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View Full Version : Making an Alien Invasion Sympathetic (Idea)



Leliel
2007-10-14, 02:26 PM
Of course, you read the title, so without further ado...

How would you, the responders, make an interplanetary enemy sent to take control of the planet and away from (demi)human hands seem somewhat well...human?

I ask because, frankly, I like the whole "alien invasion by a far more advanced species" idea, but I also like anti-villains (they facilitate emotional reactions). So I thought, "Why don't I combine the two?"

One way I was thinking is that the "invaders" are have actually been fighting a very, very long-lasting war against another alien race, and it just so happens that the campaign world is a prime location to launch an assault from. They really don't like the taking over of an inhabited planet anymore than the inhabitants do, but they have to in order to buy just a little more time for their kind. In fact, I composed a speech for a general of a race that illustrates this point of view, just before the start of the invasion:

Take a look at this tiny planet.

So small. So beautiful. So fragile...

Just innocently floating through the void, happily unaware of the unending destruction that rages just beyond it's system...

Our world was like this. After five mass extinctions, the sky was uncared. After the many pointless wars of the countless feuding nations of our ancestors, the soil was not tainted. After the First Industrial Revolution pumped then-unheard of levels of chemicals into the atmosphere, the ocean remained pure. Even after that last, terrible Great War, in which nuclear weapons were used to bloody efficiency, the planets overall beauty was undiminished by clouds of ash. And it gave us hope. Hope of a future without needless destruction, of a future without the blood that countless generations had sowed before us, of a future were war was a distant memory...

Our hope...was unfounded.

For unbeknownest to us, another race had gone into the stars long before us. A race, that had long had learned how to cross the boundary between dimensions. A race, who had no word, let alone concept, of peace. We found them waiting for us...They, who call themselves the Iul. (OOC: Thats my name for the, uh, "long-fought enemy" I pointed out in this concept. Just in case you didn't notice.)

The Iul came upon us like a dark tide, sparing no quarter their mercy. Many civilians were killed by their ruthless warriors, and many more by their even more ruthless servants. Some joined them simply to survive, and to this day, I wonder if they were right. By creating the Dimensional Skimmer, we thought that we might be able to find a home free of the threat of the various Iul empires, only to discover that they were in many a universe besides our own. And so, the war between us continued, with both sides gaining powers through both technology and magic to rival that of gods...

Is our world still that beautiful? Is it even there anymore? We have had many eons since we all left our world to hide from the Iul, and time is not always consistent between universes...But still, this planet looks a lot like it. Right down to the wars that constantly rage on it's surface, never leaving more than a passing mark...

But it has one fatal flaw. One flaw that it can never escape: It sits on the border line between this universe and another that, if struck, would prevent the Iul from ever attacking this dimension again, and finally finding a safe home for my clan and I. And, from what I have seen, the natives would not allow us to turn their world into a battlefield of their own free will. And while that is understandable, I have no other choice.

Take a long look at this, tiny, beautiful planet.

When our war is done, this veiw...will be forever gone.

OK, I've got the "aliens thrust into a neverending" war down pat.

The trouble is, I have no idea how to make the Iul (pronounced "OO-ul" in case you're wondering), an otherwise stereotypical "Evil Empire(s)" a sympathetic race as well. Although I can say they became spacebound because they realized that their hyper-expressionistic tendencies were going to destroy their planet, and that they learned to cross dimensions because their galaxy wasn't faring much better, I don't know how to make any changes in their demeanor and personality to make them seem genuinely regretful of/good justifications for their actions. I did note that they recruit servants from other races, so maybe I should make sure that the Iul treat them as equals. And after all their enemies (I'm not going to reveal their names, just in case this becomes a full-fledged campaign) are the ones who invaded, not the Iul.

And about the whole "Multiple Empires" thing...My theory is that any race capable of traveling across multiple dimensions would become so widespread that they would naturally form into a tribe based society. Less roots, you understand.

3...2...1....INNOVATE!

martyboy74
2007-10-14, 03:22 PM
If the aliens have that much power, couldn't they just move/copy earth?

Mewtarthio
2007-10-14, 03:56 PM
If the aliens have that much power, couldn't they just move/copy earth?

I dunno... why didn't Cortez simply move South America to Spain?

Also, they need to take over the world because Earth itself is apparently located at a critical interplanar chokepoint.

-----

As for the Iul, would it work story-wise for them to be primarily feudalistic in nature? Rather than all the Iul being a single Evil Empire, you've got lots of little vassals under the service of bigger lords. Each vassal fights to increase personal power, and each lord orders his vassals to fight to increase his personal power. In this manner, every Iul is forced into battle because, otherwise, they run the risk of losing power relative to everyone else. If the vassal-lord system is relatively loose in nature (more like employee-employer, if you will), failure to consistently conquer means they get cut from the system, then conquered in turn by their neighbors. The Iul as a whole are still evil monsters, but the Iul individuals are just fighting to survive.

Leliel
2007-10-14, 03:56 PM
EDIT: Didn't notice the second part, sorry.

kpenguin
2007-10-14, 04:07 PM
How about the aliens see a beautiful world, full of diversity and life, being slowly destroyed by humans and want to preserve it. Tree hugging alien invaders, go figure.

ocato
2007-10-14, 04:09 PM
or say that because of some sort of interstellar phenominon, earth is somehow shielded or protected from some intergalactic plague/scourge/army of flying jerks and the aliens, in their fear based xenophobia, want it to themselves to hide out on.

