2300AD Products

Following is a list of all the known _2300 AD_ resources from Game Desiner's Workshop (GDW), Seeker Gaming Systems (SGS), and World Wide Wargames (3W). If you know of any others, let the Webmaster know, so that he can update the list of _2300 AD_ Products. If you're looking for any of these products, check out the list of Sources (Sometimes) Selling _2300 AD_ Material.

1. Aurore Sourcebook
2. Bayern
3. Beanstalk
4. Colonial Atlas
5. Deathwatch Program
6. Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook
7. Energy Curve
8. Equipment Guide
9. Ground Vehicle Guide
10. Invasion
11. Kafer Dawn
12. Kafer Sourcebook
13. Mission Arcturus
14. Nyotekundu Sourcebook
15. Operation Overlord
16. Ranger
17. Rotten to the Core
18. Ships of the French Arm
19. SS Virginia 25mm Deckplans
20. Star Cruiser
21. Traveller:2300
22. 2300 AD
23. Understanding 2300
24. USS Hampton 25mm Deckplans

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Aurore Sourcebook
Subtitle: Humanity's Furthest Outpost
Author(s): William H. Keith, Jr.
Copyright: 1987, Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-37-4
GDW Product #: 1010
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 96
Brief Description: A Sourcebook detailing the world of Aurore, in the Eta Bootis system, at the end of the French Arm. It details biology, geography, personalities, new equipment & skills, the kafer, and a host of other information necessary for running adventures, there.
Contents:

This cover painting is © 1988 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Bayern
Subtitle: Man's monumental voyage to the Pleiades
Author(s): William W. Connors
Copyright: 1988 GDW
ISBN: 0-943580-74-9
GDW Product #: 1035
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: A "Campaign Module" detailing the crew of the AR-I Survey Ship Bayern, on its 400+ LY voyage to the Pleiades. Includes _Star Cruiser_ stats for the Bayern, descriptions of its ship's vehicles, crew, two scenarios detailing encounters with alien races, and the real reason why the mission was sent there...
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Beanstalk
Subtitle: Trouble-shooting on Beta Canum's Elevator to the Stars
Author(s): Lester W. Smith
Copyright: 1987 Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-26-9
GDW Product #: 1030
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: Rebco is again hiring troubleshooters on Beta Canum. In this followup to the adventure "The Tricolor's Shadow" (included in _Traveller:2300_), the players are hired to perform a number of delicate operations around Beta Canum's beanstalk. The booklet contains extensive background on Beta Canum, its people and politics, as well as technical maps of the land masses and the beanstalk. [Review by Rick Grant.]
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1988 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Colonial Atlas
Subtitle: The new worlds of mankind's stellar civilization.
Author(s): GDW
Copyright: 1988 by GDW, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-58-7
GDW Product #: 1013
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 96
Brief Description: Nearly all the info GDW ever deigned to let us know about the 29 colonized worlds in the Core and the three "Arms" of space (I say "Nearly" because books such as the _Invasion_ Module and the _Aurore Sourcebook_ give additional data). While the coverage of each world varies (since a total of 14 authors covered them), System & Planetary Data, as well as History & Colony information (of varying depth) are included for most worlds, and many descriptions contain additional information on life, lifeforms, weather, resources, adventure possibilities, and other pertinent data. Earth is not covered in this book, but is detailed in the _Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook_, instead.
Contents:*

Title: Deathwatch Program
Subtitle: The Fate of the Global Net is in Your Hands
Author(s): Lester W. Smith
Copyright: 1990 GDW, Inc.
ISBN: 1-55878-051-3
GDW Product #: 1016
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 63
Brief Description: A simple Troubleshooting job turns really nasty (Don'tcha just hate it when that happens?) when an acquantance of the PCs hacks Earth's One World Bank in Zurich, Switzerland, and discovers... The Deathwatch Program. Arriving back at their hotel for what should have been the end of their adventure, the PCs are driven headlong into a fast-paced "run for your lives" that takes them clean out of the solar system, in an attempt to stop Global Catastrophy!
Contents:*

