Brainstorming an Alien Bloodsucker

[Supplement Four]

A Campaign set in the Alien universe using the CT rules set....

I'm neck deep in a campaign using a different game right now, but I keep having these thoughts of a campaign set in the Alien universe using CT rules. What I thought I'd do is scratch out some notes here and log it in my "future ideas" file. Feel free to add your two-credits. This is a brainstorming thread.



First off, any background material for the campaign can be found in the several Alien novels and graphic novels. There's lots of great stuff in them that puts lots more meat on the universe.

Second, stealing from "like-tech" rpgs might be a good idea, too: High Colonies; 2300; Hammer's Slammers; Blue Planet; Universe; and any others like that. Use tech, equipment, scenario ideas, background material--maybe even new aliens like the Kafer from 2300. Can also draw from "like-tech" movies and novels, such as Outland and various science fiction stories.

Third, the previous Aliens Adventure Game (RPG), the fan made d20 Aliens game, and the Colonial Marines Technical Manual provides useful, if conflicting information.

Fourth, the CT rule set will be minimally changed to fit the universe. Low Berths must be more reliable. Robot technology is higher than in the CT universe (pseudo-biological androids). And, I think ship construction is fine the way it is--except ships do not use L-Hyd for fuel.

When constructing ships, use the same CT methods except consider fuel tank tonnage as a separate powerplant dedicated specifically for the ship's jump drive.

The J-6 limit disappears. The Aliens universe seems to focus on near-earth worlds. Use standard CT mapping and world creation rules, but refrain from developing most worlds unless they are close to earth-like. I say "most" because there will be some space stations, moon bases, and so on in the universe--they just won't be as plentiful as they are in Traveller.

Travel in J-Space can take more than a week. If a ship with a J-2 drive covers 20 parsecs, it will take the ship 10 weeks to do so. A ship with a J-3 drive can jump 30 parsecs in the same amount of time.

Alternatively, I could use the Aliens RPG method of having a jump number equal 5 light years (instead of 3.26 ly in CT). That would make calculations easier? Probably not, if the map is still going to remain 1 parsec per hex. I could change the map to 1 hex equals 5 ly.

 

[Supplement Four]

Story...hmmm....



I'm thinking the game should be set in between Aliens and Alien 3. Do we know the fate of Ripley, Hicks, and Newt? I dunno.

I think the PCs should all be Marines, Colonial Marines, from Earth. There may be some other character types. And, we'll need at least one synthetic.

What is the speed of communication in the Alien universe? It has to be supra-light. Still...how long is the lag time?

During the events of Aliens, on LV-426 (alternatively, set this on Rim, to co-inside with Billie and Wilks from Earth Hive), the distress call is sent out. Maybe automatically from the Sulaco. If it's not too trite, what if the PCs ARE the rescue them.

The PCs leave for LV-426 (or Rim) after the distress call reaches Earth but before the Company ship that goes to the prison world in Alien 3 embarks. After the PCs leave, the Company receives another messages about the nuking of LV-426 and the suvivors Ripley, et. al. Or, the Company recieves the message from the prison planet. While the PCs are away on LV-426 playing out the campaign, the Company is doing the events seen in Alien 3.

This is a fantastic opportunity to let the PCs play with all the cool military toys. Give them combat walkers, Battle Dress, PGMPs or FGMPs, ACRs, Combat Armor, you name it, they've got it.

Don't forget the Alien write-up in JTAS.





So...

We've got the PCs to the planet. What's the story?

Maybe a rival MegaCorporation or Country? Have a space battle in orbit around LV-426? That would give us three or four factions on the ground...the Colonial Marine players...the Aliens...any surviving colonists...the "secret players" of the Company...and now a rival MegaCorp or Country (like China).

What about the Space Jockey? Tie him into Traveller's Ancients? Explore that ship? That tech?

Twist: What if this is the first time we meet another sentient species? How cool would it be if, on the Space Jockey's ship, the PCs somehow figure how to power it up? Or, at least, a section of it? They find some high-tech lowberths--with the occupants still alive! Why am I thinking about the K'kree coming out of these things? Cool!

They'd be thousands of years old.

Maybe we see the remains of the Space Jockey's genetic experimentation. The Alien is just one of several experiements on this huge ship. Terran dogs....different "failures"....Vargr! Frozen, also.

Of course, none of these aliens will speak English.





I've got this picture in my head: Rocky, wind-swept plain of LV-426. Aliens for as far as the eye can see. Hordes of them. And, the PC's, in grav tanks!

