The Kaladarian Response by Graham Bottley is a role playing game supplement published by Arion Games for use with Stellar Adventures.
The supplement it available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $5, as a softcover print on demand book for $12 or as both PDF and softcover for $12. The PDF is the version reviewed although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale and it has 42 pages with one being the front cover, one the Contents and half the front matter.
The Introduction explains that this adventure starts at the end of a normal trade run before sending them off to deal with various issues. It lacks a definite setting, though the setting is of Medium-High technology, and like the gamebooks this is a fairly linear campaign. There are also details on what equipment the characters should have.
Chapter One – A Problem with Weevils has the characters arriving in their ship at the orbital starport of Sallar IX. Although they try and find a buyer for their cargo, it proves to be infested with space weevils, resulting in it being destroyed along with a fine being levied. They are then approached by someone who wants them to deliver some documents, with the payment digging the characters out of a financial hole. This chapter has details on various locations and NPCs that the characters can interact with, as well as a star map.
Chapter Two – Into Dangerous Jaws has the characters heading to deliver the shipment to its destination world to find the world has been seized by the Kaladarian Federation. They will need to get past the blockade and onto the planet, then find their way to their intended destination, possibly by stealing a vehicle. There, they will be asked to head out again to another world to recover a part from an alien ship, and will have to make their way back to their ship and offworld again.
Chapter Three – Alien Remains has the characters heading to find the alien ship and recovering the part, with the ship being completely destroyed when they depart. They will then have to get past some pirates before returning to the previous world.
Chapter Four – Freedom! has the characters returning to Riesse II to bring back the part they recovered in the previous chapter. Once there, they will be asked to infiltrate a Kaladarian communications tower and there use a device created using the part to knock out the Kaladarians which will allow the resistance to defeat the invaders. The reward for doing so is said to be up to the Director depending on the campaign.
The final seven pages of the book are taken up by descriptions and floor plans of the Stingray fast trader.
The Kaladarian Response in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and given the length and number of sections these would have been useful. The Contents covers the major sections. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column part and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a variety of colour and black and white illustrations. Presentation is decent.
This is an adventure in which the characters have an opportunity to make a difference, and it also has the potential to be dangerous, given that they are regularly going to be getting in the way of an invading army. Though the adventure is described as having no real setting, given that there is an interstellar polity and an invaded world, this isn’t really true. There is a setting, but it’s not detailed that thoroughly; perhaps just enough that adapting the campaign to other settings will be more difficult. The Kaladarian Response can be downloaded by clicking here.
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