Mothership: Who's playing it? What are you doing with it? How does it compare?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Watched this video by Dave Thaumovore, and it got me looking into Mothership.


So, folks who have Mothership, are you playing it? What kind of games do you find it works well at? How about where it falls short? And how do you think it compares to the Alien RPG, if you have it? (I suspect there's probably a fair number of people with both games.)

 

[overgeeked]

I have both. I've read them a few times and they sound amazing. I haven't had a chance to play or run either yet. Earthmote also did a review recently.

I really enjoyed this short review of the death mechanic. Incredibly evocative.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Watched this video by Dave Thaumovore, and it got me looking into Mothership.


So, folks who have Mothership, are you playing it? What kind of games do you find it works well at? How about where it falls short? And how do you think it compares to the Alien RPG, if you have it? (I suspect there's probably a fair number of people with both games.)

I’m currently running a Mothership campaign. We’re a few sessions in, and so far it’s going well. We’re kind of creating the setting as we go, beyond a couple broadstrokes. The gist is that the PCs are in a remote star system that has a bery frontier type vibe; it’s on the edge of known space. It’s accessible only via jump gate. However, the jump gate was somehow recently deactivated. So they’re stuck in this system.

I placed a few locations in the system based on the modules I have. The most notable is aThe space station Prospero’s Dream, as presented in the Pound of Flesh module. It’s become the PCs home base. They’re working jobs for hire for the NPCs on the Dream with the hopes of saving enough money to cure two crew members who were infected in one of the first jobs we ran. Two PCs have been infected by an alien life form and will transform into one of the aliens themselves. The players wisely froze the two in cryotanks until they can work out a solution.

So that’s where things are at. They’re currently on the Dream and taking jobs for cash. They have to pay tax for oxygen and also storage costs for the cryotanks, so if they don’t pay, their friends are doomed. So far, no PCs have actually died, which is kind of amazing. The players have been really cautious (and lucky), but it’ll only be a matter of time till one or more are killed. Combat is very dangerous in Mothership.

It is similar to the Alien RPG, which I’ve also run. Both have Stress and Panic rules. Both can be very deadly. Similar themes, of course, and similar elements like gear and the like. The key difference so far is the complete lack of any kind of social mechanics for Mothership. It’s focused more on player skill than Alien RPG, I’d say, and so leaves resolution of negotiation or bluffing up to the players and GM to resolve. Alien includes some of these elements in its play.

 

[Retreater]

I have played a few games of it at conventions, which encouraged me to back several Kickstarters. While I'm not currently running it, I am reading the core rules.
I currently have 70 different rules systems, and there's one thing I want to call out about this one.
This is the first system I've seen that actually tries to teach the game as you play it. I've never seen a game do it quite like this since I started in 1989. And this isn't a starter set. This is just the base game.
The character sheet is laid out to show you how to create a character and explains what the game is, all on the character sheet.
And as amazing as that is, let's talk about what they do for GMs.
They line out in detail a plan to get you ready to run the game. They go over the elevator pitch to sell it to your friends. They give you a script to help discuss what topics are appropriate in the game and the importance of setting boundaries. They go over with you how to create a notebook and organize your campaign. How do you make maps and flowcharts of events. How do you create mysteries and other styles of games. How do you create situations that test players in ways beyond combat.
I have never seen a game do this. It's revolutionary. It does more to prepare you to be a GM in a 60 page pamphlet than a 300 page hardcover rules tome by the big publishers.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I have played a few games of it at conventions, which encouraged me to back several Kickstarters. While I'm not currently running it, I am reading the core rules.
I currently have 70 different rules systems, and there's one thing I want to call out about this one.
This is the first system I've seen that actually tries to teach the game as you play it. I've never seen a game do it quite like this since I started in 1989. And this isn't a starter set. This is just the base game.
The character sheet is laid out to show you how to create a character and explains what the game is, all on the character sheet.
And as amazing as that is, let's talk about what they do for GMs.
They line out in detail a plan to get you ready to run the game. They go over the elevator pitch to sell it to your friends. They give you a script to help discuss what topics are appropriate in the game and the importance of setting boundaries. They go over with you how to create a notebook and organize your campaign. How do you make maps and flowcharts of events. How do you create mysteries and other styles of games. How do you create situations that test players in ways beyond combat.
I have never seen a game do this. It's revolutionary. It does more to prepare you to be a GM in a 60 page pamphlet than a 300 page hardcover rules tome by the big publishers.

This is very true. The Warden’s Manual is pure practical advice on how to run an RPG. Just filled with applicable, actionable advice and processes.

 

[stormwriter]

I have played a few games of it at conventions, which encouraged me to back several Kickstarters. While I'm not currently running it, I am reading the core rules.
I currently have 70 different rules systems, and there's one thing I want to call out about this one.
This is the first system I've seen that actually tries to teach the game as you play it. I've never seen a game do it quite like this since I started in 1989. And this isn't a starter set. This is just the base game.
The character sheet is laid out to show you how to create a character and explains what the game is, all on the character sheet.
And as amazing as that is, let's talk about what they do for GMs.
They line out in detail a plan to get you ready to run the game. They go over the elevator pitch to sell it to your friends. They give you a script to help discuss what topics are appropriate in the game and the importance of setting boundaries. They go over with you how to create a notebook and organize your campaign. How do you make maps and flowcharts of events. How do you create mysteries and other styles of games. How do you create situations that test players in ways beyond combat.
I have never seen a game do this. It's revolutionary. It does more to prepare you to be a GM in a 60 page pamphlet than a 300 page hardcover rules tome by the big publishers.

Totally agree! The Warden Manual is amazing, I really wish more games would have that level of practical details in explaining how to run the game.

 

[overgeeked]

Ben at Questing Beast also dropped a review recently.

Re-reading the Warden book has me excited to run or play this all over again. Absolutely packed with great practical advice.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Ben at Questing Beast also dropped a review recently.

Yeah, that's what started me researching it.