4E Iji: Where The Alien Invaders Are Sympathetic Characters

[Leliel]

Anyway, I've just played a nice little downloadable game called Iji, and frankly, the thing as is has "PnP Adaptation" written all over it (Bleak atmosphere? Check. Moral ambiguity? Check. The fear, both realized and fabricated, that you're becoming exactly like the creatures you face? Check. The "creatures" in this case being very human, sympathetic characters who you wish you could have befriended in another life (at least in some cases)? Oh most certainly check).

For those of you who haven't played the game, it takes place after the world has just been invaded by a mysterious race of reptilians, the Tasen-whose evolutionary predcessors, as it turns out, were the very Earthling dinosaurs. By the time the titular character has undergone cybernetic enhancement to fight them, the've effectively turned the planet into their new homeworld (OK, back into their homeworld)-and frankly, humanity isn't included in their house plans. Sounds like a typical "save the world from the evil aliens" plot, right?

Except...as it turns out, the Tasen needed a new planet to call their own. As it turns out, the army that invaded Earth is composed of the last Tasen in the universe, having nearly been annihilated by their genocidal, warlike relatives, the Komato. Thanks to Iji, the Komato find Earth and the final Tasen colony, and as we quickly discover, it would have probably been better to serve the simply indifferent (ie, own welfare above that of alien race they know nothing about) Tasen, as opposed to calling the Komato, who are quite willing-and able-to nuke the entire planet-who they know their ancestors came from-just to kill three Tasen. On top of that, Iji was a civillian before becoming a super-soldier out of nesscity, and the game makes a big deal over the slow breakdown of her psyche-especially since her enhancements give her the ability to communicate with Tasen and Komato, which quickly serves to dispel the happy delusion that they are utterly inhuman.

So, would you adapt this story into a D&D campaign (albiet a somwhat odd one)?

[Kurald Galain]

Probably with something like the Blood War, where the poor good humans get caught between the Lawful Evil Komato and the Chaotic Evil Tasen. Lots of evil aliens around that destroy everything and each other, and little hope for the rest of the world.

[pingcode20]

On the other hand, this is one of those classic situations where everything lines up badly.

If you've read the background info, it isn't quite that the Tasen are Chaotic Evil - basically, what's happened is that while there were probably a number of factions among the last remaining Tasen, their LG leader Hel Sarie was killed only shortly before they ran to Earth, leaving the CE Krotera in charge.

One thing led to another => Apocalypse.

[Kurald Galain]

If you've read the background info, it isn't quite that the Tasen are Chaotic Evil
I've read and played the game. It seems the author has made a half-hearted attempt at instilling sympathy for the antagonists, but it doesn't work at all. Both Tasen and Komato are genocidal planet-destroying maniacs.

[Leliel]

I've read and played the game. It seems the author has made a half-hearted attempt at instilling sympathy for the antagonists, but it doesn't work at all. Both Tasen and Komato are genocidal planet-destroying maniacs.

Ehh...Not for me. The Tansen just seem like people who have been pushed to the deep end and over it.

The fact that one of them literally shoots their leader during a pacifist run rather than break a truce with Iji helps that perception a bit...

Apparently it depends on the person.

[thevorpalbunny]

I'd say the only CE characters in the whole thing are Krotera and Asha, though Iosa is hard to read.
The Komato as a race are clearly LE, but Tor is LN or possibly LG, though he's too weak-willed to do anything but go along with the LE mainstream.

The Tasen have evil tendencies, but I don't think they are, mostly because evil reacts to being bullied by acting in kind whenever it gets the chance. They didn't start the war and tried to end it, and the truce and many comments praising Hel Sarie show that the general Tasen aren't malicious. On the other hand, when given the chance they Alpha Striked a Komato planet; on the n+1th hand, they had gotten most of their planets alpha striked, and it was a military research facility anyway. I'd put them at LN.

Really, this is one of those situations where the alignment system's holes are pretty glaring. How do I classify "Lawful, but driven battle-mad by seeing the world destroyed around you" (Iosa)?

[Fenix_of_Doom]

Ehh...Not for me. The Tansen just seem like people who have been pushed to the deep end and over it.

The fact that one of them literally shoots their leader during a pacifist run rather than break a truce with Iji helps that perception a bit...

Apparently it depends on the person.

Personally I found the changes from v1.2 to v1.3 to gain a 0 kill score a bit contrived(Iosas death is even worse). Velitka(whatever) is clearly the exception on the rule as far as Tasen go, just as you could argue general Thor is for the Kamato. It is unclear how the war escalated but it is clear that Komato are sadistic and don't really regard things as Tasen and humans as anything higher than animals, which by comparison makes the Tasen look better.