A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Population Control

Population Control 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 19 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 Anapcequdo in the Sonora Sector – though not stated, the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space – has been experiencing population growth to the extent that food is short. It is the capital of the Pembian Empire and the emperor is looking for people to carry out a delicate mission. The characters meet with a representative who will pay them to get a bio-toxin and a vaccine, bring back the vaccine for the nobles and government officials and disperse the toxin.

Patron has details on the representative.

Complications are things that can go wrong or are not known.

The Mad Travelling Scientist has details on the bio-toxin’s creator.

Scientists with a Conscience are others who wish to stop the bio-toxin’s release.

Refarzeo Station gives details on the orbital facility where the bio-toxin was developed.

Space Station Roster has stats for people onboard.

Issues with the Toxin and Other Misc Issues are various problems with both the bio-toxin and the vaccine.

The final page of content has a map of the station.

Population Control 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 some minor errors were noticed. Apart from the covers and the map, there are no illustrations. Presentation is adequate.

To start off with, this is a mission that isn’t merely morally dubious; it is outright nasty. The characters are being asked to help kill off probably billions of people. They really should say no, and if they say yes, should certainly suffer the consequences of this. Also, why is the emperor looking for outsiders who could easily betray everything? Sure, it means they are not directly connected, but their only loyalty will be to money. Using someone disposable from inside the empire would be far more sensible. The NPC stats provided have a common problem, in that multiple stats are given where one or two would suffice for most. Population Control is not a great adventure and it can be found by clicking here.