For Day 5 of the #CharacterCreationChallenge, we return to space with the game Mothership. Litheum is a marine who works for the Company and makes sure the Company’s interests are represented.

Despite his size, he’s a nimble guy. He grew up on a high-density system, which allows him to maneuver easily in more Earth-like conditions.

This guy has seen some stuff, though, and his emotions are often frayed. He deals with this through the use of hard “recreational” drugs.

Mothership

Mothership, from Tuesday Knight Games, bills itself as a sci-fi horror RPG, which highlights the ideas of sanity and fear, both of which can take a toll on the PCs. It’s also a game where combat is deadly and best avoided.

I only have the Player Survival Guide and Hackers Handbook, so I haven’t seen the worldbuilding, campaign building, or other key features, but it seems pretty rules-light.

Character options are limited to Marine, Android, Scientist, or Teamster and the stats are simply Strength, Speed, Intellect, and Combat. Checks are based on d100 and require you to roll beneath your stat/skill score – meaning we start out failing more often that we succeed – lending itself to deadly encounters or at least dramatic ones.

Progression is slow and seems to be based on increasing existing skills or adding new skills, but these take a serious amount of in-game time to develop. A GM whose players really want to build their characters up will likely need to establish a campaign that stretches out over a career (years) or relax the skill development rules.

Have any experience with Mothership? Share your thoughts – tell me what I got wrong.