I could turn this into a Striker scenario! Or, I could use the Mass Combat rules in Book 4.

Either way, I like it.




Of course, the Aliens will be too much for them. What's the PC's objective? To rescue Hicks, Ripley, and Newt (who have already left)? To capture an Alien for the Company or for the Marine Bioweapons Department? It could have been a rescue mission...they arrive...get the message to turn back...when they are attacked by the other ship in oribit, damaging their ship.

Heck, maybe their directive is to plain check the world for any Alien infestation that's left and erradicate it. Genocide.

In Alien, a merchant crew fought one Alien. In Aliens, a platoon of Colonial Marines fought a butt-load of the blood suckers. In this game, we'll out do that. We'll have the Aliens as far as the eye can see, vs the PCs in top knotch equipment.

How about using the Broadsword Cruiser as the PC's ship? Do I need more than that to get tanks to the surface? What about a huge ship bigger than the Sulaco with four Broadsword Cruisers attached to her hull, ready for landing...Yeah!

And, just how did the Aliens survive after the nuke seen in Aliens? Is this on the other side of the planet? Has the Company ensured that there was something for them to eat? It hasn't been explained how the Alien in the first movie grows so rapidly and increases its mass so much. It wasn't eating Nostromo crew members to grow like that....can the Alien survive eating something else? Maybe the answer lies in the Space Jockey's ship?





Twist: What about, after exposure to a certain room on the Space Jockey's ship (or, maybe some crystalline formations found on LV-426), that I bring in the psionics rules. I could have fun with that. The players would dig it. They start to "tap" into the hive communication of the Aliens! Players who work at it could start to use some of the psionics skills.

Twist: I could inform a player that his character is an android...and he didn't know what he was! This would be espeically effective if one of the players gets hot rolling the dice for stats during chargen. For much of the adventure, he plays normally. Then, if he gets wounded, he sees the milky substance. If he finds out alone, does he keep his secret from the other players?

Twist: What about bringing in some Solomani-inspired "Big Brother" types. SolSec types. Covert. Secret. This person is really working for...a different department in the Marine Corps? For the Company? What about working with this player to secretly give him different goals from the rest of the group--keeping it quiet so that the other players don't know. His job might be to save an Alien and get it back to earth, while the others have a mandate of destroying all the beasts. This might be some interesting game play.


Hmm....where else can I go with this?

 

[Supplement Four]

ALIENS: EARTH HIVE



It dawned on me that I could take the plot from Steve Perry's excellent trilogy set about a decade after Aliens (and which ignores Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection), and use that as the basis of a campaign instead of reinventing the wheel.

SPOILER WARNING: If you want to read Steve Perry's (extremely) excellent set of books, then don't read this thread. There will be SPOILERS.

Prep

Have the players create Colonial Marines using Advanced CharGen. Figure a squad of Marines and design characters to fit roles within the squad. Need an officer, a sargent, a corporal, and rest will be privates. Need riflemen, smartgunner, flamethrower. Each will be specialized in at least one Traveller technical skill, like Communications, Navigation, Mechanics, Engineering, Electronics, Medic, etc.

How about a sniper? M42A Scope Rifle.

*Need to develop, in Traveller terms, Colonial Marine equipment and armor--different types, from clamshell combat armor to powered battledress. M56 Smartgun. M240 Flamethrower. Sidearm - M4A3 Pistol or VP70 Pistol. AutoRifle- M41A Pulse Rifle. Grenades (both thrown and for the grenade launcher on the M41A). Combat knife. Non-regulation shotgun? Machete? Also..maybe some robotic weaponry. Flash Stands. AutoSentries. Warbots. What all does Battledress do? Add Traveller tech to this--PGMP or FGMP.

Man portable missiles? Tank killers?

Plus: equipment such as comms, targeting (bonus), sensors (motion detector), hand fusion welder/cutting torch. The Colonial Marine Technical Manual will be helpful for this. Also, the two Aliens RPGs. Slap 'em into Traveller terms.

And: Don't forget vehicles, both air and ground. UD-4 Dropships. M577 APCs. How about those tanks I mentioned in the second post? Sounds like a job for the Striker design system. UD-4L Utility Dropship.

I like the idea of remotes, too. Use Book 8 or Striker to design futuristic designs based on the real life Predator drone. Control bank in the APC.

Let's not forget probes, sats, and drops that the players could use for various purposes, like setting an impromptu communications netowork.

