Indiana Jones (role-playing game)

Infobox RPG


caption= "The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game"
designer= David Cook
publisher= TSR, Inc., WEG
date= 1984, 1994
genre= Period adventure/alternate history
system= CustomThere have been two publications of role-playing games based on the Indiana Jones franchise. "The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game" was designed and published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. Ten years later, West End Games acquired the rights to publish their own version, "The World of Indiana Jones".

History

The TSR books for the game are currently out of print. Publication stopped when the licensing rights to the Indiana Jones property expired. All unsold copies of the game were destroyed at that time. Employees at the UK office of TSR Hobbies mounted a portion of the burnt remains of the last copy in a small pyramid trophy made of Perspex. Beginning in 2000, the trophy became known as the "Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming".

A set of pewter miniatures were also marketed in 1984 for use with the game, which the player could choose to use instead of the cardboard cutouts that were provided with each book.

An entirely new interpretation of a role-playing game based on the Indiana Jones movies was produced by West End Games (WEG) in 1994, called "The World of Indiana Jones". It was designed by Brian Sean Perry and was offered in a boxed set, and several adventure modules were written for it. Two sets of pewter miniatures were marketed for use with the game.

Setting

The setting of both versions of the game (TSR's and WEG's) is historical, 1930's pulp era. Players can choose to set aspects of the game at any point in the mid to late 1930s. Some adventure packs establish a particular timeline, while others are left to the player's discretion.

System

TSR

Designed for 2 to 8 players, the game is run and scenes are laid out by a game master, called a referee. Each adventure pack specifies which of pre-made characters are available to be played, and provide a character dossier which displays their attributes, abilities, and a health chart. Provided maps, tables, and cut-out game pieces represent the setting and characters, and are used to determine character positioning, range, line of sight, and movement.

Characters

The players choose one of seven pre-made characters based on those from the movies: Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, Short Round, Willie Scott, Sallah (the digger), Jock Lindsay (the pilot), or Wu Han (an old friend of Indy's).

Each character has seven attributes to decide basic factors in the game: strength (physical strength), movement (action speed), prowess (manual dexterity, coordination), backbone (courage, determination), instinct (perception, intuition), appeal (personality, physical beauty). When a particular feat is attempted, a check is made against the character's appropriate attribute by rolling a d100. Modifiers to the roll or attribute may be applied by the referee, based on game circumstances. If one rolls lower than their modified attribute score, the action is successful. If it is higher, the action fails. Outcome is determined by the referee.

Combat

Combat is done in turns, each of which equals five seconds of in-game time. Players with the highest movement attribute have the chance to act first with a check against that attribute. Whether one is able to land a blow depends on a check against their prowess attribute, and the amount of damage done is determined by a "Modified Check Table" provided in the game rules. There are three levels of da

Themes

Most of the themes of the game are centered around the movies and comics, with Indiana Jones and his companions procuring items of archeological importance, while battling Nazis, rival archeologists, violent natives, gangsters, and anything else the referee chooses to put forth in the storyline. Even in the prepared adventure packs, sequence results are largely left open to player determination based on referee guidance.

Many of the modules published had no specific year in which the adventure took place; however, the setting of "Temple of Doom" was in 1935, and the setting of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was in 1936. Material from the comic series, "Further Adventures of Indiana Jones" was used for plots in some of the TSR publications.

West End Games

WEG published "The World of Indiana Jones" game under its Masterbook system.

Characters

Unlike the TSR game, the WEG game gave players the option of creating their own characters for "The World of Indiana Jones" setting. The character generation rules for the TSR game was introduced in the accessory pack IJAC1, Judge's Survival Guide, a year after the game was introduced.

Themes

The source books were very detailed with information that went beyond what was seen in the films.

References

Adventure packs

*IJ1 - "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Adventure Pack". Tracy Hickman & Michael Dobson (TSR, 1984)
*IJ2 - "Raiders of the Lost Ark Adventure Pack". Douglas Niles (TSR, 1984)
*IJ3 - "Indiana Jones, Crystal Death". Tracy Hickman (TSR, 1984)
*IJ4 - "Indiana Jones, the Golden Goddess". Ed Carmien (TSR, 1985)
*IJ5 - "Indiana Jones, Nepal Nightmare Adventure Pack". Marlene Weigel (TSR, 1985)
*IJ6 - "Indiana Jones, Fourth Nail Adventure Pack". Tracy Hickman (TSR, 1985)

Accessory packs

*IJAC1 - "Indiana Jones, Judge's Survival" Johnson, Harold. (TSR, 1985)

Other modules

*"Indiana Jones and the Rising Sun". Bill Olmesdahl & David Pulver (WEG, 1994)
*"Raiders of the Lost Ark". Peter Schweighofer (WEG, 1994)
*"Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Templars". Ken Cliffe, Greg Farshtey & Teeuwynn Woodruff (WEG, 1995)
*"Indiana Jones and the Lands of Adventure". Sanford Berenberg, Bill Smith & John Terra (WEG, 1995)
*"Indiana Jones and the Golden Vampires". James Estes, Evan Jamieson, Brian Sean Perry & Lisa Smedman (WEG, 1995)
*"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Adam Gratun, Evan Jamieson, Richard Meyer (WEG, 1996)
*"Indiana Jones Adventures". John Robey, Peter Schwighofer, George Strayton, Paul Sudlow, Eric S. Trautmann(WEG, 1996)
*"Indiana Jones Artifacts". Scott Baron & John Terra (WEG, 1996)
*"Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates and other Tales". Greg Farshtey & John Terra" (WEG, 1996)
*"Indiana Jones Magic & Mysticism; The Dark Continent". Lee Garvin (WEG, 1997)

See also

* Diana Jones award

External links

* [http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9125985/IJC/Games/RPG/RPG.htm "Indiana Jones Role-playing Games"]