Award-winning indie horror RPG Mothership is getting a boxed set, now on Kickstarter

Mothership, the award-winning tabletop role-playing game, will soon come in a boxed starter set. The Kickstarter campaign launched on Tuesday and met its goal of $20,000 almost immediately. Fans can grab a full physical version for just $59, with delivery expected by Nov. 2022.

Publisher Tuesday Knight Games is running the campaign through Dec. 2, and it offers multiple stretch goals, which would unlock printable loadouts, more monsters, and a three-panel Warden’s Screen for the game master.

First published in 2018, Mothership was written and illustrated by Sean McCoy and inspired by franchises like Alien, Dead Space, and films like Event Horizon. In it, players take on the role of the teamsters, scientists, androids, and marines exploring near-future outer space. The rules-lite system gets players up and running quickly, with single-page instructions for both character and starship creation. It’s also particularly deadly, with many campaigns designed with a glorious total party kill in mind.

Mothership rose to prominence in 2019 when, at the Gen Con gaming convention, Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide won the Ennie Award for best game. That same year, Mothership module Dead Planet also won a silver Ennie Award award for best adventure. Since that time it’s remained one of the most popular indie TRPGs around, regularly ranking among the best-selling products on DriveThruRPG.

The Kickstarter has a bunch of fun upgrades, such as a deluxe version that includes adventure modules Dead Planet, A Pound of Flesh, and Gradient Descent. There’s also a $199 bundle that includes a bunch of additional pamphlet-sized mini-modules, a t-shirt, and exclusive dice. On the other end of the spectrum, you can pick up the digital edition for just $29.

You can get a physical copy of the original Mothership: Player’s Survival Guide right now for $14.99 at the Tuesday Knight Games online storefront. That book also comes bundled with a free PDF, which is also available separately as a pay-what-you-want download on DriveThruRPG.

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