Metamorphosis Alpha went unsupported under TSR in the 70s, but that is no longer the case in the 2020s. Goodman Games reissued the rules in 2015 and in 2020 James M. Ward penned the first ever adventure module, Doom on the Warden. The adventure gives players the chance to explore the never before breached Level 0, the secret command deck, and potentially not just take control of the ship, but set it back on course to its original destination. High stakes!

This is definitely a horror themed adventure. Ward explicitly ties each region of Level 0 to a specific fear, to excellent effect. If Metamorphosis Alpha is D&D in space, then Doom on the Warden is its Tomb of Horrors. Literally — Ward explicitly states that he modeled the approach off S1, so expect insidious death traps and high mortality rates. It is easy to see where one false move will kill an entire party off.

As you expect from a Goodman Games product, this (surprisingly slim!) hard cover is jammed with awesome art. The best bit is Stefan Poag’s cover art of the long dead captain of the Warden. I have long known I am a sucker for skeletons in space suits — the Space Kook from Scooby-Doo and some old vintage horror comic book covers are probably to blame for this. Anyway, Poag delivers one of the best variations on this theme I have ever encountered. I could stare at this cover for days. I want a poster. I think it is just the hint of the space jockey from Alien that makes it, the way the architecture of the bridge seems alien and the way the captain seems to be in a symbiotic relationship with it. I love it. One of the best pieces of RPG art in the last decade.