Psion
Adventurer
Alien Invasion is a sourcebook for D20 Modern providing material for running games featuring an alien invasion theme, popular in many 90s (and earlier) entertainment. Alien Ivasion is written by Michael Tresa (author of numerous D20 Modern SF interperetations) and published by Reality Deviant Publications, distributed via RPGObjects.
A First Look
Alien Invasion is currently available in electronic format. The PDF is distributed as part of a zipped archive, including both a 138 page color and 101 page printer friendly PDF as well as a zipped folders of maps and images.
The color format PDF is longer because it includes scans of a number of declassified documents regarding unidentified flying objects in some capacity. These scans also seem to be responsible for the large size of the file.
The color version has a full color cover illustration of a grey-like alien about to inject a rat with a sinister looking needle. The interior illustrations are a mix of full color, monochrome sepia-tone, and black and white illustrations, of passable to good quality. Credited artists include Daniel Igarza, Brian Patterson, Jason Walton, Paul Daly, and Bradley K McDevitt.
The black and white version has minimal artwork, even excluding most of the black and white drawings, which probably would make it harder to read given fewer visual anchors.
A curious little side note – it appears that there is some sort of coded text embedded in the watermark of the color screen version PDF. They appear to be the classic civil war cipher you might have learned about when you are a kid, but the letters don’t come out as sensible words that I can tell. Perhaps there is a second cipher or encryption technique in place here. If anyone cracks this little easter egg, I’d be interested to hear about it.
A Deeper Look
The book starts out with a bit of flavor text, a recounting of an experience by radio personality Clyde Lewis of Ground Zero Radio. The flavor text serves to set the groundwork for the sort of paranoid conspiracy campaign that is one of the major possibilities described in the next chapter.
The first actual chapter in the book provides the groundwork for an alien invasion campaign. The chapter starts off listing a variety of types of alien invasion campaigns. In truth, the offered types are somewhat limited in scope, principally focusing on different flavors of more subtle conspiracy sort of campaigns, probably best represented by the X-Files series. Though some mention is given to more overt campaigns that might be exemplified by the likes of Earth Final Conflict or the X-Com video games, for the most part Alien Invasion is written from the standpoint that existing UFO lore are, to some degree, peeks behind the scenes of what is “really going on.”
The majority of the chapter is a clearinghouse of common UFOlogy lore, summarized and in many cases provided with an interpretation of the truth and peppered with game statistics, such as DCs for research tasks, NPC stat blocks, and maps. This material somewhat resembles that in Paradigm Press’ Conspiracies, save that it is more exclusively about UFO-related conspiracies (which is only one part of Paradigm’s book), a bit more detailed, but at the same time a bit less modular and harder to do a cursory read.
The second chapter delves deeper into the game mechanics, providing new character options appropriate to the UFOlogy-driven background set forth in chapter 1. This includes new backgrounds (abductee and conspiracy theorist), two new advanced classes, feats, psionic powers, spells, and racial templates.
The two advanced classes are both members of UFO-related cults. The aetherian are members of the Aetherian society, a sprititual organization started who purported to have been contacted by an extraterrestrial being called Aetherius. The Aetherian is a divine spellcasting advanced class.
The Raelains are from the Raelian movement, started when a French reported was contacted by extraterrestrial beings called the Elohim, purportedly who share some DNA with humans. The Raelian advanced class is not a divine spellcaster like the Aetherian. Rather, a Raelian is basically a diplomat at lower levels, but plugs into the society’s secrets of cloning technology at its highest levels.
The psionic powers provided here are ones purported to be abilities of aliens in UFOlogy that don’t happen to be in the D20 Modern book. Some are ports of powers existing in D&D psionics material.
An alien technology chapter provides weapons, spacecraft, and other gear in D20 Modern / D20 Future format. The chapter also has a brief section explaining real world government classification levels and expanding the existing restriction structure on the D20 Modern wealth system to utilize items with these classifications.
The final chapter, the alien agenda, presents the alien creatures themselves. Again, common variants from UFOlogy are presented here in d20 Modern terms, along with curiosities like which star they hail from (some choices are a bit less than credible without further amplification; some of the purported stars that host these races are bright and well known, but unlikely to even have planets, much less habitable planets).
