this: MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy manual

The game is so underwhelming;
tiny UI, no sound and unappealing rules for combat
but I love the Traveller character creation system
and the idea of a game where space travel plays a major role rules.

so, uhhhhh, more mags!

Signs and Portents
for d20 games. Babylon 5 and Judge Dredd seem to be regulars
I love those properties.
samples: Issue 5 (2003?)... link contains way more than just one issue
it's a large, incomplete collection where some editions are just previews
I mainly want eighties mags but this looks really fun

readability index for On the Edge cards

I have so many of these cards!
its setting is a paranormally-active city full of overlapping conspiracies and schemes
really, it's the closest idea to mine for Graydnmuch
including that it features mutants as a downtrodden faction
the setting is excessively edgy but the creativity is undeniable
also, the Chaos Boys module for the TTRPG version, "Over the Edge", is the best module I've ever read.
something I always noticed about the game is that, though the background lore is radical,
the sample adventures themselves were simple and had obvious imperative throughout

if a card is omitted, it's cos I don't have it lol

the point of this might be to make a variant of the game using only the cards which can be easily understood
just my take! (maybe I just need glasses)

this resource currently unfinished
(was experiencing manifold tech issues)
but the TLDR is this:
Bad: Secrets, Comptons, Kergillians, Dog-Faces, Throckmortons and old print Glugs

a good book to read on this is "Surviving on the Edge"
but a more apropos book, considering the cards themselves,
is Iain M. Banks "Against a Dark Background"
that's my joke! anyway,

