Editing Terror in the Stars


This is a [[Don't Rest Your Head]] hack written by Veredium.  It
was to be published in a book of DRYH hacks, but that book got
cancelled.

You have been selected to boldly go where no one has gone before,
but as your voyage commences, you have the dread feeling that space
is not a place meant for man. Instead of exploring strange new
worlds, you find yourself having strange new thoughts and boldly
bending reality in a way that has your crewmates eyeing you all too
suspiciously.''

Instead of movies like "Alien" where there's a clear external threat and the crew must work together, think of movies like "Event Horizon" or "Pandorum" or "Sunshine," or even "Cube."  Think about the perils of [[Warp|the Warp]] without the Emperor's light and guidance.  Your comrades-in-arms at the start of the mission will seem like the most immediate threats before this is over.

==Character Generation==
Character generation needs to be done as a group, as you're forming
a crew of specialists, and collaboratively describing the ship that
will be the setting.

Like DRYH, character generation is a series of open-ended questions.

* '''Why were you chosen for this mission?'''
This is what skill or ability you bring to the group's benefit
as a whole.  Make sure every crewmember's role is unique and vital
to the mission.  It might be a skill your have mastered, or something
the mission sponsors knew would be needed against the horrors of
space.  Other crew may think a psych therapist is redudant on a
mining mission, but make sure the players know your character's
purpose.
Your answer to this question will determine the name of your
"Ship's Systems" dice (formerly Exhaustion).  See below.

* '''What are your insecurities?'''
What drove you to excel, to be that special person that was
selected for this mission?  Hyperspace travel can bring out the
worst in people, and give these insecurities a voice.  And hands.
And teeth.  This will determine your Paranoia talent (formerly
Madness).  Your character's fears will shape the reality of deep
space, and deep space will fuel your character's fears.  How you
usuall deal with these niggling self-doubts and fears will determine
your Fight & Flight marks.

* '''How does your ship work?'''
The main setting for this story will be your starship, so the
players collectively should decide on its features.  Is it spacious,
an echoing empty space, or cramped with little room to evade each other?
Is it a small crew of just the characters, or a large staff of loyal
mooks and fodder? Is there a helpful ship's AI, is it merely a tool or
is it a member of the crew?

* '''What were you told during briefing?'''
This is how the players can give the GM story hooks, and hints
about what kind of story they're expecting.  Does the ship's doctor
know about space madness?  Do any crew members know about the
previous missions that failed?  Are there procedures for handling
crew members that have been compromised?

* '''How well do you know the other crew members?'''
If you know another character, come up with two facts about them
that you find to be uncomfortable.  Make sure the other player is
okay with these, but remember the facts need not be true.  If you
don't know the other character, come up with two questions that
worry you.  This gives hooks to the players for the paranoia that
comes later in the story.

* '''Why did you accept this mission?'''
This defines your personal mission, aside from the mission the
crew is working on together.  This will help direct the player as
the mission falls apart and the crew are working at odds to each
other.

* '''How are you afraid you'll die?'''
This tells the GM how to shape the Nightmare antagonists.  The
enemies will take the shape of whatever terrifies the crew (maybe
because the crew create them, maybe because they are cunningly
savvy).  Getting attacked by the fears of someone else's psyche
should add fuel to the mistrust between crewmates.


==System Changes==
Crewmembers still have '''Discipline''' dice.  It is difficult to stay
disciplined when you learn your comrades are secretly planning to
eliminate you.  A discipline outcome means the ship is working more
smoothly or repairs were successful (decrease Systems/Exhaustion
by one), or a modicum of trust between crew has been regained
(reclaim a Fight or Flight response).

Instead of Exhaustion, characters have (ship) '''Systems''' dice, named
something relevant to your role in the ship's crew.  Using Systems
dice is to use ship facilities beyond specifications.  A Systems
outcome to a conflict means that something important on the ship
has broken.  When you accumulate six Systems dice, a major catastrophe
has happened to the ship and your crewmember is right in the middle
of it, cut off from the rest of the crew or otherwise completely
incapacitated.

Instead of Madness, characters have '''Paranoia'''.  Using Paranoia will
fuel the wrongness of deep space or hyperspace or the Warp, with
surreal or abhorrent effects.  A paranoia outcome means the character
must check off a Fight or Flight response and act apprpropriately.
Losing all your reactions triggers an acute psychotic episode, and
a permanent Paranoia die, and a growing certainty that the only way
you'll survive this or finish the mission is to eliminate the rest
of the crew.  At six Paranoia, your psychosis commits you to to
becoming a your nightmare to achieve this.

'''Pain''' is still pain, but the nightmares that use pain dice are more
personal to the crew instead of the setting.  The GM doesn't need
to always attack a crew member with their own personal nightmares.
A pain outcome means the crewmmember lost something they value.

'''Despair''' and '''Hope''' coins work the same way.

==Links==
Originally published on the [http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/2015/04/03/terror-in-the-stars-a-dont-rest-your-head-space-horror-hack/ Critical-Hits blog].