Is Mothership 1e the best Alien RPG? - RPG Review

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Get Mothership 1e in PDF on DrivethruRPG (affiliate):
Player's Guide: bit.ly/MoShPlayerGuide
GM's Guide: bit.ly/MoShGMGuide
Shipbreaker's Kit: bit.ly/MoShShipbreakerKit
Unconfirmed Contact Reports (bestiary): bit.ly/MoShBestiary
Get Mothership from the official Tuesday Knight Games shop: www.tuesdayknightgames.com/co...
My interview with Sean McCoy of Tuesday Knight Games: thaumavore.substack.com/p/mot...
My interview with Tomas Harenstam of Free League: thaumavore.substack.com/p/her...
My interview with watt, creator of Cloud Empress: thaumavore.substack.com/p/unv...
*Get Mothership supplements in PDF from Drivethru (affiliate)*
Dead Planet: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
A Pound of Flesh: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Gradient Descent: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Cloud Empress: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
The Drain: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Meat Grinder: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Graveyard of the Gods: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Bloom: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Black Dog: octopusink.itch.io/the-black-dog
Desert Moon of Karth: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Abilities Considered Unnatural: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/produ...
Year Zero Engine SRD: freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-c...
Free League Workshop: freeleaguepublishing.com/comm...
The Kilimanjaro multi-tool folding knife that I use at the beginning of this video (affiliate): amzn.to/4emCFmK
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10 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 172

@DaveThaumavore 17 дней назад

ERRATA: Scientists play a big role in the first Alien movie. Ash is both an android AND a scientist! Spoiler alert. Support the channel by joining my Patreon! www.patreon.com/thaumavore Sign up for my newsletter! bit.ly/ThaumavoreNewsletter

@mariodosantos 16 дней назад

9:15 I remember Sean stating on a blog that the decision to make "panic checks" a d20 "roll over" check was made to make it mechanically distinct from the rest of the checks and because most rpg players have d20s somewhere... Basically the reasoning was that when a panic check was called for, having a different die and resolution mechanic would make that roll "special".

@whyamievendoingthis... 16 дней назад

Mothership skyrocketed to my "current #1 darling" ever since I ran the 0e preview, nearly two years ago. The improvements have been great throughout, the system is robust and have never left me or my players feeling unsupported at the table, the modules are unbelievable. Great game, great community, can't recommend it enough.

@spamphobic6070 16 дней назад

Now do "Death in Space!" Also, I'd point out that, while staple-bound booklets may feel less "deluxe," they're second only to spiral and springback bindings when the objective (as I suspect was the case here) is for item to stay open, and lay flat on the table.

@DaveThaumavore 16 дней назад

I did cover Death in Space right when it came out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CLyDj7oTBjA.htmlsi=qgBfkqbGYFtpmqMF

@noshow 5 дней назад

@@DaveThaumavore How do you think Death in Space stacks up next to Mothership and Alien?

@moolate127 День назад

@@DaveThaumavoreI'm also curious what's your favorite of the three?

@DaveThaumavore День назад

@@moolate127 I think DiS has the most beautiful presentation. Mothership has the best 3rd party stuff. And Alien has the most focused, designed gaming experience.

@himurogentoku7117 16 дней назад

I think ALIEN RPG is the definitive one if you want to play in ALIEN universe. It's a great labor of love. The amount of thought and respect the creator team put on the game are incredible. ALIEN RPG is one of the best officially licensed TTRPG ever.

@cyriltournier 16 дней назад

That's debatable. Some mechanics are dubious, like stress and random alien actions. Still a very good product, but far from perfect imo.

@oldparatrooper 16 дней назад

@@cyriltournierNot really. They should honestly be tied, as the point he gave Mothership over Alien having a weird damage table, he was looking at the critical injury table. Which only gets rolled on when you hit zero hp. Not every time you get damaged.

@Bearwiffa228 15 дней назад

I think the crit table is mostly fine. Could use a tune up to be like T2k with hit locations(potentially crits), but that would add another(but small) layer of crunch to the game. And Alien is fairly rules light compared to some.

@Sockerludd 17 дней назад

11:38 I love the illustration on page 28, I can feel the intensity and I think that was what they were going for.

@DaveThaumavore 17 дней назад

Fair enough!

