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I love me some xenomorphs!


LordQulex

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I just eat up anything that has the creatures from the Alien saga in it. I've built and rebuilt the species in the HERO system every time a new edition came out. But, I am still unsatisfied! I have not see my extra terrestrial comrades on these boards, anywhere! So a tribute has been called! Everyone, make a xenomorph.

 

For those of you unfamilliar, here is an abridged list of their features:

  1. Tail with a spearhead-like bit on the end - it is prehensile.
  2. His claws (and tail) can penetrate metal armor, hull plates, etc...
  3. He is not a member of a hive mind, can think for himself, but the will of the queen almost always overpowers his own.
  4. He sucreets/drools a viscous goop that can be used to improve lairs, or cacoon victims. This has been mainly used as an out of combat task.
  5. His blood is a highly corrosive acid which is under pressure between two layers of skin - when he dies, he explodes in a shower of acid. It also melts many close combat weapons that pierce his flesh (the Predator species is the only known faction that has acid-resilient weapons). They are personally immune.
  6. Strong enough to lift a marine in his full combat load.
  7. Can climb along walls and ceilings like insects.
  8. Has an elongated skull (in this author's opinion to house a bio-antenna used to transmit and receive information to/from the queen).
  9. Has an inner jaw capable of providing the force necessary to pierce a combat helmet, and human skull, and out the back.
  10. Ability to cacoon themselves and metamorph into a Queen Alien when no queen is present.

What are you waiting for, start writing!

 

Cheers! :cheers:

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

A couple of things.

 

Her, not his.

If going by insect analogy, the workers and warriors are female, not male.

 

3) I'd go along with this, the books also suggest that like ants, scents are a method of disseminating information throughout the hive. The RPG from Leading Edge also suggests electrical signals and the ability to feed on electricity.

4) "secretes" - the drool that lubricates the secondary jaw has not been defined as what they use for their nests, however there is no reason it couldn't be. Equally though, it could come from some other part of the body.

5) It's not blood. This was established in the first movie. The layer thing is right, but it's a defense mechanism and it was only called blood in later movies because it's easier than explaining it as a layer. Not only are they immune, but the acid oxidises over time (a very short time) becoming inert.

6) And strong enough to swing down, pick one up and swing up again on some kind of web. Although the web was not shown clearly in the second movie.

8) My opinion is sensory organs that aren't in the visual spectrum - such as sonar and radar. I've no reason to believe the Queen is updated on the doings of all her warriors in a fast manner, or she would have been alerted by her guards when Ripley entered the nest.

10) This has not been shown in the comics, books or movies. The closest seen is from the cutting room floor for the first movie, before they decided the race included a Queen - the original alien warrior perpetuated itself by cocooning humans and turning them into eggs.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

I do think the jaws (and possibly all attacks from an alien) should be armour piercing' date=' myself :)[/quote']

 

Not sure. You never really see them bite through anything. The one time they use the tail on someone, it's Bishop, and it was the Queen.. and she's huge and he's just "flesh" and blood. They do break down sealed doors... but that looked to be via punches.

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Not sure. You never really see them bite through anything. The one time they use the tail on someone' date=' it's Bishop, and it was the Queen.. and she's huge and he's just "flesh" and blood. They do break down sealed doors... but that looked to be via punches.[/quote']

 

The jaws (by which I mean the secondary jaws) go through skulls in Alien, marine helmets in Aliens, bulkhead armoured glass in Alien 3 and predator masks in AVP.

The tails go through marine armour in the comics (and for that matter the computer games).

They have been shown to dismember people with their hands, and as I don't think they're strong enough to do it, being able to rip with their claws may be a better explanation.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

The jaws (by which I mean the secondary jaws) go through skulls in Alien, marine helmets in Aliens, bulkhead armoured glass in Alien 3 and predator masks in AVP.

The tails go through marine armour in the comics (and for that matter the computer games).

They have been shown to dismember people with their hands, and as I don't think they're strong enough to do it, being able to rip with their claws may be a better explanation.

 

Ahh... well, I only used Alien and Aliens to do my character sheet. Since the skull has no rPD (one could argue otherwise) AP doesn't help there. I'm not sure of a bite through a helmet in Aliens, who dies that way? As for Alien 3 and AVP... uh... yeah... them.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Wasnt in some non-canon information that they took on some abilities of whatever was the host? Just asking.

 

Note: Which wouldnt be hard to model character sheet wise, you could just create a base character sheet and then add-on some abilities by having a few XP set aside beforehand. But, it would only matter if you were interested in making a little individuality.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Wasnt in some non-canon information that they took on some abilities of whatever was the host? Just asking.

 

In Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, the larval xenomorph seen emerging from the Predator's corpse at the end of AVP grows into an adult which very clearly has some of the characteristics of the Predator species. It's more massive and stronger than the human-derived xenomorphs, has the mandibles around the mouth, and even the dreadlock-like "hair."

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

In Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' date=' the larval xenomorph seen emerging from the Predator's corpse at the end of AVP grows into an adult which very clearly has some of the characteristics of the Predator species. It's more massive and stronger than the human-derived xenomorphs, has the mandibles around the mouth, and even the dreadlock-like "hair."[/quote']

 

And that started with Alien 3, with the "dog" xenomorph.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

A couple of things.

 

Her, not his.

If going by insect analogy, the workers and warriors are female, not male.

 

3) I'd go along with this, the books also suggest that like ants, scents are a method of disseminating information throughout the hive. The RPG from Leading Edge also suggests electrical signals and the ability to feed on electricity.

