Fria Ligans forum

Hi there,
I understand the main differences of Starter being Cinematic mode & Core including Campaign mode.

I'd be happy to start with Starter but I am wondering what things in the core book expand on the Cinematic, if any?

Are there more Cinematic character classes?, more equipment? more detailed rules? (such as rules for extra skills, etc)

Does the Core book expand Cinematic mode significantly? or is it just the same info + campaign?

Thanks for your advice

If by core you mean the original rulebook, it contains a ton of lore of the universe. The corporations, major characters, planets, the political factions, etc.

If by core you mean the original rulebook, it contains a ton of lore of the universe. The corporations, major characters, planets, the political factions, etc.

Ok, thanks.
So there is a lot of lore & history - that's good.
But is the Cinematic Mode of play expanded upon in the "Core Rulebook", compared to the "Starter Set"?

After checking online a bit more, it seems that the "Starter Set" doesn't include rules for generating a character & that you use the pregen ones provided with the scenarios.
That's fine, but then it occurs to me ~ what do you do after you played the one provided scenario?
Unless I misunderstand, it seems like you play the Starter Set once & then it's done with. Now you need the Core Rulebook, or buy a new scenario, if you want to have another game.

I like the idea of playing short cinematic games, so each time my group plays we play a quick brutal cinematic scenario in 1 or 2 sessions. That seems perfect.
But if we are just re-using the same pool of pre-gen characters, resurrecting the ones who died last time around; that is reality breaking.

My original question may be redundant, I think I am answering my own query - lol - perhaps the "Core Rulebook" is essential if you want to play more than once.

"Cinematics" are just a fancy term for short campaigns, ideally a few sessions.

There are currently 3(well, 2 and a bit) official cinematics you can buy and play. Hope's Last Day in the Rulebook is a 3rd Act taster and demo, Chariot of the God's, and now Destroyer of Worlds. There's also a lot of activity on the Alien RPG Discord where several people have made their own Cinematic scenarios and run them for people.

I would heartily recommend you get the rulebook to help you make your own cinematics. Longer campaign play can be done in ARPG, but I think the games strength comes from playing these shorter cinematics and telling stories that way.

Thanks Jon,
I did end up getting the core rulebook after this post & I am glad I did.
Currently I'm trying to get hold of 'Chariot' as a first time scenario. Unfortunately it's sold out/out of print right now, so keeping my eyes open.
Ill check out the discord you mentioned. Thanks for the tip!

Chariot is in the starter set, along with extra dice and what is effectively the player handbook version of the rules. Which is more than worth it for the price to have alongside the core rule book.

Chariot is in the starter set, along with extra dice and what is effectively the player handbook version of the rules. Which is more than worth it for the price to have alongside the core rule book.

It's certainly a nice set, I love the map. But with the pandemic I don't think I can use any of that in-person stuff for a year or two. My RPG life is all online now.
So it's just the adventure booklet Im looking for at the moment.
I could get the PDF of course, but to be honest I hate reading stuff on screens, I like to have a physical book. Scrolling through PDFs is like a kind of torture
Perhaps its ok for a short adventure, I should probably give it a try.

I agree with PDFs, it’s much nicer to have a physical book.