@dhawkeye4439 16 дней назад

11:36 honestly I love the weird almost-alien looking marine guy on this page

@nny7229 16 дней назад

One of my favorite art pieces in the book.

@elsesome2707 16 дней назад

It's really perfect, a half-remembered nightmare impression scribbled by a panicked witness trying to explain what they saw.

@dhawkeye4439 15 дней назад

@@elsesome2707 that’s a perfect way to describe it, yeah

@Doubledb519 14 дней назад

If I’m remembering right on of the creators kids or kid of a friend made that picture. If I had a $1.4 million kick starter you can guarantee my kids would have a photo in it! I’m not a fan of the picture but if my memory is correct I get why it’s in there.

@Mystrich 15 дней назад

My two cents: Mothership is a better Scifi Horror RPG. Alien is a better Alien RPG. Alien does what it says on the package EXTREMELY well, and sometimes to the detriment of exploring other options. Mothership is more broad and in that can lose some of the hyper focus (though not by much because like you said this is still two great games competing)

@MNTwinsBaseball 16 дней назад

When I see art like that at 11:38 I imagine that it comes from the mind of an in world NPC that has seen and survived horrors so great the scribbled sketch is all they are capable of in their near catatonic state. Similar vibes with the art in Veins of the Earth. I dig it. Nice review!

@TheNubiS 16 дней назад

That is exactly what the intent behind the UCR book is - witness testimonials kind of thing.

@Daniel-Strain 10 дней назад

I am surprised at the lack of commentary around the web on the fact that enemies have no way to be better at avoiding an attack. It is all based solely on the ability of the attacker. The lack of any social mechanics is also very weird, especially in a game where you need to haggle for job offers, shipment sales, etc.

@MrPsyren99 9 дней назад

Probably removed all those features so the game could come out, took them 3 years to finally ship everything so idk why you would expect such simple things like that

@DarthRadical 16 дней назад

TTRPGs always have their layouts pulled in three different directions. 1. Fun to read through to suck you in. 2. Teach the system. 3. Act as a reference book during play. It's hard to do all three well, but I agree that Alien went a bit too hard at #1. Though that can make it better for collectors who expect never to actually play the system.

@discosludge 16 дней назад

The flash frame of the American Flag when talking about barely affordable health care was hilarious.

@thomervin7450 7 дней назад

Never heard that joke before.

@carltonbauheimer 17 дней назад

So what you're saying is that i need to buy both and then just mash them together for their best bits.

@reelneim 16 дней назад

Hi, Dave. Just wanted to say that I think you make exceptionally good content. You are consistent in the level of detail you include and video composition, making it very easy to follow along and form an impression of the game in focus. It also seems to me like you must spend a great deal of your time not only doing theoretical research but also actively engaging with the games, communities and even the creators and publishers themselves. As an added bonus, you care about the cultures which inspire the games or from where the games originate-which I find impressive when someone themselves come from a part of the World like the USA, being almost completely self-contained. Very good Japanese pronunciation, and your Swedish is passable (though, here; you seem to have backup). This isn't directly related to this video, I just wanted to say that I'm grateful for what you do and thank you. Have a great rest of the week!

@DaveThaumavore 16 дней назад

Such high praise. Thank you!

@ThisIsYourGodNow 16 дней назад

A pound of flesh is imo still the best RPG adventure book ever

@bilskirnir_ 17 дней назад

I've ran another bug hunt along with two Homebrew oneshots. I've enjoy my time with game along with there is good advice online on how to make some modifications. Like changing stress system to work over longer campaign. Since stress in base game can quickly kill a character if not well managed between GM and players.

@JH-dh2ws 16 дней назад

*staring at my GM* shoot me, kill me. It’s fine, I can play a new character.

@antonblake1476 16 дней назад

Mothership is one of my all time favorite ttrpgs. I ran a little bit of 0e during the pandemic, and have now run some 1e since getting my deluxe boxset. Its got a few warts (all the things you mentioned with the ships being the biggest for me personally), but I love this game dearly

@crushingit5128 15 дней назад

Love how they went with 1e as the new 2024 edition instead of 2e. Small detail but it real shows this is the result of their labor of love over the past few years

@99zxk 13 дней назад

I have several Free League games. They all seem like great books on initial read, but referencing them at the table is always a nightmare.

