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Kaybe
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Posts: 136
Joined: Fri 14 May 2021, 18:26

A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Fri 14 May 2021, 18:52

Hi Free League,

Before I start, I just wanted to say that I am absolutely loving your content so far. The Year Zero Engine is just amazing and easy to grasp. The Alien RPG itself is great for playing tense and nervous horror. So kudos.

But I do have a concern. That concern being that there is virtually zero info on how GMs can create their own cinematic games. We all love the Alien movies because of the sheer panic and horror when protagonists come face to face with Xenomorphs or sociopathic synthetics. It's not the slow paced scenes we come for. Instead, we love the sheer tension as a solitary character, split from his team, turns a corner and comes face to face with a Xeno that rips them in half, blood and guts everywhere. THAT is what Alien/Aliens is all about in my opinion. And this is why a strong focus on Cinematic games should be heavily supported.

Now don't get me wrong ... both Chariot of the Gods and Destroyer of Worlds are great and I'm proud to own them both. But as a GM, I don't want to just rely on your published adventures for cinematic games. I want to create my own. Thing is, the Cinematic mode is the thing that makes the Alien RPG so very unique. Every single RPG out there does campaign mode. It's the default pretty much across the board. But cinematic mode in Alien RPG is not only a cool idea, I feel it should be the *default* for this game. But instead, campaign play has 44 pages dedicated to it in the core book, and another 350 pages in the recently released Colonial Marine book. But we have nothing on how to create a proper and balanced cinematic game. Or more to the point, we have half a page in the core book. A tiny section that says these games should be done in three escalating parts and that's it. So right now, if a GM wants to run his own cinematic games, they really have to wing it.

So, please, soon, create a guide for us on how to create great cinematic games in a structured and balanced format so that we can run these one/two/three shot games of pure adrenalin terror for our friends so that they have nightmares at night as befitting this universe. Here is what I'd like to see:

- A guide on proper pacing and the amount of danger appropriate to each scene, depending on the emotional response that we wish to evoke in players.
- A proper guide on balancing. So if we have X number of players and X spare characters, what X kind of danger and monsters should they face and when.
- How to design good pregen characters for cinematic games, both in terms of building them with an appropriate power level, as well as working good secret motivations.
- General fluff on making quality horror scenes and elements.
- Whatever else you see fit that I didn't think of.

Basically, I'd love to see a 100+ page guide with step by step detailed instructions and templates to making these deeply horror driven games. Pleas give cinematic creation the same love as campaigns.

Thank you for time.
 
Bengt Petter
Posts: 772
Joined: Sat 09 Apr 2011, 11:27

Re: A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Sun 16 May 2021, 00:00

Kaybe, I’m not Free League, but I’ll give you an answer anyway. I do agree that cinematic scenarios are a good way to be true to the Alien movies. They are not like RPG campaigns, even though the upcoming TV series might be.

You could build scenarios according to some kind of prepared and generic mission template. Or a dramatic structure that will end in some final confrontation. Another way could be to start with a few standard locations like space stations, colonies and spaceships. And maybe a bunch of standardized NPCs.

However, I would actually start with what I see as the core themes of the franchise. I know, there are already described themes in the basic rule set, and I don’t think they are wrong (you do find that stuff in the movies). I would just describe the thematic core another way, simply because I think it’s more straight forward.

So this is what I think the Alien franchise is really about:
1. Cosmic horror. Humans discover previously unknown alien lifeforms. Various human factions believe they can tame what they find in space, but they can’t. They don’t really get the big picture (even though they may think so). Humans are insignificant beings in the context of the vast universe.
2. Androids are not human. They might be corporate slaves or completely their own thing with their own agendas. You never know. In most of the movies they are key figures. I think they should be that in most but not all cinematic scenarios too. Sadly, they aren’t really key figures in the game so far. I think they should be. In a way, they are just as alien and horrible as the xenomorphs. They are a part of the vast unknown that makes humans insignificant.
3. The Company is bigger than you. That’s why you end up in horrible situations. The people in power don’t really care. Dystopian capitalism is the motivation for most people in this setting. You can’t expect everyone to be nice. Most people just want to make money or gain more power.
4. There is a conspiracy. People are doing stuff behind the scenes. They have secrets. It takes time to figure out what it’s all about. Usually, it all has to do with all the stuff above. Some or all of it should be discovered during the sceanario.

