Comparing 4 TTRPGs on the Ides of March

This is not a serious post. Yes, I am making light of the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, Dictator for life of the late Roman Republic. Anybody trying to convince me that over two millennia is too soon is going to be in for a rough time.

Anybody in the mood for salad?

Let's observe the Ides of March by examining four TTRPGs from my collection on the basis of:

• Does the game support stabbing as an in-game activity? What quality of stabbing can player characters achieve?
• Is assassination supported as an in-game activity?
• How savage are the politics in the setting? Are they brutal enough that assassination is seen as a viable and even legitimate political tool? What role does stabbing play in such assassinations?

The four TTRPGs I've selected have been previously featured on this blog. In no particular order:

• Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy
• Mothership 1e
• Robert E Howard's Conan Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of
• Star Trek Adventures 1e

Stabbiness

OSE Advanced Fantasy
This should be a fabulous opportunity for player characters to indulge in real quality stabbing. However, stabbing is but one option available among many here. And those other options are often more efficient.

Mothership
Although guns are favored, player characters have options for knives and other stabbing weapons. The vibechete has great potential here, but does seem to be more of a slicing weapon. On the other hand, the player characters may not be the ones getting in the majority of the stabbing. Many of the things that lurk in the long dark have claws and pointy tails that put them ahead in the business of stabbing.

Robert E Howard's Conan
The genre is called swords and sorcery, but could just as easily be swords versus sorcery. With swords in the name, there's plenty of opportunity for stabbing. And the game offers a variety of options with all kinds of bladed weapons. It even supports viable archer builds for stabbing at range. Which is ideal for player characters who don't want to walk all the way over there to stab somebody.

Star Trek Adventures
Stabbing isn't really a strong focus of Starfleet. Although Andorians preserve it as part of their cultural heritage. Klingons, on the other hand, make sure to get in some stabbing on a daily basis. They stab their enemies, their still-living food, and each other. It gets even better during the Dominion War, when the Jem'Hadar show up with their bayonets and knives. A close quarters fight between Klingons and Jem'Hadar could quickly devolve into nothing but a stabbing match.


Assassinations

OSE Advanced Fantasy
The game literally has the Assassin class available. And the Thief can also work as a perfectly competent stealth killer. Even more so in some cases, since the OSE version of the Assassin lacks the ability to deal with locks, traps, and other security measures.

Mothership
Corporations and the greed they inspire are the real baddies in space horror. Quietly eliminating a corporate executive at the direction of a rival or to send a message are possible scenarios. Most higher ranking corporate officers with an ounce of sense will likely have security measures in place. There may also be complicating factors like something going wrong with their latest corporate-backed pet projects at the same time as the attempt. Nothing like cloned alien critters breaking out of containment to spice up an otherwise straightforward scenario.

Robert E Howard's Conan
It could be argued that a warrior like Conan would prefer to prove himself on the field of battle. Of course, Conan was never particularly scrupulous about how he made his money. And Conan was the target of assassination attempts when he became too much of a pain for somebody in power. There should be plenty of opportunity in the setting for those seeking employment as assassins or avoiding those employed as assassins.

Star Trek Adventures
Starfleet doesn't condone assassinations. Except for those dodgy Section 31 types. And Sisko that one time. And those times when Worf takes an interest in Klingon politics. On the other hand, polities other than the Federation have even less restraint. Klingons are perfectly content to send warriors with blades to strike their foes from the shadows, although using poison is a no-no. Romulans and Cardassians are happy to rid themselves of troublesome folks using a variety of means, including hired assassins. Solving the mystery of just who killed somebody with a long list of enemies could be a fun exercise in the Star Trek setting.

How about ordering pizza?

Ruthless Politics

OSE Advanced Fantasy
There doesn't seem to be an official setting for OSE, but adopting settings from other F20 games seems simple enough. Most published F20 settings are politically stable. Upheavals typically come around the time of edition changes rather than arising organically within the setting. However, internal conflicts that don't threaten the established order are another matter. A noble title could be made available with the removal of the current holder. In fact, this is routine business in the more chaotic and/or evil parts of F20 settings, such as the Underdark.