@nutherefurlong 16 дней назад

The x% house rule thing I think is the outgrowth of the style it harkens to, which is that you're not going to want to memorize a massive list of rules for stuff that may never come up, but using the rules they have as a baseline you can feel your way through what makes sense for your particular table. Keeps the rules light and is sort of part of the fun in my opinion, as long as the bases are covered and everyone at the table can sort of intuit why a ruling makes sense The health recovery and armor systems I'd modify (their Armor Degradation looks more like what I'd want), but that death save mechanism is unmitigated genius

@echedp8903 16 дней назад

After playing ALIEN RPG a whole lot I've realized once the players get good enough gear and get a good enough understanding of how the game works, it goes from one of the hardest game systems ever to not die in, to one of the easiest to stay alive. One thing specifically is if a player passes twice on a shot they can actually rob a NPC of their slow action, meaning if you have enough players with good enough skills, they can pretty much make it so the NPCs can't fight back. That being said, I still love the system more then any other. I really don't like what sounds like the spaceship rules in Mothership and it seems like it's just missing to many core rules and some of the artwork just doesn't work for me. So ALIEN has the win here for me.

@sablephoenix 16 дней назад

The ship ranges are actually more realistic than the visual depictions of what we saw in The Expanse. Despite the "vast" distances they often used in that show, they often shortened the types of engagement ranges you'd get in space SIGNIFICANTLY for dramatic and filming purposes.

@DaveThaumavore 16 дней назад

So? This is a game where you fight monster aliens and your health and sanity go up and down like a basketball. Why should intership distances be so hardcore realistic?

@sablephoenix 16 дней назад

@@DaveThaumavore Well, it enhances that sense of isolation that makes science fiction horror so effective. You're a LONG WAY from EVERYTHING. There is no one to help you when the excrement impinges upon the rotary oscillation device. You can use it to build a slow sense of dread before that happens, as well.

@TheNubiS 16 дней назад

Sanity changes very rarely.

@sablephoenix 16 дней назад

@@TheNubiS Trauma can be rapid and devastating though, and just as rapidly compartmentalized for survival purposes. I think that these games would be better served if it was called "trauma" instead of "sanity", but we have the baggage of Lovecraft to contend with.

@pallenda 16 дней назад

Great rundown video! Edit: The normal Mothership box seems to be at a great value price.

@user-cx7ss2rf5p 13 дней назад

Don't knock staple binding. It lasts forever. Square bound glue binding can crack and pages loosen over time but staples can last indefinitely.

@aled857 4 дня назад

Just watched the Death in Space video, now I have to decide between Mothership and Death in Space, great videos

@Kineteken 15 дней назад

Medical care then flash the flag, So True.

@ruskerdoo1539 16 дней назад

⁠Dave, your reviews have gotten so good over the years and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that you diligently cover such a variety of games! I ran both Mothership and Alien for my group and they vastly prefer the Alien system (we struggle with the OSR playstyle) but I really love the design of the Mothership books and the third party scene. I’ve just wound up mashing the two games together even though my group thinks we’re just playing Alien!!

@BryanMullins 14 дней назад

That summary right at the end! ❤️‍🔥

@deltapi8859 16 дней назад

You could score "Stress" in reverse as "Sanity" starting from 100 and you subtract -5 instead of 1 for each stress. In that way you would still roll under the stat and could roll the d100.

@jacoblindberg8915 16 дней назад

Stealing this

@deltapi8859 16 дней назад

@@jacoblindberg8915 haha, awesome. Good to read that it made sense :-)

@michaelflynn3970 8 дней назад

Great review, thanks for going over it. I really love the charm that Mothership has, and the possibilities that I feel it can offer with being a bit more 'open' in setting. As for the art, The way I pictured it was this: Some of that stuff was hastily drawn by some dude hiding in a locker from the monster that was going to eat him. Haha but it can be jarring at times! All the same, thanks for taking the time to do this review. Really well done!

@Rich_H_1972 12 дней назад

I prefer ALIEN for the production values, rule system and the familiar universe. I really like MOTHERSHIP though but found a lot of the stuff released for it to be far too variant in quality, which is why I went with the former. There's also HOSTILE too, which is pretty good. Spoilt for choice, really!

