Recently, I ran the module “Another Bug Hunt” included with the Mothership 1e set. It had its strong points and its weak points. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum. Not for any practical reason. I just want to see if I can write about this without spoiling.

Troubles

Lack of Player-facing Maps and Creature Images

This was a drag for me. I run most games online, and it is a practice of mine to clip out images to show the players what their characters are encountering. As well, while drawing maps has a fine tradition in RPGs it’s more fun with physical pen and paper. Online, I’ll usually reveal a map to the players as they explore.

Unfortunately, many of the images included in this module have spoilers! Certainly it’s a dramatic moment when the creatures jump out, so I can understand the temptation to use that moment in the illustration. However, I can’t really share those illustrations until the dramatic reveal otherwise it rather spoils the whole thing.

The maps are not too bad for showing to players. There are a few secrets spilled - mostly just the location of airvents.

Locked Doors

There are a lot of locked doors in this module. Stopped and locked doors are a lot less interesting in Mothership than in DnD. The crew are generally equipped with better tools for opening them - crowbars, tool kits, laser cutters - than their medieval counterparts. Mostly, there’s no one watching the doors who might get mad at you for breaking them. Still, there is the time taken. Wandering monsters are a key part of the dungeon turn, but they don’t usually become a concern in Mothership until the second act.

Once pursuit by creatures is a fact or at least a known possibility, then troublesome doors can be more than a nuisance. I suppose as well that a couple of Strength checks can start building up the stress, if that’s necessary.

What kind of reactor design is this?

There’s a power plant, at a dam. Surely, we expect to find hydroelectric turbines. But no, the “hydroreactor” is nuclear, and leaking plenty of radiation (through the cooling tower, no less).

At least it fails safe.

Timeline - hard or soft?

A few things happen in this module at the speed of plot. They happen once the player characters have done something or other or made some decision. This work sometimes, and is not so clear other times.

For example: the dropship. The manager drops the crew off with a few objectives. Eventually, the dropship will come back.

Logically, there are a few things that will affect when the ship returns. When they are called (or if a rendezvous is pre-planned), and whether the storm has cleared.

The storm is something that shouldn’t depend on the actions of the players. But there’s a timeline table in a later chapter outlining when the the storm breaks and correlating it with another pattern of events outside the player characters’ control. And we are instructed to start this timeline off based on the players’ decision to leave.

Who knows what?

Speaking of time lines, the PCs arrive on the seen some months post-inciting incident… But with the circumstances of the survivors it might seem like it has been a matter of hours. At this point the survivors should have (perhaps) not only a more solid position, but also some knowledge of the phenomena at work. But, with some exceptions, it’s not clear they do. One or two characters give specific advice, and others, by their actions, can be assumed to have known or guessed the properties at play. Are the others so clueless?

It would be less interesting to drop the keys to the mystery at the players’ feet. Perhaps it would be better to shorten the timeline of events on planet?

Infection - too slow, too certain?

In this module, some characters are or may become afflicted. This affliction progresses through several stages. The progression is quite slow, for the time scale of the adventure. I think it would be unlikely for any afflicted character to progress from one stage to another within the playing of the module.

As well, I don’t think there is any specific way to cure or halt the affliction.

The first stage has visible outwards effects. Players will probably figure this out relatively quickly.

I think it would make for better play if the affliction progressed more quickly, had some possible cure, and was not so immediately visible. There is also some behavior (exhibited by other creatures) that could be linked with the affliction - creatures are being called in certain directions. The afflicted might as well.

Spawn of Infernal Spawn of Evil

The creatures appear in many places, and usually a stat-block is handy. As well, the spawn of the creatures appear a few times, but only on one page do we find their stat-block. And speaking of stat-blocks…

Secret Weakness

They mention a particular weakness the creatures have. But what, mechanically, should be the effect of it?

I ruled something, but it felt missing.

Terraforming? Why?

This planet has breathable atmosphere. A temperate, if tropical, climate. What more does it need? This terra-forming station seems like it’s meant to be early in its progress. But what is left to do?

Sci-fi games can go overboard with planetary statistics. We don’t really need to know the solar year or rotational access of this planet, but the number of hours in the day and the composition of the atmosphere would be helpful.

Strong Points

On target

It’s pretty clear the creators were aiming at a specific tone. Mothership is a science fiction horror RPG, so un-surprisingly it is often described as being like ALIEN(S). And, as the module title suggests, “Another Bug Hunt” is more ALIEN(S)-flavored than usual.

It hits the right notes.

Some important subversions

While it conforms so well to the expectations of players looking for those ALIEN themes and moments, it also subverts those expectations in a few important ways. The nature of the affliction and those susceptible surprised my players.

Multiple Concerns

In horror RPGs, the players’ reaction to an awful situation might just be “let’s get out of here!”. That’s all right. But some modules can boil down to trying to leave as soon as the ship can be repaired/re-fueled.

Here, there’s a few things for the players to fix, learn, or care about.

Xandering the module

The some of the individual site maps aren’t terribly interesting by themselves, but as a whole the module has some interestingly different ways for players to arrive at the same places.

Build to Throw Away

One of the things every dungeon needs is something the players probably won’t find.

This module has some good things in that category.