Mothership
Although the corporations themselves are too big to fail, individual corporate officers and their pet projects come and go. Sometimes right out the airlock. Corporate politics can get literally cutthroat when little things like laws, ethics, and morals stop getting in the way.

Robert E Howard's Conan
Politics is a lively affair in this setting. Backstabbing and betrayal seem to be the norm rather than the exception in the original stories. Conan himself involved himself in local politics on occasion - commanding armies, involving himself with royalty (sometimes intimately), participating in (usually doomed) rebellions, and often enriching himself at some potentate's expense. And there was the whole business of him leading a mercenary army to claim the throne of Aquilonia. Of course, keeping that throne took significant effort from those who sought it for themselves. Politics in this setting is a good way for a player character to end up with a fat purse and a knife in the back.

Star Trek Adventures
Politics within the Federation seems to be a sedate affair outside of the occasional coup or conspiracy. And, in theory, the Prime Directive should keep Starfleet personnel out of political business outside of the Federation. In practice, Starfleet crews get dragged into some local skullduggery on the regular. The usual scenario is some dark secret concealed down on the planet of the week. Intervening in local politics is more defensible when the locals run their civilization on human sacrifice or something. Of course, they may not welcome the proposed changes.


That concludes my tongue-in-cheek observance of this year's Ides of March. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing. Let's see if I remember next year.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 14: Cerulean Byrd-Skye, Android

It's the fourteenth day of the challenge! And it's back to Mothership. There's one class left - android. My concept for this character was Mr. Data, but made by Weyland-Yutani. Or Lore with better manners. Whichever works. I also wanted to make an androgynous android because of the wordplay.

Cerulean Byrd-Skye, Android

My rolls for Stats and Saves were alright. It helps that the low results went into things that received big bonuses from this character being an android - Intellect and Fear saves. Combat did take a hit, though. Maybe the manufacturer wanted to guard against an AI uprising? Finally, androids get an additional Wound, putting them on par with Marines.

Androids get a wide variety of skills: Linguistics, Computers, and Mathematics. Rather than getting an Expert skill, I picked out Geology and Archaeology to get a broad range of disciplines to be knowledgeable about. I find it interesting that an android can't start out with Piloting, given the inspirational material includes Aliens.

Rolling low for loadouts in Mothership results in more useful stuff. Rolling high offers quirky stuff. Maybe that Jump-9 Ticket (destination blank) will come in handy to get away from all this nonsense someday. Starting funds were enough to cover a flashlight and Geiger counter. My roll for Trinkets scored a copy of the I Ching, but missing some of the stalks used for divination. This character's patch displays the Mudflap Girl.

Cerulean Byrd-Skye was designed by the team of Doctors Byrd and Skye. They resemble a lean androgynous person of average height and indeterminate features. Or is supposed to. There's just enough uncanny valley to their appearance to mark them as synthetic. Byrd-Skye is intended to act in an advisory capacity. They are therefore soft-spoken, polite, and presents their arguments in a non-confrontational fashion. However, their ability to deliver accurate data and analysis is often hampered by company policies and directives. Byrd-Skye has therefore learned to lie effectively. If giving correct information will benefit them, they will do so and fail to report themself for violating regulations. If following company orders is in their best interests, they will knowingly offer falsehoods to those seeking advice. The effects this might have on others are less important to Byrd-Skye than their own continued existence.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 10: Steve Bor, Scientist

It's day ten and a return to Mothership for the challenge. Let's make a scientist with a personality suited for climbing the corporate ladder this time. In his defense, he's not as completely useless as some folks depicted in space horror. He does have skills other than backstabbing others for a percentage. Make no mistake, though. He'll do the backstabbing thing too.

