Spaceship Zero
Encyclopedia
Spaceship Zero is the title of a role-playing game
and an indie rock CD
.
and Monte Cook
and Andrew J Lucas and published by Green Ronin Publishing
in 2002. The game is a spoof and homage to 1950s and 1960s science fiction
adventure television, such as Lost in Space
.
s are heavily rooted in the Basic Role-Playing
system. The dice mechanic when performing skills is to roll as high as possible without going over your skill value. The system also brings in the concept of zero dice, which act similar to hero/fate/drama points from other Role-playing game system
s.
Thirteen billion years later the crew is reconstituted, they hope that Universe 2 has evolved in exactly the same way that the Universe 1 they destroyed had. It mostly did, except for a few small differences, most notably a race of alien conquerors ravaging the solar system.
There are also a large number of Lovecraft
and Cthulhu
references throughout the setting and game manual.
. The titles of the three adventures are:
More adventures are planned for release.
was released a year before the role-playing game hit retail shelves. The original intention was to have both RPG and CD release within a similar timeframe, but the logistics of writing both an album and a role-playing game, trying to coincide their releases, proved to be problematic. The band was touring Canada, promoting the Spaceship Zero album while they were finishing up the final drafts of the role-playing game manuscript.
See The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets discography for further information on this album.
story appeared in the graphic novel anthology "Exploded View" by Vancouver's Cloudscape Comics in 2010. It is based on the ongoing series of adventures already released (Asteroid X, Slave Ship of Despair, and The Strange Secret of Dr. Quisling) and is intended to be a prequel to that story arc.
http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/02/10/spaceship-zero-the-comic-more-thumbnails/. http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/02/06/funnybooks/http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/01/31/spaceship-zero-the-comic/
. The footage was cut into a video for their song "20 Minutes of Oxygen" and as a trailer for the film, and premiered at the event Cthulhupalooza II: Son of Cthulhupalooza in February 2011 in Vancouver.
s, namely by referencing the game to television shows, radio plays, and films which did not and do not exist. The game book is rife with references and imagery from these inspirations.
As the book explains, the game is based on a 1950s German radio play ("Raumschiff Null" being a direct translation of "Spaceship Zero"). The German radio play was based on a 1930s American moviehouse serial called "Spaceship to the Stars" (which eventually became an American television show in the 1950s). The German radio play eventually spawned a German television show (of the same name) that aired from 1978 to 1980. And all this has spawned an American film production.
No such television series or radio plays ever existed. No such film is being produced.
The game plays off the ruse in a variety of clever ways. For instance, a section of the book is devoted to episode summaries from the old television series. And fake websites, hosted by the games' authors, detail the film's production.
The hoax has been readily accepted in a number of reviews for the title.
The marketing of the CD is similar, it being referred to and played-up as a soundtrack
. There is no film (either in development, pre-production or otherwise) to go along with said soundtrack. This was, again, part of the elaborate ruse that played further into the premise of the roleplaying game.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
and an indie rock CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Role-playing Game
The role-playing game was written by Warren Banks and Toren Atkinson including contributions from John TynesJohn tynes
John Tynes is a writer best known for his work on role-playing games such as Unknown Armies, Delta Green, Puppetland, and for his company Tynes Cowan Corporation. Under its imprint Pagan Publishing, Tynes Cowan Corp...
and Monte Cook
Monte Cook
Monte Cook is a professional table-top role-playing game designer and writer. He is married to Sue Weinlein Cook.-Roleplaying:Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games. Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer...
and Andrew J Lucas and published by Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas, they have published several role-playing game–related products...
in 2002. The game is a spoof and homage to 1950s and 1960s science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
adventure television, such as Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
.
Game mechanics
The game mechanicGame mechanic
Game mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce an enjoyable game or gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game...
s are heavily rooted in the Basic Role-Playing
Basic Role-Playing
Basic Role-Playing is a role-playing game system which originated in the fantasy-oriented RuneQuest role-playing game rules...
system. The dice mechanic when performing skills is to roll as high as possible without going over your skill value. The system also brings in the concept of zero dice, which act similar to hero/fate/drama points from other Role-playing game system
Role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
s.
Setting
The following quote is an accurate summation of the setting.- "The year is 2025. Earth spacecraft routinely crisscross the solar system, but leaving its confines has remained impossible until now. A scientist in the employ of SpaceCorp, a firm recently in dire financial straits, has invented the Better-Than-Light (BTL) Drive. If successful, it will usher mankind into an age of interstellar travel and SpaceCorp back into the black. The drive will be tested on a spacecraft designated Spaceship Zero, a Space Hopper Mark V stripped of weapons to accommodate the BTL Drive and the generator for the Bendall Field that protects the craft from the extreme gravity the BTL Drive creates. Presumably, most or all of the PCs are members of the Zero's crew.
