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General RPG Rules Discussion[WAS CALLED "Pathfinder/OGL/D20 GAMES"] Discuss the rules of Pathfinder, d20 Modern and any other game except D&D, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, and the like.
Sci-Fi setting: Aliens, Xenomorphs and originality
Let’s say you are running a sci fi game and as you are designing an adventure or campaign, you decide the game needs a need a menacing alien threat. After mulling it over for a while, you realize the Xenomorphs from the Alien movie franchise could fit the bill really well. Would using something so obviously borrowed bother you? Would you file off the serial numbers and describe the creatures in a way so hopefully no one recognizes their true nature? Or would you use them right from the screen / comics with no reservations or hesitations?
And as a player, if your character is in a scenario where the foes you face could possibly be Xenomorphs, how would you feel? Sure, most situations that could involve the Aliens are not scenarios a character would ‘want‘ to be in, but if you have to face such a threat, would you prefer they BE Xenomorphs, or would you prefer the gamemaster make up something slightly more original?
Actually I have come up against this a few times. I have played DC universe with Xenomorphs and there were mixed feelings.
From myself I didnt feel they were accuratly potrayed.
From others they thought it was lame.
I have played with Xenomorphs in Faerun. I wasnt running, and as a player wasnt satisfied how they were presented in d20 either (I have made my own stats for them which took many long hours of research).
As for other players they also felt it was lame in a fantasy setting.
However, my old group hated time travel and dimensional hopping.
So take your group into account.
Personally unless you are playing an Aliens game, make up some orginal E.T Threat.
I've actually used aliens straight up in D&D (D20) and Traveller (T20) games. I usually describe them as 2 legged bug people and the realization sets in when the players get their first acid splash when whacking one.
The players' worried looks is worth the price of admission.
I would advise against it, since if the players feel that you have "ripped off" the movies, they won't be feeling the atmosphere of horror you want them to feel.
Instead, come up with a creature that evokes a similar feel of Body Horror without being too derivative.
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I would advise against it, since if the players feel that you have "ripped off" the movies, they won't be feeling the atmosphere of horror you want them to feel.
I dunno about that, though of course it probably depends on the players in question.
I ran a scenario using CP2020 rules several years back at GenCon and used aliens straight-up. The PCs were Colonial Marines, and despite their being part of a heavily armed squad, the players seemed pretty frightened for the characters.
I think the situation is the key. Aliens in the movies, assuming one is well-armed, aren't really that scary. But in Alien the crew of the Nostromo had no knowledge of what they were dealing with, no weapons, and a "sympathizer" to deal with. In Aliens, the marines went onto unfriendly turf, overconfident and all but blind, with their hands tied behind their back with regard to firing weapons. They were dealing with massive numbers, and lost a drop-ship and all of its onboard weapons and other resources. (Remember, if they'd had enough ammo for the automated gun platforms, they probably could have held out for rescue.) And so on.
(Me, I put them on a rotating space station with no artificial gravity, and the only way out through the hub, where of course the queen had nested. Every AP round had a chance -- small, but non-zero -- of breaching the hull, as did the acid blood. It was very nasty.)
If the PCs are placed in a really tough situation for dealing with the creatures, that's where the horror comes from, IMO, not just from novelty. I do agree, though, that lack of knowledge adds to the horror, which is why each Alien film has tried -- most failing -- to come up with some facet of the creatures that was previously unknown. IMO, the Dark Horse comics and novels actually pulled it off best. (The idea that the aliens -- when under competitive pressure -- get smarter and smarter with each generation, very, very quickly, is scary as hell.)
__________________ Jeff Wilder, San Francisco Bay Area
"And if you bore me ... you lose your soul to me." -- Belly, "Gepetto"
I'd use the aliens. Rather than creating a mood from scratch, you can take advantage of the players' knowledge to create the atmosphere for you. Just expect them to metagame a bit.