I previously stated that I'll be changing over to the advanced character sheet at some point. I'm having second thoughts about that. The basic sheet better explains the process to those unfamiliar with Mothership, so I might stick with that throughout the rest of this challenge.

Steve Bor, Scientist

My rolls for Stats were suboptimal. Intellect gets a boost since he's a scientist. I boosted Speed to since running would be a priority for this guy. He's not the guy to depend on in a fight. My dice warmed up when I rolled for Saves. The big fat bonus to Sanity is going to be handy when he starts poking at Things Humanity Really Doesn't Want To Find Out About.

The scientist class is the only one with access to a Master skill as a starting character. This makes sense, as those skills cover doctorate level stuff. However, it does make scientists a little more narrowly focused than the other classes. As command, engineering, hyperspace, and surgery are Master skills, it is possible to create a military officer, engineer, interstellar pilot, or medical doctor using the scientist class.

But this guy is chasing money and fame. I choose Exobiology and prerequisites Pathology and Zoology. Finding intelligent alien life would be his ticket to success. I picked Chemistry for his other Trained skill, since it would compliment his biological knowledge.

Rolling for a loadout turned up the quirky result. I'll say he uses the prescription pad for notes, since he's not that kind of doctor. The fountain pen/poison injector seems fun. He's going to wish he had better gear and something more protective than civilian clothes, though. I used part of his starting funds for a sample collection kit. For his trinket, he gets a moonstone ring. The image of an inverted cross adorns his patch.

Steve Bor is ambitious and cunning, but undisciplined and unimaginative. He was born of wealthy parents, coasted through his education, and landed a cushy job thanks to his connections. He'll eagerly steal the ideas and hard work of others to promote them as his own. Bor's growing reputation is that of a brilliant innovator, but he lacks the knowledge and dedication to be either. Bor will seize anything that looks like an opportunity to advance himself, no matter the cost to others. Favors black turtlenecks, black slacks, and black windbreakers.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 6: Kristen Shane Vassen, Marine

It's the sixth day of the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. Let's make another Mothership character! I'll be using the basic character sheet again so folks unfamiliar with Mothership can better follow along.

I've selected the Marine class this time around. And now, I move beyond the Alien franchise for inspiration. The idea for this Marine comes from the television series "Space: Above and Beyond" - one of many sci-fi shows canceled by Fox after only one season. Most of the characters on that show were young Marine aviators serving in the 58th "Wildcards" Fighter Squadron off the carrier USS Saratoga. I selected my second favorite character from the show for this post, as I didn't feel I could do Lieutenant Colonel Tyrus Cassius McQueen justice with a starting character. Kristen Vassen often goes by her middle name of Shane.

Kristen Shane Vassen, Marine

My rolls for Stats were alright, but Saves weren't as high as I would've liked. However, the adjustments from the Marine class helped offset my low rolls. The Health roll was also nothing to write home about.

Marines automatically get the skills Military Training and Athletics. Marines get a choice between one Expert Skill or two Trained Skills. The only two options for an Expert Skill are Firearms and Hand-To-Hand Combat. Both have appeal, but I have something else in mind for this character. There's no way to make Vassen a pilot like the Space: Above and Beyond character that inspired her, but I could take the prerequisite for Piloting: Zero-G. My other choice for a Trained Skill came down to Jury-Rigging. This gives Vassen the prerequisites for some interesting Expert Skills, if she survives long enough to get more skills.

The result for her loadout turned out well. Standard Battle Dress is good protection, a Pulse Rifle is one of the better weapons, and Infrared Goggles aren't bad. And, yes, the game uses the term "mags" rather than "clips" or anything else that might make firearms enthusiasts erupt with rage. I used her starting money to buy a combat knife (using the stats and cost for a scalpel) and 50m of paracord. This left her with 10cr for beer money.

Vassen's Trinket is the "PANIC: Harbinger of Catastrophe" manual. I'm sure it's full of useful advice. Her patch reads "Keep Well Lubricated" and I'm not going to leave a comment on it.

