PDA

View Full Version : How Do You Introduce The Covenant From Halo?



Leliel
2007-10-10, 04:30 PM
Exactly as the title says.

How does one give the "opening scene" of what is probably the best "Alliance of Alien Races Who (For the Most Part) Hate Humans" in a High Fantasy world?

Of course there is foreshadowing: A Red Dragon mysteriously turns up dead, with burns too precise for a normal breath weapon and his horde left behind, an ogre who seems a bit smart for his non-Magus kind (actually a Brute painted green), a strange figure in the distance...You always need that.

And of course if they are invading, they're going to pick up on the locale's tricks (One of the ways I can easily see their introduction is the PCs corner a BBEG only to discover he's actually an Elite scout with levels in wizard; That doesn't mean I know how to properly do the "cutscene" where he rips off his mask and puts on his real "ominous armor", or what happens when the PCs defeat him only to discover he has already transmitted his report).

And finally, what is the reason that they would come to the world (Other then "Humans (and their variants)! KILL THEM!!!!!!!" They have enough of those in the UNSC)? Forerunner tech, maybe?

Let the weird-as-hell crossover begin!

continuumc
2007-10-10, 05:05 PM
Hmm, while I think this idea is interesting enough that it could be fun, and I hate to be negative about it; it really does not make any sense.

The covenant are pretty obvious about their distaste for humans and their willingness to utterly destroy them. Therefore, 1. I don't see them adopting and using anything from the humans {and likely not many of the other races either} A. Because they hate them and B. because they don't have to.

2. They could easily destroy the populations from orbit, so why would they invade? Even if they wanted the planet, they could still bombard it and then invade once the majority of resistance was destroyed.

Now, i'm not going to leave on this utterly negative note, however. There are two things that I see as necessary in order to make this theme possible. 1. the planet has a large population with several strongly organized governments. (Reason: That's the only thing that I can think of the keep the covenant from simply invading en-masse.) 2. The planet has some sort of magical force in effect that causes technology on or nearby (orbiting) to fail. This could be interesting as the covenent would be forced to use means other than their technology to fight the inhabitants. Also, It might cause one or two covenant ships to fail and fall into the planet. Definitely an ominous sign! 3. There is something on the planet that the covenant want. (Otherwise they could just launch a large asteroid into the planet and destroy everything.)

I think that if these things were held in mind, it could have some interesting consequences. For instance, not all covenent tech would fail. The bruteshot for example appears to be mostly mechanical in nature and thus, would likely work. The needler and spiker might work as well. The needler is more doubtful, however. Also, the covenant could likely adapt some weapons that would work, creating weaker versions of plasma grenades and such that might work. Shields would be out of the question, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't have highly advanced armor: think, really light dwarven plate? Damage reduction and half the armor check penalty, perhaps some elemental resistance as well. These sorts of effects aren't necessarily technological, but have more to do with the material that the armor is constructed out of.

....
2007-10-10, 05:30 PM
I doubt any D&D world could stand up to the Covenant wanting to destroy it.

Although seeing how Gods reacted to being hit with plasma missiles would be funny.

Shas aia Toriia
2007-10-10, 05:37 PM
If covenant invaded, humans would be too scared to fight back. But I like that gods suggestion!

Stormcrow
2007-10-10, 06:28 PM
They are pretty close to the Githyanki in a lot of ways?

Nerd-o-rama
2007-10-10, 06:46 PM
The question is not "how?", but "why?". And I fail to see what's special about the Covenant, or Halo's storyline in general, that makes so many people want to adapt it, particularly, to D&D. I mean, they'd make cool monsters/NPCs, I suppose, but why is Halo so popular beyond technical "it's a good FPS" reasons?

Jarlax
2007-10-10, 07:00 PM
for why they want to come, same reason as the Halo expanded universe explains it. the Covenant are a religious group first and a military force second, they have come to convert the heretics of this world.

in the halo universe this almost immediately resulted in combat because human space explorers had been uncovering and researching forerunner artifacts, these were considered acts of unforgivable heracy by the covenant which lead to open war with the USNC.

Belteshazzar
2007-10-10, 07:08 PM
Depends on how you want to use them. Will they be undergoing any retooling to fit the world at all or is this simply a Halo 3 inspire "and then aliens invade and kick your ass." If you are going to retool them and integrate them as a sort of Mirror Universe Covenant then this may actually work surprisingly. You may want to carefully research some of the covenant tech and decide how powerful you want them to be. This is a basic overview of them without most technology.

For a point of reference the standard Grunt is roundabouts 5 foot tall with a superhuman memory and a good strength score. They can be exposed to anything once and remember it perfectly. To make this worse they reproduce like mad. Their weakness in this case would be their reliance on a suit to breath their methane/ammonia mixture and supercool their bodies.

Elites themselves are 9 freaking feet tall man! They don't need power armor to dominate the battlefield. Their blades are even scarier, nothing short of a powerful energy field(or force effect) can stop their cutting power. Granted it won't light you on fire or melt you like a light saber and only the edge will actually cut, but when you are using steel and iron weapons and armor blocking is not an option.

Jackals have superhuman senses and are surprisingly tough (try sniping these guys to death with a carbine without resorting to headshots on Legendary) they are cowards however and rather mercenary at that.

Lets not even discuss how unfunny it would be to fight a Hunter. They are a communal creature (immune to death effects) with excellent communication skills,regeneration, strength, and the worse thing is they always come in pairs. They can bind into other armors to make different types of bodies but even a single standard battle armor would wreak havock.

Oh and the Prophets are powerful psionics.

F.L.
2007-10-10, 07:20 PM
Hello Elminster, this is my good friend Covenant. Covenant, this is Elminster.

That's how you introduce The Covenant. As for adding them to a campaign, your guess is as good as mine. Good luck.

Charles Phipps
2007-10-10, 07:30 PM
The question is not "how?", but "why?". And I fail to see what's special about the Covenant, or Halo's storyline in general, that makes so many people want to adapt it, particularly, to D&D. I mean, they'd make cool monsters/NPCs, I suppose, but why is Halo so popular beyond technical "it's a good FPS" reasons?

It's pretty much a classic tale of "Your guy is all that stands between us and oblivion." The Covenant are the Creatures from Aliens mixed with a half-dozen other baddies plus Religious fanatics. They're irredeemable relentless warriors and will destroy Earth utterly unless you get them first.

Fantasy Halo

The Covenant is ruled by three Illithid Prophets whom seek to awaken the Ancient Weapons of the Celestials (Human Arch-wizards who once dominated the campaign world). They command a vast army of humanoids with culture that sincerely worship the creed of the Illithids despite it being just technology worship.

Leliel
2007-10-10, 07:36 PM
for why they want to come, same reason as the Halo expanded universe explains it. the Covenant are a religious group first and a military force second, they have come to convert the heretics of this world.

in the halo universe this almost immediately resulted in combat because human space explorers had been uncovering and researching forerunner artifacts, these were considered acts of unforgivable heracy by the covenant which lead to open war with the USNC.

Actually, in Halo 3, Truth explains that:


That humanity was favored by the Forerunners, and the Prophets are jealous of that fact. The Elites were kicked out becuse they had begun to wonder why the hell humans were not asked to join the Covenant.


Just a correction. Keep those ideas comin'.

DraPrime
2007-10-10, 07:42 PM
Have huge ships descend from the sky. Let them say some ominous message like "Convert or die." They'll hover over the skies, terrifying people below. Once they get a reply (probably something like "screw you! We aren't surrendering!") then they begin the annihilation. It works in sci-fi movies, and it can work for you.