Welcome to 7TV 47TV Studios 5

What is 7TV? 8What is the action:engine? 87TV Glossary 9What’s not in this book? 9What do I need to play? 11Models, time and distance 11Measuring and rolling dice 11

The Rules 12The Profile 12The Game Turn 13Movement 16Shooting 18Melee 20Taking Damage 24Weapons 26Weapon Effects 26Special Actions 30Statistics Tests 30Morale Tests 34Statuses 36Buildings 38Fire 39Vehicles 40Standard Vehicles 44Special Vehicles 45

The Casting Couch 46Cast and character creation 46Show creation 46Step One: Hero or Villain? 47Show types 48Step Two: Decide your Show’s Ratings 51Step Three: Choose your Cast 52Step Four: Customise your Cast 54Sample Casts 58

Heroic Casts and Archetypes 62Flamboyant Agent 63Hardened Investigator 64Military Mind 65Million Dollar Marvel 66Mysterious Stranger 67

ContentsSa

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Unearthly Traveller 68Angel of Justice 69Crackpot Inventor 69Dependable Deputy 70Investigative Academic 70Plucky Assistant 71Strongarm 71

Villainous Casts and Archetypes 72Evil Mastermind 73Insidious Industrialist 74Otherwordly Invader 75Sinister Mystic 76Underworld Boss 77Unhinged Toff 78Double Agent 79Failed Experiment 79Faithful Lackey 80Inhuman Servitor 80Mad Scientist 81Nasty Piece of Work 81

Central Casting 82Extra Special Effects 83Extras profiles 84

Special Effects 92Combat Special Effects 94Knowledge Special Effects 95Physical Special Effects 96Traits Special Effects 96Unexplained Special Effects 98Disadvantages Special Effects 100Other Special Effects 101

Programme Guide 102Department X 104S.H.I.V.A. 108The Man From 2000 112The Argonauts 116

Episode Guide 120What type of Episode to play? 120Prologue 121Events and event cards 122Gadgets 125The Feature 128Epilogue 131Quick Play Episodes 132Campaign Episodes 136Location manager 141Bases and lairs 146Set designer 147

Appendices 150Gadget descriptions 150Gadget cards 154Event cards 159Tokens 164Play reference tables 166Cast generation tables 171Cast list 175Player reference sheet 176Templates 177

Index 178

Miniatures & scenery 181

Designers' notes 182

Acknowledgements 183

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|4 | WELCOME TO 7TV

From the swinging Sixties through the sinful Seventies England is in its heyday. The nation’s place in the world is secure – the old order is tempered by a new enthusiasm manifested in fashion, music and art.

Welcome to 7TVThe great metropolis of London is the place to be seen – a hive of new creativity and thinking. Groovy girls and suave gentlemen dance all night long in fashionable Soho clubs, while the new intellectuals of the age hang out in coffee bars set in smoky winding streets. London is on top of the world in culture and cool, and the movers and shakers wouldn’t have it any other way.

But in the more disreputable ends of the city, powerful and secretive undercurrents can be glimpsed. A body found here or an unexplained !re among the many warehouses along the River Thames offer clues to the workings of the new criminal masterminds in town.

Beyond the suffocating ring of suburbia, the country really is the country, with quaint villages scattered across a patchwork of !elds. Church bells peal, morris dancers frolic and duck ponds nestle in well-tended greens. Country roads and lanes sweep past secluded mansions and great old houses, home to leaders of industry, government and the aristocracy.

But many of those estates hide disaffected millionaires who scheme to bring chaos to the land, using their money to pay white-coated inventors to create all manner of infernal devices.

Further a!eld, the eastern European nations and the great powers of China and Russia are hotbeds of spies and double agents. Corrupt African and South American regimes jockey for power, and the unstable Middle East threatens to destabilize world economics. All of these countries harbour groups, which, like those in England, are cloaked behind bizarre acronyms. With improbable plots constantly on the boil, all these elements must be fought without hesitation.

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Unknown to most of the population, there are those who work with – or around – the law to keep England safe. Men and women who, beneath their veil of society high-life or day-to-day mediocrity, use their extraordinary skills to !ght the evil which exists barely beneath the surface. Less credible still would be the stories of those who use alien or supernatural powers in this !ght – yet they also exist, using their gifts when they are most needed.

This is the world. The world of 7TV.

7TV StudiosConsiderably less well known than others in the !eld, 7TV Studios was the brainchild of maverick millionaire Sidney Barron. It produced a number of television shows in the 1960s and 70s – all contemporary, fantastic, action adventure serials. But when Barron mysteriously disappeared from his Monaco yacht, his television empire crumbled and many of his visionary programmes never reached our screens.

Most believed these shows were lost to the archives but Crooked Dice have uncovered several forgotten cans of !lm and can now reveal some of 7TV’s short-lived series and abandoned pilots. The original TV listings are dotted throughout this rulebook for your viewing pleasure.

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6 | WELCOME TO 7TV

“It’s 6.15, time for another adventure with Dr Hugo Solomon, and Department X”.

For those of us of a certain age, these words, spoken so matter-of-factly by a faceless television announcer, were guaranteed to send a thrill, or possibly a shiver, down the spine. For the next 45 minutes, our young eyes would be glued to the screen and our bottoms to the sofa. That is, if we weren’t hiding behind the sofa.

