Aliens: The Breeding By Charles W. Plemons III (nosferatu@premiernet.net) "That's it man, game over man, game over." -- Private Hudson, Aliens Author's Notes I have seen two adaptations of Aliens for the World of Darkness, the first by Ed Payne, and then revised by Steve Kok. I like both works, but I wanted to add more to them. This work is based on the films, Alien, Aliens, and Alien3, Alien Resurrection and the novels by Dark Horse Science Fiction. Known History Encounter One The alien species known as the Xenomorphs were first encountered by the human transport ship, Nostromo. The crew received orders from Mother to investigate a distress beacon on an unexplored planet (LB426). A derelict ship of unknown origin was discovered. Inside, there were remains of a large species of extraterrestrial life as well as thousands of pods of what appeared to be eggs. One of these eggs hatched, and the embryo inside attached itself to the face of one of the crewmen. The crewman was brought aboard the Nostromo by an android doctor. The embryo was unable to be removed safely; however, it removed itself within a few days and died. The crewman seemed to have a complete recovery. Unfortunately, only hours after the alien removed itself from him; the egg implanted in his torso hatched, killing him. The alien lifeform proceeded to grow into a large black creature resembling an insect. This being began hunting down everyone on board the ship and consuming them. Finally, the alien was destroyed by the only survivor, one Lt. Ripley. She blew it out of an escape hatch into open space. It was presumed destroyed. Encounter Two Fifty-seven years after the Nostromo incident, a colony of human terraformers settled the planet where the Xenomorphs were discovered. Not long after the colony was founded, all contact was lost. A group of marines were scrambled to clear and contain the compound. Lt. Ripley, being the only surviving human to ever see an alien, was asked to accompany them. The compound was found to be devoid of human life, except for a small child (Rebecca Jordan). All of the colonists had been used as incubators for alien eggs. Thus, the compound was swarming with Xenomorphs. The marines were overwhelmed and quickly cut down to nothing. Once again, Ripley was forced to destroy the aliens on her own. A nuclear meltdown caused the destruction of the compound and all aliens within. Only Ripley, Corporal Hicks, Rebecca, and an android survived to return to their ship. However, the alien Queen stowed away on their escape vehicle and came with them. It proceeded to rip the android, Bishop, in half, and try to kill the humans. Once again, Ripley blew the alien out of an airlock. Encounter Three A fire in the ship caused all the survivors of the second encounter to be jettisoned in an escape pod. This pod crashed upon a prison colony. Only Ripley survived. An alien "facehugger" came with them. It proceeded to impregnate a dog, which hatched a four-legged version of the Xenomorphs. This alien began devouring all the humans in the area. Ripley discovered that she was impregnated with a Queen child. If hatched, it could start a whole new generation of the aliens. Ripley vowed to eliminated the quadroped alien and then herself. She dumped molten lead on the alien, and it survived. She then dropped water on it, causing it to explode. After it died, she dove into a furnace as the Queen ripped out of her chest. Encounter Four Two hundred years after the last "incident," scientists are still trying to get hold of an alien to experiment with. They have hopes of using them for new medications, weapons, and possibly even combining them with humans. To get a viable specimen, the scientists use blood taken from the scene of Ripley's death. Apparently, once impregnated by an alien, the DNA is altered to include that of the growing creature. The scientist use advanced cloning methods to attempt to grow a new Ripley with a Queen growing inside. Seven attempts fail horribly, resulting in massively deformed entities. The eighth time was a charm. This new Ripley survived and the Queen was surgically removed. The scientist of course allowed the Queen to mature and start producing eggs. In the meantime, the new Ripley was raised and taught basic knowledge. The clone Ripley was not fully human, however. The DNA of the alien had combined with hers, and she became something else entirely. She had superhuman abilities and alien traits. When the aliens broke free, it was up to her to once again stop the ship from reaching Earth. The DNA combination had an unexpected effect on the alien Queen as well. She began exhibiting human