Aliens RPG (Split from Fishing)

[TiggerCCW UK]

Split from "Fishing" thread as this is significant drift - kato13

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Stumbled across it while researching for my Aliens game.

OT, but are you using the official Aliens RPG rules? I just acquired them myself and haven't had a chance to read them yet - stupid real life taking ton much of my time. Has anyone used them and are they any good?

[Targan]

I have the Aliens rules that are based on the Phoenix Command rules. Same rules that you guys have?

Aliens is my favourite film of all time BTW.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

OT, but are you using the official Aliens RPG rules?

Yes, I am. There's a couple of small glitches here and there, but on the whole if you take the time, it's possibly one of the most realistic systems I've ever seen (even though it's a watered down version of Phoenix Command).
It's quite possible for a character to die from a broken bottle, or survive a direct hit from a LAW (albeit not for very long unless they happened to already be laying on an operating table at the time).

Aliens themselves are NASTY. In most terrains (even flat, featureless desert), they can get to within a few dozen feet without being spotted - closer if the team does not yet suspect their presence or it's the first encounter.

Vehicle combat leaves a bit to be desired, but what's the fun in fighting aliens from your APC or Dropship anyway?

The rules reflect what happened in the movie very well - pistols are next to useless, pulse rifles and grenades are good, shotguns are excellent up close (if you don't mind being sprayed with acid), machineguns rock and flame units are AWESOME except for their extreme short range (just 24 feet).

Character generation makes it exceptionally hard to have overpowered characters but if the players use their heads, that's not too much of a hinderance.

[Targan]

I like the Aliens rules but Gunmaster provides an at least equal level of realism while flowing much better and is far superior in areas such as character generation. I converted the rules to Gunmaster.

Having said that I'd still be prepared to run the Aliens rules as they are. If you are familiar with Phoenix Command you won't have any problems with the Aliens rules. If not you might take a few read-throughs and play tests to get your head around them.

[Legbreaker]

A few read throughs? More like a two year degree with a minor in mathematics and statistics....

It's complex, but worth the effort. To play, you either need a GM who's willing to let players ROLEplay everything and convert that into dice and mechanics, OR everyone needs to be intimately familiar and have a copy of the dozens of tables cliped to their character sheet (the second works best and saves bucketloads of time).

As there was only the one RPG book, boardgame and boardgame expansion produced, resources are limited although if you can find it, the Colonial Marines Technical Manual written by Lee Birmington(?) is a big help. Not a lot online either unfortunately.