Sentenced to hard labour, your prison transport crashes and you awaken to a living nightmare. A mysterious fungal infection ravages the penal mining colony. Will you live long enough to escape? A 48 page zine!
As hardened criminals, you were destined for a life of labor in the galaxy’s deadliest penal colony—until a transport crash leaves you stranded in a fungal-infested nightmare. Now, twisted abominations roam the colony, factions battle for survival, and your only escape is locked behind orbital defenses. Will you uncover the colony’s dark secrets before the infection takes hold?
With nothing but your wits and a criminal past, you must navigate treacherous alliances, uncover the dark secrets of the Company, and find a way off this rotting planet. Will you forge uneasy alliances? Will you uncover the dark secrets behind the infection?
Time is running out. The infection spreads. Will you live long enough to escape?
What Was Left To Rot is a sandbox survival horror adventure designed for the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG. Spanning over 48 pages in an 5.5" by 8.5" format, it's packed with factions, locations, NPCs, and encounters that offer countless hours of gameplay.
Expansive Sandbox:Explore the sprawling crater colony, from the overgrown Mines and the decaying Prison Complex to the fortified Agrifarm and the secretive Research Facility.
Dynamic Factions: Engage with rival factions—The Colonists, The Company, and The Prisoners. Forge alliances or fuel rivalries to survive.
Rich NPCs & Story Arcs: Interact with compelling characters like the vengeful Warden, the manipulative Company Rep, and the paranoid Governor.
Grim Survival Mechanics: Face the relentless fungal infection with mechanics that test body, mind, and morality.
Multiple Escape Routes: Uncover various pathways off the planet: disable the orbital defenses, repair escape shuttles, or harness alien technology from a buried bioship.
Funnel Adventure: Crash and Burn: Start with a group of hardened criminals in a deadly funnel adventure where only the strongest survive to become Level-1 characters.
NOTE: Shipping will be calculated and collected after the campaign through the Pledge Manager.
Digital PDF - $20 CAD - Receive the PDF of What Was Left To Rot and all unlocked digital stretch goals.
Print + PDF - $30 CAD - Receive print and PDF copies of What Was Left To Rot and all unlocked physical and digital stretch goals.
Digital Survivalist Bundle - $30 CAD - Receive the PDF of What Was Left To Rot, Digital Parasite, WEPT, My Life As Annie, and all unlocked digital stretch goals.
Print Survivalist Bundle - $50 CAD - Receive print and PDF copies of What Was Left To Rot, Digital Parasite, WEPT, My Life As Annie, all unlocked physical and digital stretch goals.
Digital All-In Bundle - $60 CAD - Receive the PDF of What Was Left To Rot, Digital Parasite, WEPT, My Life As Annie, 1d100 Sci-Fi Quests, 1d100 Interstellar Encounters, the Sci-Fi Core Bundle, the Sci-Fi Explorer's Bundle, and all unlocked digital stretch goals.
Print All-In Bundle - $100 CAD - Receive print and PDF copies of What Was Left To Rot, Digital Parasite, WEPT, My Life As Annie, 1d100 Sci-Fi Quests, 1d100 Interstellar Encounters, the Sci-Fi Core Bundle, the Sci-Fi Explorer's Bundle, all unlocked physical and digital stretch goals.
Pledge Manager Access - $1 CAD - This pledge level contains no rewards. It only grants access to the Pledge Manager for reward selection post-campaign.
Retailer Pledge Manager - $5 CAD - Access for verified retailers to purchase physical product at wholesale discounts, visible in the Pledge Manager. Retailers will be verified prior to finalizing and shipping purchases.
NOTE: Shipping will be calculated and collected after the campaign through the Pledge Manager.
We have some exciting achievements planned to enhance What Was Left To Rot!
ACHIEVED - If All Mothership Month Campaigns Fund: A "Danger: Infected" sticker and 5 step how-to guide. Delivered as both physical and digital!
ACHIEVED - $5,000 - 2 New Classes: We'll develop 2 new classes and loadouts for Mothership that can be used in this or any adventure! Delivered as a digital extra!
ACHIEVED - $7,500 - 2 More Classes: We'll develop 2 more classes and loadouts for Mothership, giving you a total of 4 all-new character options! Delivered as a digital extra!
ACHIEVED - $12,000 - Crimes, Classes, Trinkets, and Patches: We'll create a bifold pamphlet that includes 100 Crimes, 100 Trinkets, 100 Patches, all 4 new classes, and 1d10 loadouts for each class. Everything you need to make a custom character for this or any other campaign! Delivered as both physical and digital!
