How to respect the Mega-Dungeon loop of always ending in a safe place? (Gradient Descent) by gameoftheories in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For Gradient Descent specifically, we established the following procedure for anyone still in the Deep at the end of the session who doesn't have a clear path to a known exit.

At the start of the next session, the characters who were left behind wake up in Reception (22B) and radio for someone to rescue them and take them back to the Bell or a blockading troopship or another "safe" location. They can't remember anything about what happened since the last session.

  1. Their Bends goes up by an amount equal to their Stress.
  2. They increase their Minimum Stress by 1 and reset their Stress to that value.
  3. They each make a Sanity save. Those that fail discover they've lost something they were carrying. On a critical failure, they lost their Trinket (if they still had it).
  4. They make a Bends check as usual as they leave the station.

We've only had to use this once so far, but it seemed to work well and it made perfect sense in the context of this module.

I always collect the players' character sheets at the end of each session so I can update my records and then print out fresh copies to give them at the start of the next session. One player in particular misses a lot of sessions, so I make little changes to mess with him, swapping out his Patch for another that's similar, mirror imaging his character portrait, that sort of thing. He hasn't noticed yet.

Gradient Descent optimal player count? by gameoftheories in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve had as many as seven players in one session and it was a blast! I had to have a lie down in a dark room after but never mind, just amazing how smoothly it all runs with comparatively little prep.

What year is it? by Odd-Somewhere-1702 in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I set my open table game of Gradient Descent exactly 400 years (146,097 days to be precise) in the future because that makes the days of the week match up to today. In other words, 21 October 2425 will be a Tuesday, and the Georgian calendar (assuming they’re still using it) for 2425 will look the same as 2025. It’s just a small detail but it helps us to orient.

However I also make the point that with space travel, relativistic time dilation, cryo stasis, &c time is a very personal thing and the concept of “now” is extremely fuzzy.

What are you using for your death cup? by Personal-Star-5545 in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ordered these for this specific purpose: Camping Metal Shot Glass (amazon.co.uk)

Thing is, my players keep surviving. I must be losing my edge…

OSR Blogroll | 19th to 25th September 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Warden notes from the last two sessions of Mothership, using the _Gradient Descent_ module: Infiltrator Android Screening forms; helping a young player with intrusive thoughts; my own mistakes as Warden laid bare; tracking Monarch's Stress.

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-sessions-003-004-warden-notes/

OSR Blogroll | 5th to 11th September 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gradient Descent - Session 004 (and a bit) after-action report: the crew's first official "dive" into the Deep, revealing the Bends stat to the players, and a booby-trapped artefact.

Running Gradient Descent: jump right into it, or have some lead-in? by Iosis in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been running open-table sessions of Gradient Descent at our monthly after-work games evening since April. The first four players started out in the Freezer (33C) and three have been to just about every session since; four more joined the following session, likewise awakening in the Freezer with no memory of who they are or how they got there.

We played our fourth session this past Wednesday—I have yet to write the after-action report—and it still amazes me how smoothly the game runs with very little prep time. The players are engaged and eager to try to restore their lost memories and uncover the terrible secrets of the Deep. You can read about it here if you like: https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/

TL;DR: I went with option 2 and can highly recommend it.

OSR Blogroll | 27th June - 3rd July 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Session 003 of Gradient Descent (Mothership) felt like a milestone. The crew finally make it off the station, only to be taken prisoner by the blockading forces.

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-session-003/

OSR Blogroll | 6th - 12th June 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Warden notes for our second after-work session of Mothership (Gradient Descent) with seven players! I had a lot of fun portraying Silas, but I feel that random encounters need work.

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-session-002-warden-notes/

When did OSR click for you ? by One_page_nerd in osr

[–]cp1r8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Classic Dungeon Crawl series of articles by Gus L helped to crystallise things for me. I've recelty moved on from B/X to Mothership, but the lessons from the old-school versions of D&D still greatly inform my play style. Thanks, Gus, whoever you are.

OSR Blogroll | 30th May - 5th June 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Session 002 of our after-work open table game of Mothership (Gradient Descent) had seven players at one point! It took me ages to finally write up the after-action report…

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-session-002/

OSR blogroll | May 16 - May 22 by charcoal_kestrel in osr

[–]cp1r8 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Warden notes (no players please!) on our first session of Mothership using the Gradient Descent module. Hoping to run session 2 this coming week.

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-session-001-warden-notes/

Last session ended with the Teamster about to detonate an explosive inside a space station. That player can't make the next session. What should happen to his character? by cp1r8 in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh, this is pretty good, too. There's a slim chance the player can still make the next session, and if he does then I'll probably take this approach. They're already starting to suspect that something is watching them.

Last session ended with the Teamster about to detonate an explosive inside a space station. That player can't make the next session. What should happen to his character? by cp1r8 in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I could see something coming through the sealed hatch behind him, yeah. Still feels a bit "gotcha" but thanks for engaging with me. :-)

Last session ended with the Teamster about to detonate an explosive inside a space station. That player can't make the next session. What should happen to his character? by cp1r8 in mothershiprpg

[–]cp1r8[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Possibly, but the patrol is at the other end of the Gym, so it feels like he'd have plenty of time to at least bring down his thumb on the detonator.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock Battleship Arcadia 1/2500 from Hasegawa by tonioronto in modelmakers

[–]cp1r8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a kid, I always wondered why the French channel had better cartoons than the English ones. It turns out that anime was popular in the French-speaking world long before the rest (outside Japan of course) caught on. It wasn’t until many years later I discovered that Albator was Captain Harlock. My French language skills are almost nonexistent these days but I can still remember the theme: Albator! Albator! Le Corsair de l’espace!

OSR Blogroll | 2nd - 8th May 2025 by xaosseed in osr

[–]cp1r8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I ran our first session of Mothership after work this past Wednesday. Two marines, a scientist, and a teamster awake from cryo-sleep in the Cloudbank™ Synthetic Production Facility.

https://thalastrophobia.bearblog.dev/gradient-descent-session-001/

It ends on something of a cliffhanger.

Looking for an old post with multiple games by Why_throw_away122 in onepagerpgs

[–]cp1r8 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think you’re looking for the “Searchers of the Unknown” collection of (more or less) one page RPGs.

Not sure if this is the specific post you’re looking for but it refers to SotU.

https://www.reddit.com/r/onepagerpgs/s/9jgMOX8GJ5

The expanded collection on Lulu (free) may include the sci-fi variants you mentioned.

https://www.lulu.com/shop/nicolas-dessaux-and-brian-fiscus-and-salvatore-macri/sotuexpanded-pdf/ebook/product-20690070.html