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You can add the face-hugger in yourself, using the small one of these, with the addition of the following Special Attacks and the feat Improved Grapple, in place of the web abilities:
Attach (ex): when launching from its egg, the face hugger makes grapple checks at +10.
Poison (ex): The face hugger excretes a stunning secretion when it grapples opponents. Inhaled, Unconsciousness / none, DC 20.
Impregnate (ex): when the face hugger succeeds in pinning its opponent, it lays an egg in an available orifice.
A CR 2? No sir, Mr. Vexed. I have to heartily disagree. They are at least CR 4 or 5. A single alien has been shown to kill multiple marines and get the drop on Predators, both of which are not EL 2 encounters. Using killer ant stats doesn't account for their ridiculous reach (5ft or more with their sting, despite being Medium), various natural attacks (claw, bite, and tail), acid blood, and ability to climb on walls and ceilings. Not to mention their blindsight and natural stealth.
As for damage, I'd say they may deal damage as Large size creatures, or have Improved Critical (everything), and/or have Sneak Attack dice.
As for the Face Huggers, ya, that looks about right.
I think I've fallen in love the predator at http://www.penandpapergames.com/foru...stats-for-3.5e is way better than the one I made now i just need to make a queen and a pred-alien.... I think my players are gonna hate me
I think that those Xenomorph stats are a bit high; I'd place a drone around CR5-7. But it covers the bases well. For some reason, the ones in Aliens were a lot easier to kill. Perhaps their metabolism slows down shortly after birth; in all the other movies, the monster was a newborn, & much more formidable.
Also, the Kythons from the Book of Vile Darkness are blatant Xenomorph ripoffs, so you might wanna look there.
I think that those Xenomorph stats are a bit high; I'd place a drone around CR5-7. But it covers the bases well. For some reason, the ones in Aliens were a lot easier to kill. Perhaps their metabolism slows down shortly after birth; in all the other movies, the monster was a newborn, & much more formidable.
Also, the Kythons from the Book of Vile Darkness are blatant Xenomorph ripoffs, so you might wanna look there.
The Kythons are a much better representation, cause that Xenomorph drone listed doesn't even seem too accurate. Didn't the Alien or...er...Alien survive in space for a bit? Cold Resistance 5 ain't gonna cover that.
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I will be gone from the second to the 11th and be without any computer access. Games and recruitment will obviously be on pause. Warriors & Wuxia: A community world-building project focused on low-magic wuxia/kung-fu action using ToB.
The Kythons are a much better representation, cause that Xenomorph drone listed doesn't even seem too accurate. Didn't the Alien or...er...Alien survive in space for a bit? Cold Resistance 5 ain't gonna cover that.
You or I could survive in outer space for as long as we see the Xenomorphs doing so. It's only a few seconds. An unprotected human could handle as much as half a minute.
For some reason, the ones in Aliens were a lot easier to kill. Perhaps their metabolism slows down shortly after birth; in all the other movies, the monster was a newborn, & much more formidable.
Not sure, but I expect the reason may have more to do with the situation having an effect on the roll of the Xenomorph. Most likely those in Alien and Alien 3 were warriors or the like, while most in Aliens were scouts. This would most likely be because in the two cases, they were alone and in somewhat of a scouting roll, while in Aliens a hive had already been established so they no longer needed to carve out their place, and turned to producing workers. I'd also point out the difference in the preparedness of the humans in the movies. In Alien, they were caught off guard, and Alien 3 they were a prisoners without proper equipment to defend themselves. Aliens on the other hand was a group of soldiers briefed and equipped to deal with the threat (though that doesn't quite explain the predator thing, causing me to think that just added to the difference mainly due to my first point).
I am however also somewhat rusty on my knowledge.
Owrtho
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My Homebrew
[creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
[class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
[class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror. other hombrew
A CR 2? No sir, Mr. Vexed. I have to heartily disagree. They are at least CR 4 or 5. A single alien has been shown to kill multiple marines and get the drop on Predators, both of which are not EL 2 encounters. Using killer ant stats doesn't account for their ridiculous reach (5ft or more with their sting, despite being Medium), various natural attacks (claw, bite, and tail), acid blood, and ability to climb on walls and ceilings. Not to mention their blindsight and natural stealth.
As for damage, I'd say they may deal damage as Large size creatures, or have Improved Critical (everything), and/or have Sneak Attack dice.
As for the Face Huggers, ya, that looks about right.
The marines are flatfooted, and unable to see the aliens. A 50% miss chance really messes you up. Add in that they were just told to surrender their ammo, and were unable to use their primary weapons... Notice that the marines who disobey are the ones who survive to make it to the APC. Sure, Drake is killed at the last moment, but that's just one casualty out of the portion of the squad that was properly prepared.
And how many aliens do we see getting splitched by the marines? Dozens. It only takes a couple of rounds to put one down.
How many marines get killed in that first encounter? Two of them are killed by friendly fire when the ammo gets cooked off by a flamethrower, three more are actually killed by the aliens.
The predators... well, I didn't see that movie, or I've wiped the experience from my mind in order to protect it from the weight of mediocrity.
The predators... well, I didn't see that movie, or I've wiped the experience from my mind in order to protect it from the weight of mediocrity.
I'll point out that there are also the Darkhorse comics. These also have situations of marines being wiped out by xenomporphs, and they are prepared.
There are also the games.
And I'd point out the cast system they have as mentioned before. There are at least 4 casts. Drone, Warrior, Predatorian (Royal Guard), and Queen. Those seen in the first and third movie are most likely warriors, while most in the second movie would be drones. The one in the third movie could also be termed as a runner, but that tends to just be a term for xenomorphs who had four legged hosts as they tend to be able to move faster though be slightly more fragile (as xenomorphs' traits are in part determined by their host).
