Xenomorphs

From Star Frontiers Network

by Madin Jackson

Contents 1 Lifecycle of the Aliens 1.1 The Egg 1.2 The Facehugger 1.3 The Chestburster 1.4 Warrior 1.5 Sentry 1.6 The Queen 2 Alien Metabolism 2.1 Other Characteristics 3 Alien Hives 4 Removing Facehubbers 5 Aliens in Combat 5.1 Stalking 5.2 Alien Attacks 5.3 The Queen 5.4 Acid Blood 5.5 Acid Damage

Lifecycle of the Aliens

The Egg

The Egg contains the first form of an Alien. Eggs may be laid by any of the adult Alien forms, but the Queen is by far the most prolific and efficient Egg-layer, as described later. The Egg itself is made of a polarized silicate, like the exoskeletons of all Alien forms. The silicate is extremely tough and durable and is an ideal protection for the newly-created Facehugger within it. For the purposes of gameplay, an Alien Egg has 50 stamina points, before being destroyed, killing the Facehugger inside and is immune to needler weapons. An Egg laid by a Queen weighs 30 kilograms, while one laid by a normal, adult Alien is less than a quarter of that weight. The difference lies in their long-term durability. Queen-laid Eggs will protect and support the Facehugger for centuries, while Eggs from other Aliens last only a few months.

The Facehugger

The Facehugger looks like two long, spindly hands which have been joined together and to which a longs tail has been attached. The outside of the Facehugger is mad of an extremely tough polarized silicate, but the inner surface, the “palm” of the hands, is less well protected. The Facehugger is dormant within the Egg and can wait there for an unlimited time. It will awaken in response to movement outside the Egg by sensing vibrations, rather like a spider, the Facehugger is keyed to respond to the repeated motion patters of living creatures and is even capable of determining the approximate mass of the life form. If the lifeform weighs less at least 15 kilograms, the Facehugger will awaken and will attack. It possesses good instincts regarding attack techniques and will wait until the target is as close as possible to the Egg before springing. When the Egg opens, a small amount of a special gas is released, which prevents nearby Eggs from opening from a short time, a minute or so, in a ventilated area? After this period has elapsed, another Egg can open in response to other life forms, or the continuing struggles of the original target. Due to their unique physiology, dralasites are immune the reproductive qualities of a Facehugger and are ignored, for one of the other, Frontier races. Other types of Aliens have no such compunction, however.

When in action, the Facehugger is capable of crawling on its “Fingers” at 60 meters/turn and of leaping up to 5 meters (in game terms, a Facehugger may leap at a target from one square away). The tail provides the remarkable power behind the Facehugger’s leap and is used to carry the creature from the Egg to the head of a nearby target. Rules for the Facehugger’s Leap and its behavior in combat are given below.

Facehugger Leap: When a Facehugger leaps at its target, it must roll its Attack value or less to attach itself to the target’s head. If it makes the roll, the Facehugger grasps the target very tightly with its fingers while tightening its tail around the target’s throat. It then inserts a flexible tube from the center of its inner surface into the target’s mouth and emits a broadspectrum parlaying agent from the end of the tube. This immediately enters the target’s lungs and causes unconsciousness. If there is something between the tube and the target’s mouth, like the faceplate of a helmet or similar, protective device, the Facehugger will secrete a sufficient quantity of Acid Blood to allow the tube to penetrate. This takes one turn.

If the Facehugger fails its roll by 10 or less, it has grabbed the target’s head or upper torso, but has not been able to place itself properly or paralyze the target. It will attempt to paralyze the target again during the next turn.

If the attack fails by 10 or more or the character passes a successful Reaction Speed check, then the Facehugger missed the target entirely. The Facehugger will land within 2 meters of the target and during the next turn it will race after the closest, appropriate target using normal movement, until it catches up, at which time it will leap at the target and make another attempt to attach itself.

