Ghost Ship is a one-shot found in the Dissident Whispers book, a group project in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Covering one-shots playing in a range of different RPGs, this book has it all! For now I’ll be running through the Mothership RPG section of the book specifically covering the Ghost Ship one-shot as I have a session scheduled for it coming up. I also thought you guys might be interested in the process of getting a one-shot prepped for my groups.
Prepping for a session is something any gamemaster has gone through at least once, it’s a process that tends to get clearer the more you learn about your style and start to coming up with more techniques to make the process more smooth.
You might find some words or expressions you don’t understand as a beginner, I’ve made sure to list them here with their definitions:
- Stat roll (Save rolls, skill checks): A dice roll that is called when an action is applied to your character for example: walking into a trap, arm wrestling, searching a room.
- Environmental Storytelling: Giving hints and creating atmosphere in a story through environmental enrichment, adding details through scenery.
Character development & Scripting
Characters are key component to good story telling, whether it be a main or side character. Luckily for us Ghost Ship only has 2 NPCs for us to use, both vastly different but with some similarities. Meet Jo the Ghost and Ambroise the Android.
Let’s start off with Ambroise. Ambroise is an android assigned to this mission with the origional mission to assist in testing a new warp drive prototype, but was actually sent with ulterior motives to test a an alien relic provided by the company.
Ambroise has been stationed on the ship for 200 years and without maintenance. Without any maintenance meaning his synthetic skin is flaky and falling apart, his joints and limbs are twitchy, unable to complete his full range of mobility. His appearance is so unsettling that it requires fear saves upon seeing him. But how can we make the foundations of his character stronger?
Making it Better
- Sensory Details: While we’ve mentioned his appearance is unsettling, adding details that paint a more vivid picture could go a long way. Does his synthetic skin have a specific texture or emit an unpleasant odor? Do his malfunctioning joints produce an unnerving clicking sound?
- Mannerisms: How does Ambroise move despite his limited mobility? Does he shuffle awkwardly or twitch uncontrollably? Does he speak with a metallic stutter or monotone voice due to disrepair?
- A Hint of Humanity: Despite being an android, is there any sign of remaining sentience or personality within Ambroise? Perhaps a flicker of emotion in his eyes or a hidden log detailing his deteriorating mental state over the years.
- The Relic’s Influence: Does the alien relic have any effect on Ambroise? Does it trigger his malfunctioning or offer a potential solution for his repairs?
Having some clicking sounds echo down hallways might help create a more creepy environment or it might just trick your players into thinking there’s something else aboard the ship!
Jo, the final somewhat living crewmate lacks a description but focus’ more on her mannerisms. I’ll leave Jo in you, the readers hands! It’s easy to build a foundation for a character, setup a 1 minute timer on your phone, get a piece of paper and a pencil and try to come up with between 5 and 10 different details. Is she transparent or does she appear as a holographic projection. Is she completely silent or is there a bit of background static if you are in the same room as her. There’s plenty you can do with such open-ended characters!
Environmental Storytelling
Ghost Ship does a brilliant job at creating the environment however I feel like it does need a bit more complexity therefor I am going steal a few traps and mechanics from the Gradient Decent module. I would like to use the stress system implemented for the Monarch. I want Ambroise to gain more stress the more players intervene with work routines on the ship, leading to a more violent encounter with him to the point of maybe even affecting the ghosts on the ship to make them more aggressive.
As for the rooms I will likely only repurpose rooms consisting of bigger traps to make the journey through the ship a bit more intense with timed events of sneaking through a room with crunching gears or somehow adding the resonance chamber from [36C].
Have you run the Ghost Ship module? What environmental details or mechanics did you use to create a truly immersive experience? Did you incorporate hidden messages, unsettling sounds, or interactive elements? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!
Today I showed 2 ways for you to prep for a campaign, through timed brainstorming and repurposing content from other pieces of content. I hope this piece helps you out even a little, if you found this article enticing, why not check out the rest of our article or socials?