+1: a pleasure to read

- index -	------------ name ------------	---------------- comment ----------------
12	Al Amarjan Friends	a basic land you'll learn to live with
17	Fahd Amaq	-
20	Aries Ambush	-
21	Armada	-
27	Astral Negatrons	-
28	Astral Wisdom	a basic land you'll learn to live with
31	Bad Luck	-
33	Beginner's Luck	-
34	Julio Beitleiro	-
36	Bestial Rampage	-
39	Blackmail	-
42	Body Double	some small text, but it's terse
43	Aurora Bolt	-
44	Mikhail Borisov	-
46	Breakage	-
47	Lino Briazzi	-
49	Bystander Effect	-
51	James R. Cartwright	-
53	Roger Chalk	-
55	Chikutorpl	-
56	Mihaly Cieznick	-
57	Cloak Ambush	-
58	Cloak Hit	-
60	Concealable Weaponry	squished title
61	Contacts in the Art Scene	a basic land you'll learn to live with
63	Coral Entity	-
64	Counter-Intelligence	-
67	Cyanide Capsule	-
69	Constance D'Aubainne	squished title
70	Jean-Christophe D'Aubainne	squished title
71	Monique D'Aubainne	-
72	Joana d'Fabelle	-
74	Deadly Inspiration
75	Deportation Investigation	squished title
77	Disinformation	-
79	DNA Difficulties
80	Cyril Doros
81	Dumb Luck
82	Duro-Trench
83	ELF-Wave Generator	squished title
86	Adelina Escobar
87	Manuela Eselbrust
88	Abanobi Famani
90	Lou Farrazi
93	Friends in Arms Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
94	Friends in Broken Wings Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
95	Friends in Flowers Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
96	Friends in Four Points	an unreadable basic land you'll learn to live with lol
97	Friends in Golden Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
98	Friends in Great Men Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
99	Friends in Sunken Barrio	a basic land you'll learn to live with
102	Gang-a-Gley
103	Genetic Prejudice
104	Frank Germaine
105	Good Luck
107	Deborah Grierson
108	Erik Gudne
111	Twilight Hammer
113	Lief Hardarson
114	Hank Henderson
115	Saxolf Hermann
122	Hypno-Disc
123	Isa Ifaq
124	Immunity
125	Inspiration
126	Intelligence Contacts	a basic land you'll learn to live with
127	International Influence	squished title
128	Mamduh Jalla
130	Johnny Kazoo
133	Hans Knudson
135	Rigor Kwasek
136	Latent Hero
139	George Lazarus
140	Lee G'won Foo
142	Loot
144	Loyalty Conditioning	squished title; small but terse text (maybe should be +0)
146	Giovanni Mancini
148	Arwa Marabu
149	Ricardo Martinez
151	Military Contacts	a basic land you'll learn to live with
153	Mole
155	Money Talks
156	Dr. Paolo Montserrat
157	Akio Morimoto
158	Multi-Dimension
160	Mutant Ambush
161	Mutant Sympathies	a basic land you'll learn to live with
162	Mutation
167	Neuro-Star	some small text, but it's terse
168	New Blood
171	Marla Oceana	gladstein frame =P
172	Oppenheimer Contracts	a basic land you'll learn to live with
173	Martin Oumage	gladstein frame =P
176	Pistol-Grip Chain Saw	squished title
177	Polymer Clothing
178	Portable Sub-Sonics	gladstein frame =P
179	Portia
183	Psychic Sensitivity	an unreadable basic land you'll learn to live with lol
187	Jack Rack
188	Radio Laser Satellite	squished title
189	Dinesh Rajpal
192	Ransom
194	Asha Rayhar
196	Reek Rend
200	Cherri Robinson
202	Dr. Fernando Rodriguez	squished title
203	Randy Rogers
205	Mars Royale
207	Pietro Ruffo
208	Thor Runestone
209	Sabotage
211	Juana Salvador
215	Veronica Sellers
220	Simon Xin
224	Smear Campaign
225	Eliza Smith
226	Sneak
227	Peer Solgerkvist
228	Karla Sommers	some small text, but it's terse
229	Linda Sorinen
230	Status Quo
237	Sub-Sonics	gladstein frame agh
246	Total Taxi
247	Trade Contracts in the Edge	a basic land you'll learn to live with
248	Trident Morale
251	Stefani Turolli
252	Ali Twine
254	Unanticipated Influence	squished title
255	Underground Trident HQ	squished title
256	Sally Undokku
257	Unexpected Difficulties	squished title
258	Vibe Valiant
259	Dmitri Vatsavos
260	Andrea Vernon
261	Gulielmo Vigneto
263	Weegzon	some small text, but it's terse
264	Weird Radiation
265	Wheel of Fortune
267	Wiretap
268	Zipper
CHASE 3	Grim Linden	card is perfect; IDX incredibly hard to read lol
C11	Pere Brinker	some small text, but it's terse
C12	Brownshirt
C13	Censorship Flap
C16	Charm Bracelet	background slightly irritating
C18	Yuzhou Chen
C20	Closet Surrealists	a basic land you'll learn to live with
C21	Coatless Code	background slightly irritating
C18	Robert "Doc" Cross
C26	Deep Pockets	some small text, but it's terse
C28	The Dimension of Gnerust	an unreadable basic land you'll learn to live with lol
C30	Duped & Narcotized Masses	a basic land you'll learn to live with
C35	Giblets Granberry
C37	Horrors Count	some small text, but it's terse
C38	Ideological Polarization	squished title
C39	Michiko Ishii	some small text, but it's terse
C52	Mrs. Brinker	background slightly irritating
C53	Abbas Nadjafi
C54	Newtonian Slam	some small text, but it's terse
C56	Oil Pan Annie
C65	Excel Quitlong
C66	C.A. Radford	some small text, but it's terse. other cards are also intentionally called C.A. Radford
C67	C.A. Radford	other cards are also intentionally called C.A. Radford
C69	C.A. Radford	some small text, but it's terse. other cards are also intentionally called C.A. Radford
C75	Rising Fanaticism
C78	Stairway to Nowhere	a basic land you'll learn to live with
C79	Stasis Accumulator
C85	Unattainable Desire
C86	Undeserved Power
C89	Anoop Varna
C90	Isil Ziya	some small text, but it's terse

