Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Dark Space/Cthulhu Dark Part One

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Read Part Two here.

In space, no one can hear you scream, they tell us. Popular media has certainly given us lots of scares set among the stars. Dark Space is a collection of science fiction/horror scenarios compatible with the rules-lite Cthulhu Dark, with eventual support coming for Mongoose’s Traveller system. The rules for Cthulhu Dark are included at the back of Dark Space but are also available for free online. The game would also mesh well with any of the Cthulhu-themed rpg systems on the market.

The book focuses on the Wulian-9, a small exploration craft whose crew is under contract by VANGUARD. This mega-corporation and mining consortium sends them on missions to retrieve strange specimens or deliver needed supplies to bizarre outposts. Who makes up your game’s crew will be up to the players. The game provides eleven descriptions of potential crew members, plus three more attached to one of the scenarios. Players can also create their own crew members from scratch if none suit their tastes. I was emailed and offered a review copy of the game, and I immediately said yes.

The scenarios increase in intensity from visiting a dormant space resort to helping a strange merchant transport his stock to a distant outpost to dropping in on a colony that has morphed into a terrifying cargo cult. Dark Space’s author, Kabuki Kaiser, has provided a simple coding system to help Game Masters know where some suggested and required roles should go. Italicized text denotes a required role, an asterisk means there should be a considerable cost for failure, and red text highlights where Sanity would be on the line. These three stylizations are combined in interesting ways that ratchet up the tension of scenes. There are also specific triggers to make core events happen in scenarios, typically after the players visit several areas in a setting.

I had Cthulhu Dark on my list of games to try out solo, as I’d heard it does well with that type of play. I also enjoy the Aliens films and the near-incomprehensible cosmic horror of Lovecraft and his descendants. This was a natural fit for my particular tastes. Thankfully, the scenarios are not so rigid with tone so that your group or solo adventure doesn’t have to go as dark as I like to and still have fun with the stories. I chose the opening scenario, Orpheus Station, for my game and paired Cthulhu Dark with the Mythic GM Emulator 2e. Using the lists, I plugged in the locations on Orpheus into one list & my crew members into another. This way, I could have some randomization and even surprise myself with what happens.

I assigned numbers to the crew members provided in Dark Space, then rolled to make up who would populate my version of the Wulian-9. Commander Liam, a demoted military veteran, would be my player character. Joining him would be Diora Rin (a psy empath who helps with crew morale & health), Berthold (an Australian pilot trained by the Space Corps), Van Subin (a professional flight attendant who signed up with VANGUARD to see the colonies), Jewelyn (a young orphan girl who stowed away after escaping a massacre in her colony), and Sandoval (an android built & programmed by VANGUARD, reporting to them daily). 

With these characters, I started my first scene of the game via Mythic. The Wulian-9 was three days from Neumarkt Gate at the edge of the heliosphere. They’d returned from a mining survey mission in the Ridge Colonies that had been long, quiet, and bleak. Commander Liam had done his best to keep morale up, but days were spent launching probes while in orbit and waiting hours for the data to trickle in, be recorded, stored, and ready to be transmitted to VANGUARD once the vessel returned to Earth. 

As the ship approached Pluto, they received an encrypted transmission from VANGUARD HQ. All communications have ceased with Orpheus Station, a luxury orbital resort in Pluto’s orbit. It has been weeks, and no messages asking for updates have been read. Because the Wulian-9 is the closest ship to the station, they are being ordered to perform an investigation and collect data. Liam had promised the crew they would get much-needed R&R days from now and didn’t want to tell them about this side trip. He had little choice as Sandoval, the company’s android, would not let him deviate from any official directives.

Sandoval stands over Liam’s shoulder as the commander punches in Orpheus’ coordinates, and the ship deviates from the Earthbound course.

Oracle question: Will Liam be able to keep an encrypted log of what is happening that Sandoval is not privy to?
Odds: 50/50. Answer: Yes.

It would take time for the Wulian to arrive at Orpheus, and Liam sought out some crew members to check in on what they thought about this alteration. The resident empath, Diora Rin, was exceptionally guarded when she heard about this. Liam feels safe enough to confide his own apprehensions, and Diora shares that she can sense they are approaching something powerful, something old & evil, but she cannot make out the shape yet. Diora assured Liam that she wouldn’t speak about this around Sandoval; she doesn’t trust the android either.

Van Subin ran into Liam in the corridors and didn’t seem to be miffed. She spoke about her time as a commercial flight attendant and that she made a lot of trips to Orpheus. Van said she couldn’t imagine what happened there; every time she was at the station, it was a very relaxed setting, full of distractions to get her mind off the grind. She flirts with Liam, mentioning “cutting a rug” on the dance floor at Switchblade 101, a nightclub on Orpheus. Liam nervously excuses himself and checks in with Berthold, who says he’s doing the job he was hired for, and he expects to be paid a hefty bonus for this side project. 

The infinity loop shape of Orpheus grows more prominent on the command bridge viewscreen. Every exterior light has gone dark, causing it to look like a derelict, floating haunted house. The solar sails are extended, so auxiliary power will likely still pump through the station. It’s no longer a hub of pleasures or distractions but something more sinister. 

