Mothership Horoscopes

For when a ttrpg doesn't have a star chart

I’ll admit the subtitle is a bit of a joke, here. The time and effort it would take to craft a new, interpretable night sky…. that game would have to be using those horoscopes as a major, major component.

And a game like Mothership, where you’re likely flying planet to planet, each one with their own unique view of all those celestial bodies? You can probably see why I chose to take a shortcut when it came to reading horoscopes for Prospero’s Dream.

Using tarot cards to draft a horoscope ended up working very, very well, so I am sharing my process for anyone else interested in checking their characters horoscope on fictional worlds.

This process is based on the spread “Of What does the Universe Dream?”, from Tillie Walden’s Cosmic Slumber Tarot, the very deck I chose to use for my witch in Over/Under. The deck contains an additional arcana: The Universe.

The spread involves shuffling the Universe into the deck, then flipping the deck face up to find it again, interpreting the cards directly around it. When interpreting for a character or faction - or if you simply don’t have my exact deck - pick the card that best represents them as a focus. The Solarian Faithful would of course be The Sun. The Stars are a good, neutral choice when you aren’t certain.

Picking a single card that best represents the setting and using it as the focus for all horoscopes can be especially useful for faction dynamics, as was the case with my readings on the Dream - and the Universe was quite fitting for the station, so I kept with it.

For the explanation, I’ll use my very first horoscope, which was for the Teamsters Local 32819L.

To start, place the focal card upright on the bottom of your deck. I think resetting it each time is important - I don’t want the reading of a different faction to have too much sway over the state of the next reading.

After shuffling, sift through the deck until you find the focal card again.

Then, take the two cards in front of the focal point, as well as the two cards behind.

Here, the Universe is upright, which sets the general tone of the horoscope as a positive one.

First, the underlying influences, the recent past.

Six of Pentacles reminds us what the Union on the dream was established to be: balanced, charitable, open, considerate. This was pretty much how the teamsters were viewed at the beginning of the game.

The second card is for worries, fears, concerns. It’s important to remember these fears are not necessarily true - this card is more about the subject’s mental state than the physical world around them.

Five of Swords tells me the teamsters were adjusting to the new “world”, and worried about what actions their fellow denizens may take. That there is a lot of potential for deception or loss.

If the Universe doesn’t have enough cards in front of it when you flip the deck over, this tells you their current state doesn’t have enough of a history to be drawn upon - this is a new stage for them. Likewise, if you find your focal card at the end of the deck (a mildly miserable occurrence, as it means you just searched through 72+ cards) without enough cards for the final two, this is an ending - an arrival, a success.

The fourth card is for current goals.

The Sun, reversed…. At this point in the game, the Teamsters were attempting to get some of their own members as Cardinals to gain a foothold in the Church - something the Solarian faithful were Not happy about.

Finally, long term aims. This is what they should be doing to achieve what they want, or sometimes a warning about where their current goals will lead them.

Temperance here is pretty vague - balance is a pretty reasonable goal, and an even better promise. I never joined the Teamsters, so I don’t have any particular insight into a potential deeper meaning. It just seems like a positive omen.

Pretty dead on! Unfortunately, it was so dead on as to be a little unhelpful. To read out the horoscope as it’s presented above would be telling the teamsters what they already know: they’re founded on community, they’re new to the dream and uncertain what will happen, and the Church doesn’t like their meddling. Woah, Augur, great insight! Thanks for the horoscope!

I was also already bratva at this point, so I wasn’t actually sure if the Teamsters trying to stack the Cardinal deck was public knowledge, and there was no reason for me to make an enemy of them on day 3.

The other key step to a horoscope is cobbling it together into something useful, and hopefully helpful to the recipient. Obviously, the Church stuff had to go. I replaced the direct mention of their subterfuge with a reminder that they should be honest. Then - horoscopes are supposed to be fun! Especially in a game. Feel free to make the advice vague and spooky, or throw in a bit of a joke.

Local Teamster:

You are known for being charitable and open as we all try to adjust to this new world. Focus on hard and honest work. I'm sensing that won't be too difficult for you.