Character Creation Guide

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***INTRODUCTION:*** So you want to get into Free League's Alien the Roleplaying Game like one of the cool kids? Whether you are a first-time player dreaming of experiencing the exquisite horrors of the Alien universe firsthand, or an experienced Game Mother (this game's version of a Game Master or Dungeon Master) looking to tell a story set in a dark future, then understanding how to build a character should be one of your first stops in that journey. The Core Rulebook does an excellent job detailing character creation starting on page 24. In fact, page 27 has a super convenient 10 point checklist:

1. Choose your career
2. Spend points on your attributes
3. Spend points on your skills
4. Choose your career talent
5. Choose your name
6. Decide on your appearance
7. Decide on your Personal Agenda
8. Choose your Buddy and Rival
9. Pick your gear and a signature item
10. Roll for cash

This video is going to follow that basic format, and my aim here is to provide enough info to keep you from having to flip back and forth in the book repeatedly, while hopefully some helpful advice to make your character creation go as smoothly as possible.

***1) CINEMATIC VS CAMPAIGN:*** Alright, so first thing's first. Before you actually build a character, you need to know what kind of game you are playing. There are two ways of experiencing Alien the Roleplaying Game: Cinematic Play and Campaign Play. The Alien RPG Core Rulebook gives a brief introduction to these concepts on page 26. If you are the GM, you have probably already decided which version of play you have in mind (if not, then I would consider this a crucial beginning step in creating your game). If you are a player, check with your GM.

**CINEMATIC PLAY:** Cinematic play is done with pre-generated characters in a pre-written scenario such as the one included in the Core Rulebook, Hope's Last Day, or any of the standalone releases such as Chariot of the Gods, Destroyer of Worlds, and Heart of Darkness. Additionally, smaller supplements have recently begun releasing with each new Alien novel starting with Alien: Colony War, thanks to a creative partnership between Free League and Titan Books with the aim of creating a unified storyline in the Alien universe. Cinematic play is usually done in a 3-act structure, similar to that of the Alien films. Since scripted events are coming fast with pre-generated characters that already have clear-cut agendas, you can expect immediate intrigue, inter-party conflict, and lethal encounters.

**CAMPAIGN PLAY:** Campaign play is meant for games with custom stories, where you create your own characters following a Campaign Framework chosen by the GM. Your characters change and develop as they gain experience and upgrade their skills and talents, provided they survive. As characters in Campaign play are expected to investigate deeper plots and live out their long-term goals, these games "tend" to be less lethal, but that's of course ultimately up to the kind of game the GM has in mind and the choices the players make along the way. In that same vein, don't expect to encounter an Alien in every session, unless you enjoy rolling new characters. The Core Rulebook has dedicated all of Chapter 12 to Campaign Play, starting on page 324.

**CAMPAIGN FRAMEWORKS:** There are three basic options to frame your campaign around, with more details in the Core Rulebook starting on page 326:

1. Space Truckers
2. Frontier Colonists
3. Colonial Marines

**SPACE TRUCKERS:** The Space Trucker framework is seen in the first Alien film, and on page 327 in the Core Rulebook. You've got your cast of blue-collar workers doing a long-haul shipping job, not for science or exploration, but for a paycheck. They often don't even own the ship they are using, but are instead contracted as crew by one of the many megacorporations that fund these voyages, such as Weyland-Yutani or Lasalle Bionational for example. There is nothing glamorous in what they do and, due to the amount of time they spend in stasis during transit, there can be relationship stress between them and any loved ones they have back on Earth or whatever colony they are from. Because of this, Space Truckers tend to be compensated not just for completing their cargo run, but also for time lost in hypersleep. Some of the suggested careers the book makes for this campaign are Company Agent, Medic, Office, Pilot, and Roughneck.

**FRONTIER COLONISTS:** The Frontier Colonist framework is seen in a deleted scene from the second film, a segment that shows the Hadley's Hope colony on LV-426 before the discovery of the derelict ship containing the Xenomorph eggs (one could argue that the prison in the third film follows this framework as well). Page 329 in the Core Rulebook gives some more info on what kind of campaign to expect here. Everyday life at each colony will have its own idiosyncrasies and challenges, depending on which planet the colony is located on. Colonists tend to go on jobs, or "expeditions" at the behest of their centralized community. This framework can definitely give some wild west vibes. Some of the suggested careers for this campaign include Company Agent, Kid, Medic, Pilot, Roughneck, and Scientist.