Facehugger Combat: When a Facehugger has partially grabbed a target but is not properly placed, it continues trying to immobilize the victim. It gets one try each turn at its Attack score. For each person assisting the target, reduce the Facehugger’s Attack score by 10 (20 if the character has the Medical skill). If the Facehugger makes its roll, it can only be removed surgically. If it fails, it has been thrown off and must spend one turn recovering. The Facehugger will continue trying to attach itself until it is successful or it is thrown off the target.

A Facehugger that has grabbed a target cannot be safely shot off. If the situation is desperate Characters can try to shoot the Facehugger, but they have the same chance of hitting the Facehugger’s victim as they do of hitting the Facehugger. If the attack roll hits, roll a 1d10. 1-5 hits the Facehugger and 6-10 hits the Facehugger’s victim. If the victim is hit, roll damage normally. In addition, if the Facehugger is hit the victim and all nearby Characters are subject to Acid Spray.

Once it is firmly attached to its target, the Facehugger will implant one or more Chestburster Embryos inside the chest cavity of the target. Each Embryo is placed by the tube, which can be extended almost 2.4 meters initially and can grow at a rate of a half a meter per day, if necessary. As the implantation procedure goes on, the Facehugger will keep its host dormant by limiting its oxygen supply and reintroducing the paralyzing agent if necessary. The creature possesses a marvelous ability to monitor a live host and to guarantee that it does not die.

The full implantation procedure takes 20 plus 1 to 5 hours. It then takes two more days for the Embryo(s) to mature into the Chestburster form. Throughout this 3 day period the Facehugger is slowly wasting away and it will generally die and fall off the host a few hours before the Chestburster hatches. If by some chance the Facehugger’s implantation process and the growth of the Chestburster are interrupted by being placed in a Cryostasis chamber, Embryo implantation and incubation take 20 times longer as normal.

The number and type of Embryos planted by the Facehugger are determined by the state of the host and it’s mass. If the host is dead during implantation, only a Warrior Alien can be produced. One Warrior Embryo can be implanted for every 15 kilograms of mass of the host. If the host is alive during the incubation, then any type of Alien can be produced, including a Queen or a Sentry. One Sentry Embryo can be implanted for every 25 kilograms of mass of the hosed, while only a single Queen Embryo can be implanted regardless of the host’s size, though the minimum mass for a Queen Embryo is 50 kilograms. Decisions about what type of Embryo to implant are made by the Queen, if necessary.

Note that the Embryo type is determined when it is implanted. The only variation here is that if the host dies after implantation but before the Chestburster hatches, the Alien automatically grows into a warrior. Also, the masses given above are the minimums for each type and no Embryo can be planted in a host of less than 15 kilograms. For example a 70 kilogram host can only be used for 4 Warriors, or 2 Sentries or 1 Queen.

This embryo may take on some of the host's DNA or traits, such as bipedalism, quadrupealism and other body structure changes, possibly owing to the need to adapt, using indigenous wildlife as a reference for what features to retain for use in that particular environment. For example, an Alien created through a Yazirian host, typically have wings on which they can glide, whereas a one made from a Vrusk has eight legs, giving it increased speed.

The Chestburster

The Chestburster is the immature form of the normal, adult Alien. It has a number of characteristics which are different from the adult forms, in particular its ability to regularly she its skin as it grows and the phenomenal rate at which it can eat and process food. For the purposes of gameplay, a Chestburster has 10 Stamina points, no attacks and a movement value of 30m/turn.

As mentioned before, the Chestburster is laid in the embryo form in the chest cavity of the Host and incubates over the course of two days. At the end of the incubation, the Chestburster weighs less than a kilogram and appears to be a cross between an adult Alien and a Facehugger; it has acquired the head and upper arms of an adult, but retains the long, powerful tail of the Facehugger.

