Author Andrew EC Gasker's Q&A On Colonial Marines Operations Manual

What's Canon And What's Not

Alien RPG author and franchise mythology guru Andrew EC Gaska has penned a definitive guide to the canon of the universe where the official Alien roleplaying game (and the movies) takes place.

You can read it in all its glory here:

https://roguereviewer.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/defining-canon-in-an-alien-world/

Before you ask: no, Predators aren't part of the official Alien canon and, yes, it's your game universe, so you can have Predators if you want to stat them up and throw them at unsuspecting colonial marines.

Of particular interest to me is the tier of "myths and legends", which is sort of what I was getting at with my Space Beast ruminations the other month.

Alien RPG Writer Andrew E.C. Gaska Answers Fan Questions

ALIEN STARTER SET AND DESTROYER OF WORLDS RELEASED BY FREE LEAGUE TODAY!

Free League has released two new box sets in support of its award-winning Alien RPG today: the Starter Set and the Destroyer Of Worlds adventure.

Pre-orders are being packed and will be dispatched shortly, and you can now order the box sets from the Free League store or, if you prefer PDFs and just want it all in digital format, via DriveThruRPG.

The Starter Set is designed to be the perfect entry point into the game and the Alien universe.

It contains everything needed to start playing:

• A 104-page condensed rulebook
• The 48-page complete Cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods by Andrew E.C. Gaska
• Five pre-generated characters to play
• A huge full-colour, double-sided map, with one side depicting chartered space in the year 2183 and the other floor plans for the Chariot of the Gods scenario
• 84 game markers for keeping track of characters, motion tracker pings, and more
• 56 custom cards for weapons, personal agendas, and initiative in combat
• A set each of ten engraved Base Dice and ten Stress Dice, designed specifically for the Alien roleplaying game.

Destroyer of Worlds is a complete Cinematic scenario, written by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska just like the previous Chariot of the Gods.

In Destroyer of Worlds, players take the roles of Colonial Marines.

The scenario is designed for three to five players plus the Game Mother, and it’s a gauntlet of one hell after another.

Expect it to take three sessions to complete.

This boxed set contains:

• The main Destroyer of Worlds scenario book
• A huge double-sided map of the Ariaricus moon colony on one side and the Fort Nebraska space elevator ground base on the other
• Seven pre-generated characters to play
• Custom cards for weapons, vehicles, and personal agendas
• Player maps and handouts

Free League Wins Alien Day By Opening Pre-Orders On Two New Box Sets

Today, in honour of Alien Day, the annual 4/26 celebration of the Alien franchise and fandom, Free League has announced not one but two major expansions for the official Alien RPG: a boxed Starter Set and a brand-new Cinematic scenario entitled Destroyer of Worlds.

Both titles will be released in August and can be pre-ordered today via the official Alien RPG website. If you pre-order, you will get complete PDFs well ahead of the official release day.

The boxed Starter Set is designed to be the perfect entry point into the game and the Alien universe. It contains everything needed to start playing:

• A 104-page condensed rulebook.
• The 48-page complete Cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods by Andrew E.C. Gaska.
• Five pre-generated characters to play.
• A huge full-colour, double-sided map (format 864x558mm), with one side depicting chartered space in the year 2183 and the other floor plans for the Chariot of the Gods scenario.
• 84 game markers for keeping track of characters, motion tracker pings, and more.
• 56 high quality custom cards for weapons, personal agendas, and initiative in combat.
• A set each of ten engraved Base Dice and ten Stress Dice, designed specifically for the ALIEN roleplaying game.

Destroyer of Worlds is a complete Cinematic scenario, written by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska just like the previous Chariot of the Gods.

In Destroyer of Worlds, you take the roles of Colonial Marines as seen in Aliens (1986).

The scenario is designed for 3–5 players plus the Game Mother, and it’s a gauntlet of one hell after another. Expect it to take three sessions to complete. This boxed set contains:

• The main Destroyer of Worlds scenario book.
• A huge double-sided map (format 864x558mm) of the Ariaricus moon colony on one side and the Fort Nebraska space elevator ground base on the other.
• Five pre-generated characters to play.
• Custom cards for weapons, vehicles, and personal agendas.
• Player maps and handouts.

PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW LIVE!!!

The window for pre-orders of the new Alien RPG is now open, and will remain available until August 4.

Go to Alien-RPG.com to place your order.

The game is due to ship in December, but if you pre-order direct from publisher Free League you will be entitled to a complimentary 168-page Cinematic Starter Kit PDF.

This booklet, which includes the full-length Cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods written by Alien RPG setting writer and sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska, will be available to you - via DrivethruRPG - within days of your purchase and you can start playing immediately.

By taking part in the pre-order you can also provide feedback on the game before the core rulebook goes to print, and thereby help Free League make the game even more awesome – and be credited as an official playtester.