Emergency escape vessel for the mother ship?

Chemical or biological weapons?

Aliens are described in the JTAS article, but there are different species and "models". Get creative with the animal design rules. Really surprise players with new and different species?

I could get creative with one PC, making him a chemhound. Why would he go on this mission then? He's got special knowledge. Maybe he's the only one in the party who actually has seen an Alien? Maybe he's a survivor from Rim? This would make him technical advisor on the mission--and possibly a liability if the chems* get in the way.

*Will need to develop some chems for him to use. Don't ignore Traveller meds like Combat Drug.





SCENE 1: These men will be hand-picked for an op they are told little about. They assemble at MILCOM HQ - Intel One. A marine robot leads them through the building down to Intel One.

NPC: MI Officer - Colonel Stephens. Full Bird Marine Colonel. Military Intelligence. No decorations. He's a desk jockey.

NPC: Mr. Orona. Civilian? Speculate: Is he a t-bag? Terran Intelligence Agency?

They will be shown the vid-log of the Coast Guard Cutter Dutton in orbit around Earth. For all of them, this will be the first they've heard of the Aliens. They are a hand-picked team, taken from their former units for this mission.

This scene kinda reminds me of the one on Apocalypse Now when Martin Sheen gets his orders.

"Before those two Coast Guard clowns they downloaded the derelict's data banks. We have a trajectory of that old ship. We know where it came from before it came home to die."

 

[Spinward Scout]

It's interesting that you brought this up now. I just got the book Alien from the library last week, and I started to have a few questions about the Space Jockey. So, in Alien3, the xenomorph was smaller since it impregnated a dog, and the Space Jockey was huge, what would the size of a normal drone xenomorph born from the Space Jockey be? The size of the Queen in Aliens? The Space Jockey isn't in the book at all, by the way, but they describe the ship as looking big enough to be populated by enormous beings. All they find is the transmitter. Also, the entire ship they find is biomechanical. Not just the chamber the eggs are in. So, if the xenomorph get it's form from it's host, was the Space Jockey the introduction of biomechanical aspect of the parasite? In the book, they make it sound like the egg chamber was below the derelict ship. Like something dug through the bottom of the ship - dug out of the bottom of the derelict into the ground. Also, why wasn't the Space Jockey ever mentioned again in any of the movies? Did they not describe it to the rest of the crew (i.e. Ripley) when they came back with Kane and the facehugger? You'd think something like that would come up in conversation. Even though it was dead, archaeologists would have a field day with the corpse. You'd think that'd be a very important find. Was the Space Jockey's derelict destroyed when the plant exploded in Aliens? If not...

Quote from Wikipedia about the movie might give you some ideas:

The origin of the jockey creature was not explored in the film, but Scott later theorized that it might have been the ship's pilot, and that the ship might have been a weapons carrier capable of dropping Alien eggs onto a planet so that the Aliens could use the local lifeforms as hosts. In early versions of the script the eggs were to be located in a separate pyramid structure which would be found later by the Nostromo crew and would contain statues and hieroglyphs depicting the Alien reproductive cycle, offering a contrast of the human, Alien, and space jockey cultures. Cobb, Foss, and Giger each created concept artwork for these sequences, but they were eventually discarded due to budgetary concerns and the need to trim the length of the film. Instead the egg chamber was set inside the derelict ship and was filmed on the same set as the space jockey scene; the entire disc piece supporting the jockey and its chair were removed and the set was redressed to create the egg chamber.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with what you are working on, but I thought this was awesome when I read it:

The design of the "chestburster" was inspired by Francis Bacon's 1944 painting Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Giger's original design resembled a plucked chicken, which was redesigned and refined into the final version seen onscreen. For the filming of the chestburster scene the cast members knew that the creature would be bursting out of Hurt, and had seen the chestburster puppet, but they had not been told that fake blood would also be bursting out in every direction from high-pressure pumps and squibs. The scene was shot in one take using an artificial torso filled with blood and viscera, with Hurt's head and arms coming up from underneath the table. The chestburster was shoved up through the torso by a puppeteer who held it on a stick. When the creature burst through the chest a stream of blood shot directly at Veronica Cartwright, shocking her enough that she fell over and went into hysterics. According to Tom Skerritt: "What you saw on camera was the real response. She had no idea what the hell happened. All of a sudden this thing just came up." The creature then runs off-camera, an effect accomplished by cutting a slit in the table for the puppeteer's stick to go through and passing an air hose through the puppet's tail to make it whip about.

