T20 Bughunts...

[Spinward Scout]

Hey Everybody!

Anybody run a bughunt Starship Troopers or Aliens style in T20 yet? I need to run a one-shot in the next couple of weeks and I'm trying to figure out the best little nasties to send against a Squad in Battle Dress with Fusion Guns. Basic premise is Aliens - Squad gets sent to a colony that contact was lost. Anybody got any ideas?

Any help would be great!

Scout

 

[wa11eye]

If you run anything like the tv show the biggest problem is just the numbers they never stop coming which could cause the players to get tired of just killing things i know it seams hard to beleave but it will happen.

 

[Mythmere]

Are you looking for stats on the aliens, a suggestion of a OTU alien race, or miniature figures?

As to stats, I'll probably post something here once I do it, because I'm doing a similar scenario right now. But I haven't done it yet. One suggestion is to look at the huge database of "monsters" on this site. I don't have the link to hand, but it's there. Start at the home page, probably. Pick a nasty, then say it's sapient. Or perhaps your aliens aren't even sapient.

As to an OTU race, the Chamax horde is the analogue of the arachnids, but haven't to my knowledge been done with T20 stats. Anyone?

For figures, I'm using WH 40K tyranids. Nice mix of types, which will vary the pace and keep tensions high rather than degenerate into "Ho hum, one more bug dead."

I'd suggest, for the same reason, a couple of types of bug attacks that require saving throws instead of "to hit" rolls alone. Gas, facehugger-dodging, etc.

Keep us posted on your thoughts: like I said, I'm doing a similar scenario, though lower powered (my players are colonial marshalls with a little marine backup, not all-out military).

 

[Mythmere]

Lets see. Assume your basic alien warrior is about the size of a person (Size M). Since they act as a team, they are either chasers or are sentient creatures derived from chaser stock. At 200 kg, they have STR of 3d6+1 (12), DEX of 3d6-2 (9) +4 for a total average of 13, Con of 3d6+2 (12) and 4d10 STA. Natural AR can be anything from 1 to 20. Let's say it's 6.

Next, what sort of attack does it have? My basic alien warrior is a zergling/hormagaunt that attacks using chitin claws, and can bite as well. This caste probably did the killing of armored creatures on a world where vestigial exoskeletons remained a commonplace protection and where huge prey allowed the evolution of my big chasers. The kill-claws are so big they are considered a gore (look at the minis, and you'll see why I'm going this route). Fighting these melee warriors is a game of keeping them away. Since it most resembles a sword, the claws do 1d8 and crit for x2 on a 20. There is a bonus of +1 for the critter's strength. This won't get through battledress, though. Hmm. Might be interesting to do only 1d4 but crit on a roll of 15. Since the crit ignores armor for damage, that's a way to make the character risk 2d4+2 points of lifeblood damage on a roll of 15+ if the critters catch you in melee. Assuming that the vehicle/lifeform damage reduction doesn't take effect before armor - it probably doesn't. But that seems kind of cheap to mess with the critical hits. How about this. If it hits with one claw, the second claw scores an automatic critical hit. A feat. This means that if one of the critters rolls a 20 (the only way it's hitting battledress), it won't cause damage with the first hit (soaked up by armor) but the second hit will go in disregarding armor. 2d8 SI points to the armor, and half that to the marine inside. Half a killing blow, basically. With a BAB of +3, and Dex bonus of +1, this guy hits on a 20, and has two attacks. Let's up the BAB to +4 so that it hits on a 19, giving the chance of two of those massive claw thrusts on the critical hit follow-up.

To concludes, here's the basic warrior:
zergling analogue SZ M, carnivore chaser, STA 4d10 (20), LB 12, Initiative: +1, Speed 24m (18 sq), AC 17 (+1 dex, +6 AR), AR 6, Attacks: 2 kill-claws (gore) 1d8 piercing (if first attack hits, second attack automatically deals a critical hit), Saves: Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +2, STR 3d6+1 (12), DEX 3d6+2 (12), CON 3d6+2 (12). Special abilities: see damage description.

You might add other stuff like acid blood, but I'd leave that to another caste of the aliens.

