Savage Aliens

133 Pages·2016·3.73 MB·English

Special Thanks to:

Playtesters
Ian F White
Joshua Hayes
Goran Tormac

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Savage Aliens
Chapter 1: A History of the Xenomorph Problem
Chapter 2: Colonial Marines
Chapter 3: The Universe
Chapter 4: The Corporations
Chapters 5: Character Creation
Chapter 6: New Rules
Chapter 7: Xenomorphs
Chapter 8: Gamemastering Aliens

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The closing years of the responsible for numerous com-
20th Century saw a fading of munist takeovers.
the great Nations and a rapid
As the corporations grew,
increase in the power and influ-
they wove together the eco-
ence of multi-national Corpora-
nomic interests of the Nations
tions. These Corporations were
of the world, and the specter of
not restricted to a single field;
large-scale warfare was re-
their interest were vast, cover-
duced. With head-to-head war-
ing all aspects of industry and
fare economically unaccepta-
economics, as they diversified
ble, the advanced states set-
into every field that held profit.
tled for venting their hostilities
They were also not defined by
and waging wars in Third World
country, society, or ideology. In
nations.
industry, in business, and in the
This trend continued
media, the multi-nationals be-
through the following decades,
came more powerful and more
as the corporations prospered
visible.
and the interdependence of
The first planet to have a
the major Nations of Earth grew.
scientific colony on it was Mars.
Tensions did not end, but were
The moon followed soon there-
kept under control and re-
after. Needless to say, Earth’s
leased in ways that did not
space exploration was not unit-
damage anyone’s ability to
ed; many different countries
make money. Humanity entered
have established colonies in
the age of Space in an atmos-
space. The major colonizers
phere of controlled tension but
are: The United Americas (USA,
not outright war.
Canada, parts of South Ameri-
The Age of Space came in
ca), China, Japan, The European
the wake of two tremendous
Federation, and Russia. Though
technological breakthroughs.
rare, conflicts have occurred
The first was the reactionless
between countries in space.
Displacement drive, which al-
The most significant cases are
lowed Humanity to travel quick-
between UA and China, be-
ly and cheaply within the Solar
cause of the differences in
System. The Jump Drive soon
government between these
followed, expanding on the
two powers; diplomatic unrest
principles behind the Displace-
has occasionally turned into
ment Drive and taking Humani-
war. China is believed to back
ty out into the stars. As tech-
the notorious PRA, a communist
nologies were perfected, explo-
extremist group that has been
ration craft went out from Earth.
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The search for minerals where Humans can live.
and other raw materials was
On every habitable world, colo-
only a secondary goal of the
nies have been established.
explorers; those things were
They have expanded at vary-
available within the Solar Sys-
ing rates, depending on the
tem itself, in amounts that would
corporate support they have
keep humanity supplied for
received and the qualities of
many years. The most im-
the worlds. Shiploads of people
portant things the stars held
and equipment are sent to
were knowledge, the potential
each Colony, and eventually
of new habitable planets to
the colonies begin to send
ease the population pressures
items of value back to the rest
of Earth, and the opportunity to
of Humanity; unusual life forms
study new life forms.
and mineral combination, the
The greatest value for the product of local industries, and
corporations lay in the life after a generation, skilled work-
forms. Each world is like a gi- ers.
gantic laboratory, where the
These skilled workers are
forces of nature have experi-
part of the rapidly growing pop-
mented on for billion of years.
ulations of the colonies, and the
The creatures produced in
corporations have developed
those laboratories, and the
many techniques for managing
complex chemicals contained
them successfully. Colonists
within them, possess abilities far
have developed many tech-
beyond those available to Hu-
niques for making them suc-
manity. Many of these abilities
cessfully.
are nearly miraculous.
Colonists are taught to live
The expansion into Space
active, disciplined lives, to max-
had been a slow progress,
imize their economic value and
since useful systems were rare
reduce the risks of living in the
and the effort involved in es-
colonies. Good educations are
tablishing colonies was great.
available for those who are not.
Still, at least six Earth-like worlds
By contrast, the disorganized
have been found, and dozens
state of the population of Earth
more that are at least habita-
means that there are relatively
ble.
fewer people who are well dis-
On other worlds, the pro- ciplined and well-educated, as
cess of terraforming is under- the quality of life diminished on
way, as hostile environments Earth. The value of trained, en-
are slowly changed into places ergetic, and obedient workers
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from the colonies increase.
In addition to the above
aspects of corporate life, a ma-
jor part of each corporation’s
management approach has
been the establishment of a
corporate military force. These
forces are not large, but they
are well trained, and have the
best equipment their Corpora-
tion can afford.
With Colonies on many
worlds, the power and influence
of the Corporations rose rapidly.
As they became more powerful,
they became more of a threat
to the Nations of Earth. The sit-
uation was a very delicate one;
the nations had far larger ar- by seeing corporate property.
mies, but the Corporation con- Finally, one small crisis got out
trolled space and vital high of control and erupted into war-
technology. The same econom- fare. Dozens of other small
ic interdependence, which pre- wars began within weeks, and
vented war among the Nations the Earth spun into chaos. For-
now, prevented the Nations tunately, the wars remained lim-
from harming the Corporations. ited; few nuclear or biological
weapons were used.
Tensions between the in-
creasingly wealthy Corporates The wars lasted for five
and the Governments of Earth years. The war concluded with
increased. The governments the formation of a joint council
felt threatened. They saw the to oversee the affairs of both
fabric of society changing and Corp and government for the
thought they might not be a betterment of humanity. Out of
part of the future of humanity. violence came the Interstellar
