Alien RPG Review
Alien: The Roleplaying Game – Around the game table, no one can hear your scream.
Alien: The Roleplaying Game is a pen and paper tabletop roleplaying game first published by Free League Publishing, or Fria Ligan as they are known in their native Sweden. I have always been impressed by Free League’s work on other RPGs, including Forbidden Kingdoms, Tales from the Loop, and Symbaroum, and have later gone on to publish games such as Blade Runner – The Roleplaying Game and The One Ring, Second Edition. Their work is always well-developed, fun, and contain beautiful art such as these:
Alien: The Roleplaying Game offers two different styles of play: Cinematic and Campaign modes. Campaign mode is what people typically expect from a roleplaying game – a long term series of missions in which you build a character and battle against whatever forces your gamemaster sets against you. For this system, the book provides a highly detailed setting, including multiple factions, mega corporations, and governments that claim control over the galaxy as known, as well as multiple types of extraterrestrial threats to face off against the player characters. In fact, the writers suggest NOT involving xenomorphs as antagonists until either the end of the campaign, or as a lurking boogeyman for your players to fear as the game goes on.
Cinematic mode, on the other hand, is made for short, one or two session games. Free League has already published three different Cinematic adventures – Chariot of the Gods, Destroyer of Worlds, and Heart of Darkness. In each of these adventures, game masters are provided with premade characters with differing secret motivations, backup characters for players whose characters are lost (and they will be, trust me), and a whole array of items to help them run the game. Chariot of the Gods is part of the Alien RPG Starter Set, which also includes dice, maps, equipment and character cards, and a basic set of the rules for the game. The other two modules have been released as separate boxed sets, and also include everything you need to run either module. In fact, all three are loosely interconnected.
No matter what style of game you decide to play, Alien: The Roleplaying Game is a fun, easy game that will have you on the edge of your seats. Basic skill tests include rolling a number of D6s equal to your skill rank + attribute, with natural 6s being counted as successes. Extra 6’s in a roll can be used for various effects, including quicker task completion, extra damage, or other minor in-game effects. To help you succeed at these rolls, Alien introduces the stress meter, which provides additional dice for your skill pool, but adds the risk of potential chaos. For each point of stress your character has earned (through pushing dice rolls, fear effects, and other in-game consequences) you add an extra D6 of a different color. In the official dice, the stress dice are yellow, and have a face hugger emblem on the natural 1. While rolling, the stress dice can add extra successes, but any natural 1s on the stress dice only will trigger a panic test. The panic test can cause minor game effects, such as firing off the last rounds in an ammo so you have to reload next round, fleeing in fear, attacking the nearest target in a frenzy, or even going catatonic. The game turns into a balancing act between adding more dice from stress, while taking a bigger gamble of a negative effect.
Alien: The Roleplaying Game also includes rules for cinematic equipment like motion sensors, incinerator units, pulse rifles, and power loaders. Most equipment offers basic dice pool modifiers, but some items such as weapons also have a chance to run out or ammunition or power as the game continues. For example, a space suit will offer a certain amount of oxygen, which is tracked by rolling a number of dice equal to your oxygen level. Every natural 1 will remove one level of oxygen, meaning that you COULD go all game without an issue, or suddenly suffocate at the most inopportune time. This rule helps to develop the tension in the game, as your resources slowly dwindle as your enemies bear down on you.
Finally, every great game needs a great villain, and this game offers some of the most terrifying enemies I’ve faced in an RPG. First, the game offers multiple versions of xenomorphs from the entire run of the movies, including neomorphs, facehuggers, soldiers, and queens. The xenomorphs don’t run like normal enemies in an RPG – instead, the gamemaster rolls a D6 for their behavior each round, and follows the guided instructions. This makes the enemies unpredictable, and also means that no one is safe. In addition, the xenomorphs receive multiple initiative passes, meaning that they will perform multiple actions each round while the player characters fight for their lives. Combat is fast and dangerous, and characters can be lost suddenly, but this also helps to raise the drama of the game and makes Alien: The Roleplaying Game one of the most fun games I’ve played in the past few years.
Overall, Alien: The Roleplaying Game is a fast-paced, lethal game that will draw you in and make you ready to run for your character’s life. The book is a gorgeous piece of art itself, with full page images of dark and moody original artwork. The rules are not difficult to pick up, but also comprehensive enough to adjust on the fly. The ability to run it as a long-term campaign or a series of one-shots also makes the game appealing to all forms of game groups. If you love the Alien franchise as I do, definitely give this game a chance!
Written by Mike Hecker
