ALIEN RPG vs Rogue Trader
Compare ALIEN RPG and Rogue Trader side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| ALIEN RPG | Rogue Trader | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi, Horror | Scifi |
| Tags | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Survival, Deadly, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Gritty, Licensed IP | Space Opera, Grimdark, Licensed IP, Ship-Based, Career-Based, Crunchy, Exploration, Domain Management, Corruption, Fear & Stress Mechanics |
| 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 d100 equal to or under a characteristic or skill after a difficulty modifier between +60 and -60. Each full 10 points under the target adds a degree of success, and each full 10 points over adds a degree of failure. Fate Points let a character re-roll a failed test, add +10 before rolling, or gain a degree of success. Spent Fate Points return at the start of the next session. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d100 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved (20th Century Studios license) | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | Fantasy Flight Games |
| Year | 2025 | 2009 |
| Languages | English, Swedish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese | English, French, German, Italian |
| 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 long campaign as the senior crew of a starship, growing a merchant dynasty through trade, exploration, and void battles in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. It suits tables that enjoy detailed d100 rules and want business ventures to drive the adventures. |
| 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 | Profit Factor folds the dynasty's wealth, credit, and standing into one shared number that the group tests against to acquire gear, ships, and favours. Endeavours frame profit-seeking ventures as sets of objectives whose Achievement Points raise Profit Factor on completion. Starship combat divides each ship turn among the crew, with one Explorer manoeuvring, another firing, and the rest able to take actions such as emergency repairs or augury scans. |
| 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 | Damage beyond a character's Wounds inflicts critical effects from tables organised by hit location and damage type, including permanent maiming and death. Insanity and Corruption Points build toward disorders and mutations, and a character who reaches 100 in either is removed from play. Gear normally comes from Acquisition tests against Profit Factor rather than tracked money, so groups that enjoy counting coins lose that layer. |