When incubation ends, the Chestburster breaks out of its host, using its tail, teeth and even acid secretions to create an opening. In ideal circumstances, the Chestburster will then consume the Host to fuel its growth, but this is not vital. The creature requires a great supply of food, inorganic matter and water. It will consume a total of two times its eventual adult weight of this, of which roughly ¼ must be hydrocarbonbased matter (including animals, plants, nylon, petrochemicals, plastics and so forth), ½ should be inorganic (including dirt, glass, sand and other substances high in silicon) and ¼ water. The adult weights of the various, Alien types are given in their descriptions on the following pages.

The growth rate of a Chestburster is phenomenal and is only limited by the food supply. With sufficient food, the Chestburster will attain its full size within a day of “hatching”. If it does not find enough food to reach maturity with in three days, it will die; the creature’s metabolism is far too fast to allow it to live for very long. Throughout the growth period, the Chestburster will maintain as low a profile as possible, as it is not fully capable of combat.

A Chestburster can chew its way through obstacles quickly; it can get through a standard, interior wall of a ship or building in about 20 seconds. There is no known limit to the materials which one can chew through, including steel and other metals, because it can secrete acid while chewing, if necessary.

Once the Chestburster reaches full size, its metabolism changes drastically. The skin thickens and hardens, the need for food comes to an end and it acquires the full use of its movement and combat abilities. The exact size and abilities of the adult Alien depend on the type: Warrior, Sentry or Queen.

Warrior

This is the most common Alien form. A Warrior stands about 2.4 meters tall and weighs nearly 150 kilograms. Its has all the dangerous attributes of the species; an incredibly tough exoskeleton of polarized silicate, concentrated acid for blood, powerful claws and teeth and a long tail used in battle and for balance.

There are 18 stingers on a Warrior’s tail, each of which is 20cm long and contains a small sac of a paralyzing substance like that used by the Facehuggers. In combat, the Warrior can inject a stinger and its sac into a target, which results in the rapid incapacitation of the target, if the target fails a STA check. The stinger remains in place for a number of hours, during which time the sac continues to secrete the paralysis substance into the victim, every turn. The stingers can be regenerated in a single day and are only used against prey which is likely to be dangerous or to struggle powerfully.

The tubes on the Warrior’s back produce a slimy web which gives the Warrior greater mobility. This works like a spider’s web and it affixes itself tightly to any areas which have been encrusted by Resin. The web produced will easily hold the weight of a Warrior and a victim of similar size. The maximum distance the web can be shot by the tubes is 6 meters. Although the web naturally adheres to Resin, it can be used to attach the Warrior to other surfaces, as well; in such cases it cannot be shot and must be wrapped around a projection or some other attachment point. The tubes are also capable of coiling the web around themselves, which allows a Warrior to ascend through a webbed area at 3 meters per turn.

The limbs of every Warrior are studded with special glands which secrete small amounts of a web-like substance and acts as a light glue in contact with the Aliens’ Resin. This allows the Warrior to maneuver easily through encrusted areas. There are also assorted hooks and spikes on the limbs which permits the Warrior to attach itself to the Resin, for ambushes and for use during periods of dormancy.

An additional use for the tubes on the Warrior’s back is as a harness for prey. Victims of up to Yazirian size can be placed between the tubes and then webbed into location. This leaves the Warrior’s limbs free for additional maneuvering and combat.

Warrior Aliens produce and shape Resin that forms the Alien Hive. The Resin is secreted from the mouth of the Warrior and is formed with the hands. Warriors perform the labor for the Hive, including building the tunnels and chambers, maintaining them and gathering available food and hosts for Eggs.

Lastly, a Warrior Alien can lay one Egg each day, if it eats 10 kilograms of organic and inorganic material.

Sentry

The Sentry is the Alien type that links the Queen to the rest of the lair and which is the leader of all nearby aliens of other types. It is exactly like a Warrior, except that it has small sensors built into its hands which are capable of creating and sensing extremely small vibrations within the Resin and webbing of an Alien Hive.

These vibrations are a sophisticated form of communication and allow the Sentry to inform the Queen of what is going on in the Sentry’s area in great detail. The Queen responds to this information, by giving instructions to the Sentry. The Sentry passes these orders to nearby Aliens vocally or by using the infrared pattering on its head, as described under Alien Metabolism.

