Quote from: lightsyder on Jul 02, 2022, 01:24:55 PMSo, sounds like getting the RPG books for the lore is totally worth it. How many are there that I'm going to need to track down?
There are a five books/releases out at the moment. There's the Core Rulebook, which, as the name implies, features the full rules for the game plus the "core" lore about the universe of the game, info on the corporations, major factions, most popular/well-known weapons and ships/vehicles, a map of the galaxy etc.
Then there's the Starter Set, which is essentially a cut-down version of the core rules which mostly focuses on everything a player needs to know in order to play the game (but not how to create their own characters; that's only in the Core Rules). It's also got less lore than the Core Rules and is mostly intended for people who maybe aren't sure about whether or not they want to go all-in, as it allows them to play the game without needing to spend a ton of money on anything else.
However, it can still be worth getting even if you've already got (or are planning to get) the Core Rulebook too, since it comes with a whole bunch of other stuff like themed dice, players cards and handouts, a big physical map, and the Chariot of the Gods cinematic scenario - the first in a trilogy of adventures for the Alien RPG.
After those (going in order of release), there's the Destroyer of Worlds cinematic scenario, the second part in the trilogy. This one's unlike the previous books in that it's aimed pretty much entirely at "Game Mothers" aka the people who want to actually run the games for themselves. As a result, while it does feature lore and new weapons, vehicles etc., it's all presented in terms of how it relates to the Destroyer of Worlds adventure, so reading through this one without actually playing it first - if you don't intend to run it - is going to totally ruin all the surprises for you if you ever end up playing it at some point down the line.
Next to release was the Colonial Marines Operations Manual, which, as the name suggests, focuses on the Colonial Marines. This is another great one to get even if you're not planning on actually running games yourself as the first half or so is purely lore-based, giving a much more expanded look at the history, structure, weapons, vehicles and combat history of the CM than the Core Rulebook does.
It also has expanded rules for creating more diverse Marine characters to play. The back half of the book is intended for Game Mothers and features a six-part plus finale Marine campaign.
Finally there's the most recent one, Heart of Darkness, another cinematic scenario which caps off the initial main trilogy of cinematic scenarios. Like Destroyer, this one is also aimed mainly at people who want to actually run the game, so again there'll be new lore, but to read it you'll basically have to spoil the adventure for yourself if you're ever hoping to play it (not run it) in the future.
That one's out in PDF format at the moment and should be having a physical release sometime soon.
Stuff we've heard talked about for the future are a "Building Better Worlds" colonist/explorer source book, which will be going in-depth on the colonist side of things in the same way that the Ops Manual does for the Marines, another cinematic scenarios, and a "space trucker" source book.
There's also been talk of a possible android source book too, but since Heart of Darkness isn't even out in a physical version yet, those are all likely a pretty long way off.