Title: Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook
Subtitle: Adventure At Man's Homeworld
Author(s): Lester W. Smith
Copyright: 1989 GDW, Inc.
ISBN: 1-55878-014-9
GDW Product #: 1015
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 95
Brief Description: Earth in the 24th century, Orbital Quarantine Command, Gateway Station, the Beanstalk, the various nations of Earth briefly described, an introduction to Cyberpunk, Bionics, Cyberspace & Decking, and a sample adventure "A Worm in the Big Apple", with pre-rolled characters. This is one of GDW's most popular Sourcebooks (if not the most popular), and is thus very hard to find.
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1986 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Energy Curve
Subtitle: A Marooned Expedition on the Kafer Frontier
Author(s): Timothy B. Brown
Copyright: 1986 Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-20-X
GDW Product #: 1031
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 47
Brief Description: A "Survival" module detailing the world of DM+17 2611 II, at the end of the French Arm. When the Trilon survey vessel LaFarge crashlands there (thanks to the Kafer), they discover a lifeform that will be of great interest, back on Earth... provided the explorers can survive long enough to get the information they've gathered back there!
Contents:*

Title: Equipment Guide
Subtitle: Humanity's Tools For Survival
Author(s): Lester W. Smith
Copyright: 1988 GDW
ISBN: 1-55878-004-1
GDW Product #: 1037
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: While much of the equipment listed here is also contained in some other GDW product (such as the Adventurer's Guide in the basic rules), some of it is new, explanations for its use and tasks required for success are included, and there are even sections on Kafer and Pentapod gear. Very few weapons or vehicles are included. Eight pages of color plates illustrate a few of the items described.
Contents:*

Title: Ground Vehicle Guide
Subtitle: Vehicles Designed for Unearthly Terrain
Author(s): Loren K. Wiseman
Copyright: 1988 GDW
ISBN: 0-943580-99-4
GDW Product #: 1036
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 64
Brief Description: 32 ground vehicles (mostly military, or with military variants; it contain only 10 civilian designs), illustrations and stats, two pages of "accessories", and eight pages of color plates. Sorry, Loren, but I have always found this to be one of my least favorite GDW products. Compare this to FASA's "Rigger's Black Book" to see what it should have been!
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1988 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Invasion
Subtitle: The Future of Humanity Hangs in the Balance
Author(s): J. Andrew Keith
Copyright: 1988, GDW
ISBN: 0-943580-67-6
GDW Product #: 1034
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 72
Brief Description: Sourcebook for running adventures during the Kafer Conflict, in the French Arm of space. Extends the 2300 timeline through the year 2302. Contains information & rules on space encounters, maps of the French Arm, descriptions of Kafer equipment, Kafer Ship Status Sheets, and much more. This module is very popular, and thus hard to find.
Contents:

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Kafer Dawn
Subtitle: The Front Line of Mankind's War for Survival
Author(s): William H. Keith, Jr.
Copyright: 1987 Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-21-8
GDW Product #: 1032
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: In _Kafer Dawn_, the players are freelance adventurers or mercenaries who have recently arrived on the world of Aurore, in the Eta Bootis system, and found themselves in the middle of a small but increasingly vicious war. The booklet provides background information on Aurore, as well as a series of interlocking adventures which take place on the planet's surface. [Review by Rick Grant.]
Additional Notes: _Kafer Dawn_ was included in later copies of _2300 AD_, and also sold separately. In my opinion, it included some of the worst artwork in any GDW (or other) products that I have ever seen...
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1988 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Kafer Sourcebook
Subtitle: Humanity's Implacable Foe
Author(s): William H. Keith, Jr.
Copyright: 1988 GDW
ISBN: 0-943580-65-X
GDW Product #: 1014
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 104
Brief Description: More than you ever wanted to know about Kafers! What they look like (UGly!), how they think (when they do), what they eat and how, reproduction, civilization, myths, history, two color plates of the Kafer "Crawler" & "Bugbus" ground vehicles, a map & star list for the Kafer sphere of space, the Ylii, Kafer Government, Kafer language & writing, Kafer equipment (and learning to use it), and some suggestions for using all the above in your games. This is one of GDW's three most popular 2300 Modules/Sourcebooks, and is thus rather hard to find.
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Mission Arcturus
Subtitle: Desperate rescue behind the Kafer lines
Author(s): William H. Keith, Jr. and Lester W. Smith
Copyright: 1987 Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-45-5
GDW Product #: 1033
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: Station Arcture was the first casualty of the Kafer War. In this module, Fireteam One, Platoon One of the American Marines is sent in to take it back! PCs are members of Platoon One, or Kafer-experienced Advisors to the Marines. The module includes information on the French Bassompiere Suffren-Class Cruiser that gets the PCs to the Arcturus system, the Marines and their equipment (including two pages on the French BH-21 Combat Walkers, and their pilots), four sample Advisors, the Arcturus system, Station Arcture, the various stages of the adventure, itself, part of a Xenopsychologist's report on Kafers, Armor/Damage Rules Revisions (contained within the _2300 AD_ revision), and information on the Kafers, themselves.
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Nyotekundu Sourcebook
Subtitle: Mining outposts in a deadly star system
Author(s): None listed (probably J. Andrew Keith).
Copyright: 1987, Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-42-0
GDW Product #: 1012
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 96
Brief Description: Information on the Wolf 359 stellar system (which the Azanian Explorers named "Nyotekundu"), Inferno (its Outpost world), information on the French & Azanian outposts, personalities, some scenario ideas, information on the Crew, Equipment, Robots, three new Skills (Scooter Pilot, Spin Operations and Zero-G), & layout of the Orbital Mining Station Andrew Carnegie, and two adventures to run there: "Training Mission", and "Echoes of the Past". Also included are information on using the new skills, descriptions of the new equipment, and many task descriptions.
Contents:*