traits, such as developing a womb instead of laying eggs. This resulted in the hatching of a whole new breed of alien. All the aliens, including the new breed, were destroyed when the ship crashed into Earth; however, the new Ripley survived. What becomes of her is unknown. Other Encounters According to the novels, the Xenomorphs make it to Earth. A war erupts as the humans try to turn the tide of the swarm. Eventually, Earth is retaken, with massive casualties on both sides. Numerous scientists attempt to experiment on the aliens, causing one disaster after another. However, most of these events occur on isolated outposts. To date, all such outposts have been destroyed. Xenomorph Life The species of aliens known as Xenomorphs live various stages of life. They are organized in Hives, with the Queen being the absolute head. She lays thousands of eggs in a birthing chamber. Alien Drones protect the Queen and procure lifeforms for the eggs to incubate in. The Xenomorph life cycle is thus: an egg hatches a small alien, often referred to as a Facehugger. This critter attaches itself to the face of a living being and implants an alien inside the torso. This embryo gestates for 12 to 48 hours, and then rips itself out of its host. The resulting alien takes many DNA traits from its host. Careful observation can reveal what kind of animal the alien spawned from. These child aliens grow to full maturity within a day or two. They then begin acting on their instincts. If they are part of a Hive, they will begin gathering living beings to impregnate. If there is no Hive, they will begin killing every living thing they can find. If there is no Queen, one of the implanted aliens will grow into one. All aliens, Drone or Queen, share certain characteristics. They have a shiny black carapace over their entire bodies, thus, the resemblance to insects. They have a green blood that acts as a super acid. It can eat through flesh, armor, steel, plastic, and just about anything else you care to test it on. Xenomorphs have no eyes, so bright lights and absolute darkness have no affect on them. They "see" using psychic vibrations. This psychic sense allows them pick emotions such as fear and pain. Living beings exhibiting such feelings draw the aliens like flies. The mouth of the alien is unique. They have no lips, but have a fang maw that contains a second maw within. The second mouth is able to extend from its face about a foot. This creates a puncture motion when it bites, enabling the alien to pierce armor and the like. All observed aliens have had tails. They are able to slap with them, and the Queen can use hers to stab like a large blade. The aliens are exceptional climbers, even able to suspend themselves upside down from ceilings. It is unknown how smooth a surface must be for them to be unable to climb. Fortunately, the Drones don't seem to possess much intelligence, acting much like a warrior ant or bee. The Queens seem to be far more intelligent. All aliens have tremendous cunning. They are experts at hunting and ambushing. Always expect them to use the backdoor. In Alien Resurrection, a group of Drones show more intelligence than normal. It is unknown if this was due to their combined human/alien DNA. For example, when they try to attack, a scientist presses a button causing them pain. From then on, they knew not to do anything while his hand was near the button. As another example, to escape a cell, the aliens kill one of their own in order to make it bleed. The blood eats through the floor and out they go. The Hive Xenomorphs are social entities. They live and die for the Hive, with no concern for their own safety. A Hive will swarm over intruders until one or the other is completely annihilated. No retreat, no surrender. The Hive is marked by a horrible stench, reminiscent of rotting eggs and meat. Aliens secret an enzyme that they coat their lair with. It sets up in a pattern much like the inside of a rib cage. This enzyme is brittle, and can be broken fairly easily (Strength role, difficulty 6). The Hive is generally a large spread out area. In the center will be the Queen's chamber. This chamber will be filled with eggs and Drones. Outside of the chamber will be living beings that are bound and awaiting impregnation. The bodies will be suspended in the enzyme (which is much more difficult to break when bound by it, Strength role, difficulty 9). The aliens are intent on breeding. In one case, the aliens captured a ship full of humans. Rather than lay eggs in all of them, they left two alive, one male and one female. They forced the male to mate with the female to produce more humans. The