I feel the same way about the Sotillo. I ran this as two sessions with the Sotillo coming in at the end, and I wish I had cut it and run one longer game instead.
I think it's really important to note that the adventure itself mentions not using the Sotillo. It even says it's there only if you feel that you need another twist or really need some backup PCs (the game is supposed to be deadly but some bad luck rolls in a row can spoil the fun). So it's not there as a final act but rather an extra bit of flooring in case the players run out before the night is over
Love the idea of banter cards, thanks for providing them as a downloadable resource! I’m gonna be running this as my first ever RPG as a GM, so thanks for the tips!
The banter cards are great. I liked how you wove in a few hints/clues/idea about what they have access to on the Montero so they aren't having to ask a ton of questions or just be spoon fed the info (like the Daisy or the Helium-3 cannisters). Great way to get them talking and thinking. Need to start doing these in my games. And totally 'borrowing' these for CotG.
I’ve never used the Satillo either. Have run this two times now and will soon run it a third. So I stumbled over this video looking for a little inspiration boost. ❤
So helpful to hear practical ideas for an adventure from someone that's actually GMed it a few times. And the banter card idea is a great tip for any adventure. Keep these coming!
Dude this is so helpful. I am GMing this for my sisters as a birthday gift and I dont have a lot of wxperience with TTRPG in general. This really helps.
Awesome video packed with useful information, even a year later Banter cards are neat and I see them being especially useful for players new to RPGs (I run for new crowds quite a bit). I'll probably offer them and encourage players to then expand into their own custom banter! These cards certainly grease the gears
I ran this for my friends, first time any of us had used the system. I'm pretty good at remembering rules, but I still got the official gm screen and made notes for myself, mostly about the events and what order to them in and how many turns to do things in, stuff like that. I too ended dropping the sotillo, our game ended with one guy going abomination as the neomorph charged the group. I managed to break almost all of them, but the one person left standing got so lucky in their medic rolls they saved everyone, lol.
I cut the Sotillo as well. We had quite the climax, and with one survivor left ejecting in the EEV before the Kronos went up, there was no need for the extra chapter. Perhaps one of the most cinematic games I've ever had the pleasure of overseeing. The Aliens game is great.
Run this a few times, and got a really weird dejavu moment when the same charecter, in the same place at the same time goes Berserk, grapples the first enemy and gets their head crushed. Second time round added in the sotillo to spice up the repair work, especially since most of the crew were now dead, but the PCs picked up the ping and convinced the pirates not to board, instead they just took all the ejected cargo and the corporate EEV casuple that was floating around.
So excited to try and run this after playing in it! All the tips in your video are things that I definitely think would've made my playthrough more fun so I'm glad I found it. And the assets too, thanks again
Hello from Belgium, i really appreciate your 5 tips and the way you shared it to us. Great stream, excellent quality and prononciation . Great work ! TY
Good video, will take some of this to heart once I run CoG. BTW, Could we get a link to the Dungeon Craft video with the banter cards @1shotadventures? I'd like to start a discussion about it and find it would be easier with the context of that video rather than this one focused on one adventure with spoilers included. 😁
Yup! Here's where the original idea came from: th-cam.com/video/q_uOIGyn24M/w-d-xo.html - I also expand how how I run Banter Cards more in one of my videos here: th-cam.com/video/FrTsJVHPbsY/w-d-xo.html
this module is clearly made by people who love the alien films but its such a disaster in terms of layout and out of the box playability for the GM... sooo much flicking back and forth between plot events and room descriptions that have spoilers and then finding the niche rules such as fire and disease. You basically have to edit it into something playable otherwise you'll spend so much time going errrrrm ok bare with me here after a player walks through a door. i agree over the final act I think its only there because the module overly encourages you to kill your players via arbiarty infection far too soon.... ofc it does this to replicate the spiral in alien but then also wimps out and remembers a table full of dead players watching somone else isnt a whole lot of fun and trys to almost retcon it??? doing that and then going ok here be more charachters is a very low energy end to a highstrung game. the self destruct countdown of the montero activating is one of the best moments ive had at a rpg table.
Thanks for making the banter cards-Im totally going to use them. I also have the idea depending on the play group of having a Predator ship introduced in the 3rd act instead of the Sotillo, if they are being too successful in the story. Maybe a hybrid for stats of a Stage 4 Abomination and Reid. Any thoughts?
Haha, now that idea is sadistic :-) I think the PCs are going to be so undergunned and stressed by the time the predators show up that there’s no way for them to conceivably survive… but assuming you survive your players’ wrath, that would make for a memorable ending!
Can you link the deck plans you used for the Cronus map? I definitely want to try out all your tips, and I'm going to run it on Foundry so I want to set up all the lighting :)
I manage to play it in one session, I don’t understand how you can spend 15 sessions on this. And I agree cutting the Satillo is the best thing to do, even the book tells you it’s optional, and to cut it if you want a shorter session.