The real-life surprise of the actors gave the scene an intense sense of realism and made it one of the film's most memorable moments. During preview screenings the crew noticed that some viewers would move towards the back of the theater so as not to be too close to the screen during the sequence. In subsequent years the chestburster scene has often been voted as one of the most memorable moments in film. In 2007 the British film magazine Empire named it as the greatest 18-rated moment in film as part of its "18th birthday" issue, ranking it above the decapitation scene in The Omen (1976) and the transformation sequence in An American Werewolf in London (1981).

 

[Supplement Four]

It's interesting that you brought this up now. I just got the book Alien from the library last week, and I started to have a few questions about the Space Jockey.

If you check Ridley Scott's imdb.com page, you'll see that he's working on a two-part Alien prequel, with the first part coming out next year and the second in 2012. He's said this is about the Space Jockey. So, I expect, we'll get some answers.

So, in Alien3, the xenomorph was smaller since it impregnated a dog, and the Space Jockey was huge, what would the size of a normal drone xenomorph born from the Space Jockey be?

Good question. That's a big-arsed hole in the Space Jockey.

I haven't read it yet, but evidently John Shirley's Steel Egg explains how the Alien accumulates so much more mass without eating people (they don't seem to eat much of the people, anyway--just mess 'em up enough to kill them or use them as baby bags).

And, that point is interesting to contemplate if I want to go with the idea of hordes and hordes of Aliens when the PCs get to LV-426 without any Colonists to use as baby bags.

 

[gloriousbattle]

First off let me suggest this

Space-Gamer-37

as better rules for "Aliens" than the JTAS version. Depends on what you want, but the Space Gamer Aliens were some tough suckers.

Otherwise, sounds like great fun! Any chance you'll run an online version?

 

[ghashsnaga]

Heya Gloriousbattle,

You may need to take that link down because I think that material is copyrighted? But I think that is for the admins to handle.


Back on topic

Didn't someone create a pdf of how to build customize weapons in the Traveller Verse so you could build all the weapons needed for an Alien game?

ara

 

[ghashsnaga]

Oh and I like what I am seeing here. I really want to try out the alt jump rules in a game and less habitable planets.

ara

 

[aramis]

SG37 is legally available for $2.99 from SJG at http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG30-2337

 

[Supplement Four]

I think most of the equipment will be easy. The M41A's can be adapted from the ACR w/grenade launcher. I think the smartgun can can be easily adapted from one of the LMGs.

Marine clamshell can be adapated from Traveller Combat Armor. Many of the weapons in Traveller, like the autopistol, can be used without being tweaked.

There's extra equipment in the RPG, Technical Manual, and novels not seen in the films. For example, Corporal Wilks (Hicks) uses this neat, hand-sized square box that spits out thin, looped, line, for a quick rope ladder that looks like it's made out of thick thread. Spidergear, he calls it. In the Tech Manual, there's neat stuff from a sniper rifle to various terrain combat kits (desert, jungle, zero-g, etc) among other things. Plus, any neat space-game of similar tech can be drawn from. I imagine most of the stuff from 2300 can be used.

Shotguns. Flamethrowers. Grenades. Motion Tracker. Medkits. Comms. Personal comps. Most of this stuff is already available in Traveller somewhere (the Motion Tracker is in T4...lots of other stuff in Striker).

It shouldn't be too hard to equip the PCs for the campaign.

 

[ghashsnaga]

So if was interested in trying a game out in this 'Verse you would recommend the Tech Manual and other books listed here? As well as your threads.

ara

 

[Supplement Four]

So if was interested in trying a game out in this 'Verse you would recommend the Tech Manual and other books listed here? As well as your threads.

This might be helpful: d20 Aliens

That's free.

If you want to spend some money, get the Aliens trilogy of novels. They're fantastic reads:

Earth Hive

Nightmare Asylum

The Female War



If you prefer comics, here's the graphic novel omnibus version (but I think the novels are much better)

Aliens Omnibus




And, if you want to spend a little more money, track down the Aliens Adventure Game (RPG), or the Aliens Colonal Marines Technical Manual.

 

[Supplement Four]

SCENE 1: These men will be hand-picked for an op they are told little about. They assemble at MILCOM HQ - Intel One. A marine robot leads them through the building down to Intel One.

NPC: MI Officer - Colonel Stephens. Full Bird Marine Colonel. Military Intelligence. No decorations. He's a desk jockey.

