''The Desert Environment'' was written by

J. Andrew Keith John Andrew Keith (August 31, 1958 – August 7, 1999) was an American author and games developer. Career J. Andrew Keith, and his brother William H. Keith Jr., responded to ads in ''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' for authors to wri ...

and

William H. Keith Jr. William H. Keith (born August 8, 1950) is an American author mainly contributing to military science fiction and military fiction and related game design, who writes also under several pen names, such as Ian Douglas, Robert Cain and H. Jay Ri ...

for

Game Designers Workshop Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers. History Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding m ...

's ''Traveller'' role-playing game, and published under license by

Gamelords Gamelords was an American game company that produced tabletop role-playing games and game supplements. History Kerry Lloyd founded the company, with three friends - Richard Meyer, Janet Trautvetter, and Michael Watkins in 1980. Gamelords was ...

in 1984. The book provides ''Traveller''

gamemasters A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...

with in-depth information about the desert, allowing them to accurately present adventures in the desert wastes of alien worlds. A companion adventure, ''

Duneraiders ''Duneraiders'' is a 1984 fantasy role-playing game adventure published by Gamelords for '' Traveller''. Plot summary ''Duneraiders'' is an adventure set on the desert world of Tashrakaar involving rival off-world mining companies. It utilized t ...

'' was written by the same author.

Publication history

''The Desert Environment'' was written by

and was published in 1984 by

as a digest-sized 56-page book.

Reception

In the January-February 1985 edition of ''

Space Gamer Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

'' (Issue No. 72), Tony Watson commented that "''The Desert Environment'' is recommended if your campaign includes desert adventurers. This book should provide all the information necessary to really set the scene." Steve Nutt reviewed ''The Desert Environment'' for ''

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'' magazine, and stated that "The supplement is well researched, but it must be emphasised that some of the rules systems in the book are deadly. I would advise referees to allow players full access to the book before putting them in a desert situation; in such places quite trivial actions can mean life or death." In the May 1988 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' (Issue #133),

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join th ...

called the book an exceptional treatment of nature "as the antagonist in role-playing campaigns." He noted that the information could be transferred to any role-playing game, saying that this book and two companion volumes were "my standard references when designing wilderness encounters or adventure elements for any RPG."

Reviews

* ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Ru ...

'' #42 (May/June, 1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desert Environment Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1984 Traveller (role-playing game) supplements