Retro 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 paragraph explains that the characters see an ad looking for a team of explorers for a dangerous mission.
The Offer explains that the characters are to survey a planet beyond the Sonora sector – though not stated, the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space – which three Frontier Scouts have already been dispatched to; none have returned.
The Patron has details on the person offering the job.
Complications has various things that can go wrong or aren’t known.
The Shipwreck of Andrew Jorgenson has details on one of the lost scouts.
The Orbital Station has details on a scout station that has gone offline.
A Body in Space is a drifting corpse.
Haguman III has some details on the planet.
Random Encounters and Occurrences is a 2d6 table of random events.
The Alien Ruins are details of ruins on the planet.
Geological Survey briefly explains this.
Taking Soil Samples from Craters and from the Land explains how this is done; given the world is airless, “soil” might not be the right word.
Analysis of the Soil Samples explains how this is done.
First Contact explains that a new species may be met.
Mission Completion Objectives are what the characters must do to succeed.
Further Adventures has options for expanding the adventure.
Designer Notes explains that the images used in the adventure have had the story built around them.
Retro 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 appeared to be free of errors. As well as the covers, there are a number of black and white images. Presentation is okay.
This has a common occurrence in these adventures, with some of the NPCs described in too much detail when a stat block or two would do. The adventure itself can be dangerous, as there are a lot of potential hazards to go up against. It’s also quite varied, and as mentioned there is definite room to develop it further. Retro can be found by clicking here.
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