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Hello internet friends! Today I want to talk about Gradient Descent, a new sci fi horror megadungeon zine written for Mothership. In it, players explore The Deep, an abandoned(
ha nope 
) robotics factory cordoned off by military blockade for definitely no reason. Lets dig in!
ha nope ) robotics factory cordoned off by military blockade for definitely no reason. Lets dig in!
Some spoilers ahead
Each Mothership module so far has dealt with a different shade of Sci Fi horror. This one is invasion of the body snatchers. It introduces a new mechanic, the bends, a condition where you begin to wonder if youâve been replaced by a robot. You may have been!
Each Mothership module so far has dealt with a different shade of Sci Fi horror. This one is invasion of the body snatchers. It introduces a new mechanic, the bends, a condition where you begin to wonder if youâve been replaced by a robot. You may have been!
This is well handled, brilliantly done, and also the first problem I have with the module. Or more accurately the module as written for Mothership. In the core Mothership system 1 of the 4 primary classes is Android. Mothership has no setting beyond modules.
So the implication is that 1 out of every 4 PCs could be an android. Theyre commonplace. In dnd 5e they mark certain classes as rare. Thats not the case here.
So why would it be weird to find out youâre secretly an android when your best buddy who youâve worked with for years and has saved your life multiple times is an android already? This is easily avoidable in play. Ban the android class for this module and there isnt an issue.
It does make me wonder if android should be a base Mothership class though. In Pound of Flesh a major NPC is secretly an android, which didnt really make sense there either.
The bends is an excellent way to play to find out if youre an android, and may make sense as a default for the system. All that aside.
The module has a LOT of content, and manages to use some interesting design tricks to do it. The first is color choice. A white background means the lights still function in that section. A black background means unnerving darkness.
Red text means dangerous encounters or traps.
Because this was/is a factory, rooms can be at drastically different scales. Bold outline rooms mean industrial scale, regular borders mean human scale.
You may also have noticed (reattached for reference) that on all the maps they have random encounter charts per section. Important NPCs are handled in text, but in some sense, these encounter ARE the adventure.
Megadungeons historically have a very different approach to adventure design. Rooms are attempting to feel like a lived in environment. In a small dungeon you want every room to be interesting because your interaction with those rooms is limited. They have to be self contained.
Megadungeons dont have to have interesting rooms(when taken by themselves) because you will be moving through them. Theyre massive set pieces designed to impress with scale and direct faction interactions. Theyre background rather than focus.
Gradient Descent continues this tradition. Take for example:
âConstruction Zones: snaking conveyors run through these chambers carrying finished bones. Picker arms crowd around, deftly selecting required pieces to build skeletons.â
âConstruction Zones: snaking conveyors run through these chambers carrying finished bones. Picker arms crowd around, deftly selecting required pieces to build skeletons.â
Its a conveyor belt for robot bones. Unsettling topic, but not particularly grabbing. But you wont be standing around there. You may be chased through there by bee drones. Or have a tense shootout with security drones across the conveyor belt.
You may be sitting down and having dinner with a diver(another explorer) you met along the way. The room is there to host the action, not to center the attention. It requires a different approach for players and GMs alike when compared to small dungeons.
If you approach it from that direction then it can be very very good.
As Iâve come to expecr from the Morhership team, unique NPCs are excellent. They have understandable morivations. They WANT things. Theyre willing to make deals to get them.
As Iâve come to expecr from the Morhership team, unique NPCs are excellent. They have understandable morivations. They WANT things. Theyre willing to make deals to get them.
Combat is not an assumption of play. It can happen. The players can always make it happen if thats the type of game they want. But the adventure gives you many opportunities to talk instead. Love it. More of this please.
There are some themes that will not match every group, and to the teams credit they call ot out in the opening. Horror is only fun if its exploring spaces we want it to in the way we want it to. THradient Decent deals heavily with player agency. You may secretly be a robot.
Your memories may be fake. You can be replaced in the course of play. If thats what youre here for its handled incredibly well. But ask your players first because gaslighting the game in the year of 2020 may cross some lines. Huge credit to the team for dealing with it up front.
