I took advantage of the DriveThruRPG sale and picked up several items. Not my usual take; lots more adventures than the many sourcebooks I usually pick up. My new acquisitions also focused on two game systems: Cepheus Engine and Classic Traveller.
Cepheus Engine
HARD VACUUM – Issue 02: White Bear (Boondocks RPG, 2025).
[A] wealthy heir sends an ominous message from their moon estate, where an elegant party with potential investors is underway. After an old friend hires them to investigate, the player characters find themselves part of a corporate takeover that’s turned deadly and prisoners of servant droids programmed to kill.
Boondocks is the current imprint for designer Adam Kovac. The new-ish Hard Vacuum series are focused on adventures in Vacc Suits. That focus not only adds a challenging wrinkle to adventures, it also helps bring “science” back into the “fiction.”
Plot Hook: Project Fair Value (Moon Toad Publishing, 2025).
“Project FAIR VALUE is a TOP SECRET ZUKHIN Government (Fornast 2636) project funded from the Discretionary Fund. Communication of any of the details relating to this project, to the Press or Public, or anyone not authorised to receive this information is a crime, punishable by, but not limited to: Unlimited incarceration, involuntary memory erasure, an unlimited fine, or any combination as decided by a Closed Court appointed by the Premier.”
Having grown up on the Classic Traveller plot hook format (single paragraph introduction with d6 choices for resolution) I am used to adventuring more with less. This plot hook is a bit longer but—most importantly—still leaves much up to the Gamemaster to decide how the adventure develops.
Moon: an adventure location for Cepheus Engine (Felbrigg Herriot, 2020).
Moon is not a scenario, it is a collection of adventure locations set on “Moon” which could be any moon orbiting any planet you wish. Take all the adventure locations or just the ones you want, mix and match how you wish.
While marketed as a series of vignettes taking place on a moon, the parts are sufficiently connected that one could make a mini-campaign out of the parts.
Quick Ship File: Cazador Class Scout/Light Transport (Moon Toad Publishing, 2024).
The Kazadore Class Scout/Light Transport is a general purpose vessel used for a variety of tasks. It has the usual Jump-2 range for ships of this class, but is capable of a steady 4G acceleration and, unusually, is equipped with a pop-down ventral turret as standard. Because of this, streamlining is excellent and sensor cross-section is minimised.
For the longest time I was really into designing and playing “Battle Class Ships (BCS)” in Traveller. More recently I returned to smaller “Adventure Class Ships (ACS)” and enjoy, literally, trying to adventure more with less. Note the two different spellings of “Cazador/Kazadore.”
Modern War: China Sea War (Zozer Games, 2021).
China Sea War is a campaign premise for Zozer Games’ Modern War RPG. It is a tool-kit that provides various situations, mission ideas and squad templates that allow players to fight the Chinese invaders in one of several national armies, at one of several battlefronts, each different from the rest. China Sea War includes new vehicles, new weapons and a list of national armies and deployed units.
Picked this up more for use as a possible scenario framework for the Joint All Domain Operation wargame from War Drum Games than as an RPG adventure. I do not own the Modern War rulebook; maybe that is a near-future purchase.
Cepheus Engine: Mission Creator (Alexander RG House, 2023).
Mission Creator provides guidelines and a framework for creating procedural missions. Are your missions not rewarding enough, Mission Creator adds calculations for potentially high payout missions. It is possible to adapt this Mission Creator to any RPG setting.
A really unnecessary purchase as I have long been comfortable making my own adventures. That said, referencing another’s framework can be helpful for “considerations” in designing a plot hook that I do not always immediately think about.
Traveller
I am still not sure where I stand on the acquisition of the Traveller RPG license by Mongoose Publishing. Generally, I find Mongoose Traveller products to be highly derivative (a polite way of saying reprints with the slightest of of changes) and overpriced. I am also concerned about previous heavy-handed attempts by Mongoose to drive-out third party publishers. There has always been a strong third-party publishing community; these days more of those “independents” seem to be joining the Traveller Community Content program run by Mongoose through the Travellers’ Aid Society. The Community Content Guidelines stipulate:
You are allowed to use the Traveller setting as presented in the Classic Traveller edition books published by Games Designers Workshop as well as any Mongoose-published book using the Classic Traveller rules. This includes the names of all characters, species, and places and all gear, equipment and vessels; the capitalised names and original names of places, countries, creatures, geographic locations, historic events, items, ships, and organisations presented in those books.
