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I've read through this but haven't played it. If my review is incorrect I welcome feedback. I've played CT and MT2E but not Cepheus. This is a free product and I'm going to tear to shreds, which might be unnecessarily mean. Many of my points are good, some are dubious.
To play this adventure you would need a ship with J3, and one planet (out of 10 total) can only be reached with J4. The J4 planet is inessential, I believe. There is a lack of refined fuel which could have impacts in CT if used in that system, particularly with a damaged drive. You could move planets, fill in planets, or scifi something to double jump ranges in this area of space, to make the map workable.
The adventure is potentially campaign-ending. There are many plot holes, including things that I can't figure out how to fix. Starting at the top, you recognize an alien race here as being from your origin, but the wormhole leading back is extremely temporary and if you miss it, it's gone, and an entire race of people keep this secret, somehow, but it's about to disappear, like it's just weird and, dare I say, dumb. The McGuffin doesn't seem to be able to have its purported effects (enabling trade), it's a tooth blade from Dune, whatever they're called. How is this a rosetta stone? Why does he even want one? Why can the dog people smell the cats on you forever? How long does the smell last, despite showering, etc. Why are you doing all this jumping with a JDrive that needs to be repaired? Why are there no details about the risk of doing so? Finally, "The wormhole is closing in 2D6+5 days." Whaaaaat? What? Maybe make that weeks? Also, "The likelihood of another wormhole appearing which goes back to their home sector is negligible." Then how are the other people here? Anyways...
I think starport maps would be more useful than planet maps, though there may not be a generator for them. The ability to speak with locals may be difficult in this setting, which I've never found to enhance a TTRPG. I suggest watching District 9 without subtitles to emulate that experience. That said, there is a translator for sale, in which case, why have languages?
The details about the worlds and races are very light. One of the worlds I'll call Dune, which is an utter waste of space in the module, due to its popularity. The McGuffin is is located on Dune, but not detailed in any way, and it's central to the adventure.
I think this adventure would be well suited, excellently, in fact, to a wild jump in CT, instead of scripted into a game system where you would never use unrefined fuel. The page count to carry around for use in that event (based on the frequency of said event) is prohibitive, but could be achieved with editing. The document is sparse. There's no reason to mention Sonora as the origin of the adventure. Actually, now that I think of it, having a race from the origin actually detracts from the ability of the ref to use this in a wild jump scenario because he would have to know about this race already and have put it in his game. Is there a way of fixing this, or managing this difficulty? Maybe a better ref wouldn't have a problem with this.
Areas for improvement include lists of names for use on the worlds. Don't say "might be totally devoid of population," etc. Conflate complications 8 and 9. Not all of these things are complications. Get rid of complication 10. 4, 5, 6, and 7 can be put into a brief paragraph in a different section of the module and something even briefer for that put into an overview section which can include some of the "complications".
Regarding damage to the drives during misjump. You need to state what it is an how to fix it, or something. You put some pretty high stakes into that and didn't provide any mechanics to resolve it.
Consider this passage: "The engines shudder. The ship shakes. Time seems to stand still for a very long time. And the ship suddenly arrives in unknown space. The stars do not seem to be in the right places." Do we need this, as a GM? I don't think so.
Consider adding page references in alphabetical order (index) for planets. The listing as presented is likely excellent, but I haven't played it so I don't know for sure. It would be nice to have an index though.
Tell us more about the leader of Dune.
Change "at various points in the desert that have hardened" to "in areas where the desert sands have hardened."
I feel like the trade set up here is almost a railroad, but it's hard to make that criticism, so I guess just be advised of my impression and talk to your players about it during playtesting.
Consider making your cat people more like bobcats than tigers. Get some youtube videos on them to flavour. I feel like tigers are too bland in their behaviors.
"distinct sense of smell" is just poor writing. Consider "refined", or something that actually describes it, though it is indeed clear what you're trying to say.
Maybe move "(7+)" to the end of the sentence.
Tell us more about "meticulous species". This is good stuff.
"fruits, vegetables or other things to gather." You can't be serious. Picking like 10 tons of fruit for trade? No... no, no, no. With more information (Dumarest's experience with psionic bees on Hive?) this could be good, though.
Re: "alien ruins", give us more about this, or give us probabilities or something.
"Finding jump drive parts on this world is a sure bet but the risks are high." Again, give us more.
This is going to sound totally crazy, but maybe don't give us any UPPs on the planets provided. Maybe.
Consider a print friendly version. Consider removing the wormhole from the rear of the book (though I understand it, thematically).
This review is 1070 words. I believe the product is 3000 words, without the license. There's a lot wrong with this module.
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