Department X, like its sister shows Department X, like its sister shows Department X Adam Kismet Associates, The Man From 2000 and The Man From 2000 and The Man From 2000The Daredevils, constituted a heady diet of action, mystery, fear and wonder, all served up in weekly helpings courtesy of 7TV Studios,

7TV was the brainchild of television mogul Sidney Barron, himself a larger-than-life character who dragged home-grown telefantasy from its tentative black and white beginnings (the early 60’s anthology show Tea-Time Thriller and the puppet show Thriller and the puppet show Thriller Spacedog Sam) to its Technicolor heyday in the 1970s, where the adventures of Dr Solomon, ‘arch-mage of London’ Adam Kismet, the glamorous Dare sisters and time traveller Darius would regularly

grip the viewing public in that golden timeslot between The Farley Fox Show and the The Farley Fox Show and the The Farley Fox Show Late Night Sport Summary. Barron, a Hungarian émigré born Szendrey Barna, started out entertaining the troops with ENSA in World War Two, where he later claimed to have developed his philosophy of ‘Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em gasp, but never make ‘em yawn.’

After the war, Barron went on to manage some of the acts he’d served alongside, and started to put some of them on the radio and occasionally on early British television programmes like Variety At Nine’, ‘Tonight At The Palais’,

and ‘The Tommy Shine Show’. Building a reputation as an impresario with vision and ambition, Barron became an independent

Studios, his own production company .

Whilst few today would remember early 7TV offerings, such as The Village Doctor, PC 64 and Mrs Simmonds’ Playalong, the company soon made its mark by terrifying children across the country when the Department X episode ‘The Invasion Of The Argonauts’ depicted unstoppable metal men marauding

Terror at tea-time by HELENA RODINGS, Cult Zone Magazine, February 1989

After the war, Barron went on to manage some of the acts he’d served alongside, and started to put some of them on the radio and occasionally on early British television programmes like ‘and ‘reputation as an impresario with vision and ambition, Barron became an independent

Studios, his own production company .

Whilst few today would remember early 7TV offerings, such as and soon made its mark by terrifying children across the country when the Department X episode ‘depicted unstoppable metal men marauding

7.30 New series

A.K.Astarring Simon Lee

The House On Temple Bridgeby DON COTTON

-

a mysterious dossier in a Whitehall and de-

termines to uncover the identity of the resi-

dent of an address that does not exist. But

she is not the only one on the trail.Adam Kismet .......................... ..... SIMON LEE

Ms Pargeter ....................... PAPAP ULA WLA WLA ILCOCKS

The Pearly Queen ..................... JOAN MARSH

Producer PRESTON TREVORDirector SAM PONSDALE

grip the viewing public in that golden timeslot

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THE RULES | 21

Melee Weapon Modifiers tableCondition Modi!er

Charging +1 or +1 Str

‘All or Nothing’ attack extra D6

Attacked from rear –1 Def

Defending obstacle +1 Def

Attacking over obstacle/ while prone

-1

Attacking from rear/ attacking prone model

+1

ChargingModels which enter base contact with an enemy model during a move action are considered to be Charging – ready for melee with a considerable momentum behind them. For this attack only, the attacking model can gain one of two bene!ts, chosen before any hit rolls are made:

+1 bonus to hitCount any successful hits as +1 Strength

‘All Or Nothing’ AttackModels in melee combat can choose to make an All Or Nothing attack. The model trades an efficient defence for a greater chance to cause their opponent a wounding blow.

The model gets to roll an extra 1D6 to see if their attack succeeds, such is their frenzy. Any dice which equal or exceed the hit number should be checked to see if they cause damage. The downside of an All Or Nothing attack is that you leave yourself wide open if

you fail to take out your opponent. Models who survive an All Or Nothing attack can make an immediate free return attack with exactly the same bonus, even though melee attacks are not normally allowed if a model is not activating.

Example: All Or Nothing AttackSir Benton Troad is being menaced by a Neanderthal, a prehistoric peril from Earth's distant past, and the fusty administrator will only hit if he rolls a 6. The hero player decides on an ‘All Or Nothing’ attack and therefore rolls an extra 1D6 to hit. He rolls 3 and 5 - both failures! Sir Benton's wildly "ailing arms fail to break the caveman’s stride. Now the villain gets to immediately strike back for free. The Neanderthal is far more capable in melee, needing only 4+ to hit, so the extra 1D6 to hit could spell serious trouble for the hero. He rolls 4 and 5 - both hit! He picks up both dice to roll again for damage and Sir Benton prepares himself to see stars.

Attacked or Attacking From RearA model whose base lies entirely in the rear 180° of another model can claim a rear attack – see the examples below. An attacker striking a model from the rear gains two important advantages:

They gain a +1 ‘hit’ bonus to their attack roll The defender has to count their Def at –1

The defender is also unable to strike back at the model unless it has an all round melee attack (most models can only strike at other models in their front 180°). After the !rst turn of melee, surviving models attacked from the rear may freely turn around to face their opponent(s) if they wish.

Pandora King hoped the approaching henchmen had good dental plans.

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