The Star Wars: Role Playing Game rules and game supplements are published by West End Games. This page is dedicated to my self-written adventures and conversion of outside source materials. Enjoy.
Appearance: Predators are tall, apparently mammalian humanoids with short tusks and multi-toothed mandibles. They often wear combat masks and little or no armor, but what they do wear will always be in subdued, natural tones to decrease visibility. They commonly wear their sparse hair in neck-length dreadlocks. Their large hands do have short claws, but these are largely useless in combat. For more on appearance, see the Predator movies.
Biology: The Predators' home planet is unknown, but it is known that they can breathe in human-friendly atmospheres and appear to be omnivorous.
Behavior and Organization: Predators hunting big game often travel alone, but those hunting social animals (such as Humans or Aliens) usually travel in groups of five to fifteen. Upon landing in the hunting ground, the Predator will engage his camo cloak and survey the area, stalking and analyzing his prey. The Predator will attack only when he judges the time to be optimal or if he is forced to, in which case he will use all weapons available to him (including the plasma cannon). If he chooses the time of the attack, he will sneak up on the prey and attack with melee weapons, using ranged attacks only when outnumbered or in desperation. Assuming the Predator wins, his subsequent actions will depend on the situation. If he is in no danger of retaliation, he will skin and decapitate his prey, taking both back to his ship to clean and display. If he must beat a hasty retreat, he will simply claim the skull and leave. When a Predator is dying, or when he judges his situation to be hopeless, he will activate his wrist computer's self destruct sequence. The standard setting is for seven seconds, but the timer can be easily set to any duration. The resulting blast is extremely powerful, and may devestate the surrounding area for half a kilometer or more, depending on terrain. When travelling in a group, the mortally wounded Predator will either commit suicide or set his timer to give his hunt-mates enough time to get clear of the blast.
Technology Level: The Predators posess technology far beyond Imperial levels, but they combine it with relativly primitive melee weapons for a disturbingly effective arsenal.
Predators in the Galaxy: Predators will almost always be encountered when they are engaged in a hunt. If the characters are not the prey, they will probably have little or no contact with the Predators themselves, but merely find the grizzly remains of their prey.
Special Abilities:
Infravision: Predators can see only in the infrared spectrum, though their combat masks allow them access to all other spectra.
The Hunt: If, during the course of an adventure, the Predator captures any trophies, he should recieve an extra 1-5 character points, depending on the difficulty in obtaining that trophy.
Gamemaster Notes: It is suggested that players not be permitted to play Predator characters. If the players truly want to try playing this species, they should all play Predators, or else have a very good reason why their human (or Wookie, or Droid) character travels with this-- unusual company.
Personality Notes: Predators are opportunistic hunters. If they are out hunting Rancors and run into a Human party, the Humans are considered potential prey. This does not mean that the Predators will attack on sight; they may also see the Humans as potential allies, or at least as a bit more than they can handle at present. In certain, very rare instances, a non-Predator may be invited to join a hunt-in-progress, or even to permanently join a hunting party. This only happens when the non-Predator demonstrates extraordinary skill and courage.
Suggested Skills: Predators will take mostly melee, thrown weapon, and hand-to-hand combat skills, though most also take some blaster and missile weapons skills. They will always have hunt-oriented skills such as search and hide/sneak.
Telumnite: Telumnite is an incredibly hard but surprisingly light metal used by the Predators to make armor and edged weapons. It is unknown to the Empire, and even the most sophisticated scanning equipment cannot break down it's chemical structure. Any armor gets a -1D penalty to resist telumnite weapons.
Hunt ships vary as much as the Predators themselves, but some constants exist. Hunt ships use little or no shielding, instead using thin telumnite hulls and cloaking devices to protect themselves; this arrangement also makes for a very light ship, granting excellent speed and maneuverability bonuses. Predators typically arm their ships very lightly, preferring to stalk their quarry until it makes a planetary landing. The hunt ships carry cloaking devices which are essentially scaled-up versions of the Predators' camo cloaks, though they are much more effective. A cloaked ship can be detected only with a sensor focus, and then at +2 difficulty levels. Finally, Predator ships carry sensor packages capable of following hyperspace "tracks" left by starships. One-day-old "tracks" can be followed with a very easy sensors roll. The difficulty increases by one level per day, to a maximum of six days before the "tracks" fade. A successful roll reveals the direction and speed travel. These "tracks" can be monitored while at hyperspeed, and the hunt ship can drop out of hyperspace at will.
Typical Hunt Ship:
Scale: Starfighter
Skill: Space transports: Hunt Ships
Crew: 1
Cargo Capacity: 20 metric tons
Consumables: 18 months
(The hunt ship can fully recharge its systems given five days of close orbital exposure to any medium-sized star. During this time, it must systems use to a minimum)
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x3/4
Nav Computer: Yes
Maneuverability: 2D
Space Speed: 10
Atmosphere Speed: 480; 800kmh
Hull:6D
Weapons:
Aliens, or "Xenomorphs," are a species of large insectoid parasites. The addition of Aliens into any campaign will automatically transform that adventure into a horror story; the goal will usually be to prevent them from escaping a planet and spreading into the Galaxy at large. Please note that most victims suffer some short-term amnesia, and the host will often have no idea that he is a host. A character sent out alone may be found unconscious, knowing only that he is very hungry. The Player should not be told that his character has been attacked, but any infected PCs should be given clues of their situation before killing them off. Obviously, the Aliens are an insidious threat, and the PCs will soon begin suspecting any fatigued allies of being hosts. The GM should play up this feeling of uncertainty, having healthy characters act very tired and hungry (as such horror-movie circumstances would do to any human), and having at least one chestburster pop out unexpectedly.
