Aliens RPG Post Mortem

[Manbearcat]

I'm going to use this thread to do proper post mortems on my game.

I was hoping to have an expedition take place tonight (that is what the PCs planned for after the first session revealed looming airlock gasket failures in all of their habitats) in the second session of my Aliens game so I could write up a proper post-mortem with a lot of the system stress-tested.

Unfortunately things spiraled pretty dramatically with nearly everyone in the small Frontier Colony getting a virulent fungal infection + a sabotage effort within the Russian Roughneck/Engineer portion of the 15 person crew (the UPP, basically an interstellar socialist confederation composed of exactly who you would figure for the 80s franchise, believing the Frontier Colony was a secret bioweapons endeavor by the UA; United Americas).

So as of now, I've just got a lot of social conflict + a lot of Medic/disease conflict + Marshal investigating a scene + some Comtech conflict + science moves and fallout. No combat. No expedition. I'm not sure I want to do a write up yet.

My initial impressions after two sessions and no expedition + stealth/combat is as follows:

1) My Pathfinder 2 Fu isn't particularly strong, but there appears to be some inspiration here at both the noncombat level and the combat level. The noncombat action/conflict resolution level yields a spread of results like this:

- Success + Stunt (boon for every extra 6 result beyond the first).

- Success.

- Fail Forward.

- Hard Fail.

- Hard Fail + Spiral (Panic).

I was a tad skeptical at the outset, but I feel like this spread of outcomes/procedures for handling moves is working well to promote the sort of play one would expect in Aliens.

2) Combat has some level of intricate and interactive action economy with blocking (like PF2 I believe) for melee attacks. I'm utterly agnostic on this at this point (other than to say things like Xenomorphs are crazy deadly).

3) Contests (Opposed Rolls) are rough for the defender because (a) they can't Push (increasing your Stress Level but increasing your prospects in a move) and (b) they have to beat the aggressors 6 count (on a push - they both get 1 * 6 result - the aggressor wins). So therefore things like Stamina vs Virulence (for a disease) or Stamina vs any exposure or Stalking are likely to be rough on the defender.

4) The game has ways to marshal courage/grit (Pushing and increasing Stress) that encourages boldness and aggression but this also can and will absolutely trigger spirals internally (within a PC) and externally (within a crew/colony). This has a bit of a Dogs in the Vineyard feel where you marshal Relationships/Traits/Things in which you have a conflicted relationship (giving you both a big dice and a small dice which yields a much increased chance of Fallout). This should create that internal tension on a decision-in/decision-out basis and yield the erosion of character out from under you feel of Dogs and Aliens.

5) The game is Zone-centric for all mobility based conflicts (piloting vehicles, climbing/trekking, stalking/evading, ranged to close combat). Although they haven't been deployed yet in game, they seem to be very easy to use, to scale up and down as required for the obstacle/challenge/conflict and fairly well integrated with the system.

6) The fact that the Android (the Medic in this game who received a software download right before deployment as the first Medic perished) can't gain/use Stress (Push) nor Panic and doesn't deal with exposure related fallout will likely end up conveying a very functional "alien consciousness within our midst" vibe as all of the characters will be dealing with these things constantly.

7) Gear/Loadout/Encumbrance mechanics seem solid on the surface but (again) expedition to test this pending (I mean...hell, we'll see if we even get to that...this Colony may get "nuked from orbit" before that even occurs...the Android Medic and the Scientist - who is infected - will be working to devise a cure next session before everyone dies...nearly the entire Colony of 15 is infected after this session).

8) The advancement scheme of the game and the reward cycles broadly absolutely do the good work of having the game be propelled by Aliens-archetype dramatic needs/relationships (Agenda, Buddy/Rival).

---

So those are my initial thoughts without a full post mortem. I'll throw out some examples of the actual play in the coming days.

 

[hawkeyefan]

1) My Pathfinder 2 Fu isn't particularly strong, but there appears to be some inspiration here at both the noncombat level and the combat level. The noncombat action/conflict resolution level yields a spread of results like this:

- Success + Stunt (boon for every extra 6 result beyond the first).

- Success.

- Fail Forward.

- Hard Fail.

- Hard Fail + Spiral (Panic).

I was a tad skeptical at the outset, but I feel like this spread of outcomes/procedures for handling moves is working well to promote the sort of play one would expect in Aliens.

