recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Distance and Zones

Back to Space Combat

Space is too vast for it to be meaningful to keep track of the exact distance between ships. Instead, the game uses abstract zones, similar to ground combat—but in space, one zone can be hundreds or even thousands of kilometers wide. Also, all movement only takes place in one dimension along a range track—an abstraction of the three-dimensional movement that is actually taking place.

SPACE COMBAT MAP: To keep track of ship distances, you can use a space combat map found at the back of this book (also available for download from our website).

RANGE: Like in ground combat, the range between you and your enemy is divided into range categories.
BP-33 Celestial Defense Artillery Gun

Back to Artillery

You want to see a really big fucking gun? This is it. The UPP doesn’t do anything small. A massive 54-meter-long surface to orbit artillery piece, a BP-33 gun is set up by the UPP in groups of two to six to defend a newly taken colony. BP-33s are not mobile. Instead, they are positioned by heavy vehicles—usually HAMPVs or Krokodils— with support bolts fired into the bedrock beneath them to anchor them in place. Able to take out orbiting frigates, the Celestial Defense operates on the same principle as the USCMC remote sentry guns, only larger. They are automated and programmed to shoot down any craft that does not transmit a friendly code.
Dice

Back to Tools of the Game

In the ALIEN universe, nowhere is safe. Sooner or later, you will end up in situations where the outcome is uncertain, no matter how skilled you are. It’s time to break out the dice.

There are two types of custom six-sided dice for this game, each available for purchase separately: Base Dice and Stress Dice. You roll the dice when you perform a dramatic action that might determine if your PC lives or dies.

Both Base Dice and Stress Dice have the (target) symbol on the 6 side. Rolling the (target) symbol usually means that an effect of some kind is triggered, for example when succeeding at using a skill. Stress Dice also have the (facehugger) symbol on the 1 side. Rolling the (facehugger) symbol triggers panic in your character. How all this works in detail, you will learn in Chapter 3.

NOTE: You can play this game with any normal six-sided dice, but it helps if you have them in two different colors to tell Base Dice and Stress Dice apart.

Rolling Dice
Blocking

Back to Close Combat

If you are attacked in close combat, you can choose to block the attack, to avoid being hit. Blocking is a fast action, and you roll for CLOSE COMBAT. You must declare that you are going to block before the attacker rolls for their strike. For each (target) you roll, choose an effect below:

* DECREASE DAMAGE: You remove one of the enemy’s (target). If they are left with no (target), the attack misses. This effect can be chosen multiple times.
* COUNTERATTACK: You perform a counterattack, dealing damage to the attacker equal to the Damage rating of your weapon. You cannot spend additional (target) to increase the damage of your counterattack.
* DISARM: You disarm your enemy.

REACTIVE ACTION: Blocking is a reaction that breaks the normal initiative order in the Round. However, it does count against your two available actions in the Round (one slow and one fast). Each time you block, you lose one action later in the Round, and if you have already used both your actions, you can’t block. When it’s your time to act, it might therefore be wise to save your fast action if you fear you might be attacked later in the Round.

BLOCKING UNARMED: If you are unarmed, you can only block unarmed attacks from other humans. To block an armed close combat attack, or an attack by a Xenomorph creature, you need to wield some kind of sturdy weapon or tool.

* NPCs and Blocking - Typically, NPCs don't block attacks. The GM can override this rule, however, when dramatically appropriate.
Armat M41A Pulse Rifle

Back to Rifles

The standard issue weapon of the USCMC, the M41A Pulse Rifle is a 10mm automatic assault rifle with underslung 30mm pump-action grenade launcher combined in a sturdy housing with retractable stock and optional scope. The M41A fires explosive-tip caseless standard light armor-penetrating US M309 rounds accelerated via electronic pulse. Remaining ammo is tracked via an LED counter and the rifle has two firing modes—burst and full automatic. For more about the grenade launcher, see the U1 below.

An otherwise reliable weapon, the M41A can jam when fully-loaded, so partially loaded magazines are recommended. (In their downtime on mission Marines will take the time to remove a few rounds from each of the magazines they carry.) Even with this flaw, the M41A is what you want slung over your shoulder—but if you are a civilian, good luck getting a permit to own one.
Getting Back Up

Back to Damage

Being Broken is not fatal in itself—only critical injuries can actually kill you. There are two ways to get back up after being Broken, assuming you’re not dead.

* FIRST AID: Someone can help you back onto your feet by administering first aid to you using the MEDICAL AID skill. This is a slow action. Certain medical equipment can give bonuses to the roll (see Chapter 5). If the roll is successful, you get back up immediately, regaining Health equal to the number of (target) in the skill roll. Administering first aid to someone who isn’t Broken has no effect.

* ON YOUR OWN: If you’re Broken and no one is around to help you, you automatically recover one point of Health after one Turn (5–10 minutes) has passed, and can then get back up on your own.
Component Repairs

Back to Ship Repairs

The lists of minor and major component damage describe which skill rolls are needed to repair the component, and how many rolls must be made. If several skill rolls are listed, only one roll can be made per Shift. Only one person can roll to repair the same component, but others can help. Component repairs also require spare parts.

