ALIEN RPG vs Coriolis: The Third Horizon
Compare ALIEN RPG and Coriolis: The Third Horizon side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| ALIEN RPG | Coriolis: The Third Horizon | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi, Horror | Scifi |
| Play Style | Horror, Survival, Deadly, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Gritty, Licensed IP | Exploration, Atmospheric, Character-Driven, Faction Play, Ship-Based, Investigation, Cinematic |
| 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 a d6 dice pool (attribute + skill + gear). Each 6 is a success. Pray to the Icons to reroll all non-successes, but doing so gives the GM a Darkness Point to spend on complications, NPC boosts, or cosmic threats. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Medium | Medium |
| License | All Rights Reserved (20th Century Studios license) | Year Zero Engine OGL |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2025 | 2017 |
| 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 sci-fi exploration with a Middle Eastern-inspired setting, ship-based campaigns, and a mix of trade, intrigue, and cosmic mystery. |
| 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 | Setting blends sci-fi with Middle Eastern mythology and Icon worship, Darkness Points create a GM resource that escalates over the session, detailed ship customization with five crew roles in space combat, ten factions provide a political backdrop for intrigue campaigns |
| 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 | Space combat uses a separate five-phase subsystem with added complexity, praying to the Icons is the only reroll mechanic and it always costs a Darkness Point, mystical powers chapter is brief compared to the setting and combat chapters, setting is tightly coupled — 36 star systems with specific lore |