Beyond the Black: Players' Guide
To my friends — thank you for playing all these years. Let's keep telling stories. — Rodger
Welcome to Beyond the Black, an original sci-fi setting run with the Mothership RPG system. This guide covers everything a new Hound needs to know before their first contract: the history, the factions, the worlds, the tech, and the life you're signing up for.
Quick Reference
- System: Odysseus (ODY-441)
- Star: Odysseus Prime, G-type main sequence
- Population: 38 million
- Government: Outer Colonial Authority (OCA) — nominally a Sol subsidiary; functionally sovereign since the Khepri Incident
- Security presence: Aegis Contract Group, OCA, corporate, Fringe
- Region: Frontier system, isolated from the Core for the last 18 years
- Major bodies: Charon, Arcadia, Pallas, Hyperion (53 moons), the Drift, Nereid, the Black
- Campaign hub: Port Mercy (Hyperion orbital habitat, pop. ~120,000) — the Hounds' home base
- Settled: 2272
- Present day: 2412
- Term for targets: Strays
Contents
- The Setting — the Six Systems, the gates, the Khepri Incident, and the timeline
- Factions — who holds power in Odysseus, and what they want
- The Odysseus System — worlds, stations, and the moons of Hyperion
- Technology & Equipment — power, travel, weapons, androids, and the Mastiff
- Life as a Hound — Jaeger Division, the threats you'll face, and your team
© 2026 Rodger Oren / Hexed & Haberdashery. All rights reserved. Player's Guide version 1.2. Mothership is published by Tuesday Knight Games; campaign bounties are adapted from Wages of Sin. This is an independent production and is not affiliated with Tuesday Knight Games.