There is no chance of the Sentry having its own opinion or of changing the Queen’s orders. A Sentry is essentially a wellprogrammed communications machine, which accurately and quickly passes information to and from the Queen.

When operating outside the Hive, Sentries will attempt to leave a web trail behind them. Even a single strand of web is capable of passing the vibrations to and from the Queen and in this way, the Queen can remain in control of Aliens working at a considerable distance from the Hive.

The Queen

The Queen is, of course, the most devastating of all Aliens. Unlike other Aliens, she continues to grow and develop after reaching maturity, depending on her food supply, easily reaching 4.5 meters tall. Their body structure differs also, having twin sets of arms and being built more similarly to a theropod dinosaur than a humanoid. Queens have a much larger braincase than the average adults, protected by a large crest above their heads. Another well-known feature of the Queen is an immense ovipositor in its lower torso, which is responsible for creating Facehugger Eggs (similar to a queen termite). The Queen is able to detach from the egg sac, if necessary (as in the case of an emergency). Queens also have a higher ability to relate cause and effect to make observations and deductions, allowing them rudimentary understanding of technology in the same way as some primates.

A Queen goes through ten Stages of development; at each, she becomes larger, more powerful and more productive. The developments of a Queen and her abilities at each Stage are as follows.

When a Chestburster Queen matures, it is considered a Stage One Queen. It fights and lays Eggs exactly like a Warrior Alien, although it is better protected. It can only progress to Stage Two, by eating 300 kilograms of organic material, or about 4 human-sized victims. As each victim is consumed, the Queen sheds her outer layer of skin and grows a new, larger protective layer. The shedding and growth cycle takes a period of one day. After the fourth victim is devoured, the Queen has completed her growth into a Stage Two Queen.

At Stage Two, the Queen is capable of laying 10 Eggs a day, although it requires a supply of 10 kilograms of organic and 20 kilograms of inorganic material per Egg. Additionally, it has increased fighting abilities, as listed under Aliens in Combat. The last new ability of a Stage Two Queen is increased protection and the ability to survive greater damage.

To progress to Stage Three, the Queen must eat 450 kilograms of organic material, the equivalent of 6 more people, for a total of 10. She can lay 20 Eggs per day, if raw materials are available. Additionally, it has increased fighting abilities, as listed under Aliens in Combat.

Stage Four is reached after a total of 20 people have been eaten and give the Queen the ability to lay 30 Eggs per day. Additionally, it has increased fighting abilities, as listed under Aliens in Combat.

Stage Five requires 10 more people, as food, for a total of 30 and 40 Eggs per day, can be laid. Additionally, it has increased fighting abilities, as listed under Aliens in Combat.

The remaining Stages continue, in the same pattern. Each requires an additional 10 human-sized victims as food and increases the number of Eggs the Queen can lay each day, by 10. Additionally, it has increased fighting abilities, as listed under Aliens in Combat.

The highest possible Stage for a Queen is Stage Ten. When she reaches this Stage, she arranges for a Queen Embryo to hatch. As soon as the Chestburster form of the new Queen emerges, the old Queen will build this Hive up until it is capable of protecting another, new Queen and will then move on; in this way, a Stage Ten Queen is able to expand the area controlled by Aliens steadily and almost unstoppably.

Meanwhile, the new Queens left behind have full Hives to protect them and if food is available they can advance to become Stage Ten Queens, themselves.

Alien Metabolism

The metabolism of the Alien is just as unusual as its reproductive cycle, as might be expected. The skin is composed of a polarized silica and provides remarkable protection from environmental extremes, as well as impact. All Aliens, regardless of type, are immune to needler weapons and extremely long falls.

In addition to these oddities, they do not have constant, cellular activity, like mammals, and consequently do not generate body heat, so they are invisible to infrared sensors.

