ALIEN RPG vs Starving Folly
Compare ALIEN RPG and Starving Folly side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| ALIEN RPG | Starving Folly | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Sci-Fi, Horror | Horror |
| Tags | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Survival, Deadly, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Gritty, Licensed IP | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Survival, Gritty, Resource Management, Character Building, Classless, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, One-Shot Friendly, CC-Licensed Rules |
| 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 d10, add the relevant ability score and any skill that applies, and meet or beat a Difficulty Class the GM sets on a scale from 4 for an easy task to 15 for an almost impossible one. A weapon attack rolls a d10 plus the weapon's ability score against the target's Evasion and, on a hit, deals the weapon's listed damage. Spending a Hunger Token rerolls a failed Body or Agility roll, and spending a Sanity Token rerolls a failed Mind, Senses, or Sociability roll. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d10 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved (20th Century Studios license) | CC BY-NC-SA |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Noncommercial only — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | TheCappy01 |
| Year | 2025 | 2026 |
| Languages | English, Swedish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese | English |
| 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 free, setting-agnostic horror game for one-shots or short campaigns, built around a gradual reveal of the threat and survival costs that reach beyond hit points. It fits tables that enjoy building characters from a wide menu of backgrounds and perks. |
| 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 | Scars land on specific body parts, and a permanent -5 Scar costs the character that part. Each time a character drops to 0 Sanity Tokens, the GM gives them a new Phobia that can drain a Sanity Token once per session. A character's base Actions equal Agility plus 1, and unspent Actions can be saved to act again later in the round. |
| 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 | Standard rest clears Temporary Scars but leaves permanent Scars in place. Running out of Hunger or Sanity Tokens normally imposes -3 on rolls tied to that token's abilities, and a standard rest restores just one token of each type. Whether the six Doctrines of magic appear in a campaign, and how characters earn Affinity to use them, are left for the GM to decide. |