**COLONIAL MARINES:** The Colonial Marine framework is the one that most of the second film follows. You are a highly trained soldier with access to all of the weapons, armor, vehicles and anything that will make you think you are the baddest thing in the universe (reality check: you are not). These campaigns are all about running and gunning. Your characters have the potential to deal and take much more damage than in other campaign frameworks. The Colonial Marine career is unique in that it contains 10 Military Occupation Specialties, essentially subclasses. These will be detailed further along in the video.

Regardless of what campaign framework is chosen, any career should be viable in any framework. Just keep in mind what tone you are going for, horror, action, comedy (try as you might, this will inevitably seep in because players will be players), and try to choose careers accordingly. That's not to say mixing and matching won't have interesting story results, however. Are you GMing a Space Truckers campaign, but your five players have all chosen Colonial Marine careers? Have some discussions with the players on what their expectations for the game might be, use that info to create some interesting encounters, and just remember after all is said and done, its a game and you're all here to have fun.

***2) CHOOSE YOUR CAREER:*** Your career determines your character's backgrounds and what role you play in the group. It influences everything that follows in character creation, including attributes, skills, starting gear, etc. There are 9 core careers to choose from, starting on page 38 of the Core Rulebook, in Chapter 2. Each career has a set of Key Attributes, Key Skills, and Career Talents attached. These will all be expanded on in their own sections later in the video, but I suggest making note of the terms as they pertain to your chosen career so you'll know what to look for in the later sections. The book provides example names, personal agendas, appearances, and signature items, but also stresses that you can come up with your own if none of the listed suggestions fit the character you have in mind. Keep in mind that the character sheet provides just enough room for the names of these terms, so unless you have an excellent memory I suggest keeping a sheet nearby with info on what these actually mean. Its one thing to know your Colonial Marshal has a talent called Authority, its another to know what it actually does and how you can use it in the game.

**COLONIAL MARSHAL:** The hard-bitten small-town sheriff, you don't have the patience for bureaucracy or corporate nonsense. On the Frontier, you are often the only law available, and you act accordingly. Your Key Attribute is WITS. Key Skills include OBSERVATION, RANGED COMBAT, and MANIPULATION. Career Talents are AUTHORITY, INVESTIGATOR, and SUBDUE.

**COMPANY AGENT:** You don't just work for the company, you live for it. Every person you know is a just rung on the ladder to the top of the corporate food chain. Your Key Attribute is WITS. Key Skills include COMTECH, OBSERVATION, and MANIPULATION. Career Talents are CUNNING, PERSONAL SAFETY, and TAKE CONTROL.

**KID:** Either born on a colony or brought along by parents following their dreams or paychecks, its up to you to fill your day with enough activities to stave off the monotonous tedium of frontier life. Your Key Attribute is AGILITY. Key Skills include MOBILITY, SURVIVAL, and OBSERVATION. Career Talents are BENEATH NOTICE, DODGE, and NIMBLE.

**MEDIC:** Frontier life is filled with countless dangers, and you are the one people call when they inevitably need patched up. Your Key Attribute is EMPATHY. Key Skills include MOBILITY, OBSERVATION, and MEDICAL AID. Career Talents are CALMING PRESENCE, COMPASSION, and FIELD SURGEON.

**OFFICER:** You are the company liaison to your crew, the middle manager with just enough authority to give orders but not enough to automatically earn respect. Your Key Attribute is EMPATHY. Key Skills include RANGED COMBAT, COMMAND, and MANIPULATION. Career Talents are FIELD COMMANDER, INFLUENCE, and PULL RANK.

**PILOT:** If there's a vehicle nearby, from construction Power Loaders to Armored Personal Carriers to Conestoga-class starships, you are the one in the driver's seat. Your Key Attribute is AGILITY. Key Skills include PILOTING, RANGED COMBAT, and COMTECH. Career Talents are FULL THROTTLE, LIKE THE BACK OF YOUR HAND, and RECKLESS.