* Spare parts are abstracted into two versions: mechanical and electronic. One mechanical spare part is required for each HEAVY MACHINERY roll, and one electronic spare part for each COMTECH roll. The spare part is consumed if the roll is successful. See the boxed text to the right for more on spare parts.
* Getting Spare Parts - You’ll soon learn how important spare parts for your ship can be. There are two main ways to get more of them: buy and scavenge. Costs can vary greatly, but a mechanical spare part is typically about $100,000 at your average spaceport, and an electronic spare part can cost you twice that sum. If you don’t feel like paying for spare parts, deep space salvaging might be the business for you. With a Shift of work and a skill roll (HEAVY MACHINERY for mechanical and COMTECH for electronic), you can scavenge a spare part from a derelict, assuming it’s not completely blown to bits. In total, you can typically scavenge a number of spare parts from a ship equal to its full Hull score—half mechanical and half electronic.
Close Combat

Back to Combat & Panic

When you attack someone with your bare fists or a melee weapon, you use the CLOSE COMBAT skill. Close combat usually happens at ENGAGED range from your target. You can fight unarmed or use a weapon. Drawing a melee weapon from its sheath or a belt is a fast action.

To attack an opponent in close combat, you need to be standing on your feet. If you are prone, you must first spend a fast action to get up before you can attack. While you are prone, standing enemies get a +2 modification on all close combat attacks against you.

Resolution (Close Combat)

Blocking

Grappling

Shoving

Retreat
Group Rolls

Back to Rolling Dice

When you face a challenge together with the other PCs, don’t roll dice separately. Instead, you choose who among you is best suited to take on this challenge. The others may help them (see next page) if it’s relevant to the situation. If the roll fails, it counts as a failure for all of you—you are not allowed to try one time each.

This rule does not apply in combat, where each PC is free to attack any enemy they like.
Full Auto Fire

Back to Ranged Combat

Weapons listed as fully automatic can fire long bursts of full auto fire. This counts as a normal ranged attack, but with a few differences:

* You get a +2 modification to your roll.
* Your STRESS LEVEL immediately increases by one. Add the Stress Die to your roll for the full auto burst.
* You can distribute any additional (target) you roll beyond the first to secondary targets within SHORT range of the primary target. The first (target) assigned to a secondary target inflicts damage equal to the Damage rating of the weapon, and further (target) assigned to a secondary target can be used for stunts.
Consumables

Back to Your Gear

In the world of ALIEN, you need to overcome a lot more than Xenomorph life forms to survive. Lack of air, food, water, and electric power can be just as deadly. These four resources are called *consumables*.

You don’t need to track consumables at all times. In the confines of a functional spaceship, orbital station or planetside colony, you likely have the consumables you need. The GM lets you know when resources are scarce and it’s time to start tracking them.

SUPPLY: You track each of the four consumables on your character sheet using a Supply rating. A higher rating is better.

At regular intervals (see the table to the right), you need to make a Supply roll. This means rolling a number of Stress Dice equal to the current Supply rating, *up to a maximum of six dice*. For every (facehugger) rolled, the Supply rating is decreased by one. When the Supply rating reaches zero, you’re out of the consumable, and you’re entering a world of hurt. The effects of lacking air, food and water are explained in Chapter 4.

GROUP CONSUMABLES: Usually, consumables are tracked individually, but they can also be tracked for the group as a whole, depending on the situation. The GM has final say.

ENCUMBRANCE: For encumbrance, your supplies of food and water count as one item each, as long as your current Supply rating is 4 or lower. See the table to the right. When your Supply rating hits zero for food or water, this consumable no longer encumbers you.

Air and power don’t usually count toward your encumbrance, as they are generally included in your pressure suit or other gear. External air tanks or batteries can count as encumbering items however.

Food and Water

When to Make Supply Rolls
8 Eta Boötis System

Back to Borodino Sector

A binary system of 12 planets, 8 Eta Boötis is very close to Arcturus and is part of the Arcturus Loop. The system’s resources and location a mere three parsecs from the UPP/UA border has made it the victim of many armed conflicts throughout the 2100s, culminating in the Tientsin Campaign of the 2160s.

**8 ETA BOÖTIS A III (TIENTSIN COLONY):** An independent colony, 8 Eta Boötis A III is situated on the border between the UPP and the United Americas. When the UPP supported a government coup two decades ago, the UA sent in the Colonial Marines to support the old regime. Caught in the crossfire, many colonists took up arms to defend themselves from both opposing forces, splitting the main island of Tientsin into several warring factions. The conflict itself was never truly resolved, with the UA and the UPP eventually pulling their forces out and allowing the colonists to fend for themselves. Without support from either side, the colony dissolved into chaos. Nuclear strikes decimated the planet’s resource-rich archipelagos, making mining operations difficult. In recent years, Weyland-Yutani offered humanitarian aid to the Tientsin Colony in the form of older model atmospheric processors, but their offer was rejected by the current government. Many senior officers in the Colonial Marines served during the Tientsin Campaign.
Banter

Back to Colonial Marine Talents

Between fights, you release the tension in your team with some friendly banter. Your Stress Level, and the STRESS LEVEL of everyone in SHORT Range of you, drops two steps (instead of one) for every Turn spent in a safe place (see Relieving Stress). Having several Marines with this talent doesn’t increase the effect.
Chimpanzee

**Chimpanzees** are medium-sized, neutral apes found in Jungles.

## Appearance

Chimpanzees are medium-sized mammals that walk on all fours and are covered in black fur. Chimpanzees have two variants, including the black-skinned variant and the pink-skinned variant.

