"Archeologists have been studying the primitive natives on the jungle world of Eniran. These natives have carved cities out of the thick jungle there. According to the native legends a god like race lives in a castle in the clouds above them. At first the archeologists thought that this was just native superstition but recently they discovered that there is, indeed, a castle floating in the clouds.

One of the archeologists offers to pay the travelers to accompany him on an expedition to this castle and find out who built it."

Joseph Mohr has been at it again & this time it's 'The Gods Left It Behind' a 'pay what you want 'Cepheus Engine rpg mission that works really well & its a dungeon crawl with a difference. Things go sideways & get complicate in this variation on a dungeon crawl really quickly.

'The Gods Left It Behind' has lots of potential especially for taking the usual dungeon crawl ideas & turning them on their head. Things get very complicated very fast in 'The Gods Left It Behind' really quick and don't let the intro fool you as a DM;

"Sonoran archeologists have been studying the planet Eniran recently. They have been spending time with the various tribes that have carved cities out of the triple canopy jungle on this world. Recently they have discovered legends about a god like race that live in a castle floating in the sky over their world. After a great deal of searching these scientists have discovered that there is, indeed, a castle like structure floating in the sky. It was very difficult to spot as the clouds on this world are often very thick. Archeologist Samuel Logan approaches the travelers about a proposition. He offers CR 100,000 for the travelers to visit Eniran, with him, to explore this castle. He wants to find out what is there, who built it and where they have gone. He also intends to try to find out how this castle is still floating in the sky after all these years. He offers a bonus of CR 10000 for every alien artifact found (and handed over to him)"

The DM could easily take 'The Gods Left It Behind' & adapt in several elements from Sword of Cepheus or even Cepheus Deluxe. This could be done to expand upon the adventure ideas within 'The Gods Left It Behind'. 'The Gods Left It Behind' presents a very short, well done, easy to read, and expand upon adventure for the Cepheus Engine rpg. This is a deadly little adventure in some regards so consider yourself warned!

We have no idea who the aliens were of Eniran within 'The Gods Left It Behind' and its open for the DM to expand upon the ideas, alien life forms, artifacts, etc. within it. There's plenty of potential here for out & out campaign expansion. The adventure elements are really easy to adapt to a wide variety of Cepheus Engine genres. And this unto itself is a solid premise to expand upon the material in 'The Gods Left It Behind'. All in all I'm going to be running to be running 'The Gods Left It Behind' for my Hostile rpg campaign coming up! Thanks for reading our review Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Blog Want more OSR & 2d6 action then please subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

Joseph Mohr's Furnace adventureis excellent with the added benefit of a war mission & up twist in the mix. The adventure is well done with a Hellish planetary background & complications added in. Furnace is tightly paced, excellently done, and very well done with a great adventure storyline thrown in! Highly recommended! Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery blog Want more OSR action subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

There's a possible cure in the Sanora sector as Joseph Mohr's Rumble In The Jungle adventure provides one possible cure & or treatment. The trick is surviving Mr.Mohr's pay what you want adventure?! Mohr in twenty six pages neatly wraps up a solid adventure and its easy to use for Cepheus Engine or other OSR games. Joseph Mohr has been one of the leading light in the Cepheus Engine rpg community. He cranks out easy to adapt rpg adventures & this is a great one.

"It is well known across the Sonora sector that the planet Saresere is a frozen planet with no atmosphere. Despite these harsh conditions the Kon Lo Corporation has a small station on the world mining precious minerals. Of course....this is the story planted by the corporation to keep preying eyes from taking too close a look. Instead of miners there are scientists on this world excavating for alien artifacts and relics. They maintain a small complex of buildings on the surface of the planet. Recently all contact with these scientists has been lost."

