Another third party zine for Mothership, Blood Floats in Space (2020) is a demonstration of how well the Mothership system can be used to deliver experiences beyond the Alien/Event Horizon/Dead Space nexus laid out in the core products. Namely, author Chance Phillips introduces the Mothership version of a very Warhammer 40k-esque campaign setting.

It is kind of amazing how quickly and ably this is accomplished — the zine is a mere 28 pages! It leans quite a bit on your established knowledge of 40k and its derivative violent space empires. For instance, the wonderfully ornate but precise name of the Empire Without Borders or Competition does such a fantastic job of invoking the Imperium of Man that three paragraphs is all that’s needed to support it — Phillips is certainly an effective writer. The rest of the zine follows suit, and just like that you can be using Mothership to power all your Space Marine adventures against the forces of Chaos.

The collection of artists is fun and their work evocative. Andrew Walter delivers a delightful cover. Jim Magnusson, Scrap Princess and Stefan Poag contribute interiors. This is a very different sort of space empire. The red thread stitch-binding is an excellent aesthetic touch, too.

As fun as this is, I am not sure how playable it really it is? Or if it is even intended to be playable. I kind of see it as a dare game, a proof that a thing could be done, rather than a serious attempt at a setting. Which doesn’t really diminish it, I love this zine, playable or not. But when Mothership originally came out, it didn’t click for me until I got the Dead Planet scenario zine. I would love to get the Dead Planet-equivalent for Blood Floats in Space.