Alien Module 1:Aslan

Alien Module 1:Aslan is an expansion book for the well aged "Traveller" RPG.  Traveller has been through many releases over the years, but this review refers to the original release.

I brought a PDF of Alien Module 1:Aslan via RPGNow.com and it's the PDF I'm reviewing.

The PDF is not a specially constructed PDF, rather it is a scan of an original hardcopy. The scan suffers from the source document being well thumbed, the covers are worn and there has been no attempt to tidy up the imagery.

After seeing the cover page I had feared for the contents, but on paging through the PDF I found all of the pages inside to be cleanly scanned and easy to read. Unfortunately various pages of the original document had been stamped with "GDW Library" and these appear in the PDF, on one page even partially obscuring some of the text.

The PDF pages are a 1 to 1 scan of the original book so the PDF is 44 pages long (including the covers).

This book presents the reader with pretty much everything you need to know about the alien "Aslan" race. Aslan are bipedal aliens that resemble an earthly Lion on two legs.

Here's what the book contains:

• Anatomical diagrams
• Introduction to the Aslan empire
• How they measure time.
• Physiology
• History
• Society
• Government
• Armed Forces
• Language (including tools for generating Aslan words)
• Character generation (including Aslan careers, skills, mustering out)
• Aslan Weaponry
• Special rules for Aslan world generation
• Encounter/Patron tables
• Aslan's in the Imperium
• Humans in the Aslan Empire
• Aslan space vehicles.
• Scenario
• Map of Aslan space.

The book is made up of dense text in a two column layout. There is enough information here to create Aslan PCs and to go adventuring in Aslan space without there ever being a Human involved. Each of the sections above are very detailed and extensive, you will not lack for knowledge. It's hard to explain just how much detail is crammed into this book, but there is a lot of it.

I'm very happy with my purchase. It only cost $5, but I would have been willing to pay a little more had the book not been a simple scan. They have missed an opportunity in not creating a new digital layout that could be rendered comfortably by any E-Reader.

Summary : Buy it.