More castes later, perhaps.

 

[Mythmere]

"Yes, Sir. We have encountered and taken out a small swarm of hostiles that came out of a hole in the cliff near the colony's second solar collector. We have visual on the settlement, and there's no movement, sir. The hostiles were man-sized, with two huge claws, partial chitin plating. Pack-type assault pattern, no ranged weapons. I have one man wounded on evac."

"Yes, sir. I guess one of the hostiles did look bigger than the others."

"Sir, I am in the kill zone with Anderson, and I have located the big one. Looks like the little guys were running interference to let him get in close. Dang, he's the size of one of our combat suits. Glad we got this daddy before they closed in - he's twice as big as the one that chopped up Joe's suit. His armor's thicker, too, sir. He's probably just older than the little ones, or maybe a mutant."

Alien warrior-leader:
SZ L (400 kg), carnivore chaser, STA 4d10+4 (24), LB 12, Initiative: +1, Speed 24m (18 sq), AC 17 (+1 dex, +7 AR -1 SZ), AR 6, Attacks: +6 (+1 Dex, +5 BAB) with 2 kill-claws (gore) 1d8+2 piercing (if first attack hits, second attack automatically deals a critical hit), Saves: Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +2, STR 4d6 (14), DEX 3d6+2 (12), CON 3d6+2 (12). Special abilities: see damage description.

 

[Mythmere]

"Then what happened, Lieutenant?"
"I had ordered the squad leader into the kill zone to get a look at the big alien warrior. Private Anderson was keeping watch for more of them, but no one was watching the sky very closely. All the opposition had been ground based up to that point."
"Go on."
"Yes, sir. The gliders came from the solar reflector - I guess they were nesting there or something. Anderson opened fire, but the rest of the squad was out of LOS. By the time they arrived, they scattered the swarm - the fusion guns kill gliders if they hit. But one of the things had already landed on Anderson's face plate. It's easy to land on us, and that's all it had to do. We couldn't kill it without hurting him."
"Eventually, sir, yes. With sabers. But it did disfigure him badly."

Alien glider:
SZ S (6 kg), carnivore flier, STA 1d10 (5), LB 6, Initiative: +4, Speed 24m (18 sq), AC 16 (+4 dex, +1 AR +1 SZ), AR 6, Attacks: TOUCH attack +6 (+1 Dex, +5 BAB), Saves: Fort +1, Ref +8, Will +0, STR 2d6-1 (6), DEX 18 (12), CON 2d6-1 (6). Special abilities: successful touch attack allow the glider to bore through armor at a rate of 3AR per round thereafter, automatically. Once the AR in that spot is bored through, the glider does an automatic 1d4 damage per round with its extendible teeth, with no armor reduction by the target's armor. Weapons used against an attached glider will do as much damage to the glider's target as to the glider, but the target's armor may reduce the damage.

 

[vegascat]

Hey sarge, watch out for these little roaches. This group is eating through my armor. Where they puked on my aromr is rusting right through to the skin! They'r in my armor!! MEDIC!!!

Larval stage bugs
5cm long, 1cm wide, .3cm tall
d20 attacks per round
Regurgitate acid to soften ceramics for consumption.
The bugs are caniballistic if no fresh food is available while they are in a feeding frenzy.

 

[Despasian]

Anybody run a bughunt Starship Troopers or Aliens style in T20 yet? I need to run a one-shot in the next couple of weeks and I'm trying to figure out the best little nasties to send against a Squad in Battle Dress with Fusion Guns. Basic premise is Aliens - Squad gets sent to a colony that contact was lost. Anybody got any ideas?

Any help would be great!

I would suggest looking at the incredible amout of materials out there for the Fantasy side of D20.
Between the 6-odd monster books for D&D, and at least twice that from D20/OGL sources, there's plenty to choose from.
Being D20 already, they require little or no modifications for play.

I've even pulled a few of the more 'sentient' ones to include in MTU as starfaring races.
I'm looking forward to what my players will make of Neogi and Thri-Kreen opponents.

I'll take a look through my library and see what suggestions might be good for your bug-hunt.

