FAQ
What is Mothership?
Mothership is a pnp RPG by Tuesday Knight Games. It is available for "pay what you want" at DriveThru RPG here.
You can get the rules for free. The designers want you to get the rules
for free. It is a sci-fi horror game that draws inspiration from Aliens , Event Horizon , Pitch Black , The Thing ...
What is the system like?
It's a "roll under" system similar to games like Call of Cthulhu. Pretty
easy to understand. You have attributes and saving throws that are all
on a 1-100 (average 30) scale. You get bonus/malus based on difficulty
and tools and then roll a hundred sided die trying to roll under a
target number. Doubles (11-22-33...) are criticals. Pretty quick to make
a character and get started.
Do I have to know anything about Aliens?
No. It's probably better the less you know. I haven't read the Colonial
Marines Technical Manual front-to-back and neither should you. The game
mostly takes place in the Aliens universe because Mothership tries real
hard to file off the serial numbers, and they tend to replace it with
things of a more supernatural bent. I prefer slightly harder sci-fi. The
Aliens universe gives us the opportunity for CRT monitors, grungy
aesthetic, and players that can view their space jobs with the expertise
of a trucker or hapless soldier instead of Star Trek-like scientific
expertise.
Do I need to be a sci-fi nerd? I don't know what a cybernetic diagnostic dohicker is...
No. Everything can be explained in simple terms. We don't need to google
what the effects of decompression is or what would happen if we
destroyed this class 1 jump drive will do. The outcomes will be
determined for drama, mostly.
I will be using a voice changer to play your ship's A.I., mood music,
sound effects something like radio theatre with an ambient mixer and a
soundboard. I have form fillable PDFs for character sheets to be shared,
and the sheet itself tells you how to make your character. If you
prefer I pre-generate something for you, I will. Character generation is
done on the discord. I'd recommend 2 characters, as Mothership
characters have a way of dying. With the crunchy bits out of the way,
let's get to what the actual session will be concerning.
I will be running a hack of Dead Planet, the first supplement for
Mothership. Dead Planet is broken up into three parts. The first one
will be titled Desolate Shell, an Aliens hack on The Screaming on the
Alexis.
The year is 2124. Your characters will be teamsters aboard the USCSS
Montague. A starfreighter owned by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. One
of the newer commercial hauler vessels equipped with the Conrad A.I. and
a Jump Drive to get into position and start towing with more efficacy.
The crew of the Montague can consist of space truckers, former or
enlisted Colonial Marines as a security detail after recent retaliation
against the company, and synthetic androids.
The USCSS Montague falls out of hyperspace much earlier than is to
expected, apparently having an issue with this new jump drive. They are
in the orbit of a strange planet with a tidelocked moon and a vast
graveyard of orbiting derelict craft. A message is received from the
corporation. Weyland-Yutani lost contact with one of the nearby drifting
ships, the Alexis, some time ago and aims to take advantage of this
coincidence. It was a research vessel with a significant price attached
to it and it's finding on-board. The Alexis is running on a low-power
cycle, engines presently offline. The ship's atmosphere is fine, and
there appears to be signs of life. You may even find the necessary
components to repair your jump drive. Retrieve it.
Looking for between 3 and 4 players. I thought I would ask here before opening it up to other LFG spaces.
