A Xenomorph for your toughts

[Drathir]

ummm so far it looks good to me so im just going to point out that for fear you could (book says should) roll for them, dont even let them know whats going on just tell the rogue he himself or something, I know more work for you but is remembering -2 on atks and what not really that hard?

 

[Ramaster]

Don't do Immune to Cold, as I seem to recall a Xeno getting frozen solid and shattered in one of the movies. Plus, the Queen in the first Aliens Vs. predator didn't look too healthy before she got free of the ice- though admittedly she did obviously survive a long time.

I'd suggest Resist Cold 20; that should be enough to stop most Cold attacks while still leaving them vulnerable to super-nasty stuff like White Dragon breath. Cone of Cold at 9th level will have an average damage output of 31.5, which means a measly 10 points to the 100-hit-point critter. It'll notice, but it won't really be badly hurt. Once the party sees how it reacts to the +1 Fire Sword, or a Fireball spell, they'll concentrate on hammering it with that anyway.

Also, hit dice are tied to creature type, so if you plan to give it d12 HD then you need to note it as a monster ability. Name it something like "Alien Toughness" or the like.

What you've got is good for a typical Human-hatched Xeno, but we know from Alien 3 (among other sources) that the critters "learn" from the Facehugger hosts they grow inside. So if you plan to bring in more Xenos later, you might consider making them a Template (with your "base" Xenomorph being used for the result of an average Human host, and extrapolating from there).

Thanks for the feedback!

Cool ideas come to mind... an Elven Hatched Xeno would be most deadly... a Dwarven one super resilient... So many possibilities!!!

 

[Marclee]

I said acid immune, cold resist, fire vulnerable. Acid immune for obvious reasons. Cold resist because they can survive in space, and fire vulnerability since flamethrowers seem to be the weapon of choice in the movies. Besides, it's nice to find a CR10-12 that isn't fire resistant or fire immune.

Cold resistance cannot be justified by them surviving in space.
Space is devoid of heat. You cannot call it cold. Since there is vacuum in space, no heat will disperse by convection or conduction. Just radiation which doesn't account for much. Humans could survive in space if only the temperature were the problem.

So aliens: vacuum immune. Aliens don't explode like humans do.

On the matter of size though..To me they do appear large, comparable to a horse I guess but the way they move seems more fitting to a medium creature.

It stands around 7 feet tall, averaging in at anywhere between 140 kg and 180kg

source: aliens wikia

The saliva is not acidic. A Bite attack would therefore not include any acid damage.
The site stated that some aliens are able to spit acid though.

Further, aliens seem to have a different way of seeing their prey. In the article they are talking about echolocation, electro-reception and normal vision. Dark-vision would seem appropriate to me.

Aliens are also portrayed as extremely resilient. Damage resistance.

What about the inner mouth? It goes through metal and skull and instantly kills the humans. Any way to incorporate that?

 

[paradox42]

Good points there. I think some sort of Blindsense is a Good Idea.

And definitely DR- though exactly what type is another matter. Do any of the weapons in the movies "count as magical," really? The stuff the Yautja/Predators use seems to work great on them, but lots of human-made weapons don't seem to do much besides get the Xenomorph's attention. So, probably DR 5/Magic or 10/Magic. Or /Adamantine rather than /Magic, perhaps.

 

[Varthol]

What about the inner mouth? It goes through metal and skull and instantly kills the humans. Any way to incorporate that?

Augmented Critcal on the bite (actually x3 crit on all atks is bit much, but seems nice on bite)

 

[Herobizkit]

Apply the 3.5 Dragonborn template to a standard Lizardman (or one of those crazy ones from the MM3). Enjoy.

 

[Werebat]

Anything with Blindsight (or even Blindsense) and reach is a frightening prospect when you fight it in the mist... Although I'm now segueing into another movie I guess...

Edit: Barring mist, steam from water running out of broken pipes and into something hot, like a furnace, might fill a room with a similar effect. Just an idea...

 

[Ramaster]

All great suggestions...

BTW, where can I find the Dragonborn template?

I need to do a little more research before I delve into the addtional sensens... blindsight seems cool, so does darkvision.

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

Yeah they would certainly have darkvision. Im thinking more of a tremor sense then blinde sense. The eyes work fine. And I would say blind sense is a bit of a smell thing. Blind sight more of an inner mind thing. They seem to be the type that would find prey by sound a the vibrations through the surroundings. its looking pretty terrifying though. If I were running a different campaign I would love to use these. Sadly I dont think they would fit in way of the wicked.Lol

 

[Ramaster]

Ok, I run the section with the Xenos!

Before combat, the Xeno kills the two rangers that were guiding the party through the cave without them noticing.

When the Xeno decides to attack, the party was terryfied. On the first round of combat (after a nasty sneak attack on the surprise round), the Xeno wins initiative and procedes to take out the optimized Lore Oracle/Bard with one full attack. He gets his way with the Deathmage a couple rounds in and finally gets beaten up by the barbarian. Man, what a fight!