There's something about the 2d6 science fictional goodness of Cepheus Engine rpg that draws me in like a moth to the flame. Not really nostolgia although there's a far degree of that, no there's something deeper here. And no more is this more primal then in other adaptations of the material. This is more of a 'locked room crime investigation'. And that's great for an old school Traveller or Cepheus Engine adventure.

Joseph Mohr is the little rpg engine that does, he not unlike Michael Brown & many Cepheus Engine rpg designers quietly churns out adventure after adventure. And 'The Thing in the Ice' is Mr. Mohr's latest adventure effort & 'The Thing in the Ice' nails it. Yeah its a 'pay what you want' & yes the scenario seems very familiar. And yes its only nineteen pages. But by God this is a neatly little way of handling a John Carpenter style adventure with a few twists of its own. This is a very well done short adventure but I'd run this with experienced players. There more then enough that can go wrong to wipe out an entire Cepheus Engine rpg party. This is quite like John Carpenter's The Thing from Another World but there are some shaded differences. And its with those differences where the party could potentially exploit the situation to actually move this beyond the tradition horror/dungeon adventure that takes place with paranoia aplenty. Or the 'The Thing in the Ice' could simply be used as a homage to classic novella 'Who Goes There' or the classic John Carpenter film. And that's fine.. The cartography & layout are solid,especially liked the maps in 'The Thing in the Ice'

What if 'The Thing in the Ice' happened to take place in Stella Publishing's setting 'These Stars Are Ours!? Imagine a new freed humanity PC's are called into an ice covered world & things get down right paranoid as the PC's are dealing with both investigation of the alien life form & the dire circumstances. Is the alien life form a left over Reticulan bio weapon or something else?!

And what about the other Cephues Engine rpg campaign settings such as John Watts 'Clement sector'?! Three things spring to mind here. One the sector isn't fully explored so there's more then enough room for this alien life form. The stars are still isolated, & finally the paranoia is already baked into 'The Clement Sector'. This alien life form is going to be one more alien among the stars to contend with.

Now let's talk about the fact that the Hostile rpg setting by Zozer Games comes with a similar 'John Carpenter's Thing From Anothr World' scenario baked already in the setting book. This isn't really a problem. Because 'The Thing in the Ice' is different enough to be run right along this homage & the PC's are still going to be wondering what do with the alien life form. Zozer games system is a perfect rpg contrast to what has come before.And in point of fact Zozer Games 1970s 2D6 RETRO RULES. But are going to be some or more adventure elements in 'The Thing in the Ice'

I really like 'The Thing in the Ice' the advenure tone is one that really expands in an original way to an idea that we've seen time & again over the years since the appearance of the alien life form in John W. Campbell Jr.'s short novella 'Who Goes there' Note that 'The Thing in the Ice' is a short adventure but there's room for expansion. And that promise is there within this adventure. However 'The Thing in the Ice' does what it sets out to do with a one shot adventure that can be added or subtracted from a campaign. The adventure provides the DM with the tools for running a one shot & does it well with plenty of opportunity for investigation as well as a real danger for even an experienced group of PC's their players. 'The Thing in the Ice' is a nice & dangerous mid tier Cepheus Engine rpg adventure! Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery blog Want more OSR action? Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

"This is a supplement for use with Cepheus Engine.

Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is a list of 100 potential patrons for use with my "Frontiers of Space" published previously. These are patrons specific to the Sonora sector of space but they could easily be modified for use elsewhere."

Joseph Mohr is one of those writers & designers whom sleep is another whole cloth luxury. Every couple of weeks he comes up with a new supplement, adventure, campaign or adventure add on for either Cepheus Engine or OSRIC. Such is the case with his Patrons of the Frontiers of Space a 'pay what you want' forty three page NPC patron book for the Cepheus Engine rpg.

Basically Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is a perfectly served up patrons book in the spirit of the classic original Travellers rpg book. It gives a bunch of patrons for your adventurers & hooks to get your Cepheus Engine rpg campaign & adventures rolling. And there are lots of room for NPC double dealing & weirdness to be added into the Cepheus Engine rpg campaign setting of your choice. Patrons are one of the back bones of classic Traveller & Cepheus Engine. Mohr brings some solid choices for adventurers here.

