VOIDED GUARANTEE

All horror stories have the (sometimes painful) opening where you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, which often undercuts the reveal of the danger. The double twist works in horror because nobody expects a third shoe!

So I chose to combine space pirates for the human,  logical threat and ghosts who feed on light as the illogical one. The combo gives players a variety of threats to contend with, all while trying to save the crew and cargo.

Once I'd settled on the broad structure, I started coming up with smaller stories that would add depth to those paying attention. The Olivias' found-sibling relationship, Gino getting their nickname from their job, and the alphabetical hijacker names hinting they'd been made up. These won't affect the story, but hopefully make the characters feel alive with a past and a future to live for.

Turning the concept into something playable meant viewing it through the perspective of a player.

I knew the rough amalgamation of events that could happen, but laying them out in a way that flowed was the challenge. 

I used the ship map like a flowchart, following each path to see the order in which players could access each room. The branch out of tools is the biggest, but I feel I managed to make each choice matter, which I'm proud of.

There was also the legibility issue. I wanted the descriptions to evoke the uncanny stillness while still directing the players by giving them the key information. Referencing the other modules I owned helped give me a formula for what to say and what to just imply.

It's very easy to say what a piece of design should do, but unfortunately, players often get in the way. That's why we've got to do playtesting!

Actually running the module has helped me balance the threats so they're deadly but survivable. It also highlighted where I could be better at signposting and foreshadowing.

• I added a point that Gino's leg is visible in [04a] to draw players to find Pablo in [04b].

• I added a drained lamp in 02 to foreshadow the Minuses light draining powers and to explain why only Diane had been killed by them.

It also highlighted issues for whoever runs the module. O2 not being [02] on the map made me literally facepalm the first time I said it out loud to the group.

While I've only got playtests planned where I run the game, I'd love to watch someone else GM it. Seeing where they get stuck/frustrated will help me focus any future edits.