In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

Gurps

I wouldn't have any players be the alien, it should remain an unknown.

>>53643905
Alright, that would make the game a lot easier if there was an automatic Alien mechanic. perhaps cards that determine where it attacks (following players) or what it attacks (following certain paths to rooms)

Dread.
Talk to a player in private: he's a robot now and will try to take the alien alive at any cost.

also this >>53643905

>>53643876
>really simple game

>>53644012
Do you think Dread is simple enough? I heard that game takes a while, or is there just a steep learning curve?

>>53643928
Perhaps a randomized monster threat so the players can't necessarily employ meta-knowledge and need to use clues to learn its tactics and weaknesses.

>>53644158
>Dread
>simple enough
All you need is a Jenga tower, some characters, and a story.

>>53644295
ohhhh Like maybe it's a queen, and maybe it's not? or maybe it's a bunch of eggs or just a few face huggers?

Maybe there is a chest buster already in someone...

which raises another question, should the actual players be the only crew, or should there be NPCs to redshirt?

>>53643876
>>53643636

Not OP but I've actually been toying with this very same idea for a long time.

I came to the conclusion recently that GURPS was a bad choice for this theme because it would eliminate a lot of the horror. As a template GURPS is a great system but for a horror setting you lose the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty thanks to the clarity of numbers, DC's, stat's and defined parameters.

For a good horror game; keep everything as simple and non-mathematical as possible for the players. Streamline the piss out of their gameplay experience, even keep dice rolling to a minimum. Eg: never let the players know that the Xenomorph has an AC of 18 and it moves 35ft per round. Too many definitions subtract from the mystery and malice of the monster Numbers allow the players to analytically tackle the creature ("if it has stats, we can kill it").
Instead, let them use emotive thinking and gut-reactions to make their decisions. Their goal isn't to kill the beast, they have to escape.

Likewise for the players, they aren't going to have hit points. Lets face it, if a xenomorph gets you- you're dead. At best some players or NPC's can sustain injuries which hamper their performance.

I wouldn't even put the alien on the board, maybe keep track of its movements using a private board on a set patrol route. After reading about the Xenomorph AI in Alien Isolation I decided to adopt a 3-senses system for my alien.

1) Sound: The xenomorph has a reasonably large radius of rough sound detection which it will leave its patrol route to investigate. On the ship there will be many sounds randomly going off as steam vents hiss and terminals beep etc but also some actions by players might make a lot of noise (restarting a generator).

2) Sight: Using LOS, if the Xenomorph directly see's a human it will immediately aggro

3) Smell: An extremely short radius zone of detection, specifically for the alien to find humans hiding in lockers or maybe sniff traps and bait?

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>>53643636
why is that xeno queen so tiny?
or alternatively are those ogre legionares?

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>>53643636
just play space hulk.

alternatively I think abandon all hope might be right up your alley.

>>53650025
Could be a praetorian.

>>53647843
>("if it has stats, we can kill it")
Complete offtopic but since Predator and Alien share the universe I've always wanted to see how Dutch from the first Predator would go against Xenomorphs

>>53644327
>should there be NPCs to redshirt?
Are you trying to play Alien or Prometheus? This is important because it will answer your question for you.

Wasn't there a fuzion based aliens RPG?

>>53650051
>each player controls one marine
I can already hear the arguments

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>>53643636
Traveller would work great for this. Even has xenomorphs and the walker thing stated out.

>>53643636
Ever use All Flesh Must Be Eaten? It uses the Uni System which is piss easy to learn and most of the rules can be easily discarded for a more story centered game (you can play without dice) or more interestingly a deck of normal 52 cards.

I had a 1 on 1 game to test this out and I was playing a town Sheriff leading a search party into the bush to try and find people who have missing from the town, ended up being psycho hill billy cult but the game was fucking tense because you have to burn through your hand before you can refresh and you HAVE to play those cards at some point and the DM has no idea what you have.