Be massive avp fan

>be massive avp fan
>want to put xenomorphs, predators and assorted Halo and Mass Effect ayes in a campaign as a potential player races

How could I pull off a system like this without it being a steaming pile of shite?

>xenomorphs as a player race

Absolutely not. The rest is fine if your players are willing to be a little fan fictiony and you make the appropriate technological changes.

>How could I pull off a system like this without it being a steaming pile of shite?

By doing a good job :)

Look, you either have to find a plausible narrative which supports combining the elements you want to use, so that their combination doesn't throw people off. Or you have to make the setting so over the top and fun that people ignore the way it's elements don;t really fit together simply because it's entertaining.

Basically you have to write it up really well, or rely entirely on Rule of Cool.

they already covered this in the comics.
Synths designed to look like aliens.

This. Xenomorphs are not player characters, they're "rocks fall everyone dies" in sci-fi settings.

Might as well throw up some ideas for this campaign

Of course it's set in on a galaxy wide scale, involving different locales on different planets. However, the alignment system is on a totally different vain. Lawful to chaotic is still there, but instead of good and evil, you align to one of four factions, Alliance, Covenant, Elder and Independent:
>Alliance are the core group, with mostly ME races with a sprinkle of humans. These are the main dudes you'd go for if you want a "good guy" character
>Covenant are a religious military group who uphold a strict code of hierarchy and honour. While most are human haters it wouldn't be uncommon for them to work with smaller groups (ie the players)
>Elders are a predator led network who seek power through planet conquering, and is composed of most of the galaxy's "asshole groups" seeking to overthrow the two core groups
>Independent consist of races that don't conform to these three (see Quarians or Xenomorphs), or individual rogues that do. This would be the group that the players likely would start with if they want to be on each other's good (or potentially bad) side

Other than those big changes it's most likely a d20 system with custom races and classes to suit the setting, and a story to boot

>How can fan-fic not be a steaming pile of shite?
It can't.

You can pick one franchise and theoretically turn it into a decent table-top. Because then it's a translation into a new medium, instead of fan-fic. Writing your own setting that combines franchises? Well, it can either be a fighting video game, a racing video game, or fucking garbage.

Pretty easy. Every time a xeno takes melee damage, roll to see if the opponent gets damaged too.

Whatever man

A lot of the races could be put into 3 basic categories; Social, Warrior and Intellectual.

>Social races use charm and people skills to make a name for themselves and get into the good books of others, or help escape sticky situations. Most social races end up being the core leaders of their groups. Most would use their wit, charm, political intrigue and sometimes pure shit talking to climb the social ladder. Expect Charisma/Wisdom bonuses

>Warrior races are, as the title suggests, species who's core values are forged in combat, and whether is based around honour, pride or pure blood fuelled instinct depends on the species. They make the muscle and military might of most groups. Expect Strength/Constitution bonuses

>Intellectual races are the backbone of most groups' technological prowess. Their advancements in travel, medicine and weaponry means they are normally the ones providing the tools for other races to advance under their influence. Some races mix well in their factions, while independent species stick to their own groups and advance on their own. Expect Intelligence/Dexterity(AC) bonuses

Of course there are mix and matches with other species, and some don't fall into these categories, but it provides a base line for how the character might be seen in certain situations, and how they might handle them

Then you've got your classes. Seeing as this is pretty far from a medieval setting a better base line would be a system like Shadowrun, with additional melee combat mechanics. A player can invest in a few different kinds of combat:

>close range fighters, who either use brute force or cunning tactics to close the gap and either beat the opponent with a sharp/heavy object or blast them with a short range shotgun (here's were rogues and barbarians live)

>back liners, who prefer to stay out of slapping distance to perform medical operations on wounded allies or utilise long range weapons to pick apart enemies who don't know to keep their head down (clerics and wizards say hi)

>battle carries, for classes that either pump out consistent fire from automatic weaponry, or bend the rules of battle in the party's favour with biotics or deployed tech (warlocks and druids enjoy this spot)

With this in mind combat consists of trying to pump out as much damage as possible while preventing or minimising the damage that comes back through (as is probably to be expected)

Don't make the Predators have planetary conquest as a goal. I think that detracts from them.
They're hunters, wanderers, and independent mercenaries. They seldom have much in terms of political goals, and tend to contact other races as individuals.
I can see portraying them in one of two ways:
>They're the remnants of a fallen empire, degenerate barbarians whose culture is based solely around bloody ritual and the accumulation of honor in combat. They wander as small, independent bands and aren't significant on the galactic scale.
Or!
>The Predators are so massively technologically dominant that war against them would be fundamentally futile. Fortunately for the galaxy, they no longer have an interest in conquest. Living lives of ease due to their technological prowess, they maintain their cultural strength and sense of identity by engaging in brutal hunts and wandering the galaxy as individuals, assuring that the galaxy doesn't forget their prowess while also keeping themselves from falling to decadence.

