few interesting and very good ideas.

As an aside, I wonder if manuscripts for any of these
games/supplements/MicroQuests survived, and might be available in some
fashion or another? Or at the least fuller descriptions of some of the
un-described materials (I would be especially keen on learning more about
Energy Crisis, Muipoco and Soukhor), perhaps related by the authors
themselves (if they can even remember after all these years). If anyone has
any additional information, or knows someone that does, now is a good time
to come forward! I would pay money for any surviving draft manuscripts, if
only for their collector's value.
=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"