10-10-2015, 09:25 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Toronto, Canada
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was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
The old Aliens RPC by Leading Edge is catching some flak over at Cracked, the internet's number one source of dick-joke journalism.
http://www.cracked.com/article_22958...ns-movies.html The main complaint is the complexity of the system. I suspect the writer isn't much of a tabletop roleplayer, since he complains about pretty mundane to-hit and movement modifiers and tables. Was the Aliens RPG unusually complicated? |
10-10-2015, 12:34 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
It was based on a simplified version of the Phoenix Command Small Arms Combat System, where the base unit of time is a tenth of a second. It (Phoenix Command) is probably the most complex combat system that's actually playable. I'd say it definitely qualifies as being unusual in its complexity.
Aliens is simplified from it, but there's only so much that can be simplified without completely changing it, so I expect it's still pretty high up there. |
10-10-2015, 12:54 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
Phoenix Command? Yeah then odds are the cracked writer had a legit recounting.
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10-10-2015, 02:47 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
I played a lot of Phoenix Command back then and I didn't think the Aliens RPG was that much more complex than GURPS 3rd or many of the war games of that era.
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Sapor similis pullo. |
10-10-2015, 03:27 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
PCCS isn't really complicated so much as just massively table-drive and kinda sluggish. I haven't seen the Aliens version, though.
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10-10-2015, 05:42 PM | #6 |
Stick in the Mud
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Rural Utah
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
I don't recall it being all that complicated when I played it in college. But then, our primary other systems were AD&D and RoleMaster, and to me, they're all about equally complex.
But, then again, that would have been almost 25 years ago.
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10-12-2015, 01:22 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
Quote:
I've run both. (Well, Rhand and Aliens, rather than PC, but Rhand is the same as PC.) Aliens is MUCH simplified. Only 4 pages of combat tables, versus PC's 15+. 2 second combat rounds, three phases per turn (Movement, fire, melee). Yes, it's well above average, but it's not nearly as bad as PCCS/Rhand. Rolemaster with all the options is on par with PCCS; Rolemaster with no options is on par with Aliens. GURPS is, with all the options in 3E core, about on par with it. |
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10-12-2015, 03:58 AM | #8 |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
What exactly is Rhand?
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10-12-2015, 12:18 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
I think he means Rhand: Morning Star Missions. It was a fantasy/sci-fi game that took place 500 years after the Living Steel RPG.
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Sapor similis pullo. |
10-13-2015, 04:37 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
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Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?
Yeah, now that Phoenix Command isn't around any more and Rolemaster barely is, the "numbers are so haaaaaaard" crowd have mostly moved to complaining about GURPS. The Aliens RPG was towards the high end of the normal level of complexity for its day, but (unlike Phoenix Command / Living Steel) it certainly wasn't a stand-out in that regard.
And the Aliens boardgame was excellent. But hey, this is cracked, who haven't noticed the way boardgames have exploded in the last ten years.
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Podcast: Improvised Radio Theatre - With Dice Gaming stuff here: Tekeli-li! Blog; Webcomic Laager and Limehouse Buy things by me on Warehouse 23 Last edited by RogerBW; 10-13-2015 at 04:42 PM. |
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