Contraband 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 17 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 explain that the Sonora sector – the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space, though this isn’t stated – has been plagued by a new narcotic. Little is known about where the drug comes from, and the characters are employed by the Sonoran Interstellar Police to join a band of smugglers to try and trace the product back to its source.
The Patron gives details on the employer.
Complications are things that can go wrong with the mission.
The Smuggler’s Recruitment Meeting has some details on the meeting the characters can attend to try and join and what happens if they are successful.
The Smuggler Organisation gives some details on this.
Key to the Smuggler’s Base maps out the base.
Roster of the Smuggler Base has NPC stats.
Who is Behind the Narcotic has details on the organisation’s leader.
Mission Completion Objectives lists several different ways the characters can complete it; do the job they were hired to do, taking the drug from the base and selling it themselves or joining the network as smugglers.
The final page of content has a map of the base.
Contraband in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and has enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format and a few minor errors were noted. Apart from the map and covers, there are no illustrations. Presentation is adequate.
This suffers a common problem in that most of the NPCs are covered in far more detail than they need to be. The adventure does pose an interesting dilemma; more ethically-challenged characters could realise that there’s more money to be made from selling the drug than helping the law shut down the operation. Though that could cause problems in the long run. Contraband can be found by clicking here.
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