I have no familiarity with PF2 at all, so I don't know about similarity there, but I agree that the outcomes as you've summarized do fit well with the setting.

2) Combat has some level of intricate and interactive action economy with blocking (like PF2 I believe) for melee attacks. I'm utterly agnostic on this at this point (other than to say things like Xenomorphs are crazy deadly).

My group of players have mostly played D&D or similar systems, and they all enjoy tactical combat to one degree or another, and the system seemed to give the ones that love that stuff enough to use, but not too much for those that aren't as concerned. It seems like a pretty good balance.

And yes, the xenomorphs are potentially very deadly. I liked the idea of the GM having to roll on the creatures turn to see what action it takes because it kind of helps portray them as unknowable and unpredictable, but also because it helps absolve the GM of responsibility for deploying their deadliest moves.

3) Contests (Opposed Rolls) are rough for the defender because (a) they can't Push (increasing your Stress Level but increasing your prospects in a move) and (b) they have to beat the aggressors 6 count (on a push - they both get 1 * 6 result - the aggressor wins). So therefore things like Stamina vs Virulence (for a disease) or Stamina vs any exposure or Stalking are likely to be rough on the defender.

I have to say I don't recall too many opposed rolls coming up in our game too much, except for combat rolls, so I don't recall this being an issue. It sounds like maybe it stands out as obvious given the scenario you've got with the viral outbreak? Probably something to be aware of and to adjust if you don't like how it works.

4) The game has ways to marshal courage/grit (Pushing and increasing Stress) that encourages boldness and aggression but this also can and will absolutely trigger spirals internally (within a PC) and externally (within a crew/colony). This has a bit of a Dogs in the Vineyard feel where you marshal Relationships/Traits/Things in which you have a conflicted relationship (giving you both a big dice and a small dice which yields a much increased chance of Fallout). This should create that internal tension on a decision-in/decision-out basis and yield the erosion of character out from under you feel of Dogs and Aliens.

Yeah, I like that the game moves you toward more capable as your stress mounts, but then at any moment things can go terribly wrong because of panic. It allows the characters to be capable and to pull off cool and dangerous stuff, but they know at any moment things can spiral. I've not yet had the chance to play Dogs in the Vineyard, but it does seem like a similarity, based on my minimal knowledge of that game.

5) The game is Zone-centric for all mobility based conflicts (piloting vehicles, climbing/trekking, stalking/evading, ranged to close combat). Although they haven't been deployed yet in game, they seem to be very easy to use, to scale up and down as required for the obstacle/challenge/conflict and fairly well integrated with the system.

I like the simplicity of zones. I think that it does come at the cost of some level of specificity as it relates to positioning and the like, but we were able to handle that in play. I recall when a Roughneck specifically moved into position to protect another PC, I think the rules would still allow an enemy to attack the other character because they're at Close range. We didn't do that because it undermined the Roughneck's move and seemed needlessly technical, but I remember thinking this could be an issue in some way or for some groups.

My memory could be off here, though.

6) The fact that the Android (the Medic in this game who received a software download right before deployment as the first Medic perished) can't gain/use Stress (Push) nor Panic and doesn't deal with exposure related fallout will likely end up conveying a very functional "alien consciousness within our midst" vibe as all of the characters will be dealing with these things constantly.

Yeah, I like how Androids do change things up instead of just being like a race option for a PC. And given that with Prometheus (and supposedly Covenant, but I can't say for sure as I've yet to see it) the nature of AI through the lens of David was pretty much the most compelling part of the film, I think your idea of an outsider among us seems suitable.

7) Gear/Loadout/Encumbrance mechanics seem solid on the surface but (again) expedition to test this pending (I mean...hell, we'll see if we even get to that...this Colony may get "nuked from orbit" before that even occurs...the Android Medic and the Scientist - who is infected - will be working to devise a cure next session before everyone dies...nearly the entire Colony of 15 is infected after this session).

Most of this worked just fine for our game, which was a three part cinematic scenario. We didn't concern ourselves immediately with the Supply mechanics; they seemed unlikely to come up given the shorter nature of the game. But later in the second session I started to implement them. I think on an expedition type of situation, where choice of loadout is meant to be important, these rules will help drive play and ratchet up the tension.

8) The advancement scheme of the game and the reward cycles broadly absolutely do the good work of having the game be propelled by Aliens-archetype dramatic needs/relationships (Agenda, Buddy/Rival).

