N.O.W. Supplement - Career Ops

I was recently contacted by author Michael Woods, who kindly sent me a PDF copy of his latest book called Career Ops, which is both a supplement and a scenario for the N.O.W. Role-Playing Game by EN Publishing. He asked if I'd mind reviewing it here on my blog and I was only too happy to oblige. Michael penned the excellent The Holds of Vendalyr for N.E.W. as well as the incredibly useful WOIN GM's Screen.

Career Ops: Job Fair #1 includes new careers, new equipment and vehicles, an add-on to the vehicle combat rules and a detailed scenario based upon the info included. Inside you'll find -

New Careers
The new careers include -
The Faller (aka Lumberjack or Logger)
Wilderness Guide 
Museum Curator (also, Curator of the Occult variant)
Offshore Roustabout (also, Circus Roustabout variant)
And a bonus career - Freestyle Watercraft Rider

Rules for Thaumaturgy
These are an optional spell-casting system based on Russ Morrissey's Sorcery option found in EONS#110.

New Equipment and Vehicles
These include a Felling Axe, a Heavy Duty Sledgehammer, a Flotation Jacket, a M151 Mutt Quarter Ton Jeep, an Ultra 300 Personal Watercraft, a 40' Convertible Canopy Powerboat and a CB90 Class Fast Assault Craft.

The Gaean Order
An eco-terrorist/militant insurgent organisation with stats for a leader and a standard operative.

Bedevilled by the Deep Blue Sea
A detailed adventure hook for 2-4 Grade 5 PCs. A storm is coming, and the PCs are tapped to rescue the crew of an off-shore oil rig before the storm hits. But, the Gaean Order means to stop them from seeing things on board that are best kept secret. Can the PCs survive the job?

Verdict
It is a well written supplement but how useful or essential it will be will very much depend upon what you're looking for. I liked the addition of the rules for sea-based vehicle combat as well as the stats for some boats. The Gaean Order are an interesting group of villains whom I could find use for. I doubt if I'll use the new Thaumaturgy rules. Of the new careers, the one I found most interesting and potentially useful, was the Museum Curator and its variant. The scenario is probably the best thing in the supplement. It is clearly aimed at a group of starting players but if you were running a more experienced group of players it wouldn't be too hard to beef up the difficulty level. For example, just include one Gaean Order Centurion to lead the bad guys.
This 20 page supplement costs $2.99 or £2.28 from DriveThru Games for the PDF copy, see here - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/254331/Career-Ops-Job-Fair-1