Review & Commentary In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr From Old School Role Playing

" A Neoh 'Am Abassador is on a mission to meet with the Qlansie to form an alliance against the aggressions of the Olonsean Empire. An Olonsean Majoor offers to pay well for an assassination of this ambassador before such a meeting takes place. The only problem is....it will have to take place aboard a luxury cruiser liner slowly traveling across the Sonora Sector of space. "

Joseph Mohr's modules are like patato chips once you grab on pay what you want module another quickly finds its way into your hands. In The Darkness of Space From Old School Role Playing feels a bit like a classic Sevenities Buck Rogers episode to me. 

In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr seems like a straight up alien assassination plot but its not. There's a great multi layered space cruise ship that has a multiplicity of use for my home campaigns. Then there's the wrack & ruin of NPC's that Mohr loves to include in his adventures. We've got his twists & pony by the tale turn arounds that he loves. This works well for  'In The Darkness of Space' as a mid level adventure for the Cepheus Engine rpg. 

Frontiers of Space as a side sector for These Stars Are Ours! campaign setting works very well. Because let's face facts Frontiers of Space has all of those classic Traveller rpg adventure elements. Why!?! 
"Frontiers of Space – Settlers have spread to the farthest reaches of space. The human race is not alone in the galaxy. The Frontiers of Space are a wild and dangerous place filled with intrigue, commerce, raiders and war. Only the bravest explorers have come this far from the Empire. This is a Cepheus Engine Product" 
This dives right into In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr adventure has all of those classic adventure elements. All of the weath of 

 The 'Gold Rush!' adventure  that we covered last blog entry could be these sectors wealth sources & resources. 

In The Darkness of Space By Joseph Mohr makes very nice contrast to the more rough & tumble aspects of the Cepheus rpg engine's  These Stars Are Ours! sci-fi setting campaign. This makes the Frontiers of Space  sector & setting an excellent contrast to conflict & warfare found in the These Stars Are Ours! sci-fi setting campaign. This gives the Frontiers of Space a far more ancient feel. This contrasts very nicely with the In The Darkness of Space adventure elements. All in all I think that In The Darkness of Space adventure  is solid for what it does. 



But could In The Darkness of Space be used with Stars Without Numbers Revised? It suits the SWN rules set better in some ways & works as a mid level established adventure but the conversion would be trickier in some ways but it establishes a galactic series of empires in many ways.

Review & Commentary On The 'Gold Rush!' adventure From Old School Role Playing by Joseph Mohr For the classic Traveller rpg or the Cepheus rpg engine.

" The Xejaboronia asteroid belt has been mined for several hundred years. It has always been a busy place for asteroid mining but a recent discovery of gold has caused a significant increase in mining activity there. With this increase in activity there has been a spike in violence in the system. And pirates have begun preying on miners. A gold shipment was stolen from the mining outfit that discovered the find. A representative of this mining firm offers the travelers a reward for recovery of their gold. "


Sometimes its about where you start your PC's & Gold Rush! From Old School Role Playing by Joseph Mohr is both engaging & a tricky little adventure. This is because it takes the PC's on a roller coaster ride for a start. But once again this is a very no frills 'pay what you' like ride. Its another of Mohr's creations meaning that you get everything out of the gate as a dungeon master but again this is a turn it as you like adventure. 
There's lots of NPC's, adventure locations, & everything is turned to either the classic Traveller rpg or the Cepheus rpg engine. 

This is not a light weight adventure clocking in at almost twenty nine pages. These pages have lots of complication & twists to em. Get used to this because this is an adventure for the experienced adventurer & there's plenty of ways to die. The cartography needs work on this adventure & I would have thought a bit more effort would have yielded more of a generous result. Does  Gold Rush!  work as an adventure?! Yes it does because of its own merits. There's lots to do here in  Gold Rush!  from strong NPC's to adventure motives more of a satisfaction within the adventure's details. Could  the classic Traveller rpg or the Cepheus rpg engine's  These Stars Are Ours! sci-fi setting campaign. Yes & the perfect place to add in  Gold Rush! would be Uranium Fever to the mix. 

All of the adventure  elements are here in Gold Rush! that allow a smooth transition of plot over to the mix. This extends & drives the belters within this campaign setting ultimately it also calls back to the classic Traveller rpg's Belters board game. 

The idea of these asteriod belts are excellent campaign settings but full of intrigue all within their own right. This makes an excellent and very dangerous situation for PC's to take on. 

Is the adventure  Gold Rush! worth getting?! Ultimately if you've got an experienced group of rpg players who can handle what Gold Rush! brings to the table top?! Yes! 

Could Gold Rush! be used with the Stars Without Numbers rpg!? Hmm this would require a bit of conversion. Not saying that it couldn't be done but it would require a level of sophistication that I don't know that personally as a dungeon master that I'd do?! But it remains to be seen on my part.

That being said I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking into ultimately using some Traveller rpg style resources for the Talon sector itself.