Review & Commentary On 'A Pay What You Want' Adventure Joseph Mohr's Rogue From Old School Role Playing For The Cepheus Engine or Old School 2d6 Science Fiction Campaigns

 "A rogue planet has been discovered traveling through the Sonora sector. So far it has not collided with any other worlds in it's path. Scientists and astronomers are alarmed at it's arrival and have many questions. How did it get here? Where did it come from? Is there an atmosphere? Is anyone alive on this world? Was there ever?

A scientist offers to hire the travelers to visit this world and explore it. " 

Joseph Mohr's Rogue From Old School Role Playing For The Cepheus Engine rpg is another in the line of Senora 'pay what you want' adventures. There are far more uses for this adventure then simply another Cepheus Engine rpg adventure. 

Joseph Mohr's Rogue From Old School Role Playing For The Cepheus Engine rpg is a perfectly aligned Hostile rpg adventure. I was reading through Todd B's Drivethrurpg review; "The premise is totally unrealistic, so if your game is on the hard side of sci-fi it won't really fit. And if your players understand astronomy, they'll laugh at the absurdity. The adventure isn't very deep; you could grab three random dungeon maps off the internet and make up the premise and connective material yourself in a couple hours, or even just wing it. And there's no conflict or challenge, so the storyline is sorta "we came, we saw, we left again. So, my recommendation is to grab a copy (the price is right!) and then spend some time tweaking the adventure a bit before you run it in your campaign. Add some extra danger and conflict to overcome. Add some extra plot hooks for followup sessions. For example, maybe extend the story to include evidence of an underground city that lies intact." And on some points I agree but on others not so much. Rogue is perfect for a Hostile rpg Explorers rpg adventure 

All I would do with Rogue is add a timed element in the form of a gravity anomly that makes the rogue planetoid start to pick up speed. If the players don't explore & then get then they get trapped on it. The anomaly adds in a hyperspace constant that means that the Rogue will disappear within the set amount of time. Alien ruins are enough to keep the players interested in the adventure. And I'd add in a few alien remains in space suits to give the added element that others have been trapped by the Rogue before your party. Recovering artifacts & remains is a game changer within the Hostile universe. 

So with this sort of the planet is trying to kill your PC's approach then you've got a great beginning Hostile rpg adventure for a campaign. Not everything has to be a straight up 'monster of the week' adventure. 

This adventure could be applied to the Space Western frontier stylings of Independence Games Earth Sector quite easily. The alien ruins, the gravity anomaly, the rogue planet, all of this smacks of straight up corporate exploration mission.  And it's perfectly aligned with the needs of the Earth sector who are trying to see past the icy blackness of the frontier. Earth sector would be after the Rogue because of many reasons including the fact of even the inkyling of possible alien life. 

A Pay What You Want' Adventure Joseph Mohr's Rogue From Old School Role Playing For The Cepheus Engine or Old School 2d6 Science Fiction Campaigns Is Available Here