+0

- index -	------------ name ------------	---------------- comment ----------------
11	Jagannath Adhi	text is small
19	Anti-Matter Grenade	distracting background
22	Dev Ashana	text is small
23	Astral Doorway	distracting background
24	Astral Flux	distracting background
29	Atavism: Ninja	distracting background
35	Bellow	dark background
37	Betelguesan	dark background
41	Bloodlust	text is small
45	Break-Bones	dark background
48	Bull-Beater	distracting background
52	Ricardo Cerdo	distracting background
54	Charisma	distracting background
65	Crystal Trap	distracting background
73	Dark Aura Ring	distracting background
76	Silver Detti	dark background
78	Disintegrator Ray	distracting background
84	Empty	distracting background
85	Akorra Encombi	distracting background
89	Harry Fang	dark background
91	Ben Feather-on-Wind	dark background; squished title
92	Mugly Flats	dark background
100	Frogbreath	dark background
101	Fury	text is small
106	Gremlins	distracting background (based on older edition card)
110	Umar Halleen	text is small
116	Hidden Gear	text is small
117	Kunigunde Himmelsbach	distracting background; squished title
119	Hosility Channeler	distracting background
120	Hosility Detector	distracting background
121	Human Ch'i Gun	text is small
129	Karmic Assassin	distracting background
137	Latent Psychic Attack	distracting background; squished title
141	Ley Line Nexus	text is small (based on older edition card)
150	Fabrissa Melors	dark background
152	Mind Control Messages	small text; squished title (the Gladstein frame is actually irritating, this could go lower)
159	Abdullah Mustafa	distracting background
164	Nachtmeister	dark background
170	Dr. Furchtegott Nusbaum	text is small; squished title
175	Arthur Pendrick	distracting background
181	Psi Gun	distracting background
182	Psychic Flux	distracting background
184	Psychic Singularity	distracting background
185	Psychic Virus	text is small
186	Psychovore	distracting background
190	Jonny Rama	dark background
191	Rampage	text is small
198	Robert Richardson	card is just annoying for subconscious reasons?
199	Riots	text is small
201	J. S. Rocket	dark background. good thing this has no text on it lol
206	Don Rozo	dark background
210	SACQ	text is small
212	Seamless Shirt	distracting background
213	Seklut Poison	distracting background
214	Self-Actualizer	distracting background
216	Sensitivity	distracting background
217	Havani Shagasemi	dark background (thi
221	Giuseppe Sizo	dark background
222	Slag	dark background
223	Burford J. Slystick	text is small
231	Raw Steamer	text is small
233	Stinger Mark V	not sure, it just bugs me?
236	Stun Ring	dark background
238	Takeshi Sumanoto	dark background
239	Super-Vitamin Diet	irritating in a number of ways \o/
240	Malak Suzier	distracting background
242	The Terminal	text is small
250	Tulpa	distracting background
253	U.N. Forces	text is small
262	Ward Against Enemies	distracting background
266	Holly Winter	distracting background
C5	Matti Aaltonen	text is small
C6	Andalusia Dog	text is small
C8	Claus Brinker	distracting background
C10	Jeroen Brinker	distracting background
C14	The Centipede	distracting background
C15	Chaos Chancer	distracting background
C19	Dzamilla Chielminski	distracting background; squished title
C22	Copyright Violation	distracting background
C32	Fall of the Wall	distracting background
C33	Fractal Infection	distracting background
C36	Eunice Rae Hopner	distracting background
C41	Audrey Itsulaaq	irritating in a number of ways \o/
C43	William Kear	distracting background
C48	Mircea ?	distracting background
C49	Olivier de Moleron	distracting background
C50	Apocalypse Moorhouse	distracting background
C51	Akio Morimoto	now Throckmortonized. thankfully has no abilities...
C55	Kofi Ogunlala	dark background
C57	Mary Olekobaai	dark background
C58	Emer O'Tillery	throcked background
C60	Personnel Copier	distracting background
C61	Pocket Panic Button	text is small and extensive
C62	Protoplankton	distracting background
C63	Pythagorean Convulsion	distracting background; ultra-squished title
C64	Quantum Squeezer	distracting background
C68	C.A. Radford	text is small. other cards are also intentionally called C.A. Radford
C70	C.A. Radford	text is small. other cards are also intentionally called C.A. Radford
C71	Rain of Walrus	distracting background
C72	Really Quite Angry Kid	text is small
C74	Rex	dark background (so much so that this might be a -1)
C76	Claude-Lucien Rouvier	distracting background
C79	Serhiy Stech	dark background
C83	Anatoly Taghel	text is small
C87	Unified Conspiracy Theory	distracting background; ultra-squished title

