Expansion Story by Andrew E.C. Gaska, Released By Free League Publishing, & Reviewed By Talia R. Heart of “Drat And Cat Suggest”

SPOILER WARNING! GM EYES ONLY!

Reviewer’s Notes: “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness” by Andrew E.C. Gaska, is for Game Mother’s eyes only as this review (and expansion) contain significant spoilers to anyone who wants to play in this scenario, or either prior adventures (“Chariot of The Gods” & “Destroyer of Worlds”, also by E.C. Gaska);. You many also draw unwelcome attention upon yourself. You have been warned.

SPOILER WARNING! GM EYES ONLY!

EMERGENCY COMMAND OVERRIDE 100375

WHAT IS “ALIEN THE RPG: HEART OF DARKNESS”?

“ALIEN THE RPG: HEART OF DARKNESS” IS THE LATEST “CINEMATIC PLAY” ADVENTURE WRITTEN BY ANDREW E.C. GASKA AND PUBLISHED BY FREE LEAGUE PUBLISHING. FURTHER INFORMATION

PROVIDED BELOW.

Pictured Below: Erebos Station where much of the story takes place. The station orbits a black hole, just outside the Accretion disk (which makes for some impressive art!).

Set in 2185 “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness” is a “cinematic play” adventure that should take approximately three game sessions to complete. For this module you will need the “Alien The Roleplaying Game” core rulebook, or the rules from “Alien The RPG: Starter Set” to run.  This adventure takes place after the events of “Chariot of The Gods” (included in “Alien The RPG Starter Set”, sold separately by Free League Publishing) and “Alien: Destroyer of Worlds”, concluding “The Draconis Strain Saga” and draws on and adds to material from all over the “Alien” expanded universe. Having played or having acted as Game Mother of “Chariots of The Gods “ and/or “Alien: Destroyer of Worlds” is helpful but not required as this game’s story manual will quickly catch you up with the essential information you need to know.

Inside the high-quality display box of “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness” you’ll find the 76-page story book, a giant high-quality map of Erebos Station, 7 pre-generated character sheets, 38 Story Cards including Personal Agendas and Weapons, and 3 player handouts.  All materials used are of excellent quality and durable. This expansion also features some top-notch artwork (much of which you can see here in this review) as well and so Free League Publishing earns 5-stars in QUALITY.

Next up is CONTENT and a story mainly set at a space station which orbits a black hole where you must run for your life from hostile aliens makes for an interesting setting IMHO. Further this adventure is written by the author of the last two “cinematic play” adventures, both of which were well-received (as I believe this one will be). The adventure is particularly good at providing the GM with many options for the possible player responses to the horror the story throws at  them.  This combined with detailed maps, handouts, and story cards as well as some truly beautiful art (though I’d like to see more of it) would earn a 4.5-star rating but the story author chose to include content worthy of “extra credit”. Wondering what it is? It turns out to be a who rather than an it, and his name is Adrien, the station’s 13 year-old tuxedo-cat mascot who is even imbued with the special ability to lower a PC’s stress score by purring.  My Hillary is my tuxedo-cat, my mistress & DACS mascot, so at her instance I’ve “reconsidered” CONTENT and increased the score to 5.0-stars (the cat is a fully written-up NPC, Peeps!).

Next, we consider VALUE. While it is true that Free League Publishing recently raised  their game prices from 10-15% (citing inflation, continued supply chain issues, and Swedish SEK currency value (relative to the US dollar), at the time I write this review, a physical copy of “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness” is priced at $30.61 which is a very reasonable and perhaps just $5.00 or so more. Some people spend much more on a single evening’s pay-per-view. Given all this & the high-quality materials I give “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness” 4.5-stars for VALUE.

Taking everything together “Alien The RPG: Heart of Darkness”  has earned 4.96-stars overall and I have no problems recommending it to a TTRPG/Alien fan, so visit your FLGS or order this title directly on the Free League Publishing Web Store which will get you a free digital (PDF) copy of the game at no additional cost to you! Just keep in mind that you’ll need the core rulebook or the condensed rules from “Alien The RPG: Starter Set” to run this adventure.

Sneak peek have you curious? You can see more by buying the full supplement here: https://freeleaguepublishing.com/en/store/?product_id=7621164597506