Kristen Shane Vassen comes from a family of Marines. She was already knowledgeable about Marine traditions and legends before she entered training. Unfortunately, her rosy view of the organization often clashed with the mundane reality. Her career has also been impacted by the high expectations her superiors have because of standards set by prior generations of Vassens. Kristen has held up well under these pressures. So far.

The TV Tropes entry for Space: Above and Beyond.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 3: Emma Johansen, Teamster

Day three of the 2025 Character Creation Challenge dawns. I've selected Mothership for my third character of the challenge. Mothership is a space horror TTRPG by Tuesday Night Games. It isn't an OSR game per se, but the influence shows through.

Mothership features two character sheets - a basic one for those new to the game and an advanced one. The basic character sheet takes a new player through the generation process step by step. Laying everything out like this help to avoid everybody fighting for the rulebook. I'll be using the basic sheet this time and breaking out the other one in later posts.

Emma Johansen, Teamster

I'll focus on the decisions I made during the process. However, Mothership uses die rolls extensively during character generation. So I'll be commenting on some of the results as well.

Yes, there's a space for pronouns right on the sheet. Don't use it if you don't like it. It won't bite you.

I selected the Teamster class in honor of the reigning queen of space horror - Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. This character's name - Emma Johansen - evokes Ellen and honors a couple of women I worked alongside back in my tech days.

My dice were chilly, but not ice cold. The Stats and Saves are around average. I did bomb the Health roll, so this is not a good character to take into combat against toothy alien critters.

Teamsters automatically get two skills: Industrial Equipment and Zero-G. This reflects their background in blue collar space trucking. Picking a Trained Skill was a toss up between Jury-Rigging, Computers, and Rimwise. I've found that its useful to see what perquisites that the various Expert and Master Skills call for when looking at Trained Skills. Jury-Rigging leads to Explosives and Computers lead to Hacking, which don't fit my idea for this character. Rimwise leads to Hand-To-Hand Combat, which is a bad idea for this character due to her low Health. However, Industrial Equipment leads to Mechanical Repair. So I picked Rimwise as her Trained Skill to reflect her rough and tumble work experiences. Her Expert Skill is Mechanical Repair to represent her ability to fix things properly.

I rolled for a Starting Loadout rather than buy the gear piecemeal. The Flare Gun can be used as a weapon and the Personal Locator could be useful. I couldn't find what a Subsurface Scanner does, but it could be handy as a source of parts for fixing something else along with the Water Filtration Device. I used part of Johansen's starting Credits on Assorted Tools and a Flashlight.

For her Trinket, I rolled "Pamphlet: The Relic of Flesh" for Johansen. Her Patch reads "DO YOUR JOB" and fits seamlessly with what I had in mind for the character.

Emma Johansen has been doing her job as long as anybody here at this mom and pop operation and is not here to take your guff. The smell of cigarette smoke clings to her thanks to a pack a day habit. She wears her greying hair short - sometimes cropped - to keep it out of the way. Her no nonsense attitude doesn't make her many friends, but she knows her stuff.

Oh, and I deliberately didn't include cigarettes on her sheet. She's out and is getting twitchy for a hit of nicotine.

My Favorite Stuff 2024

This is a list of stuff that's been working well for me over the past year or two. Handy if you're doing some last minute holiday shopping for a tabletop gamer. Or if you are a tabletop gamer looking to spend some cash or gift cards received over the holidays. Or if you just want to indulge in some retail therapy. I'm not in a position to judge.

I skipped a "My Favorite" post last year due to my tabletop gaming interregnum. Links to past posts along these lines:

My Favorite Things 2018

My Favorite Stuff 2020 and 2019

My Favorite Stuff 2022

My New Dropper Bottle Case



Old School Essentials

I didn't realize that I never stated my opinions about this game until I sat down to write this post.

It's exactly what I wanted.

