Other Hazards

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Conditions - The world of ALIEN is unforgiving, and there are many ways for your character to suffer and die. In the game, there are four so-called conditions: Starving, Dehydrated, Exhausted, and Freezing. These can cause damage and block recovery. Mark conditions in the relevant check boxes on your character sheet.

Vacuum - Space is a cold and unforgiving place. Without the protection of a space suit or the hull of a ship, you won’t last long in the black void. If your ship suffers explosive decompression (below) or if you are thrown out of an airlock, your life is in extreme danger. The absence of pressure creates gas bubbles in your blood, causing your whole body to swell up. This results in crippling pain, all while the raw UV radiation from the nearest star sears your skin. You can’t hold your breath—if you do, your lungs collapse. After that, you are just moments away from death.

Freezing - In an environment without enough clothes or shelter, you become Freezing.

Falling - Falling on a hard surface automatically inflicts an amount of damage to you equal to the height of the fall (in meters) divided by 2, rounding all fractions down. In a controlled jump, roll MOBILITY—each (target) rolled reduces the damage done by one. Armor can also protect you from falling damage.

Explosions - The force of an explosion is measured in Blast Power. For each person within SHORT range of the blast when the detonation occurs, roll a number of Base Dice equal to the Blast Power. For every (target) rolled, the victim suffers one point of damage. The roll cannot be pushed. Victims at ENGAGED range from the detonation suffer one extra point of damage.

Fire - A fire is measured in Intensity. A typical fire has Intensity 8. When exposed to fire, roll a number of Base Dice equal to the Intensity. For every (target) rolled, you suffer one point of damage. Armor can protect you.

Disease - When exposed to a dangerous contagion or infection, you need to roll an opposed roll for STAMINA against the Virulence rating of the disease. This is called a Sickness Roll. A typical disease has a Virulence of 3, but there are diseases with much higher ratings. If you fail the roll, you fall sick.

Radiation - The world of ALIEN contains many places where you will be exposed to hard radiation— on a spacewalk near a dying star, for example, or when you try to repair your ship’s leaking reactor core. When you are exposed to radiation, you gain Radiation Points, or Rads, that accumulate in your body. Check off the Rad boxes on your character sheet. The area’s Radiation Level determines how often you get Rads.

Drowning - All player characters are assumed to know how to swim. For the purposes of movement, swimming counts as crawling. If, by choice or not, you are underwater, you need to make a STAMINA roll every Round. This roll is not an action and is made during your turn before you perform your actions. If you fail, you suffer one point of damage. If you are Broken when drowning, you must make a Death Roll each Turn, until you die or someone saves you with a MEDICAL AID roll.

Suffocation - If your supply of air runs out (see page 34), you won’t have long to live. You’ll start breathing in your own exhaled air, building up dangerous levels of carbon dioxide that will eventually kill you.

Synthetics - Synthetic individuals are increasingly common in the Core Systems, and appear on the Frontier as well. Some are open about their artificial nature, others pose as humans. In combat, androids act like humans, and they roll skill rolls normally.

Xenomorphs - You’ve heard the stories about the monsters out there. You better hope that you won’t need to face one yourself. Fighting Xenomorph beings is something different entirely and far more deadly than facing humans or even androids. Very few have lived to tell the tale A range of Xenomorphs are described in detail in Chapter 11. In combat, Xenomorphs follow special rules.