The final chapter also outlines a possible campaign scenario utilizing this material. It’s an interesting scenario and does put the material to good use, but I felt that more of this sort of material was needed in the book.
You May Like This Book If…
You may like if D20 Modern is your game of choice and you are interested in seeing game material strongly based on UFOlogy and modern alien conspiracy SF, and want to spin your own setting out of it rather than use Dark Matter. Dark Matter fans may find some parts of this book usable fodder for their game as well.
You May Not Like This Book If…
You are jaded by UFOlogy or modern alien conspiracy SF, or feel these needs are better met by products already out there.
My Take
(This section is the application of my personal values and my desire to represent my tastes. I recognize that not everyone has the same values in gaming books, from which I derive my rating. If you disagree with my rating, I suggest you read the rest of my review and draw your own conclusions.)
Being a fan of the likes of X-Com: UFO Defense, I found it somewhat refreshing to see a book on modern alien invasion SF show up. Though there are some strong modern gaming possibilities out there, this is one area that seems to show up more strongly in entertainment media than it does in modern d20 gaming offerings.
That said, I really have to say that Alien Invasion is third in line for me when it comes to modern D20 gaming offerings I am likely to use for such a game. I feel that for conspiracy, Spycraft 2.0 is the go-to d20 game. For that reason, Paradigm’s Conspiracies will figure more strongly because it is mechanically in line with my preferences. Further, I have trouble buying that such a large segment of UFO lore is true. The more modular nature of Conspiracies that allows me to decide the truth about various beliefs seems like it would be more conducive to crafting a campaign in which the truth is hidden behind layers of supposition and confusion.
Even confining my considerations to D20 Modern products, I must admit I was more taken in by the deeper, better developed background behind Dark Matter, the classic Alternity campaign setting recently ported to D20 Modern.
However, were I to run a Dark Matter campaign, or even a game based on conspiracies, I think I could make good use of the book as a resource on common UFOlogy as well as extracting some mechanics and background tidbits of choice. The mechanical material is competently done.
Overall rating: C+
–Alan D. Kohler
A First Look
Alien Invasion is currently available in electronic format. The PDF is distributed as part of a zipped archive, including both a 138 page color and 101 page printer friendly PDF as well as a zipped folders of maps and images.
The color format PDF is longer because it includes scans of a number of declassified documents regarding unidentified flying objects in some capacity. These scans also seem to be responsible for the large size of the file.
The color version has a full color cover illustration of a grey-like alien about to inject a rat with a sinister looking needle. The interior illustrations are a mix of full color, monochrome sepia-tone, and black and white illustrations, of passable to good quality. Credited artists include Daniel Igarza, Brian Patterson, Jason Walton, Paul Daly, and Bradley K McDevitt.
The black and white version has minimal artwork, even excluding most of the black and white drawings, which probably would make it harder to read given fewer visual anchors.
A curious little side note – it appears that there is some sort of coded text embedded in the watermark of the color screen version PDF. They appear to be the classic civil war cipher you might have learned about when you are a kid, but the letters don’t come out as sensible words that I can tell. Perhaps there is a second cipher or encryption technique in place here. If anyone cracks this little easter egg, I’d be interested to hear about it.
A Deeper Look
The book starts out with a bit of flavor text, a recounting of an experience by radio personality Clyde Lewis of Ground Zero Radio. The flavor text serves to set the groundwork for the sort of paranoid conspiracy campaign that is one of the major possibilities described in the next chapter.
The first actual chapter in the book provides the groundwork for an alien invasion campaign. The chapter starts off listing a variety of types of alien invasion campaigns. In truth, the offered types are somewhat limited in scope, principally focusing on different flavors of more subtle conspiracy sort of campaigns, probably best represented by the X-Files series. Though some mention is given to more overt campaigns that might be exemplified by the likes of Earth Final Conflict or the X-Com video games, for the most part Alien Invasion is written from the standpoint that existing UFO lore are, to some degree, peeks behind the scenes of what is “really going on.”
