Colonial Marines Operations Manual enlists players for new Alien RPG adventures next March
Another glorious play in the Corps.
Colonial Marines Operations Manual, a full campaign module for Alien: The RPG, will release in March 2021. The hardcover supplement boasts full illustrations throughout and comes from Free League Publishing, the studio behind the Tales from the Loop and Mutant: Year Zero tabletop sourcebooks.
The manual will add all sorts of character creation options for playing as marines in the Alien setting, as well as a history of the organisation and its culture to provide plenty of material from roleplay. Vehicle and weapon options have been expanded to include military-grade arsenal that might even the odds against the extra-terrestrial threat of the xenomorphs.
Speaking of the eponymous acid-flingers, Colonial Marines Operations Manual will include detailed sections on the different factions - human and otherwise - vying for control of the colonies on the edges of known space. The marines have been called in large numbers to this location for good reason, according to the press release, and those motivations will set the stage for a full campaign players can enjoy.
That campaign will play out across five missions that retain the cinematic, fast-paced action set forth by the core Alien RPG sourcebook. Though marine players have deadier armaments at their disposal, the dangers in front of them seem to rise to the occasion; each session retains the ever-present possibility of gruesome death. The story contained in the manual will conclude against a “deadly enemy, finally revealed”.
Alien RPG provides options for both cinematic play, which mimic the flow of an Alien movie in terms of player power and locations, and open-world campaigns. The latter allows players to explore the dark science-fiction setting of Alien. Both the game and its upcoming supplement use the Year Zero Engine, which requires different six-sided dice for skills, gear and basic manoeuvres.
The core Alien: The RPG sourcebook is required to run the Colonial Marines Operations Manual, which costs $40 (£30) to pre-order on the official website. A full retail release is planned for March of next year.