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Establish a system yes on paper it works but in fact no, you can try but ... let me explain.... I don't know if you've ever been a Game Mother but, well, everyone has their own style but it doesn't work like that. We can plan a story, being Game Mother but the players will always take us elsewhere. What I'm saying is that the Alien RPG scenarios are tightly structured with precise actions (evens) to follow and with the group of players you always have to balance the encounters with the monsters (xenomorph, androids, company exec, etc.). It takes moments of sweetness but also moments of tension.

Players may want to spend the entire game in stealth mode and control everything so as not to encounter a xenomorph but I can tell you... that won't happen... being Game Mother... you will see, something unexpected will happen... a weapon will fall on the floor and make a noise, a door will open with a hellish noise... a facehugger will come into the room and capture you ...

It's impossible to spend an entire game in stealth mode even if the players have a great desire to do it and to control everything...

Arthur.

I have something like this in my personal RPG rules.

Here's the example based on changing the behavior before and after being wounded.
--->8--- Snip
Combined with Conditions, a Guide may prepare an “AI Table” to simply roll on to find their NPC combatant's next action.

Example Table:
Roll Healthy First Wound Second Wound
1 Charge! Freeze Flee!
2 Advance Normally Fall Prone Flee!
3 Advance Slowly Seek Cover Withdraw Slowly
4 Aim or Advance Advance Slowly Seek Cover
5 Aim or Attack! Aim or Attack! Fall Prone
6 Attack! Attack! Aim or Attack!

---8<--- Snip

For the ALIEN RPG, I'd have passive/ambushing and active/hunting (similar to the Dark Descent game...) action lists - depending on the kind of scenes coming up.

I have GM'ed a lot, so I have plenty of experience. Personally, I dislike having a structured plot (it never survives contact with the PCs anyway). Some of our best game moments have come out of random rolls, and that also makes the game session something enjoyable for me too, as I'm discovering by playing. That's why I really like the way Free League tend to publish their adventures - there is a general plot, locations, and things that might happen - but they are loosely coupled and you can introduce elements when you see fit. I think having the Xeno behaviour driven semi-randomly would help that.

It's also similar to the countdown in Vaesen, if you're familiar with that game - there are set events that will happen during the investigation, to ramp up the tension. Stealth Mode could tie into a similar system I think.

At the moment, Stealth mode is presented like "there is a Drone dormant in Zone 1" and the PCs have to sneak with Mobility vs. Observation if they want to get past it. But... if they fail...it's probably going to attack and that probably means one or more of them will die. I think there's a better way to handle this, to ramp up the tension before it actually attacks....

Hi Rennarda, I see where you're going now. This looks interesting. I thought your players wanted to control everything but you seem to be in full control of your game.

stealth mode = xeno is dormant (players have anxiety and stress ahahah!)
segment 1 = xeno is dormant but he's moving elsewhere.
segment 2 = xeno is on patrol, its instinct guides him towards the PCs, an element has aroused his interest (noise or other).
segment 3 = xeno heads into the PC sector and he's searching, a 2nd element has aroused his interest (noise or other).
segment 4 = xeno knows where the players are, a 3rd element has aroused his interest (noise or other), he heads towards them to attack them by surprise or follow them if the players move.

- if the players fail a mobility roll, fill a segment of the pizza.
- if there is panic or noise, fill a segment of the pizza.
- if the players spend too much time in one place, fill a segment of the pizza.

p.s. I don't agree that players can clear a segment by staying put (do nothing for a long interval). Staying put means "not moving anymore" in my book. In stealth mode, players must always be moving or they will be discovered in a time interval. I will allow short rest and recovery periods though.

p.s.2 another element to add is if there are a lot of survivors (human or other) in the sector. If this is the case, we can add an element that the xeno will perhaps be attracted elsewhere by a more percussive noise than the movements of the PCs. In this case, it reduces the PC pizza by one segment (or 2 segments).

That's a great idea.

Arthur.

I'd actually like to see some kind of AI system for the enemies for Stealth Mode - at the moment it feels very lightweight and based on GM fiat (ie, does a Xeno decide to start patrolling an area, or stay dormant? Does it move towards the PCs, or away?)

I think a kind of 'countdown clock' used in other games could work here - imagine a pie with 4 or more segments. If zero segments are filled, the xenos are dormant. If one segment is filled an enemy xeno moves from its current location to another zone on the map, but is otherwise dormant. If two segments are filled, the xeno starts actively patrolling, and will move zones every Stretch. Three segments means it moves directly towards the PCs current location and starts searching. 4 means it knows where they are and is heading directly there to attack them, or hunt them if they move zones.

If the PCs fail a mobility roll, fill a segment on the clock. If someone panics in a way that might draw attention (screams, etc), then fill 2 or more segments. Making a lot of noise will also fill a segment (eg. Parker and Lambert loading coolant cylinders onto a cart). PCs can clear a segment by staying put and keeping quiet (eg when they recover stress in a safe area) - of course that might not help them of the Xeno is already patrolling.

It think a simple system like this might add a bit more excitement to Stealth Mode. I based this on the way the Alien hunts you down in Alien Isolation.

I really like this and have had parallel ideas. For an upcoming game I'm considering trying to plan out a slightly more gamified system in this way. I generally avoid going the gamification route but for Free Leagues RPG with its "Stealth Mode" and similar rules, I find it's actually quite a nice fit. And of course I ditch being wedded to any such system the moment the xenos know where the PCs are and would actively plan.

One practical limitation I come up against is simply duplicating the map. Typically I like to have the actual map out in front of the players visible. But I can't have actual xenomorph locations present on it. So I end up having to either have a separate map in a VTT on my laptop (bit fiddly) or I've experimented with a kind of non-visual map like a flow-chart, behind the scenes. Where a box is a zone on a map and lines connect to other zones, but it's abstract and compact. Tends to fill up with pencil marks though and prone to mistakes being made. An alternative is to have Schroedinger's Xenomorphs and say "the probability of a xenomorph is X" in a given location and determine it as and when the PCs enter.

I'm interested in what practical solutions you have for your idea (or what anybody else does). I have considered "blips" a al Space Hulk.