@r1q2 15 дней назад

Sick review. Also Dave, have you ever thought about doing a review on Mythras?

@juanjfm 15 дней назад

I have run 16 sessions of Mothership. I have come across a bunch flaws but overall it's been an awesome experience. The warden's manual helped me a lot for running any kind of horror game. Fantastic advice. The 'monster manual' is a weird one, don't expect much from it if u are looking for solid stats, but as inspiration for creating your own missions it's great. As for what I wish the game had, I guess any kind of setting would be cool. When I started running it there were just so many questions about the setting that I had to answer on the fly (and automatically became cannon on our table)! I'm not a big fan of the skill system, some skills are too specific and others awfully vague. Overall I've really enjoyed running this game :)

@chevkoch 16 дней назад

Excellent review, thanks for being so balanced in these, criticism and triumphs both.

@KyleMaxwell 2 дня назад

I love the TOMBS setup so much I use it in Call of Cthulhu as well!

@hyzwar 16 дней назад

Very informative. Thank you for the effort. BR

@DaveThaumavore 16 дней назад

Glad it was helpful!

@danielcarrasco5251 15 дней назад

Hey Dave, have you considered doing a video on the kickstarter campaign for Rowan, Rook, and Decard's Hollows? Their RPGs Heart and Spire have won more than their fair share of Ennie awards and Heart, in particular, has had a nice bump in its visibility thanks to the Quinn's Quest video. I figured I'd ask since you love spotlighting the frontiers of crowdfunded hobby gaming and I haven't heard anyone else mention it.

@alexgreychuck7605 2 дня назад

Love Mothership and got the Deluxe box, liked that too. My group has played both Alien and Moh and had a great time with both. As a gamemaster I prefer Moh to run.

@Jescribano1 15 дней назад

I always prefer non-specific settings cause I find it easier to hack generic into specific than hacking specific into generic. Also is it just me or is it harder to create new stories in those universes without straight up copying the movies homeworks?

@borgy1337 16 дней назад

To everyone asking about Death in Space: the name is a misnomer (intentional or not). DiS is not space horror. It does NOT have sanity nor stress mechanics. Mechanics are similar to Mork Borg (D20+mod). Often described as a "Space Truckers" rpg.

@solitaryrpg 16 дней назад

I am so happy that I picked up the Felix box set. It was worth the cost.

@manicpixiedreambuoy 16 дней назад

Excellent review--exhaustive, fair, and incisive! Could you please tell me the name of the song that starts playing at around 19:20?

@paulll47 16 дней назад

Is there any support for campaign play? I played into a 3 months campaign way back and I remember the game not handling it really all that well, are there any new rules for it?

@smilemore7431 16 дней назад

There’s something wrong with this video’s description on mobile. There’s a link behind the more button so I can’t see all the links.

@reidurbjorn 12 дней назад

If you want a similar game to Mothership and Aliens that has a lot info, expansion booklets, but pretty simple rules, I suggest Hostile. It uses the Cepheus System is broad in scope like Mothership. It's comparable to these two games imho.

@seandalziel7414 16 дней назад

This looks like a great game with the right group of players.

@seandalziel7414 16 дней назад

In the grim future of Mothership, the main villain is Capitalism.

@monkeymule1286 16 дней назад

Picked up zero edition for 15$, which is the sweet spot for a B&W zine game that tells you it's not done. I love its fast cheap and dirty punk take on alien horror. That said, and while i would love the Warden's guide, "deluxe box set" and "stapled printer paper" are two ethos at deep odds with each other. Great review at always!

@gagrin1565 16 дней назад

I think there's one major arguement being overlooked here. Are you the type of person who can and will enjoy running a game in an established universe? Does running a LotR game or a Trek game fill you with ideas, or do you find the notion of trying to fit your own groups adventures in the gaps and shadows of other and perhaps grander narratives a strait jacket, something that's getting in the way of your play rather than enhancing it? For me, the big problem with Alien - was the alien. It was hanging over the game the entire time. The expectation that we would meet one, and the inevitability that the players knew everything there possibily was to know about them. Mothership, by comparison, is freedom (and that may or may not be a good thing, depending on your needs).