Appearance and Biology: The Xenomorph Aliens have an extraordinary life cycle based on asexual parasitic reproduction. The cycle begins with a standing ovular egg, usually about three feet long, secured to the floor or wall of an egg-chamber. After 1-3 days in the egg, a facehugger, the first stage in the cycle, fully devolops inside the leathery egg. If a large mammal or reptile (from dog-sized to Wampa sized) is within two meters, the eight legged hand-shaped Alien will launch itself at the creature's face. If no suitable targets are within range, the facehugger can remain dormant for several years before leaving the egg. When a suitable host is located, the facehugger will leap toward its head, taking hold with its "fingers" and wrapping its tail around the victim's neck (attempting to strangle it into submission). The facehugger then uses powerful muscles to force the victim's mouth open, and forces an embryonic Alien down its throat with a thin, tube-like mouthpart. At this stage, removing the facehugger kills the host, as the parasite will vomit molecular acid into the host's throat. Twenty-four hours after hatching, the facehugger will find an inconspicuous place to shrivel up and die.
Over the next 1-6 days the fetal Alien will grow inside the host, combining the host's genetic code with its own. The host, usually amnesiac, may recall nothing of the attack ad go about its usual business feeling extremely hungry and dehydrated. Upon reaching sufficient size, the juvenile Alien will burst out of the chest cavity, almost certainly killing the host. At this stage, the immature Alien will find a secure hiding place and seek mostly safe food until it grows to full size.
About one in five hundred Aliens is a Queen, the others are all Warriors. The Queen will take up residence in the nest's egg chamber, maintaining 50-75 eggs at a time, while the warriors defend the nest and bring captive animals back to the Queen as food and hosts. The warriors also remove dead hosts and spent eggs from the egg-chamber so that they can be replaced. Alien nests are built from a resin secreted by adult Aliens. This material is also used to restrain captive hosts. The resin holds with a strength of 6D, but the Aliens have no qualms about breaking or severing the limbs of hosts who try to break free.
Temperament: Aliens are ruthless, semiintelligent killing machines. Although capable of analytic thought and problem solving, they demonstrate no mercy or compassion. They hunt in groups of all sizes and will eagerly sacrifice themselves to defend the Queen. When a second Queen is born, she sets off with several Warriors to establish another nest.
Technology Level: The Aliens do not use tools, but can figure out how to use simple tools and control panels given enough time.
Aiens in the Galaxy: Aliens are typically spread when they stow away in starships (or in crew members). Aliens sometimes extend their gestation period by several days when inhabiting a highly mobile host.
Gamemaster Notes: Under no circumstances should players be permitted to play Alien characters.
Genetic Adaptability: Aliens take on the major physical traits of their hosts, and some adjustments to the Game Stats and Special Abilities may be necessary to reflect this. For instance, an Alien hatched from a Wookiee would be slightly stronger, (+2 STR), a better climber (+2 climbing/jumping), and more apelike than the generic "human" Alien shown below. If a Queen hatches from a Wookiee, all of her offspring would have this advantage as well. These modifications are cumulative up to the host species' maximum (i.e. the third generation of Aliens bred on Kashyyyk would have +2D STR and climbing/jumping)
Aliens do not suffer from preying on "inferior" hosts (e.g. Aliens hatched from Ewoks would get cuter, but not weaker)
Warrior Alien:
DEX: 4D
dodge: 5D
KNO: 0D+1
MECH: 1D
PER: 4D
hide: 5D
sneak: 5D
search: 5D
STR: 4D
brawl: 6D
climbing/jumping: 7D
TECH: 0D+1
Move: 15
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+1D damage
Tail: STR+1D+2 damage
Teeth: STR+2D damage
Acid Blood: Any extensive contact (GM discretion) with Alien blood results in 4D damage per turn unless the acid is removed.
Regeneration: If allowed to rest, an Alien will regenerate one wound level per hour.
Alien Queen:
DEX: 5D
dodge: 6D
KNO: 1D
MECH: 1D+1
PER: 5D
search: 7D
STR: 6D
brawl: 8D
climbing/jumping: 8D
TECH: 1D
egg chamber engineering: 5D
Move: 1
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+1D damage
Tail: STR+1D+2 damage
Teeth: STR+2D damage
Armored Carapace: The Queen's exoskeleton provides her with +1D protection against all attacks.
Multi limbed: The Queen can perform two actions in a round with no penalty.
Acid Blood: Extended contact with the Queen's blood results in 4D damage per turn unless the acid is removed.
Regeneration: If allowed to rest, the Queen will heal one wound level per hour.
The Queen has an enlarged abdominal section used to lay eggs. She is largely immobile, but can detach this part of her body at will, raising her movement to 17 and making her an extraordinarily dangerous (and nearly unstoppable) killing machine.
If you have any Predator images, please mail me.
