You’ve been invited to a place where no one can hear you scream (because you’re on push to talk). You’re excited to really prove that you’re the baddest space cowboy, the nerdiest scientist eager to die of curiosity, or the slimiest corporate shill who never should have canceled their Xanax prescription. Hold onto your butts - creating a character is easy in ALIEN. Just like signing up for an ALIEN RPG game on StartPlaying Games.

For cinematic play (one shots) you’re looking at playing a pre-gen character most likely, but your GM might allow you to whip something up if it fits the theme. For campaign play, you’ll want to chat with the group to see what type of careers you’ll have. You have three choices: Frontier Colonists, Space Truckers, or Colonial Marines. Your GM can bring you more information about that as it is beyond the scope of this article.

Character creation steps are found in the core rulebook in Chapter 2, but provided here with clarity to easily distribute to players. The book layout can be a little confusing!

Grab a character sheet here or some unofficial variations can be found here. Then, with a copy of the GM’s core book you can complete your character creation. Follow these steps and ask for assistance as needed:

1. Choose A Career

Choose a career from pages 38-55. There is Colonial Marine, Colonial Marshal, Company Agent, Kid, Medic, Officer, Pilot, Roughneck, or Scientist.

2. Attributes Point Distribution

You have a total of 14 points and each attribute must be between 2-4, except those that are “key attributes” of your career. Androids have special rules and drawbacks associated.

3. Skill Point Distribution

You have a total of 10 points at the start of a campaign and can assign up to three points for each. Your PC’s skills will increase over time during the campaign. (Unless your PC dies.)

4. Choose Your Talent

Choose your talent from the 3 listed on your career page (see step 1). You have a choice between three different Talents depending on your career. Read more about them on pages 72-78. You can learn more Talents over the course of the campaign, this is just a starting point.

5. Choose Your Name

Self-explanatory.

6. Decide On Your Appearance

A few words is all that’s necessary.

7. Pick your Personal Agenda

These different depending on whether you’re playing in a cinematic or campaign! In a cinematic (one shot) you are given your agendas by the GM and these are a secret between players. During the game the GM gives Story Points depending on how the player’s roleplaying aligns with it. During a campaign these are discussed openly and you are rewarded with experience if your PC furthers their agenda.

8. Choose your Buddy and Rival

In cinematic play, this choice is made for you - but in the campaign, this is potentially one of the sweetest roleplaying opportunities. You can also change these at the end of every session as you see fit.

9. Pick Your Gear And Signature Item

For cinematic play, this is picked for you. In campaign play, refer to your career page in the core book. The signature item is a roleplaying macguffin, more or less, and can sometimes interact with Panic mechanics.

10. Roll For Cash

See your career page for what to roll, e.g. d6*100 for Colonial Marine. You can learn more about what to spend your cash in Chapter 7 (pages 148-200).

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You’re done! Now get out there and die dramatically.

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Friday Strout is a pro GM, game designer and podcast host whose work can be found on her website along with a podcast and blog here: https://dollarsanddragons.com