Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > Roleplaying in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-10-2015, 09:25 AM   #1
Johan Larson
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Toronto, Canada
Default 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?
Johan Larson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 12:34 PM   #2
Phoenix_Dragon
 
Phoenix_Dragon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default 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.
Phoenix_Dragon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 12:54 PM   #3
David Johnston2
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?

Phoenix Command? Yeah then odds are the cracked writer had a legit recounting.
David Johnston2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 02:47 PM   #4
woodchuck
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default 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.
__________________
Sapor similis pullo.
woodchuck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 03:27 PM   #5
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default 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.
__________________
My GURPS site and Blog.
Anthony is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2015, 05:42 PM   #6
sjard
Stick in the Mud
 
sjard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Rural Utah
Default 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.
__________________
MIB #1457
sjard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2015, 01:22 AM   #7
ak_aramis
 
ak_aramis's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
Default Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phoenix_Dragon View Post
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.
Phoenix Command, yes. Aliens, not really.

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.
ak_aramis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2015, 03:58 AM   #8
Peter Knutsen
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
Default Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?

What exactly is Rhand?
Peter Knutsen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2015, 12:18 PM   #9
woodchuck
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Re: was the Aliens RPG (Leading Edge) unusually complicated?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen View Post
What exactly is Rhand?
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.
__________________
Sapor similis pullo.
woodchuck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2015, 04:37 PM   #10
RogerBW
 
RogerBW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
Default 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.

Last edited by RogerBW; 10-13-2015 at 04:42 PM.
RogerBW is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:38 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.