Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8191519" data-attributes="member: 4534">I have yet to play it.&nbsp; :-(&nbsp; I own the main book, the starter set, the Destroyer of Worlds boxed set, and am contemplating the purchase of the new marines expansion but I won't get a chance to play it until this whole COVID thing wraps up.&nbsp; But let's talk about why Aliens is such a fantastic RPG and a good example of why system matters.&nbsp; One of the core mechanics of Aliens is Stress level and the Stress Dice. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, the Stress mechanics introduces a little uncertainty and tension which is great for a horror game. For every level of Stress you have, you roll one extra Stress Die when rolling your skill dice. So if you would normally roll 6 dice for your Heavy Machinery skill, if your character had 3 Stress you'd roll 6 skill dice + 3 Stress dice for a total of 10 dice. This actually increases the odds of success but also increase the odds that your character will panic and lose control. This is a mechanic that works rather well for a horror game but would be terrible if implemented in a heroic fantasy like D&amp;D.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 8191519, member: 4534"] I have yet to play it. :-( I own the main book, the starter set, the Destroyer of Worlds boxed set, and am contemplating the purchase of the new marines expansion but I won't get a chance to play it until this whole COVID thing wraps up. But let's talk about why [I]Aliens[/I] is such a fantastic RPG and a good example of why system matters. One of the core mechanics of [I]Aliens[/I] is Stress level and the Stress Dice. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, the Stress mechanics introduces a little uncertainty and tension which is great for a horror game. For every level of Stress you have, you roll one extra Stress Die when rolling your skill dice. So if you would normally roll 6 dice for your Heavy Machinery skill, if your character had 3 Stress you'd roll 6 skill dice + 3 Stress dice for a total of 10 dice. This actually increases the odds of success but also increase the odds that your character will panic and lose control. This is a mechanic that works rather well for a horror game but would be terrible if implemented in a heroic fantasy like D&D. [/QUOTE]

Verification