A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Adrift

Adrift by Joseph Mohr is a role playing game supplement published by Old School Role Playing for use with Cepheus Engine. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 28 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter and three the Open Game License.

The opening paragraphs have the characters awakening in an escape pod with systems failing, remembering pirates boarding the ship they were travelling on.

Complications are the various things that can go wrong and their current perilous situation.

Possibilities for One on One Play explains that the adventure is suitable for a single character or small group.

Waking Up has the characters recovering consciousness.

The Escape Pod is the current situation and has the pod’s supplies.

The Unknown Worlds has the three alien worlds though only one will likely come into play as the pod only has enough to reach one.

Desert World XG-874 has details on the planet, encounters, points of interest and supplies that can be found on planet.

Ice World Gamor Prime has the same for the second world.

Rocky World Gamor Secunda covers the third world in the same way.

Game Master Notes explains no maps are provided for any cities, only the worlds, and what is necessary to survive.

Overdue is when the characters’ ship is overdue.

Roster of Primitive Hunters and Scavengers has stats for these.

Roster of Pirates has stats for these.

Mission Completion Objectives explains that the goal is to survive and that there are multiple ways to escape each planet.

The final three pages of content have maps of the three planets.

Adrift in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format and some minor errors were noticed. Bar the maps and covers, there are no illustrations. Presentation is adequate.

This is an adventure that has the potential to be deadly. If the characters accidentally go to one of the three uninhabitable planets first, they’re dead without GM fiat. The worlds also have problems and the characters could also call pirates down on themselves. They are also railroaded into it somewhat; the attack on their ship happens before the adventure starts. A minor quibble is that, as is common, there are too many NPC stat blocks when less would suffice. Adrift is an okay adventure and it can be found by clicking here.