Let’s say you are running a sci fi game and as you are designing an adventure or campaign, you decide the game needs a need a menacing alien threat. After mulling it over for a while, you realize the Xenomorphs from the Alien movie franchise could fit the bill really well. Would using something so obviously borrowed bother you? Would you file off the serial numbers and describe the creatures in a way so hopefully no one recognizes their true nature? Or would you use them right from the screen / comics with no reservations or hesitations?
And as a player, if your character is in a scenario where the foes you face could possibly be Xenomorphs, how would you feel? Sure, most situations that could involve the Aliens are not scenarios a character would ‘want‘ to be in, but if you have to face such a threat, would you prefer they BE Xenomorphs, or would you prefer the gamemaster make up something slightly more original?
Honestly, if I sat down for a game session and found out I was fighting the aliens from Alien, I'd probably roll my eyes and tune out. I didn't much care for those movies. Shoe-horning them into a different game would annoy me, because they're so iconic.
If the game was based on the Alien universe, though, I would have no objection.
So I would go for filing off the serial numbers. Call them Genestealers.... oh, wait, someone made that joke already in this thread. Squadron Supreme?
I'm going to give you the GREAT ANSWER: It depends!
I've been on both sides of this, and in both scenarios, its been handled well and done poorly (by me and by other gamers). Almost everyone borrows- as Dali said, "If you're going to steal, why not steal from the best?" (And if you look, you'll notice Dali stole that line.)
While I value originality highly, when it comes to RPGs, the fun is what is key. A completely original critter can be a PAIN to deal with...and I mean not in a good way.
I mean...would you want to play against Luckstealers (just to make something up)- their power is that each makes you reroll each roll and take the worst result, with bonus rerolls forced upon the critter's Cha bonus? Maybe fun at first, it would soon become tiresome if they were the campaign's version of Orcs.
Its been said by many as one of the most complete sources for the franchise.
__________________ "Amethyst is an extremely vibrant new setting, presenting a campaign world that feels holistic in scope, even as the possibilities presented in this book barely seem to scratch the surface."
Shane O'Connor (Staff Reviewer, RPG Now)
I'd use them but not make it clear what they were. Giving creatures names ruins their mystique, and certainly the terror of "body horror." Having something burst out of someone's chest might be too iconic; encountering the eggs without any other context would certainly surprise someone even if they saw the movies.
I've recently based nearly all my d20 Modern scenarios on movie scripts, by taking the raw material of a printed scenario and then finding a movie script that is similar. This isn't very hard to do at all (a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective of scenario authors).
I have a big plan, actually, to use my Horrorclix Alien Queen along with the aliens in the scenario "The Source and the End" replacing the weird little mutant critters with aliens and the "source" with the queen. It should be suitably horrible.
The key is 1) not to tell the players what you're doing, and 2) tweak the monster enough so that it's presented differently. Make the Aliens read, or call them Thaliens, or whatever, and everything changes.
The other challenge is that pictures can make or break a scene. Just showing players an ALien will immediately give the point away. Describing it however is a different story.
Or you could just steal any one of the d20 variants that are already out there, several of which are in the 3.5 Monster Manuals.
It is an insanely good resource, surpassed only by the splendid GitSD20!
Thanks for the kind words.
Before I decided to use my powers for greed, I created those on my old page, along with Conestoga and Pathfinder (created in 1996, and no, I am not changing the name). I researched every source for the Alien game: The comics, the movies, the unused film scripts, and even the short-lived CCG. The same went for the Ghost in the Shell game as well. I watched every episode, every movie. Read every manga and even the technical journals. I ensure each game left no stone unturned.
...And people wonder why the Amethyst 3.5 edition was 400 pages. I have promised to keep the 4.0 to a more economical level.
__________________ "Amethyst is an extremely vibrant new setting, presenting a campaign world that feels holistic in scope, even as the possibilities presented in this book barely seem to scratch the surface."
Shane O'Connor (Staff Reviewer, RPG Now)
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