Their internal energy is electrical, in nature and is circulated, via the devastating Acid which is their blood. The Acid is highly conductive and the molecules are ideal for energy storage and transportation. This process is similar to that used in automobile batteries and other small, electrical storage-devices.

Because of this, Aliens do not require organic food to survive. They need it to create Resin and webbing, to grow, as well as to heal from injuries, but to continue existing, they only need to have access to an electrical current. They can derive this energy from a number of sources, including solar energy, static electricity and direct current.

Aliens are even capable of surviving simply by being close to high levels of electrical power. For example, current moving in a power line induces a current in the Alien in much the same way that a radio signal induces a current in an antenna. This kind of current supplies enough power for an Alien to survive in dormancy and to recharge slowly, while inactive. Because of this affect, Aliens are attractive to the machinery of the Frontier; in a way, it “smells” good to them.

These sources of “food” make the Alien a creature of incredible endurance. It eats dirt and water to reach adult stage and once mature, can survive on the energy generated by a light breeze. The process of absorbing energy is a quick on and they can go to virtually have no energy to being fully “charged” in about an hour, if the energy is available. Their natural, physical abilities are enhanced by this arrangement, as an Alien which is active while exposed to a strong “food” source can work and fight indefinitely, without tiring.

In addition to the above, Aliens are also very efficient on a purely, physical level. They regenerate non-fatal damage within a day and can always recover from an injury which is not immediately fatal. Aliens have incredible strength and can lift and carry up to 200kg of weight.

Aliens, in all stages of their life cycles, have shown severe vulnerabilities to heat, such as fire and flame-throwers, but cold temperatures are an inadequate precautionary measure- -except at the extremes, such as liquid nitrogen. Since they can adapt to a vacuum and endure cold climates, it is unlikely they would be driven off by chilly conditions, but blasts of hot steam or cold air can be effective, especially when paired together. It is postulated that applying both hot and cold temperatures in rapid succession would achieve a very lethal, "cracking" effect on an Alien's exoskeleton, similar to rapidly heating and cooling glass. Consequently, all Alien types take double damage from flamethrowers and incendiary weapons.

Other Characteristics

The senses of the Aliens are good. Their vision is remarkably sharp and they can see further into the infrared than Humans and Yazirians, though not to the ability of Vrusks. They have an elongated, cylindrical head but lack visible eyes. The creature's lack of visible eyes serves to remove a massive weak point from a nigh invulnerable beast. Due to the absence of clearly visible eyes, Frontier scientists have concluded it is possible that the creature uses echolocation to "see" its environment, much like bats. They also have excellent hearing.

Aliens generally communicate by sound, although they do not have a language that is recognizable to the Frontier races. Their communications skills are like those of bees or ants, which carry vital messages about food or danger, but which are clearly beyond the realms of Frontier-style communication. In vacuum and other situations where sound is useless, Aliens communicate by adjusting the heat production of the surface of the head. Although this is invisible to most of the eyes of the Frontier races, the infrared abilities of Aliens make it easy for them to determine what patterns are being displayed.

Because Vrusks have better infrared sight than the other, Frontier races, a Vrusk Character has a chance to notice “speaking” Aliens, if he or she makes a successful Comprehension roll. If the Vrusk succeeds, he sees the color change and if they are already familiar with the Alien lifeform, can warn their party, spoiling the Aliens element of surprise. The Character must state that he or she is actively looking for changes in the infrared spectrum, however.

This infrared sense is one of the primary ways the Aliens track their prey. Their sense of smell is also used prominently, as it informs the Alien of the rough, organic composition of the victim and is frequently what alerts them to the presence of the victim in the first place. The Aliens can also detect their prey using pheromones, much like a colorful aura around the body.

Much like the Facehugger within its Egg, a dormant, adult Alien can remain in that state for decades or centuries with no loss of ability and it will wake up, only in the presence of food or danger.

Adult Aliens are well-adapted to swimming and can survive in vacuum for unknown lengths of time.