A question I sometimes see is: "Why not use the classic D&D and AD&D materials directly?" Well, that would mean spending time and money on the following to get what I was looking for:

• Cook Basic D&D down to its heart and soul. Which means purchasing the Dragons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia and throwing out huge chunks of it.
• Take what I most enjoyed about AD&D and convert it to be fully compatible with the chopped down version of Basic D&D from the first step. Which means taking the three AD&D core books and not using most of them.
• Hand our group the resulting document sometime in the 2030s.

Or I could do what I actually did:

• Shop around for a product that already did all that work for me.
• Wait for a sale on the Exulted Funeral site.
• Purchase a pair of books from Necrotic Gnome.
• Be impressed by the clear writing and organization of the Old School Essentials books.
• Download a bunch of free content from Necrotic Gnome, including a checklist of options to bring to our group.

I'm happy with the choice I made.


D&D Module B4 The Lost City

I previously published a couple of posts about this module:

Preparing a Classic D&D Module for OSE

Remodeling B4 The Lost City

This may end up replacing B2 The Keep on the Borderlands as my go-to for starting a nostalgic old school campaign. It's not without flaws. It does need preparation before putting it in front of players. And it does not in any way benefit from modern concepts of layout and organization. But the swords and sorcery flavored dungeon delve at its core? An experience not to be missed.


Mothership Boxed Set

I've posted my thoughts and experiences about this game before:

Countdown to Mothership

Mothership Debrief - Another Bug Hunt

It's a delight to open a tabletop RPG boxed set in the halcyon year of 2024. Good rules. Good presentation. The starter adventure is...

...a tad undercooked.


The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel

This book is my new recommendation for "an introduction and/or overview of the Middle Ages" to anybody who asks. Which comes up both more and less often than folks might believe. If everything you know on the topic comes from Gary Gygax and YouTube, you should read this book.


Army Painter Wet Palette

I used to slap my paint on a ceramic plate or cheap plastic artist's palette. Like a savage or something. Now I carefully add water to the absorbent pad, lay on a sheet of parchment paper, and mix my paints like a professional. Has it improved my brushwork? Not one darn bit. But it does keep my paints fresh and perky while I break down sobbing at my inadequate skills while base coating a miniature.


That's my favorite stuff some this year (and last year). Let's see if I remember the next post in this series in 2025.

Mothership Debrief - Another Bug Hunt

This isn't a review. I'm simply reporting our group's experiences with Mothership and the first impressions I had while running it. My initial thoughts about Mothership are posted at the other end of this link.

We took on Mothership with character generation (session zero) and a session of Another Bug Hunt in August. Scheduling issues prevented us from meeting back up to complete Another Bug Hunt until November. This means that, once again, my attempt to run a horror scenario in October has failed. I'm beginning to think that Halloween really is cursed.

A caveat: It's entirely possible - likely, even - that some of our experiences were due to my misunderstanding aspects of Mothership or Another Bug Hunt. I also acknowledge that some of the things I criticize here may be addressed by Tuesday Night Games or the Mothership community on Discord or a social media post somewhere. This blog post describes our group's experiences using Mothership and Another Bug Hunt out of the box. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Spoiler warning: I'll be discussing Another Bug Hunt from the perspective of a gamemaster who has run it in its entirety. There will be spoilers.


Session Zero - Character Generation

The process is straightforward and is streamlined by being summarized on the character sheet. A flow builds as players follow each step on the sheet rather than having to bury themselves in the rules. We had to look up specifics like what a particular skill or piece of equipment does, but these were brief pauses rather than lengthy distractions.

A weakness in character generation is the scarcity of equipment. Characters are effectively locked into the gear they roll up randomly. Their starting funds are woefully inadequate for purchasing anything else at the inflated prices listed. This removes a player's ability to customize their character through equipment selection.

