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Old 08-11-2020, 04:04 PM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Xenomorphs [Space]

Xenomorphs, like the creatures in the Alien series, are terrifying and deadly opponents capable of taking out human opponents without difficulty. However, it is often difficult to determine how capable they are based on the movies (especially given the different interpretations between and within various movie franchises). I think that the following would represent a decent template for a xenomorph though:

Xenomorph Worker [275]

The Xenomorph Worker is a powerful alien threat whose primary job is to gather food for the Hive, to capture reproductive vessels for the Hive, and to maintain the Hive. Making up a minimum of 90% of the Hive, they are likely the first Xenomorphs encountered by characters. While they are extremely dangerous, they lack the intelligence for strategic and tactical thinking, though they are intelligent enough to retreat to the Hive to report on their findings if they encounter something that they cannot deal with through brute force.

Attributes Modifiers: ST+10 (SM+1, -10%) [90]; DX+4 [80]; IQ-4 [-80]; HT+4 [40]

Secondary Characteristics Modifiers: SM+1 [0]; Will+8 [40]; Per+8 [40]; Basic Speed+2.00 [40]; Basic Move+3 [15]

Advantages: Breath Holding 5 [10]; Burrower [1]; Claws (Talons) [8]; Clinging [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Corrosive Attack 1d (Always On, -20%; Aura, +80%; Blood Agent, Reversed, -40%: Cyclic, Prevented by immersion in sand, 10 10-second cycles, +450%) [57]; DR 4 (Can't Wear Armor, -40%) [12]; Decreased Consumption 4 (Cast Iron Stomach, -50%) [4]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Extra Mouth (Switchable, +10%) [6]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity (Xenomorph Acid) [5]; Injury Tolerance (No Eyes) [5]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Striker (Tail; Impaling; SM+1, +100%) [16]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Vibration Sense (Air) [10]

Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Blindness [-50]; Callous [-5]; Gregarious [-10]; Low Empathy [-20]; Oblivious [-5]; Odious Personal Habit (Eats Humans) [-15]; Selfless (6-) [-10]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Short Lifespan 4 [-40]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Firex2) [-30]

Skills: Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]; Stealth (A) DX [2]; Survival (Local) Per (A) [2]; Tracking (A) Per+4 [2]

Features: Early Maturation 8 (Xenomorph Workers are capable of growing to maturity within a day if they can find sufficient food) [0]; Sterile [0]

Notes: Workers (also known as Drones) may be capable of evolving into higher castes within the Hive depending on the needs of the Hive. While Workers have only a basic intelligence, the higher castes will often have progressively higher levels of intelligence (sometimes, though not always, corresponding to greater size).

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 08-11-2020 at 04:32 PM.
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Old 08-11-2020, 04:21 PM   #2
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

DR4 actually sounds a bit high since they don't like fire of any type at all.

The second mouth seems to be some kind of alternate striker.

I'm guessing they have senses beyond Vibration Sense. They seem to be able to track from a lot further.

The skill values are a bit insane if you mean + on top of the stats (which disagrees with the point values). Brawling probably isn't necessary at all unless you're going for rapid strike (Extra Attack would suit them better if that is the goal). Xenomorphs don't seem to parry, feint, or do deceptive strikes. Xenomorphs just attack over and over probably with AOA. Jumping would be inferior to their regular Move jump. Stealth-14 would is a lot more than you need for a good ambush especially if you can drop off the ceiling as someone enters the room. Wrestling probably isn't necessary either unless you want a Str bonus. Xenomorphs don't seem to use any fancy maneuvers.
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Old 08-11-2020, 04:26 PM   #3
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Oops, the skill levels are from a previous version with Strangler 4. I corrected them. I also removed Jumping and Wrestling and improved Brawling. I also added Vulnerability [Fire] and correct a mistake with Social Stigma. Brawling is standard for predators though, which Xenomorphs definitely are. Discriminatory Smell allows for a high level of Tracking and allows them to track for miles.

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 08-11-2020 at 04:33 PM.
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Old 08-11-2020, 05:05 PM   #4
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Oops, the skill levels are from a previous version with Strangler 4. I corrected them. I also removed Jumping and Wrestling and improved Brawling. I also added Vulnerability [Fire] and correct a mistake with Social Stigma. Brawling is standard for predators though, which Xenomorphs definitely are. Discriminatory Smell allows for a high level of Tracking and allows them to track for miles.
Vulnerability (Fire) seems like a good addition.

Tracking-18 would let you follow a trail, not sense something from a hundred yards away. With a Per-14, they just won't sense things that far away, especially if the target is somewhat stealthy or environmental conditions are poor (windy, raining, etc). It seems odd that they would need to roll vs Vibration Sense every turn just to be able to attack without additional penalties.

I'd also drop Monstrous (intimidating perhaps, but mostly in a "eat your face off kinda way") since they are effectively animals with a different appearance. If it wasn't for the kill and eat everything attitude, Xenomorphs wouldn't be worse than some species on earth.

I wouldn't bother with Callous or Low Empathy. Again, these are animals or another species with different values.

