Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 28

Welcome back to another exciting page of Traveller, the original version. Last page, we had a couple of tables that help to narrow down what kind of animals are being encountered on alien worlds. We continue with the procedure to find out if all your hard work in preparing these tables will pay off with an actual encounter.

So, there are two encounters per day; if the party splits (everyone knows that's a bad idea, but they still do it), then each sub-group has its own two chances for an encounter every day. Remember, roll 1D per encounter opportunity; a 5+ means there's an encounter. If there is one, use the appropriate terrain table to figure out what is encountered. Sometimes, encounters won't be with alien animals, in which case look back to the previous section on random encounters. If combat happens, go back to Book 1 for those rules.

Next up is a section on Special Effects. This doesn't mean CGI'd alien animals or sleight-of-hand tricks. It's referring to what you can get out of the animals you encounter. Strangely, these animal encounters are described as 'the only general possibility of access that characters have to food, furs, or other valuable items.' So...if you want to buy alien elephant tusks, you have to go hunt for the elephant yourself? You can't just walk into the alien market and lay down some credits?

Guides are available for the intrepid hunters, offering a +2 or even greater DM to get the encounter you're looking for. And when you do find the critters, it's probably going to be edible (5+ on 2D, I think; there's no range listed), although if the atmosphere is tainted, the meat probably is as well (-3 DM on the meat roll). And the atmosphere has to be between 2 and 9, and if it's got some sort of venom, you're not eating it. You can get 5-30% of the animal's body weight in meat (1Dx5%). That can make for some impressive steaks on some of those bigger animals. Ever see the Flintstones? Brontosaurus ribs for the win!

Finally, you can use the bare bones (sorry) of the animal's characteristics and flesh them out to describe it more fully. Examples in the book are 'lion-like' and 'amoeboid,' which are useful to visualize what the creature is. You don't have to do it, but why wouldn't you? It's an alien world; imagine the hell out of it!

Next up is the encounter table creation checklist, which just summarizes everything from the past five pages. We're still missing some important information, such as an animal's weapons or what the different kinds of animals actually are in real-life terms. But those will be coming up shortly. I hope.