Yeah, I'm always surprised when other groups take a dozen sessions on these Alien campaigns, but maybe my group is just in a hurry to escape these horror-filled situations...
With the mandatory events, how many hours did it take you to go through? I was wanting to run this but I saw everyone say how it took them 4-5 sessions...
Over VTT, I’ve been able to run it in 2 sessions (call it 3-ish hours each). That’s also with cutting or minimizing the pirate ship at the end. The GM has a lot of control of the pacing of this adventure. Most of the accounts of the 5 session games I’ve read include most of the optional events and also don’t follow the guidance to have MUTHUR trigger bad things on her own to force the players to act quickly.
In my opinion the Sotillos narrative purpose is to be the "i made it out alive but alone" Option, kinda like in the end of the Titanic movie. After all but one PC died. Additionally, it serves to create the Illusion of escape. If the PCs known there is no hope of escape they fight the harder out of desperation. A trapped rat fights with all its got. But if there is a way out the tension and withholding of reserves remains, slowing down the powerbleed and prolonging the misery.
Like how you dressed like Carter Burke for the video nice touch!
Amazing what I still have left in my closet from the 90s :-)
I feel the same way about the Sotillo. I ran this as two sessions with the Sotillo coming in at the end, and I wish I had cut it and run one longer game instead.
Would be great to have a video of you actually GM'ing this cinematic module!
I think it's really important to note that the adventure itself mentions not using the Sotillo. It even says it's there only if you feel that you need another twist or really need some backup PCs (the game is supposed to be deadly but some bad luck rolls in a row can spoil the fun).
So it's not there as a final act but rather an extra bit of flooring in case the players run out before the night is over
Fair point!
Love the idea of banter cards, thanks for providing them as a downloadable resource! I’m gonna be running this as my first ever RPG as a GM, so thanks for the tips!
The banter cards are great. I liked how you wove in a few hints/clues/idea about what they have access to on the Montero so they aren't having to ask a ton of questions or just be spoon fed the info (like the Daisy or the Helium-3 cannisters). Great way to get them talking and thinking. Need to start doing these in my games. And totally 'borrowing' these for CotG.
I’ve never used the Satillo either. Have run this two times now and will soon run it a third. So I stumbled over this video looking for a little inspiration boost. ❤
So helpful to hear practical ideas for an adventure from someone that's actually GMed it a few times. And the banter card idea is a great tip for any adventure. Keep these coming!
Getting ready to run Alien for the first time. This video is great. Thanks!
Good luck! It is an awesome game for one shots - show no mercy to those poor, doomed PCs...
Dude this is so helpful. I am GMing this for my sisters as a birthday gift and I dont have a lot of wxperience with TTRPG in general. This really helps.
Happy to help - good luck with this one!
Good suggestion for cutting the Sattillo. I am might do that.
Awesome video packed with useful information, even a year later
Banter cards are neat and I see them being especially useful for players new to RPGs (I run for new crowds quite a bit). I'll probably offer them and encourage players to then expand into their own custom banter!
These cards certainly grease the gears
I ran this for my friends, first time any of us had used the system. I'm pretty good at remembering rules, but I still got the official gm screen and made notes for myself, mostly about the events and what order to them in and how many turns to do things in, stuff like that. I too ended dropping the sotillo, our game ended with one guy going abomination as the neomorph charged the group. I managed to break almost all of them, but the one person left standing got so lucky in their medic rolls they saved everyone, lol.
I cut the Sotillo as well. We had quite the climax, and with one survivor left ejecting in the EEV before the Kronos went up, there was no need for the extra chapter. Perhaps one of the most cinematic games I've ever had the pleasure of overseeing. The Aliens game is great.
Run this a few times, and got a really weird dejavu moment when the same charecter, in the same place at the same time goes Berserk, grapples the first enemy and gets their head crushed.
Second time round added in the sotillo to spice up the repair work, especially since most of the crew were now dead, but the PCs picked up the ping and convinced the pirates not to board, instead they just took all the ejected cargo and the corporate EEV casuple that was floating around.
The moment that always repeats for me is that someone *always* thinks they can handle going into the air vents by themselves
Great tips, thanks. I also would never use the Sotillo. Amazing adventure!
Awesome stuff, going to be running it this weekend!
The banter cards are a new one on me. Great idea! The rest of the video was good too. Very well thought out.
Thanks a lot! Skipping the pirates was a really good idea!
So excited to try and run this after playing in it! All the tips in your video are things that I definitely think would've made my playthrough more fun so I'm glad I found it. And the assets too, thanks again
Hello from Belgium, i really appreciate your 5 tips and the way you shared it to us. Great stream, excellent quality and prononciation . Great work ! TY
I thought for a second the thumbnail said "How to Ruin it like a pro".