4) "secretes" - the drool that lubricates the secondary jaw has not been defined as what they use for their nests, however there is no reason it couldn't be. Equally though, it could come from some other part of the body.

5) It's not blood. This was established in the first movie. The layer thing is right, but it's a defense mechanism and it was only called blood in later movies because it's easier than explaining it as a layer. Not only are they immune, but the acid oxidises over time (a very short time) becoming inert.

6) And strong enough to swing down, pick one up and swing up again on some kind of web. Although the web was not shown clearly in the second movie.

8) My opinion is sensory organs that aren't in the visual spectrum - such as sonar and radar. I've no reason to believe the Queen is updated on the doings of all her warriors in a fast manner, or she would have been alerted by her guards when Ripley entered the nest.

10) This has not been shown in the comics, books or movies. The closest seen is from the cutting room floor for the first movie, before they decided the race included a Queen - the original alien warrior perpetuated itself by cocooning humans and turning them into eggs.

 

4) This is the only substance they produce that I believe can do this, though I want to avoid the power of using this to bind arms and legs and stuff (I dont remember the power name at the moment...).

5) Yes, excuse me, it isn't exactly blood.

8) It was confirmed in the video and computer games that they use echo-location - as you walk around you hear this chittering sort of clicking sound. This was also confirmed as wayland spoke to you I believe.

10) Confirmed in the video games, specifically AVP on the PS3 recently released (the game that prompted this post ;)).

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Wasnt in some non-canon information that they took on some abilities of whatever was the host? Just asking.

 

Also I remember a doglike alien from a movie that came after Aliens. But then again maybe I'm just remembering a bad dream. A really, really bad dream.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Yeah' date=' the "facehugger" stage of the lifecycle is likely to be difficult.[/quote']

 

Not really. It's just an NND grab with a nasty triggered damage shield. I don't think you really have to stat out the chestburster part unless you plan on playing a facehugger as a PC.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

I recall most people on the Boards were pretty happy with this version.

 

22 Xenomorphic Physiology: LS (Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents;

Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum)

 

Isn't being shoved out an airlock one of the leading causes of death for these guys? Just wondering about the vacuum part... Otherwise nice write up.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

22 Xenomorphic Physiology: LS (Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents;

Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum)

 

Isn't being shoved out an airlock one of the leading causes of death for these guys? Just wondering about the vacuum part... Otherwise nice write up.

 

The vacuum doesn't seem to kill them. In Alien it was igniting the lifeboat's engines, in Aliens it was probably re-entry.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Xenomorphs--a nightmare in close quarters combat; target practice for flying gunships and bunkered troops firing from high ground/range. Numerical superiority' date=' stealth/darkness and cover are their best friends. Absent all three of those, they die just fine.[/quote']

 

Imagine a clutch of xenovore eggs dropped into a modern major city: subways, sewers, utility tunnels, elevator shafts. Their numbers could become overwhelming before we were aware of them. They could go almost anywhere within city limits undetected, and our trying to counterattack would require us going exactly where they're strongest.

 

Presuming an urban society, strategic use of xenomorphs would make them a terrifyingly effective bioweapon.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

Not necessarily. Assuming the lifespan of the individual creatures is as brief as some have suggested based on the film precedents, once the available supply of host organisms is depleted, most of the remaining xenomorphs will quickly die off. Invaders would just have to wait offworld for a few months at most, then mop up the stragglers that try to leave the city looking for more hosts.

 

Come to think of it, that need for hosts, combined with their incredibly rapid reproduction rate, makes it unlikely that the species could have evolved naturally.

 

Of course this is assuming their creators didn't just engineer them with some sort of biological failsafe or vulnerability. The response of the xenomorph in the first Alien film to exposure to exotic gas mixtures suggests they may have some.

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Re: I love me some xenomorphs!

 

8) It was confirmed in the video and computer games that they use echo-location - as you walk around you hear this chittering sort of clicking sound. This was also confirmed as wayland spoke to you I believe.

10) Confirmed in the video games, specifically AVP on the PS3 recently released (the game that prompted this post ;)).

8) Ah yes, I usually played the Alien in the AVP games in multiplayer :) they had extended vision. Wasn't sure it was echolocation or some other kind of spacial awarenes - haven't read the manual for a while. Actually, I think it might be pheromones - didn't humans appear with a red halo and predators with a green halo? You could see them when invisible.

 

10) Kewl. That's one thing that has been bugging me (no pun intended) about their life cycle.

 

As to "taking on aspects of the host according to canon sources" - Movies, computer games and comics have this occuring. I don't think there is a canon, but the media with this occurs outnumbers the media where it doesn't, so smart money says they have characteristics of their host. It logically makes sense as well for a race typified by their survivability. Locals are always better at surviving.

 

Not necessarily. Assuming the lifespan of the individual creatures is as brief as some have suggested based on the film precedents' date=' once the available supply of host organisms is depleted, most of the remaining xenomorphs will quickly die off. Invaders would just have to wait offworld for a few months at most, then mop up the stragglers that try to leave the city looking for more hosts.[/quote']

 

Xenomorphs have been shown in several sources to hibernate. If the source of prey gets low - this is what likely occurs. There may be the occasional roaming scout looking for new sources of food.

 

However - the very first Alien movie shows the eggs being transported in a ship by a race of aliens that use biotechnology. It isn't any stretch at all to believe that xenomorphs are a weapon and not a race.

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