Title: Operation Overlord
Subtitle: Assault on the Last Kafer Stronghold
Author(s): C. W. Hess
Copyright: 1989, 3W
ISBN: None
3W Product #: 402
3W Price: $.00
Pages: 48
Brief Description: PCs become members of Second Squad, Third Platoon, Alpha Company of the U.S. Marine Corp, tasked with landing on Dunkelheim and infiltrating a Kafer stronghold in order to bring down its defenses so that The Marines can regain control of the world's only Starport.
Contents:*

Title: Ranger
Subtitle: Texan Adventure On The Eber Homeworld
Author(s): David Nilsen
Copyright: 1989 GDW, Inc.
ISBN: 1-55878-016-5
GDW Product #: 1038
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 63
Brief Description: Nearly all the information GDW ever saw fit to divulge about the mysterious Eber is contained within this volume. Included are information on the 82 Eridani system, the world on Kormoran, Flora and Fauna, the Eber nations, their neurology, psychology, customs, dress, language, humor, poetry, music, weapons and armor, combat, the UAR and Texas Enclaves, the Texas Rangers, their equipment, and the local company 3A, the Black Sky Rail Line, and a multi-part adventure in which the PCs try to find out why the Eber are attacking the Texan Enclave.
Contents:*

Title: Rotten to the Core
Subtitle: Corruption at the Beanstalk's Root
Author(s): Julia Martin
Copyright: 1990 GDW, Inc.
ISBN: 1-55878-059-9
GDW Product #: 1017
GDW Price: $8.00
Pages: 63
Brief Description: Libreville, Gabon; the city at the base of Earth's beanstalk. It's surroundings, government, corporations, areas of town, slang, commerce (including the black market), night-life & clubs, slums, and lifestyles of the rich and shameless. Besides all that, there's an adventure (oddly enough named "Rotten to the Core"!), wherein an old acquaintance of a PC invites them over to see a dingus that he says will make them all rich! Unfortunately for all, it makes him very, very dead, and spurs the PCs to seek answers while avoiding becoming toast for his murder...
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Ships of the French Arm
Subtitle: Starships Which Supply and Protect a Branch of Human Space
Author(s): Timothy B. Brown
Copyright: 1987, Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-34-X
GDW Product #: 1011
GDW Price: $10.00
Pages: 96
Brief Description: Provides background information and _Star Cruiser_ Ship's Status Sheets for 18 Warships, 13 Commercial ships, five Courier Vessels, five Survey Ships, and four other Miscellaneous vessels.
Contents:*

