Far Below the Ice 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 20 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 the characters are contacted by the representative of a mining company who wants them to explore an anomaly on a planet on the edge of the Sonora sector – the adventure is set in the Frontiers of Space.
Patron has details on the employer.
Complications are things that can go wrong or which aren’t known.
XH3-J5 has details on the planet.
The Kruk has details on the aliens who had a base on the world and who were wiped out.
Hazards of the Planet Surface has the various dangers.
Elevator Shafts has details on these.
Finding the Elevator Shafts explains how these can be discovered.
Encounters on the Surface is basically the chance of a storm happening.
The Complex Deep Beneath the Ice details the complex.
The Telescope Device is this.
An Inter-Dimensional Being of Immense Size has some brief details on the monster the telescope detected.
Awareness of Observation is the chance it will notice something watching it.
The Countdown to Doom is a countdown on many monitors.
The Telescope Powers Up On It’s Own is the chance that the dimensional telescope in the complex fires up.
Security Robots has details on the functioning robots.
Worker Androids has details on the androids.
Mission Completion is what’s needed to succeed.
The final two pages of content have maps of the planet and complex.
Far Below the Ice in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a single column format and some minor errors were noticed. Bar the maps and covers, there are no illustrations. Presentation is okay.
This is a straightforward enough adventure at its base, with the characters exploring a complex. The downside is that the employer lied about being able to pay them more. The main problem with it is that, as written, there is eventually a chance that a galaxy-eating unkillable monster will be unleashed, especially if the characters use the telescope. Such threats are rarely that easy to handle in a game. Far Below the Ice can be found by clicking here.
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