‘Mothership’: Survival Isn’t Guaranteed, Let Alone Success
In Mothership you and your crew have to face some of the most terrifying things imaginable in space. Good luck, you’ll need it.
We all know that your screams won’t be heard in space, and we’ve spoken about an RPG system that will have you running from some pretty specific aliens. But what if you want something a little different and a little more unique to your own story and monster? Mothership is an award-winning science fiction horror RPG where your crew tries to survive in space. Gameplay is easy, but survival is not as you and your crew try to outrun or outgun certain doom.
Mothership
The concept of Mothership is one that you’re probably already familiar with. Players take on the role of a crew of deep space travelers and explorers. There they encounter hostile alien lifeforms, are subject to horrors, and do their best to survive. At least one major motion picture property probably came to mind immediately, but this is far from the only piece of media focused on that general concept. And it shouldn’t be; it’s a concept that works and is genuinely frightening almost every time. Space is the most inhospitable environments imaginable. Having to survive there would be daunting to most people. Add a dangerous alien life form to the mix? We’ve got ourselves some nightmare fuel in the best way.’
Mothership taps into this popular kind of nightmare fuel with a system that puts you in that inhospitable environment. Inspired by Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey to name a few, this is a game that’s almost existential in its creation of dread. Living to see another space-day isn’t guaranteed, let alone saving the day. Danger could be around any corner, and you don’t really know when it will show itself. And of course, since you’re in space, there’s nowhere to escape to. It’s just you, your crew, the horrors, and the vast black void.
Character Creation & Gameplay
The mechanics are one thing about Mothership that works and adds to the horror-movie vibes of the game. Character sheets are relatively simple fill-in-the-blank situations. Most of the pertinent information is already printed there for you and you just need to plug in the numbers or select your option. Pick between marine, Android, Scientist or Teamster—all four classes are on the sheet, just pick yours and the related stats- and then everything else more or less falls into place. You have a ‘Trauma Response’ assigned by your class as well as skills.
And yes, you have a ‘Trauma Response.’ How your character reacts when they’re faced with something frightening or begin to panic will directly shape the trajectory of your game. It’s a mechanic I’ve seen in other horror games, and I always love how it raises the stakes and tension at the table in a palpable way.
The game itself runs on a pretty simple D100 system that’s easy to pick up and run with right away. Your crew could be fending off aliens in under and hour, no problem. But this does make for a pretty stark and unforgiving system. Your chances of success or relatively low, and players should just expect that even if they succeed, not every member of the team will survive. Does that make Mothership not a game for everybody? Sure. But it does make it feel like one of the horror movies that inspired it.
Have you played Mothership? Do you like punishing, hopeless sort of RPGs like this, or do you prefer a game where success and survival are more common? What’s your favorite space-terror movie? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
