Overview
Last Updated 2026-09-27 COTF Overview.md async pbp
nov 2026 wages of sin 2-32 players mothership STILL NOT O/U 2
Children of the Flesh is a play-by-post bounty-hunting campaign of Wages of Sin for the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror Roleplaying Game.
Players will step into the boots of freelancers and bounty hunters working to survive in the coiling sinews of human-inhabited space.
The game is played via asynchronous play-by-post, and runs from November 10th to January 3rd, with several in-game downtime periods, and multiple breaks.
Everyone starts in Step City, a cylindrical industrial colony buried in the crust of Ogroitum to hide from the lethal cold of the surface, where extraction facilities toil to draw up raw materials for onsite refinement.
The game will be run Rules-as-Written, as much as possible, with some additional structures to accommodate
Player Crews
The game starts with 1-4 player crews of up to 8 players each. That's 2-32 players total. These crews are led by a player Team Leader or Captain. Pre-generated characters will be provided.
Team Leaders and Captains can make requests and decisions about travel, movement, group actions, big purchases, time changes, and other major actions. They'll also be the default point of contact for in-world negotiations, potentially including payment for the rest of the crew.
"Uh, before we dock, I think we oughta discuss the bonus situation..." (Alien, 1979)
This structure does not have to be followed strictly, but is there to fall back on, and reduce the coordination effort for player groups. It's also to create a degree of in-fiction status variation.
The Warden maintains a complete roster of players, to keep track of available slots organizational changes.
Tempo
Currently, there are no hard-and-fast rules about post frequency. The initial request and expectation is for players to post daily to keep things moving, or let the Warden know when they're likely to be unavailable.
I'm expecting to make some early adjustments as the natural tempo becomes clear, and I get a sense of what I can cover as a GM.
My goal is for "check once a day, maybe send a post," to be a workable way to engage, and for there to be room to back off for a few days when work, life, etc is busy — while also opening room to get more involve and engage in active, semi-synchronous play.
Post or action limits will be set if needed for Warden capacity and so other players are not left behind.
Tone
I'm aiming for grounded, tactile, and, if possible, visceral sci-fi horror with moments of safety and human vulnerability. I want to treat the world like a real place, and the characters like people, complicated and flawed.
I am interested in the interstitial spaces of the setting, in the time spent waiting between shuttle transfers, in quiet conversations shared over synthetic coffee in the ship's mess, and the thoughts that pass as you slip again into cryo. And I am interested in gunfire, harsh environments, bodies changed beyond recognition, rapid decompression, hungry and insensate Corporate organisms, megastructures, awful decisions, and the energy and chaos of situations that are truly and completely fucked.
I don't know to what degree I'll be able to capture it, but that's the goal.
Shitposting and silliness is welcome in Out-of-Character spaces, and will be directed back there when it occasionally wanders into In-Character channels.
Syntax
You can indicate Out-of-Character (OOC) posts with double parenthesis ((like this)), though switching to an OOC channel is preferred. Descriptions and actions can be given in italics like this. Other shorthand may develop naturally.
Time
Time is tracked on the level of individual days, on a per-location basis. Within each day, time relatively flexible. This tightens up as soon as things roll into an operation. The start of the game provides the initial index point. In-world, this is some kind of Standard Day.
Time advances as needed per-system. Separate systems will by asynchronous until 1d10 month time skips for Downtime. All systems move forward to a synchronized point at the end of Downtime (and probably .
Team leaders will make requests and decisions around time changes.
Messages and travel are given arrival times relative to the central calendar to keep everything in order.
Downtime
There will be a couple 1d10 month downtime periods to allow for travel, training, medicine, and longer activities, as described in the Players Survival Guide. Team Leaders and Captains can request Downtime periods.
This is also a way to sync everyone back up for a moment, and provide breathing room for logistics, communications, and long-term consequences.
Space Travel
Jumps take roughly 1 month, including travel time to the Jump Point (weeks), the Jump itself (2d10 days), and travel to the destination (weeks). For most crews, expending a warp core requires approval from their funding organization.
"The effects of relativity on Faster-Than-Light travel are uncertain and seemingly random." (Shipbreakers Toolkit, TKG, pg. 31)
Time is skipped as needed for travel. This will desynchronize the crew from the previous system. That's fine, because they won't be able to communicate until everything is synchronized again during downtime.
