About:The Fantasy Trip
Melee
In the Jul/Aug 77 issue of The Space Gamer, Metagaming announced that it was shipping out a new microqame called Melee, a set of rules for "man-to-man combat with archaic weapons". It was advertised as being suitable for use with any of the fantasy RPGs of the day. It came with a hex map and a sheet of counters, but the hexes were appropriately sized so that 25mm lead figures could be substituted for the counters.
The exciting feature of Melee was the board-game like precision it brought to battles. A combatant chose from a prescribed list of actions, and was limited to facing in one of six directions defined by the hex it occupied. Options for movement were spelled out and the all important question of whether figures were in attack range was unambiguously answered. Two players could thus conduct a battle without a referee, and similarly solitaire play was possible.
In Melee, a character has two attributes: strength and dexterity. Instead of determining them randomly, the player chooses numbers for them summing to 24. Dexterity governs who strikes first and the chance of scoring a hit. Damage is deducted from strength; high strength allows a character to employ a greater variety of weapons. The battleaxe requires the most strength, a 15, and deals 3 dice of damage.
The rules, despite their simplicity and rigor, manage to simulate vivid combat: characters can stumble and fall, disarm an opponent in hand-to-hand combat, or make a charging attack. The rulebook comprises a mere 18 digest-sized pages, and that includes a detailed example of combat between Flavius Marcellus, a Roman centurion, and Wulf, a German barbarian.
The Fantasy Trip
Even before Melee was released, Metagaming had plans for a complete fantasy RPG called the The Fantasy Trip. Originally projected for a February 1978 release, the full game system would not be available until 1980, and meanwhile TSR solidified its grip on the industry, releasing AD&D as three hardcover manuals. Howard Thompson was frustrated at Jackson's delay, and Jackson himself confessed to having writers block.
Jackson, for his part, was unhappy with how the product was ultimately released: 3 softcovers which were sold separately but bearing identical cover art. Jackson had done the paste-up for Melee himself, but Thompson, afraid of more delays, did not allow Jackson to even proofread the galleys for TFT, which resulted in a large number of errors in Jackson's opinion. He published two pages of errata in The Space Gamer 29.
The result was a rift between Metagaming's proprietor and star game designer. Jackson left Metagaming as TFT was being published, taking some assets, such as Ogre and The Space Gamer with him. He negotiated for TFT, but the price was too high. When announcing his departure in TSG 26 Jackson said he would continue to design games for Metagaming and TSG would continue to cover Metagaming products. But Jackson founded his own company Steve Jackson Games later in the year, and in TSG 35 it is noted that Thompson obtained a restraining order against Jackson selling his new game One-Page Bulge. The order was later dissolved. If Thompson thought highly of Jackson's talent he didn't let on. Metagaming released a parody game A Fistful of Turkeys in 1981. It is reviewed, incidentally, without any comment on the backstory in TSG 41.
The Genesis of TFT as Documented in "The Space Gamer"
| issue | date | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Jan 77 | First mention of Melee and In The Labyrinth | |
| 11 | Apr 77 | Melee will be shipping within weeks | |
| 12 | Jul 77 | Melee is being shipped; designers notes on Melee inroduces ITL for "late Fall" | |
| 13 | Sept 77 | ITL for Feb 78, but no firm date or price | |
| 14 | Nov 77 | ITL date slips; will not be released supplement style ala D&D; Wizard available | |
| 15 | Jan 78 | "If Metagaming... gets out TFT: ITL as a boxed game, 1978 will be successful"; Wizard designer's introduction; Death Test advert | |
| 17 | May 78 | "Right now, Labyrinth may be as late as six weeks after Origins (Jul 13-16, 1978)" | |
| 19 | Sep 78 | SJ hard at work per WWG | |
| 20 | Nov 78 | ITL to be released as boxed game 2-4 months after Steller Conquest and Godsfire are out in boxes | |
| 21 | Jan 79 | SC and Godsfire in boxes shipping Mar 79. SJ hands in 300+ pages draft for ITL. Price of ITL undecided but either $19.95 or $29.95 with 15mm fantasy "microtures". | |
| 22 | Mar 79 | Bad boxes from manufacturer may affect ITL ship date | |
| 23 | May 79 | SJ submits 4th or 5th draft of ITL | |
| 25 | Nov 79 | ITL being typeset, 140-150pp instead of expected 60-80; price target under $20 | |
| 26 | Jan 80 | Death Test 2 out by Feb; Boxed ITL canceled, instead 3 booklets for $4.95; SJ leaving Metagaming | |
| 27 | Mar 80 | ITL out: SJ "not overly pleased" but "neither am I ashamed of it". | |
| 29 | Jul 80 | Designers Notes and Errata for TFT | |
| 32 | Oct 80 | SJ announces Steve Jackson Games | |
| 35 | Jan 81 | HT gets restraining order against SJG over One-Page Bulge | |
| 41 | Jul 81 | Review of "Fistful of Turkeys" |