## Behavior

Chimpanzees are neutral. When attacked, they will stand up and swing their arms at you, dealing damage. Sometimes they take a break from walking and sit down. They will often grab Bananas and Apples that are dropped and eat them, which can heal them by 2.5 health points. Chimpanzees spawn in troops. Baby Chimpanzees often cling onto the backs of adults.

## Taming

Chimpanzees are tamed with Bananas. Simply drop some Bananas on the ground, and they will grab and proceed to eat them. After an adequate amount have been eaten, the Chimpanzee will be tamed.

### Taming Features

Like tamed Gorillas and Orangutans, tamed Chimpanzees do not follow the player, however they can be commanded to sit by right-clicking on them, and are transportable with a lead. If attacked, or when attacking a target, Chimpanzees will come to your aid.

Whistling Duck
**Neutral**
Warped Toad
**Defensive**
Xiphactinus
**Hostile**
Zombie Dinosaur
**Boss**
Skeletal Abomination
**Vanilla**
Wolf
HoloTab

Back to Diagnostics and Display

A high end strategic and analysis platform, a HoloTab—or Holographic Display Table—takes scanned live or recorded information fed to it and generates a three dimensional hologram of the subject. A HoloTab is usually used in conjunction with pre-existing maps or in coordination with PDTs and Parameter Uplink Spectagraph hardware (COMMAND and OBSERVATION +2).
Class D Lifeboat Module

Back to The ABCs of EEVs

CAPACITY: 2–20

LENGTH: 23m

This maneuverable escape craft is an ejectable module built into many high-end FTL spacecraft. The module has seven rooms that can be configured as a mission dictates, ranging from a simple crew lifeboat to luxury quarters to an experimental science lab. It can support three active occupants for two years or up to twenty people in cryosleep for fifty. The module can make planetfall and be programmed for atmospheric flight.
Cards

Back to Tools of the Game

For the ALIEN roleplaying game, there is a custom card deck available for purchase separately. These cards are used for two purposes—for drawing initiative in combat (see Chapter 5) and for keeping track of key gear, weapons, and vehicles. The custom card deck is not required to play the game, but it’s a useful supplement.
Approach Velocity

Back to Space Combat

Spaceships travel at incredible speeds. This means that two ships approaching on different velocity vectors will quickly pass beyond the range of each other’s weapons. Drastically changing your vector is hard. This means most combat encounters will be brief.

When two ships approach each other, the GM sets the initial approach velocity. It’s typically two zones per Turn, but can be higher or lower depending on the situation. If two ships have synched their vectors, their approach velocity is zero.

If more than two ships are involved in the encounter, they are divided into two sides. All ships on each side have an initial approach velocity against the ships on the other side.
Computer Terminal

Back to Diagnostics and Display

A computer terminal is any colony, starship, or station based electronic hardware that can access and process data via keyboard or voice commands and monitor, or hologram. Using the right codes and COMTECH rolls at a terminal can potentially give you access to whatever MU/TH/UR or A.P.O.L.L.O. knows.
Counselor

Back to General Talents

Once per Turn, you can use the Command skill to reduce the Stress Level of another character within SHORT Range. For each (target) you roll, their STRESS LEVEL is reduced by one extra step (in addition to the default one step, see Relieving Stress). You cannot use this talent on yourself.
AutoDoc

Back to Medical Supplies

Not everyone can afford a Pauling MedPod, but almost every ship, station, and colony has at least one AutoDoc. Essentially a poor man’s version of a Pauling, the AutoDoc is an automated medical treatment device that diagnoses and treats lesser wounds and infections. It is not capable of complicated surgery, but it can reset broken bones. The AutoDoc can be programmed with an unmodified COMTECH roll and has a MEDICAL AID skill level of 6 (but can’t push its rolls).
Colonial Marine Talents

Back to Talents

* Banter - Between fights, you release the tension in your team with some friendly banter. Your Stress Level, and the STRESS LEVEL of everyone in SHORT Range of you, drops two steps (instead of one) for every Turn spent in a safe place (see Relieving Stress). Having several Marines with this talent doesn’t increase the effect.

* Overkill - You don’t run and hide when the going gets tough. Instead of panicking in the face of mortal danger, you can turn your fear into aggression and use it as a weapon against your enemy. You can trigger the Overkill effect when you make a Panic Roll.

* Past the Limit - When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and you’re the toughest badass around. You can push any skill roll based on Strength twice, not just once like other characters. Each push increases your STRESS LEVEL by one.

New Talents from the Colonial Marines Operations Manual:

* All-Terrain Driver - Almost anyone can drive a tractor or APC, but with this talent you have experience driving all-terrain vehicles over rough terrain whilst minimizing damage to the vehicle. You get a +2 modification to Piloting when driving a wheeled or tracked vehicle built for off-road travel.

* Bypass - You have experience jury-rigging toolkits and using diagnostic devices to hack doors. You gain a +2 modification to the Comtech skill when attempting to unlock a locked entryway.