Alien Hives

The Alien Hive is constructed from Resin which is secreted from the mouths of Warriors. This Resin is composed primarily of polarized silicon and is extremely tough and durable. It also has remarkable insulating properties and is semi-opaque. Much like termites, they mix Resin with solids, like dead victims and dead/cannibalized Xenomorphs or with dirt, trees or Frontier-made structures. These materials are then broken down by spitting acid on them and molding into shape and place, though it shows amazing heat and moisture-retaining qualities. Another important feature of the Resin is that it interferes with radio communications and any Characters penetrating deep into a Hive will find they lose contact with the outside world.

Aliens normally build their Hives around pre-existing structures, such as a natural ground depression, a frontiermade structure or a strand of trees. The Resin is used to insulate and protect the Hive, to provide structural framework for the Aliens to move on and to create niches for concealment and rest in dormancy.

Aliens build the Hive so that they can use the walls, floors and ceilings for movement. Their gripping power, combined with special glands that secrete a contact cement, allow them to support themselves from the ceiling and walls, much like giant insects. This greatly increases their mobility and their Stalking ability, within the Hive.

Because the Resin is composed of the same type of material as the Alien’s exoskeleton, the Hive provides ideal camouflage. If an Alien remains motionless, it is almost undetectable, blending perfectly into the wall or ceiling. This plays a key role in how deadly the Aliens are within their Hives.

Sentry Aliens have the ability to pick up and monitor vibrations through the Resin. This sense is used to communicate with the Queen and also provides them with exceptionally accurate remote sensors for tracking the movement of life, within the Hive. In essence, this gives the Sentry an accurate picture of numbers, movement and position of all life in the Hive. The Sentry thus has a much clearer picture of the situation within the lair than any Character could ever obtain.

Removing Facehubbers

This is obviously of critical importance to anyone who is facing the possibility of Chestbursters in their future. The removal of a Facehugger is actually a fairly simple procedure, unless the survival of the host is also important; if so, it is extremely difficult.

Any attempt to remove the Facehugger is met by one of the defense mechanisms of the creature. If it is cut or injured, its Acid Blood endangers the host and anyone else nearby. If someone attempts to simply pull it off, it will anchor itself to the host, by tightening the grip of the tail around the host’s throat. As a final defense, if the Facehugger is killed in any other way, it will inject the entire reserve of the paralyzing agent. Such a dose is lethal to any human, vrusk or yazirian.

The task of safely removing a Facehugger is extremely difficult and can only be attempted by someone with the Medical skill. The base chance is equal to half the character’s Major Surgery sub-skill, if it applies to a team of trained medical personnel, who have not researched the problem and who have no special equipment. For a medical team which is experienced in dealing with removing Facehuggers and has special equipment, the task is equal to the character with the highest Major Surgery sub-skill.

If the attempt to remove a Facehugger fails, the creature is still removed alive from the patient and may be kept for study. The patient, however, is killed.

Aliens in Combat

The Aliens are the most dangerous species ever encountered by the Frontier and there are a number of special rules governing their actions in combat.

Stalking

Stalking is a vital part of a predator’s attack, especially for creatures like Aliens which are hunting armed prey. The reason is simple; if a target with a weapon has some warning, it is easy to defeat an Alien at a distance. If the Alien can get close, however, it might be able to attack the target before he or she has a chance to open fire.

Because of natural abilities and extreme cunning, all Aliens have a default, stealth rating of 80%. Additional Difficulty Levels below are for an Alien or group of Aliens attempting to stalk prey. The Levels give assume confined terrain, such as jungle, a building or an Alien Hive, with many places to hide. For more open terrain, such as an urban street or countryside, the Difficulty Level is increased by 20.

