Indiana Jones (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
There 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.
under license in 1984. Ten years later, West End Games
acquired the rights to publish their own version, The World of Indiana Jones.
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.
, 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.
, 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.
, 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.
system.
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
franchise. The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game was designed and published by TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
under license in 1984. Ten years later, West End Games
West End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
acquired the rights to publish their own version, The World of Indiana Jones.
History
Diana Jones Award
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does...
".
A set of pewter
Pewter
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
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
West End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
(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.TSR
Designed for 2 to 8 players, the game is run and scenes are laid out by a game masterGamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
, 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 JonesIndiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
, Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood Jones is a fictional character that first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Played by Karen Allen, she enters the story when Indiana Jones visits her in Nepal, needing her help — specifically, he needs an artifact in her possession, originally obtained by her...
, Short Round, Willie Scott, Sallah
Sallah
Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir, better known as Sallah , is a fictional character played by John Rhys-Davies in two of the four Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
(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 damage: light, medium, and serious. The reversed number rolled for the prowess check, looked up on the provided "Action Results Table" determines where the blow landed, if not otherwise decided by the referee. Other forms of combat, such as shooting are done in the same way, only the provided maps must be used to determine range and line of sight. No formal system of hit points or determining actual character death is put forth, and instead is left to the referee as a role-play element.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 NazisNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, 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 MasterbookMasterbook
Masterbook is a generic role-playing game that was created by West End Games as a follow-up to the multi-genre role-playing game Torg and the science fiction game Shatterzone, which used a modified version of the Torg system...
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.Adventure packs
- IJ1 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Adventure Pack. Tracy HickmanTracy HickmanTracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...
& Michael DobsonMichael Dobson (author)Michael S. Dobson is an American author in the fields of Business , Alternate History novels and Role-playing game adventures .-Early life:At a young age, Dobson's family moved from North Carolina to Germany; his father...
(TSR, 1984) - IJ2 - Raiders of the Lost Ark Adventure Pack. Douglas NilesDouglas NilesDouglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game.-Early life:Niles was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, and...
(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)
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 TemplarsIndiana Jones and the Tomb of the TemplarsIndiana Jones and the Tomb of the Templars contains three adventures for use with West End Games Masterbook system: Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Templars, Indiana Jones and the Druids' Curse and Indiana Jones and the Sword in the Stone, the adventures taking place between 1936 and 1938 and all...
. Ken Cliffe, Greg FarshteyGreg FarshteyGregory Todd Farshtey is an American writer, best known for his work on the Bionicle series of novels and the Bionicle comics .-Literary career:...
& 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 SmedmanLisa SmedmanLisa Smedman is a newspaper editor and a science fiction and fantasy novelist. Her most well-known work is Extinction, a novel set in the Forgotten Realms universe.-Background:...
(WEG, 1995) - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Adam Gratun, Evan Jamieson, Richard MeyerRichard MeyerRichard Meyer is the name of:* Richard Meyer , Swiss record producer and songwriter* Richard Meyer , a character in the Fatal Fury fighting video games...
(WEG, 1996) - Indiana Jones Adventures. John Robey, Peter Schwighofer, George Strayton, Paul Sudlow, Eric S. Trautmann(WEG, 1996)
- Indiana Jones Artifacts. Scott BaronScott BaronScott Baron, is a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and former law enforcement officer in California. He is the author of They Also Served: Military Biographies of Uncommon Americans and coauthor, with James Wise, of Dangerous Games: faces, incidents and casualties of the Cold War, Women at...
& John Terra (WEG, 1996) - Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates and other Tales. Greg FarshteyGreg FarshteyGregory Todd Farshtey is an American writer, best known for his work on the Bionicle series of novels and the Bionicle comics .-Literary career:...
& John Terra (WEG, 1996) - Indiana Jones Magic & Mysticism; The Dark Continent. Lee Garvin (WEG, 1997)