aliens are intelligent enough to feed captives if they are not to be used as incubators. However, they feed them the rotting flesh of those already used to hatch aliens. They force this repulsive meal down the throats of captives. Heaven help any survivors of such an imprisonment. Derangements are definitely in order. Abilities and Characteristics * Carapace: The hard exoskeleton of the bugs gives them an armor rating of 3. This only applies to firearms and melee weapons, not fire and the like. * Extraordinary Senses: Aliens are blind. However, they are able to sense fear and pain at up to 300'. They are attracted to it like a moth to flame. The can smell and hear at least as well as normal humans. It is unknown if they have a sense of taste. They can feel pain themselves. It is assumed that they move with a kind of psychic sonar, much like a bat, but this is yet to be proven. In Alien Resurrection the aliens proved to be able to "see" without eyes. The extent of detail they are able to make out with this psychic "radar" of theirs is still a mystery. * Acidic Blood: The green blood of an alien can eat through most anything, including wood, metal, plastic, flesh, and polymers. When wounded, their blood tends to spew out of their bodies. Anyone within five feet of an alien when it is wounded is splattered with blood. One point of blood is spewed per wound level. Those sprayed must try to make a Dexterity + Dodge roll with a difficulty of 8. Each success negates one blood point's worth of acid damage. Each blood point inflicts 5 points of aggravated damage. It can be soaked. The blood oxidizes soon after death, making the blood harmless. Note that using a melee weapon against an alien is suicidal. Not only does one risk being sprayed with blood, the acid will destroy the weapon in one turn, unless it is made of dlex (see Predator: The Hunt). * Climbing: An alien can climb up all but the slickest of surfaces. This includes the ability to hang suspended from walls and ceilings. * Teeth and Claws: An alien has sharp spindly little claws. They shred through flesh and clothing easily, however this damage is not aggravated. The second maw of the alien does inflict aggravated damage. * Resilience: Xenomorphs can be burnt. Fire does damage to them just like most living things. However, extremes in heat and cold don't seem to affect them. So, while fire is an effective weapon, molten lead is not. * Communication: Aliens can communicate through some sort of psychic ability using an organ in their cranium. This communication can be picked up on radio waves, but it is pretty much indecipherable. In theory, a psychic could pick up these signals as well, but is not likely to understand them. It might be possible to disorient a group of aliens with a radio set to the proper frequency. * Ferocity: An alien has no morale. It will fight until you or it dies. It is also aggressive. Once a battle is joined, all its friends will charge as well. Also, they will put up a chase as well. In game terms, this means that the aliens never need to check Willpower to continue fighting. * Camouflage: Within a Hive, the bugs blend in almost perfectly with their secretions. This makes them very difficult to spot (Perception roll, difficulty 8). Also, the aliens are invisible in the infrared spectrum. * Health and Healing: A Drone has as many health levels as a normal human. A Queen has double that number. The Facehuggers only have 5 health levels (OK, -1, -2, -5, Incapacitated). Aliens do not have the rapid healing abilities of many of the supernaturals in the World of Darkness. They heal at the same rate as a normal human. * Cunning: The aliens like to stalk and ambush. They are sly enough to cut power lines and the like. Also, they like to come in through unexpected openings. For example, in Aliens, they come in over the ceiling tiles. It is unknown if these plans are thought of by the Queen or the Drones. * Hive Mind: The Drones cannot exist for long outside of the Hive. A lone Drone will gradually become listless and die. They lose a point of Willpower per week until they die. There are exceptions to this: the egg pods. The lifespan of these things is unknown; however the same egg clutch that infected the Nostromo infected the colony on LB426 a full 57 years later. * Swimming: In Aliens, one of the Xenomorphs swims up to Rebecca and captures her. However, it is unknown how long they can remain underwater.In Alien Resurrection the aliens show an amazing aptitude for swimming, being fast and graceful. One even jumped out of the water up to 15 feet. * Hatching: Aliens rip their way out of their hosts. They do this