Gregarious doesn't seem to fit at all. The first movie showed a lone critter that did quite well by itself and you probably don't want the Per based skills to suffer when they are acting solo.l
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Old 08-11-2020, 06:51 PM   #5
Apollonian
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Gregarious doesn't seem to fit at all. The first movie showed a lone critter that did quite well by itself and you probably don't want the Per based skills to suffer when they are acting solo.l
I've seen an argument that the first critter was a queen, and I could see regular drones requiring other drones around to function properly while queens don't. I agree about dropping callous and low empathy, though; I think they just don't apply cross species most of the time, especially if the likeness gap is as large as it is between xenomorphs and humans.
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Old 08-11-2020, 07:11 PM   #6
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Honestly, Xenomorphs seem like a good candidate for Detect (Living Things), probably upgraded with Analyzing +100%, Reflexive +40% (or maybe just Takes Less Time -20%) and Profiling +50%; note this lets it function at least as well as sight would, and typically better (as intervening cover fails to block it). This overlaps a good deal with Discriminatory Smell, but I think matches their performance better. Such an Advantage is expensive - around [87] - but Xenomorphs are pretty high-powered monsters anyway. It's possible only the Warrior caste (or Hunter, if there's a distinction) would have this, of course. I wouldn't give them Extra Mouth for their weird tongue-mouth thing; that's more like an Impaling (possibly armor-piercing) Striker, as it doesn't seem to be able large enough to grapple like a bite typically can. Consider giving the Warriors/Hunters at least Targeted Attack (Mouth Striker/Skull).

I'd also be strongly tempted to give them Super Jump to some degree although, again, that may be more a Warrior/Hunter thing. Most of my thoughts on Xenomorphs are strongly influenced by the old Aliens vs Predator PC game, which I feel is kind of the definitive interpretation for "xenomorphs as player characters." Based on that, Clinging should probably be augmented with Super Climbing (the xeno's there moved about as fast when climbing as otherwise; gameplay-wise, you just needed to crouch to be able to climb walls, which had almost no influence on movement speed, although it did make repeated claw slashes a bit slower, presumably because the creature had to keep one hand on the wall/ceiling at all times), and they should certainly have Super Jump, as noted above (there are many cases where you can do a crouch-jump - which boosts jumping height - to go from standing on the ground to clinging to the ceiling in one go; I think this worked for ceilings up to ~3x human height, implying a standing high jump of 18' or so; with your suggested Move 12, that would correspond to a multiplier of 3.5, so Super Jump 2 would do it). They likely also have Dual Weapon Attack (Brawling) for their claw-swipes.
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Old 08-12-2020, 02:59 AM   #7
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Honestly, Xenomorphs seem like a good candidate for Detect (Living Things), probably upgraded with Analyzing +100%, Reflexive +40% (or maybe just Takes Less Time -20%) and Profiling +50%; note this lets it function at least as well as sight would, and typically better (as intervening cover fails to block it).
In the game it seemed a lot like a variation of Infravision with a few levels of Penetrating Vision, but I suspect that's because they reused the much of the same code the Predators had but with a white palette.


Quote:
I wouldn't give them Extra Mouth for their weird tongue-mouth thing; that's more like an Impaling (possibly armor-piercing) Striker, as it doesn't seem to be able large enough to grapple like a bite typically can. Consider giving the Warriors/Hunters at least Targeted Attack (Mouth Striker/Skull).
In the game I believe it was how you healed up (leech). In the movies it seemed like it was just a finishing move for helpless foes.

Quote:
I'd also be strongly tempted to give them Super Jump to some degree although, again, that may be more a Warrior/Hunter thing.
Yes, probably 2 levels.

Quote:
Based on that, Clinging should probably be augmented with Super Climbing (the xeno's there moved about as fast when climbing as otherwise
That seems to be a game vs movie question. In the movies they slink across walls and ceilings. In the game, they can run across them normally.

Quote:
They likely also have Dual Weapon Attack (Brawling) for their claw-swipes.
I suspect they just AOA (dual) most of the time. It's not like you could dodge or parry in the game.
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Old 08-12-2020, 08:48 AM   #8
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
In the game it seemed a lot like a variation of Infravision with a few levels of Penetrating Vision, but I suspect that's because they reused the much of the same code the Predators had but with a white palette.
Personally, I feel Detect (Living, plus modifications) (or perhaps just Discriminatory Smell) and Vibration Sense cover their in-game abilities quite well, the fact this was represented visually and had two "vision modes" was due to the limitations of being a game played by a human on a screen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
In the game I believe it was how you healed up (leech). In the movies it seemed like it was just a finishing move for helpless foes.
Indeed, you could eat foes in a few ways (including just clawing up their corpse, at least at lower difficulty levels) to restore HP, but I don't think that's really appropriate for GURPS. Some degree of Regeneration might be appropriate, of course, but its only reliance on eating people might be an Increased Consumption Temporary Disadvantage.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
That seems to be a game vs movie question. In the movies they slink across walls and ceilings. In the game, they can run across them normally.
They slink when being stealthy, but ISTR some movie sequences where they were moving rather quickly along walls/ceilings. Of course, with Move 12, Clinging lets them move along walls/ceilings at the same rate as a sprinting human moves on the ground (6 yards/second), so this may not be necessary (particularly given Warriors/Hunters may well be faster). On a related note, but not something I recall being in the game, I believe at least one of the movies showed them being rather competent swimmers (using their tail), which might justify Semi-Aquatic, although again having 2.4x the Move score of a typical human may be enough to cover this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
I suspect they just AOA (dual) most of the time. It's not like you could dodge or parry in the game.
That's entirely possible. Or, as previously suggested, they might have Extra Attack.
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Old 08-12-2020, 10:43 AM   #9
Sam Baughn
 
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Default Re: Xenomorphs [Space]

The Alien 3 chase sequences suggest that they aren't really slowed by running along walls or ceilings (it pretty much just uses whatever surface seems most convenient), but also that they aren't much faster than humans (the prisoners were able to get away from it).

I don't think they have Detect (Living Things). They failed to capture Newt, for example, which would have been pretty easy if they could reliably sense her through walls, etc. In fact, I don't really see any evidence in the films to suggest they have senses better than normal animals, if that.
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