• The first wave of Cinematic Starter Kit PDFs are due to be sent out before the weekend is over.

In addition to the core rulebook, Free League is offering a deluxe GM Screen, custom dice, a large starmap, and custom cards for weapons, NPCs and combat initiative.

If you want to go all-in, they are offering discount bundles, and if you have your heart set on a unique artefact celebrating both Alien and the game, hardcore fans can pick up the the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Core Rulebook, with a special commemorative embossed cover.

Free League has also explained why it's running a pre-order for this exciting game:

"In the past, we have done many Kickstarters to fund the development of our roleplaying games. This a pre-order, meaning that the game will be published no matter how many people take part in it. However, there are three good reasons to take part in this-preorder:

1. You get the 168-page Cinematic Starter Kit PDF within days after purchase and can start playing immediately!
2. By taking part in the pre-order you can provide feedback on the game before the core rulebook goes to print, and thereby help us making the game even more awesome.
3. A big support for the pre-order will help us kick off development of modules and supplements for the game even sooner."

ALIEN RPG PRE-ORDERS START TOMORROW

A major incentive in pre-ordering the Alien RPG - from Free League - is early access to the complimentary 168-page Cinematic Starter Kit PDF including the full-length Cinematic scenario Chariot of the Gods written by Alien RPG setting writer and sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska.

The Cinematic Starter Kit will be available for download via DrivethruRPG as soon as the pre-order purchase is confirmed.

In addition, anyone who pre-orders the core rulebook will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the game before it goes to print and earn a play-tester credit in the final publication.

The centrepiece of the pre-order is, of course, the Alien RPG Core Rulebook containing 300+ pages of mythology, original artwork, and custom mechanics for open-world campaigns as well as cinematic gameplay, based on Free League's award-winning Year Zero game engine.

You can read about the two different styles of adventure the game supports here:

• Cinematic

• Campaign

In addition to the core rulebook, they will be offering a deluxe GM Screen, custom dice, a large starmap, and custom cards for weapons, NPCs and combat initiative.

If you want to go all-in (and who wouldn't?), Free League will offer bundle deals.

If you want a unique artefact, they are offering the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Core Rulebook (pictured below), with a special commemorative embossed book cover. Exclusive to this pre-order campaign, the 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition will never be printed again.

CAMPAIGN MODE

From the Official Newsletter for the Upcoming Alien Tabletop RPG

While Cinematic mode lets you relive the intense drama och thrill of an Alien movie, Campaign play lets you go deeper, exploring the darkness of space over the course of a long campaign, spanning dozens of sessions. There is a lot more to do in the Alien universe than fighting xenomorphs!

The key tool for Campaign play is the starmap of known space in 2183 AD.

The map is based on the work of Scott Middlebrook, with additional work by our main setting writer and Alien franchise consultant Andrew E. C. Gaska, and graphic design by our Art Director Christian Granath.

The star map is divided into broad sections such as the Core Systems, the Outer Veil and the Frontier.

It also indicates which areas are under the general control of the main factions of human civilization, such as the United Americas and the Three World Empire, and includes many stars, planets and colonies from the Alien films as well as from video games, books and comics.

The locations and factions on the map are further described in the Governments & Corporations and Systems & Planets chapters in the core game book, both written by Drew Gaska.

TOOLS FOR CAMPAIGN PLAY

Beyond the pure setting texts describing the world of 2183 AD, the Alien RPG core rulebook will also contain a powerful array of tools for the Gamemaster to use in Campaign play.

These tools include extensive random tables to quickly create systems, planets, missions and encounters with a few dice rolls, turning the Alien RPG into an open-world, sandbox game.

These tools are created by Free League co-founder Nils Karlén in cooperation with RPG designer Paul Elliott (Hostile, Zenobia).

Campaign play and the tools for it are built around three distinct campaign concepts, determined by the types of characters you will be playing in your campaign. The three concepts are described below.

SPACE TRUCKERS

While not as lucrative a field as it was some fifty years ago, hauling refineries and cargo between Earth and the colonies is still big business.

The advent of newer and faster FTL drives has significantly shortened the travel time between worlds, ensuring that starship crews don’t have to spend nearly as much time in stasis.

Most companies compensate their crews not only for their work but for time lost in hypersleep as well.

While most space truckers work for one corporation or another, there are also independent trader captains, smugglers, salvage crews, and privateers.

Space is big, and legally or off the books, people and things always need to get from one side of it to the other.

COLONIAL MARINES

The United States Colonial Marine Corps represents the finest fighting force ever assembled.

Technologically advanced and sporting all the latest in military hardware — a large amount of which is designed by Weyland-Yutani — the Colonial Marines are able to operate independently in nearly any environment.

Combat teams are cross-trained and can be deployed at a moment’s notice to nearly any world without extensive briefing.