Personally, I like the second one better. It allows them to be assholes, but ones who nobody can really wipe out either. They don't consider killing a member of their species to be particularly offensive, as death gives their customs meaning, and they have a profound respect for anyone who has bested a Predator in combat.

I'll echo others in the thread and say no Xenomorph pcs. Synths that look like xenomorphs are fine. Maybe weird experimental hybrids or weird cyborgs, but really they should be npcs.
Anyways, a lot of this could slot together pretty easily.
Mass Effect's citadel races are all friends. The Spartans are a human military experiment, from just before contact. They're considered to be outdated now, but some of the aging survivors continue to serve in the military.
The Covenant are anti-citadel faction, they probably have the Batarians and some of the Krogan as client races.
The Preds are independent.

So with this in mind we could start to make a character off of this, so let's have an example.

A player wants to be a smooth talking Elite who prefers to snipe his problems away. Given that Elites are warriors first, tech designers second, it's safe to assume he'd get a decent bonus to his Strength and Dex skills. However, when statting someone who wants to be the face, as well as hang back and fire from a distance, it's probably better to dump stats like so:
Str 11(+2)
Dex 17(+1)
Con 8
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 14

This gives us a guy who has a good chance of landing shots and sweet talking others, but one who wouldn't want to get hit or want someone getting too close

Again, I'd like to stress these are all ideas I'm just throwing up here. I appreciate feedback and this sounds pretty good for how to portray a predator superpower

Bitch please. Xenomorphs are a mid level encounter at best. A squad of grunts can take down a hive. It's just civilian that don't know what they're dealing with that get screwed over.

>consensus is no xenos for PCs
As much as I'd love to see it/play it I'd probably stick with the popular opinion here. It's niche at best and at worst it could make someone throw a fit, or attract a That Guy who wants to murder the party

Still, the idea of a synth aye does sound promising. Perhaps I'd have them as a playable "race" instead, whose appearance can be modified to suit the player fantasy, within reason of course

Even then, dropping one still gives me a ton of options for player races:

>Turian
>Elite
>Brute
>Krogan
>Jackal
>Asari
>Quarian
>Salarian
>Synthetic
>Predator
>Human (duh)
>Batarian
>Drone
>Vorcha
>Grunt

And that's just considering who can squeeze through a doorway, and disregarding any homebrew races that people might suggest

So, what's the over-arching plot of this setting? War between the Alliance and the Covenant? Are Reapers a factor? Or the Halos themselves? I actually think this concept could be a lot of fun.

>Synths designed to look like aliens.
Ok, this i can see working...

Well the overarching idea would be something like this:

>Party starts off most likely as a group of mercenaries going from job to job
>eventually the galaxy discovers what a halo does
>superpowers start flinging shit at each other
>covenant wants to light them, alliance wants to stop them
>party gets tasked with shutting down the arrays in an effort to broker peace (probably run into the flood along the way on a few stations)
>eventually both big sides give up after almost destroying each other and most of the halos are either destroyed or deactivated
>reapers come out of hiding now when everyone is on their knees and at their weakest
>party: fug, we gotta stop this
>(attempt to) form a new superpower of as many groups as possible
>fight the new BBEGs before they kill everyone
>end with either galactic annihilation or the party being heralded as the heroes of everything
>pick up as many space bitches as possible along the whole way

instead, make horror one shots versus xenomorphs
make action one shots versus predators

Ok, basics of plot and PC creation down, how would ships work? You gotta bear in mind the player ship is basically a point where the party can rest and travel at the same time, but be prepared for space combat with. Any tips on how to make that work? Ship classes, Combat system ect?

What happened if the flood infects a xenomorph?

It probably burns in acid or turns into Geiger's wet dream

Now, what if the reapers indoctrinated a xenomorph?

Fuck, this joke is so outdated. Who even has a plumbing like that?

>burst forth thru its chest
>thru its chest
>thru