Ghost Ship 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 a short adventure.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 17 page Pay What You Want PDF. One page is the front cover, one page is effectively the rear cover, three pages are the front matter and three pages are the Open Game License.
The opening paragraphs give some background about a corporation that provides transportation and has a stellar reputation. Five years ago, though, a cargo was lost and they would like to recover it, given the opportunity, and the opportunity has arisen with sighting of a ghost ship. The characters are approached by a representative of the company and employed to retrieve the lost cargo.
Game Master Notes explains that the adventure is designed for use with the publishers Frontiers of Space sector. A note explains that the adventure is based on the Star Trek episode “The Tholian Web”.
Complications of This Mission explains that several people are after the cargo; the transporter who hires the characters, the original owner and who it was intended to be sold to. Interphasic space is also a hazard and ships will phase in and out of it. The more ships in the area, the more likely they are to disappear. Interphasic space can also drive people mad and the original cargo is both highly dangerous and leaking.
Spatial Interphase gives more details on interphasic space, how long a ship can be out of phase and how the characters will only have the air they brought with them to keep them alive. If the ship is out of phase for too long, they will run out of oxygen. Spatial Interphase Sickness is the rules on the detrimental effect from being in interphasic space.
Key to the Lamassu describes the locations on the ship.
Interference and The Olonsean Team has the two competing parties that will be encountered.
Removing the Cargo Containers has rules for doing so; with some of them leaking, they are more hazardous.
Conditions for Success is what the characters need to accomplish to get paid.
Other Complications that Could Arise has some other problems.
Finally, there is a full-page colour map of the Lamassu.
Ghost Ship in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and navigation is poor as a result. The text maintains a single column format and some errors were noticed. The primary one was the use of “it’s” instead of “its” but another potential one is talking about the Lamassu being between galaxies. The impression is that it should actually be between universes. There is a single colour map of the ship, which doesn’t come in a player friendly version but, with only five locations, doesn’t really need to. The map is functional, although a trifle difficult to make out. Two full page illustrations make up the front and back covers. Presentation is adequate.
This is a short, comparatively simple, but definitely hazardous, adventure to run. There is only one place to visit, the cargo ship in question. Combat with the other parties who are interested could get very dangerous, given that the ship simply isn’t big enough for three different armed groups to hide in. As the cargo is a bioweapon, the chance of contaminating the entire ship during combat is pretty high. GMs should note that this adventure appears to have a high lethality to it, from interphasic space, lack of oxygen, a bioweapon and lots of armed people. Ghost Ship is a decent enough adventure, but caution should be used when running it, and it can be found by clicking here.
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