ALIEN STALKING TABLE

Targets are:	Difficulty Level
At Leisure	+40
Cautious	+20
On Alert	--
Moving and Very Alert	-20
Stationary and Very Alert	-40

When Stalking, Aliens can close to Medium range, without difficulty. From that point, they must make a successful, Stalking check for each Range Category; from Medium to Short and Short to Point Blank. The Stalking check is equal to the Alien’s default stealth rating, adjusted by the table above. If the Aliens fail the Stalking check at any point, they may have been spotted, the Characters can respond any way they want and the Aliens must decide whether to charge or run away. If they successfully close to Point Blank range, then they are able to pounce on the Characters using the guidelines given below.

Aliens decrease the Difficulty Level by 20, whenever the Characters are actually going directly through an area inhabited by Aliens. For example, a group of “bug hunters” are moving through an Alien Hive. They are very alert, so any Aliens attempting to Stalk them would be at -20. Because they are in the Alien’s environment, however, the Aliens gain a +20, negating the modifier completely.

If this is the first contact between the Characters and an Alien or it’s Hive, the Difficulty Levels are decreased by 20. This represents the Characters’ unfamiliarity with the creature’s behaviors and tactics.

Alien Attacks

To attack, an Alien must be within 2 meters of its target. A Warrior or Sentry attacks by Grabbing and immobilizing its prey, by Biting with its powerful, telescoping jaws, or by using the Stingers in its tail. To determine the type of attack used, roll a 1d10 each turn; on a 1, it Bites, on 2 through 9, it Grabs and on a 0, it Stings. All Alien attacks are considered Melee Attacks.

When an Alien attempts to Grab a target, the Referee makes an Attack roll for the creature. If the Alien succeeds, the target is grabbed. A grabbed target has been pinned by the Alien and cannot resist effectively. This means that the target is incapacitated. It cannot move, fire a weapon effectively, attempt melee attacks or take any other physical action. In addition, the target takes damage from being crushed by the Alien’s grip. The Alien does 3-30 points of damage, due to the Alien’s strength. If the target is still conscious and struggling, the Alien will continue to attack, each turn, until resistance ceases. Once the target is quiet, the Alien will try to take it to a safe place within the Lair, where it will be webbed in place and prepared for a Facehugger.

For Bite attacks, the Alien does 2d10 points of damage, if a successful Attack roll made. Note that extra armor protection given by a helmet or light armor is of no use here, since the jaws are penetrating through the front, where there is either no protection or simply a face shield.

Sting attacks do 4d10 points of damage on a successful hit. If the target takes any damage at all, it must make a STA check or it is automatically incapacitated by the paralyzing drug implanted by the stinger. The stinger will continue to disperse its paralyzing agent, requiring the Character to make a STA check each turn, until it is removed or they are incapacitated.

The Queen

As devastating as Warriors are, they seem almost harmless when compared to the destructive power of a high Stage Alien Queen. Beginning at stage one, the great size of a Queen even gives her a special attack, called Trampling.

Because of her mass, the Queen can overrun Yaziriansized or smaller opponents. Each turn, the Queen can move and anyone in her path is rammed and knocked aside. Each time that the Queen comes into contact with a possible target, the Queen makes an Attack roll and the target makes a Reaction Speed check. If the Queen is successful and the target fails the Reaction Speed check, the target is trampled for 2d10 points of damage times the Stage of the Alien Queen, with a minimum multiplier of 3. This represents the Queen stepping on or crushing the target, as she passes. If the Queen does not move during a turn, then she can try to make a Trampling attack against every, possible target within 2 meters. Trampling attacks are executed during the movement phase of a turn. If the Queen’s Attack roll fails or the target makes a successful Reaction Speed check, the target narrowly avoids being trampled by the Queen.

In addition to Trampling, the Queen has the normal attacks of a Warrior Alien, except that it makes two attacks per turn (one Grab and a 50/50 chance of either a Bite or a Sting).