Liam hails the station, waiting for a response. Sandoval scans the station and returns with information that the communications relay is entirely offline. This means the automated docking procedures are also inactive, and Berthold must handle things manually. If Liam didn’t know the pilot as well as he did, he might be worried. The landing bay doors won’t open as there is no flight control. Liam can patch into Orpheus’ flight command systems and force the doors open. Berthold manually guides the Wulian through and locates an empty space. The docking bay is full of other ships sitting like insects waiting in the dark. There’s a jostle as the vessel lands, and the green light comes on. 

Before exiting the Wulian, Liam wants to see if they can make contact with the station’s backup AI. Places like these are equipped with administrative & security AI protocols in case of an emergency. It makes the most sense for Sandoval to act as an avatar for the Orpheus AI, and Liam can sync the two together and start running the program. Within seconds, Sandoval’s stiff, stoic persona melts away into a gruff, square-jawed, suspicious one. The voice reminds Liam of his drill sergeant in his boot camp days at Fort Moore. 

The brusk Southern drawl comes from Sandval’s mouth: “Can I help you with something?” An eyebrow raised with incredulity. Liam asks if there is a station map he can download into his crew’s vacc suits. He explained they were there to help with the station’s problems. The AI mumbles something in reply, and moments later, Liam can see a very general rough map of the station has been transmitted, the sort of thing available to tourists, lacking the complexity needed for this sort of operation. 

Next, Liam asks what occurred on the station that the AI can connect to the shutdown. Through Sandoval’s body, the AI crosses his arms and stares away from Liam. “There was a bio-hazardous event.” Lips pursed tight. The commander sighs, “Can you expand on that? Do you know the cause of the event?” Silence from the AI. Liam transmits the directives from VANGUARD, hoping that will override the tight security on the AI. It simply repeats what it said before with no additional detail. Someone on the station ensured anyone who came checking would not quickly discover the cause of Orpheus’ problems. The AI announces it is going into standby, and Sandoval returns to his typical posture and personality. “What a frustrating program,” he says, speaking aloud what everyone was thinking. 

Liam decides that Berthold will stay on board the Wulian if they need to quickly escape. He also isn’t comfortable letting Jewelyn come along due to her young age. She protests mildly but then disappears into the corners of the ship she likes to hide away in. Sandoval, Diora, and Van will accompany Liam in searching for Orpheus. They head to the airlock, where six vacuum suits sit in storage. They go through the process of suiting up, checking the seal on each other’s boots, gloves, and helmets. Wrist comms are checked, and Berthold gives the thumbs up that he can hear them in the command bridge. The cameras installed in the helmets stream grainy bluish video to the monitors. 

The airlock lever is pulled, and the door rolls away. The four crew members step through and walk down the corridor, emerging into a hub area with other airlocks and the grand atrium of the Orpheus station. In normal circumstances, there would be guide lights directing visitors to the various amenities onboard, splendid neon glowing signs enticing money to be spent, and time to be wasted. Now, nothing but darkness and the beams of the vacc suit lights tracing over a thin layer of gray dust that seems to coat the floor. 

They begin walking towards the central area of Orpheus when Van makes a distressed sound. The gray dust is clinging to her boots like it is attracted to them. Liam recalls toys he played with as a child using magnets and iron dust particles, making a mustache on a cartoon man’s face. Sandoval kneels down enamored with this strange substance. He produces a sterilized vial from the science kit he brought, collects some of the dust, and then helps brush it off Van’s boots. Liam asks, “Any idea what this is?” Sandoval’s response: “It appears to have magnetic properties. Beyond that, I am unsure. Metal filings, perhaps? I don’t know why there would be so much of it, though.”

Using the basic map provided by Orpheus’s AI, Liam leads his team to the entrance of the station control center. The door is secured tightly with an iris valve. Liam works through his wrist computer, using the established connection. The iris valve starts to open, but it locks into place about halfway through the process. Liam says they’ll have to climb through the rest of the way. They awkwardly help each other do this as carefully as possible, ensuring the vacc suits are undamaged. Liam feels his heartbeat quicken when he goes through, worried the iris valve will suddenly close shut and bisect him. That doesn’t come to pass. 

Rows of keyboards, sensor screens, and other instruments used to monitor movement and the systems on the Orpheus sit dormant, only the dim glow of orange & red backup light illuminating the space. Liam and Sandoval get down on the ground, brushing more of the gray dust away, removing access panels, and beginning to get the solar cells back online. After a few minutes of tinkering, the full lights come on, and the screens blink to life. There are still commands that need to be entered to direct power to each quadrant of the station. Cameras come online, revealing that every possible corner of Orpheus is devoid. Not one single person, living or dead, shows up. Security protocols were initiated for every ship sector and set up so that each passage had to be opened one at a time; no single command could be sent out to do it all. 

Sandoval attends to that while Liam brings up the station navlogs. They are blank except for one single entry. A month ago, a shuttle transport went to Nyx, one of Pluto’s moons. It returned a few days after departing, and that’s it. Liam surmises someone erased the navlogs but can’t reason why they would leave this one other than to draw the attention of anyone who came to investigate. So, what happened on Nyx? Liam doesn’t know much about the satellite, but it’s much like Pluto, a lifeless rock floating in near darkness. 

Liam asks if Diora can sense any life on board Orpheus. She pauses for a moment, opening her mind. “Nothing. I feel nothing is alive here.” Liam cannot make sense of it. How could thousands of people have just vanished in a month, the docking bay full of ships, logs empty of anything substantial?

In our next & final session in Dark Space, we’ll follow Liam and his crew as they investigate this lifeless station and discover what has happened to everyone.