I've fallen in love with the Alien RPG, from Free League.

Quote from: World_Warrior on December 12, 2021, 07:26:03 PM
I've fallen in love with the Alien RPG, from Free League.

What else have you tried with it besides bug hunts, campaign-wise?

I'm working on a campaign right now that is dealing with breaking out a UPP scientist from a holding facility before the Weyland Yutani show up to stage him, tracking down leads with the criminal groups in the universe, an entire chapter at a corporate casino game with the elites, going to Fury 161 to stop a cult from getting a cache of eggs there, and eventually it will all lead to trying to stop the cult from gathering the black goo at some engineer ruins. Also thought about a scenario where they gotta go to the USCMC junk yard (forget the planet name) and steal a ship.

I only have a few scenarios planned within the campaign with actual Xenomorphs. A couple other weird monsters, but also a lot of corporate espionage, etc.

The actual campaign idea is better than it sounds, but I don't like to write everything out. I have the first scenario more or less done, and some links from there. Still working on it.

I had one scenario where they have to team up with a bunch of sentient Working Joe's as they face off against the WY commandos (which I treat like this setting's stormtroopers)

Quote from: lordmalachdrim on December 12, 2021, 04:28:08 PM
I always recommend Alternity, but I understand that since it is out of print and PDFs are not available it is unlikely to be chosen by many.

What do you think about the new version of Alternity from 2017 by Sasquatch Game Studios? I have the book but haven't read it yet.

A complete pile of crap. It's missing half of what was in the core of the original Alternity. We are never going to get the starship book that was part of the kickstarter (so you will never has spacecraft rules for the sci-fi game). They made it so every archetype/class is equally good a combat. Nearly all talents are combat only.

If you are curious about the future of the system (and company) there is none. Here is a link to the post about it (and I'll copy and past the text below incase it is a backer only post): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sasquatchgamestudio/alternity-2017-a-science-fiction-roleplaying-game/posts/3200927

"We'll get to the point: We are suspending work on the Alternity Shipyard book and offering a refund equal to its value for backers whose rewards included a physical copy of the book.

After several attempts, we have reluctantly arrived at the conclusion that we can't deliver this book in a way that matches the specifications we outlined or the quality bar we established with the rest of the Alternity line. 

We are prepared to provide a refund of $25 to each backer who had selected Shipyard as a physical book reward, including backers who had opted for the Expedition/everything tier. For U.S. residents, we can provide this refund via PayPal or QuickPay (via Zelle through our Chase acct) to an email address of your choosing, or we can send a physical check from Chase bank to your mailing address. International backers have only the PayPal option.

Because many backers — perhaps including you — have changed their addresses since the Kickstarter campaign, the refund process starts with you. To obtain you $25 refund, you should send us a message through Kickstarter that includes:

• Your preference for PayPal, Quickpay, or a check; and
• Your preferred email address if you prefer PayPal or Quickpay; or
• Your preferred mailing address if you prefer a check.

To send us a message through Kickstarter, sign in to Kickstarter and go to the Alternity Kickstarter main page. Next to the big Alternity banner, under the "Created by" header, click on Sasquatch Game Studio LLC, which is a link to the About the Creator page. On that page is a Contact Me blue button. Click that and provide your message. (On mobile, the Sasquatch link is right under the main banner.)

We will be processing refunds in batches each week through the end of June, based on the responses we have received each week. At the end of June we'll figure out next steps to take.

As for Sasquatch Game Studio and Alternity, we have no future releases scheduled. The Alternity line and our Primeval Thule products will remain available on DriveThruRPG.

Finally, we thank you for your patience. It's disheartening that we did not complete this last book, but we hope that you have enjoyed the rest of the Alternity line and are having great adventures in whatever futures you're dreaming up.

Thanks again for your past support,

Sasquatches (Dave, Rich, Stephen)"

And a few notes. 1 - still have not see the promised refund. 2 - Rich (Baker) walked away from the company about a year before this post was made.

Quote from: Batjon on December 13, 2021, 02:40:46 PM

Quote from: lordmalachdrim on December 12, 2021, 04:28:08 PM
I always recommend Alternity, but I understand that since it is out of print and PDFs are not available it is unlikely to be chosen by many.

What do you think about the new version of Alternity from 2017 by Sasquatch Game Studios? I have the book but haven't read it yet.

That you already own it yet it wasn't on your original post of possibilities says you don't really feel it's going to work. Trust those feelings.

I'm not familiar with either of the games in the OP.

If I was running a Starship RPG, I would use Free Spacer. It's very high-tech. All Free Spacers have "standardized" upgrade-able gear, and have been enhanced with bio-engineering so it is possible to live forever and to regenerate in a cocoon if they are killed (disintegration and similar notwithstanding).

What "flag" your starship flies and what faction they work for are pretty important. And yes there are mercenary, courier, and bounty hunter flags as well as a few others.