Despasian

 

[Spinward Scout]

Awesome! Thank you very much! That's exactly what I was looking for. Ok, now I have to find them a nice home. I'm thinking the map for Mammoth Caves in Kentucky will do just fine. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for all the great stuff!

Scout

 

[Flynn]

I ran Chamax Horde as my first adventure for my face-to-face group January of this year. The conversion effort I made for the Chamax can be found in this thread:

Converting the Chamax

It worked out very well. I had a good time with it.

Hope this helps you out...

Enjoy,
Flynn

 

[jhulse]

Here is something I've been working on.

A very famous luxury liner was lost in a miss-jump decades ago and was never heard from again.
It carried wealthy / royal family members, diplomats, etc...
Rumors abound of all the wealth that was lost on it, including government secrets, advanced tech, or even alien artifacts.
Fifty years later it has been found.

Your players can be part of a recon/salvage group sent to investigate the space hulk.
I can be floating in an asteroid field, or in the rings of a gas giant, on a half vacuum space rock, or crash landed on a moon or planet with some breathable atmosphere.
In either case, the "bugs" can live in vacuum or near vacuum conditions. They over ran the ship and crew within the first couple of weeks after contact.
Now the bugs are dormant, waiting...
Your players will be excited and looking out for automated defenses, robots sentries, loot, etc...
Just when they think it's a really cool smash and grab mission on a space hulk, that when you throw the bugs at them! >
Just one twist on an old idea.
Have fun.
Jaknaz

 

[aravain]

This is a twist I would throw in:

Have them go a few encounters with the bugs and defeat them using their FGs and battlearmor. Let them grow either complacient or cocky. Have something (EMP or bio-engineered energy draining thingy)disable their main weapons (preferably a long way from home). Sit back and watch them scream!

A well prepared group has already prepared fallback weapons and tactics. A "Hack 'n Slash" group usually have a one track way of thinking. As long as you allow the group to think ahead and creatively, they should be "allowed" to survive.

After all, you always have to have at least one person (or video log) survive , so that the tale can be passed on.

My GM can ignore this advice; she usually gets the group no matter what we plan!

 

[Spinward Scout]

Hey Mythmere - I was wondering just what a "zergling" is?

Thanks again, everyone!

Scout

 

[Mythmere]

Hey Mythmere - I was wondering just what a "zergling" is?

Thanks again, everyone!

Scout

From the computer game Starcraft. They are the small melee-attack caste of the "Zerg," which are the swarming bio-evil alien race in that game.

 

[Mythmere]

Dameon, by the way, when are you running your bug hunt? I was going to start mine this Saturday, but I might put it off so I can get some more minis painted. There is an interim fight with a hover-biker gang I can draw out longer.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Well, it's going to be postponed for a bit since Workman's Comp finally approved my second hernia surgery. That's on Monday - so I'm a bit out of the loop for about two weeks. I'd say I'll probably run the game in about 2 weeks. The down time is a good time to work on all of my gaming ideas, tho. The mind never stops working, even if the body does...

Thanks!

Scout

 

[GypsyComet]

Originally posted by Jak Nazrith:
Here is something I've been working on.

A very famous luxury liner was lost ...

In either case, the "bugs" can live in vacuum or near vacuum conditions. They over ran the ship and crew within the first couple of weeks after contact.
Now the bugs are dormant, waiting...
Your players will be excited and looking out for automated defenses, robots sentries, loot, etc...
Just when they think it's a really cool smash and grab mission on a space hulk, that when you throw the bugs at them! >
Just one twist on an old idea.
Have fun.
Jaknaz

And as long as you don't keep refering to your brash military pilot PC as "Joey", they'll be surprised when they find the bugs can cut through hullplate and eat their own wounded...

 

[Spinward Scout]

"Joey"? Lucy, I think you got some 'splaining to do...

Scout

 

[spank]

Lost In Space -- the movie

A movie baddly in need of a script

 

[Spinward Scout]

Thanks! And you're right - although I didn't think the story was THAT bad, I just thought they could have made it a little less action story and bit more intelligent. But then, the TV show was just campy out the wazoo.

Later,

Scout