ALIEN RPG vs Cepheus Deluxe
Compare ALIEN RPG and Cepheus Deluxe side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| ALIEN RPG | Cepheus Deluxe | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi, Horror | Scifi |
| Play Style | Horror, Survival, Deadly, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Gritty, Licensed IP | Space Opera, Career-Based, Skill-Based, Sandbox, Ship-Based, Exploration, Random Tables, Toolkit |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d6 dice pool (attribute + skill). Each 6 is a success. Stress adds extra dice: better odds, but stress dice that roll 1 trigger panic. Push rolls to reroll failures but gain stress. Cinematic mode for one-shots, Campaign mode for long-form play. | Roll 2d6, add a relevant skill and characteristic modifier, and meet or beat the target number. The margin is Effect, and Advantage means rolling 3d6 and keeping the best two. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved (20th Century Studios license) | OGL 1.0a; Cepheus Deluxe Compatibility-Statement License |
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | Stellagama Publishing |
| Year | 2025 | 2022 |
| Best For | Sci-fi horror campaigns and one-shots in the Alien universe, with a stress/panic system that mechanically drives tension. Supports both deadly cinematic one-shots and long-form campaign play. | Groups who want a self-contained interstellar sandbox where career histories feed a shared shipboard trade loop. |
| Highlights | Stress and panic system mechanically reinforces horror tension, two distinct play modes (Cinematic and Campaign), Evolved Edition streamlines rules and improves layout, well-supported licensed setting | Career terms turn character history into usable relationships and obligations that already point toward adventures. World profiles feed local law and trade into the crew's travel decisions, giving generated destinations mechanical consequences. Space combat assigns distinct actions across bridge and engineering roles, keeping the whole crew involved. |
| Considerations | Tightly bound to the Alien IP with limited genre flexibility, stress mechanics can feel punishing at high levels, Evolved Edition changes are modest over 1st edition | Career creation can span several career terms before play, making a fresh crew slower to build than the basic 2d6 mechanic suggests. A ship-based campaign tracks recurring operating costs and cargo prices, making accounting part of the travel loop. The book supplies generators and adventure seeds rather than a ready-made sector or campaign, so the Referee must turn those pieces into an inhabited frontier. |