It's has some OSR feels -- everyone is working towards retirement (like in early D&D you become a Lord or get a Wizards tower at level 10) and there is a TON of stuff supporting sandbox setting generation. It is made by Random Alien Games, and you can indeed generate random aliens.
Everything can be generated randomly. Planets, Stars, Orbits, your alien's skin or internals and what they breathe or eat. What 2 "stations" your character is an expert in.

Some new school vibes in that by default the players are suppose to roll all dice. Pretty easy to just roll your threat dice as GM if you wanted too though.

I made a pretty long video about it recently. Also ran a 3 hour game at a game store, for Halloween. The complication pool can add some great suspense.

Quote from: lordmalachdrim on December 12, 2021, 04:28:08 PM
I always recommend Alternity, but I understand that since it is out of print and PDFs are not available it is unlikely to be chosen by many.

What's strange is that other TSR games are available as PDFs again since WotC threw a fit in 2008, but not Alternity.

It's shit like this that makes me hate copyright. It's designed to let creators profit from their work, not keep it locked away from the public forever.

Quote from: Thondor on December 13, 2021, 06:25:42 PM
I'm not familiar with either of the games in the OP.

If I was running a Starship RPG, I would use Free Spacer. It's very high-tech. All Free Spacers have "standardized" upgrade-able gear, and have been enhanced with bio-engineering so it is possible to live forever and to regenerate in a cocoon if they are killed (disintegration and similar notwithstanding).

What "flag" your starship flies and what faction they work for are pretty important. And yes there are mercenary, courier, and bounty hunter flags as well as a few others.

It's has some OSR feels -- everyone is working towards retirement (like in early D&D you become a Lord or get a Wizards tower at level 10) and there is a TON of stuff supporting sandbox setting generation. It is made by Random Alien Games, and you can indeed generate random aliens.
Everything can be generated randomly. Planets, Stars, Orbits, your alien's skin or internals and what they breathe or eat. What 2 "stations" your character is an expert in.

Some new school vibes in that by default the players are suppose to roll all dice. Pretty easy to just roll your threat dice as GM if you wanted too though.

I made a pretty long video about it recently. Also ran a 3 hour game at a game store, for Halloween. The complication pool can add some great suspense.

That looks promising enough to drop $20 on. Thank you for the recommendation.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on December 13, 2021, 07:56:06 PM

Quote from: lordmalachdrim on December 12, 2021, 04:28:08 PM
I always recommend Alternity, but I understand that since it is out of print and PDFs are not available it is unlikely to be chosen by many.

What's strange is that other TSR games are available as PDFs again since WotC threw a fit in 2008, but not Alternity.

It's shit like this that makes me hate copyright. It's designed to let creators profit from their work, not keep it locked away from the public forever.

That reminds me it's almost time for my yearly poke at them asking they make Alternity available in PDF/PoD (not that I expect it to work, or anyone to even bother reading the email).

Quote from: HappyDaze on December 13, 2021, 08:23:45 PM

Quote from: Thondor on December 13, 2021, 06:25:42 PM

If I was running a Starship RPG, I would use Free Spacer.

I made a pretty long video about it recently. Also ran a 3 hour game at a game store, for Halloween. The complication pool can add some great suspense.

That looks promising enough to drop $20 on. Thank you for the recommendation.

You are welcome. The PDF is $25 CAD or $19.46 USD right now here: https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/random-alien-games/Free-Spacer-Core

If you happen to pick it up there, I get 10% (I run the marketplace), the rest goes to the publisher.

I haven't played either of those games, but I am running a SWN game currently, doing pretty much what you're looking to do and it's a lot of fun.

Quote from: horsesoldier on December 14, 2021, 01:11:46 PM
I haven't played either of those games, but I am running a SWN game currently, doing pretty much what you're looking to do and it's a lot of fun.

Heh. Same.

I picked up Free Spacer this past year. I haven't had a moment to look it over, honestly. Sitting on my shelf...

Quote from: Heavy Josh on December 14, 2021, 07:16:09 PM

Quote from: horsesoldier on December 14, 2021, 01:11:46 PM
I haven't played either of those games, but I am running a SWN game currently, doing pretty much what you're looking to do and it's a lot of fun.

Heh. Same.

I picked up Free Spacer this past year. I haven't had a moment to look it over, honestly. Sitting on my shelf...

It's a neat game. Has good focus in concept and plays smooth at the table. There is a fair bit of jargon and the text can be a little hard to parse at times (it often mentions something that is covered a lot more in another section, there are a lot of handy page references for these. Very useful once you've read it through once but felt a little fragmentary on my first pass) One of 2 games I am currently very keen to run some more with the old crew over the holidays.

Free Spacer looks really neat. I look forward to a future where all of these games are VTT implemented.