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I played through the sample 2-3 hour cinematic campaign for the Alien RPG and it went fairly well. I had plenty of fairly interesting and cinematic moments and the aliens themselves are quite lethal. I was able to hit all of the notes that I wanted to hit and the game was deadly enough to make them PC hesitant of actually attacking, although still giving them a way to fight back. The cinematic scenario in the book is more geared towards Aliens-style gameplay than Alien, and I'm really wondering if it is possible to actually recreate Alien (the first one) in the game. With the sort of weapons that the crew of the Nostromo have in the film, it is not entirely impossible to kill the Alien if you get lucky, which if you have a single xeno in your cinematic play, can be somewhat of a downer if you actually do manage to take out the main threat. The only thing that I didn't like in the game was the action resolution for the xenos, but in the end I just decided not to repeat the same attack if they happened more than twice in a row (like it happened for me with some of the combat). Overall me and my players did enjoy ourselves: we are going to have the finish tomorrow, so maybe I'll post a full (spoilered) overview of how our session went if people are interested.
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Jan 17, 2020 00:14
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 03:29 |
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Alright, here's a brief runthrough. It might make more sense with the Hadley's Hope scenario on hand, but I'll try to explain some stuff even for those that don't have access to it. Spoilers for most of the scenario from here on out. I let the players choose their characters. Holdroyd (iirc) the android was picked by someone that had never played any RPGs before, and so was Hirsch (the ex-marine religious dude). My most experienced player picked Singleton, the treacherous pilot, which I was glad since it made the dynamic of the traitor much easier to handle. Macwhirr (the union representative) and Sigg (the scientist) were NPCs, which was actually good since it allowed me to use them to push the players along and give them some purpose. I would recommend not reading out the descriptions to the characters to the table, as it gives some stuff away. It wasn't clear if the android was known or not, but since androids in the game are mechanically different to play, the players will always know if someone is an android. I decided to make it so that IC the characters didn't know it was an android, in order to give the Singleton player some cover. My players started in the west lock and I told them they could hear screams and gunshots coming from the sublevel. They decided to go towards C1, and didn't use the motion detector and so didn't spot the facehugger lurking in the vents: Macwhirr was leading, and the facehugger managed to sneak in close and surprise her, although it just made her panic rather than anything. We switched to combat and Singleton was first in the order, and just outright blasted the facehugger, just eviscerating it completely. Unfortunately, the acid splashed all over Macwhirr leg's, disabling it for the duration of the scenario: this was actually quite good since it forced the group to have someone carry her for the rest of the scenario, and it also meant I had one less NPC to really worry about (I just made it seem she was out of sorts after the injury). The group goes upstairs and find Reynolds. Unfortunately I forget about Theodora (the corporate scientist stuck in the medlab) calling them after the scene, but it's no big. After they find that the keypass is destroyed, they go out of the office and search it, but only find cigars. Suddenly, the intercom buzzes: it's Wes, and he's asking them to come and help him get out of Billy's Bar. They approach the bar, but seeing a big drone xeno for the first time scares them away, and they just see it drag out Wes. Going back into C2, they use the motion tracker and I tell them that they can see dots in the south lock, medlab, north lock and B2. They manage to hack their way into B2 and the android player manages to sneak up to the scout there, bolt gun in hand. The bolt gun knocks out the scout in shot, but it tries a desperate attack and manages to grab the android and carry it towards the D block. The android isn't overly hurt, however, but it has dropped the bolt gun, so instead it just punches the scout and somehow manages to kill it instantly! The group tries to get through to the armoury using the plasma cutter but they don't get very far and eventually give up. They proceed towards the medlab and finally meet Dr Keminsky, who's in a state of shock. They manage to hack the doors and the Doctor explains the situation: they enquire about the body and the Doctor explains that she had to cut out the facehugger before it matured. She also talks about the cryogenic sprays, and also tells them there are some eggs held in hibernation on the lower floor. Sigg, the scientist NPC, is adamant that he wants to go down there and get one of the eggs: much discussion follows. First of all though, they activate the CCTV in Ops and see the carnage that happened in the sub-level (along with some of the discarded weapons) along with the drone that is lurking on the floor beneath them in E1. After more discussion, the android decides to help Sigg sneak down, and somehow the two manage to sneak down to the biolab, bag and freeze the egg and go back to E2, although the egg keeps stirring and needs to have the spray reapplied. Deciding to finally get the hell out now that they have a keycard to the shuttle, the group goes back to B2, but the motion tracker tells them they are being hunted and that there are aliens on the west lock and north lock: the two easiest ways out towards the AATC. They decide that they need bigger weaponry, and thus descend to the sub-level and manage to find an incinerator, a pistol and a pulse rifle. However, the chestburster inside Dr Keminsky suddenly pops out: Hirsch freezes and is unable to kill it, and the chestburster runs away: the group doesn't follow, however. Now armed, they decide to face the drone near the north lock, and Hirsch with a flamethrower and the android with a pulse rifle make the attempt, while the rest stay down in the sublevel to keep watch over Macwhirr. The manage to wound the drone, but it grabs Hirsch and brings it from A1 to B1, where another alien is lurking. Before Holroyd can kill it, the alien grabs Hirsch once again, and then swiftly kills him using its double-mouth. It then runs towards the android, who misses its shots, and grabs him as well, trying to drag him away. Singleton, however, comes up at the last minute and kills the alien with a perfect shot: the acid splash, somehow, does nothing to Holroyd. This is where we left off for now.