The majority of the chapter is a clearinghouse of common UFOlogy lore, summarized and in many cases provided with an interpretation of the truth and peppered with game statistics, such as DCs for research tasks, NPC stat blocks, and maps. This material somewhat resembles that in Paradigm Press’ Conspiracies, save that it is more exclusively about UFO-related conspiracies (which is only one part of Paradigm’s book), a bit more detailed, but at the same time a bit less modular and harder to do a cursory read.
The second chapter delves deeper into the game mechanics, providing new character options appropriate to the UFOlogy-driven background set forth in chapter 1. This includes new backgrounds (abductee and conspiracy theorist), two new advanced classes, feats, psionic powers, spells, and racial templates.
The two advanced classes are both members of UFO-related cults. The aetherian are members of the Aetherian society, a sprititual organization started who purported to have been contacted by an extraterrestrial being called Aetherius. The Aetherian is a divine spellcasting advanced class.
The Raelains are from the Raelian movement, started when a French reported was contacted by extraterrestrial beings called the Elohim, purportedly who share some DNA with humans. The Raelian advanced class is not a divine spellcaster like the Aetherian. Rather, a Raelian is basically a diplomat at lower levels, but plugs into the society’s secrets of cloning technology at its highest levels.
The psionic powers provided here are ones purported to be abilities of aliens in UFOlogy that don’t happen to be in the D20 Modern book. Some are ports of powers existing in D&D psionics material.
An alien technology chapter provides weapons, spacecraft, and other gear in D20 Modern / D20 Future format. The chapter also has a brief section explaining real world government classification levels and expanding the existing restriction structure on the D20 Modern wealth system to utilize items with these classifications.
The final chapter, the alien agenda, presents the alien creatures themselves. Again, common variants from UFOlogy are presented here in d20 Modern terms, along with curiosities like which star they hail from (some choices are a bit less than credible without further amplification; some of the purported stars that host these races are bright and well known, but unlikely to even have planets, much less habitable planets).
The final chapter also outlines a possible campaign scenario utilizing this material. It’s an interesting scenario and does put the material to good use, but I felt that more of this sort of material was needed in the book.
You May Like This Book If…
You may like if D20 Modern is your game of choice and you are interested in seeing game material strongly based on UFOlogy and modern alien conspiracy SF, and want to spin your own setting out of it rather than use Dark Matter. Dark Matter fans may find some parts of this book usable fodder for their game as well.
You May Not Like This Book If…
You are jaded by UFOlogy or modern alien conspiracy SF, or feel these needs are better met by products already out there.
My Take
(This section is the application of my personal values and my desire to represent my tastes. I recognize that not everyone has the same values in gaming books, from which I derive my rating. If you disagree with my rating, I suggest you read the rest of my review and draw your own conclusions.)
Being a fan of the likes of X-Com: UFO Defense, I found it somewhat refreshing to see a book on modern alien invasion SF show up. Though there are some strong modern gaming possibilities out there, this is one area that seems to show up more strongly in entertainment media than it does in modern d20 gaming offerings.
That said, I really have to say that Alien Invasion is third in line for me when it comes to modern D20 gaming offerings I am likely to use for such a game. I feel that for conspiracy, Spycraft 2.0 is the go-to d20 game. For that reason, Paradigm’s Conspiracies will figure more strongly because it is mechanically in line with my preferences. Further, I have trouble buying that such a large segment of UFO lore is true. The more modular nature of Conspiracies that allows me to decide the truth about various beliefs seems like it would be more conducive to crafting a campaign in which the truth is hidden behind layers of supposition and confusion.
Even confining my considerations to D20 Modern products, I must admit I was more taken in by the deeper, better developed background behind Dark Matter, the classic Alternity campaign setting recently ported to D20 Modern.
However, were I to run a Dark Matter campaign, or even a game based on conspiracies, I think I could make good use of the book as a resource on common UFOlogy as well as extracting some mechanics and background tidbits of choice. The mechanical material is competently done.
Overall rating: C+
–Alan D. Kohler
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