Gifts From the Gods 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 23 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 a recently discovered world on the border of the Sonora sector – the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space – has resulted in the discovery of a mineral worn by the natives. The mineral didn’t show up in scans and the natives say it was a gift from the gods. One island appears to have been excavated and the characters are hired by a mining company to investigate the island and find a missing team.
Patron has details on the employer.
Complications are things that can go wrong or which aren’t known.
The Cannibals explain that there are many tribes of primitive natives on the planet and some are cannibals, notably those on the island the characters are heading to.
The Legends are the local legends about the Old Gods who gave the natives the rocks.
The Island details the points of interest and random encounters.
The Skull Cave details the cave the characters need to explore.
The Other Mining Concern has stats for the team belonging to another mining company that is interested in the world.
The Sonoran Indigenous Peoples Association has stats for some anti-mining protesters who have landed.
The Aliens has details on the original miners.
Roster of Natives is a 4d6 table of natives to encounter.
The Prisoners has stats for the few survivors of the original expedition.
Mission Completion Objectives explains these are to explore the mine and rescue the survivors.
The final two pages of content have maps of the island and mine.
Gifts From the Gods 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 okay.
As is not uncommon in these supplements, some of the NPCs are covered in a needless level of detail when just 2-3 stat blocks would suffice. The adventure itself is straightforward; head to an island, explore the mines and deal with any threats that may arise. Though some players may challenge just how their employer could buy mineral rights to something owned by someone else; they may even side with the SIPA protesters. Gifts From the Gods can be found by clicking here.
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