Free League aka Fria Ligan, is producing a new RPG set in the Alien universe, using the Year Zero Engine. Here you'll find my collection of support material.
They aint pretty, but they are here. In all seriousness, some players prefer basic black-and-white to fancy, due to reading difficulties.
| Item | filename | size | Updated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character Sheet A | Alien-Sheet-A.pdf | 72.49 KiB | 25 Jun 2019 | Version A. Has tracks for consumables on bottom so that they can be tracked with paperclips |
| Character Sheet A1 | Alien-Sheet-Fillable.pdf | 106.33 KiB | 28 Jun 2019 | Version A. Has tracks for consumables on bottom so that they can be tracked with paperclips |
| Player Sheet 1/2-page | Alien-Halfsheet.pdf | 33.58 KiB | 25 Jun 2019 | Basics of dice rolling, list of actions by speed, and the stunts |
| Initiative Cards | Alien-Initiative-Cards.pdf | 72.49 KiB | 25 Jun 2019 | Single letter sheet with square cards for initiative. I printed mine on 110# cardstock, then laminated, because I am just that kind of guy. |
25 Mar 2025
Early in 2024, I ran the Heart of Darkness Cinematic... It is set on a prison that also is a research station. This has the potential to be more lethal than the others, and yet it also has the potential to be less lethal. It's every bit as solid an adventure as Chariot of the Gods and Destroyer of Worlds – there is enough room for the players to totally ruin their chances, and yet, room as well to get it done.
That said... the characters are compelling, and unlike the others, there's a spare character (not a starting party member) as a consolation prize for the first PC to become unplayable... the station's cat, Adrien. Adrien can be a fun and handy PC, expecially if the other players provide needed motivations; he has access in various ways that the rest don't, and his lack of language skills, for the right player, will result in a good time. Others may find the idea of a non-human-level intelligence a problem. I can suggest a small fix, one that isn't from the module: he's probably a geneticially engineered semi-uplift. Thus one can treat him as the trained ape or parrot level intellect or even a bit above.
I'm not going to spoil the adventure further. I love it.
As an aside, I'm looking forward to the 2nd Edition rules. Also, I still haven't run Hadley's Hope. I love the setting, and I love the game; it scratches my Traveller itch, too. I am annoyed by the further delays on the Space Truckers book, but I can remain patient... if I must.
(This is written years after the below mini-review)
This Game ROCKS!
Okay, fanboy over.
All of the pitfalls remain true for certain playstyles, Only the low tactical maneuvering is a big issue, and only for people used to character scale minis-game combat (such as D&D 3.x, 4.x, 5.x, Pathfinder); not so much to many Classic Traveller fans - the zones correspond directly to Bk 1 combat range bands.
The two cinematics I've Run, (Chariots of the Gods and Destroyer of Worlds are both replayable. Both have excellent pregens, and the pregens are tied tightly into the story. Both have multiple routes to the end point
This can be seen as a direct follow-on to Aliens, if one so chooses, or as a parallel to Alien, or both. The characters all have specific agendas, but one can, should they choose, randomly resistribute them. This makes for much replayability.
This is the Marine focused one; it's a parallel to Aliens. Redistributing the goals requires some tweaking of the characters; several had interesting bits of backstory
I have NOT run this.
Here's why: it's a direct prequel to Aliens. As in, if the PCs last long enough, in theory, Ripley and the Boys will show up. Don't count on them, tho. And yes, Hicks was right... "Game Over, Man! Game «bleep»ing over!"
Two were merchant ships; one from the United Americas, the other from the Progressive People's Union. This felt very much like Traveller; sufficiently so that I felt no pangs for running Traveller instead. One ended due to the TPK from Aliens... The other cut short as 2 of the group of 6p (me being one of them) finding playing a gqme about a macroscopic deadly plague during the initial stages of lockdown due to a microscopic deadly plague.
The other campaign was a mercenary game. It was UA based, but the bad guys were the 3WA... This one also ended due to the pandemic. This one also feels very much like a Traveller campaign.
None, really, but readily convertible!
Mar 2025 addendum: The use of Traveller or 2300 AD to run in the setting requires adjusting the drive distances. It's a much lower jump fuel big ship universe. FTL multipliers listed are ×20, ×12, ×8, and we're told of a ×1; I figure the class C hull to be 10 to 20 Td; the G hull around 800±200 Td, the M between 3000 and 100,000 Td, and the R in the million Td range. the upgrades can get you ×19, ×18, ×17, ×16, ×15, ×14, ×11, ×10, ×9, ×8, ×7, ×6, ×5, ×4, ×3, ×2... but bigger hulls are faster. FTL doesn't seem to take fuel in the way traveller guzzles it... <./p>
I'd say J1 = 25-(HG UCP/2) as the base FTL speed, and drives up to rating 7 reducing that by 1 per rating. The drives I'd say are same size as Traveller J Drives, but the fuel, is the same size as the drive, and the max raing is TL-9.
Talents
The tones of the game do not work well if the players can't play it straight most of the time. Some comic relief is not only good, but essential, but players not wanting the grit and grime really will cause issues in group.
Likewise, the PCs need to be suitale for their roles, and this is where Alien is different from Traveller: you're making characters via multiple pool spens, and role template. The core role templates are all kinds we have seen onscreen in all the movies (Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus, and Covenant), and the ship roles are fit to the needed rolls to operate the ships. If you want to be the ship's pilot, dont be a jerk and use a different template; take the pilot template and build from there. It'll save frustrations later.
Finally, this gasme really requires some form of safety tools in use. Lines, Veils, and an X-Card is what I used, and all three groups I've run alien for have used all three.
The basic system is roll stat+skill d6's, count the ⚅'s 1×⚅ succeeds. Stress adds stress dice, which still count ⚅'for success, but count ⚀ for panic. On the initial roll, if no ⚀'s, may "push", rerolling all the dice that aren't ⚅'s...
Bonus successes get spent on stunts.
Attacks are unopposed (exception: grappling), but a reaction may be used to oppose it.
The system is, after one session, showing the brilliance of the stress mechanic. The characters are stressing out... exactly as they should.
I've one big quibble: the lack of stress tracking for NPC humans. I'm just going to track it as for PCs for ship's crew.
There are several potential pitfalls for this system...
The Alien game in all its forms is © & ™ Fria Ligan. Alien, Aliens, Alien³ Alien Resurrection, and Prometheus are © & ™ Fox Studios. No challenge to those trademarks and copyrights is intended.
THe Traveller Game is ©&™ Marc Miller d.b.a. Far Future Enterprises. No challenge is intended.
all files linked to this page are ©2014-2015 William F. Hostman. All rights reserved.