Every political weapon was Commerce Commission (ICC), a
used, including diplomacy, brib- coalition of Corporation and Na-
ery, blackmail, and economic tions, which united Humanity.
pressure. Separatist move- This organization was in charge
ments were created to destabi- or regulating activities among
lize Nations, which responded
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its members, and the Colonial itarily and economically. There
Marine Corps was created as are still underground rebel
its military arm under the char- movements on most Colonies,
ter that they did not have to but they pose little threat to the
answer to any single corpora- ICC at present.
tion. The wars had taught eve-
The colonies, having sup-
ryone that it would be valuable
ported the Corps in the war,
to have some sort of “police
thought they would win more
force” to discourage them from
independence from external
using violence to solve their
rule.
problems.
The creation of the ICC
Throughout the wars, the
confirmed society's view that
colonies strongly supported the
the colonies were nothing more
Corporations. They wanted to
than Corporate property. Many
remain free from the nations,
colonies rebelled. They were al-
and many believed they would
ways going to lose. The ICC,
receive status as independent
Corporate forces and the CMC
entities with increased control
waged economic and military
over their own affairs. When the
warfare and overpowered all
ICC was formed, it became clear
but one corner of resistance.
this would not be the case; the
The rebel system of Alexandria
Colonies were treated as cor-
sealed itself off from the rest of
porate property. Another cycle
humanity. Soon after, the Union
of hostility, tension, and intense
of Progressive People formed
diplomacy began, an eventual-
from several rim colonies and
ly several Colonies rebelled.
set up a military border. Their
The Colonial Marine Corps, sup-
size is small but fortified. At-
ported by corporate forces was
tempts to retake their territory
given the job of bringing the re-
proved fruitless. Alexandria
bels back under control.
acknowledges the UPP's inde-
The cause of the Colonies pendence but the ICC does
was in danger from the begin-
not.
ning. The tremendous financial
The Colonial Marine Corps
and military resources available
was created at the same time
to the ICC meant that their loss-
as the ICC. The intent was that
es could be quickly replaced,
the Colonial Marines, funded by
while the colonies were very
coalition of all the space-going
weak in technology, industry,
Nations, would be an inde-
and population. One by one,
pendent force that would re-
the Colonies were defeated mil-
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solve disputes among the Na- patrolled and unmonitored for
tions and Corporation, and keep months or even years. It wasn’t
the peace in the Colonies as until later, from secret grants
well. Each nation had its own from corporations that believed
portion of the force made up of the ICC to be corrupt, did they
its own citizens, but they manage to compete again.
shared equipment, training, and
2122 - First contact with Aliens
doctrine. They were led by the
creatures on LV-426. The
Colonial Marine Corps High
freighter "Nostromo" made
Command, which included rep-
landfall on the planet, one of
resentatives from several na-
the crew members was infected
tions.
and subsequently the crew
Most of the power belongs and the ship was destroyed by
to the Corporations, however, the drone that emerged. Sole
and the Nations have little influ- survivor,
ence among the stars. Their
Ellen Ripley, escaped in a
only tool is the Colonial Marine
Capsule, the "Narcissus" and
Corps, and its power is dwin-
floated homewards towards
dling. Every year, the Colonial
Earth (we assume).
Marines fall a little further be-
Between 2155 and 2160 - Col-
hind in technology; their weap-
ony set up on LV-426, which
ons are not upgraded, their
was subsequently known as
supplies and other equipment
"Acheron." Due to a sheltering
fail to incorporate the latest im-
mountain range and the dire
provements, and their ships are
meteorological conditions, the
faced with the improved de-
colonists failed to find the
signs available to the Corpora-
"Jockey ship."
tions.
2179 - The Narcissus was
The shortage of personnel
found floating by a remote min-
is also a growing a problem for
ing vessel with Ellen Ripley on
the Colonial Marines. They
board. She was brought back
have not replaced the losses
to gateway station in orbit
suffered during the wars
around Earth where it was
against the rebel colonies, and
learned that she was been in
the additional drain imposed by
hypersleep for 57 years. Her
the current turmoil has made
story was not believed by the
the problem even worse. For
ICC and she was stripped of her
the Colonial Marines, the loss of
rank and duties. One corporate
a single Strike Team can mean
executive, Carter Burke, be-
that large areas will remain un-
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lieved enough of the story to yet another drone that infected
ask the colonist on LV-426 a local dog and ended up ar-
"Acheron" to go and have a guing the
look at the grid references pro-
loss with a corporate bigwig
vided by Ripley. Earth subse-
who resembled her beloved
quently lost contact with the
Bishop. She threw herself into a
colony.
boiling vat of molten lead
Burke, Ripley and a strike team
//ENTER HERE FOR CL2 &
of Colonial Marines made their
TL2//
way to Acheron and had a bad
In 2185, the CMC secretly fund-
time of it all. The survivors; Rip-
ed its own group to investigate
ley, Rebecca "Newt" Jordon,
the reports concealed from
Corporal Dwight Hicks and a
them events on LV-426, or
synthetic Bishop headed back
Acheron. The organization
towards earth in their vessel
goes without a name and
the Sulaco.
doesn’t officially exist. Not even

Weyland-Yutani knew of their
//Enter Here For CL1 and TL1// existence.
The group was ordered to
investigate the reports on the
2179 or 2180 - The Sulaco had
rim and return in a year with a
some of the Alien eggs left on
board (Ripley apparently failed
to check before she went
into hypersleep) and the
emerging face-huggers caused
an electrical fire on the Sulaco,
which then jettisoned the sleep
capsules in
an escape pod. The pod found
its way to the nearest inhabited
planet "Fiorina 161 - Fury" a cor-
porate penal colony.
Newt and Hicks failed to sur-
vive the landing and Bishop
was scrapped carelessly by
the inmates. Ripley found she
was carrying an Alien queen in-
side her, lost more people to
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