For my most recent purchases I picked up the 4th Anniversary Complete Traveller bundle from designer Carl Terence Vandal. The bundle contains an Adventure Template, six adventures, and a subsector sourcebook. The adventures are mostly of the 32-page variety (a few are longer) and are useful for drop-in campaigns. Of mild interest is the required AI declaration these days.
Traveller Adventure Template. “This package contains a template for use in the creation of adventures for Classic Traveller, under the community content agreement in line with the Traveller’s Aid Society, as detailed by Mongoose Publishing. One example of a Subsector has been included to make it easier to structure one in future adventures.” A necessary purchase? Hardly. Will I use it? Well, I have no real intention to publish to TAS so good thing I did not spend too much money ($0.40) on this.
Manticore. “The discovery of a runaway brings the adventurers to the attention of Imperial agents. A trip to a world of zealots follows, alongside investigating rumors of activities of an illegal military project. Can the adventurers save the runaway? What is her connection to the zealots? How is she linked to the illegal project? And what is “Manticore”? Travel across the Aramis Subsector to an TAS Amber Zone. Deal with the religious zealotry of Mother Church. Discover the secrets of “Manticore”.”
The Mariposa Affair. “When an unexpected visit by an important dignitary throws a planet into chaos, the adventurers find themselves caught in the middle of a political nightmare. Assassinations, conspiracy theories, and Machiavellian machinations ensue. Can the adventurers prevent the start of a war? What part does Duke Norris play in all of this? How far will the adventurers go to maintain stability? Travel beyond the borders of the Imperium. Locate and eliminate a threat to the peace of the galaxy.”
The Phoenix Initiative. ” A private corporation has lost contact with their research facility and need some adventurers to investigate what has happened. Are you prepared to find out what “The Phoenix Initiative” is? Travel across the Regina Subsector to an TAS Amber Zone. Make your way across one of the most inhospitable environments possible. Explore the research lab and find out why it has stopped communicating.”
The last three adventures are part of a trilogy:
The Mists of Tionale. “When an important component for the repairs to their starship jump drive is stolen, the adventurers have the option of waiting for months for a new piece to arrive, or they can try to retrieve the component themselves. Can the adventurers find out why the component was stolen? Will they be able to retrieve it from the thieves? What secrets do the mists of Tionale conceal? Travel beyond the borders of the Imperium. Explore a jungle world at the edge of civilized space.”
The Phlume Triangle. “When a drive failure forces the adventurers out of jump at the edge of the Phlume system, the detection of a faint distress signal from a long-lost Imperial battle cruiser piques their interest. Will the adventurers be able to locate the missing vessel? Will they be able to learn what happened to the cruiser and its crew? What surprises await them on the Lariinaan?”
Project Zeta. “A job for one of the Imperium Mega-Corporations finds the adventurers travelling to a Red Zone world to investigate an unusual energy signature. Will the adventurers be able to find the source of the energy signature? Will they survive the harsh environment of a hellworld? And what exactly is the secret of Project Zeta?”
The last item is the sourcebook for Jewell Subsector. In Classic Traveller the Spinward Marches is the setting for so many adventures. It is good to see this vital subsector get a more in-depth treatment.
It’s the pirate life for me
RMN Jr. is home for spring break and was talking about his friend who is a new GM and runs a D&D 5e campaign at school. Jr. commented that the friend complains about the cost of 5e books and often bounces ideas off Jr. for campaigns. When Jr. mentioned the campaign is pirate focused I asked if they had ever heard of Pirate Borg from Free League Publishing. After some texting it became obvious that the friend had never heard of Free League Publishing, much less Pirate Borg. I shared a few of the artwork pages to show how, in this case, good artwork can be very inspirational. I think I might of made a sale for Free League… .
Feature image courtesy WordPress AI
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