From My Table – Mothership Factions pt. 1

TLDR – I’m running some short space horror adventures and have dome some world building of The Companies.

Last week I managed to get a quick game of Mothership to the table. For those that don’t know it, inspired by the sources like Alien, Aliens, Dead Space, Event Horizon, and other movies / books / video games space horror. The mechanics are more a stripped down Old School and the Original Edition can be found for free all over the place while 1st Edition just finished a crowd funded release.

There isn’t an official setting though some location names keep coming up in the examples and adventures, that sort of feeling of somebody is sharing parts of their home game without releasing a world source book. Likewise, creators who have come up with pamphlets and modules have built their own little worlds as well. This means I and my players have a very open palate to create our own setting on.

So what did I do? I sat down and started world building because it’s a compulsion I have. It’s hardwired into the game that PCs work for The Company. The name doesn’t matter; The Company is Big, Faceless, and pays the bills and these space truckers do the work. But to me, I had to sketch out the Big Five Megacorporations and establish some dynamic tension and brand names. I brainstormed a bunch of sci-fi themes and organized them according to principles set forth by the Angry GM (even if you don’t agree with him, he gets you thinking about why you do the things you do). I won’t deny that each of them is at the very least an homage (or cribbed enough from another source that I wouldn’t dream of putting a price tag on these ideas) but each one had –

• a core product line
• a company directive
• a secret agenda
• a reason to be in opposition / competition to another company
• a goal to acquire alien artifacts & biological specimens

They provide something for the players to pick for better or for worse and something that ought to have some story impact, be it espionage or a bounty offered on certain salvage.

APEX Innovations

“We make everything you need, from rockets to robots and everything in between.”

 Primary Focus:

A supplier of manufactured good for civilian and military use, there is little that APEX doesn’t make directly or through the acquisition of other companies. 

Notable subsidiaries include: 

• Handy Hardware Supply
• Happy Happy Foods
• Salo-Mercury Biomotors
• Verner-Burbank Studios
• Yoyodyne Propulsion

Background:

From humble beginnings in the early 20th century, despite the First Great Depression, APEX flourished, thanks to its commitment to keep delivering something new. This relentless drive for innovation propelled APEX into many new territories over the years: aeronautical research, the toy industry, restaurants, clothing and apparel, games, and more.

APEX has frequently found itself at odds with Galactic Dynamics and AresTech, seeking similar consumers and military contracts. They also have faced numerous accusations of corporate sabotage, stolen designs, and headhunted employees.

Goals:

• Everything new is fodder for the next big product line. Last week’s discovered alien slime lifeform is this week’s low-fat non-dairy dessert treat. Never mind that at least one test group resulted in REDACTED.
• Whatever the other Mega-Corps can do, APEX aims to do for cheaper and in greater numbers. When Galactic Dynamics perfected the Zero Point Jump Engine, APEX had their own version within weeks.
• The sectors of the Far Reaches are backwater enough that APEX has been able to find markets eager to acquire whatever advanced tech they can, even if it’s not what the Core Worlds would call top of the line. It’s also proven to be have fewer enforced codes, making it excellent for unloading merchandise that might not be salable back home.

Rumors:

• The Company has been using secret mind control methods in their products, ranging from food ingredients to subliminal broadcasting.
• The Company secretly runs all the other Companies, but even most CEOs don’t realize that they all answer to the same New Galactic Order.
• The Company has wiped out entire colonies to cover up their failed product lines, only to conveniently lose all record of their previous existence.