Quote from: S'mon;1084872I understand their stated reasoning, but IMO they should set it around the time of ALIENS and leave it to the GM whether to incorporate Alien3.

The events of Alien 3 are pretty easily ignored, though. Unless Ripley is going to be a part of your campaign it wouldn't be much different even if you left it in as cannon. In fact, redoing that moving in tabletop form might actually improve on the original. An isolated prison with an Alien on the loose is perfect for a full length adventure.

Quote from: S'mon;1084872I understand their stated reasoning, but IMO they should set it around the time of ALIENS and leave it to the GM whether to incorporate Alien3.

Point taken, but this way the Ellen Ripley story arc is done and GMs don't have to contend with players trying to trash the story arc (a point in the game's favor*).

*One of the biggest headaches I have in running Star Wars or Star Trek is that at some point the players want to use their OOC knowledge to gain an incredible advantage and simultaneously wreck the established storyline of the franchise. I can easily see this happening with the Alien franchise too.

Quote from: Beldar;1084732Thanks for then the info, I've never played any of those. It worries me a bit that it's going to use a dice pool system. I don't dislike dice pools universally, but they never feel gritty and harsh like an Alien game should. So, I guess I'm in the same boat as you. If it's an excellent source book, maybe I will pick it up. I would much rather use something like Stars Without Number first edition or All Flesh Must Be Eaten.

In Coriolis, the dice pool gives rather crappy chances for success that is only somewhat bettered by appealing to the Icons (praying). I don't think that will be in an Alien game, so expect characters with a high degree of suck in anything outside of their very specific fields of competence (and that competence isn't super-skilled by any means).

Quote from: HappyDaze;1084879In Coriolis, the dice pool gives rather crappy chances for success that is only somewhat bettered by appealing to the Icons (praying). I don't think that will be in an Alien game, so expect characters with a high degree of suck in anything outside of their very specific fields of competence (and that competence isn't super-skilled by any means).

I have never been keen on any games that rely on skills and large dice pools, especially if it is limited to d6's. Traveller does everything one needs to do, with 2d6. Fudge & Fate, 4d6. Why make a game more difficult to play?

Came here to mention Hostile, so glad to see I'm in good company. I'm honestly not sure what I'd do with an "official" Alien game.

Quote from: jeff37923;1084735I'm interested in seeing this game as well. So far, I've been using the Hostile sourcebook along with Cepheus Engine (Book Form!) for emulating play in the Alien universe. It has allowed me the freedom to ignore the stupid things in the later movies of the franchise.

Hostile is freaking awesome.

I used the Xenomorphs in a FASATrek game. The players were throwing out quotes from Aliens during the build-up to the reveal, never realizing how right they were...

Quote from: SavageSchemer;1084887Came here to mention Hostile, so glad to see I'm in good company. I'm honestly not sure what I'd do with an "official" Alien game.

Use it for background material and ogle the artwork, that is what I'm going to do.

Quote from: Beldar;1084726I don't know anything about the company behind this or their games. But this might be worthy of discussion. Link below. Please note that I am stupid and can't get the hyperlink to work properly from my phone. You might have to copy and paste.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/alien-is-getting-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game-1834309513/amp

Thanks Beldar. I like to see news in this forum.

Quote from: Rithuan;1084963Thanks Beldar. I like to see news in this forum.

No worries, it was actually my wife that informed me about it first. I just thought I would share as Alien is a rather interesting franchise to me.

Finally, a license in the hands of a company I trust.

Quote from: jeff37923;1084735If you haven't seen them yet, the 40th Anniversary Alien Short Films are pretty cool to watch for game inspiration.

Nice!

Playlist for all of them is here.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1084796BTW, if you enjoy the Alien universe, I highly recommend checking out the old Dark Horse comics. Personally, I find that the work in the Aliens comics to be far more entertaining, original and game-useful than the later films.

Couldn't agree more.

It's a damn shame the rights holders for both Aliens and Star Wars ultimately decided to throw out all the amazing lore their licencees created.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;1085038Finally, a license in the hands of a company I trust.



Nice!

Playlist for all of them is here.



Couldn't agree more.

It's a damn shame the rights holders for both Aliens and Star Wars ultimately decided to throw out all the amazing lore their licencees created.

Yeah, I loved the Dark Horse Aliens comics; hated Alien3.

Quote from: S'mon;1085058Yeah, I loved the Dark Horse Aliens comics; hated Alien3.

I'm still wishing that they would have just adapted the original Dark Horse Aliens vs Predator comic to film. That would have been epic!

Quote from: S'mon;1084869Seems foolish that they're treating the terrible Alien 3 as canon and the default setting time period. That'd be like making a Highlander RPG set in the Highlander 2 universe.

I liked Alien 3, you fucking harlot.

Yes, Aliens was better, but Alien 3 is a lot better than Alien Resurrection or the AVP movies.

As long as they do not recognize the Joss Whedon trainwreck that is Alien Resurrection as canon, I can accept them recognizing Alien 3 as canon.

Watch the Assembly Cut of Alien 3, it's much better than the theatrical cut and serves as an excellent finale to the Alien saga.

Lemme guess, you're still butthurt that they killed Hicks and Newt in the third film, aren't you?

The Dark Horse timeline makes the most sense for a RPG setting. For an Aliens game to work, the Alien threat needs to have spread across numerous worlds, including Earth.

As per the films, the Alien threat on Acheron LV426 was vaporized and the prison planet threat was totally contained, leaving nothing but blood samples that took 200 years to make viable again. Not much to do there. Prometheus and its whatever sequel nuked the setting options even further.

For me, I've always declared the Alien Ship on LV426 to have survived the nuclear meltdown. It wasn't that close to the atmospheric station and makes the perfect macguffin for various corporations to steal eggs and spread the disaster from world to world.

BTW, that's also why Predators are highly active in my Aliens campaigns. Lots and lots of hunting grounds with worthy prey.

Quote from: Doc Sammy;1085374Lemme guess, you're still butthurt that they killed Hicks and Newt in the third film, aren't you?

It was super lame and undercut the entire point of Aliens.

Much like the current Star Wars shitfests negating the sacrifices and achievements of the previous films.

I like Alien 3 (and I've seen the assembly cut) and I enjoyed Alien 4 because the crew are RPG PCs.