A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Ignition

Ignition 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 22 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 tensions are rising in the Sonora sector – the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space, though this isn’t stated – due to friction between the two main powers, the Olonsean Empire and the Ilsunsi Directorate. The Olonseans have discovered that an Ilsunsi listening post has been places on the outer edge of one of their systems (this seems to have some similarities with The Silence of Space) and want it to go away, though they don’t want to provoke war too soon by acting themselves, hiring the characters to do so.

Patron gives some details on the patron.

Complications are things that can go wrong.

Key to the Listening Post details the different areas of the base.

Base Personnel lists the different NPCs.

Mission Completion Objectives are how to succeed.

The final page of content has a map of the listening post.

Ignition in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short, has enough sections that these would have been useful. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format and appeared to be free of errors. Bar the map and covers, there are no illustrations. Presentation is adequate.

The adventure does suffer from a couple of common issues. The first is that the NPCs are presented in far too much detail when a handful of stat blocks would have sufficed. Another issue is that the characters may be determined to know too much at the end of the adventure – sadly common – and their employers might well decide to have them killed. Other than that, this is a straightforward though not easy infiltration of an outpost. Ignition is an okay adventure and it can be found by clicking here.