See the Shipbreaker's Toolkit for other info.
Channels
Ships and locations each have channels which contain threads for comms channels, OOC, order feeds, sub-locations, and more.
When possible, the Warden will shuffle around permissions so players only have access to locations and communication methods their character has access to. Information and communication may, at times, be extremely limited.
Communication should stay on the server as much as possible. Players are encouraged to play and discuss in-character, and keep out-of-character discussion separate wherever possible.
The Warden will nudge out-of-character conversation over into appropriate channels. This also includes not sharing in-character information in out-of-character channels. Since this isn't a wargame, this is less about fairness than maintaining the fun of uncertainty and hidden information.
Communications
Long-range comms operate within a system, with range and latency as indicated in the SBT. Short-range comms work within an area of a few miles, though signal may be interrupted by rough terrain or buildings.
Access to local talknet feeds or ship intranet requires a terminal or access credentials.
There is no real-time communication between systems. The distance is simply too vast. Information can only be carried across Jump Routes by freighters and specialist messenger vessels.
Messages and packages can be sent on scheduled orbital launches (frequency depends on location) and are delivered in bulk during the next downtime period. Responses posted during the downtime period arrive upon the return to real time.
Messages cost 100cr. Physical packages cost 500cr and up.
The idea is for this is to create mail days for deployed ships, emphasize the scale of the Rim, encourage more substantial messages and care packages, and reduce Warden overhead.
Money
It’s assumed characters are able to hustle and work for subsistence (as Borderline) by default, though consequences like eviction, blacklisting, or preference may result in worse conditions. Credits represent the available cash remaining after survival expenses.
Additional lifestyle may be purchased monthly, according to the rates in A Pound of Flesh:
Squalor: 300/mo. Awful conditions. Sleeping in doorways or wherever you can. Targeted by security officers. No privacy.
Borderline: 1,500/mo. Food, shelter, clothing — if barely. Communal housing, a coffin apartment, capsule hotel, rental showers. Ration packs and street food. The way most people live.
Citizen: 3,000/mo. Relative comfort and safety. Small, private room. Freedom of movement. Regular meals.
Decadent: 9,000/mo. Luxury and glamour. Private apartment, private shower, good food, natural fibers, space to stretch out. Storage, private security, and social status.
Credits are handled player-side for equipment and other transactions. Incidental purchases like drinks, meals, and trinkets don't need to be tracked.
Larger transactions (1kcr and up) involve the Warden, and may be difficult, delayed, or expensive, depending on the location. Orders and acquisitions should be bundled together as Purchase Orders whenever possible, and the same goes for deliveries.
Loans are available at 10% downpayment and 100% Interest, and must be repaid in full within 2d10 months to avoid consequences. More favorable terms may be available through negotiation or powerful allies.
"Failure to pay the minimum due each period incurs significant consequences, including but not limited to: aggressive visits from violent debt collectors, targeted malware, threats to allies, blacklisting, repossession, credstick freezes, kidnap and ransom, forced relocation to debtor colonies, or finally a bounty for the debtor’s life." (Warden Operations Manual, pg. 50)
Ships operate based on "Who Pays the Bills" in the Shipbreaker's Toolkit. To start with, one is Company-operated, one is a military vessel, and one is run by owner-operators. In the latter case, a significant cut of profits (20-50%) is set aside for the backing firm. With two 1d10 month downtime periods, there's enough time to make, and fail, a Bankruptcy Save and end up 1d10mcr in debt. Stay hungry.
Time's Up
Running out of real-world time to complete the operation? Without significant threat, the crew exfiltrates safely and fails all remaining objectives. Otherwise, roll for each crew member on the Emergency Extraction table.
Emergency Extraction (1d10)
1-2. KIA Body destroyed or lost.
3-5. WIA Roll a Wound. Body recovered if fatal.
6-10. Successful Extraction.
Work-in-Progress
This campaign is a bit of an experiment. I'm not sure how things are going to go off the bat, especially with regard to complexity and workload. There's bound to be a few bumps initially.
Hold tight, and expect some changes as we work things out!