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Alien: The Roleplaying Game

Moderator: JC Denton

Alien: The Roleplaying Game

Unread postby icycalm » 20 Jun 2021 10:40

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https://alien-rpg.com

PRE-ORDER

Later this year, we will launch the Colonial Marines Operations Manual – a complete campaign module for the award-winning official ALIEN roleplaying game. The lavishly illustrated hardback book of 352 pages will provide all the tools you need to run a full open-world campaign as the iconic Colonial Marines.

If you pre-order the book here, you will get a full PDF of the book within days of your purchase, and a bonus PDF art book collecting stunning high-res art pieces made by Martin Grip, Gustaf Ekelund and Jarek Kubicki. Perfect to have on a device at the gaming table, to set the mood of the gaming session!

In our webshop, you can also find the ALIEN RPG core rulebook, Starter Set, the Destroyer of Worlds cinematic scenario, as well as sets of custom Stress Dice and Base Dice. You can also be find the ALIEN RPG at Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, ​DrivethruRPG, and in retail stores worldwide. If your local store doesn’t have it, ask for it and they should be able to order it in – we work with all major distributors worldwide.

Questions about the pre-order, or something else? You’re welcome to our forum, dedicated to ALIEN and our other games.


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I am intrigued by their calling their Colonial Marines Operations Manual a “complete campaign module”. This means it’s an adventure, unless they are abusing these terms (which I wouldn’t put it past small RPG publishers to do). Even more intriguing is that they are saying it’s “open-world”, and this IS an abuse of terms, as open-world is a videogame term that means ACTION and action is precisely what no tabletop game can offer (unless you’re playing childish shit like Jenga). So they basically mean sandbox, which is great because that’s precisely how you’d want a colonial marines campaign to play. Would be interesting to check it out as I imagine there wouldn’t be many NPCs in it, so how much rope-playing exactly would there be, or story for that matter? Sounds like a Warhammer 40k setup to me more than anything.

Either way, just like with the Dune RPG (of which I’ll make a thread soon), stuff like this would work great with the Starfinder setting. The problem with Starfinder is that it’s supposed to be set among millions of stars, but how can these designers flesh out so many planets? So every extra planet you can gather and add in, even if it’s from another RPG system, is a godsend and makes the setting feel more real—even if you only use the planet for one adventure. So I am very interested in all these smaller games and settings for the sake of Starfinder.

Actually, now that I scrolled further down their page, I see they are selling a “Destroyer of Worlds Cinematic Module” which HAS to be an adventure, and it sounds like a linear one. So they are doing the right things, and the products seem well-printed and the art is great (certainly better than any Alien videogame’s I’ve seen). Gotta look into these books when the Trove comes back.

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Also this:

The ALIEN tabletop roleplaying game is a beautifully illustrated 392-page full-color hardcover book, both presenting the world of ALIEN in the year 2183 and a fast and effective ruleset designed specifically to enhance the ALIEN experience. The game can be played in two distinct game modes:

Cinematic play is based on pre-made scenarios that emulate the dramatic arc of an ALIEN film. Designed to be played in a single session, this game mode emphasizes high stakes and fast and brutal play. You are not all expected to survive.

Campaign play is designed for longer continuous play with the same cast of player characters over many game sessions, letting you explore the ALIEN universe freely, sandbox style.

The rules of the game are based on the acclaimed Year Zero Engine, used in award-winning games such as Tales from the Loop and Mutant: Year Zero, but adapted and further developed to fully support and enhance the core themes of ALIEN: horror and action in the cold darkness of space.


It’s reassuring that they are modifying an existing system instead of creating it from scratch. It shows expertise and dedication.

Btw the way this extra stuff would work on Battlegrounds is that you’d have to unlock it first in order to obtain access to it at will and roll native characters—i.e. colonial marines in this game or say House Atreides characters in Dune. So first your Starfinder characters would have to stumble on these planets and deal with at least one adventure there—kind of like how in the Stargate movie the humans travelled to that Egypt-like planet, and then your group will have unlocked the setting and in the future can roll characters there at will—or even immediately, if say one of your Starfinder characters dies. Would be quite cool to end up with a group made up of a colonial marine, a House Atreides noble, a Starfinder character, a Cyberpunk character and so on. It would be like Guardians of the Galaxy.

Don’t ask me how we’d deal with all their rulesets in one battle though. dan and I would have to power-up to God-tier GM skills to synthesize all that stuff into something that makes some sense. Will be a cool challenge to try though. I think we’d need to build our own “machine RPG language” into which every system would have to be translated, and recompiled, in order to be able to integrate everything in a single session. Maybe I am abusing programming terms, but if you understand programming, you understand what I am saying and can fix my language.

Official Trailer
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1V9qFgkPj5s
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icycalm
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Joined: 28 Mar 2006 00:08
Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands


★★★★★ Alien: The Roleplaying Game

Unread postby Insomnia » 13 May 2023 11:28

Insomnia review (5/5): https://culture.vg/forum/topic?t=8909

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Insomnia wrote:A slick and easy to learn system that produces a brutal game that readily simulates stress and panic having a tangible mechanical effect on the players in this bleak cinematic setting.
Insomnia
 
Joined: 28 Mar 2006 00:06


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