Last month we wrapped up our Xas Irkalla survival horror RPG. We had such a great time that we decided to run Mothership, a sci-fi survival horror RPG. Think Aliens or Event Horizon.

Tomorrow will be our session zero, where we’ll determine the story we want to tell, roll up characters, world build, and set expectations. As GM, my job is to facilitate that story into gameplay. While I’m happy to follow their lead, I would love to explore themes of cosmic horror. The closest role-playing game has to cosmic horror is the Cthulhu franchise, which seems more mystery-solving than anything else. Most people have an inkling about the Cthulhu Mythos, so the antagonists' motivations are known.

The challenge would be how to run a cosmic horror RPG where not only is the universe indifferent to humans, but motivations are alien and incomprehensible.