Are there Aliens in your campaign universe?

[Cassandra]

Are there more the one race?

 

Is there a "Green Lantern Corps" like organization?

 

How are they aliens different then humans?

 

Has there been an invasion of Earth?

 

 

[Kraven Kor]

The one supers campaign setting I tried to come up with was, in fact, probably terrible; but it pulled from a lot of Ancient Astronauts and various UFO conspiracies so I had the Greys, the "Nordic Aliens," Angels and Demons as two opposing other-dimensional alien species stuck here, and then the Gods of Hindu, Egyptian, and Sumerian mythology as crazy powerful God-like aliens from beyond the Milky Way, now returning after being driven off millenia ago.

 

The invasion was just starting when the campaign fell apart.  Mostly due to me being a terrible GM when it comes to superhero stuff, not being well-versed in the genre.

[Ninja-Bear]

Kraven Kor - what are these nordic aliens you speak of?

[Cassandra]

FYI Astronomers discovered a planet in Alpha Centauri B that's about the same distance from that star as Venus is from out Sun.  This would indicate that there are other planets are in the system.

 

I wonder which Hero System Edition they are using?

[Kraven Kor]

Kraven Kor - what are these nordic aliens you speak of?

 

Some ancient aliens show on History Channel had some guy that used to work at Area 52 talking about all the different aliens, and the "tall, blonde human" aliens or "nordics" - referenced in related UFO theories likely based on his stories and those of Robert Lazar - are just one of the species of aliens he mentions.  

 

I had the underground reptilians as the ones secretly in control of the US Goverment, and Wil Smith was President of the USA (stolen from Alien Loves Predator webcomic - The Fresh President, and the VP Jazzy Jeff...) and NOT a reptilian.  But they (the reptilians, Wil Smith had a typically starring role) never got to make an appearance; the players had opted for much more powerful archetypes than I had started writing things up for

 

It was meant as a not-so-serious introduction to HERO System for them, and they are big comic fans, and wanted to play Hulk and Martian Manhunter level heroes.  So I needed way more powerful bad guys and pretty much jumped over the little stuff and had them fighting angels, demons, and gods.  Standard Marvel fare

[Vondy]

I try to avoid "kitchen sink" superhero campaigns. Too many different origin types tend to render a world nonsensical. My original campaign was based on aliens, super-tech, and human mutation due to both of those. In that one I used a combination of real-world alien folklore and champions universe aliens. I did not allow mystic origins. It all had to be pseudo-science. In my new campaign, I'm using a combination of real-world mythology and magical traditions with elements from the mystic champions books. And Until and Viper.  I re-tooled Until to be a narrower, more focused organization dealing with mystic menaces. Re-tooling Viper as global-terror-using-snake-magic-to-advance-its-ends was even easier.

[Cancer]

Are there more the one race?

 

Is there a "Green Lantern Corps" like organization?

 

How are they aliens different then humans?

 

Has there been an invasion of Earth?

Yes, there are a large and unspecified number of races. None of them get much " screen time".

 

No such thing; the races contend against each other.

 

For the ones who have had screen time, only cosmetically, plus tech and outlook/philosophy. Others include things that are very, very different.

 

Invasion, no. Infiltration, yes.

[Greywind]

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Lots of different ways.

Sort of.

[Burrito Boy]

Some ancient aliens show on History Channel had some guy that used to work at Area 52 talking about all the different aliens, and the "tall, blonde human" aliens or "nordics" - referenced in related UFO theories likely based on his stories and those of Robert Lazar - are just one of the species of aliens he mentions.

 

I had the underground reptilians as the ones secretly in control of the US Goverment, and Wil Smith was President of the USA (stolen from Alien Loves Predator webcomic - The Fresh President, and the VP Jazzy Jeff...) and NOT a reptilian. But they (the reptilians, Wil Smith had a typically starring role) never got to make an appearance; the players had opted for much more powerful archetypes than I had started writing things up for

 

It was meant as a not-so-serious introduction to HERO System for them, and they are big comic fans, and wanted to play Hulk and Martian Manhunter level heroes. So I needed way more powerful bad guys and pretty much jumped over the little stuff and had them fighting angels, demons, and gods. Standard Marvel fare

From what I've seen and read, the Nordic aliens were sighted long before the greys became so prevalent. And on the subject of the reptilians, they're supposedly in league with the U.S. government, working at an underground military base near Dulce, New Mexico.

