Dying Hard on Hardlight Station
A downloadable game
Die Hard meets Alien in this thrilling escape from a hijacked station, made for the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG.
In Dying Hard on Hardlight Station, your team of grizzled PCs will be torn between saving friends locked in the Healthtek facility or crawling to freedom in the vents of the corporate-controlled Hardlight Station, all while avoiding capture by the brutal Blackshield Mercenary Company. However, unbeknownst to all, Blackshield’s invasion has caused the containment protocols at the Healthtek facility to malfunction. Now, in the bowels of the station, something horrible has awoken, and, after a long, torturous sleep, hungers to feed.
Dying Hard on Hardlight Station is a 28-page, full-colour adventure zine designed to work as a one-shot, mini-series, or as a part of your ongoing Mothership (or any other Sci-Fi RPG) campaign. Its control panel layout is table-ready and packed with efficient, evocative details big on imagination and light on overlong prose; each page is stuffed with unique locations, scheming NPCs, and terrifying horrors on the hunt. A night on Hardlight Station is one you won’t soon forget.
Sci-fi mayhem and a horde of haunting horrors await in the pages of Dying Hard on Hardlight Station, including:
- Four Station Locations - Mapped out and loaded with loot tables, adventure hooks, custom encounters, and interesting NPCs.
- Three Original Factions - The Blackshield Mercenary Company, Station Administration Nakatomi Solutions Inc, and Healthtek AG with their ravening Alien Hybrids. Each vying to come out on top in the battle for the station.
- The Hardlight Station Gazetteer - a guidebook filled with shops, entertainments, NPCs and jobs for your crew... should anyone survive the initial adventure.
- Custom Art and Professional Design - bringing the whole adventure alive in glorious red, black, and white.
Plus, thanks to the 1365 backers that brought this project to life on Kickstarter, each purchase of Dying Hard on Hardlight Station will also include:
- decrypted/the.nakatomi.papers - A 32 page, in-world bonus zine packed with even more original art, compelling story hooks, new monsters, lore, and NPCs for your games.
- Hardlight Radio - Three emergency broadcasts, two sci-fi Christmas carols, and three ambient remixes totalling 8 original audio tracks to enhance your games.
- GM Screen and Printable Maps - A digital GM reference for key factions and NPCs along with printable maps for your home or virtual tabletop.
Physical Copies Available Now From:
- Tuesday Knight Games (USA)
- Exalted Funeral (USA)
- Indie Press Revolution (USA)
- Compose Dream Games (Canada)
- Iglootree (UK)
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $7.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Dying Hard on Hardlight Station - 1e!Apr 10, 2022
- Mothership 1st Edition Updates for Dying Hard on Hardlight StationFeb 09, 2022
- Dying Hard on Hardlight Station is Here!Aug 24, 2021
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hullo! Just wanted to comment as I purchased this last night to run for some friends a few minutes before our first-ever game of mothership and it was incredible. Well worth the asking price, for 6 hours of non-stop ramping-up tension and riotous fun up there with the best we’ve had at the table. Combining multiple axes of danger creates a narrative that feels like a slowly-derailing train, and the evocative playground of the maps, characters, and situations was top-notch. It’s my first time running any session from a module and I think DHHS has set the bar unreasonably high; thank you for making this and well done!
Thanks so much Matthew - glad you enjoyed it! If you're interested in more adventures in the same sector I'm releasing a free preview of the upcoming Hardlight Anthology in the next few weeks. Either way, your kind words after greatly appreciated.
Heya Magnum games! People on reddit are saying you're releasing an updated version of Dying Hard on Hardlight Station, is this true?
Yes, I am planning a follow up. Though, the plan is more of a sequel and expansion - the station will be expanded with more locations, NPCs, and detailed maps, there will be a sector map with other points of interest, and a whole series of new adventures all built from the hooks in the original Hardlight Gazetteer. There's a kickstarter preview page up, I'm planning to launch this September once Awaiting the Burning Gods has shipped out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magnumgalaxygames/dying-hard-on-hardlight-s...
Hey I got a physical bundle including your hardlight station and prison station echo modules from a store in the UK, is there any way for me to get the audio components etc from you without buying it all again? Thank you either way, I have really enjoyed reading the Tau Sigma 7 one shot and hardlight station booklet so far, looking forward to running these!
Heck yeah and thanks, glad to hear you've been digging it! Email proof of purchase to dekennygalaxy@gmail.com and I'll get all the digital files to you.
Thank you! I sent an email over :)
Based on the file names and preview pics I presume the digital version isn’t printer friendly correct?
It's not formatted for print but you could probably print it at a shop. It would be pretty hard on your colour ink to print at home but doable, potentially.
Really happy I stumbled on Mothership RPG. I love the 3rd party support it has.
Very glad to hear it Chris! Welcome to Mothership, try not to die ;-)
I ordered the physical and PDF from Exalted Funeral a while ago, but just found all this info and realize the downloads I have from them do not include the Hardlight Radio files. Is there any chance you would send them to me to use with my game or I could purchase them seperately from the rest of the module package?
