Polyhedron Magazine

A STAR FRONTIERS^TM GAME FEATURE

Knight Hawks: A New Dimension

by Doug Niles
Polyhedron Magazine, #12, pg. 14

The courageous force had been trimmed to a few valiant characters: Humans, Dralasites, Vrusks, Yazirians, members of all of the four races. These warriors somehow kept their battered ships operational, flying two, three, or even more missions every day.
Against them was poised the might of a Sathar Attack Fleet. The nimble scout ships attacked the sinister battle cruisers and destroyers of the worm-like aliens, inflicting heavy losses and buying precious time for the helpless civilians on Fortress Kdikit. Although the great space station itself had absorbed countless onslaughts, morale was still high.
But how much longer could they hold out?

* * * * *

    The release of STAR FRONTIERS Science Fiction Role Playing game introduced players to a clean, exciting game that allowed characters to adventure in a futuristic society known as the "Frontier." Although the game has met with considerable success, a recurring question has come up: "Where are the spaceship rules?"
    TSR could have included an abbreviated set of spaceship rules in the STAR FRONTIERS game package, but it was felt that such scanty treatment would raise more questions than it would answer. For this reason, the spaceship and space station rules have been prepared as the first supplement to STAR FRONTIERS Game: Knight Hawks, due for release in the summer of 1983.
    Knight Hawks is a value-packed set that includes a boardgame of ship-to-ship space combat, playable with no knowledge of the STAR FRONTIERS game system. The spaceship set will be most useful, however, as a supplement allowing characters to expand their STAR FRONTIERS campaigns into the vast reaches of space.

Your $12 investment in Knight Hawks will net you:

A 16 page boardgame rulebook, containing a basic and advanced boardgame, each with several scenarios.
A 64 page book of rules for ship design, construction, and use, including many suggestions for the referee.
A 16 page adventure module, designed to aid the referee in working spaceships into his campaign.
A 22" x 35" full color mapsheet. A grid is printed on one side for ship combat, and on the other a space station and ship deck plans for role playing encounters.
Color counters representing the scores of ship types used for the boardgame, as well as markers to aid in playing the game.
2 10-sided dice.

    Foremost in this exciting package is the boardgame of spaceship combat. A fast and clean system is explained in the basic rules, allowing players to begin a game within a few minutes of opening the box. Advanced rules allow more detailed battles to be fought, adding types of ship damage and repair as well as new weapons and defenses.
    The design emphasis on the boardgame was to allow players to make decisions that will effect the outcome of the battle, rather than simply participate in a dice-rolling exercise. Several scenarios, set during a war between the Sathar and the peoples of the Frontier, are included for each game.
    Knight Hawks will be enjoyed most fully, however, as an addition to the STAR FRONTIERS Role Playing game system. New character skills relating to spaceships will allow PC's to design, pilot, navigate, repair, and fight with a wide variety of sleek star vessels.
    This is not just a wargame, however. A detailed system on the economics of the Frontier is included, plus descriptions of items necessary for a character to begin a passenger or freight hauling line, a mining operation, or even an agricultural station in orbit around some remote outpost planet.
    Spaceships are a focal point of Frontier society, and Knight Hawks includes information on how ships are used and how the cultures of the game worlds have developed around their ships. Many types of optional spaceship equipment are listed, so players may exercise much freedom in designing their ships.
    An extensive referee's section provides background for many conflicts - economic, political, legal, military, and others - which can be used to spice up the lives of the PC's. More light is shed on the history of the Frontier and the depredations of the Sathar.
    Space stations are not neglected. These vast structures, wheeling majestically above the Frontier worlds, contain all of the necessities of life for the four races. In fact, there is never any need for a true "spacer" to set foot on a planet. Maps of some space station decks areas are included to aid in resolving the many encounters that are likely to take place on stations.
    A set of rules for playing out a massive Sathar assault on the Frontier is also included in the game. Ideally, this conflict (The Second Sathar War, or SWII) can be worked into a campaign so that players will have the opportunity to use their characters meaningfully, yet still feel that they are participating in a conflict with galaxy-wide implications.
    the Warriors of White Light module included with the Knight Hawks game introduces the referee to role playing situations using spaceships. PC's are given the chance to join the space militia of the planet Clarion (Gollywog). They will be placed under the command of experienced officers at first, but will be allowed to use spaceship skills and demonstrate their abilities in a number of scenarios, pitting them against a variety of antagonists.
    Whether the theme will be military, economic, exploration, crime, law enforcement, or anything else, the referee will have the rules he needs to set up a believable Science Fiction society.