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

New Box Sets Due To Land In August

Brilliant 20-minute interview, on Box To Board, with Free League's Tomas Härenstam about forthcoming products, including some more tantalising details about forthcoming Alien RPG material.

It looks like August is going to hurt some wallets with two box set releases: a Starter Set, containing everything you need to run the Chariot Of The Gods scenario, and a smaller box set for Destroyer Of Worlds, the Cinematic sequel to Chariot.

Free League is aiming for a simultaneous release of these two.

Then, before the end of the year, they hope to get out a thick book about playing Colonial Marine campaigns.

Watch the video for more details, and a taste of the many other great projects Free League is working on.

"Stop Your Grinnin' And Drop Your Linen"

In an interview today, tying in to the launch of the Amazon TV series based on Tales From The Loop, Tomas Härenstam, Free League's CEO was asked what else the publisher was working on, and he replied:

"Lots of things! We have many Alien products in the works – first up is a new Starter Set and a new Cinematic scenario called Destroyer of Worlds, and then a Campaign book for Colonial Marines."

I'd heard of Destroyer of World and the Colonial Marines book, from the excellent Effekt podcast, but the Starter Set was exciting news to me.

I know where my hard-earned pennies are going.

A BETA PDF IS COMING IN A FEW WEEKS!

This week's newsletter from Free League Publishing revealed that those of us who've pre-ordered the Alien RPG (and already got our sizeable 'quickstart' preview PDF) should be receiving a Beta PDF of the full game soon.

Of this unexpected bonus, the newsletter says:

"Behind the scenes, we're working very hard on the full rulebook, and we expect to be able to share a Beta PDF of whole thing with you in a few weeks.

The full game contains lots of material beyond the Cinematic Starter Kit, mostly focused on fleshing out the Alien universe for Campaign play.

One really meaty chapter of the full rulebook deals with life in space in 2183 AD, and a big part of that chapter is focused on something every self-respecting sci-fi RPG needs – spaceships.

The rulebook will include comprehensive rules for starships, how to modify and upgrade them – and how to fight fast and brutal battles with them."

I know a lot of people have been keen to see how the game handles space travel, where it sits between "hand-waving" and "ultra-crunchy".

Artwork by John R. Mullaney

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!

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.