NPC: Mr. Orona. Civilian? Speculate: Is he a t-bag? Terran Intelligence Agency?

They will be shown the vid-log of the Coast Guard Cutter Dutton in orbit around Earth. For all of them, this will be the first they've heard of the Aliens. They are a hand-picked team, taken from their former units for this mission.

This scene kinda reminds me of the one on Apocalypse Now when Martin Sheen gets his orders.

"Before those two Coast Guard clowns they downloaded the derelict's data banks. We have a trajectory of that old ship. We know where it came from before it came home to die."

SCENE 2: A typical, maybe short, scene as the ship is being loaded and prepared for the journey. This is a good time for the GM to spotlight important NPC's. Maybe there's a roleplay encounter. Is there a likeable NPC among the crew. Maybe there's a problem between a PC and one of the NPC's.

This is also a good time for the GM to remind/show the PCs all the firepower they'll be packing. PGMPs/FGMPs. Missile launcher. Battledress. Robotic or remote weapons.

The GM can get creative with the design rules and make up all sorts of stuff. Disposable missile launchers, remote controlled, on treads, come to mind.

Vehicles, too. Hover tanks (the tech in the Aliens universe does not seem to include grav technology, but, according to the book, a hover tank, like that used in Hammer's Slammers, is definitely possible). Wheels, tracks, and treads are still used--look at the APC from the movie.

Maybe take the crew rouster from Broadsword, tweak it, and use it for the platoon going on this mission?

The GM can also cover some training. Maybe it takes a few days to prep the ship. The men are from different units. Maybe they get three days training together, or so, in order to get a feel of working together.

I think the main point here is to give a couple of NPCs some "character". Make them memorable. Focus on roleplaying.



Also, this would be a good time for any nifty GM foreshadowing that he may want to layer his game with.

 

[Supplement Four]

Notes on tech:

They use arty grav in the vessel, of course. And, there is a scene where Wilks is pushing a low berth around on a repulsor field. I look at the drop ship, and it seems it could easily have some repulsor elements to it--not sure.

Then again, the cargo loader is manual (what Ripley used to fight the queen in Aliens). And, a couple of rich company executives come out of an event and get into a hover-limo. If a grav-limo were available, these guys would have had one. Remember, the APC is wheeled, too.

So, grav technology exists, but it doesn't seem to be as advanced as it is in Traveller.

There's a pressor bed, but that may be air displacement forcing the patient to remain in the bed.

They do have plasma weapons. Robotic and drone tech seems fairly advanced (with the bionsynthetic androids).

And, the low berths are a lot more reliable than the throw required to survive a trip in Traveller. Plus, they're fully automated. Wilks puts Billie into low berth by makining a couple of connections and hitting a few controls.

Some type of FTL communication exists. "Relays" were mentioned. But, given how spread out the planets are, the relay is probably not some network floating out in space to boost signals. It must be on the source world or maybe in the source world's system (on a far planet or moon, outsystem, away from solar flares and magnetic disturbance from gas giants).

Wilks uses some type of short range stun pistol that must be aimed at the brain. It reminds of the nural pistol in MT, thought it's got to be lower tech than that one (IIRC, the MT weapon is TL 16). This one operates similar to tasers today but workss specificaly on the brain rather than the nervous system.





THIS IS INTERESTING: In the graphic novel, Wilks comments about the towers coming down in '24--but the graphic novel was written years before 9/11. Interesting predition.

And, one can retcon what Wiks meant if you know the towers really did go down on Sept 11, 2001.

He says, "The jet rescue technology had been developed after the World Trade Center smoked in '24."

Obviously, he means that the towers came down in 2024. But, knowing that they really came down in 2001, you can read it differently if your cross your eyes just right and cock your head to the correct angle--reading that, yes, the towers came down in '01, but the jet rescue tech was finally developed and put into place in '24 (it took 'em 23 years to perfect the technology).

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm watching the extending edition of the first film--the 2003 Director's Cut. I've never seen this version, and I'm digging the extra scenes.

Notes and questions:

- What are all the lights in the Mother interface room? Sensors? Circuit indicators? Fuses? What purpose could they serve?

- At FTL speeds, the ship seems to be depressurized except for the lowberth room. Probably saving live support Oh-Two for only when the crew is awake.

- Automatics, computer, and robot technology is quite high. The ship runs itself while at FTL speeds (and until the crewmembers take over control at sublight speeds). All of the processing in the towed vehicle is automatic. The Nostromo has a mass of 63,000 metric tons. It's a tug--a commercial towing vehicle.