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Jan 17, 2020 08:59
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Helical Nightmares posted:Nice writeup! Are the players suspicious of the android given his seemingly supernormal luck, at all? We managed to do a little bit more, although we were literally one fight from the end! Following the last fight with the alien above, Hirsch's player took over Sigg. I was really putting the pressure on them at this moment, and since Sigg was the only one that could carry Macwhirr upstairs to A1, I told him he couldn't carry both Macwhirr AND the egg that Sigg was holding up the stairs. Eventually he chose the egg over Macwhirr, so I gave him a story point for sticking to his agenda and also roleplaying the rivalry between him and Macwhirr. The group argued about where Macwhirr, with Sigg getting easily spotted in his lie that Macwhirr wanted to be left behind. No one went downstairs, and by this time I was telling them that aliens were pretty much heading in their direction, so even though they knew that Sigg lied, they ran off to the ATCC anyway, leaving Macwhirr to die. With the aliens hot on their heels, they reach the ATCC and manage to magnetically seal it, buying them some time. They head for the landing pad, open the hatch to the door and three facehuggers pop out, heading for each one of them. Fighting ensues and although Holroyd gets damage and Singleton is splashed with acid, they make their way out. They continue arguing about the egg, but we had to cut the session JUST before the end! I'm expecting that finally Singleton will turn on them as soon as they are safe, and judging by the actions of the player so far, it's gonna be an interesting 'oh poo poo' moment, especially if they forget about the egg and it hatches as well! I also played Chariot of the Gods, on a discord: I was the junky pilot and one of the neomorph just outright killed me in one move when me and another PC went back to our ship to prevent it exploding. It was fun but I think I always feel a little bit railroaded when I play in pre-made.
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Jan 17, 2020 23:49
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Helical Nightmares posted:Roleplaying Public Radio also had a two episode Actual Play of Alien. It played out differently.
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Jan 17, 2020 23:52
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That's an awesome write up, thanks! in my playthrough I was Davis and the first part was pretty similar, but after the bloodburster wondered off, me and Cham went over to the Montero to prevent it from exploding immediately, and one of the NPCs turned while we were there: my character was killed in a single blow of the neomorph and Davis and the neomorph both died in a deadly embrace, falling off a walkway while the Montero exploded around us. I couldn't make it to the last session unfortunately.
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Jan 18, 2020 01:33
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Keep in mind that Hadley’s Hope is a one Act scenario, and I think it’s entirely doable in one 2 to 3 hour slot if your players are on the ball. Chariot is definitely a three session scenario though.
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Jan 18, 2020 01:58
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We finally finished our session of the Hadley's Hope scenario: Having dealt with the facehuggers, they race for the shuttle, but once in, Singleton finally reveals her true colours and aims a shot at Sigg, trying to take him out. The first shot just clips him, but the followup hits Sigg in the head and he dies instantly before he can do anything. Singleton claims that she did it in order to get the egg out of there, and Holroyd believes her and runs for the egg, trying to cast it out. Unfortunately, the egg is finally stirring and the facehugger emerges from it before it can be chucked out of the shuttle. What follows is a confused fight where Holroyd avoids trying to shoot the alien so it doesn't splash its acid, while the facehugger continually attempts to choke and facehug Singleton, but somehow she fends off all of its attack. Eventually the alien ends up at short range and one burst from the pulse rifle puts it to rest. The doors are closed as the aliens in Hadley's Hope finally breach the door of the landing up, and the shuttle departs in orbit. Holroyd takes the command while Singleton "deals with something", but actually just sneaks back in and surprise attacks Holroyd, lodging a bullet in his spine that makes his legs be lifeless. Turning around, the android grabs the pulse rifle that was resting next to him and fires a volley that hits Singleton: she collapses, a bullet neatly severing her ear. Holroyd rounds up the weapons and since Singleton isn't fatally wounded, she finally wakes up and, noticing the cockpit door locked and no weapons, sulks in the corner, while Holroyd announces to anyone listening that they are the last survivors from Hadley's Hope. The only thing that felt a little bit silly in the above was the constant failed attacks by the facehugger, but it still leant an interesting dynamic, and I eventually just decided to fudge the rolls a bit to make more interesting results happen. I think it's about the only thing that I dislike about the system: the AI for the aliens could use some tuning and I think mostly I'm just gonna decide on what results to use if the one I rolled doesn't really suit the situation.