@scottwalker6947 12 дней назад

As far as skill training time, and advancing the time line, I think that works here. You are playing essentially freighter crews, 99% of the time you are going to be making Boredom checks, as you are on the Milk Run from Planet Middle of Nowhere, to the Planet Farthest From with nothing happening. This game is, from what I see, designed to run those rare dangerous situations that the crew might find themselves once or twice a year (hopefully...Man, the bonus just isn't enough sometimes Hey! Why don't you freeze him?.)

@claudiaborges8406 16 дней назад

I like the insta-fail rule. It’s a big chance but you know it as soon as you roll the tens die. Some percentile dice games use a range like 85-99, 95-99 for some reason… this one’s simple: you roll a 9- you fail

@anselmoffrisia2930 7 дней назад

This looks so fun! I wish my group would go for it. 😂

@igneouschronicles 16 дней назад

What's the music at the start of the video?

@jaykaye594 16 дней назад

What are your views on Death In Space Rpg? I mean I will eventually end up with all three but interested in your thoughts anyway.

@ruskerdoo1539 16 дней назад

Death in Space has more eldrich style horror in it and a lot more mechanics for space survival, but in the end it plays a lot like Mothership

@ChateauLonLon 13 дней назад

He already made a video on Death in Space! You can just search it up and find it :)

@ohmynoche 15 дней назад

Sigh… fine, Dave… I’ll just have to buy both

@tonysladky8925 16 дней назад

Wait. Was there a more premium boxed set that came with more modules than just "Another Bug Hunt" like I got? It's been so long I totally forgot at what level I backed or what the other options even were...

@kyuran 16 дней назад

Yeah, it sounds like you bought the core set. The deluxe set also came with the gradient descent, pound of flesh and dead planet modules.

@GenuineMattyC 12 дней назад

I loved this video. Great job. I especially appreciate the comparison between Mothership and Alien. I agree with Mothership for the win but Alien is a close second.

@michaelmullenfiddler 16 дней назад

I wonder about dialong back on the specifically geimdark mechanics (i.e. Panic, etc) and using Mothership for stuff like Firefly or Expance style games.

@michaelmullenfiddler 16 дней назад

"dialing" back

@fwbean119 17 дней назад

Love the flash of the American flag when talking about characters barely affording medical care.

@mothmanprophet11 3 дня назад

I've been running mothership 0e since 2018 and was an original backer of A Pound of Flesh. I, for one, was profoundly disappointed in the 'monster manual' for Mothership 1e. It felt more like a bunch of failed SCP entries than a bestiary. The other books in the box set are great.

@DaveThaumavore 3 дня назад

Yeah, I don't really vibe with that monster manual either.

@Acmegamer 14 дней назад

Wait, you think that rules systems in the 1980s were complete and didn't house rule a lot and often? That's what many of the rpgs systems had in common in the 1970s-80s. Very incomplete base rules systems that you as a GM had to fill in the blanks. It always felt like the norm to me back then. I still approach all game systems like this, and never assume there is a rule for everything. Honestly I feel that people make so much of this harder than it has to be these days. Mothership is feeling like a BRP/RQ variant the more I listen. Interesting. Take away... space is stressful! lol Also I do want to make sure I thank you Dave for this informative well done reviews.

@LordAnb 16 дней назад

Great video as always! I will say though, I think it would be nicer if you presented your comparison in the end the same way you present the conclusions in your other videos, i.e. by listing the positive aspects of each game instead of just the number of "wins" that one game had against the other. Even though (spoilers) Mothership scored 7 and Alien 5, maybe those 5 categories that Alien won matter more for some folks!

@MelodicMethod 16 дней назад

i see Alien as a means of filling in stuff that I feel Mothership is lacking. I appreciate your review(s) the humility with with you deliver it in the end. There really is no right answer to "which is best?"

@jackleg2007 16 дней назад

Good review as always. From the book 'Voice of the Whirlwind', corporations own the the spaceships. The characters are contractors. For example, some of the crew and captain may work for the corporation that owns the ship. But the ship has an engine and jump drive on perpetual lease and maintained by another corporation. The crew gets a percentage of the profits and can also ship a limited amount of items each way. Thus a group can avoid having to pay large amounts of money. Author Walter Jon Williams.

@barrybadranath 16 дней назад

How does Mothership compare to Death in Space?

