Verdict
Though, at its core, the Alien RPG Evolved is the same beast as the 2019 edition, it’s worth re-investing in. This is the core rules at its most practical, most beautiful, and most streamlined. Free League’s Year Zero system still has a few hiccups, and it struggles to offer detailed worldbuilding tips in such a vast setting. But these are ultimately minor scuffs on the shiny, exquisite carapace of our figurative alien.
- Gorgeous, more useable layout
- Streamlined rules remain robust
- New solo rules, character creator, and ‘Aliens mode’
- Worldbuilding lacks practical details
- Minor issues with character rules persist
Sequelitis is a serious problem in the world of cinema. When a masterpiece is made, the executives are eager to capture that lightning in a bottle a second time. That leads to sequels that must be bigger and more elaborate than ever before.
Tabletop RPGs don’t suffer from sequelitis in quite the same way. When revised versions of systems do appear, their turnaround is far less frantic. The publisher has time to consider what fans loved about the original, and what loopholes or failings need a fresh coat of paint.
They do, however, have to fight harder to justify their existence. Why switch to the new rules when I’ve been running this game just fine for the past 10 years?
This is the beast that Alien RPG Evolved Edition must do battle with. The 2025 edition is still the sci-fi horror tabletop RPG that Free League exposed us to in 2019, but some creases have been smoothed, while other mechanics have been mined for more detail.
The existing Alien RPG fanbase are calling this a ‘1.5 edition’ – it’s the same Alien, just with a few more spines. Hell, the whole thing is even compatible with older adventure material thanks to a quick appendix in the back explaining the most impactful rules changes.
Is it, then, worth investing in an entirely new rulebook?
“What’s the story, Mother?”
The biggest change in the Evolved Edition actually has nothing to do with the rules. Free League has recruited RPG design extraordinaire Johan Nohr (perhaps best known for his metal-as-hell Mörk Borg art) to spruce up the visual layout of the rulebook.
Opting for white rather than black pages, this edition is less moody but far more easily parsed – and Nohr makes up for the shift in mood by including a few new, gnarly pictures in his signature style. Other layout tweaks, including some incredibly helpful flowcharts, make this a rulebook that’s far easier to sift through and understand.
The skeleton of the rules remains largely unchanged. After all, when you’ve created an organism as powerful as a Xenomorph – or Free League’s Year Zero rules – why innovate? Multiple RPGs have proven that this D6 dice-pool-based system is suited to evocative storytelling.
I still have my personal qualms with the Year Zero character rules. The career ‘classes’ can be stereotypical and lack detail, while the naming convention of skills is unintuitive. None of this is news, though, and the character rules remain functional, if not perfect.
What is new for player-characters is the Talent list, a unique abilities list which has seen some tinkering. Plus, Free League has thrown in a new ‘Life Path’ character generator, which determines your careers and skills by simulating the early years of your character’s life. The rulebook openly admits that this is not useful for building balanced characters, but if you’re only in this for an incredibly deadly one-shot, it’s a flavorful, fun way to develop your backstory.
“You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you?”
As you can see, the devil is in the details. The same goes for the Alien RPG’s other flagship mechanics. Stealth, Combat, and Stress all feel familiar, but, like the latest model of android, they’ve been streamlined into more efficient, effective machines.
Stealth mode is by far my favorite part of the Alien RPG. It’s the height of the game’s tension and the closest we get to the cinematic horror of the Alien movies. You need to traverse an unknown, possibly hostile environment, and you need to do it quietly.
You inch forward through the crawlspace, and suddenly, your motion tracker pings. Something living is approaching. Is it friendly? Is it human? There’s no way to know right now, but you’ll need to decide whether to press on or change paths. The half-knowledge that the tracker gives you sits in your stomach, a sickening feeling. Worse still is the moment that the organism you’ve been tracking disappears – and you’re left completely in the dark.
The Evolved version of Stealth mode is a simpler affair, with fewer dice rolls involved in deciding whether a hostile spots you before you spot them. While the mechanic has been streamlined, its pacing has slowed right down. Instead of being able to move two zones at a time, players can now only move one. With careful narration by the Game Mother, this can be a deliciously agonizing stretch of play – but it might start to drag in the wrong hands.
“I can’t lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies”
All that dread has to build to something, and the Alien RPG is well-equipped with mechanics for those moments when shit (or an unsuspecting prisoner) hits the fan. Stress and Panic remain a major part of the Year Zero system, and they’re particularly apt in the Alien RPG. Both mechanics have a new edge to them, though, in the form of Resolve. Panic and Stress responses are now handled by a D6 table that’s modified by your personal Resolve score. However mentally sturdy you are, though, you might still end up taking a Mental Trauma effect if you panic hard enough.
And, when running and hiding doesn’t work, there’s combat. This largely functions as it did in the first edition, though you now choose between ‘Full’ and ‘Quick’ actions rather than ‘Slow’ and ‘Quick’. The decision-making aspect of this, where you decide whether to take multiple impactful actions on a turn or save an action for defending against danger, is basically the same – fast-paced and pretty dang deadly.
The biggest combat changes affect the equipment you’ll use. Using and conserving ammo has gotten slightly more complicated, with regular supply rolls to track bullets, while armor now has a flat rating that makes it far simpler to apply when the damage starts flying. Both changes feel practical, and I’m a fan of them in play.
This style of fight is a far cry from the heroic fantasy of games like D&D. If, however, you want your Alien adventures to feel more action than horror, Free League has introduced an ‘Aliens Mode’ that makes combat simpler and more like the bullet-spraying fights of the second Alien movie.
“Earth, man…what a shithole”
Beyond the rules, the Alien RPG offers a fairly chunky section on the universe you’ll be exploring. The lore has been updated to account for recent instalments like Alien Romulus, but most of the info has stayed static. The biggest change here is the Tartarus chapter, which aims to give Game Mothers a complete setting to begin their game in.
This chapter covers a small-ish star system, with planets and space stations mapped, and plenty of plot hooks peppered in to season the dish. It’s an intriguing space to play around in, but it highlights a wider issue I have with the Alien RPG rulebook.
The setting for your games can span all of space. If you’re playing the campaign mode of Alien, you can expect to hop planets – or possibly even entire star systems. However, when blood starts spraying and bodies start falling, all the action takes place on the ground. You’ll care more about finding the nearest exit than discovering the general temperature of the planet.
Alien is great at delivering those birdseye-view details about terrain, population, and politics. It’s not so good at providing floorplans for individual buildings. A theater of the mind approach serves the original edition just fine, but Alien Evolved was specifically developed to allow play with maps and miniatures. With Stealth mode more granular than ever, I was expecting to see less guidance on creating an entire planet (which, admittedly, the rulebook gives great advice on) and more tips for designing – for lack of a better RPG buzzword – dungeons.
If you’re playing one of the Alien RPGs frankly excellent pre-written adventures, Free League tends to provide all the glossy maps you’ll need. However, anyone who’s not prepared to fork out for a boxed set is left in the dark to fend for themselves.
“Game over, man! Game over!”
I’d say that Alien Evolved is a surefire buy for most existing fans of the system. It offers a more practical and organized way to run the game, and it doesn’t immediately outmode your existing boxed sets and adventures. For newcomers, it’s also worth investigating. This isn’t the most horrifying RPG on the market, and its scope is more limited than many sci-fi systems, but it’s an excellent blend of both genres, with snappy rules that’ll fuel plenty of hours of play.
Want to share your own thoughts on the new rules? Join us for a chat in the Wargamer Discord, where I’ve been documenting the saga of my Xenomorph mini painting.