Title: S.S. Virginia
Subtitle: American Merchant Ship
Author(s): Seeker
Copyright: 1989 by Seeker
ISBN: None
SGS Product #: 3001
SGS Price: $11.95
Pages: 5, plus 12 pages of deckplans
Brief Description: The American Virginia-Class Schooner (a cargo ship) completely described, in one volume. Includes History, a list of Convoy Actions in which they were involved, Key to the deckplans, Ship Statistics, the deckplans themselves, Ship Status Sheet, a list of Ships of the Virginia Class, and a set of 10 red cardboard standups of Crew, Kafers, and Marines that can be cut out for use on the deckplans. The Virginia is generally considered to be a pretty boring ship, since it is a simple cylinder, the deckplans are long rectangles, and the vessel has no arms nor armor. The lack of excitement/romance in the design no doubt made this product less popular. Also, as you may note in the Credits, below, the Chief Designer's name was misspelled...
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1987 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Star Cruiser
Subtitle: Starship Construction and Combat in the Year 2300
Author(s): Frank Chadwick
Copyright: 1987 Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: 0-943580-35-8
GDW Product #: 1050
GDW Price: $20.00
Pages: Star Cruiser Naval Architect's Manual (16), Star Cruiser Rules Book (19), Ship Status Sheets (40), 2 Star Cruiser Combat Charts (the equivalent of one), 2 Star Cruiser Starfield Hexgrids (each folds out into the equivalent of 8), Star Cruiser Errata (1), 180 die-punched counters.
Brief Description: The only Boardgame in the 2300 line, _Star Cruiser_ also contains the _Naval Architect's Manual_ which details the rules for building your own starships.
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1986 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: Traveller:2300
Subtitle: Mankind Discovers the Stars
Author(s): Game Designers' Workshop
Copyright: 1986, Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
ISBN: None
GDW Product #: 1000
GDW Price: $20.00
Pages: Player's Manual (52), Referee's Manual (52), The Tricolor's Shadow (8), Forms Book (8), Near Star List (8), Near Star Map (folds out into the equivalent of 6). Some later editions also contained _Understanding 2300_ (8). Total: 128 pages (136 with _Understanding 2300_) (plus map). The game also included 4D6 & 1D10.
Brief Description: This is the game that started it all! While the front covers of the Manuals were almost blank, and it was impossible to create characters who could remain conscious (sometimes even alive!) after a single blow, while there was no advancement in skills once character generation ended, and while many people bought the game looking for "Traveller: The Early Years" (when it had nothing to do with Traveller), it was still a pretty decent game. Some modules produced for this version, before the second edition _2300 AD_ came out, included rules clarifications (such as the Armor Rules Revision in Mission Arcturus). Also, later versions of _Traveller:2300_ included copies of GDW's _Understanding 2300_ (which you could also get free for the asking, back in those days), which corrected the Consciousness/Life Levels problems. Still, most people agree that the second edition was better, and it replaced this version as GDW Product #1000, when it came out in 1988.
Contents:*

This cover painting is © 1988 - 2005, Far Future Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Licensed for individual use.
Title: 2300 AD
Subtitle: Man's Battle for the Stars
Author(s): Marc W. Miller, Timothy B. Brown, Lester W. Smith, and Frank Chadwick
Copyright: 1988 GDW
ISBN: 0-942580-62-5
GDW Product #: 1000
GDW Price: $20.00
Pages: Adventurer's Guide (96), Director's Guide (112), Play Aids (32), Near Star Map (folds out into the equivalent of 6), half a page of "2300 AD Errata". Some later boxed sets included a copy of _Kafer Dawn_. Total: 240 pages (288 with _Kafer Dawn_, plus map and errata). The game also included 2D6 & 1D10.
Brief Description: I don't know about "Brief", but the two versions of 2300 were quite a bit different... According to Lester W. Smith's article "The 2300AD Revision" in _Challenge_ #34, GDW had several goals in mind, while reforming the second edition. Among these were: Keeping the rules that worked, adding missing rules, and making sure the rules meshed together. Supplemental material was added to "sidebars" throughout the rulebooks.

One of the most obvious changes was removing "Traveller" from the name, in order to stop confusing fans of that other game! <VBG> The next most obvious change was the nearly doubling in size of the game, from totals of 128 (or 136) pages to 240.