-1: hard to read

- index -	------------ name ------------	---------------- comment ----------------
4	Glugs' Secret	small text on crispy background
6	Kergillians' Secret	tiny text on crispy background
9	Tulpas' Secret	small text on cloudy background
10	The Dirt on Dr. Nusbaum	crispy background
13	Dalal Allar	small text; dark background
15	Mattias Allemande	small text; dark background
16	Ghadir Allemi	small text; dark background
26	Astral Mimicry	small text on an obtrusive background
62	Copper Dagger	small text on crispy background (based on earlier edition card)
66	Cut-Ups Machine	small text on crispy background (based on earlier edition card)
118	Hostage	TINY text
131	Kergillian Implant	small text; dark background
132	Kidnap	TINY text
143	Lope	small text; dark background
145	Abel Ludo	small text; dark background
166	Negative Energy	small text on a distracting background
174	Patrol Baboon	small text; dark background
180	Possession	TINY text
197	Angela Reyes	dark crispy background
234	Stun Gun	small text; dark background
235	Stun Ray	small text; dark background
241	Switch-Flipping	small text on a distracting background
245	Clyde Throckmorton	dark crispy background (this guy causes SO MUCH TROUBLE)
249	Trugga	i'm just thankful it doesn't have the Compton background
269	Mary Zule	small text; dark background
C1	The Deal With Sub-Randomness	small text on a... psychedelic wiggly background
C2	Secret of the Cut-Ups	small text on a distracting background
C7	Blatant Scam	small text on a distracting background
C9	Jacob Brinker	illegal background
C24	Cut-Ups Method	tiny text
C27	Deific Aura	tiny text on a distracting background
C34	Funkasite	small text on ye distracting background
C40	John Isidor	Sub-Random background is beyond words
C42	Emmanuelle Karnitz	very dark background
C45	Life Imitates Art	in a post-modern card design specification, participants select their own miniature typeface
C46	Evan MacDonald	small text on a background both distracting and dark
C47	Message to Space	tiny text on a distracting background
C59	Paralytic Banana	illegal background
C81	Sub-Random Subversion	card looks like it was chiseled into granite with a really blunt chisel
C82	Malak Suzier	now freshly Throckmortonized and, thus, nigh unreadable
C84	Tiffany Trilobite	text is small and on an unhelpful background

-2: too hard to read

- index -	------------ name ------------	---------------- comment ----------------
1	The Dirt on Her Exaltedness...	tiny text on dark background
3	Glorious Lords' Secret	small text on an obtrusive background
5	Hermetics' Secret	small text on dark background
7	Pharaohs' Secret	tiny text on indescribably unreadable background
8	Tridents' Secret	tiny text on an obtrusive background
14	Sunshine Allarha	small text; very dark background
18	Amok	tiny text on a complicated background
30	Aura of Evil	tiny text on dark background (based on previous edition card)
50	Gemma Candiru	actually, even when the text is large, trying to read this shit is still too much
59	Sir Arthur Compton	agony
134	Joey Ko	small text; very dark background
147	Mantra	the normal Compton indecipherable background shade
154	Molly, Queen Mother of Baboons	agony
169	Number Three	card redacted by the coincidental agency
204	Aleksandr Rominosky	small text; very dark background
232	Wheeler Stein	small text; very dark background
243	Terrors	small text; very dark background
244	The Throckmorton Device	wow! it's the legendary indecipherable Throckmorton Device
C3	The Truth About Chaos	no-one will ever know the truth about chaos
C4	The Truth About Control Addiction	tiny text on indescribably unreadable background
C17	Cheap Baboon Trick	cheap cos unreadable
C25	Death Car	very thankful this has no abilities. oh, wait, shit, that isn't flavour text
C29	Eyeballs Drillbit	amazingly well-named card
C31	Antenella Falchi	small text on a scribbly background
C44	Koanhead	small text on a scribbly background
C73	Recursive Time Loop	wow! it's the legendary indecipherable Throckmorton Device (part two)
C77	Sacrificial Bloodbath	agony
C88	Olimpia Urgeghe	black typeface on dark maroon background was just a spiteful decision tbh

that'll do
it doesn't get better

it's funny that the subsequent editions and expansions still have unreadable text boxes.
you can look back at M:TG's ancient green and white cards and say they have abrasive elements
(as well as Unlimited's issues with blurriness)
but On the Edge is another brand of sandpaper entirely