Publisher's blurb:
Role-playing games benefit from illustrations: images help understand what the words tell us. But printing the pictures in the book is problematic: showing players what something looks like is just cumbersome.
I have struggled with that problem for a long time, and I have been experimenting with cards. If you have ordered something from FFE in recent years, you probably have seen tucked into your order several poker-size playing cards. Some were ads for books or TShirts; others were pictures of things in Traveller: weapons, worlds, ships.
I call these TCards (for Traveller Cards), and I find they enhance the experience at the game table. I long ago gave up on making them reference cards or completely detailed: they are prompts that represent things, or give players ideas, or remind them of capabilities. A world card gives some everyone some idea about that specific world; a weapon card shows what it looks like; a ship card conveys the ship image and perhaps some details about its capabilities. More information naturally comes from the role-playing action at the table.
There’s no set format for these cards: each is a picture or a diagram or map, accompanied by just enough words to help move the story along. There’s no set subject matter: a card can deal with almost anything.
But every one of them is a prompt: a visual, tactile illustration that captures the imagination and curiosity of the players. They lay on the table for all to see, or sit in the player’s file for reference. Rarely can a player look at one of these TCards and dismiss it with “I don’t care about that.”
That’s why were making TCards part of this release: they make the Traveller playing experience more interesting; more satisfying; and just more fun.