* Heavy Weapons - The military uses a variety of heavy weapons, from plasma guns to tactical missiles and tank guns. You get a +2 modification to Ranged Combat when firing such weapons, and +2 to Heavy Machinery when attempting to unjam or fix a heavy weapon.

* Hug the Dirt - With this talent you’re able to maximize cover from incoming ranged attacks when you’re down on the ground, forcing an attacker using a ranged weapon at MEDIUM range or more to take a –2 modification. Going prone does not require an action, but you can only do it on your own turn. Getting up is a fast action. This talent can be combined with the effects of cover.

* Remote - You are qualified to set up, control and repair remote sentry guns and other remotely controlled battlefield devices, and to pilot remote vehicles and Pups. Receive +2 to COMTECH rolls to carry out these tasks. The correct equipment is needed in all cases. A PR-PUT Portable Remote Pilot Uplink Terminal for example, is needed to remote pilot a dropship, EVAC fighter or APC.
Acrylic "Dog Tags" Military ID Key

Back to Uniforms

Identifier tags issued to all branches of the UAAC (and therefore USCMC), these laser engraved clear memory-plastic tags can be encoded to allow a specific wearer access to a ship or installation’s command areas, armories, lockers, or more. They are read by swiping them through a sensor reader located at every USCMC door lock. Key tags are usually coded as per rank, so a private won’t be able to get into the officer’s mess on his own.
Alphatech EVAC-3 Series Aerospace Superiority Trans Atmospheric Fighter

Back to Aerospace Fighters

The primary fightercraft of the United States Aerospace Force, the EVAC fighter is the most maneuverable military aerospace plane to roll off the Alphatech assembly lines. It is just as deadly within an atmosphere as it is in the void. EVAC squadrons are transported in docking racks that are attached to Colonial Navy or Marine frigates.

The EVAC has a modular storage compartment directly aft of the pilot seat, allowing the cockpit to be configured to a mission specific one- or two-seater. In single user configuration, an EVAC cockpit can act as stasis chambers for a pilot sent on long range missions. While swift and powerful, the EVAC is only lightly armored.
Eco All-World Systems Survival Suit

Back to Suits and Armor

This EVA hardsuit has fully-articulated rotary joints and self-actuating fingers, offering a limited range of mobility, but the maximum amount of protection from the hazards of space. The helmet has a sophisticated heads-up display built in, and the suit has its own thrusters for tether-free zero-G maneuvers. The comm array on a standard Eco EVA Suit is unshielded, and thus sensitive to rogue transmissions. Armor Rating 4, Maximum Air Supply 6. Heavy item.
6B90 Combat Armor

Back to Body Armor

Bulky and heavier than its Colonial Marine equivalent, the 6B90 is the standard personal armor of UPP troops and protects the neck, shoulders, torso, and crotch of the wearer. The 6B90 is equipped with a full motion tactical camera system that transmits video and vitals to local command.
Core Components

Back to Ship Classes & Features

Core components of a ship cannot easily be replaced, but they can be upgraded.

Hull - Spaceship frames typically consist of bonded alloy and composite beams. These materials provide enough strength for massive acceleration, while remaining flexible enough to withstand atmospheric entry for ships with planetfall capacity. The structural strength of a spaceship is measured by its Hull rating, which in turn determines how much damage it can take before becoming Disabled.

Armor - Exterior ship bulkheads are typically fitted with laminated insulators, micrometeorite shielding, composite material, and aerogel. Military ships tend to have heavier armor than civilian vessels, but a direct hit from a railgun will slice through any ship armor invented. The armor of a spaceship is measured by its Armor Rating, which works in a similar way as armor on vehicles or personnel (see Chapter 5).

Bridge - The bridge is the brain of the ship. Sensors, communications, and engines are controlled from the bridge. The ship commander and pilot are stationed here.

Sensors - Spaceships can be fitted with a range of sensors of different types. They are broadly divided into passive sensors, such as optical, infrared, and radio telescopes, and active sensors, such as wave radar arrays.

Communications Array - Spaceships are fitted with a range of antennae and relays, some for interstellar FTL communications and others for intrasystem communication.

Reactor - Spaceships of 2183 AD are generally powered by fusion reactors. Military ships typically use powdered lithium hydride as fuel, while civilian vessels use heavy hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium.

Sublight Thrusters - Sublight propulsion is generated by rocket motors, powered directly by the fusion reactor. Reaction mass such as industrial carbon diamond is simply placed in contact with the fusion plasma, which heats it. The heated gas is then expelled via the rocket motors. The Thrusters rating of your ship functions as a bonus to your PILOTING skill.

Displacement Drives - Faster-than-light propulsion is provided by a tachyon shunt hyperdrive powered by the reactor, accelerating the vessel past the light barrier. The FTL rating of your ship indicates how many days it takes to traverse one parsec—a lower rating means a faster ship.
Freezing

Back to Other Hazards

In an environment without enough clothes or shelter, you become Freezing. Being Freezing has several effects:

* You cannot recover Health or relieve Stress.
* You need to make STAMINA rolls at regular intervals. The colder it is, the more frequently you need to roll. If above freezing, once per day is enough. In sub-zero temperatures, roll once per Shift, and in the deep cold of space, you need to roll every Turn. If you fail, you suffer one point of damage and your STRESS LEVEL increases one step. If you are Broken while Freezing, you must make a Death Roll the next time you would need to roll for the cold.
* As soon as you get warm, you stop rolling for STAMINA and can recover Health and relieve Stress normally.
Core Concepts

Back to Your Character

How to Create Your Player Character - How you create your player character for Campaign play is explained in detail in this chapter. The summary below is a helpful overview. Grab a character sheet, a pencil, and follow these steps:

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.