Heck yeah, I'll send them your way - email me at dekennygalaxy@gmail.com
Any chance you folks will restock at Exalted Funeral or TKG?
Absolutely, both stores should have more copies in stock soon. I'm the meantime, you could order from Iglootree or Compose Dream Games though they are based in The UK and Canada respectively so shipping might be a bit more.
Hi,
I'll be running HLS this weekend for two friends and I'm really excited.
Do you know any good maps to use along the module?
Rad - glad to hear it. The map in the centerfold of the module is the only one I know. I haven't discovered any cool others - but would love it if someone were to make one. That said, Vil's original works great.
So a short game report from last weekend: Two players were dying hard and another one couldn't make it to the session. The two are currently hiding in medbay. Comms are completely down and they want to reboot the mainframe in Engineering to reset it but that's on the other side and locked up. So they need to find someone that can bypass the sealed door. They heard about this tinkerer in the Docks...
The player who didn't make it to the session last time wants to go "Full McClane". My idea is now to let him start in the Commerce District (other side of the station from where the first two started) when shit is about to go down. As soon as he makes it to Medbay he will meet the other two players hiding there. He is kinda playing the same situation from another perspective. And in the third session they can finish together.
The module is really cool. As a warden you have so many tools to step on the gas and make an exciting evening. That is also the hard part. You really need some experience in good session prep and planning ahead to pull it off. All in all we really had a blast! Thank you for this awesome module :)
This is great. I love the full McClane mode idea for your player who missed the session to meet back up with the rest of the squad. I bet it will work really well. So glad you are enjoying it! I'll be curious to know how things end up in sessions three!
Hello, I'm not sure if this is the place to bring this up, but I'm finding some issues with the conversion to 1E, in both this module and also The Horror on Tau Sigma 7 (which i purchased on another platform).
I see that the horrors have had their damage output reduced to fall in line with the more fragile player characters in 1E, but there are some other discrepancies. Horror HP totals have remain unchanged even though weapons and player damage output have also been greatly lowered, often by half.
Examples:
0E Combat Shotgun 4d10 - 1E Combat shotgun 2d10
0E Pulse Rifle 5d10 - 1E Pulse Rifle 3d10
This feels off in play.
Also, the horror stat blocks aren't updated to the new format, retaining "Hits" rather than the new "Wounds" and missing the AP value (although I understand that stat isn't applicable to all horrors.)
Thanks!
BTW, I'm loving this module! THoTS7 and DHoHLS are the perfect intro for my players to Mothership.
Thanks for picking up my Hardlight modules, glad you are digging them! To answer your first question, yes, this is a great place for a question like this.
I posted a brief devlog about the 1E updates I made back when the first version of the Mothership Conversion guide came out. Here are the key parts:
"The changes to DHoHS are fairly minimal and are as follows:
I decided to leave the hybrid's claw damage alone so they are a little deadlier now. Otherwise, that is it!"
To answer your questions the devlog doesn't cover:
1. Horror HP levels haven't changed as I think having them be more tough works well. That said, if you think they are too tough feel free to cut down their HP to suit your table's style and taste. Alternatively, one rule variant I like to play with is rolling on the applicable wounds table when monsters/NPCs take wounds as well. I think the wounds table is super flavorful and it also makes enemies easier to kill.
2. The Horrors don't have AP values because being largely goo based I think HP captures their toughness better than an armor value.
3. Overall, with the final version of the 1E conversion guide out now I will have another look through to see if there are any major balance changes necessary. Though I think if any changes are needed they will likely be minor (Hits to Wounds, etc).
I hope that helps and that you all have an awesome first couple of sessions of Mothership. Happy to answer further questions anytime!
This is a great reply. Thanks for taking the time to address my questions. I look forward to exploring these modules further and to your next project!
I don't if this is the right way to contact the creator, or if there's a direct messaging system. In my excitement to buy this at 50% off I bought it and then realized there was a bundle with everything else I wanted, so I ended up buying both. Is there a way to get refunded for my double purchase of Dying Hard? If not, all good, it's worth it anyhow.
Hey, thanks for picking up the bundle! I looked into getting you a refund and it looks like the only way is to contact support. As per itch's terms of service "To request a refund, please contact support with your purchase information". So, send them a quick message and they should process it. If they don't give you the refund for any reason, send me a message and we'll figure out a plan B.
Enjoy Hardlight Station and the rest of my games!
Dave
Is this possible to order a physical copy?
Absolutely, you can pick up a physical copy in several places. Right now there should be copies available in the USA from:
In the UK from IglooTree. And in Canada from Monkeys Paw Games.
Hi,
Fantastic game and stunning artwork. I have just received my copy through Iglootree and was wondering if i could also gain access to the audio files and extra docs from the kickstarter? I can provide proof of purchase if needed.
Thanks,
Tc991
Absolutely! Send an email to dekennygalaxy@gmail.com and I'll set you up asap.