In the Adventurer's Guide, the order was reorganized so that Character Generation came immediately after the Introduction (as opposed to six pages of History, four on Political Geography, two on Technology, two on the Colonies, and two on Foundations, and then finally the Character Generation rules, in the first edition). Systems for gaining Experience and "Renown" (or fame) were added. Frontier/Core backgrounds and Gravity types were explained, and Gravities for Colonies were listed, along with short descriptions of each. An optional points-based character generation system was added. The new Core World Career was added, as was the Extralegal Career of Thief (the total rose from 16 to 18, although the ones from modules such as the _Nyotekundu Sourcebook_ were not included). The Combat Skill of Indirect Fire was removed, and the skills of Combat Walker and Reconnaissance, were added. The new Journalistic Skill of Interviewing was added. Underworld Skills had Security Systems added to it. The General Skill of Vacc Suit was renamed P-suit (for some odd reason), and Hunting & Tracking were added to that group (although not to the Frontier Background Skills).

Equipment was expanded from three pages to six, plus another six pages of illustrations (and the number of shots cameras could hold was greatly reduced). Weapons shrank from nine pages to eight (and the SK-19 was cut!), but another eight pages of illustrations was added. Armor & Combat Walkers went from one page to two, plus two more of drawings. Vehicles and their depictions went from four pages to five. All the Sections previously mentioned (History, Political Geography, Technology, and Colonies), except for Foundations (which was moved to the Director's Guide and renamed "Organizations", in order to handle more new Non-Foundation additions) also received more coverage. Additionally, new tables, sheets, and maps of the arms showing all the 7.7 LY routes (not just the main ones) were added.

The Director's guide received similar overhauls, with whole new sections on Introductions and Adventures, eight pages of Organizations, four on the new Experience & Renown systems, two pages each on the six alien sophonts in the game (including pictures), expanded Tasks & Combat Sections (and both the Tasks System and Uncertain tasks were redone), as well as the system for determining an NPC's motivations using a deck of playing cards. "Optional Wound Rules" allow you to generate non-fatal wounds to the head, as well as killing limb-shots. Information on recovering from wounds was also provided (much of it for the very first time)! New rules for firing bursts allow targets to be hit by more than one round/burst, as well.

The Sections on Star Travel & Space Combat got some slight additions, such as more info on Stutterwarps, and some hints on tactics. In the Ship Listings Section, the York's description was replaced by the Aconit's, and several Kafer vessels were added. Pictures of each were included. The two Trilon vessels had their 8.9 LY range reduced to the standard 7.7 with no explanation, however. The World Generation Section had its errata incorporated into it, fixing some problems, and blank forms for both that Section and World Mapping were included. The Animal Encounters Section about doubled in size (although the info on using the Wound Potential Modifier seems to have gotten lost in the move), the Travel Times Table was revised, and finally, a whole slew of new maps, charts, etc. was added at the end (many of which are duplicates of the ones in the Adventurer's Guide, though).

All in all, _2300 AD_ is far superior to its predecessor. If you are still using the previous version, jump to Sources.htm and find someone selling a mint copy of the newer one. Yes, they're still out there... get yours today!

Contents:*

Title: Understanding 2300
Subtitle: None
Author(s): None listed
Copyright: None listed
ISBN: None
GDW Product #: None
GDW Price: Free!
Pages: 8
Brief Description: This little freebie (included in later boxes of _Traveller:2300_) was given away by GDW, free for the asking. It had five sections in its eight pages, detailing Character and Star/World Generation, Two Scenarios, The Kafers, The Pentapods, and Creating Adventures. The facts that Consciousness/Life Levels are generated by dividing mass (and not Size) by 20 and 10, respectively, were pointed out herein.
Contents:*

Title: U.S.S. Hampton
Subtitle: American Warship
Author(s): J.R. Tenopir & C.W. Hess
Copyright: 1991 by Seeker Gaming Systems
ISBN: 1-879487-14-4
SGS Product #: 3002
SGS Price: $11.95
Pages: 11, plus 12 pages of Deckplans
Brief Description: The ASF's Hampton-Class Destroyer-Escort, completely described, in one volume. Includes Overview, History, a list of Convoy Actions in which they were involved, Ships of the Hampton Class, Ship Statistics, Key to the deckplans, Ship Status Sheet, the deckplans themselves, a five page short story by C.W. Hess entitled "26 Less One", and a set of 10 cardboard standups of Crew, Kafers, and Troopers that can be cut out for use on the deckplans. This one is generally considered to be a much better job than SGS' previous effort.
Contents:*