Crapshoot Monday: This Free Thing I Found on Itch.io…Transit Precinct 45

​A space dungeon by Christian Plogfors and Carl Niblaeus, what are levels? This is space.
Written for Death in Space
  Sometimes, I miss sci-fi and I have to go back. Every week I run a Stars Without Number game, I’m always in the market for cool adventures to salt into the sandbox. I am filled with hope every time. I am always disappointed.
  I don’t know Death in Space, but from looking at the brainchild of Plogfors & Niblaeus here it seems like we’re comfortably in the “grimy jobbers” territory here, which I can get behind. The adventure takes six pages to outline a prison break scenario aboard a worn-down old station, well-formatted and well-written. I’m working hard here to maintain my cynicism, and then I see the map by Mr. Plogfors and my heart is all ready to fall in love again: 

  Be strong, reviewer. Story is dirt simple; this broke-down little satellite station is being used by a private corporation as a prison, one of the two prisoners currently aboard has kinfolk who offer $500 and a treasure map (coordinates) to spring him. Most of the initial pages explain how its vulnerable (proximity sensors are offline, maintenance schedule, supply schedule, warden’s drinking habits, security access, etc) and then keys the areas for a heist, either via bluffing or via sneaking. Showing up with nukes at standoff range does not seem to be contemplated. Three tables of random events are used to generate dynamic content.
  What I liked is more than just the arty map, don’t get me wrong. Laser-focused on one of the two infiltration scenarios, the writers do a good job of giving players all the levers and buttons needed for a heist (prison breaks a subgenre of heist). While the personalities of the guards aren’t detailed explicitly, side comments paint a good picture, along with events like another sheriff arriving with a bottle of whisky, “it’s someone’s birthday”, that’s good stuff. Paints a picture. Rumors, all costing money and all true, are also wonderful resources for players to buy.
  Unfortunately what can be improved is “a lot” when it comes to details of the most important characters, the prisoner himself…and the station. The first is a big deal when your players are bluffing their way aboard, while the second is a lot bigger when they’re trying to sneak aboard the blinded station. Giving a little more information on the deranged AI that runs the station would help a lot given it’s a character both on the social and the sneaking sides. A little bit of consideration for how the station handles the suggested emergency events would help a lot too, given those chaotic events are similar to how “players improvising” typically winds up causing fires and disaster.  More prisoners would be nice too.
  I’m going to astonish myself and say the best use case here is…use as a prison break scenario for your Traveler or SWN sandbox, or else a workable sci-fi one-shot for any number of systems or settings where grit outnumbers chrome. A little basic, but not everything has to be wonderous.
  Final Rating? ***/***** with a few qualms but it’s easily the best sci-fi thing I’ve encountered on itch.io thus far. If nothing else, grab it for the map and the rumor setup.
  This is going to do terrible things for my expectations. Hey, maybe you can turn in an adventure site that's equally adequate? Three more weeks to go.