For the Cepheus Engine rpg Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is core & key a way of turning the adventure starter of the campaign engine for the game. NPC patrons allow adventurers to have access to everything from equipment out of their range. To key NPC's as well as hiring the adventurers for situations that the partons don't want to find themselves in. Patrons of the Frontiers of Space gives a solid take & selection of just these while giving the DM excuses for getting the adventurers into situations way over their pay grades. If your looking for incredibly high standards in layout & artwork look else where Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is pure useful tool box NPC's from right out of the gate for the Cepheus Engine rpg. The layout is no frills, the material here is bare bones, & its very much exactly what it says on the tin. And that's fine. For my purposes Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is key turn tool box fun for my campaigns for the Cepheus Engine. Can Patrons of the Frontiers of Space be used in other Cepheus Engine rpg supplement settings besides the author's original space opera Cepheus Engine campaign?! In a word, very much so, Patrons of the Frontiers of Space is designed with other use built into its DNA.

For example Stellagama Publishing's These Stars Are Ours could have all kinds of loose mid range corps working with any number of front men patrons. These can be fronts for many of the Gray's interests with the humans who are the new up & coming powers after the interstellar wars. For Independence Games's Clement Sector books & setting are being invaded by outside forces. Patrons of the Frontiers of Space represents a threat to the established order of regular patrons. These can be NPC folks with clout in the affairs of the intergalatic world stage who are offering the adventurers opportunities for adventure or missions of all kinds.

Patrons of the Frontiers of Space for Zozer Games Hostile represents the 'outside's influence' growing because of the importation of forces far outside the circle of the current crop & influences of the corporations. Humanity in the board room & the streets are vulnerable to the mere presence of royals or some other corporate entities within the universe. Is Patrons of the Frontiers of Space perfect?! Far from it but its lot better then it has any right to. As a 'pay what you want' adventure it lives up to its own shadow that it sets down for your campaign to use. I'm glad I downloaded Patrons of the Frontiers of Space Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Blog Thanks for reading our review. Want more OSR action subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

"Edokka IV is a nearly deserted world owned and exploited by the Ilsunsi Directorate. The planet has abundant mineral resources which are necessary for the Ilsunsi production lines on other worlds. The Directorate uses off world miners to extract the ores.

Recently, however, the miners have discovered something in the mines. Some of the miners have begun dying from unknown causes. Other miners are refusing to go down into the mines. The Ilsunsi are willing to pay for someone to go down into the mines to find the cause of the problems and correct it."

Initial Impressions

Joseph Mohr does a solid adventure with 'An Unfortunate Discovery' a pay what you want title.'An Unfortunate Discovery' is a solid & easily adaptable module for the Cepheus Engine rpg. The adventure action of this module is one that I'd adapt to Zozer Games Roughnecks easily. You've got the company planet that is being exploited for its resources in the middle of no place squared. 'An Unfortunate Discovery' has a bit of everything for the party of adventurers. But 'An Unfortunate Discovery' is only twenty pages so its not a huge commitment of play sessions.

How can this be done?! Take your party of roughnecks add in a cyberpunk 80's veneer & then simmer over an edge of the frontier system for even more goodness for 'An Unfortunate Discovery' . The planet is a complete wasteland & the former holdings of an alien empire. So who know what's out there this means the planet is a blank campaign canvas.

Working 'An Unfortunate Discovery'
Into An On Going Campaign

So if we're working 'An Unfortunate Discovery' into an on going Eighties or Nineties Cepheus Engine campaign the idea would certainly suit a Space Above & Beyond style game with the military elements in full display. The alien forces breathing literally down the backs of the PC's.

A mix of Cepheus Atom & Cepheus Engine would go a long ways to fleshing out far more of Eddoka IV's former warzones. If Zozer Game's Hostile is used with 'An Unfortunate Discovery' then things get really interesting really fast. The adventure is a few tech levels above Hostile & the marines with the miner PC's have every reason to get those artifacts out especially for those corporate bonuses.

But for a really nasty Nineties twist of the wrist of a film to add to this mix the cultclassic Screamers from Ninety five is a good bet for a half remembered VHS rental that fixes this campaign into the realm of sci fi horror.

Half forgotten today 'Screamers' is perfect cultclassic for a former alien battle field with some lurking relics & antique war machines just waiting for the foo erm marines or miners to stumble upon them. In point of fact if Screamers is added into Stellagema Publishing's Uranium Fever you get Edokka IV becoming a perfect former Reticulin battle ground world. The miners stumble upon it. The Reticulins left behind their former weapon systems & the miners are in really deep trouble.

'An Unfortunate Discovery' is flexible enough to take the PC's into the heart of a world with some very deep old wounds. And then even though it seems like a small module An Unfortunate Discovery' got enough of a middle coating to make this a good mid tier module.

Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Want more OSR action? Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

"The travelers are offered a job with a substantial payday, The only problem is that the job is on a burned out radioactive world in the Sonora sector of space, An alien species, long dead and gone, once used robotic walkers to invade the planet Ceqal IV. The Olonsean Empire would like to have artifacts from these walkers. The patron, however, has other ideas."

Joseph Mohr is an engine every couple of months a new OSR or Cepheus Engine rpg adventure pops up on Drivethrurpg. And so its been interesting to see "Sleeping Giant" a pay what you want Cepheus Engine Rpg adventure pop up yesterday. There been quite a bit of experince at the table top when it comes to using Joseph Mohr Cepheus Engine rpg adventures that we have had over the last two years. Each one comes with a hook, a set up, the meat of the adventure, & then the conclusion for the PC's. And this isn't a bad thing at all. And this set up is highly effective; "Nehael Thriqu, an intelligence officer of the Ilsunsi Directorate, approaches the travelers when they are in star port with a proposition. The Directorate has received intelligence that the Olonsean Empire intends to send an expedition to the world of Ceqal to recover alien artifacts. The Olonsean Empire is an aggressive species of aliens who are always looking for artifacts which can improve their military. It is believed that the planet Ceqal IV may contain such artifacts as it was once the site of an ancient battle. This battle took place long before any of the races which currently inhabit the Sonora sector evolved or moved into this part of the galaxy. Much of the planet is covered in radioactive zones from the orbital bombardment that took place here long ago. A great deal of hazardous wreckage still orbits the world from the battle that took place in space around the system. It is considered dangerous place to visit and no one has after the first explorers visited the world nearly five hundred years ago. Nehael Thriqu offers the travelers CR 200,000 to visit this world and find whatever it is that the Olonseans are looking for before their own expedition arrives. He offers CR 100,000 as a bonus if the travelers can recover the artifacts and bring them to him. Alternatively he will be quite happy if the travelers can just prevent the Olonseans from recovering the artifacts by destroying them. To this end he will supply the travelers with military grade explosive charges (five) which should accomplish the task." One of the things that really shines out about "Sleeping Giant" is how easy it is to customize & really play with to suit your campaigns. "Sleeping Giant" has all of the ingrediants of a good solidly done original Star Trek television episode in an adventure outline form. "Sleeping Giant" could easily be adapted to a very gritty & lived in Cepheus Engine rpg setting like Zozer Games Hostile rpg setting. Here's how it would work with a Hostile style game. The Company patron comes to the PC marines with a purposal to recover relics or weapons from world of Ceqal before the Olonsean Empire (effectively a group of alien pirates or marauders) recovers them first. Bonuses will be paid & there is propitiation of future missions.

