Mothership Simultaneous Combat Resolution
The assumed combat resolution in the current edition of Mothership is player facing rolls, that is, the Warden describes the opponent(s) actions and player react with their actions, rolling as necessary. Monsters and other enemies don’t roll—their stats are used more to inform their power level and capabilities.
My main issue with running this way is it feels a little “squishy” for lack of a better term, it lacks structure with enemies having a variable number of actions dependent on number of players and their actions. Many Wardens do fine with this but I struggle with it a little. On the other hand, a straight side-based initiative or similar can result in a lot of rolling (if you are re-rolling each round), ramping up player stress… not necessarily a bad thing as combat should be stressful, but it is a little clunkier in a streamlined system like Mothership.
Here’s what I’ve come up with I’m excited to try, a pseudo-simultaneous initiative order with a little more structure than player facing rolls but still pretty deadly (and it lets you make rolls for monsters using their stats). Here’s how it works:
- The Warden declares all opponent actions.
- Players declare player character actions.
- All actions are resolved simultaneously.
- Players may make a Speed check to take Priority, resolving their action before opponents’
By having the Warden always declare opponent reactions first it gives some agency to the players to respond. This still might not save them though, as the simultaneous resolution means that they might still get hit with an attack even as they attempt to flee or dive for cover.
Having the option to take Priority with a check gives players a chance here, with the risk of failure being they remain in the same position with some Stress added for the failed roll. Additionally, a critical failure could mean the opponent’s action resolves first, their action doesn’t resolve, or similar (a crit success may mean a bonus to their action roll, getting a second free action, etc).
Here is an example of play:
Alice and Bob have broken into a warehouse searching for a particular item. Alice is standing in the open, keeping lookout while Bob is behind a stack of crates searching for their loot. Suddenly they are ambushed by bounty hunters sent to stop them.
Warden: These bounty hunters are the same ones you gave the slip by ramming a trash barge into their ship and are pissed. They look like they are willing to kill you and take a penalty on the bounty. Bounty hunter A takes aim at you Alice, B is trying to find a shot on Bob.
Alice: I’m going to fire a shot back as I try and dive for cover with my movement.
Bob: I’m behind cover right? I’m going to keep searching for what we need, if we don’t find it we’re good as dead anyway.
Warden: Ok, let’s resolve all these action. Alice, do you want to try and take priority? Otherwise That bounty hunter will have a chance of hitting you before you get into cover.
Alice: Let’s go for it… Damn I rolled a 72, fail. I rolled 20 for my Combat check though. 3 damage from my revolver.
Warden: Ok, gain a Stress Alice. Bounty hunter A rolls a 32 Combat and succeeds, dealing 6 damage with a burst from his pulse rifle as it grazes your side. He takes a wound as well from your shot. You are in cover now at least.
Bob, Bounty hunter B succeeds on his combat roll as well, but you are in cover so his low roll of 2 damage doesn’t get through to you. As you dig through the crate in front of you you find the macguffin you are looking for!Bob: Great, let’s get out of here.
Warden: Ok next round. The bounty hunters are going to fire at both of you again behind your cover. What are your actions?
And so on. My though on the Warden always declaring actions first is to give the players a little bit of an edge and agency when actions are already difficult for them. You could also do a sort of side based initiative each round, where the winning side forces the other to declare their actions first, but actions still resolve simultaneously. Certain opponents like aliens or psychics might shake this up by making players declare actions first, representing their fast speed or precognition.
I’m excited to give this a try in real play, as personally I find the structed combat session works a little better for me, but this is still pretty dangerous and fast-paced.