* Career
* Attributes
* Starting Attributes
	+ Playing an Android
* Skills
* Talents
* Stress
* Health
Air Scrubbers

Back to Internal Modules

Machinery needed to supply the crew with breathable air. Carbon filters clean pollutants from the air while churning machines electrolyze the water and generate oxygen. Air scrubbers come in many sizes and price levels, depending on how many people they need to keep supplied.
Final Preparations

Back to Making Marines

Your marine is almost ready for that first combat briefing, but there are some final preparations to complete.

Rank - In the ALIEN RPG, rank is a title with little authority. As explained in “Forget the Chain of Command” (page 119), the player characters decide their own fate. Rank is often associated with a marine’s role or position within the platoon.

When creating your character, simply choose a rank that fits your MOS and position from the Rank Table to the right. Most enlisted marines will be Privates or PFCs, and your unit commander (NCO) will typically be a corporal or a sergeant. Higher ranks are rare for PCs.

Personal Stuff - Your marine needs a name, of course, as well as a description of their appearance, a Personal Agenda, a signature item and both a Buddy and a Rival. This is done as described in Chapter 2 of the core rulebook.

Starting Gear - A fresh Colonial Marine character gets three types of gear: basic gear, specialty gear, and bonus gear. All items listed below are included in the Gear chapter of this book or in the core rulebook.

Some PCs may find they acquire more gear than they can carry. That’s not a problem—before each mission, choose what you’re going to take, and leave the rest cluttering up your bunk back at base.
Aiming

Back to Ranged Combat

If you take your time to aim carefully before squeezing the trigger, you get a +2 to your attack roll. Aiming is a fast action. If you do anything else except shoot your weapon after you have aimed, or if you are hurt, you lose the effect of the aim and you need to spend another fast action to aim again.
A Hard Life Amongst the Stars

Back to ALIEN: A Whisper in the Dark Wiki

*"There are other worlds than this one, and if there is no air to breathe, we will simply have to make it."*

*-Peter Weyland*

Living in space ain’t pretty. Human life is cheap and so are paychecks. There is always someone worse off, willing to do your job for even less, so you better not screw up and lose the one you have. In most professions, having dirt on your employer or becoming a certified expert in a field are the only ways to maintain any semblance of job security.

Aside from the luxury accommodations of the corporate elite and the cutting edge weapons of the Colonial Marines, almost everything is grimy, used, and in need of repair. The only colonists guaranteed to receive new parts and equipment are the miners and atmospheric processor support personnel on planets consistently exceeding their corporate quotas. In remote sectors, imported technologies are overpriced and hard to come by, so most equipment is jury-rigged, modified, and made from recycled and refurbished materials. In some territories, vehicles and starships are still in use that are nearly a century old. Instead of the expensive, three dimensional holographic displays of yesteryear, most spacecraft are equipped with conventional monitors and basic sensor packages. Over the past several decades, MU/TH/UR computer systems have become less about the sophistication of the AI and more focused on utilitarian function. Even spacesuits are bulkier and provide less protection than those produced during the golden years of space exploration.

In essence, humankind as a technological society is on the decline.

Humanity never would have left the cradle of our solar system without the foresight of visionary entrepreneur and businessman Peter Weyland. Under his stewardship, the Weyland Corporation introduced three things that ensured humanity’s dominance over the stars—the capacity to travel at faster than light speeds, the introduction of the hypersleep chamber, and the ability to terraform whole worlds.

Faster Than the Speed of Light

* Gravity Drives

Hyper Sleeping with the Stars

Charted Space

Living in Space

* Just in Town for Supplies
* Spaceships
* Space Stations
	+ Anchorpoint Station II
	+ Arceon

* Deep Space Colonies
* Living Quarters
* Function Before Fashion
* Money and Identification, Please
* Work For Hire
* Communications on the Frontier
* Media
* Entertainment
* Perchance to Dream
* Religion
* Law Enforcement
* The Lock Up

Spacecraft Basics

* Ship Classes & Features
* Tripping the Light Fantastic
* Core Components
* Internal Modules
* Armaments
* Upgrades
* Regular Maintenance

Spaceships of the 2180's

Space Combat

* Crew Positions
* Distance and Zones
* Approach Velocity
* Detection
* Initiative & Turns
* Declaring Actions
* Sensor Operator Actions
* Pilot Actions
* Gunner Actions
* Engineer Actions
* Ship Armor
* Hull Damage
* Component Damage
* Ship Repairs
* Ship Combat Example
Hidden Stash

Back to General Talents

You begin each session with an extra item of your choice, hidden on your person or stowed somewhere safe. The item must be something you could reasonably have. The GM has final say about what items are available to you. If the GM allows it, you may wait until a dramatic moment during the session to choose what type of item you are hiding.
Data Storage

Back to Other Equipment

Along with a gum wrapper and a few dirty tissues, people always need to carry information in their pocket. In the 22nd century, that is usually accomplished in the following ways:

Long-Data Discs - After several data losses from electromagnetic pulses in the first half of the 21st century, the move was made to reintroduce and reinforce physical data storage. Weyland Corp scientists took optical disc media and enhanced it to the next level. The result is a nano-optical long-data memory disc. Called LDs, each disc can hold up to 10 zettabytes (ZB) of data. All colony and corporate records are backed up on these discs in case of an electromagnetic discharge.

