ALIEN RPG vs Lasers & Feelings
Compare ALIEN RPG and Lasers & Feelings side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| ALIEN RPG | Lasers & Feelings | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi, Horror | Scifi |
| Play Style | Horror, Survival, Deadly, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Gritty, Licensed IP | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Beginner-Friendly, Low-Prep, Comedy, Collaborative, Fiction-First, Open Source, Tag-Based |
| 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. | Pick a number from 2–5. Roll 1–3d6 depending on preparation and expertise. Rolls under your number succeed at Lasers (science, tech, reason); rolls over succeed at Feelings (intuition, diplomacy, passion). Rolling exactly your number triggers Laser Feelings — a special insight where you can ask the GM one question. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Community | Medium | Low |
| License | All Rights Reserved (20th Century Studios license) | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 |
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | One Seven Design (John Harper) |
| Year | 2025 | 2013 |
| 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. | Quick one-shots with zero prep — the crew of the interstellar scout ship Raptor must save the day while the captain is out of commission. |
| 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 | Entire game fits on one page, zero prep needed, character creation takes seconds, hundreds of community hacks adapt the framework to other genres, free and Creative Commons licensed |
| 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 | GM carries most of the creative and structural load, single stat means characters can feel mechanically identical, no structured scenario framework beyond the initial hook, limited replay variety without community hacks |