Yeah, I like the list of XP triggers. I don't have my book handy, but I think you need like 5 xp to improve an existing skill or gain a new one, and I think it's pretty easy to get 5 xp in a session. Not sure about that rate of progress in a campaign. We weren't really concerned with it during our initial cinematic scenario. We did plan on taking the surviving characters from that cinematic scenario and then going into a campaign after, but we only did a session or two before we got interrupted, and then we haven't yet gone back to it.

I loved how the Agenda worked in the cinematic play, but in that case, they were chosen ahead of time because we used pregenerated characters. But I like how it gives the character clear cut goals, and they're more immediate than far off. Buddies and rivals also worked quite well. My players immediately accepted those and played accordingly, without even the xp carrot to chase.

All in all I think it's a good game, and they made some decisions that really suit the setting and the feel that they're going for. I'll be interested to hear how your game goes if any of the PCs live past your next session.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I still feel like Aliens is built to run prepared scenarios, in that while the resolution space does have the range of outputs that could enable more snowball/story now style play, the structure of the rest of the mechanics is very trad in approach. Skills are limited and tightly defined and almost entirely aimed at making the GM tell you more about the setting/situation. Combat is pretty well seated in wargaming conceits, such that having a map, even a rough one, seems imperative to get full use of the mechanics. I'm unsure if the approach being used is fully supported by the game, or if it's experience with other systems and smuggling in different conceits that's doing the heavy lifting.

I very much love large chunks of this system, but if I were to run it for me group (and I hope to), I think I'm going to lean a lot more towards a trad/classic approach of a prepped scenario rather than try to make what's here do the work I need it to for a more narrative experience.

I reserve the right to alter my opinions as play continues.

 

[cmad1977]

We liked it some. Our marines seemed to drop our weapons ALL THE TIME(seriously). I THINK the GM was calling for more rolls then necessary but none of the players(me included) reaaaallly know the rules that well.
There were times when I would need to decide what to do and I literally wanted to stand still because I had accrued so much stress.

 

[prabe]

I still feel like Aliens is built to run prepared scenarios, in that while the resolution space does have the range of outputs that could enable more snowball/story now style play, the structure of the rest of the mechanics is very trad in approach. Skills are limited and tightly defined and almost entirely aimed at making the GM tell you more about the setting/situation. Combat is pretty well seated in wargaming conceits, such that having a map, even a rough one, seems imperative to get full use of the mechanics. I'm unsure if the approach being used is fully supported by the game, or if it's experience with other systems and smuggling in different conceits that's doing the heavy lifting.

I think I agree with this. I think that if one is running a prepped scenario, the tendency to generate failure into consequences, as opposed to failure into dead ends, would work better for that--and arguably capture the feel of the source material.

 

[Ovinomancer]

...the Android Medic and the Scientist - who is infected - will be working to devise a cure next session before everyone dies...nearly the entire Colony of 15 is infected after this session).

This is highly presumptive.

 

[Manbearcat]

This is highly presumptive.

I like my presumptive like I like my scientists.

Douchey.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I like my presumptive like I like my scientists.

Douchey.

Fair.

 

[aramis erak]

I ran two fairly successful, low-prep but short campaigns.

The maps, being zone based, need not be map-type maps, but can be made with flowchart software and work just fine as node-maps rather than deckplans.

If doing a ship based merchants spacer campaign, the skills are used actively to keep the ship running. Failures often result in stress accumulation... Routine operations are a major stressor for a starting party. The stress rules can cause interesting situations without having to add the (robust) random encounters process. One PC (an engineer) snapped from stress due to a drive failure.

One campaign ended due to a character's backstory NPC bringing a facehugger... and the PC tried to save them from themself... and got facehugged. The resulting xenomorph slowly killed off all the PCs...

The players restarted with a mercenaries party.
The other campaign, also a ship=based one, ended due to COVID making it too much like real life for me to cope as a GM. COVID lockdown also killed the mercs game, because that one was FTF.

By providing players with copies of the ship map, the online group handled play sans VTT easily - exact positioning is unneeded. For the local stuff, when it got hostile, a quick text node map was plenty.

 

[Fenris-77]

Having done a lot of writing for Trophy lately I'm keenly aware of the joys of a good node based map. Never used to be my thing, but, much like a alien fungus, its growing on me.