Haha i have lots of ways to do that 😃 But I think you gave me a good April Fools video idea for next year!
Wow - some amazing ideas in there - thanks so much! Looking forward to running this soon with my regular group
Glad I could help! I still think this is the best of the Alien adventures.
1:50 Im going to trust him! :-)
I've never heard of banter cards before but it sounds like an interesting idea! Thanks for the free files!
Good stuff! Clear and concise with clean editing :)
These are very good tips. Especially the sotillo one. I am going to try it...any tips for 'Hope's last day?'
Unfortunately I haven’t played that one yet. But it’s on my list!
Good video, will take some of this to heart once I run CoG. BTW, Could we get a link to the Dungeon Craft video with the banter cards @1shotadventures? I'd like to start a discussion about it and find it would be easier with the context of that video rather than this one focused on one adventure with spoilers included. 😁
Yup! Here's where the original idea came from: th-cam.com/video/q_uOIGyn24M/w-d-xo.html - I also expand how how I run Banter Cards more in one of my videos here: th-cam.com/video/FrTsJVHPbsY/w-d-xo.html
Thanks! I was about to ask the same thing. This info could be in the show notes, tbh :)
this module is clearly made by people who love the alien films but its such a disaster in terms of layout and out of the box playability for the GM... sooo much flicking back and forth between plot events and room descriptions that have spoilers and then finding the niche rules such as fire and disease. You basically have to edit it into something playable otherwise you'll spend so much time going errrrrm ok bare with me here after a player walks through a door.
i agree over the final act I think its only there because the module overly encourages you to kill your players via arbiarty infection far too soon.... ofc it does this to replicate the spiral in alien but then also wimps out and remembers a table full of dead players watching somone else isnt a whole lot of fun and trys to almost retcon it??? doing that and then going ok here be more charachters is a very low energy end to a highstrung game.
the self destruct countdown of the montero activating is one of the best moments ive had at a rpg table.
Thanks for making the banter cards-Im totally going to use them. I also have the idea depending on the play group of having a Predator ship introduced in the 3rd act instead of the Sotillo, if they are being too successful in the story. Maybe a hybrid for stats of a Stage 4 Abomination and Reid. Any thoughts?
Haha, now that idea is sadistic :-) I think the PCs are going to be so undergunned and stressed by the time the predators show up that there’s no way for them to conceivably survive… but assuming you survive your players’ wrath, that would make for a memorable ending!
I wish you had referenced where you found that vtt map
Just added them to the description: www.reddit.com/r/alienrpg/comments/o5sxoa/chariot_of_the_gods_maps/
@@1ShotJC you're awesome. Thanks
Can you link the deck plans you used for the Cronus map? I definitely want to try out all your tips, and I'm going to run it on Foundry so I want to set up all the lighting :)
I found them on this Reddit thread - www.reddit.com/r/alienrpg/comments/o5sxoa/chariot_of_the_gods_maps/
My recommendation is to nudge Lucas the android towards the company stooges. It's more satisfying when the different corp assets fight it out.
Yes- picking the right players to play those roles makes a big difference when the action gets going.
I manage to play it in one session, I don’t understand how you can spend 15 sessions on this. And I agree cutting the Satillo is the best thing to do, even the book tells you it’s optional, and to cut it if you want a shorter session.
Yeah, I'm always surprised when other groups take a dozen sessions on these Alien campaigns, but maybe my group is just in a hurry to escape these horror-filled situations...
@@1ShotJC I think it's important to give them a feeling of emergency, even if it makes them miss a bunch of things.
With the mandatory events, how many hours did it take you to go through? I was wanting to run this but I saw everyone say how it took them 4-5 sessions...
Over VTT, I’ve been able to run it in 2 sessions (call it 3-ish hours each). That’s also with cutting or minimizing the pirate ship at the end. The GM has a lot of control of the pacing of this adventure. Most of the accounts of the 5 session games I’ve read include most of the optional events and also don’t follow the guidance to have MUTHUR trigger bad things on her own to force the players to act quickly.
I guess act III is the worst written act from the whole scenario. Not much to do after pirates are gone.
Never thought they added much to the adventure, unless you just need to give your players a deus ex machina escape.
You do look like Burke, do you realize that? :)
Hahaha I kind of love that comparison!
I haven't run it yet but this helps a lot.
In my opinion the Sotillos narrative purpose is to be the "i made it out alive but alone" Option, kinda like in the end of the Titanic movie. After all but one PC died.
Additionally, it serves to create the Illusion of escape. If the PCs known there is no hope of escape they fight the harder out of desperation. A trapped rat fights with all its got. But if there is a way out the tension and withholding of reserves remains, slowing down the powerbleed and prolonging the misery.
Haha, actually love the idea that the ship is there just to prolong the misery of the poor doomed PCs.
Which VTT do you use?
Mostly Foundry these days