ACHIEVED - $16,000 - Digital One-Shot Adventure: We will create a one-page adventure using a 5.5x8.5 layout, with the theme determined by YOU!
ACHIEVED - $20,000 - Second Digital One-Shot Adventure: We will create a second one-page adventure, exploring another theme selected by YOU!
ACHIEVED - $25,000 - Freebie Print of Both One-Shot Adventures: Both one-shot adventures will be printed as a double sided 5.5"x8.5" freebie and included with every physical pledge!
$30,000 - Third One-Shot Adventure and Upgraded Adventure Pamphlet: We will create a third one-page adventure, using the theme of a Lost Convoy. Plus, we will print our three one-page adventures as a single bi-fold pamphlet. Delivered as both physical and digital!
I'm Terry Herc, a tabletop game designer with a passion for immersive storytelling and gripping survival horror. I've successfully run several crowdfunding campaigns, including:
Orbital Debris: A Mothership hex crawl set on a junk-covered moon.
Here is our timeline for this campaign, with estimated dates for each key milestone:
December 2024: Crowdfunding campaign complete!
March 2025: Final playtesting, editing, and additional stretch goal content developed.
May 2025: Artwork and layout complete.
June 2025: Proof review, adjustments, and preparation for printing.
July 2025: Digital fulfillment begins via DriveThruRPG and BackerKit's Digital Distribution feature.
August 2025: Physical fulfillment and shipping begins.
Our zines are printed locally with high-quality materials. Product will be shipped from Canada to your destination. You will be responsible for any import duties, taxes, and brokerage fees (if applicable).
Below are estimated shipping costs for the base zine pledge. Final shipping rates may vary due to changes in pricing, or by including extra products with add-ons and bundles:
United States: $12 CAD
Canada: $10 CAD
Rest of the World: $16 CAD
NOTE: Shipping will be calculated and collected after the campaign through the Pledge Manager.
While this is not my first crowdfunding campaign, unforeseen challenges can arise. The core content of What Was Left To Rot is already written, internal and external playtesting is ongoing, and layout drafts are underway.
However, there's always a chance of unforeseen delays in the printing process. Similarly, global shipping remains unpredictable. While we've chosen reliable partners and methods, there might be delays or issues beyond our control. We've built a buffer into our timeline to account for minor setbacks to ensure we fulfil your rewards on time.
Transparency is always key. If any challenges emerge, we'll communicate them promptly, keeping you in the loop and detailing our solutions. We're confident in our ability to deliver a product that meets your expectations. Our previous campaigns successfully delivered on time and without major issue.
Portions of this book's text were inspired by ideas created with the assistance of a GAI language model. All of the text in the book is authored by myself, and it has seen multiple playtests both from myself an external groups. We also have a skilled editor assigned to the project to ensure the text is of the highest quality.
All of the art in the book is appropriately licensed from digital artists working in and adjacent to the RPG industry.
Brace yourself for Mothership Month—a group-collab project led by Tuesday Knight Games featuring some of the brightest stars from the Mothership third-party publishing (3PP) community. Each 👩🚀 creator has launched a brand new adventure filled with criminals, smugglers, and rimspace pirates.
Mothership Month Supply Pods
🚀 Back 5+ projects at the physical level and gain access to the SUPPLY PODS. All Supply Pods are now unlocked, so backing just 5 projects will get you all of the below:
🌟 Supply Pod 1 (Unlocked!): 1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS. Each pack contains 13 pre-made character cards ready for use as pre-gen characters or NPCs. Each pack comes with at least one FOIL card.
🌟 Supply Pod 2 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS, 5 foil campaign project stickers.
🌟 Supply Pod 3 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS, +5 foil campaign project stickers, and an exclusive Mothership Month 24 pin!
🌟 Supply Pod 4 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS,+11 foil campaign project stickers, and Shadow of a Doubt a brand new "reverse murder mystery" pamphlet adventure by Ian Yusem (Hull Breach, The Drain).
All in: if you back 5+ projects you're getting 4 Character Card packs (an entire deck of cards), 21 foil project stickers, an exclusive Mothership Month 24 pin, and a brand new adventure pamphlet.
Are there more Supply Pods to come? We're looking into it now!
Streams, Interviews, and more!
All month long, we're diving into the void with daily streams, unsettling interviews, and exclusive, heart-pounding reveals. Whether you're a veteran spacer or new to the Mothership, join us in celebrating the universe’s bravest survivors…and those who didn’t make it back.
Thanks for joining us on our first ever Mothership Month! 👽