And even the writer says it right at the beginning of the adventure; "This adventure involves an alien robotic walker which was once used in combat during an invasion of this world. The walker is basically a large mechanical warrior in which a crew once lived inside. Consider it a walking tank. It was heavily armored and equally heavily armed. There are many components to this device which the Olonseans would benefit from. Should they recover any of these components they will put them to military use and change the balance of power in the region. This adventure is set in the Sonora sector which is detailed in my previous work “The Frontiers of Space.” But it could easily be moved to some other part of the galaxy if needed."

To make this work in Zozer Games Hostile rpg setting I'm breaking one of the conceits of this setting. Namely that there are no humanoid alien races within it. The Talon Sector & the Earth Empire that we've been using as the basis of our Hostile games does have humanoid races within it. Its a big galaxy folks and besides this something that the Aliens comic books from Dark Horse also played with. That's another blog entry. "Sleeping Giant" has random encounters, the robotic wreckage, and even the possibility of more relics.. There's a bit of problem solving & all together this works very well. "Sleeping Giant" is actually a nice campaign set up adventure for some experienced rpgers in the Cepheus Engine rpg. Could "Sleeping Giant" work for original Traveller rpg?! In a word very effectively because it hits the right buttons for original Traveller. You've got a solid mission, a post apocalytic alien world, a rival enemy hell bent on those same relics. Yes it works nicely..

Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Want more OSR action? Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

Antioch Station is a science fiction adventure with 21 pages. This includes a map of the station with 13 rooms. It is designed for Cepheus Engine, but I used Orbital Blues (Quickstart) to play it (available at DriveThruRPG/free). There are six characters provided (orbital Blues). They fall into the category of thieves, smugglers, and bounty hunters. I soloed this with a solo system I have been testing out. I used five of the characters provided from Orbital Blues and added a scientist. On the first day they did rescue a tour ship (musicians who know how to party). On the second day they continued on their quest to the space station. They did survive the mission and accomplished the three goals. And they made a profit! Give this fun adventure a try!

" A Neoh 'Am Abassador is on a mission to meet with the Qlansie to form an alliance against the aggressions of the Olonsean Empire. An Olonsean Majoor offers to pay well for an assassination of this ambassador before such a meeting takes place. The only problem is....it will have to take place aboard a luxury cruiser liner slowly traveling across the Sonora Sector of space. "

Joseph Mohr's modules are like patato chips once you grab on pay what you want module another quickly finds its way into your hands. In The Darkness of Space From Old School Role Playing feels a bit like a classic Sevenities Buck Rogers episode to me.

In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr seems like a straight up alien assassination plot but its not. There's a great multi layered space cruise ship that has a multiplicity of use for my home campaigns. Then there's the wrack & ruin of NPC's that Mohr loves to include in his adventures. We've got his twists & pony by the tale turn arounds that he loves. This works well for 'In The Darkness of Space' as a mid level adventure for the Cepheus Engine rpg.

Frontiers of Space as a side sector for These Stars Are Ours! campaign setting works very well. Because let's face facts Frontiers of Space has all of those classic Traveller rpg adventure elements. Why!?! "Frontiers of Space – Settlers have spread to the farthest reaches of space. The human race is not alone in the galaxy. The Frontiers of Space are a wild and dangerous place filled with intrigue, commerce, raiders and war. Only the bravest explorers have come this far from the Empire. This is a Cepheus Engine Product" This dives right into In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr adventure has all of those classic adventure elements. All of the weath of The 'Gold Rush!' adventure that we covered last blog entry could be these sectors wealth sources & resources.

In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr makes very nice contrast to the more rough & tumble aspects of the Cepheus rpg engine's These Stars Are Ours! sci-fi setting campaign. This makes the Frontiers of Space sector & setting an excellent contrast to conflict & warfare found in the These Stars Are Ours! sci-fi setting campaign. This gives the Frontiers of Space a far more ancient feel. This contrasts very nicely with the In The Darkness of Space adventure elements. All in all I think that In The Darkness of Space adventure is solid for what it does.

