Rules Quick Reference
Core mechanics from the Mothership 1e Player's Survival Guide — summarized for quick lookup at the table. Not a replacement for the official rulebook.
Stats & Saves
Core Stats
Generated with 6d10 each during character creation.
- Strength — Physical power, melee damage
- Speed — Agility, reflexes, initiative
- Intellect — Knowledge, perception, problem-solving
- Combat — Marksmanship, tactical ability
Saving Throws
Generated with 2d10+10 each.
- Sanity — Mental stability, horror resistance
- Fear — Courage under pressure
- Body — Physical endurance, poison/disease
- Armor — Damage absorption (from armor)
Skill Checks
Roll d100 under your stat (or stat + skill bonus) to succeed.
Combat
Attack Roll
Roll d100 under your Combat stat. Add skill bonuses for specific weapon types (Firearms, Hand-to-Hand Combat).
Damage & Armor
- Roll the weapon's damage dice (e.g. 3d10 for Pulse Rifle)
- If damage < Armor Points (AP) + cover → ignored completely
- If damage ≥ AP + cover → armor destroyed, excess carries over
- Damage Reduction (rare) reduces all incoming damage by a flat amount
Range Bands
melee range
~10m
~100m
~1km
Stress & Panic
Stress
- Starting minimum: 2
- Maximum: 20
- Gained by: failing saves, witnessing horror, critical failures
- Reduced by: rest, therapy, certain items/abilities
Panic Check
When you gain Stress, roll 1d20. If the result ≤ your current Stress, you panic.
The 1d20 result determines the effect — see the Panic Table for all 20 results. Low rolls are minor (freeze, tremble); high rolls are catastrophic (heart attack, death).
Health & Wounds
How Wounds Work
- You have Health (starts at your Body stat)
- When Health reaches 0 → gain 1 Wound, Health resets to max
- Each Wound has a type (Gunshot, Bleeding, Blunt Force, Fire, Gore, Shock) and a severity (1-10)
- When Wounds = your Max Wounds → you die
See the Wounds Table for severity effects by wound type.
Conditions
Permanent status effects gained from panic results, severe wounds, or environmental hazards.
Common conditions include: Bleeding (lose HP/round), Broken Limb (non-functional), Blinded (disadvantage on combat), Poisoned (disadvantage on all checks), Irradiated (cumulative radiation levels).
Browse all 15 Conditions for full descriptions and removal methods.
Character Creation
Step 1: Roll Stats
- Roll 6d10 for each of the 4 core stats
- Roll 2d10+10 for each saving throw
- Minimum Stress: 2
Step 3: Pick Skills
Each class has granted skills (free) and a common skill list to choose from. See all 42 skills for details.
Mothership® is a trademark of Tuesday Knight Games. This is an unofficial fan reference. Summaries are in our own words — buy the official PSG for complete rules. We may earn a commission from links on this page.