Storytelling through Violence in Mothership RPG

Created: 2025-12-22

Mothership is extremely intentional, even in violent encounters, about the situation-question-decision-stakes-commit-action cycle, or what Prismatic Wasteland calls The Basic Procedure of the OSR. In a violent encounter, the GM describes the situation and what is likely to happen if no one responds. The last part of this sentence is interesting, because it foreshadows an outcome. Then, just like in the basic procedure, the players ask questions to get clarification before committing to action.

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Created: 2025-12-22

As a GM, I have liberty to narrate the flow of the scene and ask for checks as needed. I typically try to narrate the action in the order of least-dramatic to most-dramatic.

See in context at Storytelling through Violence in Mothership RPG

Created: 2025-12-22

One benefit about running combat like this is that it forces the players to commit to action before they know how the events of the round are going to play out. It keeps things moving quickly. In games with individual initiative, players are continually reacting and adjusting to the actions that proceeded their turn, which takes time as players hem and haw about the optimum decision.

See in context at Storytelling through Violence in Mothership RPG