Announcing MOTHERLOAF

an ecological science fantasy TTRPG setting for Mothership

Before we get to MOTHERLOAF, there are a few updates on the business side of things.

The Worlds by Watt shop is open!

If you missed your chance to get a physical copy of my Mothership zine, Hot Stuff on Shore Leave, you can purchase copies directly from the Worlds by Watt shop. I will be posting new and reprinted physical products on my store too. 

I also created a Worlds by Watt carrd page as a one-stop location for all my relevant links and sites. 

Now for the big news!

Announcing MOTHERLOAF: an ecological science fantasy setting for Mothership! 

"The battle between rampaging forest gods and humanity cannot end well; there can be no happy ending. Yet, even amid the hatred and slaughter, there are things worthy of life. I will depict hatred but only to show there is something more valuable. I will depict a curse to show the joy of liberation from it." -- Hayao Miyazaki

MOTHERLOAF is an ecological science fantasy setting for the science horror tabletop roleplaying game Mothership. MOTHERLOAF will be produced as a full-color zine and PDF and is currently in development. The game will be crowdfunded in early 2023. 

In MOTHERLOAF: The Land of Ten Thousand Imago, players will explore a land governed by the patterns of giant psychic cicadas. When steel-clad soldiers from royal lands deep under the earth threaten the balance, the Breadbasket's wheat fields will burn without the players' help.

Features in development:

• 9+ hex, hex map of the "Breadbasket" with accompanying locations and dungeons

• One starting adventure on a sinking bean barge

• An optional Mothership rules hack focused on streamlining play (simplified wounds and skills) and evoking a science-fantasy setting

• Four new player classes: the Lordling, Sellsword, Magician, and Courier (see the image below for a draft of the hacked Mothership character sheets)

• Warden tools and guidance for exploring the world of MOTHERLOAF

• Tables of spells, loadouts, locations, encounters, new wounds and panic responses, and more.

All MOTHERLOAF content will also have a version compatible with Mothership 1e.

Inspirations/thematic touchstones:

• Films: Brazil, Angel's Egg, Stalker, Star Wars: A New Hope 

• Books: Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, The Books of Earthsea, Dune, Earth-X, The Wizard and Glass, Akira, Dhalgren

• Games: Null Hack, Electric Bastionland, Wanderhome, Psychologic 2, Xenogears

• Artwork: Kilian Eng, Moebius, Lando, Thomas Wyeth

MOTHERLOAF artwork by:

• pbbeta

• watt

• Garin

• Evlyn Moreau

Want to stay informed about MOTHERLOAF? 

• Follow MOTHERLOAF's itch.io page!

• Follow me on Twitter @worldsbywatt

• Playtest a copy of the MOTHERLOAF starting adventure (available August 2022 as part of the Vaarn science fantasy summer game jam).

• Stayed tuned for monthly development updates, artwork, and lore shared in this newsletter.