@99zxk 14 дней назад

Ships can shoot at each other before they can communicate? That seems odd.

@42DangerVision 16 дней назад

What multitool is that?

@DaveThaumavore 16 дней назад

It's this Kilimanjaro: amzn.to/4emCFmK

@Wraithing 15 дней назад

14:01 Excellent flash-frame!

@oldparatrooper 16 дней назад

Totally disagree, mostly because Motherships feels more like a horror version of Traveller. And the skill tree has some weird choices and dependencies (like linguistics to psychology, or art to mysticism to hyperspace). Do agree Pound of Flesh and Dead Planet are awesome supplements.

@admiraltiberius5231 13 дней назад

Great. Another game that sounds like I'd love it but no one will run it so i can play and I can't find players for survival horror🙄😐. Oh well. Great video. I'm definitely going to check out this game.

@jasonGamesMaster 16 дней назад

RE: The ships are super expensive in order to put huge amounts of debt on the players and the stress of that

@tompuce84 16 дней назад

11:40 this is Sean McCoy's illustration, the designer of Mothership and it was the only style of illustrations in 0E. I personnaly love it. I also love your vid but you feel like an OG player, rooted in the years of 3.5 edition and vampire 1rst edition. I also played a lot of thoes RPGs and I must say with time passing by I could not stomach any of it anymore, it feels stale. 5E players be damned, there're going to play Knave with me HAHAHA *evil laughter because hey they're gonna die and like it* :p The point you make about new GMs is a good one though, I guess we are formated in a way. But will it really be a problem? The good thing with the common sense aproach is that there can be a dialogue (precise ruling is often time consuming and sterile in the end). The GM has to be just in his ruling and be a friend to the players though, or else ... :$ GREAT VID, thx Dave!

@ruskerdoo1539 16 дней назад

Yeah, I had to go on the Mothership forums to fill in a lot of the blanks left by the rules, especially around whether monsters roll to hit or not. Ultimately, my group bounced off the game before I had a chance to figure out what house rules to use.

@tompuce84 16 дней назад

@@ruskerdoo1539 Hey dude, like I said, when in doubt just house rule the thing, what makes sense is the right thing to do! I know it can feel strange but the forum or even the publisher is not in control of the game you run, you are. A good OSR saying is "Ruling not Rules" if you catch my drift. There's this thing that McCoy said about stealth rules for example, there are none in the game because he wanted this to be an actual conversation between players, not something that could be hand waved with a rule. I had so much fun with this game, I think you should give it another go. What system are you playing at the moment?

@ruskerdoo1539 15 дней назад

@@tompuce84 I really like that approach! Unfortunately by the time I had figured out what was working and what wasn’t and where to houserule, etc., my group had lost interest in Mothership. I guess I just don’t have the years of experience to know what to houserule right away, so I have to run a few sessions before I know what needs to be changed for my table. Right now we’re playing Alien and they’re loving it! Also Blades in the Dark and The Between but those are with a few different people.

@tompuce84 15 дней назад

@@ruskerdoo1539 Well, if you're having fun, that means you're doing it right! I find that, given enough time, all games are house ruled to a certain degree. Bet you don't play your games exactly as written anyway XD I've heard that Blades in the Dark is quite a heavy system to run, how do you feel about it?

@ruskerdoo1539 15 дней назад

@@tompuce84 yeah, it’s kind of a bummer cause I like the whole vibe of Mothership over Alien. The graphic design and third party stuff is so good! What’s your favorite adventure module so far? The Blades campaign is my current favorite campaign I’ve ever run, which has at least as much to do with the players as it does the system. It’s an extremely light system on a tactical level, so minute to minute gameplay is super fluid. At a strategic or meta level, there’s a lot of mechanics and a lot of decisions for players to make. The weight is inverted from what you’d see in 5e for example. You can easily drop a lot of the strategic rules and it fails pretty gracefully though.

@maxducoudray 16 дней назад

5:15 "I guess scientists don't play a prominent role in the first two Alien movies..." The androids in both are clearly scientists. So even though android is its own class in Mothership, I think those characters set an expectation that there is a science officer on each ship.

@MrMeanSpeaks 16 дней назад

I passed on the box set as I felt that for the price for no hardback books and a bunch of cardboard! No thanks. It's a cool game and I have all I need to run it.