Charles Phipps
2007-10-14, 04:11 PM
Well if you want to screw with the perceptions, you might well make the Iul turn out to be the victims of bad propaganda. Here's some potential concepts for the Iul.

1. The Iul are a race of celestial super-scientists and reconstructionists. Their design is to rebuild the universe to be a peaceful place of immortal and perfect beings that live in peace with one another but they effectively have to deal with the fact that they're working against evolution here. Thus, they attack with their terrifying and merciless machines that handle all their war for them.

The fact is that if you're willing to be genetically modified into becoming Iul yourselves, we have no problem. It's really much nicer.

2. The Iul are....kinda stupid. They're essentially Mongols in space working from ancient technology their race found and downloaded into their minds. A group of merciless space pirates and warriors, they're not particularly malicious in their looting. It's just the fact that their society operates on conquest and plunder.

PCs might be really disturbed to find out after they kill enough that they're invited to join in the looting.

3. The Iul are (unknowingly) fighting a temporal war. In 20,000 years, the Iul become a largely pacifist and peaceful Empire according to the projections of the RandomGodlikeBeingsTM that control the universe. On the other hand, the Aliens who conquered Earth amongst others don't evolve into anything but remain like ants scurrying across the universe. Thus, the Iul are being encouraged to wipe them out while they're still barbarians in order to make room for them to ascend to a higher status.

mostlyharmful
2007-10-14, 04:31 PM
There's a wonderful story by Arthur C. Clarke called "childhoods end" which the first halve of which sums up exactly what you're looking for. Aliens arrieve at earth and stay and take over without economic and social upheaval. The key is scale, both of the invasion force and the time taken. They arrieve and for a thirty years do not land or invade or anything. They use their technology to create the worlds perfect economy and society, turning all their detractors into ludicrous zealots. After thirty years they show themselves and try not to overwhealm the fragile earthlings and they still don't reveal what their real motivations are. The story takes place over a span of decades, not unreasonable given the interstellar, millenia long war being fought across the cosmos.

Somebloke
2007-10-14, 04:38 PM
I vaguely toyed with the idea of a planet Earth being invaded...ten years down the track, the human race has the chance to explore the galaxy and see amazing sights as part of the Galactic legion/colony imperative.

NerfTW
2007-10-14, 04:49 PM
Why would they need to "invade" earth?

If it's an interstellar war, can't they just use the moon as a base, and keep thier ships in orbit? If they need resources, grabbing them from the unihabited planets is a lot easier than waging a land war.

Further, if they just need someplace to set down for a while, the planet isn't completely occupied. They can just say "Hey, we're an advanced race of aliens. We'll give you an energy source if you let us use that desert area over there.".

The key to making them "sympathetic" is having them BE sympathetic. You really can't justify nuking a planet and building miltary bases over the ruined cities, when it's entirely possible to coexist on it.

Anxe
2007-10-14, 05:14 PM
Well for a sympathetic destroyer of worlds there will always be the Silver Surfer.

Leliel
2007-10-14, 07:15 PM
Why would they need to "invade" earth?

If it's an interstellar war, can't they just use the moon as a base, and keep their ships in orbit? If they need resources, grabbing them from the unihabited planets is a lot easier than waging a land war.

Further, if they just need someplace to set down for a while, the planet isn't completely occupied. They can just say "Hey, we're an advanced race of aliens. We'll give you an energy source if you let us use that desert area over there.".

The key to making them "sympathetic" is having them BE sympathetic. You really can't justify nuking a planet and building miltary bases over the ruined cities, when it's entirely possible to coexist on it.

They would, except that this is a frontline base, where battles are going to be raging fairly frequently. Given that these aliens have long since built weapons that far outstrip nuclear bombs in sheer power, if not long-term damage, you can bet there will be overspill onto the planet below. You're not asking for the native help, you're asking them to open themselves up to the very real possibility that they will be annihilated. Asking them to voluntarily let these guys put bases on the planet is more akin to asking a man in the prime of life to play Russian Roulette. You can bet they would say "no". So really, invasion is the only option.

Azerian Kelimon
2007-10-14, 07:57 PM
Two ideas:

Countdown to extinction. The Iul will go down, unless they overload themselves with enough life energy to make them avoid an untimely extinction. After this is over, they plan on bringing the killed people back.

Looking for someone/something lost. A leader lost his/her/it's loved one, and went on a crusade to find him/her/it at any cost. The race followed, maybe because a mass of people were lost. They are thus damned to despair 'till they can find their loved ones again (ooh, extra idea, make them gestaltlike beings, and a part of 'em was stolen. Nice motive).

Another one, have them be similar to the Ur-Quan. Look for 'em.

Nerd-o-rama
2007-10-14, 08:12 PM
Idea:

The alien invaders...are actually humanoids exiled from the planet by a corrupt government, returning for revenge and hiding their identity behind legions of war-constructs...wait, that's the plot of an animé.

As for the more original scenario you've already outlined, why make the Iul good-ish? Why do they need to be involved in the story at all? The campaign only has to deal with your sympathetic guerrilla race.

martyboy74
2007-10-14, 08:15 PM
Nerd-o-Rama's right; the Iul only really need to be a macguffin. Say that the aliens believe that the Iul will discover Earth in 10 years. That's barely enough time to conquer a planet and stabilize it, but long enough that the Iul don't actually need to show up.