Episode 18: Alien RPG – Introducing the Alien

Summary

Part 6: Introducing the Alien…  In this installment of the preparation for improvisation series using Free League’s Alien RPG, we give a brief overview of the campaign so far and look at the process of ongoing assessment and analysis of play which makes it easier to shift and react to how play is really going, rather than how we might want it to go. 

This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.    

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links: Alien the Roleplaying Game – ⁠Rules and Actual Play 

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Episode 17: Alien RPG – Playing the Alien

Summary

Part 5: Playing the Alien…  On our first session, spontaneous improvisation within an understood framework of in-game and meta goals, and getting going even if not feeling 100% ready.

This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.    

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links: Alien the Roleplaying Game – ⁠Rules and Actual Play 

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Episode 16: Alien RPG – Framing the Alien

Summary

Part 4: Framing the Alien…  On conceptualizing the process of preparation in the context of who the characters are, what the approach to play is, and how those things intersect with the setting and its genre.

This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.  

Read the blog post for this episode!

Links: Alien the Roleplaying Game – ⁠Rules and Actual Play 

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Episode 15: Alien RPG – Hearing the Alien

Summary

Part 3: Hearing the Alien…   On description and how it can be approached as a skill for horror gaming. This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.      

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links:  

⁠Choice of Voice

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Episode 14: Alien RPG – Feeding the Alien

Summary

Part 2: Feeding the Alien – On character and the two modes to enjoy them with in this game. This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.    

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links:  

⁠Discomfort, Fear, Terror, and Vast Cosmic Horror, on a dime a day~⁠

⁠On Genre Being Rule Zero

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Episode 13: Alien RPG – Embracing the Alien

Summary

Part 1: Embracing the Alien – on the choice of a horror game and how to implement it.

This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links:

1. Interview with Andrew E.C. Gaska⁠ on Tabletop Talk

2. ⁠Conscience in Gaming⁠

3. ⁠Conscientious Gamers⁠

4. Roleplaying Rank in RPGs

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Episode 12: On Playing on Multiple Levels

Summary

Using Star Trek Adventures as a point of reference, this episode looks at stepping away from the skill of making judgement calls without oversight (using fiat) and toward the enjoyment which arises from the use of tools which challenge how and when you can interact with the objective truths of the campaign~

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Episode 11: On Playing Proactively

Summary

Building on a blog post from 2011, this episode looks at three barriers that can be overcome to clear the road for more proactive play. 

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Episode 10: On ‘Story’

Summary

What does it mean to participate in a roleplaying game? Is it ‘to play a character?’ or ‘to tell a story?’ or is it ‘to play a character in a story?’ Something else? This episode looks at that word ‘story’ and poses some questions on play, our intentions, and how our actions – intentional or not – shape the outcomes and limit what outcomes are even possible~

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Episode 9: Corruption and ‘You’

Summary

Based loosely on a blog post from November of 2010 called Corruption – the other white meat, this episode explores notions of character change, largely through the example of moral corruption. The concept is connected to games like Pendragon, the old World of Darkness series (particularly Vampire and Wraith), and to Leagues of Gothic Horror and its meaner cousin Leagues of Cthulhu. This episode builds on notions expressed in the preceding two episodes (Episode 7: On Facilitating Fear and Episode 8: Can I Play SANs Madness…?)

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