in one turn, causing a horrendous mess. This is fatal to normal humans and animals. Combat Maneuvers Difficulty Damage Bite 5 Strength + 2 (Aggravated) Claw 6 Strength Kick 7 Strength + 1 Grapple* 6 Strength Tail Slap 7 Strength + 1 Tail Stab** 7 Strength + 2 *A Grappled opponent may be dragged off to the Hive, or bitten at Difficulty of 4. **Only a Queen may stab with its tail. Use in the World of Darkness How does one use the Xenomorphs in the World of Darkness? The books and films take place in the future. However, there is nothing saying that they cannot be used in a modern day chronicle. The Aliens make a perfect nemesis for a party of Void Engineers. Once encountered, they are hard to get rid of, so an expedition could easily bring some bugs to Earth, or even a Horizon Realm for that matter. Kindred: A Xenomorph would not attempt to lay an egg in a vampire. However, the territorial bugs would definitely kill a vampire if found. It would be interesting to see what effect vampire blood would have on an Alien. Could they be ghouled, and if so, could they be controlled? Sounds like a potentially disastrous experiment much like found in the novels. Ghouls can be used as incubators, with unknown results. The trauma will put them at incapacitated when the baby emerges, and they will die unless supernatural intervention occurs. What, however, about the resulting Alien? Will it have powers of a ghoul and addiction to vampire blood? Keep in mind the fact that they will eventually die without the Hive. What about a ghouled Queen? Changing Breeds: The Xenomorphs have been known to infect humans and dogs, so I see no reason why a Garou could not be impregnated. However, most beings are rendered helpless in a cocoon of secretions so a Facehugger can attach itself. Assuming a Garou could be imprisoned thusly, an Alien could grow inside of it. A Garou that has an Alien rip its way out of it may die. It is immediately rendered incapacitated, and it will die if in Breed form. If not in Breed form, or if it is Metis, it will heal at the normal Garou rate. This damage is not aggravated, but it does require a roll on the battle scars table. Mages: Mages are in effect, normal human beings with extraordinary abilities. If another mage was able to heal the impregnated mage (or any other human) during exodus, he would survive, but he would be at the incapacitated health level. With no outside help, the process is fatal. Mages cannot heal themselves while a newborn Xenomorph claws its way out of the torso. Wraiths: Having no physical form, wraiths have nothing to worry about. Many a wraith has been created by a birthing Xenomorph, however. A Risen wraith, like the vampire, is of no use to an Alien. It will be attacked like a threat to the Hive. Changelings: A faerie can be impregnated just like a human. This will not cause death to their fey souls, but it will kill them in this life. Mummies: A mummy is for all intents and purposes a normal human being to the bugs. An alien can gestate inside one. If the corpse is kept in the Hive, this could result in a horrible fate as the mummy returns to life inside the Hive. Gypsies: Like the mummy and the mage, these beings are as normal humans. Fomori: Assuming it can be captured, it is just as useful as a human. Depending on the powers of the Fomor, it may or may not survive the birthing. Would the resulting alien be Wyrm tainted or even a form of Fomor in itself? Immortals: The immortals are of great use to the Hive, as they can birth Alien after Alien. Such an agonizing existence would definitely result in some serious derangements. Yautja: The alien beings from the movies Predator and Predator II. These hunters pride themselves on their abilities at hunting the bugs. Aliens can grow inside a Yautja incubator. For more information about the interaction between these two races, see my Predator: The Hunt. Diverse Hosts All Facehuggers look the same, spider-like beings with a long tail. They can impregnate a large variety of beings. The films showed bugs born of human and dog hosts. The books tell of a Hive born of rhino-sized herbivores. Aliens can be born in any warm blooded animal capable of containing a gestating alien. This rules out cats, bats, rats, and other small animals. Humans, dogs, cattle, sheep, moose, rhinos, tigers, gorillas, etc., are all fair game. What does this mean in game terms? Not a whole lot. Aliens take some of their genetic make-up from their host. Thus a biped host will produce a biped bug. Other differences are up to the storyteller. Antlers? Maybe. Hooves, definitely not. Alien Resurrection This movie raises a lot of questions