Review & Commentary On 'The pay what you want' An Unfortunate Discovery' By Joseph Mohr For The Cepheus Engine Rpg & Original Edition Traveller rpg

"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.