Limiting starting equipment also strains the gamemaster's ability to convey information to the players. This came up while running Another Bug Hunt. Nobody was lucky enough to start with something to analyze a body or scan an area for life signs. This meant that they had to hope for an intact surgical suite to do autopsies on the corpses they found. Given that important clues were hidden in those dead bodies, I ended up planting a medical scanner in the wreckage of a medical lab. It's an easy fix, but why am I taking on the role of designer while running a published adventure?


Session One - Starting Off

Another Bug Hunt was written to introduce Mothership. It includes plenty of advice for the gamemaster. There are opportunities to use just about all the rules. This gives a new group a taste of everything the game has to offer. It's a good introductory adventure, but I do have notes.

The derelict base that the player characters initially explored was challenging and the descriptions conveyed the intended mood. The risks were moderated by cautious play. Our group's experiences with Old School Essentials this year left a lasting impression on how to handle squishy characters in hostile environments.

We completed the initial location and ended the session as the player characters were preparing to leave the base. Planning their next move would have been aided by an overview map showing all the locations in the adventure in relation to each other. I found no such map in the book.

I ran into an issue during a specific encounter. The player characters can find the "Sansa VI Org Chart" in an office. This chart is printed on the inside front cover of the adventure. Foreseeing this, I printed out a copy as a handout. Unfortunately, the chart accurately lists the current status of various individuals as KIA (Killed In Action) or MIA (Missing In Action). Which strikes me as a bit of a spoiler. I asked our group to ignore that information.

Another presentation issue is that Another Bug Hunt looks great - on a backlit screen. Sections of the printed version as difficult for my aging eyes to read. Parts of it are white or orange text on a black background. Other parts are black text on a green background. I could have reprinted those sections in a way to make them easier to read, but I paid for the printed version in the boxed set.


Session Two - Wrapping Up

The player characters managed to escape the planet, but there were some close calls. They also went through most of the content in Another Bug Hunt. I wasn't expecting to be able to do that in a couple of sessions. The adventure hummed along a brisk pace.

As with the first session, the players were able to avoid the most deadly encounters by moderating risks and focusing on objectives. The overall risk level of the adventure was reduced by my die rolls. Random encounter rolls kept coming up empty. That's been true of other games, but it was particularly noticeable here. I considered fudging the results, but I dislike that option. More static encounters might have helped here.

The timeline running during adventure does a fine job of keeping up the pressure. Another Bug Hunt features a storm with winds strong enough to prevent evacuation and flood waters high enough to make certain areas inaccessible as the weather worsens. The chance of a random encounter also increases over time. This gradually closes off options while raising the stakes as the adventure moves forward.

The maps were good, but not perfect. The terraforming complex map could have used notations indicating the directions of the other locations. This would help to determine where the player characters are approaching from and going to. Again, there's no overview map that I could find to show the players and help them with planning.

Speaking of the terraforming complex - it incorporates a dam and generates power. However, it also has a reactor that produces radiation. So is it hydro-electric or a water cooled nuclear reactor? The adventure doesn't have an answer - the text calls it both things. I just asked our group to roll with it.

The central concept of Another Bug Hunt is an infestation transmitted by sound. Specifically, the shriek made by the titular bugs. Even hearing it over a radio transmission will do the trick. This was a difficult idea for our group to get our heads around. I ultimately got through by explaining that there's a psionic component to the shriek.

The end of the adventure presents a chance to use the spaceship combat rules. However, I couldn't find stats for the executive ship in Another Bug Hunt. A look at the Shipbreaker's Toolkit revealed that an "Executive Transport" is typically unarmed. If so, what's the space encounter supposed to teach? How to get shot at? I ended up skipping it entirely.


Overall Impressions

Mothership is the kind of rules light system that works best when run by a gamemaster willing to make things up on the spot. This is not a system for those who like everything locked down, meticulously defined, and with a rule for any situation. There's a strong OSR feel, although the rules are not descended from classic RPGs.

Another Bug Hunt is a good, but undercooked introductory adventure. The presentation is flawed. There are inconsistencies in the information provided. Perhaps another editing pass or a little more polish could've improved it. That said, it does its job. Our group came out of the experience with a good impression of the game, an understanding of the rules, and looking forward to playing more down the road.

