Melee (game)
Encyclopedia
Melee is a simple man-to-man combat boardgame released in 1977 by Metagaming
.
. The game came with a small empty hex map
, counter sheet of men and monsters, and a 17-page rulebook. In 1979, magic was added to the game system
with the release of Wizard
(pocket Microgame #6), and in 1980 the system was turned into a fantasy role playing system (known as the Fantasy Trip
) with the release of In the Labyrinth, Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard, three magazine sized publications. Over the next two years, several modules were released for the system, called Microquests.
Despite the title of this page, Melee was never owned by Steve Jackson Games
. However, Melee was designed by Steve Jackson himself, who later founded Steve Jackson Games. After Metagaming went out of business, Steve Jackson's GURPS
borrowed heavily from his Melee, first role-playing effort, with strength, dexterity and intelligence (add in Wizard) being the primary abilities that determined combat results.
. Strength allowed one to use big weapons which increased the damage one inflicted in combat and also served as how much damage one could take, while dexterity determined how likely one was to hit one's opponent. They totalled to 24 when added together. Armor could be worn, which would reduce the amount of damage taken in combat while lowering one's dexterity.
Metagaming Concepts
Metagaming Concepts was a publisher of board games from 1975 to 1983 owned by Howard Thompson. Metagaming created and popularized the microgame format. It specialized in science fiction wargames; titles included Ogre, G.E.V., Godsfire, Stellar Conquest and WarpWar...
.
History
Melee was originally released as Pocket Microgame #3 by Metagaming, which released a number of small games in ziplocked bagsZipper storage bag
Zipper storage bags were patented by Robert W. Vergobbi on May 18, 1959. In the same year, Minigrip licensed them as pencil bags. Not until 1968 did Dow Chemical Company begin marketing for them...
. The game came with a small empty hex map
Hex map
A hex map, hex board or hex grid is a gameboard design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into small regular hexagons of identical size.-Advantages and disadvantages:...
, counter sheet of men and monsters, and a 17-page rulebook. In 1979, magic was added to the game system
Role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
with the release of Wizard
Wizard (board game)
- History :Wizard was designed by Steve Jackson, later of Steve Jackson Games, and released by Metagaming in 1978 as Microgame #6 as a magic-based pocket board game of individual combat. It was based on Metaming's earlier Melee release, with the difference being that it added magic to the game system...
(pocket Microgame #6), and in 1980 the system was turned into a fantasy role playing system (known as the Fantasy Trip
The Fantasy Trip
The Fantasy Trip is a role-playing game that was designed by Steve Jackson and was published by Metagaming Concepts.It was developed from Metagaming's Melee and Wizard MicroGames, also designed by Steve Jackson, which provided the basic combat and magic rules...
) with the release of In the Labyrinth, Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard, three magazine sized publications. Over the next two years, several modules were released for the system, called Microquests.
Despite the title of this page, Melee was never owned by Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
. However, Melee was designed by Steve Jackson himself, who later founded Steve Jackson Games. After Metagaming went out of business, Steve Jackson's GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
borrowed heavily from his Melee, first role-playing effort, with strength, dexterity and intelligence (add in Wizard) being the primary abilities that determined combat results.
Gameplay
Every figure had a strength and dexterity attributeAttribute (role-playing games)
An attribute is a piece of data that describes to what extent a fictional character in a role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice...
. Strength allowed one to use big weapons which increased the damage one inflicted in combat and also served as how much damage one could take, while dexterity determined how likely one was to hit one's opponent. They totalled to 24 when added together. Armor could be worn, which would reduce the amount of damage taken in combat while lowering one's dexterity.