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Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Mothership 1e Part One

You can purchase the Mothership 1e Core Set here.

You can read the rules for solo and wardenless play in Mothership 1e here.

With the release of the trailer for Alien: Romulus, a game like Mothership 1e will likely get a new wave of attention. Like the film that originated that franchise, Mothership is a science fiction horror system where players are a starship’s crew in a dystopic future. They encounter horrific supernatural phenomena that they cannot defeat, so escape and survival are the only options on the table. There are many warnings in the game materials that this is the type of game where extreme horror can happen, but that is fine-tuned based on the table you are playing at. This isn’t a game where you get attached to your character and get precious about them.

Movie Review – The Abyss

The Abyss (1989)
Written and directed by James Cameron

I think James Cameron is neurodivergent, and his prominent special interest is the ocean. This is apparent when you examine his work’s direction from The Abyss to the present. Water and the life that teems within it are fascinating to the man. We can see that coming to the forefront with this film as he spends more time showing off some early digital effects, but more so the gorgeous underwater photography. When you realize this was 1989, it really does sound like a film you would expect to see in the mid-1990s or later. In that way, Cameron is ahead of the curve. It’s a shame the story and the characters are given short shrift here.

Comic Book Review – Prophet Volumes One & Two

Prophet Volume One (Image Comics)
Reprints Prophet #21-26
Written by Brandon Graham (with Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonogiannis
Art by Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, Brandon Graham, Giannis Milonogiannis, and Marian Churchland

Prophet Volume Two (Image Comics)
Reprints Prophet #27-31, 33
Written by Brandon Graham (with Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonogiannis
Art by Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, Brandon Graham, Giannis Milonogiannis, Fil Barlow, Helen Maler, and Boo Cook

You might be a bit confused about the issues reprinted here. How is this volume one if it starts with issue 21? That’s a valid question. Prophet was the revival of a previously canceled series under Rob Liefield’s Image Comics imprint Extreme Comics. The initial Prophet series concluded in 1994 and was revived in 1995, with a second ongoing series canceled shortly after that. For over a decade, Liefield flailed around with his original IPs, as he is wont to do. In 2011, a radical revival was planned of several Liefeld properties, and Prophet ended up being the longest-running and best-executed, in my opinion. That was mainly due to the seemingly endless creativity of its writer, Brandon Graham.

Patron Pick – Men in Black II

This special reward is available to Patreon patrons who pledge at the $10 or $20 monthly levels. Each month, those patrons will pick a film for me to review. If they choose, they also get to include some of their thoughts about the movie. This Pick comes from Bekah Lindstrom.

Men in Black II (2002)
Written by Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Around this time, I began to viscerally feel that the popular fare I would see in theaters mainly was trash. I was in college when Men in Black II came out, and I remember going to the theater to see it. I spent August at a friend’s house, and one of their local friends had connections at the local theater. This meant we would get to enter without having to buy tickets. Men in Black II was one of those films. I couldn’t have been happier not to pay to see this thing. When this was requested as a Patron pick, I wondered if I would change my view. Maybe there was something good about it I missed back then. There wasn’t.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – CY_Borg Part Four

CY_Borg (Free League Publishing)
Written and designed by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr

You can purchase CY_Borg here

You can download the CY_litary De.file_ment solo rules here

Read how Zalec’s adventure began here

Before Zalec heads to The Fickle Fig, she doubles back to Blink the Tinkerer, tossing them the packet of Vurt. Blink grins from ear to ear and gestures that Zalec can take any item she likes. Among the shelves, the gearhead discovers a SmartMine. This object is just like a typical mine – triggered by pressure – but it has cloaking tech, so it blends into any surface you place it on. That could come in handy. The only problem is that Zalec can’t tell what the mine will do when set off.

(Because I double-backed, I’m making myself have to get through one more street before my destination.)

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Notorious: Outsiders Part Three

Notorious: Outsiders (Always Checkers Publishing)
Written and designed by Jason Price
Art by Torben Bokemeye

You can purchase Outsiders here

Read part two of Korris’s trilogy here

Korris Bek’s eyelids fluttered open as the stim moved through his system. He could see the blue skies of Talus overhead and feel the dread bore a pit through his stomach. Days earlier, the Nomad had been scanning what Guild contracts were available to him. Due to his first two missions, Korris has garnered a reputation for being a clumsy rookie who destabilizes the places he visits. The Guild had a reputation for handling things with finesse, but Korris contradicted that. The only open contract he could find that was available to him was issued by the Yonn Cartel. When he closed his eyes, Korris could still feel the ‘lectro-lashes’ of the guards in striking his back, singing his fur, leaving it a permanently blackened tone.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – CY_Borg Part Three

CY_Borg (Free League Publishing)
Written and designed by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr

You can purchase CY_Borg here

You can download the CY_litary De.file_ment solo rules here

Read how our last CY_Borg adventure ended here

For this playthrough of CY_Borg, I decided to go with one of the six classes in the core book. A d6 roll had me as an Orphaned Gearhead. Things are named very specifically in all the Borg games, but the text doesn’t define them. This evocative design makes it so that each player or group’s experience with CY_Borg will be very different while still following basic genre tropes. I interpreted “Orphaned” as someone who had been under the guardianship of a corporation and then dropped when that corp dissolved or was taken over.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Notorious: Outsiders Part Two

Notorious: Outsiders (Always Checkers Publishing)
Written and designed by Jason Price
Art by Torben Bokemeye

You can purchase Outsiders here

Read the first chapter in Korris’s trilogy here

The Nomads have let Korris know they are not happy with his performance on Oceron. Too much attention drawn to his activities makes the Guild vulnerable. As a result, Korris finds himself limited in contracts he can pick up, but he also gets a few more messages from other Nomads telling him they’re impressed he took down a Dreng warrior.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – CY_Borg Part Two

CY_Borg (Free League Publishing)
Written and designed by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr

You can purchase CY_Borg here

You can download the CY_litary De.file_ment solo rules here

Read Part One of Bell’s journey here

Bell descends the rickety metal stairs hidden inside the holobox and emerges into quite an impressive lair. The space has been fine-tuned to suit the needs of its single inhabitant. A chair swivels around, and there she sits, Wick. “Saw you on the CCTV,” she says. “You look like a desperate one. What is it you need?”

Solo Tabletop Review & Actual Play – Notorious: Outsiders Part One

Notorious: Outsiders (Always Checkers Publishing)
Written and designed by Jason Price
Art by Torben Bokemeye

You can purchase Outsiders here

Notorious was one of my first solo tabletop RPGs I played here on the blog in 2023, so when I saw the expansion sequel Outsiders had come out it seemed natural to play. For the unfamiliar, this solo game series takes place in a universe that doesn’t hide its Star Wars influences. You play a nomad, a bounty hunter, who picks up contracts and hunts down their targets on a variety of planets. Much of the gameplay is the same with Outsiders adding more Nomad classes, planets, species, encounters and a Trilogy Mode that incorporates both game’s materials.