Preorders Open May 25 For Alien: The Roleplaying Game
Free League is producing an Alien roleplaying game! Preorders will open May 25, the official 40th anniversary of the original 1979 film. It’ll come with a meaty 300-plus page Core Rulebook, gorgeous backdrop artwork, cards and dice. Rules for two separate modes, an ongoing Campaign Mode and a one-session Cinematic Mode, will be included.
Alien: The Roleplaying Game comes in five fun-filled flavors, depending on the size of your wallet:
- STANDARD EDITION includes the Alien RPG Core Rulebook in a hardcover format with approximately 300 full-color pages of beautiful artwork and complete game rules for both the Cinematic and long-term Campaign game modes. A PDF of the book is included. Price: $49.99
- STANDARD BUNDLE includes the standard Alien RPG Core Rulebook, along with a deluxe Gamemaster Screen, two sets of custom dice (one set of 10 Base Dice and one set of 10 Stress Dice), a set of 50 custom cards (for initiative, weapons, and NPCs), and a set of useful maps and markers. A PDF of the book is included. Price: $99.99 ($50 discount on the total retail price)
- 40th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED-EDITION offers the Alien RPG Core Rulebook with a special commemorative book cover. Exclusive to this pre-order campaign, the 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition will never be printed again. A PDF of the book is included. Price: $89.99
- 40th ANNIVERSARY BUNDLE includes the Alien RPG 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition Core Rulebook, along with the deluxe gamemaster screen, two sets of custom dice (one set of 10 Base Dice and one set of 10 Stress Dice), a set of 50 custom cards (for initiative, weapons, and NPCs), and a set of useful maps and markers. A PDF of the book is included. Price: $139.99
- THE COMPANY SPECIAL EDITION includes everything from the 40th Anniversary Limited-Edition Bundle, as well as signatures from the Free League team on both the commemorative cover and a Limited-Edition 27” X 40” poster of the Alien RPG cover art by Martin Grip. Price: $249.99
The potential for a tabletop RPG based in the Alien universe is obvious, but believe it or not, there hasn’t been an officially sanctioned Alien RPG since 1989, when one based directly on Aliens (then the newest movie) came out. This particular game sets itself shortly after Alien 3. Why that particular timetable?
“We’re focusing more on certain aspects of the universe than others. I think the key thing there is we’ve set our game in the year 2183, that’s a very conscious choice,” Free League co-founder Tomas Härenstam cryptically told the website iO9. “The more recent prequel movies, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, those are part of the canon, part of the story and universe. But as they take place in a much earlier era, that era is not where our focus lies.”
Well, ha ha, I don’t think any self-respecting DM is going to count Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as canon. But the nice thing about tabletops is that they can be anything you want. So if you’d like Ripley to appear even though she’s supposed to be dead, or you’d like 10,000 Ripley clones to appear instead, knock yourself out.
Many of the extras being offered in the above bundles will remain exclusive to Free League’s website, so if you see something that catches your fancy, be sure to preorder this Saturday.