Countdown to Mothership

This isn't a review. It's more a collection of random thoughts.

I knew that I'd be running Mothership as soon as I finished reading it. The boxed set took the trip to Florida with me this summer. The Nostalgia Tour was on hiatus until schedules could come back into alignment. I should've used the time to prepare the next module, but I needed a change of pace. Alternating between fantasy and any other genre usually works for me. I intended to read and run FATE Core and Tachyon Squadron for our next game, but there's something about Mothership that appeals to me more.

Tuesday Night Games stuffed a decent amount of stuff in the Mothership boxed set. Photo doesn't include the patch, dice, and other doodads.

Opening Move

I'll be running Another Bug Hunt - the introductory adventure in the boxed set - as a one shot. It's written to present a taste of everything Mothership has to offer. I figure it's the best way to get a feel for the game.

Another Bug Hunt avoids most of my issues with published adventures. It gets high marks from me for organization, layout, and not wasting my time. I'll knock off a few points for the pages that use white or orange text on a dark background. Most of the book is fine, but those specific pages are hard on the eyes.

I am a little concerned with the bulletproof critters of this scenario. I know that Mothership isn't intended to be fair or balanced, but there's a gap between "life is tough, deal with it" and "dick move" which this might sail across. Then again, "bullets won't stop them" is a trope of sci-fi horror.


Down the Road

I've amassed a modest collection of Mothership adventures that we can play as one shots or as an episodic campaign of unconnected adventures. Once I feel I have a good grasp of the game, I'll try my hand at creating some adventures of my own. There's plenty of inspiration out there.


Launching a Campaign?

I have thoughts about a possible campaign. However, I have no plans to run one until that nebulous time known as later. Best to let my ideas cook while I get some experience with the game.

A Traveller-style, murder hobos for hire campaign can be run using Mothership with little or no modification. Just replace the nobles with corporate executives to make the setting more of a late stage capitalist interstellar hellscape. It would also be fairly straightforward to adapt Traveller adventures like Death Station to Mothership.

Other games that can be mined for inspiration include Star Frontiers and Ashen Stars. Something would need to be done with the playable aliens, but there are setting elements and adventures that could be adapted without too much effort.

That said, I'd likely go with a campaign of my own design. Salvagers who sometimes run cargo as space truckers to make ends meet sounds exciting. The Warden's Operation Manual discusses salvagers and space truckers as separate ideas for campaigns, but I have ideas for a mashup.

Screenshot from The Cycle Fronter by Yager Development. Image from The Cycle Frontier press kit.

Salvaging supposedly abandoned settlements might resemble the now dead Escape From Tarkov clone The Cycle Frontier. Going to distant worlds to explore overgrown structures hosting native critters while dealing with trigger happy competitors. Salvaging derelicts in space might look like Hardspace Shipbreaker. Cutting valuable bits out of obsolete ships while dealing with the dangers of depressurization, radiation, temperate extremes, substandard equipment, and the occasional ghost ship haunted by rogue AI. I'd add things like cultists who like privacy and a little cosmic horror for spice.

Cargo hauling would be blue collar space horror with a system that could fake a functioning economy so moving freight across interstellar distances makes some kind of sense. Of course, that cargo might not be what the manifest says it is. Or the temptation to increase profits by smuggling contraband might attract the wrong kind of attention.

Combining the two allows switching between the two modes of play. Salvaging doesn't always cover the bills, so the crew has to find some cargoes to haul. Which has its own challenges. At least, until rumors of more salvage reach their ears.

An economic system would be handy for finding markets to sell salvage or contraband. The Warden's Operation Manual has a basic economic system, but I'd to look to sources like Far Trader and Starports for GURPS Traveller for more details. Upward mobility is still impossible in Mothership, but the player characters might not live long enough to see their hopes for it crushed.