I do know what you are pondering. “It’s TheGamer’s Cozy Weekend, Ben, why are you writing an article about some slimy, phallic, mass-murdering extraterrestrial?” I could feed you lies concerning the Alien franchise being comfort movies or crack a joke about Alien Isolation having some cosy lockers to cover in, but truth be told, Cozy Weekend clashes with Alien Day. And if I’m going to write down about one in all those things, it will be the latter.
Alien Day is widely known on April 26 yearly, owing to the name of the moon in the primary and best film. To us British folk, the numbers in LV-426 read because the forty second of June – why they didn’t just rejoice on the anniversary of the unique film’s release, May 25, is beyond me – but Americans gonna American. As a firm believer that Alien is just not only the perfect sci-fi film ever made, but in addition the perfect slasher film ever made, I often rewatch it a minimum of annually, often near Alien Day. This yr, nonetheless, I’m determined to roleplay as a Xenomorph. No, that is not a sex thing.
While I’m sure HR Giger would have loved me to have interaction in some NSFW Xenomorph cosplay motion, I’ve got very different tastes. I need to play a game where an alien or aliens battle against the Romans. In a video game, this wouldn’t be possible. On the tabletop, nonetheless, the world is your facehugger.
Alien Vs Praetor
I get it, that is pretty area of interest. But I’m a person with two important interests: fantasy/sci-fi, and the Roman Empire. What can I say, I’m your average British dad in his 30s. Sue me. I’ve previously made my very own board game based on Hadrian’s Wall after walking the length of it, so why can’t I introduce some acid blood to proceedings?
Let’s roll this back a bit. Why do I need Roman soldiers to fight aliens? Firstly, since it’s cool. Secondly, because I recently read Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler, which pits the titular Xenomorphs against a Bronze-age settlement. Let me inform you now, this book has no right being this good. I went in expecting a fun, pulpy read, but was met with an immigration subplot, nuanced discussion of the complexities of gender roles in wartime, and, in fact, chestbursters out the wazoo. Spoilers, however the humans eventually develop tactics not far faraway from Roman legionaries, which put the thought for a game in my head.
Somewhat than introducing Aliens to my existing board game, nonetheless, I went about this the other way. I’ve been playing Free League’s Alien: The Roleplaying Game recently, and it’s really good. The panic system particularly is among the finest I’ve encountered, adding dice to your pool which make you more erratic; in some ways more practical, but at more risk of rolling a critical fail as you’re stalked through the cramped corridors. So, I made a decision to place Romans in that system. Et voila: Alien Vs Praetor.
Balancing An Unbalanced Game
Aliens versus Romans doesn’t make for a balanced fight. An Alien has acid for blood, is practically impervious to gunfire (and due to this fact a humble gladius will probably be entirely ineffective), and might tackle a tricky squad of far-future commandos kitted out with flamethrowers and more grenades than they know what to do with. A Roman has a sword, a little bit of armour, and, in the event that they’re lucky, somewhat plume on the highest of their head.
How do you balance these two forces? Obviously, you might have one or two Xenomorphs and pit them against a greater quantity of Romans. You furthermore may give some Romans ranged weapons – bows and arrows, slingshots, even ballistas in the event you’re going full-on wargame about it – that the Xenomorphs don’t have access to. But, most significantly, you steal from the work you’re attempting to emulate.
In Aliens: Phalanx, the protagonists determine that a certain plant is toxic to the ‘devils’ they’re facing, and formulate a tincture from its leaves. They coat themselves in it for defense, because it stops the acid from burning through their skin, and lather a thick application onto their weapons, because it’s deadly to their foe. How the turn tables.
For my first scenario, I borrowed liberally from each the prevailing Aliens: The Roleplaying Game missions and from Space Hulk, the perfect unofficial Alien game ever made. I wanted the roleplaying and crunchier systems of the previous combined with the latter’s thrilling suspense as you track the Xenomorphs crawling through the partitions of the Roman compound.
Break A Game To Make A Game
To be clear, I’m not making my very own game here, it’s more like crafting my very own D&D module. Coming up with rules for Roman legionnaires, centurions, and tactical formations has been fun, even when it stretches the ruleset to its limits. Obviously the Roman forces aren’t balanced against the RPG’s Marines, but for the needs of Alien Vs Praetor, it really works well enough.
The sport itself has been a bit janky in my playtests, but I’m going to proceed tinkering with this ruleset until I’ve got the campaign I imagined in my head after reading Sigler’s novel. The plucky Roman soldiers start off as prey, hunted like in the unique film – that is where the RPG formula already excels, and has been the simplest to translate. The Xenomorphs in Free League’s tabletop concoction are as deadly because the beast in Alien Isolation or Ripley’s original foe: brutal and inevitable.
Next I need to determine the best way to integrate the antidote/poison, and eventually lead the campaign to a heroic crescendo as a phalanx of tortoise-formationed warriors tackle the Alien Queen herself. But I’m giving myself a protracted time to do it.
There’s a protracted approach to go yet, but I’m having fun with fidgeting with the RPG’s structure and bending it to my needs. It’s almost a game inside itself, a puzzle to piece together along with the iterative playtests I force my friends to hitch. Possibly someday I’ll be pleased with the complete Alien Vs Praetor campaign that has been lodged in my imagination for the past few months – I’ll set a deadline to have it finished by next Alien Day 2027. For now, though, I want to color up those Roman miniatures I purchased years ago.
This text is just not a part of TheGamer’s Cozy Weekend, but you try the remaining of the weekend here anyway.