Wed 31 Aug 2022, 22:27
For the mechanics - let's consider what was seen on screen:
ALIEN - the xeno is up against a net, a cattle prod, and some flamethrowers.
How tough the polarized silicon exoskeleton is - we don't see tested other than it can survive in vacuum briefly.
In ALIENS - you have a point blank pistol shot (or three) that penetrate - pistols can stop being effective at any range beyond point blank if you like.
The Marines roll in with "10mm explosive-tip, caseless, light, armor-piercing rounds" - that's going to be bad news in close quarters like the hive or colony corridors to any meat or xeno that gets in the way.
And we see a xeno eat a shotgun blast with expected and predictable results.
Year Zero isn't a gun-fu game (mechanically speaking) and is not attempting to be a ballistics simulation in the way something like Morrow Project, Aftermath, or Phoenix Command would.
YZE damage is 1, 2, or 3 ... where an M41 hits the same as a .357 magnum (ouch anyway) and a bolt gun hits as hard as the M56 - or shotgun that you like to keep handy for close encounters.
In ALIENS - every alien knocked down is done at effectively engaged or short range ... so all of the weapons given on that damage scale could realistically be expected to mess up what they hit.
But, if the mechanics aren't working for you at the table, then another possible way is to consider the *story* of your combat encounters.
Johnn Four (Roleplaying Tips) co-wrote a D20-based combat course called Faster Combat that goes into a *lot* of different thought about crafting combat encounters beyond the mechanics that are pretty applicable to non-D20 gaming as well.
One aspect, for example, is a plan out how much wear and tear or abuse your combatants should optimally have round by round.
He calls that having a 3-round combat plan, which was a bit more than the old D20 Delve advice of knowing what your monster's opening move would be and maybe a followup.
As a GM, you can ballpark what resources your players have before combat starts, and where you want them to end up to fit into your overall adventure.
Is the encounter a cake-walk / warm up? then the baddies can be just mowed down, run through, and plowed under.
Is the encounter designed to seriously drain the party ammo or healing resources? Then its a different story.
Is this meant to be the final end-all-us-or-them-go-for-broke-knockdown-dragout? Make it so!
Planning out your combat "intentions" for the first 3 rounds lets you figure out an opening move, a follow-up, and some sort of finish that has the monsters put the players where you want them before it flees or keels over.
Then, it doesn't matter how mechanically crunchy or chewy they are in whatever system - that is easy to tune if needed: more or less armor, more or less damage, easier or harder to hit, its bright and they are easy to see, the lights are out and they have the advantage, etc.
That is all easy sauce in the moment - but which do you use IF you don't know what the monsters' (and by extension your) goal for the encounter really are?
All you can do is wear them down mechanically if you don't have the bigger picture plot considered.
ALIENS is a great example of this:
The first battle we don't see - the colony is just empty.
The ambush is chaotic mess we don't know what's going on.
The next battle we don't see - only hear - as the xenos charge the sentry guns.
The comes the operations battle where its pitched and the good guys *take a beating*
And finally you get the one-on-one winner take all that goes all over the place.
Try gaming those out with mechanics - but then try gaming them out with just story effects and see if that helps.
We live, as we dream -- alone. ~ Joseph Conrad