Accessible Maps

Mothership is usually played as a theater of the mind game, or using abstract flow chart maps. This works for most people; however, folks with aphantasia or other visual processing issues may find it easier to engage with the game if it is presented using the below method. It's a simple task to present situations using zone or grid maps, and it can make a game much more legible.

Range Band Conversion

To use zone or grid maps, first convert Mothership's range bands to squares using this chart.

Adjacent = Same Square
Close = Adjacent Square
Long = 2 Squares away
Out of Range = 3 or more Squares away

Zones

Zones help when you are facing an encounter that is not in a location with rooms, like in the case of a wandering encounter or a more outdoor style adventure.

To represent distances between characters and encounters, you can use a twelve row by one column grid. You can then use tokens or counters or just draw the distances you find characters and encounters from each other.

Each cell of this grid represents a range band. This means that markers on the same square are Adjacent, markers in adjacent squares are in Close Range, markers two squares away are within Long Range, and markers three squares away are Out of Range.

This helps roughly map out relative distances in the scene. You narrate and play through the scene as usual, but there is more visual indication for the general shape of the encounter.

Grid Maps

If you combine a flowchart on a grid with each room representing a zone of a certain size, you are able to provide a really solid overview of where everyone is located in a dungeon without getting bogged down in tactical measurements.

Example of a Grid Map from The Progeny (2023) by Violet Ballard and published by RV Games

Example of a Grid Map from Return to STAR Station (2024) by Violet Ballard and published by RV Games