The MEGA Adventure System!

[jdrakeh]

So, I just received all three English-language products from this Norwegian game line.

It looks very neat (and the core book is a hardcover which, outside of TSR, wasn't that common in the late 80s). The thing that really bears a mention, though, is the GM screen - but not because of what's on it (though the clearly Norse-inspired slice of life scene is different).

No, the remarkable thing about the screen is the size of it. I think its the earliest "small format" GM screen I've ever seen. It's not quite what we know as "landscape" format, but it's much, much, shorter than what we know as "portrait" format. I'd say that the dimension of each panel is similar to that of the Star Wars Saga Edition rulebook.

It's pretty neat. I think it's a real forgotten piece of RPG history. At the very least it's ahead of its time.

 

[David Johansen]

I recall seeing the book and the ads in magazines, possibly Dragon.

 

[jdrakeh]

I've been reading it and there's some stuff that I think got a bit mangled in the translation (some rules aren't entirely clear upon a first reading) and there's some stuff that wouldn't fly in a lot of circles today (lower stats for female characters), but it looks pretty neat overall.

 

[Dirk Remmecke]

The thing that really bears a mention, though, is the GM screen - but not because of what's on it (though the clearly Norse-inspired slice of life scene is different).

No, the remarkable thing about the screen is the size of it. I think its the earliest "small format" GM screen I've ever seen.

I didn't buy the game when I had the chance (at Gen Con, in the 90s), but I bought the screen because it didn't have any system logo and seemed suitable for any fantasy/medieval game. It was a massive 6 panel screen made from very sturdy card stock, like that very first AD&D screen. It felt "old school", even then, because most other screens of that time were made from thinner, glossy or laminated cardstock.

On a later trip to Gen Con I once saw this very distinctive GM screen in use at one table. I don't remember why but my guess was that the GM used a different system (than MEGA) with it.
In front of the screen the GM had placed a 3D paper model of Mont Saint Michel, cut in half so that the flat "back" of the model leaned against the screen. The cathedral was higher than the screen.

This was before anyone could take pictures with a cell phone (or even owned a cell phone, for that matter) so I don't have a picture - but this is a crude photoshop dummy of what it looked like:

 

[jdrakeh]

Cool! The publisher did apparently boast about the GM screen with regard to its dimensions, so the low cut, wide panel, presentation was definitely intentional. It seems like it really blazed some trails!