But could In The Darkness of Space be used with Stars Without Numbers Revised? It suits the SWN rules set better in some ways & works as a mid level established adventure but the conversion would be trickier in some ways but it establishes a galactic series of empires in many ways.

Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery blog Want More OSR action!? Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

"The X-434Z prison ship holds some of the most dangerous criminals in the Sonora sector. Recent escapes from prison worlds in the sector have led to authorities placing the worst offenders on a ship that rarely visits port anywhere in the sector. But a small group of rebels have discovered that the ship will be in a certain system at a certain time. They want a political prisoner held aboard the ship to be brought out of the ship alive. They are willing to pay handsomely. "

'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr is a 'pay what you want' adventure for The Cepheus Engine rpg & its the type of adventure that one would find in the annals of Challenge magazine for the Traveller rpg. This is a higher tier rpg adventure with a down & gritty kidnapping or bounty hunter prison break out feel. Everything is keyed into & dialed into the classic Traveller rpg flare.

'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr has all of the Mohr hallmarks, the no nonsense approach to the adventure elements, the bare to wall stat blocks, the plot & cartography very bare bones, etc.. But all of this doesn't take away that this is a damn good prison break with two or three major twists & turns. This has some good bare bones to it for a pay what you want adventure & it does it without tears. This is the exact sort of direct & no hand holding approach that I've come to expect with a direct adventure hook like this;"The worst prisoners in the Sonora sector are held in a maximum security prison ship named the X-434Z. This nondescript ship looks like the average commercial freighter. It stays in well patrolled shipping lanes to avoid piracy and to avoid bringing undue attention to itself. Prisoners kept aboard this ship are the very worst types of offenders along with other “special” prisoners who authorities want to keep secure. Recent breakouts from the prison planets in the sector have made various governmental authorities nervous. Some of the prisoners aboard this craft are of the “political” variety. Should they somehow get released it might bring chaos and rebellion on a number of worlds. " Played correctly & this adventure could come off as a combination of Expendables & a Sixties or Seventies prison escape film. Played wrong & this adventure has the potential to bog down fast. And lead to a real campaign slog of a piece. 'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr is no nonsense & really brings on some very dangerous elements in a science fiction stew of the The Cepheus Engine rpg. For players this is going to be an upper tier science fiction adventure 'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr makes no bones about this & places the hardness on the table. I could see using 'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr with the Stars Without Numbers rpg but it would take a Hell of a lot of work on the DM's part. Here's what I'd do instead. Take a copy of Cepheus Light, by Omer Golan-Joel and Josh Peters then grab 'Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr then you & your players are ready to go for an evening's entertainment!

Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr does what it says on the tin & as a prison break adventure there's a ton of good bones here for a solid evening or more sessions play through. All in all I'm glad I've got this one on my hard drive. Boarding action' by Joseph Mohr hits all of the marks for me to run a one shot or quick several sessions game adventure. For the Cepheus Light rpg this would make an excellent several session adventure. Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery blog Want more OSR content? Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

JUnk. This is a simple proce list without meaningful descriptions of what the items do. Useless.

Another village on the edge of civilisation beset by various problems, including raiding bandits; there are also past mysteries to unravel. Solid effort, with several good mini-dungeons to explore. The whole is easily adaptable to an existing campaign, or could be used as a "book of lairs". Magic items and treasure are of standard type. The troll doesn't have a treasure hoard, which is strange as he charges a toll for crossing a bridge.

Recommended.

Clear simple supplement of sector data for use in your games. Short descriptions of each planet add colour and some basic patrons at the back. What the product would gain from is more descriptive notes on the mentioned pocket empires and client states - perhaps a Sector overview opening, better use of white space but a nice simple, clear starter sector for any GM. Little artwork and hard to tell where the back cover is. Price clearly Pay What You Want