Military occupations include vehicle operators and pilots, combat technicians, heavy weapons specialists, medics, engineers, and career officers.

Naval occupations are found in the USCM support service of warship and starfighter teams of the United Americas Outer Rim Defense Fleet, and there are special military R&D programs across the spectrum that require volunteers.

On the Frontier, there is always something that needs defending and some planet that needs pacifying.

FRONTIER COLONISTS

To most, becoming a colonist means you accept a hard life with little reward other than the satisfaction of a job well done.

A colonist’s hands are always dirty and their feet are always tired. Living on the edge of civilization can have its benefits, however.

Depending on your profession, the chance to strike it big could be right around the corner.

Frontier Colonists are scouts and homesteaders, farmers and scientists, miners and doctors.

Colonial Marshals keep the peace and Frontier journalists keep the colonies in the know.

Colonists are the lifeblood of humanity.

Stay tuned – and tell all of your friends to also sign up to this newsletter at Alien-RPG.com!

CINEMATIC GAMEPLAY

From the Official Newsletter for the Upcoming Alien Tabletop RPG

A Cinematic scenario emulates the dramatic arc of an Alien film.

Designed to be played in one or a a few sessions, this game mode emphasizes high stakes and fast and brutal play.

Conflict between player characters is likely, and you are not all expected to survive.

Cinematic scenarios come with pre-generated characters, specifically tailored for the story.
A Cinematic scenario is divided into three Acts.

For each Act, each player character is given a Personal Agenda, that is kept secret from the other players.

A Personal Agenda can go against the interests of other characters or the group as a whole, but that's not always the case – the point is that you can never be sure about the motivations of the other characters.

Personal Agendas for Act 1 and Act 2 are generally carefully phrased, to avoid overt confrontations between player characters to early in the story.

Act 3 Agendas tend to push characters to a climactic endgame, sometimes pitting player characters in direct confrontation against each other – just like Ripley against Ash in Alien and Burke in Aliens.

CHARIOT OF THE GODS

One Cinematic scenario, Chariot of the Gods, is included in core rulebook. This pre-generated scenario provides all the tools necessary to run your first Alien roleplaying game, and it’s a fun and easy way to learn how to play and tell your own stories on the Frontier.

In Chariot of the Gods, the players take the roles of the crew of the USCSS Montero starfreighter.

It’s designed to introduce the game to the players while at the same time take them for a thrilling, terrifying ride into space where no one can hear them scream.

The scenario is designed for 3–5 players plus GM, and takes at least 4-5 hours to complete.

Chariot of the Gods is written by author Andrew E. C. Gaska, lead setting writer for the Alien RPG and franchise consultant on Alien for 20th Century Fox, with editing and added gameplay aspects by game director Tomas Härenstam.

More Cinematic scenarios will be published by Free League Publishing in the years to come. Some will be linked into longer narratives, where the outcome of one Cinematic scenario can impact the setup of the next – even if all player characters are replaced.

Stay tuned – and tell all of your friends to also sign up to this newsletter at Alien-RPG.com!

BUILDING BETTER WORLDS

From the Official Newsletter for the Upcoming Alien Tabletop RPG

Most Alien films tell a horryfing and thrilling story with a tight focus.

They generally don't reveal that much detail about the greater universe, instead leaving the viewer with largely unexplained names of locations and organizations to spark the imagination.

Cinematic scenarios for the Alien RPG will work in very much the same way as the films.

But for Campaign mode, we need to flesh out the universe and present the Alien world of 2183 AD to you as a cohesive whole.

The full game will have meaty chapters on governments, corporations, star systems, planets, colonies, and xenomorphs, as well as a beautiful star map of known space for you to explore.

The lead writer of the setting chapters is Andrew E. C. Gaska – author, senior development editor at Lion Forge Comics, and franchise consultant on Alien, Predator and Planet of the Apes for 20th Century Fox.

With total attention to the minute details of the Alien lore from decades of movies, games, books, and comics, Drew's work is to preserve the essence of the expanded material and bring it in line with hardcore canon, filling in gaps where needed. In addition to his setting design, Drew is the lead writer of the introductory scenario Chariot of the Gods.

To compliment Drew's work, RPG designer Paul Elliott (Hostile, Zenobia) is writing systems and missions generators for the Gamemaster to use, as well as modular locations and adversaries, to make the Alien RPG in Campaign Mode a truly sandbox, open-world game.

The end result is a rich game universe in the deadly cold of outer space for you to explore.

More details on the Alien RPG universe of 2183 AD will follow in later newsletters.

Stay tuned – and tell all of your friends to also sign up to this newsletter at Alien-RPG.com!

FREE LEAGUE ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL ALIEN TABLETOP RPG

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 26, 2019) – Forty years ago, Alien shocked and inspired the world with a horrific sci-fi universe that forever changed the genre.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Free League Publishing has announced today that fans can soon explore that iconic universe for themselves with an official line of tabletop role-playing games.