 

Yeah, I read about UFOs and aliens a lot.

[assault]

1. Duh.

2. Probably.

3. Pointy ears, head bumps and groovy skin colours.

4. Last Tuesday.

[Lord Liaden]

I try to avoid "kitchen sink" superhero campaigns. Too many different origin types tend to render a world nonsensical.

 

That's a perfectly valid preference, and I can certainly see the appeal of it. For my part, I love a "kitchen sink" supers world. Not only does it allow for all the possible origins you see in mainstream comics, accomodating nearly any PC concept; it offers the widest variety of potential adventures. To my way of thinking, the whole genre of superheroes and supervillains already requires a more flexible definition of "nonsensical."

 

On the subject of aliens in a superhero setting, IMHO one element you have to be careful with is super-powered alien races. I notice that a lot of gamers like to have their Kryptonian or Skrull analogues, but an entire superhuman population can be problematic, especially if they're all very powerful. If they don't dominate the campaign universe, you should have a logical reason why not; and they risk becoming too frequent a recurring foe (or PC origin), diluting their impressiveness.

 

In my own games I do introduce superpowered alien species, but I look for ways to limit their impact on the setting. That can include: diminishing their overall numbers, for example due to attrition from war or slavery, or the destruction of their home world; making the superpowered population of a given species a minority, such as a ruling class, product of mutation or genetic engineering, or hidden or refugee "offshoot" of the main species; or making the race's dominant culture isolationist or non-interventionist.

[DShomshak]

1) I had aliens in my old campaign but never did much with them. When I shifted from "general supers" to my Super-Mage playtest campaigns, aliens got completely ignored.

 

Aliens are an important part of my new campaign setting. OTOH, I'm trying to tone down the mystical: been there, done that.

 

2)No. And no need for one. I have it that by the time an alien race reaches the stars, they have solved most social problems (as they define them) and have no grounds for conflict with anyone else. The exceptions are nasty little backward cultures -- galactic North Koreas -- or insterstellar Mafias or cultish groups. None of them get very far against their mightier neighbors. Earth attracts their notice because it's still primitive and weak enough that it might be bullied or robbed. This gives rise to the occasional alien supervillain. A few superheroes, such as Officer Pax, are alien cops who see Earth as a chance to do real crime-fighting instead of writing interstellar parking tickets.

 

3) My aliens range from "bumpheads" with no meaningful difference from humans (such as the Zetrians, who have blue skin and feathers instead of hair) to radically nonhuman (such as the Volantids, who are big intelligent aerial jellyfish, or the Omniac Sphere, which is nanotechnology and may be a single hive-mind instead of a race).

 

As mentioned, the biggest difference is that most aliens live happy, contented lives in happy, contented Utopias. This does not necessarily make them harmless to humanity.

 

4) The alien robot hive-mind called the Monad (see Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies) has seeded itself on Earth and is a major, ongoing threat to human existence.

 

As part of the setting background, the "Slaver" sect of the biotech-oriented Hyadans tried to subvert humanity (parasitism is a highly successful ecological strategy, after all). When their plot was exposed, the Slaver Hyadans tried to convince human leaders that humanity would still receive net benefit from being enslaved and exploited, and found human rejection puzzling. Hyadans think like the perfectly rational consumers of Classical Economics, dispassionately calculating material gain, risk and loss: They don't understand emotional concepts such as freedom or dignity.

 

Other invasions may happen in the future.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Cassandra]

Yes.

 

Yes.

 

No.

 

Lots of different ways.

 

Sort of.

 

Nice MST3K answers.

[Ninja-Bear]

Thanks Kraven for the reply

[GhostDancer]

Kraven Kor would have been more detailed in his first point about the Nordic aliens, but it's a thor point with him.  

