Review & Commentary On Cepheus Journal issue #4 for Free Download & Support of the Cepheus Engine Rpg among other Cepheus Engine Powered Rpg's

 

So its on again & this time we're  coming to the table top fully armed. The latest issue of Cepheus Journel issue #4 is out!  And it brings to the table top some welcome additions in the form of Ship Damage by Nick Lucock article, a nice take on the furthering of the Cepheus Engine's damage consquences for your space craft. Ewan Spence takes on a lovely little tour of The PLA Armored Squad for Celpheus Modern. Its a well crafted article & does a deep dive in all of the right places making it a very nicely little take on one of the most dangerous armies in the modern world. Then Nick Lucock takes into a deep dive through the Altair Subsector. Its a solid article that takes a hard & fast look into a very nicely done potential campaign location. Then we get a good take on Dr.Syn & The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh by Paul Drye an old favorite of my wife. Again good marks on this article which takes a solid look at the novel & legends that inspired it. 40 Eridani in 2021 by Randy McDonald is a look at a double star system & its uses for the Cepheus Engine rpg with some really well done twists & turns. 

The Archbishop's Gambit is by P­O Bergstedt for either Sword of Cepheus or the forth coming Cepheus Störtebeker rules. Its pretty solid for Sword of Cepheus & as an adventure its got a really nice couple of twists & turns to it. This is followed by 'Escape From Qasim's Teeth' by Neil Lucock an adventure for Godstar & again this is an adventure that I wasn't expecting to go the way it does. There's some room here for campaign expansion if the DM wants to take it in that direction. Solid but very interesting. 'Gram Baley's Helzer's Recovery Salvage & Repossession Service' part II  isn't only a mouth full but has some really good instellar adventure potential. Get the first part of this in Cepheus Journal issue #3 right here. 

So let's talk about what makes this issue a solid free download besides all of the above. The layout is good, the cartography is well done, the whole package is very nicely put together & very useful for a Cepheus Engine DM to go to town with. 

Cepheus Journal issue #4 for Free Download is available right here. 

The Profane & The Celestial - Godstar & the Cepheus Engine Rpg Greater Universe Threat

 

"Within the Million Sun Empire sits a desert world orbiting a sentient star: god-himself-the Godstar. Pilgrims flock to it with their offerings. The Godstar's oracles gives out advice, formulae, prognostications and strategy. It is a holy world. But war forced industrialisation on the planet Aurelia, causing social tension and conflict.

A new noble house, House Pelinor, has been granted the fiefdom of Aurelia, but it has many enemies: the local Utani Sand Men, the priests of the Church of the Godstar, the rival House Arakan that it deposed, local crimelords and even the Skygazers, those wandering mystics who claim to speak with the Godstar as they meditate whilst staring up at the blazing disc. They have paranormal powers."

We grabbed Godstar by Zozer Games a little while ago & while its similar to Frank Herbert's Dune series. There's vast differences right from the get go: 

1. Godstar's star is a literal living alien god. An active deity that takes a hand in human affairs
2. The NPC's are very well drawn outside of their stats & are perfectly slotted for the setting. 
3. Unlike Dune a party of adventurers could be perfectly suited to be a group of gladiators 
4. No sand worms which means that desert exploration is an option & encouraged. 

The planet Aurelia is a really an interesting addition to the Cepheus Engine rpg universe. There's more then a bit of backstory that can be pulled into an existing campaign. What is familiar to fans of Dune is the personal force field. These render firearms far less useful. So swords, knives, & spears become far more a part of formal dueling. And all of this seems very much in the vein of Sword & Planet genre. But there is an original Traveller rpg connection. The Ursa Major Confederation or UMC is a free download from Paul Elliot with a major Godstar connection: "Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) The Confederation is a human interstellar state of 27 worlds occupying a single subsector of interstellar space. Humans arrived in the subsector two centuries ago through an alien hypergate" 

Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) fits many of the ideas of the Talon sector's politic, tech levels, & backstory as an outlying branch of humanity that is struggling under the major threat of yet another alien germ within its background. This alien threat is poised to wipe out humanity in several major strikes. 

The Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) could be another branch of humanity taken by aliens making it primed for a major connection to TSRO's diplomatic corps. 

All of this ties back into something that's been on my mind now for quite awhile the idea that the several alien races from Dark Conspiracy rpg are using the Protodimensions as a sort of interstellar short cut. This is where DC's Protodimesions volume 1 comes in. 

Could Godstars mystics & wizards be opening their own universe or star system for invasion. Or are they already well versed in the threat that alien Lovecraftian gods pose?!  According to my fellow DM's its the latter especially if we add Sword of Cepheus to the equation.