Dying Hard on Hardlight Station (2021) combines the DNA of three filmic mainstays. The first is obvious: there is much love here for Die Hard (the station administrator Takako McClane, who works for a company called Nakatomi Solutions). It is also a zombie movie wrapped in the sci-fi horror trappings of the Alien films. That might seem like a lot, but it all comes together rather elegantly. It’s a nice third-party effort and another example of the high quality the Mothership community brings to its projects.

The source of the problem is that McClane will rent space on the station to anyone, including shady scientific outfits. On Christmas Eve (of course) the station enters lockdown. McClane bunkers. The head of the science guys disappears. Mercs start rounding up civies. The pressure cooker is set and, before too much longer, all hell breaks loose. What happens at that point is entirely up to the players. Getting the hell off the station (my choice) is just as viable as playing hero and saving…whoever — the innocent civilians, the rich and powerful McClane, whatever floats your (probably greedy) boat.

There is a bit less station detail than A Pound of Flesh, but that’s OK, the intent isn’t for you to be there long. There are lots of fun tables, though, my favorite being “D10 Things You’d Find at a Christmas Party in Space.” An optional appendix adds hidden agendas, a la the Alien RPG. There is also a short, horrible dungeon crawl built around a mining project. It’s actually so good that the brevity of it annoys me — I’d’ve bought a full zine of this!

An artist named Vil provides the illustrations. I’ve never heard of them, but they are definitely on my radar now. Nice detail work, effectively creepy.