
Dead Weight
A downloadable TTRPG module
Something's about to go terribly wrong aboard the Adamant Lapis. Amongst stacks of unremarkable rock samples, gravel, and ore, there's a large and featureless sphere that does absolutely nothing;
Unless you're already dead.
Cadavers are pulled inward with the force of a hundred starship engines, tearing through bulkhead and flesh alike. The hull groans from strain. Oxygen hisses through punctured metal. Every single member of the crew is a potential projectile.
Dead Weight is a 12-page booklet adventure for Mothership featuring:
- A ready-to-run emergency aboard a rapidly deteriorating cargo ship. Dense-but-organized layout, with clear information hierarchy and emphasis makes referencing mid-session a breeze.
- A fully destructible ship, with custom description for what's damaged if (read: when) a 80kg corpse comes flying through the bulkhead at 400km/h.
- A timeline of events, to keep the pressure rising. Every minute wasted is another minute closer to the next in a series of increasingly drastic consequences.
Also included are:
- Player printouts; a crew manifest (to track the who's even left alive), a deck-plan of the ship (to cross rooms off of as they're rendered uninhabitable), and a cargo manifest (to desperately thumb through as their oxygen runs out).
- A printable warden's reference; to aid with time-tracking, keeping tabs on NPCs, and referencing key information.
Also available elsewhere:
- An original soundtrack by jam2go. Compatible with 𝔱𝔞𝔱: Tabletop Audio Tool and other soundboards/VTTs.
- Physical copies available at Tuesday Knight Games, and below.
"...Dead Weight is an absolute win: This will make it to my table, I have no doubt at all. If you’re willing to put in that effort, or you’ve got players who you want to introduce to Mothership but they don’t vibe the usual horror themes in Mothership modules, this is something unlike anything else out there."
— Idle Cartulary, Playful Void
Content Warning: Gore, Skinning, Suffocation
Writing, Illustration, and Layout by Norgad
Editing by A Rat
This product is based on the Mothership® Sci-Fi Horror Role Playing Game, published by Tuesday Knight Games. This product is published under license. MOTHERSHIP® is a registered trademark of Tuesday Knight Games. All rights reserved. For additional information, visit www.tuesdayknightgames.com or contact contact@tuesdayknightgames.com.
| Updated | 23 days ago |
| Status | Released |
| Category | Physical game |
| Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (23 total ratings) |
| Author | Norgad |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Tags | booklet, Gravity, Horror, module, mothership, OSR, Sci-fi, Tabletop role-playing game |
| Average session | A few hours |
| Languages | English |
Purchase
In order to download this TTRPG module you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Surplus Physical Copies & Digital Community Copies
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Community Copies
If you're in need and can't afford a copy, help yourself to a community copy.
I'll add an extra community copy for every 5$ overpaid for the module.
Physical Copy — Crowdfunding Surplus
Spare print copies from a crowdfunding print run.
Shipping included. Zines sent via letter post from New Zealand. No tracking, delivery takes a few weeks depending on destination country. Fill out your address information or else I won't know where to send it.




Comments
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Absolute BANGER of an adventure.
Presents a creepy, intricate puzzle for the players to solve - and a crisis that gets progressively worse! So endless debate over the correct course of action is NOT an option.
Runs surprisingly fast - I usually get through it in about 3 hours. (I have the situation escalate when dramatically appropriate, rather than after a designated amount of time has passed.) And the handouts are great and really useful.
I am very interested in getting all of Norgad's other adventures to the table!
Played this with a 6-player crew today as a three-hour oneshot, and it went great! I started with a 10 minute or so quick prologue of the crew's voyage so far and then we jumped into play with The Incident. I cut most of the recommended times for the various events in half (or more) to ensure we hit all the beats, and it had a really fun ramping up effect.
In the end, one PC died and the ship was torn to shreds, but they were able to otherwise survive the day (now if they are able to survive in the long run is a story for another time). Great module!
Clearly laid out with great player and warden aids. If you are reading this and are unsure of the various "endings" of this module or how it may play out at your table, don't worry - it'll all click into place during play.
I wrote up a full-on review of this module after playing. Spoiler alert: I really liked it! You can read my full thoughts here: https://meatcastle.substack.com/p/dead-weight-death-begets-death
I ordered a physical copy of the book a month ago and have neither received the book, nor any notice of if/when it was shipped out. I do remember filling out my address information.
Hi. I'm sorry to hear your order hasn't shown up yet. I can confirm I did send it, but as I send my zines via letter post there isn't any tracking.
The US postal system is a being a little slow, so I'd give it a little more time to see if it shows up. If it still hasn't shown up in two weeks time, please send me a message or email I can sort out a replacement.
Very impressed by the layout. The Goresphere is a welcome breath of fresh air for an antagonist that isn't just another squirrel in the air vents. Can't wait to see more of your work!
Thank you! If you're excited for more, you'll be pleased to find out I'm crowdfunding for my next module right now!
hi there, are any community copies avail label of your game? Thanks in advance
I just bought one you can have!
Hi. Thank you for your generosity. I've added a few extra copies on top of the one you donated :)
thank you so much
Really appreciate it
you are a legend mate. Thank you so much
Instant classic. Great layout, great problem, creepy and mysterious. Very excited to get this one to the table.