@estebanrodriguez5409 16 дней назад

Anxiety would be more appropiate than Fear... but Fear is shorter and easier to remember

@wusashicat1 16 дней назад

Scientists play a big role in Alien 1 because that's what Ash is. . . In addition to his other qualities

@MrCMaccc 16 дней назад

I've been thoroughly impressed by Mothership. In our modern era of socially accessible games (compared to the historical neck-beardy exclusionary era) how front and center the core rulebook and GM book make talking to your players about consent, boundaries and expectations is really great to see. Also the internal referencing/layout of the booklets are amazing and surprisingly very useable at the table. My only issue is how it's not actually d100 but true percentile, which for vtt use means everything either has to get shifted 1 number or you tweak the rules to make it fit properly

@dreesh7726 16 дней назад

Is Mothership 1e the best Alien RPG? YES!

@aaronsomerville2124 16 дней назад

The fatal flaw of the Alien RPG is the alien itself. "Alien" implies something unknown, perhaps unknowable. That dead xeno-horse has been flogged into nothing. Everyone has seen that monster a million times and knows exactly what it's all about. If your space truckers encounter a derelict ship, guess what's gonna be on it? If you didn't guess "the alien"... you're fibbing because that's what you guessed. Mothership at least leaves it wide open as to what kind of hosing you're in for. It could be practically anything, which makes it a lot more fun.

@philipboardman1357 16 дней назад

I really hope that you do a TTRPG tier list some day. I can't find any good ones. Only a few poor attempts

@johnkfriday 16 дней назад

I loved reading the ALIEN RPG books but they are overengineered, overheavy, and utterly unusable at the table.

@megasquidd 16 дней назад

Having spent time with both games, I can't really say which one is better suited for what I want. They both have some glaring issues that make me not want to play them. For Alien it is the "same-y" character builds that all YZE games seem to have. When you only have 12 or so skills and class means nothing, this is going to happen. For Mothership it is seemingly half developed ship rules and how incompetent your players seem due to the dice resolution mechanic. At the core I think Mothership will probably end up being my winner because of how good the modules are. I seriously think you could spend a year just running A Pound of Flesh and Gradient Descent. They are so open ended. Alien modules are very railroady and are hard for me to follow as a GM.

@TheNubiS 16 дней назад

In Mothership you roll infrequently - only in dire situations. Rolling frequently will indeed make your players feel like their PCs are incompetent. It's a common misunderstanding. The philosophy is very similar to Delta Green - the PCs are competent, and if they are skilled in an aspect they frequently don't need to roll checks, they just do it... unless they are under time pressure or in immediate danger.

@elsesome2707 16 дней назад

Ship combat is very intentionally minimalistic Push Your Luck over grand dog-fighting. For one, space dog-fights goes counter to the settings ethos of hard sci-fi with supernatural horror bleeding through the unobserved cracks. Second that cool space dog-fights diminish the horror central to the entire rpg. So, now that we have crumpled your dreams of being Han Solo, are you sticking to your space lasers and dying in vacuum of space or swallowing the humilating defeat of letting the border patrol board you?

@elsesome2707 16 дней назад

Panic table using entirely different dice is meant to be this big flashing red alarm light to the players. UH OH! THIS IS IMPORTANT! PAY ATTENTION THE MECHANIC WORKS DIFFERENT. I think it's really tidy combination of a Save and Random Table.

@elsesome2707 16 дней назад

Unconfirmed Contact Report is also important as a setting document. Not all the fluff and so on, even if it's intended to serve as an inspiration for your own original monsters, or as handy in-universe handouts to the players. No, UCR is a blueprint on how to *STEAL* licensed movie monsters. Look closely to the entries and on the pages of the book you can find It That Follows, The Thing, Face-Hugger, Xenomorph, Xenomorph Queen, The Predator, Shaihulud, Adam Smasher, Terminator, The Zone, Solaris, in their distilled forms. The statblocks of each are reduced to the bare essentials, as is everything else in the system, but it should be no brained how to spruce them up for more faithful recreation, or how to further distort them into something entirely new.