and presents numerous new ideas. It would not take much stretching of the imagination to see Technocracy mages or Sons of Ether trying similar experiments with alien/human crossbreeding. There are two basic types of crossbreeds, aliens with human characteristics, and humans with alien characteristics. First, the alien. In the film, the alien crossbreed had a grey carapace and was bipedal. It had a humanlike skull that was greatly elongated. This being had human eyes and a hole that functioned as a nose. Unlike its relatives, this new alien had no second maw within the first. It was somewhat larger than the typical alien and was hostile towards both them and humans. It had red blood rather than green, but it is unknown if it was acidic. Now the human/alien. The clone Ripley appeared completely human. However, she had many special attributes. First of all was her enhanced physical strength and stamina. At one point, she punches her way into an access panel. She also punches a large mercenary and sends him across the room. Her blood was red like humans, but it displayed acidic properties like that of the aliens. It is unknown if it was equally potent. She also displayed an amazing healing factor. She even healed the scars from her surgery. Assume that a crossbreed heals three times as quickly as a normal human. Most importantly was her psyche. The alien mentality is somewhat merged with hers. She claims at one point to "feel it behind my eyes". This allows her to "hear" the psychic communications between the aliens and have a rudimentary understanding of it. She also seemed edgy and hostile. Consider a crossbreed to have a Rage pool like a Garou. A crossbreed can, of course, frenzy. The new Ripley did develop some moral principles over time, but she still was somewhat callous. No crossbreed may have a humanity rating over 5. Chronicle Ideas The Invasion As in the books, the bugs arrive on Earth and breed faster than rabbits. It is up to the humans or the supernaturals to stop them. This type of campaign works well for mortals. However, it also is a nice way to unite a group of diverse character types. They either work together or perish. Thus, vampires and werewolves could work side by side in the war. Mages would be very likely to be involved, especially the Technocracy as it would most likely be they who brought the aliens here to begin with. Wraiths may try to protect their loved ones. Of course, with a full scale invasion, millions of new wraiths would be created very quickly. Umbra Exploration A Void Engineer ship encounters the aliens in deep space. The aliens could be on a derelict ship, strange planet, or aboard a Yautja ship. The Engineers could be in a fight for their lives much like in the films, or they could bring the aliens home to be experimented upon. They could likely break lose or some very interesting results from the experiments could occur. Crossbreed The Void Engineers or Progenitors could create one or more human/alien crossbreeds. Appearing human, they could escape and try to hide in society using their enhanced powers to fend off "collection teams." Alternately, the crossbreeds could be an elite combat team. They would make excellent weapons against the Xenomorphs as they can hear their communications. However, would they remain loyal or try to join the Hive? Bug Hunt A ship of young Yautja in training (see Predator: The Hunt) have stocked a planet with bugs. Now they want to Hunt. Characters could play as Yautja in the Hunt, or they could be other races who have proven themselves worthy to Hunt with the predators. Werewolf and Yautja fighting back to back deep in the Hive? Statistics Drones Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5 Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0 Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 4 Talents: Alertness 4, Athletics 4 (Climbing), Brawl 4 (Bite), Dodge 2, Intimidation 5 (Physical) Skills: Survival 3, Stealth 4 (Silence), Security 2, Hunting 3, Tracking 3 Willpower: 8 Facehugger Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3 Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0 Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 1, Wits 3 Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 3, Brawl 2 (Facehuggers may only Grapple), Dodge 2 Skills: Stealth 4 (Hiding) Willpower: 6 Queen Physical: Strength 8, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8 Social: Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 5 Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 3, Brawl 4 (Bite), Dodge 1 Intimidation 5 (Physical) Skills: Stealth 2, Survival 3, Security 2 Willpower: 9