ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game - 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Core Rulebook

“I can’t lie to you about your chances, but … you have my sympathies.”

Space is vast, dark, and not your friend. Gamma rays and neutrino bursts erupt from dying stars to cook you alive, black holes tear you apart, and the void itself boils your blood and seizes your brain. Try to scream and no one can hear you—hold your breath and you rupture your lungs. Space isn’t as empty as you’d think, either—its frontiers are ever expanding. Rival governments wage a cold war of aggression while greedy corporations vie for valuable resources. Colonists reach for the stars and gamble with their lives—each new world tamed is either feast or famine. And there are things lurking in the shadows of every asteroid—things strange and different and deadly.

Things alien.

This is the official ALIEN tabletop roleplaying game—a universe of body horror and corporate brinkmanship, where synthetic people play god while space truckers and marines play host to newborn ghoulish creatures. It’s a harsh and unforgiving universe and you are nothing if not expendable.

Stay alive if you can.

This beautifully illustrated, full-color hardcover book presents the world of ALIEN in the year 2183 and provides a fast and effective ruleset designed specifically to enhance the ALIEN experience. The game supports two distinct game modes:

- Cinematic play is based on pre-made scenarios that emulate the dramatic arc of an ALIEN film. Designed to be played in a single session, this game mode emphasizes high stakes and fast and brutal play. You are not all expected to survive. The core rulebook contains one introductory Cinematic scenario, Hope’s Last Day.
- Campaign play is designed for longer continuous play with the same cast of player characters over many game sessions, letting you explore the ALIEN universe freely, sandbox style. The core rulebook contains random tables and other powerful tools to quickly create star systems, colonies, missions, encounters, and NPCs for your campaign.

The rules of the game are based on the acclaimed Year Zero Engine, used in award-winning games such as Tales from the Loop, Forbidden Lands and Mutant: Year Zero, but adapted and further developed to fully support the core themes of ALIEN: horror and action in the cold darkness of space.