After several years of orbiting this sci-fi setting, I finally got a chance to play and it was a blast! It definitely has a different tone than ICRPG, but that step away from the “heroic” nature of classic fantasy touched on a few things I love in RPGs: dire situations and moments when crap hits the fan.
Playing Cullin as a low-key coward really helped because as the situation got worse and worse all he wanted to do was run.
Summary
We played as crew members aboard the Procyon-ERL or “Pearl”. Standard mining operation until something boarded our ship. We weren’t exactly sure that is since we were stationed in the Engineering sector, cleaning out air ducts (my character was essentially an apprentice HVAC technician keeping airways clear).
Things went from bad to worse as we sealed ourselves in the area after a breach in the hull and only to discover vicious metal hounds nearly mauling a fellow crew member. Cassius (my fellow player’s character) and Cullin (my character) crawled through the ducts to our quarters to retrieve some equipment, specifically a flamethrower, for our marine friend who was waiting back in Engineering.
With a few bad rolls, we attracted the attention of those hounds who followed us through the air ducts until they were roasted in the narrow air duct when we eventually made it back to the rest of the crew. Having also heard that the Captain was lost, we made a break for the escape pods, but more stood in our way. When is it ever easy?
A borg of some kind and a lumbering Viking of epic proportions barred our path to escape. Cassius was able to communicate with the behemoth since his android memory has some knowledge of Old Norse stowed away for some reason. Diplomacy didn’t last forever once the thing decided Cassius was no more trustworthy than Loki. We broke free and raced to the escape pods! While the Viking finished off the rest of the crew, may they rest in peace, we blasted out to safety, hoping to be picked up soon.
Stars & Wishes
Overall, I really liked Mothership. It handles the horror tone really well and JD, our GM, really knew how to keep the pressure on, even though Mothership discourages all-out combat. Plus JD’s combination of Mothership and Viking Death Squad was awesome! Totally wasn’t expecting that mashup, but it made me all the more intrigued about what was going on.