The long-term licensing partnership with 20th Century Fox Consumer Products will kick off in late 2019, launching an ongoing tabletop RPG series drawing upon four decades of world-building within this beloved universe.

Free League is renowned for its own world-building in science fiction, with their best-selling sci-fi RPG Tales from the Loop sweeping the 2017 ENnie Awards for Best Setting, Best Writing, Best Art, Best Game, and Product of the Year.

Tomas Härenstam, Free League co-founder and game director of their sci-fi RPGs Tales from the Loop and Mutant: Year Zero, will oversee game design, with original artwork from esteemed artists Martin Grip, John Mullaney and Axel Torvenius.

Taking place shortly after the events of Aliens, the first RPG will propel players into the vast possibilities of the Outer Rim Frontier. From the pioneering colonists and scientists to the ever-present Company reps and Colonial Marines, the game promises a diverse range of characters and gameplay experiences far beyond the staple cat-and-mouse suspense and survival horror of the franchise.

“The Alien saga isn’t about superheroes with superior firepower,” says game director Härenstam. “It’s about placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, and testing the endurance of the human spirit against inhuman atrocities and impossible odds. Such a harsh yet hopeful universe has captured our imagination for 40 years with good reason, and we’re excited to explore new stories and perspectives as players must face their demons (in a true and metaphoric sense) and brave the horrors of the unknown.”

To best capture the Alien experience, the RPG will provide more than the framework for continuous, open-world campaigns.

Beyond the sandbox campaign game mode, Free League is also designing a “Cinematic” mode, with pre-generated scenarios that players must complete within a single session.

Emulating the dramatic arc of an Alien film, these survival challenges promise escalating stakes and fast (often brutal) gameplay where most players aren’t expected to last the night.

Their first cinematic scenario, Chariot of the Gods written by sci-fi novelist Andrew E.C. Gaska (Death of the Planet of the Apes), is included in the core manual.

Gaska is also the setting writer and canon consultant for the RPG series.

More cinematic modules and game expansions are already in production, with direct tie-ins to Fox’s future plans for the franchise slated for 2020 and beyond.

The Fox-Free League licensing deal was brokered by Joe LeFavi of Genuine Entertainment, who will manage the license on behalf of Free League and serve as an editor on the game series.

Alien is the latest in a slew of high-profile tabletop deals by LeFavi, including the master tabletop gaming license for Dune, the tabletop RPG series for Altered Carbon, and multiple brand extensions of World of Darkness.

For more news and previews on the Alien RPG series, visit alien-rpg.com.

Then follow Free League Publishing on Twitter and Facebook, where fans can discover art and gameplay development ahead of the game’s release.

ABOUT 20TH CENTURY FOX CONSUMER PRODUCTS

20th Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of 20th Century Fox Film, 20th Century Fox Television and FX Networks, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with 20th Century Fox Television, the flagship studio leading the industry in supplying award-winning and blockbuster primetime television programming and entertainment content and 20th Century Fox Film, one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures throughout the world. For more information on all Alien products and activities, go to www.AlienUniverse.com.

ABOUT FREE LEAGUE PUBLISHING

Free League is a critically acclaimed Swedish publisher of speculative fiction, dedicated to publishing award-winning tabletop role-playing games, board games, and art books set in strange and wondrous worlds. Our best-selling RPG Tales from the Loop swept the 2017 ENnie Awards, winning five Gold ENnies for Best Setting, Best Writing, Best Art, Best Game, and Product of the Year. The game is inspired by a series of iconic art books published by Free League – Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood, and The Electric State – exploring artist Simon Stålenhag’s original sci-fi universe soon to be realized in the upcoming TV series from Amazon Studios. Most recently, our fantasy RPG Forbidden Lands became the 3rd most successful RPG Kickstarter of 2017 and dubbed one of the best RPGs of 2018. Other tabletop work includes the post-apocalyptic RPG Mutant: Year Zero, the sci-fi RPG Coriolis – The Third Horizon, the fantasy RPG Symbaroum, and the Crusader Kings board game. To learn more, visit freeleaguepublishing.com.

ABOUT GENUINE ENTERTAINMENT

Genuine Entertainment is an award-winning producer and paladin in genre entertainment, specializing in strategic licensing for entertainment franchises and fandoms that demand quality and authenticity in equal measure. It’s our mission to build brands by building worlds and fan communities, making meaningful contributions with premium content and consumer products that extend brands into new markets and genuinely connect with fans across multiple categories. Recent collaborations include such genre greats as Alien, Altered Carbon, Avengers: Infinity War, Blade Runner 2049, Dune, Game of Thrones, and World of Darkness. To learn more, visit: www.genuineent.com.