Magnetic Tapes - A two-hundred-year-old technology, magnetic tape cassettes have become popular on the Frontier simply because they are both disposable and cheap. Utilizing sputter deposition technology, these cassettes can hold between 60, 90, or 120 terabytes (TB) of information each. While easily disrupted by a strong magnetic pulse, the benefit of magnetic tapes is that the archaic technology that runs them produces no easily detected wave signals. Most security sensor grids are set to detect more sophisticated electronic hardware. All these factors combined have managed to keep magnetic tapes in vogue for the past fifty years.
All-Terrain Driver

Back to Colonial Marine Talents

Almost anyone can drive a tractor or APC, but with this talent you have experience driving all-terrain vehicles over rough terrain whilst minimizing damage to the vehicle. You get a +2 modification to Piloting when driving a wheeled or tracked vehicle built for off-road travel.
Armat P9 S.H.A.R.P. Rifle

Back to Rifles

The prototype Sonic Harpoon Artillery Remote Projectile is currently undergoing field trials by the USCMC. The P9 fires an array of dart types, including the 9X-E which releases a sticky explosive charge upon contact.

No roll is required to shoot a dart into a combat zone of the shooter’s choice. The charge will explode after one Round, triggering a Blast Power 9 explosion. If anyone or anything in the zone, except a fellow marine (identified via their PDT), moves before the time runs out, the charge explodes immediately.

If the dart hits an enemy target directly (requiring a normal attack roll), it detonates within a fraction of a second. A target directly hit by the dart suffers two additional points of damage, and their Armor Rating is halved (rounding up).
Cinematic Play (Your Character)

Back to Your Character

In Cinematic scenarios, such as the Hope's Last Day included in this rulebook, the player characters are already provided for you and the other players. All you need to do is decide amongst yourselves who plays which character. There are usually more characters available than the number of players—the remaining characters become NPCs, run by the GM. If you can’t agree on who to play, roll dice for it.
IRC MK.35 Pressure Suit

Back to Suits and Armor

Standard issue for the USCMC, the Mk.35 is an unfortunately bulky combat pressure suit with a cumbersome recycler unit. You want to be careful wearing one of these in a fight, as the hard joints tend to seize up with extreme motion. While the inexpensive suit offers full protection from the vacuum of space, you have to spend time in a decompression chamber after spacewalking in one. Basically, this suit sucks, but if the choice is a Mk.35 or the cold of space, shut up and suit up. Armor Rating 5, Maximum Air Supply 4. Heavy item.
Difficulty

Back to Rolling Dice

Normally, the GM doesn’t assess how difficult an action is. You only roll dice in challenging situations—period. But sometimes, the GM might want to underscore that external factors either help or hinder an action. Use the table to the right for guidance.

There are also cases when modifications are imposed by the rules, like when you aim carefully with a ranged weapon (see page 94), shoot at long distance, or if you’re in a bad bargaining position when you attempt to use MANIPULATION on someone. Some talents can also give you a positive modification in certain situations.

Difficulty Modification

* Trivial +3
* Simple +2
* Easy +1
* Average 0
* Demanding –1
* Hard –2
* Formidable –3
Charted Space

Back to A Hard Life Amongst the Stars

Welcome to space. You’re going to die here—and when that happens, your relatives are going to need to know where to pick up your body and whether to burn it or shoot it back into the void.

The star map on the inside covers of this book shows all of charted space. The three largest sections divided by government are the American Arm of the United Americas, The Anglo-Japanese Arm of Three World Empire, and the Collectivist Block of the Union of Progressive Peoples. These national domains cut through the Core, Outer Veil, Outer Rim, and Far Reach of known space.

THE CORE SYSTEMS are those closest to Earth. They are the most prosperous colonies and the playground of the elite. The 3WE and ICSC dominate this region of space.

THE OUTER VEIL: Outside the core systems is the Outer Veil. Rich in resources for mining and cultivation, the colonies of the Outer Veil were terraformed and settled by the 3WE over a century ago. Since then the UPP has annexed many worlds here. Vast regions of space in this region have been stripped bare and made uninhabitable through unsafe mining methods.

THE OUTER RIM: Beyond the Outer Veil is the Outer Rim. Out here American and UPP explorers discovered several resource rich planets that could support human life without terraforming. The Rim is the outer edge of civilized space.

THE FAR REACH: Extending from the American Arm of the Outer Rim is the Far Reach. This area of claimed but mostly uncharted space stretches through vast areas of the unknown to a scattered group of terraformed lifeblood colonies essential to the UA and 3WE. Space truckers call this string of worlds the Pearl Necklace.

