Crow’s Corner

Review of the Changes in the Alien RPG's Evolved Edition

With the Evolved Edition hitting stores, it raises the question of whether the switch to this new edition is worth buying a new book. I’m a huge fan of the Alien movies, but had some issues when playing the previous edition of the Alien RPG (panic spirals, anyone??), so I was definitely intrigued if this new edition might smooth over those bumps, when it was announced. I jumped on the hype train and backed the Kickstarter.

The first thing you see when opening the book is the map in the front; and already it shows off the new design - it’s clean, it’s easier to understand, it’s printable. Being white text on black was a major drawback for me in the previous edition, as reference tables couldn’t be printed out straight from the book.

In this review I’ll provide a broad overview, not a deep dive into the specifics of the new rules, so you can make an informed decision if you want to get the new book. I will focus on the Core Book here, but might also do a write-up for the (now moved to a Starter Set) "Hope’s Last Day" adventure at a later point.

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Some quick facts about the books first.

both books in comparison

What’s Changed?

Cosmetic Changes

Cosmetically, it’s a lot cleaner now, text has been layouted more densely and some wording has changed. Gear is a lot more clearly arranged.

Some mechanics are being called by new names: Blocking changed to Defending, Turns are now Stretches, Engaged Range is Adjacent now, instead of fast/slow actions it’s quick/full actions and crew positions in ship combat have also been renamed. Capitalization for some mechanics has changed.

Some flavour has changed: currency for example is now described in W-Y dollars, instead of only (UA) dollars.

The character sheet has been overhauled and rearranged, now being visually different and also sporting some adjustments to fit the new mechanics.

The player-facing section of the rules now discloses a lot less about Xenomorph mechanics than before. Which is nice!

Mechanics Changes

But let’s dive into the mechanics. There have been a great number of adjusted mechanics, with only a handful of bigger changes and a sea of smaller ones. I initially wanted to list them all here, but there are some minute differences that I left out, because it would have taken too much space to include them all.

Career talents are all worded simpler and often work in a broader range of situations. Some have been renamed and work similar, others have the same name but work different, and anything in between.

The way stress and panic is handled has been overhauled and will now prove less punishing or at least more consistent with a new stat influencing stress and panic related rolls and the clear differentiation between stress and panic and their triggers. There is a lot less auto-failing and panicking now, with the default stress response often only being an inconvenience, rather than a catastrophe. Panic now only triggers when it’s warranted and it’s also less likely to start panicking or increase stress when your friends do. This can be seen in the Panic triggers, the Panic Response tables, as well as the Special Attacks of Xenomorphs. As a counterpoint, you can suffer multiple panic responses at the same time now.

The rules for mental trauma have been expanded (and are optional now).

Another bigger change is stealth. Fewer zones can be covered at a time now, the rules have been heavily streamlined and zone features are handled differently now too. And for those who still think stealth is too much hassle, they have also added optional even more simplified stealth rules. Personally I’m a big fan.

A range of small adjustments has been done to weapons and their stats, damage types, range mechanics, ammo mechanics and categorisation.

Even more changes have been going into combat. Initiative has been adjusted to fit newer game design choices similar to other Free League titles. Quick and full actions have been overhauled. Retreating is resolved a little different. Attacking is generally simpler, now that stunts aren’t a thing anymore and extra successes are handled more straightforward. There are expanded rules for cover. The critical injury table has gotten a bit of a rework and is generally a bit less punishing than before. Armor now flat reduces damages, instead of calling for a roll, which will speed play up. Barriers and everything else interacting with armor has been adjusted accordingly. You can also grapple Xenomorphs now.

Space combat has also seen an overhaul with some simplifications, clarifications and changes. Initiative is now roll-based instead of drawn like in personal combat and actions don’t need to be declared at the same time now. Movement is simplified and at the same time more flexible. Some previously opposed roll are straight rolls now and range isn’t a factor anymore in many rolls, simplifying the combat. Turning off the ship to go dark has been reworked and expanded, too.

Which leaves us with the Xenomorph rules! Some stats have been adjusted slightly and some changes have been done to Special Attacks. There are nerfs as well as buffs to the Special Attacks, adjusted dice pools, some renamed and reordered abilities, generally less panic/stress/injury triggers and abilities that make the PCs drop things now only makes them drop one item instead of all hand-held items. Overall these seem like changes in line with the new stress rules and serve to streamline combat. Other changes to Xenomorphs are to adjust them to the new stealth, combat and grappling rules.

Other smaller mechanical changes:

What’s New?

But changes aren’t all, there’s also a bit of new rules being added. The biggest are probably the Life Paths and the new Solo rules. Life Paths are optional rules to complement and aid character creation, consist mostly of tables, and span across roughly 8 pages. The solo rules are covered in around 17 pages.

They also added shore leave rules for healing, recovering, pursuing the PCs’ agendas and socializing. This section mostly includes various tables for events and encounters.

There are also a few stats completely new to this edition, that are needed for the previously mentioned changes to the stress and panic system. Chief of those being the Resolve stat, that’s derived from the PCs attributes and used in stress and panic responses.

Gear has been slightly expanded with seven new weapons, a new armor, power cells being an official tool now, comm units being added and one new ship.

Some new combat rules:

Other things that are new to this edition:

There is also some advice to upgrade content from 1e in the book, which boils down to replacing talents, adjusting armor, adding ammo capacity and (potentially) using the new Xenomorph stats. Details on how to do this can be found in the book.

What’s Gone?

Some things have also been removed, the biggest to go being the adventure. “Hope’s Last Day” has been moved to its own Starter Set and has to be purchased separately now.

Some other things that were removed:

The Book Itself

The book itself got a bit shorter in terms of page count. Judging by hand feel and dividing book thickness by page count, the paper is a tiny bit thicker than in the previous book, but not by much.

Personally, I liked the matte look of the 1e cover more and the new cover is quite easily scuffed. My edition is already showing white paper behind black ink in the corners. It also doesn’t have a bookmark ribbon anymore.

The new layout makes up for this though and the overall feel of the book is nice.

peek inside the book

Conclusion

The Evolved Edition offers a lot of new and revised content: it’s much more than just a new coat of paint. The rules are similar enough to still use old adventures with the new rules (especially with the advice provided in the book), but different enough that you’ll have to actively learn the new rules to use them effectively and can’t mix characters from the different editions.

They added a few new mechanics and even removed a handful of things. There have been a lot of changes to details but not the overall structure of the game. The rules are generally more streamlined which means approachability for new groups has increased and gameplay should be smoother.

How the new rules hold up in actual play remains to be seen, but I’m looking forward to find out!

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