The Trouble with Aliens

Yet another Japanese TRPG I've been obsessed with for some time now (18 years to be exact) is the UFO Conspiracy RPG Trouble Aliens. 

Created by Akira Waguri and published by Hobby Japan TRPG in 2007, the game has had but a single expansion/supplement entitled Aliens Paradise, which was released in 2008.

In Trouble Aliens you play as an Extraterrestrial in Human guise, called a Mask, who is trying to either Conquer Humanity, Eradicate Humanity, or Protect Humanity. You can also play a Human but you must also choose one of these motivations. I seem to recall additional drives from either the game's expansion or Japanese TRPG magazine articles. One I remember ckearly was Study Humanity, which had a particularly humorous twist.

There are twelve major Alien Species described in the game, designated 'The Majestic Twelve', though only 11 are defined. The mysterious '12th Species' is unknown at present and there are numerous theories and conspiracies as to who they are and why this is. In addition to these twelve there are many other Aliens with lesser domains of power and influence and they too have visited Earth (GMs and players should work together to create new Extraterrestrials if a player has a particular type of being in mind).

Thanks to their Masks most Aliens look indistinguishable from normal Humans. Players do not reveal  the Alien Species or goal of their Player Characters to the other players or their PCs, creating a atmosphere where no one know who is really who and what they're up to. 

Trouble Aliens is therefore not a traditional cooperative RPG, though it can certainly be played that way (See below) . It's default style of play is more akin to Paranoia, with each PC having their own agenda that often runs counter to those of the other PCs. The Player Characters can form alliances, break them, and team up to thwart another PC's plans as needed.

One can also play Agents of The Organization, a secret group dedicated to defending the Earth from any and all invaders from beyond this world. Agents my be of several types as well, from Super Geniuses to Cyborgs to Psychics! If playing an Agents style game, all the Player Character would be on the same side with the same objective (or would they?). 

As a Science Fiction fan fascinated by the 'Aliens are among us' premise, this one goes hard and I absolutely love it. At the same time, what makes it even cooler is that is isn't tied to only that idea. Sure, you could run it as 'Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?', the classic Twilight Zone episode, but you could play with themes from Alf, Mork and Mindy, People from Earth, Resident Alien, They Live, and so much more. 

The game contains obvious homages to Blade Runner, Men in Black, Superman, The Terminator, War of the Worlds, and so much more. This is ripe for adapting ideas from Anime and Manga like DanDaDan and even FLCL as easily as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Alien Earth! 

The blend of comedy and drama, action and romance, mystery and suspense makes this right up my alley. 

The Invasion Has Begun!

Wait...no...sorry...false alarm. They're just making a coffee run.

Anyone want anything?

The game has a somewhat unusual publication history. It came out in 2007 as noted and did fairly well in the Japanese TRPG market. As with many games that aren't Call of Cthulhu or Sword World, it was very popular with a small niche within the hobby. It did well enough to warrant a supplement/expansion a year later, Aliens Paradise, which is actually half rulebook and half Replay Manga* collection.

Sometime between 2013 and 2015 the game went out of print for a while but came back to renewed interest. This happened a couple of times. I am told it is because the publisher, Hobby Japan TRPG, produces so many titles that some of them get rotated. This unusal publishing schedule made it so it has been very difficult for me to get a hold of a copy. In addition, the 169 page book costs quite a bit in shipping, making getting a book I'd have to tear apart to scan for my translation software not at all cost effective.

Recently I noticed the book pop-up again on Conos, a Japanese webstore similar to our DriveThruRPG. There was a big announcement related its return; it was finally available on PDF for only $20 US. SOLD! I pick it up this weekend and I'm going through the process of translating it now. Aliens Paradise is also available for $11 I think. Will likely get that too very soon. 

I played a session of it at an Anime Convention back in 2007 or 2008 and absolutely loved it. In that game, the GM referred to it as 'The Trouble with Aliens' and to this day, even though I now know the correction translation, I still call it that from time to time.

Wow, I finally have it after all these years and I'm really excited to dive into it. Expect to see more posts about this game as I figure out how to play.

Until next time...Watch the Skies...

AD

Barking Alien

* 'Replays' or 'Replay Manga' are Japanese Comics depicting someone's game in Manga form, often with sidebars or notes explaining how what you're reading happened according to the game mechanics. It is a huge market in Japan and games that don't have Replays attached to them - such as many American imports - don't do very well. Replays are an easy way, at least for the Japanese, to learn a game's rules, what kind of characters are appropriate, what the setting and genre is, etc.