How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
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How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
Long‑time friend of the show and gamer Johnathan Lee drops in as we crack open Mothership, the d100 panic engine from Tuesday Knight Games. A brisk build phase shows how quickly you can assemble a potentially doomed crew. Then we plunge through a five‑scene drift where hull plates groan and heartbeat monitors spike. Note the scenes that kicked off TOMBS (Transgression, Omens, Manifestation, Banishment, Slumber).
Afterward we really begin to dig into some of the push and pull between mechanics and story and how we see different games engage with the material in a different manner, potentially creating very different results even between similar scenarios.
For more on the discussion of System and Style check out James' article series, Rules in Practice on ModernMythology.net. More installments in this series to come.
Topics Discussed:
Mothership AP
00:01:00 Setting
00:07:00 Characters & System Briefing
00:16:40 So it begins - Transgression
00:28:45 Stasis Pods
00:38:00 The Cockpit
00:40:10 Check the Bounty
00:46:00 Waking the Captain - Omens
01:02:00 Run Ship Diagnostics
01:10:15 Enter the Chapel
01:17:15 Engine Room
01:26:00 Gear Up
01:30:15 Space Flames - Manifestation
01:34:50 Shut It Down!
01:46:10 “Perhaps Battle Dress is in order"
01:50:10 VacSuits
01:52:20 Freedom!
01:59:00 Solar Pilgrimage
02:10:00 Panic
02:14:45 Ultimatum - Banishment
02:15:00 Controlled Burn - Slumber
02:27:30 Wrap Up
Deconstructing Mothership and System/Style discussion
02:32:00 Execution
03:00:00 Exposition
03:07:00 Evolution
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Modern Mythology
How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