THE FRONTIER: Along the edge of explored space lies the Frontier. It is a free-for-all land of opportunity constantly expanding the boundaries of known space. Beyond that lies darkness.
Dehydrated

Back to Conditions

After a day without sufficient water, you become Dehydrated. Being Dehydrated has several effects:

* You cannot recover Health or relieve Stress.
* Every Shift, you suffer one point of damage and your STRESS LEVEL increases one step. If you are Broken while Dehydrated, you must make a Death Roll after every Shift without liquid. MEDICAL AID has no effect against these Death Rolls, you need fluids to save yourself.
* As soon as you drink, the above effects wear off within one Shift.
G2 Electroshock Grenade

Back to Heavy Weapons

These grenades are called “electronic ballbreakers” with good reason. When deployed, they propel themselves about 3 feet off the ground before releasing a mega- voltage electric pulse. The usually non-lethal shock is still strong enough to freeze a person’s central nervous system. These weapons are good for crowd control. When there is only one seat left on the last shuttle to leave a space station stuck in a decaying orbit around a gas giant, pop a few of these puppies into the mob, cycle that airlock closed, and strap yourself in for the ride home. All humans in the target zone must make a hard STAMINA roll (–2, doesn’t count as an action) or be stunned for one Round.
Field Events

Back to Making Marines

Marines have formative experiences that will impact their lives or career. Make a note of these events, they become an important part of your marine’s backstory. Most events bring with them some benefit, an advantage, skill gain, injury, or other effect.

For a normal enlisted marine, just roll once on Event Table A - Enlisted.

For an NCO, also roll for a second field event on Event Table B - NCO

For pilots and crew chiefs, instead roll on Event Table C - Pilots and Crew Chiefs.

Re-roll if you roll the same event as another player. Skills and attributes can never go above 5 as a result of a field event. If you roll an event that would cause that to happen, re-roll.
Healing

Back to Damage

Each critical injury has a specific effect that you suffer during the healing time indicated, which is measured in days.

* CARE: If someone tends to you daily during the process of healing a critical injury (or several) and makes a MEDICAL AID roll, the remaining healing time is reduced by half. Any earlier roll to save your life does not count towards this. A new roll is required to reduce the healing time.

* HEALTH POINTS: Note that you can recover all your lost Health points, but still suffer the effects of a critical injury.
Barghest Pulsar

Back to Systems and Planets

Barghest is a black widow pulsar located in the unmapped regions between the Frontier and Sector 117.

It has only one object orbiting it, a decommissioned outpost once known as Novgorod station. Renamed Barghest Station by the community of outlaws that towed it into the pulsar's orbit, Barghest station serves much the same purpose as it did in its former life, however this time free of government and corporate interference.
Armor (Spacecraft)

Back to Core Components, Spaceship Attributes

Exterior ship bulkheads are typically fitted with laminated insulators, micrometeorite shielding, composite material, and aerogel. Military ships tend to have heavier armor than civilian vessels, but a direct hit from a railgun will slice through any ship armor invented. The armor of a spaceship is measured by its Armor Rating, which works in a similar way as armor on vehicles or personnel (see Chapter 5).
Initiative & Turns

Back to Space Combat

When you encounter an approaching ship, draw initiative. This works just like in personal combat (see page 87), but only the captain of each ship draws an initiative card. Each Turn of space combat has four phases, and each ship gets to perform one action in each phase. All ships perform their action in the phase, in initiative order, before moving on to the next phase.

1. SENSOR PHASE
2. PILOT PHASE (INCLUDING MOVEMENT)
3. GUNNER PHASE
4. ENGINEER PHASE
Game Modes

Back to Space Is Hell

The ALIEN roleplaying game can be played in two distinct modes: Cinematic play and Campaign play. These modes are each designed to create a different experience for you. Even some rules of the game only apply to one of the two game modes—such rules are marked with the symbol of each game mode.

Cinematic Play - A Cinematic scenario emulates the dramatic arc of an ALIEN film. Designed to be played in a single session, 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. In fact, most of your PCs probably won’t live to see the end of the scenario.

Campaign Play - Campaign play is designed for longer continuous play with the same cast of player characters over several game sessions, perhaps even dozens of sessions. In Campaign play, you create your own PCs, using the rules in Your Character.

Campaign play can also be brutal and deadly, but the chances for your PCs to survive a night of play are generally higher than in Cinematic play.

In Campaign play, the narrative of the game is to a higher degree controlled by the GM and the players themselves. You decide where to go and what to do, based on who your PCs are and what they want. This core book of the ALIEN roleplaying game supports three different campaign frameworks:

* Space Truckers
* Colonial Marines
* Frontier Colonists
Comtech Marine

Back to Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)

It’s a modern battlefield—that means remote driven dropships, robot sentry guns, computer controlled bombs, and worse. You are a Comtech Marine—the squad’s tech spec—skilled with computer systems, radios, diagnostic and hacking devices. Comtechs are essential to any squad and play a significant role in Assault Marine and CBRN Specialist fireteams.

* KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits
* SKILLS: Comtech, Observation
* TALENTS: Bypass, Banter, Overkill, Past The Limit, Remote
CBRN Specialist

Back to Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)

You are trained to assess, contain, and quarantine chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. Part field scientist, part rifleman—you’re all marine. Whether it’s a dirty bomb, viral outbreak, or some chemical that melts people’s faces off, you’re the one with the tools who’s cool enough to hold their breath and handle it.