[kahuna's bro]

ouch

[DShomshak]

Oh, another important difference between humans aliens: Although advanced alien races can easily grant individuals power comparable to standard superbeings, they only operate through one or two modes of power. For instance, Zetrians use advanced technology, especially gravity-tech: Officer Pax's space armor and grav-gun are standard for Zetrian cops, and Zetrians wear flight bracelets like Americans wear wristwatches or carry cellphones. OTOH, the Cryon hero Snowmaiden is a saint of her people, equipped with a panopy of miracles. Anyone who visits a Cryon space station can understand everyone else through a miraculous "Gift of Tongues" blessing. The Volantids use sorcery of great power: Common Volantids access potent enchantments through simple mudras they way humans access technology by plugging it into the wall and pressing a button. (Well, the mudras are simple if you have 12 tentacles.) The Arans developed martial arts so powerful that their sifus and senseis can travel in Qi-powered starships... if they don't just karate-chop space to open a portal to another world. But no Zetrian in 10,000 years ever cast a spell or had a prayer answered, while water-wheels are the upper limit of Aran technology. (Cryons are sort of weird, since they blend religion and tech in a powerful theotechnology: psalms and sutras micro-engraved on computer chips, angel-powered starships, and they reshaped their home planetary system into a ringworld that's the biggest freaking prayer wheel in the universe.) Earth is the first pan-paradigmatic world that anyone's ever seen. This gives the great galactic powers reason to be wary. Clearly, Earth's reality is unstable.

 

 

Yes, this connects to the reason for the sudden genesis of the Superheroic Age -- as the PCs are just beginning to learn.

 

 

Dean Shomshak

[Ninja-Bear]

Ghost Dancer why must you hammer Kraven Kor if its a thor point? : )

[Shiva13]

Are there more the one race?

 

Is there a "Green Lantern Corps" like organization?

 

How are they aliens different then humans?

 

Has there been an invasion of Earth?

 

Yes. There are quite a lot of alien races in my setting. Both having originated from Earth and from other places in the universe. Humans in my setting, for example, did not originate on Earth. And there are other descendants of the original base species out in the universe that view Earth humans with wary eyes.

 

There is intragalactic law enforcement active in the universe of various kinds. But not one all encomposing police force like the Green Lantern Corps.

 

Different species and ancestoral origins. Some are close and relatable to humans, but also others are not. It tends to be mixed.

 

Yes. In fact humanity's original arrival on Earth could be considered an invasion that happened in prehistoric times. Also, there have been a few instances of alien aggression towards Earth. Much of which had been provoked by various governments and organizations.

[phoenix240]

There are aliens in our campaign. They're very much an open secret as far public knowledge goes. Though some active super being claim alien origins the existence of extraterrestrial life is still denied by major governments or, at best questions are met with "No official comment". There are groups of believers and skeptics, of course even some groups actively hostile to alien lifeforms on the Earth seeing them as intentional threat and biohazard even a religious blasphemy. 

 

Most aliens active ETs on Earth are similar to humans but with the existence of mutants and Wyldstrikers even the moer bizarre aliens can blend in or be explained if required. There hasn't been an actual invasion but there have been various "incidents" down through time. There are not interstellar police organizations or galactic government. The closest would be the Hegemony, a collective of races that developed close together and have combined efforts.

[Kraven Kor]

Kraven Kor would have been more detailed in his first point about the Nordic aliens, but it's a thor point with him.  

WHERE IS THE UNLIKE BUTTON?  

[Kraven Kor]

On character origins and such:

I basically said that all "mutation" was based on any or all of the various aliens and other-dimensional entities cross-breeding with humans:

• Angel + Human = Regeneration, Superstrength, invulnerability, some "light-based" magic powers, "retractable" wings
• Demon + Human = Fire powers, mind control powers, darkness powers, "magic"
• Shivan (Hindu God Aliens) + Human = Shapeshifting, superhuman stats, flight without wings, lots of stuff really
• Sumerian God + Human = Crazy mind powers, extra-dimensional energies, teleportation

[drunkonduty]

I'm running/playing in what is more or less the standard Champions Universe. So yes, aliens, alien invasions and alien police forces as described in various source books.

 

2 of the 5 PCs are aliens themselves, both from parallel worlds. They both think they know one another but in fact they know one another's parallel world doppleganger. The  characters have yet to work it out (the players know, it was their idea.)

 

As to public knowledge/response to aliens Yeah, people know there's aliens out there. And given the past alien invasions most people don't like them. Given the general ignorance of humanity regards what is actually out there most people lump all aliens into the same basket as the Qllarr: that of dangerous would-be conquerors.

[GhostDancer]

Ghost Dancer why must you hammer Kraven Kor if its a thor point? : )

Because KK was wearing parachute pants.

[Nothere]

yes

 

yes

 

no

 

some are so similar they pass for human, others are nothing like humans.

 

WEll never a we park our ships over your capitals sort of invasion, but there have been those with such ambitions.