- "Regrettably, when the BTL drive is activated, it doesn't move the Zero at better-than-light speeds as advertised. Instead, it gives the ship infinite mass, creating a gravity well that destroys the entire universe and making the ship ground zero (pardon the pun) for a new Big Bang.
- "Once the crew is through freaking out, they decide to use the Deconstitutor – the setting's equivalent of hypersleep, which works by reducing people into their essential salts (sound familiar, Lovecraft fans?) for storage – and wait for the new universe to re-evolve into what should, theoretically, be a carbon copy of the original.
- "Well, like the BTL Drive, it was a nice theory." http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9586.phtml
Thirteen billion years later the crew is reconstituted, they hope that Universe 2 has evolved in exactly the same way that the Universe 1 they destroyed had. It mostly did, except for a few small differences, most notably a race of alien conquerors ravaging the solar system.
There are also a large number of Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
and Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
references throughout the setting and game manual.
Supplements
There are currently three published adventures for the Spaceship Zero roleplaying game. All are written by at least Toren Atkinson with others credited as noted. All follow an ongoing linear story arcStory arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
. The titles of the three adventures are:
- Asteroid X (Toren Atkinson, Evan Sass, Rick Achberger, Matt Wiseman) Adventure Maps
- Slave Ship of Despair. (Toren Atkinson, Warren Banks, Andrew J. Lucas, and Brian "Chainsaw" CampbellBrian Campbell (game designer)Brian "Chainsaw" Campbell is a Greater Seattle area game developer, author and editor who is credited for working in the role-playing game industry as far back as 1993...
) - The Strange Secret of Dr. Quisling. Inspired by a concept by Bob Wilkins
More adventures are planned for release.
CD
An album by The Darkest of the Hillside ThicketsThe Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a rock band from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Their music largely consists of often tongue-in-cheek homages to the works of H. P...
was released a year before the role-playing game hit retail shelves. The original intention was to have both RPG and CD release within a similar timeframe, but the logistics of writing both an album and a role-playing game, trying to coincide their releases, proved to be problematic. The band was touring Canada, promoting the Spaceship Zero album while they were finishing up the final drafts of the role-playing game manuscript.
See The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets discography for further information on this album.
Comic Book
A short Spaceship Zero comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
story appeared in the graphic novel anthology "Exploded View" by Vancouver's Cloudscape Comics in 2010. It is based on the ongoing series of adventures already released (Asteroid X, Slave Ship of Despair, and The Strange Secret of Dr. Quisling) and is intended to be a prequel to that story arc.
http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/02/10/spaceship-zero-the-comic-more-thumbnails/. http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/02/06/funnybooks/http://www.thickets.net/toren/2007/01/31/spaceship-zero-the-comic/
Video
In summer 2010 the band filmed footage using a space suit and various props on location in the sand dunes of Richmond BC and a space ship set left over from the TV show Defying GravityDefying Gravity
Defying Gravity may refer to:In film and television:* Defying Gravity , a 2009 drama television series* Defying Gravity * Defying Gravity , a 1997 independent gay-themed romantic dramaIn music...
. The footage was cut into a video for their song "20 Minutes of Oxygen" and as a trailer for the film, and premiered at the event Cthulhupalooza II: Son of Cthulhupalooza in February 2011 in Vancouver.
Marketing
To enhance the ideas of the setting further, the developers have based the game on a number of false documentFalse document
A false document is a literary technique employed to create verisimilitude in a work of fiction. By inventing and inserting documents that appear to be factual, an author tries to create a sense of authenticity beyond the normal and expected suspension of disbelief for a work of art...
s, namely by referencing the game to television shows, radio plays, and films which did not and do not exist. The game book is rife with references and imagery from these inspirations.
As the book explains, the game is based on a 1950s German radio play ("Raumschiff Null" being a direct translation of "Spaceship Zero"). The German radio play was based on a 1930s American moviehouse serial called "Spaceship to the Stars" (which eventually became an American television show in the 1950s). The German radio play eventually spawned a German television show (of the same name) that aired from 1978 to 1980. And all this has spawned an American film production.
No such television series or radio plays ever existed. No such film is being produced.
The game plays off the ruse in a variety of clever ways. For instance, a section of the book is devoted to episode summaries from the old television series. And fake websites, hosted by the games' authors, detail the film's production.
The hoax has been readily accepted in a number of reviews for the title.
The marketing of the CD is similar, it being referred to and played-up as a soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
. There is no film (either in development, pre-production or otherwise) to go along with said soundtrack. This was, again, part of the elaborate ruse that played further into the premise of the roleplaying game.