* KEY ATTRIBUTE: Wits
* SKILLS: Observation, Heavy Machinery
* TALENTS: Banter, Inquisitive, Nerves of Steel, Overkill, Weapon Specialist (M240 Incinerator)
Folding Winch

Back to Other Equipment (Miscellaneous)

This tripod winch-and-cable device was developed so that prospectors could inspect newly dug mining shafts with their hands free—but it works just as well for rappel and rescue ops. No MOBILITY climbing roll is required of you while hooked in and ascending or descending a chasm on a folding winch’s polymer climbing rope. Also, when whatever lives down there wraps itself around your face, your buddies can winch your ass back up, blow quarantine procedures, and put everyone at risk—just for fun.
Damage (Weapon Features)

Back to Weapon Features

DAMAGE is the base Damage rating, i.e. how many points of damage your target suffers if your attack is successful. If you roll extra , you can deal additional damage. The word “Blast” followed by a number means that the weapon inflicts no direct damage, but instead triggers an explosion with the Blast Power indicated.
Aerial Vehicles

Back to Vehicle Combat

Aerial vehicles are handled in much the same way as ground vehicles, with some exceptions:

ALTITUDE: At all times you must keep track of the vehicle’s altitude, measured in zones. When moving, you distribute the zones moved on vertical and horizontal movement. When on the ground, the Speed of aerial vehicles is typically 1.

CRASHES: If an aerial vehicle is Wrecked, it crashes violently to the ground. All people inside suffer damage equal to the altitude (in zones) multiplied by 3. You can brace yourself for the hit by rolling MOBILITY—each (target) rolled reduces the damage by one.
Anchorpoint Station II

Back to Space Stations

The second space station to bear the name, the massive Anchorpoint station is your crossroads to the Frontier. Located in unclaimed space a few scant parsecs from UAAC base Liberty Echo, Anchorpoint is a convenient place to pick up supplies, get some grub, refuel, make repairs in drydock, and pick up migrant crew and workers for your next job. Location is everything, and Anchorpoint is positioned perfectly to service the southern Outer Rim and the Far Reach, providing an alternate route from the Solomons to civilized space.

Anchorpoint is considered neutral territory and is governed by the ICSC—vessels from any and all governments and corporations are welcome here. The ICC and Colonial Administration often send representatives to negotiate intercolonial disputes at Anchorpoint. The UA operates a Colonial Marshal Bureau aboard, and a small contingent of Colonial Marines is stationed in the garrison office in tower four.

The station has a very small permanent population, but can easily house over 3,000 transient workers and colonists. Anchorpoint is composed of four refinery modules situated around a central core hub. Three of the modules have been converted to habitable space similar to the Seegson company’s former Sevastopol station, while the fourth is a functioning refinery for processing ores and gases bound for the Frontier colonies. With concourses laid out similar to a terrestrial spaceport, the station is known for its dive bars, open mall areas, service androids, and inexpensive entertainment.

WHAT’S THE STORY, MOTHER? While only three years old, the newest incarnation of Anchorpoint is the most successful space station project outside of Sol system. The original Anchorpoint was a colonial refueling hub/science station situated in the Neroid Sector, close to UPP space. In 2179 she suffered a catastrophic reactor failure—for reasons unknown. Colonial Administration and the ICC commissioned the Independent Core System Colonies to build a new one, placing it further out on the Frontier to facilitate the colonization boom.
Developing Your Character

Back to Your Character

Experience - One of the most rewarding things in Campaign play is watching your character grow and develop. The harsh realities of life will change you, that’s all you can be certain of in an uncertain world. You can develop your character in several different ways during the game.

The things you learn during the game are measured in Experience Points (XP). You receive XP after the end of each game session. Talk it through and let the whole group discuss what has happened. For each of the below questions that you can reply “yes” to, you get one XP:

* Did you participate in the game session? You get one XP just for being there.
* Did you risk or sacrifice something to further your Personal Agenda?
* Did you risk your life for your Buddy PC?
* Did you challenge or stand up to your Rival PC?
* Did you make a Panic Roll?
* Did you overcome a dangerous event, using violent or non-violent means?
* Did you make a significant discovery or revelation?
* Did you perform an extraordinary action of some kind?
* Did you earn any money?

You can only get one XP per question. Sometimes, the answers are not clear-cut. Discuss within the group, and try to reach a consensus. If you can’t, the GM has final say. Write down the XP on your character sheet.

Spending XP - You can use your XP to improve your skills and talents, or to learn new ones. You can only spend XP between sessions.

* Skills - To increase a skill level by one step costs 5 XP. Learning a new skill (at skill level 1) costs 5 XP. To do this, however, you must have either used the skill and succeeded (without skill level) during the session, or been instructed by a teacher for at least one Shift. The teacher must have at least skill level 1.
* Talents - Learning a talent always costs 5 XP. It also requires a day of practice and a successful Wits roll (roll for the attribute only). You can make one attempt per day. If instructed by a teacher who has the talent, your roll succeeds automatically.

Changing Buddy and Rival - After the end of a game session, you are free to change your Buddy and Rival PCs as you see fit.