Ring Side Report: RPG Review of Chrysalis

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Product– Chrysalis

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– Coming soon! 

TL; DR– Good, but pricey 87%

Basics: Time for a fresh start on a new planet.  Wait, what did they just load into the hold?  Chrysalis is a one- to two-hour demo adventure for Alien RPG Evovled edition.  It’s got pregens and maps with some horror-based fun along the way.

Mechanics or Crunch: This adventure has all the pieces for a good intro to the mechanics of Alien.  You have a time crunch that illustrates how long actions take. You also have a little combat and a little skill-based checks and a tad bit of panic in there.  All the basics are covered to learn this system quickly and well.  5/5

Theme or Fluff– I don’t hate the theme here, but I do think the story needs a bit more direct suggestions.  The game has a short intro, but most of the plot takes place aboard a crashed ship.  The ship has horror things in it, but you also have to put them where you feel they fit.  That’s good, but for a new GM, I’d directly say “put this here” and “do this there”.  Also, I like the combat, but I feel it doesn’t belong as much, say, in other events.  Honestly, I want more direct Alien corporate evil than the random evil that happens on this adventure.  Not bad, but not as Alien as I would have hoped. 4/5

Execution: This is well done, but doesn’t belong as a separate thing.  There are maps, pregens, and pieces to help the players really learn this system.  But, this honestly belongs at the back of the base book.  The base book missed an adventure, and this was it.  Also, at GenCon, this was over $ 10.  This is a one- to two-hour intro adventure.  That is WAY too much for this.  It’s good, but that’s too much.  4/5

Summary: This is a great intro adventure.  At GenCon, this was being run in the Free League room every other hour.  And, this adventure did exactly what it’s supposed to do-it entertains and teaches the basics.  I love that.  The theme is a bit off, with the Alien being more of a random problem and less about corporate machinations, but that’s ok. The big issue is price.  It’s pretty expensive for what you get.  It’s good, but it should be a free PDF and given out when you get the main book.  87%

Ring Side Report: RPG Review of ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set

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Product– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set

System– ALIEN RPG Evolved Edition 

Producer– Free League Publishing

Price– $19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com//product/521240/alien-rpg-evolved-edition-starter-set?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Everything I wanted and more! 100%

Basics: What happened here?  This is the starter set for the Alien RPG Evolved Edition, and it includes the “Hope’s Last Day” adventure.  It’s got five pregens with detailed backstories, multiple cards for players to navigate the adventure and see ever-changing motivations, and lots of dice specific to the system.  For those of you who remembered the original book, this adventure is in the back of that version.

Mechanics or Crunch: This has all the intro crunch you will need.  The box comes with a 20-page book discussing the mechanics of the system.  I’ve gotten pushback on my glib remarks about how little crunch this game has (in the best possible way), but this book is honestly about 20 solid pages with enough rules to get you and your players playing FAST.  There are item cards that you can hand out to your players so they can see the stats on the different weapons.  And everything is just done well. This is a solid intro for the crunch of the system.   5/5

Theme or Fluff– This box gives you the movie world of Alien fast.  It’s just a short book with a 3-4-hour adventure and multiple character motivations.  Characters don’t like each other and have conflicting motivations, so make sure your players are ok with that, but it’s a simple adventure that explains the world well.  Just well done.   5/5

Execution: I love this boxset.  Check out my unboxing here: https://youtu.be/uDghTPRaujE. Just amazing production values and great writing and layout all around.  I love everything that’s here.  There are a few errors like a location on the map being mislabeled, but aside from that, it’s just everything I wanted in a box. 5/5

Summary: I can’t recommend this enough…. To the right people.  This adventure has five players try to survive the horror of an Alien invasion.  But, the adventurers don’t like each other and might stab one another in the back. If you just want a big damn heroes adventure, maybe don’t get this one.  If you want movie-accurate gaming with a good explanation of the rules, and great production with minis, dice, maps, and cards, then this is a great way to get into the Alien RPG!  100%