Hi,
I was wondering if it's feasible to play Alien RPG solo. Any thoughts?
You need to reread the rules, because you've missed a bunch.I would think so. There's no real teamwork mechanic in Alien. It's just a bunch of concurrent solo players.
No, I got it. I'm just saying, maybe with the exception of First Aid, none of those are critical gameplay mechanics.You need to reread the rules, because you've missed a bunch.I would think so. There's no real teamwork mechanic in Alien. It's just a bunch of concurrent solo players.
page 36, group rolls
Page 37, help from others
Page 42, group observation
Page 45, Negotiation Position
Page 45, first aid.
Fundamentally, the help/group mechanic is best dice pool rolls, getting one additional base die per additional person involved.Speaking of the help from others mechanics, why would anyone help for only one base die if they could just not help and get more base dice with a skill check?
Is help from others done instead of a skill check or in addition to a skill check?
Except when it's fundamentally not. For example, if Leah Davis (Agility 5, Ranged Combat 2) helped Kayla Rye (Agility 3, Ranged 0) in a ranged combat roll, Davis would add +1 to Rye, giving Rye 4 base dice (p success 52%).Fundamentally, the help/group mechanic is best dice pool rolls, getting one additional base die per additional person involved.Speaking of the help from others mechanics, why would anyone help for only one base die if they could just not help and get more base dice with a skill check?
Is help from others done instead of a skill check or in addition to a skill check?
In perception and group resistance, either everyone or no one is affected/notices. It's not an allowed option to roll separately.
As Amaris says combat is not a roll where you can/should “help”, from the core rules: “This rule does not apply in combat, where each PC is free to attack any enemy they like.” The idea behind help rolls (I think) is to avoid that situation where one person tries to pick the lock, and fails, and another person tries and so on, which is boring in play, and MASSIVELY distorts the probabities.
Except when it's fundamentally not. For example, if Leah Davis (Agility 5, Ranged Combat 2) helped Kayla Rye (Agility 3, Ranged 0) in a ranged combat roll, Davis would add +1 to Rye, giving Rye 4 base dice (p success 52%).
But if Davis rather than helping, waited her turn and rolled for her own ranged combat, Rye would roll 3 base dice on her turn (p success 42%) and, Miller would roll 7 on hers (p success 72%).
There could be corner cases where someone would take a single p 52% success check over a combination of a p 42% success check and p 72% success check in a ranged combat. For instance, if Rye had a weapon that could deal more damage than Davis and make a killing blow, maybe help would be a good idea.