- The Nostromo has a crew of seven: Pilot and First Officer Kane; Navigator Lambert; Communications Officer and 3rd Officer Ripley; Science Officer Ash; Chief Engineer Parker; Engineer Tech Brett; Captain Dallas.

It's a pretty good sized ship for only 7 people to crew. Then again, it seems that their services are only needed for take off and landing, almost like a plane today. Maybe the crew pulls extraduty at the mining site, though.

- I always recall LV-426 being a planet, but in the extra scene included in the Director's Cut, it seems to be a moon of a ringed gas giant. It's very small planetoid with a diameter of only 1200 km, but it has .86 G gravity! Must be a hell of a dense core. It's day (rotation) is about 2 hours.

- The cutter used to open Kane's helmet: Speculation - is it sonic based? Laser? Fusion? Or, maybe mechanical with a blade (but unlikely give that there was no debris spitting out when the tool was used.

- Upon landing for the first time, the ship loses a shield, so there is some type of rudimentary shield technology. I'm guess it's for micrometeors and space debris.

- Antarctica seems to be a primary control location for deep space vessels.

 

[Spinward Scout]

In the book, it's a laser they use to cut off Kane's helmet.

You might like this from Alien, the novel (Dallas talking to Ripley):

"Look, ease up on me, will you? I just haul cargo for a living. If I wanted to be a real explorer and go gallivanting off after discovery bonuses I would've joined the Rim Corps..."

Sounds like there's a Scout service in the Alien universe.

 

[Supplement Four]

In the book, it's a laser they use to cut off Kane's helmet.

It's hard to tell what it is in the film. It could be a laser. They use the same instrument to try to cut the facehugger from Kane--when the acid blood goes through three decks.

Looking at the thing, besides laser, sonic, or mechanical, it could also be vibro--but I think not due to the depth seen when the helmet is cut off.

I highly suggest watching the Collector's Edition of Alien (and Aliens). The extra scenes make it a better film.

Sounds like there's a Scout service in the Alien universe.

Yeah, that is cool. I read the novel, but it's been 20 years since, so I don't recall anything specific.

I bet there's big money in finding a planet with resources, close to earth-like. Some of those Scouts probably retire pretty wealthy. Then again, I bet they need backing, too, to finance the expeditions.

 

[Supplement Four]

In the book, Earth Hive, there is an Alien on earth, being studied by a megacorp, and there is a neat scene where the TIA (futuristic version of the CIA) is keyed in on reports of people having nighmares.

This connects with the suspected "hive mind" relationship the queen has with her drones, opening up the door for Traveller's psionics.

In an Aliens game, this could be a new and fresh angle--not the same old thing. The game would be set at the forefront of psionic study. It would be a brand new dicipline.

This could have some interesting angles for a campaign.

Also note that the megacorp mentioned above isn't WY, from the movies--meaning WY isn't the only powerful, dirty megacorp.

I think some of the Traveller megacorps could be used, as long as they were changed to human-Earth origin (not Vilani).

 

[navanod]

Anchorpoint Essays

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet or not, but there are some very extensive essays about the xenomorph here -

http://www.anchorpointessays.com/essays.html

Everything you could want to know about them.

 

[Supplement Four]

Everything you could want to know about them.

Mucho cool. Thanks.



Tech update: In the Earth Hive novel, plasma weapons are definitely used. This story takes place 9 years after Aliens, (66 years after Alien), and there is actually some tech improvements! The gravity drive on the starship is much faster, requiring less time in the cold berths. Android tech has advanced so much that only an expert can tell them apart from a real human. They eat, sleep, drink, go to the bathroom, get sick, have feelings, and do everything like a human.

Repulsors seem to be military-tech only. They have these pods, not unlike those that the Zhodani and Vargr use, that use repulsor tech to hover and fly. It's interesting that they can land next to a stream and use a fly wheel to generate power to refill the pod's battery out in the field.

On Earth, there's a fantastic hover car chase, David Drake style. So, it looks like civilians use hover tech while the military (and highly equipped--company equipped--merc units) use a combination of hover and repulsor.

It's also neat to note that Ripley says that she can drive the loader--she's got a class two rating. I remember hearing that the first time I watched the film back in the 80's and thinking, "Ahhhh....She's got Mechanics-2...or Ground Vehicle-2...or Engineering-2, whatever skill is used to drive that walker!"