I think it’s that simple. You could add other themes like Cold War in space or exploring the unknown. But I doubt any other themes could top the four core themes I listed above. I think they should be in most or all Alien scenarios and campaigns. if you don’t use most or all of them, you loose what’s Alien about this game.
 
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Kaybe
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Posts: 136
Joined: Fri 14 May 2021, 18:26

Re: A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Mon 17 May 2021, 19:51

Well, what you described also applies to campaigns set in the Aliens universe. I'm perfectly comfortable with those themes.

What I'm looking for is a guide on create cinematic games *specifically*. Rules on setting pacing, creating a good balance based on how harsh the GM wants the game to be. How to write up interesting and balanced pregen characters that are more appropriate for cinematic than campaigns (i.e. more backstabby).

Right now, there's basically zero guidance on creating cinematic games, so GMs just have to sort of wing it as the game goes on. Now, for some, that's perfectly fine, but many players like to think they can 'beat the game' in scenarios like this, and knowing the GM is coming up with everything in the fly will make them feel a bit defeatist.

Let's put it this way: how do you think GMs and player would feel if D&D removed the encounter creation rules and just told GMs to figure it out on their own? GMs LOVE guides and templates. Allows them to spend less time focusing on balancing the system math on their own so they can instead spend more time on the actual story itself.

Every single RPG out there is focused on campaign play. Alien RPG is the only major one I know that really encourages a quicker much deadlier game mode. I just wish they'd offer GMs more support than a half a page blurb and their own purchasable cinematic adventures. They are great, don't get me wrong, but it's not much help when it comes to the creative side, know what I mean?
 
Attackmack
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun 17 Feb 2019, 03:22

Re: A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Mon 17 May 2021, 22:19

I think a sourcebook/handbook for creating cinematic scenarios would be a superb addition to the range!
While some might have no issues thinking up these by themselves, many others would love assistance laid out in a handbook of sorts or at the very least enjoy the inspiration it might give to help them with their own creations. I would love it for inspiration and just as a wealth of ideas and seeds.

I dont know what FLs long term goals with Alien might be, we know they will continue releasing sets of cinematic scenarios and with the colonial book I guess we are seeing the first of a number of setting/campaign books (I expect we will see "space truckers" and "colonists" and more down the road).
But I would think a sourcebook of some kind for cinematic scenarios is also something we will see sooner or later.
 
Bradley58
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue 01 Jun 2021, 08:15

Re: A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Tue 01 Jun 2021, 08:17

Twentieth Century Theatre: A Sourcebook is an inspired handbook of ideas and arguments on theatre. Richard Drain gathers together a uniquely wide-ranging.

njmcdirect
 
taffi_louis
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri 23 Jul 2021, 09:44

Re: A Cinematic Sourcebook?

Fri 23 Jul 2021, 12:37

Bengt Petter: I agree with your summary, but I would also take each of those themes and look at them through a different lens, such as:

Gender: not simply making your lead/survivor a female, but it’s thematically resonant against the alien biology each film shows us, and it’s part of the horror… the entire facehugger/gestation concept is meant to be especially unsettling from a male perspective because it’s essentially rape.

Human culture/technology vs. Alien biology: corporate greed versus hive mind.

The aliens’ capabilities are still open to interpretation. “How could they cut the power, man?! They’re animals!!” That scene suggests to me that they didn’t just do that by accident. And just how intelligent are they? I’d like to think some of them have intelligence that grows as rapidly as their physiology, but just how much knowledge can they gain in a short lifespan? Is it possible they retain vast amounts of genetic memory from their hosts, or even host species? If so, to what extent? … at the same time, none of this should be defined for players, but open-ended…. At the very least, it should generate some compelling scenarios.

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