📯 Good Morning, Soldiers! 🎖️

We’re reaching the middle of the campaign, and I think it’s time for an update. I didn’t want to make these updates too frequent to avoid spamming you as a part of MoshMo24, but here we are - it’s time for some news!

We’ve blasted through a lot of Achievements/Stretch goals, so let’s take a look at some of them now. Don’t worry though - there are still a few in reserve in case we pick up speed again. ;-)

🚛 10 Military and Industrial Vehicles

These two achievements have actually added a whole new section to the zine (20 pages in total!). Initially, it was just a small random table, but now it’s grown into a full section featuring vehicles, complete with descriptions, art, and stats!

This section will be featured at the back of the zine and it will have a different layout from the main adventure. It’s designed to look like notes from a mission command dossier.

Here’s a preview of one of the machines, so you can see what you’ve helped unlock!
Note that it’s still a WIP - there will be some graphic/layout tweaks and definitely some stat/text changes.

Are you curious what is included in both lists? This is!

🚜 Industrial Vehicles:

Blasthole Drill
Bucket-Wheel Excavator
Tractor Crawler
Superheavy Mining Dump Truck
Tracked Shovel Excavator
Circular Continuous Miner (Tunnel Boring Machine)
Portable Crusher
Mobile Shotcrete Machine
Plasma Cutter
Refuge Chamber

🚙 Military Vehicles:

Light Armored Vehicle
Gun Truck
SWARM (Stabilized Weapon and Reconnaissance Mount) Remote System
Heavy Armored Personnel Carrier
Medium Tank
Spider Tank
Self-Propelled Artillery
Hover Light Armored Personnel Carrier
Personal Mech Armor
Off-Road Buggy

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👩‍🚀 4 Pre-Made NPCs

This addition will give the zine four fully fleshed-out NPCs (two per page) with their names, appearances, goals, fears, and roleplaying hints. Each has been added for a specific purpose, so let’s take a quick look at them:

Commander of CLF (Mercenary Company) "Iron Viper," Tanaka

Tanaka is the leader of the combat operation in the area where your crew will be deployed. She’s the first person they’ll meet and brief them on the moon’s situation. She serves as their contact over the radio and also as an example of who the mercenaries are: ruthless professionals.

Legionnaire Lucius "Jackal" Atilus

A soldier from the opposing side, Atilus is here to give your crew a glimpse of the enemy’s humanity. He’s a small cog in the war machine, with his own hopes and fears. He serves to remind the players that the other side isn’t just a faceless enemy, but real people with stories of their own.

Sabine "Sparky" Calloway, Chief Miner Engineer

Sabine illustrates the suffering and resilience of the common folk caught in the conflict. She represents the miners and their families, who’ve drawn the shortest straw in this war. Despite the odds, she shows how they hold together and support each other to survive.

Private Vasily "Butcher" Korolov

My personal favorite addition, Vasily is a mercenary just like the player characters, and I recommend adding him as another member of their unit. He’s a hardened veteran of many campaigns with the CLF, loyal to the company, and a silent, tough, yet kind brute.
Vasily is willing to risk it all for his comrades - sharing his cigarettes, giving advice, carrying them when they’re injured, and even throwing himself into a hail of bullets to protect them.
But this loyalty creates a moral dilemma for the group. Vasily isn’t part of the gold heist. Will they execute him silently to cover their tracks? Try to break his loyalty to the mercenary company? This decision will test their humanity and respect for a fellow soldier - or their greed and lust for gold.

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💣 Art for Grenades
None of the grenade artwork is finished yet, but as a teaser, here’s the list of grenades that will be included:

Gravity Grenade
Sleep Grenade
MindWipe Grenade
Tear Gas Grenade
BlackHole Grenade
Smoke Grenade
Silent Grenade
Flash Grenade
Frenzy Grenade
Holographic Grenade
Atomic Grenade

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🎼 Soundtrack
At the moment, the soundtrack will feature four songs from three different artists, each bringing their own unique flavor:

One artist specializes in darkwave and synthpop.
Another focuses on doom metal.
The last is known for his industrial style.

More about this soon, but as I just commisioned this, it will take some time.

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🗺️ Giga-factory maps
And last thing for today: I’ve started working on the maps for the FiboGold Mega-Refinery, which will be the centerpiece - and possibly the final location - for the unit before they leave the mining moon Bonnacio behind. This is where the most processed gold on the moon is stored, and let’s be honest, that’s why they’re here, right? To get filthy rich.

Here’s a look at the first level: the Loading Area, shown in all its glory. (Again, this is a work in progress—there’s a big chance I’ll be tweaking and refining it in the coming months to make it even better.)

Special shoutout: I used a phenomenal texture asset pack that was originally developed for the Blade Runner movie! It’s freely available, so grab it and use it in your own projects! Kudos to publisher.
https://ankaris.gumroad.com/l/EpePN

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Mothership Jam on itch.io
There’s a Mothership Jam happening right now on itch.io! It’s a fantastic opportunity to publish something and showcase your creativity. Check it out and join the fun:
https://itch.io/jam/tavern-game-jam-mothership-month

Me myself actually started on creative jams (Karth jam and Lo-Fi Mosh jam). Its a great opportunity to test yourself, meet others creatives, get a lot of experience and make yourself a bigger part of community. And its fun! So take that idea of yours you love and give it some life and share it with us. :)

Follow Me on Bluesky
I’m not great at maintaining a social media presence, but Bluesky has been really good so far! You’ll find lots of other Mothership creators there, along with a ton of great people. Come join me:
(I promise to eventually make a proper website - pinky swear!)
https://bsky.app/profile/krakenhund-studios.bsky.social

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🐺 So, thank you for your attention, grunts!

Here’s Major Kraken in a completely different scenario - far from the blasted obsidian rocks and molten rivers of gold of Bonnacio moon - out in the snowy cold north:

See you around! And thanks again, kin from Krakenhund Studios.

🫡

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