**ROUGHNECK:** Loading freight, tending bar, running mining equipment, they're all dirty jobs but someone's gotta do it. And that someone is you. Your Key Attribute is STRENGHT. Key Skills include HEAVY MACHINERY, STAMINA, and CLOSE COMBAT. Career Talents are RESILIENT, THE LONG HAUL, and TRUE GRIT.

**SCIENTIST:** Robotics, xenobiology, astrophysics. These are your passions, your friends, your family. Everything, and everyone, else is just background noise. Your Key Attribute is WITS. Key Skills include OBSERVATION, SURVIVAL, and COMTECH. Career Talents are ANALYSIS, BREAKTHROUGH, and INQUISITIVE.

**COLONIAL MARINE:** This is a big one, so strap in. There are two ways to go about creating a Colonial Marine character. The first is to use the base career in the Core Rulebook, which is set up just like all the other careers. The second is to use the Colonial Marine-oriented rule book called the Colonial Marines Operations Manual which provides additional character creation options for Marines, including Military Occupation Specialties (which are essentially subclasses), Field Events, Ranks, etc. These additional options are best used in a Colonial Marine campaign framework, however if the GM allows it in another framework then go for it. As far as the base career goes, your Key Attribute is STRENGTH. Your Key Skills include CLOSE COMBAT, STAMINA, and RANGED COMBAT. Your Career Talents are BANTER, OVERKILL, and PAST THE LIMIT.

***3) SPEND POINTS ON YOUR ATTRIBUTES:*** Ah, here we go, Attributes. Page 27 in the Core Rulebook gives you a short description of each of these. These are basic indicators of your character's physical and mental capabilities, on a scale from 1 to 5 (for Human characters). STRENGTH is your character's raw muscle power and brawn. AGILITY is your character's body control, speed, and motor skills. WITS is your character's sensory perception, intelligence, and sanity. And finally EMPATHY is your character's personal charisma, empathy, and ability to manipulate others.

Page 28 in the Core Rulebook provides information on allocating points to each Attribute. You start with 14 points you can distribute freely among the 4 Attributes. Keep in mind that minimum you can have in any Attribute is 2. The maximum is 4, UNLESS its listed as a Key Attribute for your career, which puts the maximum at 5. (see why we did careers first?). Additionally, and this only applies to Android characters, you also get a +3 bonus to two different Attributes of your choice, meaning you can potentially get to a maximum of 8 if it happens to be one of your Key Attributes. There are a few other additional differences to playing as an Android character, which I will go into later in the video.

***4) SPEND POINTS ON SKILLS:*** There are 12 skills in the Core Rulebook, with each set of three being governed by one of your relevant Attributes. This organization is important when you go to make a Skill roll when actually playing the game. In this section, I'll go over each of the Skills themselves, and then I'll go over allocating points into them. Chapter 3 in the Core Rulebook is all about Skills and begins on page 56.

Here are the STRENGTH-based skills, HEAVY MACHINERY, STAMINA, and CLOSE COMBAT.

**HEAVY MACHINERY:** Use this skill whenever you attempt to use, repair, jury-rig, or break any kind of heavy equipment. A failed roll might have the machine break, or make an loud noise that could attract unwanted attention. A successful roll has the machinery working normally as you intended. Applicable stunts include not having to roll again to use the machinery later, operating the machinery quickly in half the time it would normally take, breaking the machinery (if sabotage was your intention), that sorta thing.

**STAMINA:** Use this skill for anything related to your physical endurance, like surviving in space or resisting a disease. A failed roll might mean giving in to the pain and having to suffer the consequences. A successful roll might have you surviving the test long enough to push through it. Applicable stunts include not having to roll to overcome this situation again, or being able to provide successes to other PC's rolling for this.

**CLOSE COMBAT:** Use this skill whenever you wanna hit something in close range to cause some damage. You can use melee weapons like knives, clubs, or your mitts. A failed roll means you miss the target. A successful roll means you hit and inflict damage to the opponent equal to the weapon's Damage Rating (further information on weapons and damage ratings can be found in Chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook starting on page 116). Applicable stunts include doing more damage, trading initiative scores with your opponent, knocking their weapon from their hand or knocking them to the ground, etc.

Here are the AGILITY-based skills, MOBILITY, PILOTING, and RANGED COMBAT.