Safari 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 from DriveThruRPG as a 30 page Pay What You Want supplement. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter and three the Open Game License.
The introductory paragraphs explain that the Jungle World of Klinurohoe is sparsely inhabited and mostly used by hunters who come to hunt the unusual game found on the planet, though they often end up being the prey rather than the hunter. The characters are contacted by a noble who wants to hire them as bodyguards as he gets some trophies for his collection.
Game Master Note explains that the adventure is in the Frontiers of Space setting.
Complications explains the potential problems. As usual for these adventures, the patron is not disclosing everything (seriously; it seems patrons would rather risk a mission fail, potentially at the cost of their own lives, than risk the characters refusing to agree to do it) and there are pirates in the area.
Thomas Jensen and Friends gives stats for the patron and those accompanying him.
Klinurohoe gives details on the planet. There are several random encounter tables.
Dinosaurs has stats for new creatures. The beasts everyone is hunting are dinosaurs cloned using fossil DNA. An aside mentions that the descriptions may not be accurate. There are also a couple of other animals, a woolly mammoth and a sabre-tooth tiger.
Pirate Encounters has stats for pirates who may be encountered, whether accidentally or when they attempt to kidnap people.
The Pirate Camp has more stats for pirates.
The Element of Surprise in the Jungle has details on who might surprise whom, depending on conditions.
Conditions for Success has what must be done to be successful.
A Word of Caution for the Referee warns that the animals are dangerous and difficult to kill; characters or NPCs could die.
Finally, there is a map of the planet.
Safari in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a single column format and a number of minor errors were noticed. Each new monster has an illustration, which is good, though these vary a lot in style, being stock. Presentation is okay.
As mentioned, patrons in the Frontiers of Space do not like giving out all the information needed to complete a mission successfully. Players might become tired of that eventually and assume – pretty accurately – that anyone who wants to hire them is lying. It would be a nice change to have some patrons be upfront, especially those whose survival depends on characters knowing everything in advance. It’s pretty difficult being a bodyguard against dinosaurs when you don’t know you’re going to be facing them beforehand. Given how potentially deadly the dinosaurs are, this is a bit of a mistake. Safari is a potentially deadly adventure and it can be found by clicking here.
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