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Jan 21, 2020 16:56
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Yeah, at least the pre-mades have a host of NPCs that you can take over if necessary. I was due to run the last act of Chariots of Fire last Monday, but due to the whole thing with the virus, it had to be called off.
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Mar 16, 2020 10:54
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DarkAvenger211 posted:Gonna probably try running an Alien Cinematic scenario here soon. One thing that has me raising an eyebrow at is the "calling PvP" ruling. Where a player who may be antagonistic to the rest of the party due to following their personal agenda loses control of their character and has to be given a separate PC to play with instead. So the reason for the rule is both to add dramatic impact to the decision, and not make the decision an easy one, as well as encouraging the party to stick together, to prevent situations where you have to juggle two separate parties with conflicting interests, and to prevent people just being killed out of the blue too early in the story. I would strongly suggest you keep to the rule, because all the times where I've heard people not sticking to it have been horrible. The game is not built for PvP, it is a PvE party-based game and the game rapidly deteriorates (like most RPGs, to be honest) if you allow PvP to occur. You just have to treat characters in Alien as extremely expandable, especially in cinematic play, so going from one character to another should be encouraged and the GM should tell their players not to worry too much about losing their character, either by death or by going antagonistic.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:13
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DarkAvenger211 posted:It definitely makes more sense if the players go in with the notion that they're here to tell an interesting story, and not to make sure their character "wins" the scenario so to speak And, as you said, the scenarios have a list of characters that can be used if your one seems to die. Keep in mind that the game and scenarios encourages antagonistic characters to stay with the group until the third Act (which is the "poo poo hits the fan" act in all scenarios). As well as that, I usually only NPC a character if direct, physical fights happen and there is the possibility of one character dying. I've had situation where someone obviously went evil, but was out of reach/still able to do their own thing, so I didn't NPC the character yet.
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Apr 18, 2023 15:39
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It's certainly possible, but again it's pretty easy to designate one part as the main group and the other as the splinter, and NPC accordingly.
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Apr 18, 2023 16:07
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DarkAvenger211 posted:I've almost finished reading through Chariot of the Gods and it almost becomes more confusing to me to take that ruling into account. In terms of the scenario I've never seen the need to bring in the Sotillo, and it's meant only really to be brought in if a lot of people died in Act II and you don't have enough NPCs left for Act III, but all of the games I've played of Chariot never required those extra bodies and I think they actually can detract from the game. If enough people have died that you really do need to bring in the Sotillo, there won't be enough people left alive to really have 3 different sides to the story, and ideally you want to kill the exisiting people (and maybe leave one alive) while the Sotillo comes in. As for Lucas, yes, if he becomes actively hostile to the group, then he would be NPCed. The rule does state that you have one round of combat before you get NPCed as well, IIRC. The main point of the rule is to prevent outright PvP between players, so don't use it if people plot against each other, and if the parties are split and not in direct conflict, don't NPC either, and only worry about it when there is direct, physical combat occuring. Although the rule is meant to prevent party splitting early, it's not such a big deal by the end of Act III, when poo poo is hitting the fan and most PCs will die anyway. So only worry about it if direct combat is occuring and don't NPC until then.
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Apr 21, 2023 15:55
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The system does have an aside on how to deal with failures, but it boils down to "keep the story moving": Due to the three act nature of the game, one of the best tricks that I learnt in order to keep the story moving but still make the rolls meaningful is to just shift the consequence to the third act, because the third act has a sense of finality that allows you to have pretty drastic consequences. So, for example, let's say they try to break into the initial air lock and fail: don't stop them from going through the air-lock, but maybe it's now unavailable as an entry/exit port in the future. Or maybe they create a weakness in it that, in Act 3, finally gives in and the entire upper deck of the ship is now open to the vacuum of space. Or somebody gets injured or stressed while doing the action, or they break a tool while doing it. Or they use too much air while attempting to do it (which ties in with it taking too long). The consequences are pretty open in terms of the game itself. It depends on how fast you are/your group is in taking. I think I did about 4-6 session, 2 hours per session when I ran it myself, with each Act taking either one or two session each.
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Apr 28, 2023 16:59
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The starter campaign in the rule book is doable in about 4 hours and probably will take far shorter. I feel Chariot of the Gods is a bit of a squeeze in 4 hours, especially if you want your character to explore in Act 2. I think I clocked at about 2 hours per act when I ran it last time, and IMO that's a good time frame.
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Oct 4, 2023 06:57
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 03:29 |
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Act 3 is the end of the scenario where everything comes together and the PCs are in a fight for their life. There is something that you can drop from Act 3 that I won't spoil but you will need to do Act 3 regardless of if you want to run a campaign or not.
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Oct 7, 2023 19:13
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