A Queen’s Grab attack does 1d10 points of damage, times the Queen’s Stage, with a minimum multiplier of 3. During the following turn, the Queen can either release the target and make another Grab at a new victim or Rend the target; the Referee makes the choice. If the Queen Rends the target, the target takes the maximum amount of damage, regardless of armor. This represents the fact that the Queen as torn the target, in two. If additional attacks are necessary, the Queen can Rend a target once per turn, in place of its normal, Grab attack. For a Queen’s Bite or Sting, the damage done is 1d10, times the Queen’s Stage, plus 1d10. For example, a Stage 7 Queen does 8-80 points of damage (1d10 x 7 +1d10) with a bite or a sting.

If a target is successfully stung by a Queen’s stinger and does more than half the target’s stamina in damage, the target has been impaled and should be treated as though they had been grabbed. On the following turn, the Queen may Rend the target, as described above.

Acid Blood

The blood of an Alien is a highly-concentrated, molecular acid and it is extremely dangerous. An Alien’s Acid Blood is capable of eating through any frontier-made material and can devastate facilities, equipment and nearby Characters whenever an Alien is wounded or killed.

Anytime an Alien takes damage, some of its blood will spray into the surrounding area. Every person or piece of equipment within the Spray Range must check for Acid Damage, using the following guidelines.

The Spray Range depends on the weapon which damaged the Alien. Pistols have an Acid Spray Range of 1 meter, Rifles and Shotguns have a Spray Range of 3 meters and Heavy Weapons and Explosive Weapons have a Spray Range of 5 meters. Every target inside the Acid Spray Range must make a Reaction Speed check. Failure indicates they have taken Acid Damage. If the Character succeeds, he or she has reacted fast enough to avoid the spray of Acid Blood.

An Alien hit by a Flame Unit (such as a flame thrower or incendiary grenade) or a Beam Weapon does not Spray Acid, at all; the Acid is consumed by the fire and the heat from a beam weapon instantly cauterizes wounds, so there is no Acid Spray.

Acid Damage

When an Acid Spray from a Warrior, Sentry or Queen Alien hits a Character or a significant piece of equipment, the following rules are used to determine the damage done.

If the Spray is caused by a normal, small-arm weapon (pistols, rifles, and so forth) the victim takes 5-50 damage. Just roll a 1d10 and multiply the result, by 5. If the Spray is from a larger, heavy weapon, including machine guns and all Explosive Weapons, the damage is 30-300, rolling 1d10 and multiplying by 30.

The Acid Spray from a Facehugger does ¼ the normal damage and the maximum Spray Range is 2 meters, regardless of the weapon type.

When equipment is hit by an Acid Spray, roll damage normally. Use that damage roll as the percentage chance for equipment failure. If the roll is greater than the damaged rolled, the equipment still functions. If the roll is less than the damaged rolled, the equipment has been damaged and is unusable.

Inertia screens and skeinsuits reduce Acid Damage by half and by 1/4 if both are used, but if the equipment damage roll fails, the items are still useless. Combat Armor will also reduce Acid Damage by half, but is always worthless afterwards.

Alien Queen
Type	Larbe Xenomorph
Number	1 per hive
Move	Medium (60m/turn)
IM/RS	+5/50
Stamina	100 plus 20 per stage after Two (100-280)
Attack	65
Damage	Special- listed under Aliens in Combat
Special Attack	Acid Spray, Trample, Paralysis
Special Defense	Immune to Needlers, Acid blood.
Native World	Unknown

Alien Facehugger
Type	Small Xenomorph
Number	1 per egg
Move	Medium (60m/turn)
IM/RS	+6/60
Stamina	25
Attack	65
Damage	Special- listed under Aliens in Combat
Special Attack	Acid Spray, Paralysis
Special Defense	Immune to Needlers, Acid blood.
Native World	Unknown

Alien Warrior
Type	Medium Xenomorph
Number	20-200 per hive
Move	Medium (60m/turn)
IM/RS	+6/55
Stamina	70
Attack	75
Damage	3d10 claw, 2d10 bite, 4d10 tail
Special Attack	Acid Spray, Paralysis
Special Defense	Immune to Needlers, Acid blood.
Native World	Unknown