Hazard (Judges Guild)

Hazard refers to a specific game system, supplement, or rule set published by Judges Guild, a prominent company in the early days of role-playing games. While the exact nature of "Hazard" varies depending on the specific Judges Guild publication it's found in (as Judges Guild often reused names and concepts across different game lines), it generally relates to:

• Encounter Generation/Random Tables: Many Judges Guild supplements incorporated "Hazard" tables, often found within dungeon or wilderness descriptions. These tables provided random encounters, events, or environmental challenges for the players to overcome, adding an element of unpredictable danger and surprise to gameplay. The specifics of these Hazards would vary greatly—from simple ambushes to complex environmental traps or magical occurrences.

• Environmental Obstacles: The term might also broadly encompass any significant environmental threat or challenge in a game setting. This could include treacherous terrain, hazardous weather conditions, dangerous wildlife, or even naturally occurring magical phenomena.

• A Specific Game System (Possibly): While no single Judges Guild game is definitively called "Hazard," the term's frequent appearance suggests it could have been part of a less formal or internally-used game system. Further research into Judges Guild's back catalog is necessary to determine if this was the case. The lack of readily available, comprehensive documentation makes definitive classification difficult.

Due to the scarcity of readily accessible information regarding Judges Guild's internal design documents and the diverse use of the term “Hazard” across their publications, further research is needed to fully define its scope and application across different game systems. More information on specific Judges Guild products utilizing "Hazard" mechanisms would significantly improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of this entry.