@elsesome2707 16 дней назад

To me Mothership is best at evoking the feelings I got from watching the Alien and Aliens for the first time, not the media franchise comfort. Clash of mundane corporate struggle between the execs and the working class against backdrop of far more hostile and stranger universe than anyone cares to understand. Wayland-Yultani logo is to me far less important than the oppressive heartbeat of movement proximity monitor, and the crew arguing about whether or not they should break the quarantine procedures. Of course if Ultimate Alien RPG needs to be about Resonance of Alien franchise, then Mothership is out of luck. It can't give you the warm fuzzies of recognizing all the little licensed references that feed comfort, completion, and only smidge of surprise.

@himurogentoku7117 16 дней назад

I prefer ALIEN RPG stress system than Mothership stress system.

@ruskerdoo1539 16 дней назад

Agreed, the fact that it’s a cost benefit trade off makes it much more interesting

@Jay-ql4gp 16 дней назад

I got the first zines when they came out. It is excellent. Having said that, the weapon art in the equipment section looks underdeveloped. It's like they used toys for reference. And having the characters wake up from cryosleep to alarm klaxons is...interesting.

@horseman3222 17 дней назад

that's a nice knife. What is it?

@DaveThaumavore 17 дней назад

A Kilamanjaro mult-tool. Not a bad price, actually. I got mine from Costco like 8 years ago. amzn.to/3RjyXjN

@jaykaye594 16 дней назад

Was about to say the same thing.

@EJuliusF 16 дней назад

The fact you even considered that alien and mothership art were close is insane

@chandlerkerns6966 16 дней назад

@kelseysvenson8544 17 дней назад

I feel like a lot of these games revolves around stress and it's effects, and Alien's stress system is so clever and elegant. Looks much better than Mothership's. I haven't played though, so I dunno.

@opscontaylor8195 17 дней назад

MARTHA! NEW DAVE! Get in here!

@bojacknorseman9009 17 дней назад

WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!?

@opscontaylor8195 16 дней назад

@@bojacknorseman9009 Because I don't give out my wife's real name on RU-vid.

@claudiaborges8406 16 дней назад

12:10 I agree that this illustration doesnt look like it belongs. You’d expect something more aggressive or creepy in the combat page to convey chaos. This is the equivalent of goggly eyes

@jasonGamesMaster 16 дней назад

I understand the comparison to Alien, but to me it feels more like a faster, more modern take on Call of Cthulhu. I actually like Alien better, but I very well might use MS to run some CoC modules in the near future

@galaxyfoxnightsky2042 16 дней назад

Have you heard of dc20 ?? From the Dungeon Coach on youtube I would love a vedeo on the DC20 free rules from the kickstarter it seems very interesting

@afBeaver 16 дней назад

Hasn’t every D&D RU-vidr done at least one video about that game already?

@semperbuffo6067 16 дней назад

Alien for me

@smoati9ap309 14 дней назад

i saw that american flag, i did!

@Heselbine 9 дней назад

The mechanics seem way more clunky and unintuitive than the very elegant Alien rules.

@billbrown4026 16 дней назад

I have a ttrpg and I would love to have it reviewed. Could we discuss this further?

@Jaydkay55 15 дней назад

Would you ever consider making a pledge to actually play the games before you review them? Having that genuine anecdotal experience from running the game is invaluable in a review. Some systems look wonderful on paper, but don't hold together well when you actually sit down to play them. I'm really looking forward to the Quinns Quest review of Mothership for this reason. At the very least, you could add a disclaimer that your "review" of any system is just based on assumptions that you make from the books and that you don't have any experience in running them.

@DaveThaumavore 15 дней назад

Interesting that you would make that comment on this particular video.

@Jaydkay55 15 дней назад

@@DaveThaumavore I'm aware you note that you played these particular ones, but they're an exception. I'll admit I only skimmed the video, but I didn't hear a single thing about how either game played at your table, what changes you made, what you enjoyed, what didn't work well for your group, etc. That stuff is *gold*. If you actually play one of the games you review, please include it in the video.

@nefariousnoise9456 16 дней назад

Sniff and sneeze tests. As a player, I much prefer MS (both first played at Cons). While this was influenced by the talent and experience of the GM, the ease of explaining BX based rules vs the d6 was no comparison. Sneeze test: I didn't sneeze with MS, so I've run it. Alien made me react, so I haven't invested in it and don't plan to run it. MS 2, A 0