Owrtho
__________________
My Homebrew
[creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
[class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
[class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror. other hombrew
I'll point out that there are also the Darkhorse comics. These also have situations of marines being wiped out by xenomporphs, and they are prepared.
There are also the games.
And I'd point out the cast system they have as mentioned before. There are at least 4 casts. Drone, Warrior, Predatorian (Royal Guard), and Queen. Those seen in the first and third movie are most likely warriors, while most in the second movie would be drones. The one in the third movie could also be termed as a runner, but that tends to just be a term for xenomorphs who had four legged hosts as they tend to be able to move faster though be slightly more fragile (as xenomorphs' traits are in part determined by their host).
Owrtho
Sure, there are more sources than the movies that made the creature famous. I can make up stuff about aliens, too. It doesn't make it true.
We're talking about a fictional creature - there is no truth, there is only plot. If the power levels of the creatures dictated by the plots contradict each other, what can we do?
Me, I prefer to return to the original source material.
We're talking about a fictional creature - there is no truth, there is only plot. If the power levels of the creatures dictated by the plots contradict each other, what can we do?
Me, I prefer to return to the original source material.
And how many aliens do we see getting splitched by the marines? Dozens. It only takes a couple of rounds to put one down.
If d20 Modern is accurate, most of the guns deal 2d8 damage on average. The marines in the movie are PL 6, so they are probably doing anywhere from 2d10 to 2d12 damage. Maybe better. So ya, a "couple rounds" from that will shutup a raging Barbarian with Improved Toughness.
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How many marines get killed in that first encounter? Two of them are killed by friendly fire when the ammo gets cooked off by a flamethrower, three more are actually killed by the aliens.
I don't know about you but I've seen like 5 movies with aliens in them and the marines never did well in any of ém.
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The predators... well, I didn't see that movie, or I've wiped the experience from my mind in order to protect it from the weight of mediocrity.
It may have been mediocre, but that doesn't mean it wasn't accurate. Preds aren't invincible, and if they're hunting killer plastic space scorpions, chances are they can get impaled.
Look, if I put a 5th level party into a maze-like dungeon full of thousands of goblins and hobgoblins who know their way around, that party are going to have a very bad time.
We don't need the aliens to be anything more than CR2 for them to do what they do.
As I recall (though it has been awhile), both the games and Darkhorse comics are considered cannon.
That said, you didn't address most of my argument (which wasn't based off the comics as I've only read a few of those).
I'd also not that the only movie in which the aliens knew their way around ahead of time was Aliens, and even then the marines had the blueprints before that. In the first and third movies as well as AvP:R the humans had the home field advantage while the aliens had to learn their way around. In AvP, both the humans and the aliens had to learn their way around (though the humans did have the initial blueprints from the readout, but then the usefulness is debatable due to the changing layout).
More accurate examples would be (in order of the movies)
Dropping a monster in the base and having it kill most of defenders.
Preparing an invasion group including giving them time to study a detailed map showing them the whole area as well as supplying good equipment and having most of them get slaughtered when they invade.
Dropping a monster in the base and having it kill most of defenders.
Not sure, I've never managed to see Alien Resurrection.
Dropping monsters and a party in a fortress neither know the layout of and having most of the party killed.
Dropping a group of monsters in the middle of a city and having most of the people slaughtered (including the army and guards).
Not sure, but most of those seems like just based on the situation it would go against the aliens.
Owrtho
__________________
My Homebrew
[creature]Shiny: Monster Competition XXXVI entry.
[class]Wisp fire guide: Follow me. I have such sights to show you.
[class]Ozodrin: A class to play as an eldritch horror. other hombrew
As I recall (though it has been awhile), both the games and Darkhorse comics are considered cannon.
As I said, monsters in fiction are as powerful as the plot dictates.
The authors of the stories have no RPG rules to cause restrictions. If we want to make up rules to define the aliens, then we can make up anything we like to fit whichever set of scenes we wish.
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Originally Posted by Owrtho
More accurate examples would be (in order of the movies)
Dropping a monster in the base and having it kill most of defenders.
Those defenders are a group of truckers / riggers, with no combat training, and improvised weapons, hampered by the sabotage of an unknown agent. They're 1st to 2nd level commoners.
They are picked off individually for the most part, through ambush attacks.
A 1st level rogue could do this.
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Originally Posted by Owrtho
Preparing an invasion group including giving them time to study a detailed map showing them the whole area as well as supplying good equipment and having most of them get slaughtered when they invade.
This invasion squad are unable to use their primary weapons at first, when they are attacked in an ambush, during which they are so incompetent as to kill two team members through friendly fire.
The reduced squad, with seriously limited supplies, manages to hold their camp for hours, and then escape and defeat the aliens, who have overwhelming numerical superiority.
A horde of orcs could do this.
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Originally Posted by Owrtho
Dropping a monster in the base and having it kill most of defenders.
Again, these are unarmed commoners, maybe a few rogues - still unarmed. They are killed through ambush, and through goading the creature into chasing them.
This one is probably the toughest of all we've seen so far (apart from the Queen).
I reckon I could manage this with a brb1/rog1.
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Originally Posted by Owrtho
Not sure, I've never managed to see Alien Resurrection.
Dropping monsters and a party in a fortress neither know the layout of and having most of the party killed.
Dropping a group of monsters in the middle of a city and having most of the people slaughtered (including the army and guards).
Not sure, but most of those seems like just based on the situation it would go against the aliens.
Owrtho
I've not seen the rest, either.
I'm not saying that the aliens are rubbish. I'm just saying that they don't need to be nearly as hardcore as CR4 to do what we see in the first three movies.
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