Cascadia Adventures 1: Save Our Ship
Cascadia Adventures 1: Save Our Ship
From: Gypsy Knights Games
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Cascadia Adventures 1: Save Our Ship is a new RPG Adventure from Gypsy Knights Games.
After reviewing the setting book for the Clement Sector, I was very interested in running some games in the setting. Being familiar enough with the Mongoose Traveller rules, I felt I could run a few adventures in the setting rather competently. The first set of adventures is set in the Cascadia Sector, a subsector book I also reviewed.
From the website:
“A “whale ship.” That’s what the casinos on Chance call a starship sent to ferry back a wealthy gambler. The Razz Casino dispatched their “whale ship,” Royal Flush, to pick up an influential politician on Roskilde. However, something has gone wrong. Now the casino has hired you to find out what has happened.”
The adventure is structured just the way I like it. The entire plot is explained up front first and foremost and not left for the GM to figure out by reading it cover to cover. Because I tend to modify adventures as I go along, I like to have the plot explained to me first so I know what I need to preserve. Although it would seem natural to do this, not all adventures do.
It also has a handful of fleshed out pre-generated characters (pre-gens) in the beginning. This is very helpful as I run games at a lot of conventions. This saves me a lot of work. I wish more writers did this for their adventures. It also supplies a ship for the players, which is very convenient.
The heart of the adventure is the investigation into a missing ship and its important passenger. The intrigue around this can be played up after a little research on each faction involved (through reading the relevant information in Cascadia Sourcebook). The adventure involves two diametrically different planetary cultures. One world is a religious oligarchy, guided by a fringe religion and ruled by a single Enlightened One. The other is a world of vice and entertainment – a Las Vegas in space. One culture pretends to be pure and progressive while many suspect it is corrupt to the core. The other is practically openly corrupt, run by a shell corporation that covers up the conglomerate of crime families that actually run the planet.
At least that’s my interpretation. As mentioned before, there is just enough given in the source books as well as this adventure that the GM can interpret things to fit his vision. With a little thought and imagination, you can envision it in many ways. The above was just one example. From there, you can create a deeper intrigue that takes the character on an intense adventure. The key to it all is understanding the cultures and the motivations of each side of this adventure, expanding it to fit the situation and understanding the conflict that the players are getting involved in.
From the website:
“Another casino horning in on the business? Political enemies? An accident? It is up to you to find out.”
The investigation itself is a series of encounters with contacts. If you are using the pre-gens, it makes it fairly easy. However, if you are not, then it is recommended that whatever characters you use have some ties into the contacts mentioned in the adventure. Use the pre-gens as examples. In the beginning, that interaction can take place over a poker or baccarat table. The adventure supplies a few optional encounters and rules for those possibilities.
Later, the interaction occurs on a large torus-shaped space station where anything can happen. This world, Roskilde, is getting ready to vote in a new Enlightened One and there is a lot of intrigue potential surrounding that. Because the candidates are not allowed to openly campaign (because the Spirits of the Universe will guide their people to choose the right leader, of course), everything is done behind the scenes. This can lead to some very interesting action and roleplay.
Once the right pieces of the puzzle are put together, the adventure switches over to action mode. As they draw closer to solving it, competing interests can challenge them in violent ways. Whether that happens or not, the game turns into a race to find the missing ship that is stranded somewhere in deep space. The ending culminates onboard the missing ship where bad things could happen if the characters are not careful.
In conclusion, I found this adventure to be very enjoyable and full of opportunity for role play and action. It has a good balance for both. If the GM plays up the contacts really well, this adventure could be a lot of role play. For a convention game, this is a great starting adventure that can easily fit in a 4-hour slot. He supplies you with all you need to run it. Just read through it thoroughly and read the supplemental information from the Cascadia Subsector sourcebook and you will have a great con game.
For more details on Gypsy Knights Games and their new RPG Adventure “Cascadia Adventures 1: Save Our Ship” check them out at their website http://www.gypsyknightsgames.com, and at all of your local game stores.
Codex Rating: 16
Product Summary
Cascadia Adventures 1: Save Our Ship
From: Gypsy Knights Games
Type of Game: RPG Adventure
Written by: John Watts
Contributing Authors: Curtis Rickman
Cover Art by: Steve Attwood
Number of Pages: 38
Game Components Included: One PDF, single adventure with pre-generated characters
Game Components Not Included: Core Traveller rulebooks
Retail Price: $ 4.99 (US)
Website: www.gypsyknightsgames.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung