Idea Farm: Alien: the Taken [NWoD]

[Admiral Squish]

Hey, everybody! Me again, but this time I'm gonna take a step to the left from my usual work. I'm working on a project in the NWoD system. My brother actually came up with the idea, and I just got into the idea recently. The basic idea is to create a splat book based on the modern myths, the legends of the modern world. Aliens. Specifically, tales of UFOs and abductions. I've been doing a lot of research lately and it's all very interesting stuff.

Now, we've got a lot of good ideas, but nothing really concrete. Which is the perfect time to pitch it to you fine folks! We want to harvest as many ideas as we can, for as brilliant as we may be, we simply cannot come up with the sheer breadth of ideas we could get from all these minds working together. And while I normally would prefer to wait until we have more complete to post it, I think this is the best time to get new ideas, since the rule's aren't crystallized just yet and new ideas won't require us to rework the entire system.

Now, I'd like to be clear. This isn't the game itself. The more-finished product will be posted later, once we DO have more rules, in a much nicer thread with formatting and graphics and so on and so forth. This is intended to be much more casual. Group brainstorming, and discussion.

So, without further ado, here's some of the stuff we DO have:

Premise:

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Aliens are real, and they want to preform twisted experiments on you. Simply put, that's how it works. But this is the tip of the iceberg. It's estimated that approximately 5% of the population has been abducted by aliens at some point, though most never remember the experience, or replace the experience with a memory screen, or even think it was a dream. But these vast majority of these abductions are exploratory, the aliens testing if subjects will be usable in their REAL experiments. You play as an abductee who has subject to the true experiments, your mind and body altered forever by the experience.

Abductors:

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Through a great deal of research, we've narrowed the list of abductor aliens to four categories of offenders.

The first abductor species is the grays. These are the ones who do the most abducting, but they're also the most recent arrivals to the earth theater of operations, only making an appearance a few hundred years ago. They are your typical alien, gray skin, large head, featureless black eyes, with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. They kidnap humans and subject them to a wide variety of medical tests and mental probing. There are a few theories about why they do this. Some say they're trying to uncover the source of our emotion and individuality, which they lost long ago to cloning and their telepathic hive-mind. Others say that their cloning processes are beginning to break down, that they 'seeded' man with their DNA and they've come to refresh their supply. Some say they're actually benevolent, intending to bring about the next step of human evolution, though their methods are somewhat unsavory. Grays perform tech and psi experiments

Reptilians are possibly the most aggressively unpleasant abductors, and they've been dealing earth the longest, since prehistoric times. They actually have terrestrial bases deep underground, near the molten mantle of the earth. They are a predatory species of reptile-analogues from Draco. They are extremely strong and resilient, and they have a special taste for warm-blooded flesh. Cattle mutilations and mysterious human disappearances are their calling cards. Reptilians are much more advanced technologically than humans, but somewhat less so than other abductors. What technology they do have is usually aimed to make them stronger, faster, and more dangerous. Reptilian abductors seem to take great pleasure in the mental and physical anguish their abductions and tests cause on humans. They are even known to rape abductees once their business with them is finished. They perfrom org and tech experiments.

Nordics are considered by most to be the most benevolent abductors, but the truth is not so simple. The nordics take the form of very large and beautiful human males, about 7 feet tall, usually with light hair and eyes. Contact with them is usually quite pleasant, with abductees reporting a deep feeling of love and joy while in the presence of these otherworldly beings. Most of those into the truth of them, however, believe that the form that we see is a mental projection designed to be as pleasant and authoritative as possible. They believe that the Nordics want to rule us, but they don’t want just to rule, they want to be loved, worshiped. Some believe that the Nordics are the true identity of the beings identified as ’angels’ in biblical texts. Nordics perform Psi and Bio experiments.

‘Exotic’ is a catch all category to refer to a good number of other races with a smaller presence on earth, though each is no less dangerous or powerful than the others. A few examples include myconids, a semi-sentient fungal infection, robotics, a purely mechanical intelligence, and ‘lovecrafts*‘, beings which most closely resemble the great old ones from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. They all have different reasons for being on earth, and they all have extremely strange, alien methods of accomplishing their goals. The myconids are simply driven to spread, and their ‘experiments’ are simply the changes they make to their hosts as they work to take over. Robotics have long since cast off the race that created them, and are interested in humans, hoping to somehow assimilate the human’s potential for creativity into their own designs. The lovecrafts do not exist in our universe, but even the tiny portion of their being that they can thrust through the barrier between realms is enough to drive some men to madness. Exotic ‘experiments’ can come in any variety.

*Not really sure about the name…

Support Groups:

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Those taken by extraterrestrials have different ways of dealing with the traumatic experience. These support groups aren’t necessarily unified groups, but they do describe the usual reactions people have to the experience of an abduction, and more importantly, the knowledge we’re not along in the universe, and not everyone’s friendly.

Techies are those who believe that alien technology and knowledge is a valuable resource. If we can understand and unlock their secrets, how they tick, then we can turn their weapons against them, or use the technology to better ourselves, or even develop ways to counter it.

Reactionaries are those who, when pushed, decide to push back. They arm themselves, organize, and fortify, to defend their homes and lives against these otherworldly invaders. These are the ones who want nothing more than to see every extraterrestrial artifact and every alien blasted into space.

Survivors are those who realize that you can’t fight an enemy so much more advanced than us. They run, they hide, they lay low, they try to ignore, or better yet forget the aliens and the terrible knowledge they now carry.

Post-humanists are those who believe that the experience of abduction, though often terrible, made them better. They are stronger now, and they will use the very power the aliens gave them to fight back and raise themselves above their human weaknesses.

Reformers are those that believe the world has to know. The aliens are out there and we as a species can do nothing as long as nobody knows that. The reformers spread the word however they can, through TV shows and movies, tabloids, newspapers, or failing that, they sometimes simply shout it from the street corner to whoever will listen.

Experiments:

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The players will be playing as not just those abducted by aliens, but as those changed by the experience. The aliens perform experiments, which are broken up into three categories. Each abductor will allow you to chose between two, or all three categories. Each abductor will have a certain universal benefit for each type of experiment they perform, which colors all their experiments in one way or another. There will be specific experiments within each group with their own little benefits, but we haven’t come up with any specifics yet.

Organic [Org]: These experiments are related to genetics, grafts, and symbiotes.
Psionic: [Psi]: These experiments are related to psychic, telekinetic, and other mental powers.
Technology [Tech]: These experiments are related to cybernetics, and alien technology.

Paranormal Abilities:

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Paranormal abilities are different powers that you learned during or after your abduction. They’re gonna have tags based on the experiment groups that can learn them. So, a taken with a bio experiment can’t learn a tech PA, and so on. No specifics yet, but I’ll put down a few vague ideas we’ve got.

Tech:
Holography (illusions)
Medi-Bots (rapid healing/soak)
Tachyon Speed (Extra actions)
Teleport (Teleportation)
Technophilia (Sorta like resources, but for special alien tech.)
Electromagnetics (EMPs, electic shocks, and such.)

Org:
Regeneration (Rapid healing/soak)
Super-Strength (Self-explanatory)
Morphing (Shape change)
Contortionism (Bending/flexing/sliding)
Parasite (Bioweapons)
Medsense (Detect how injured a target is)

Psi:
Forced Viewing (Illusions)
Tactile Telekinesis (Super-strength)
Transposition (Teleportation)
Telekinesis (Self-explanatory)
Phasing (Walk through things)
Thermokinesis (Hot and cold)

[Admiral Squish]

Let the ideas flow!

Seriously, though, I thought this was really cool. Nobody's a fan of nWoD? Or aliens?

[SuperDave]

I'm interested! (Then again, I am a little biased.)

For those of you who don't know me (i.e., everyone), I'm Admiral Squish's aforementioned brother, the one who started this whole crazy idea.

Originally, I planned for Exotics to be more Lovecraftian than a catch-all category. Maybe alternative abductors could be worked in later, as mini-splats like Entitlements in Changeling: The Lost?

I'm not sure about the Reptilians being subterranean. I mean, I like the idea, and it challenges people's perspectives about aliens coming from above instead of below, but I find it a little hard to believe that if they've been preying on us since prehistoric times, they still haven't taken over or been discovered. What kept either of these things from happening? If we integrate it with the Hollow Earth Theory, it might fly, but that might be asking a lot in terms of suspension of disbelief.

[SuperDave]

I'd like to ask anyone reading this thread for their recommendations of fine literature and cinema dealing with the alien abduction phenomenon.

Here's a sampling of what I've thought of so far for inspiration. (Note: I haven't actually watched/read some of these, but they're all on the list!)


Fiction
Animorphs (series), by K.A. Applegate
The Lurking Fear and Other Stories, by H.P. Lovecraft
Resident Alien (series), by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse
Trying Human, by Emy Bitner

Nonfiction
The Mothman Prophecies, by John Keel
Impossible Physics, by Michio Kaku
Weird Science Generator

Online
Reptilian Research Page
UFO COVER-UP: ALIEN NATION OR CONSPIRACY THEORY? By William Cooper
Conspiracy Theories
Watcher Website Global Government NWO Freemason New World Order Secret Society Mind Control UFO NASA Masonic Conspiracy Resources
Alien Illuminati Conspiracy
Aliens & UFO's - A Summary of Theories: Government Involvement & Coverups
LA Times: The Road to Area 51
Area51.org
Crystalinks Metaphysics and Science Website
Starborn Support, The Alien Abduction Support Group
Real Alien Pictures, Photos, images, and Sightings


Movies
District 9
Alien (series)
The Thing
Predator (series)
The Terminator (series)
Fire in the Sky
The Fourth Kind
The Mothman Prophecies
The Gate (short film)

Video Games
Destroy All Humans!
Perfect Dark
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Portal (series)

T.V.
The X-Files
Stargate
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Torchwood
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

[Leliel]

Uh, not Destroy All Humans.

Not unless you plan to satirize the nWoD even as you play it.

I would also suggest drawing both links and differences from abductees and changelings taken by alien-inspired True Fae, like the Three Androgynes from Autuum Nightmares: Given how "true" aliens return their subjects, it's even more confusing, since the Three mostly return their subjects as mortals after swiping something of vague emotional import (such as a picture of the subject's family), and even the ones that are taken to Arcadia are invariably returned, safe if not particularly sound, a year and a day later.

Perhaps changelings view them with both empathy and envy. Abuctees were at the mercy of something both far more powerful and far stranger than they ever could be, but at the same time, the only thing they did was tinker around with experiments, and they never created a fetch. There can even be a bit of arrogant contempt-abductees were returned, while most Lost had to escape.

Perhaps an abductee's power, while mysterious and strange in nature, also has a basis in real (pseudo)science. They can fiddle with gravity, for example, but if you had a hypothetical graviton detector, you could see they were altering how many of them were in the area-no making people fall sideways, only float.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot about the experiment explanation!

Obviously, a risk to improving your powers is that you have to deal with the abductors, and even the most benign extraterrestrial usually doesn't comprehend how painful their experiments can be. And that's lucky, because then you just have to communicate with them properly-most are pushing their own agendas as well.

This is also a good way to show the "antagonist" faction-Reptids are probably responsible for the tendency of humanity, as a species, to associate all things scaly with evil due to their half-remembered brutalization of their subjects. While people who were initially given their Experiment powers by reptilians are no better or worse then any other, they can probably guess from whatever memories they haven't repressed that whatever those things want, it's definitely not something that is going to result in any great good for humanity.

But their weapons can be so tempting...

[Absol197]

Another good movie reference would be The Fourth Kind. It's really creepy. At least, I thought so.

So, if I've got this right, the type of alien that took you is analogous to clan/auspice/path, etc., while what experiments they performed on you determine what kinds of disciplines/gifts/arcana you can access?

I really like the idea. And I don't think that the reptilians being underground since pre-history is too out there. Yeah, they should have been able to complete a takeover by now...if that was their goal. That itself is really chilling to think about: they have all this technological power, and all that time to establish complete dominion over us. They obviously are malicious, so...why haven't they? What are they really after?

I believe that the lovecraftian's should be in their category all by themselves, and that, for consistency's sake with the rest of the NWoD line, you should come up with a fifth category. But that's just me. A possible 5th category could be something akin to the Mothman: an extradimensional race that exists in the past and future at the same time. Sort of like the Mothman Prophesies. Alternatively, you could go with the mechanical intelligence, sort of borg-esque, but not so overt, to give a bit more of a machine-type abductor.

EDIT: Maybe also up the number of experiment types, to give an expanded berth of "powers?" I can't really think of what other categories there could be. Maybe you could instead make several different kinds of each of the base categories? Like, organic experiments might be broken down into augmentation, mutation, and grafting, while Psychic experiments could be faculties (expanding or augmenting mental abilities), awareness (mind-reading and clairvoyance), and projection (telepathy, mind-control). That way, you'd end up with nine different categories, and each different adbuctor gives you access to five, with one being unique to that abductor. That could work.

I also really like the support groups. I think a change of name for that category is in order, but the idea is great, and right along the line of what I was thinking for the organizations for a game like this.

[Pokonic]

As for the "Lovecrafts", I would go for the name "Starspawn". It gets the general idea's accross, and it's entirly reasonable that the name Lovecrafts are used in Hunter documents and such.

Also, one Org catagory could be Beastism: The general replacment of human organs/nerves/brain functions with things that bear resembalance to creatures seen as more primitive than man (and these may not nessisaraly be from earth.) Hearing may be tweaked, you might have pesudoeyes grafted to your inner thigh, you might have toes that for whatever reason are now in a contorted state that lets you shovel earth under you like a pro, ect.

Also, I would like to give a example antagonist to this wonderful little idea: the Mistakes. Each are abandoned examples of alien enginering that were sent to earth (or possibly the moon) so that they could be disposed of easly. These might range from humans or animals that got a bit too much cybernetics to remember there names (or fear of mankind), shoggothish horrors that are the end result of to much Bio bioenginering, and bloated Akiraish sins against nature that are the end result of a human not being able to withstand Psi energy, and paying the price for becoming...non human in mindset and apperance.

For some examples of Bio Mistakes, look at the puppies in this short film. (Warning, horror ahead, and a strangly Hunterish conversation.)

[Science Officer]

Lovecraftian entities that would perform abductions, the two most obvious are the Mi-go, who will put your brain in a cylinder and fly it to Pluto/around the universe. And the Great Race of Yith who are in the habit of psychically possessing the bodies of humans across time and space. But these are just different kinds of aliens, not creatures from outside of reality.
Starspawn is a fine name for the category.

I've never played any WW games, but I like reading about them. I think something like this might fit in their style for character creation.

[Abductors][Experiment/Experience][Powers][Outlook/Group]

Threats:
Men in Black: A bit obvious, but perhaps necessary

Crusoes: Extra-Terrestrials stranded on Earth, many of whom will do anything to get off this rock.

Mistakes: Is a good one.

Missionaries: Some have come a long way to Earth to spread the good news. Unfortunately, the Earthlings don't always understand it when they hear it...

Anunnaki: Human beings who can count an Extra-Terrestrial as a distant ancestor. They're all a little bit crazy, see themselves as better than normal humans... who knows what they're capable of, or what they'd do if they knew you had been taken...

Invader Species: Beings accidentally brought along and left behind by abductors. Like zebra mussels brought to the great lakes in the ballast tanks of ocean-going vessels.
Either there aren't too many of them and they're smart enough to hide, or perhaps they don't survive too long after being brought to Earth. Maybe there's not to much potential for realism.

Investors: Earth may be a technologically backward slimeball, but it is not without opportunity for profit. An import/export business might make a lot of money if they sold some beads and cut glass to the locals and kept it quiet.


@Reptilians: Maybe make them aggressively single minded, like the 'reptile brains' concept. They have great technology, but don't have too many ideas for how to use it.

Definitely check out Coast to Coast AM and conspiracy theory stuff for inspiration. There are a lot of strange ideas out there.

[TheOneWhoWalks]

Ok, first of all, I want to say, this sounds Awesome! I love WoD, both new and old, and I'm alway interesting in new creepiness to stock the world with, although I don't really have anyone to play it with where I currently live...

One thing I wanted to point out is that all the nWoD games (with the exception of Changeling, which has 6, and Hunter, which has 6 at each tier, and I feel like kinda doesn't count, because you can play without any at all, if you want...) have 5 categories of basic thing you can be (5 Mage paths, 5 Vampire clans, 5 Werewolf tribes, ect.), so I think you need one more. The Exotics is nice "I have a concept but it doesn't really fit any of these..." option (I find myself missing the "caitiff" or "hollow one" options from oWod, for example...), but I feel like you need a fifth category.

Sadly, I don't know enough about UFO/Extraterrestrial lore to make a good suggestion as to what the 5th one might be, but maybe either expand the scope of one of the things you have classified under Exotics, or a plant-based intelligence, or maybe something like an intelligent world? Like, a planet who's civilization invented Nano-tech just a little too early in their technological development, and it got out of control and assimilated their planet, and achieved Strong AI/sentience in the process of breaking down and absorbing the minds of it's creators, but for some reason (I can't think of a good one right now... but one could perhaps be devised...) decided *not* to continue assimilating things, but instead to exist as a self-aware planet with the sort of collective consciousness of the planet's former population.

...Hey, I said I was unqualified to make good suggestions. :-P

Anyway, I really like what you have so far... I think I'm gonna do some poking around the internet/bookstore and do some reading, see if I can make useful contributions to this at some stage :-D in the mean time, keep up the awesome!

[Faerieheart]

Ok, first of all, I want to say, this sounds Awesome! I love WoD, both new and old, and I'm alway interesting in new creepiness to stock the world with, although I don't really have anyone to play it with where I currently live...

One thing I wanted to point out is that all the nWoD games (with the exception of Changeling, which has 6, and Hunter, which has 6 at each tier, and I feel like kinda doesn't count, because you can play without any at all, if you want...) have 5 categories of basic thing you can be (5 Mage paths, 5 Vampire clans, 5 Werewolf tribes, ect.), so I think you need one more. The Exotics is nice "I have a concept but it doesn't really fit any of these..." option (I find myself missing the "caitiff" or "hollow one" options from oWod, for example...), but I feel like you need a fifth category.

Sadly, I don't know enough about UFO/Extraterrestrial lore to make a good suggestion as to what the 5th one might be, but maybe either expand the scope of one of the things you have classified under Exotics, or a plant-based intelligence, or maybe something like an intelligent world? Like, a planet who's civilization invented Nano-tech just a little too early in their technological development, and it got out of control and assimilated their planet, and achieved Strong AI/sentience in the process of breaking down and absorbing the minds of it's creators, but for some reason (I can't think of a good one right now... but one could perhaps be devised...) decided *not* to continue assimilating things, but instead to exist as a self-aware planet with the sort of collective consciousness of the planet's former population.

...Hey, I said I was unqualified to make good suggestions. :-P

Anyway, I really like what you have so far... I think I'm gonna do some poking around the internet/bookstore and do some reading, see if I can make useful contributions to this at some stage :-D in the mean time, keep up the awesome!

If he needs a fifth could always go with advanced AI/computers performing tasks given to them by someone else who has yet to enter the scene in person. Who or what they are, where they come from, and the goals purpose of the experiments the "AI" almost mindlessly does as it is what they are programmed to do could be a big mystery. This fits in well with the probe/robot theory that many claim are more likely for a species than coming here in person. (Not my beliefs mind you, I believe both are possible, likely and happening) Most fun part is, it truly is a mystery, as the robots do not need to know why they do what they do to follow orders so finding out the who and why involves either puzzle solving by putting together the pieces and making educated guesses or somehow finding a way to intercept their orders (assuming they are even still getting them) or even more unlikely finding a way to track them down and get to them yourselves.

[Amechra]

Interesting...

I would like to suggest that there needs to be an extra-dimensional abductor group, because that does come up...

Idea for an antagonist group... Aliens that want to get in.

In other words, they don't see the whole point behind experimenting at all, and in fact wish to exterminate the little disgusting things that live on our world.

A mechanical abductor would be neat...

I would like to bring up the Wildcard virus. Please, go look it up.

Ooh, new experimental type! On top of superior technology, how about alternate tech? Like in 7th Sea, where one of the ancient races used clockwork while another used magnetic fields almost exclusively in their tech?

Or even just War of the Worlds, where the Martians never discovered the wheel?

[Togath]

I feel a little silly for mentioning this, but, the Norse ones just dont seem like they make good villains, either being too subtle(they look like people, and act like people), Or it could be mistaken for racism(racism vs. tall people of Norse decent), The greys still need something to make them more of a threat somehow(they just seem too spindly to be able to take on humans, let alone not get killed/mauled/eaten by predatory animals), the reptilians and the ones in the misc category(especially the lovecraft inspired ones) seem like they are easier to use though(though keep in mind I've never played nwod, and dont know anything about it, so my advice may not be accurate if there's something in the setting which would change interactions)
edit; also i agree with amechra that those extra groups he mentioned could be interesting as well.

[Amechra]

Part of me wants an abductor group that is an intelligent color.

You know at least one of the things that I'm referencing.

[Pokonic]

I feel a little silly for mentioning this, but, the Norse ones just dont seem like they make good villains, either being too subtle(they look like people, and act like people), Or it could be mistaken for racism(racism vs. tall people of Norse decent), The greys still need something to make them more of a threat somehow(they just seem too spindly to be able to take on humans, let alone not get killed/mauled/eaten by predatory animals), the reptilians and the ones in the misc category(especially the lovecraft inspired ones) seem like they are easier to use though(though keep in mind I've never played nwod, and dont know anything about it, so my advice may not be accurate if there's something in the setting which would change interactions)
edit; also i agree with amechra that those extra groups he mentioned could be interesting as well.

The Greys have ubertech. They would only be near you if you are already under control. The Norse? Have you seen biblical depictions of angels? There hand puppets for a higher being. Half the horror of Changeling is that you could almost never deal with your tormenter face to face, and even if it was somewhat nice it wouls still warp you in strange ways.

I would like to suggest that there needs to be an extra-dimensional abductor group, because that does come up...

Bascily starspawn.

[Faerieheart]

I feel a little silly for mentioning this, but, the Norse ones just dont seem like they make good villains, either being too subtle(they look like people, and act like people), Or it could be mistaken for racism(racism vs. tall people of Norse decent), The greys still need something to make them more of a threat somehow(they just seem too spindly to be able to take on humans, let alone not get killed/mauled/eaten by predatory animals), the reptilians and the ones in the misc category(especially the lovecraft inspired ones) seem like they are easier to use though(though keep in mind I've never played nwod, and dont know anything about it, so my advice may not be accurate if there's something in the setting which would change interactions)
edit; also i agree with amechra that those extra groups he mentioned could be interesting as well.

With advanced enough technology and psionic abilities greys don't need anything else to be a threat. I mean really. Compare humans to chimps and gorillas. We'd win a war with them easily because of advanced tech and intelligence despite their superior physical capeabilities. The greys would supposedly be in comparison to us just as more intelligent and scientifically advanced compared to us as we are to the chimps. If we could get our hands around one's throat we'd snap their necks like a twig, not much different than a chimp with us. Too bad for us and the chimp, that's really not as easy as it sounds.

[Togath]

With advanced enough technology and psionic abilities greys don't need anything else to be a threat. I mean really. Compare humans to chimps and gorillas. We'd win a war with them easily because of advanced tech and intelligence despite their superior physical capeabilities. The greys would supposedly be in comparison to us just as more intelligent and scientifically advanced compared to us as we are to the chimps. If we could get our hands around one's throat we'd snap their necks like a twig, not much different than a chimp with us. Too bad for us and the chimp, that's really not as easy as it sounds.

Ah, that makes more sense, I wasn't sure if an alien race with supertech(including weapons) would fit into the setting or not(and from the sounds of it it could), and, if you dont need to worry about PCs being able to 1-hit-kill deities like in dnd, they are easier to make challenging as well(power level differences in systems is part of the reason i mentioned I dont know much about NWoD, which from the sounds of it is much lower in power then 3.5 dnd)

also, what is the sentient colour a reference to?, I cant think of anything atm, other then maybe something related to the green lantern franchise(referencing the colours of the vilains if i remember the random bits of things i know about it correctly, though i was pretty sure they mostly represented emotions, and the colours were secondary)

[Pokonic]

also, what is the sentient colour a reference to?, I cant think of anything atm, other then maybe something related to the green lantern franchise(referencing the colours of the vilains if i remember the random bits of things i know about it correctly, though i was pretty sure they mostly represented emotions, and the colours were secondary)

The Color from out of space. It's a lovecraft thing.

[TheOneWhoWalks]

The Color from out of space. It's a lovecraft thing.

I actually think it was a reference to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide tot he Galaxy "trilogy", where there is an alien "race" which is a super-intelligent shade of blue.

[Zale]

I like this idea.

Mind if I leave this here?

Greys

Some people underestimate the Greys. They're so small. So spindly. With their enlarged heads, they almost seem comical and child-like. Harmless.

Few survive this underestimation.

Greys are smarter than anything human could hope to be. They are pillars of intellect; pure and unstained by petty things like emotion or morals. The merest thought of a Grey could rip metal or break bone. The smallest whisper of their minds contain more knowledge than the whole of human scientific exploits.

Their technology can do things that we can only call miracles. The most meager of force-shields can deflect armor-piercing artillery rounds; the smallest of their weapons can reduce tanks to slag. With the press of a button, they can rebuilt a city.. or turn it to dust. If they decided to destroy humanity tomorrow, then nothing we could do would save us.

The Greys study humans to gain understanding of the strange vagaries of our psychology. These strange "Emotions" and odd, irrational thoughts. Their physiology is disturbing similar to theirs and this makes them... uneasy. This does not prevent them from using Humans as a useful test subject. Many abductiotees are subjected to rigorous and often invasive medical experimentation.

Reptilians


Aggressive, violent and driven by their impulses; Reptilians present the most immediate danger to a passing human. Though other Aliens may abduct or experiment, a reasonable percentage of them return their test subjects in.. fair quality.

Reptilians, on the other hand, delight in painfully disposing of their used abductees.

The Reptilians are a very physical species, compared to the intellectual Greys, the enigmatic Nords and the simply inscrutable Starspawn. They are by far the most rigorous and strong aliens. Many of them delight in chasing large game, livestock or a stray human for miles. The hormone pumping chase and the taste, the feel of warm blood.. they revel in it.

Their technology seems crude and rough, though advanced. Because many Reptilians prefer to be close and personal, their weaponry is rarely capable of a long range attack. This pandering of practicality to instinct is a common aspect of things they create. Reptilian experimental labs and holding cells often resemble medieval torture dungeons. They are generally used for similar purposes.

It's likely that Reptilians abduct humans simply to torture them, physically and psychologically, for as long as possible. If they use humans for experiments, these are generally as painful as they can possibly make them.



Nords

A Nord.. is.. seems.. wondrous. Their forms seem so human, so authoritative, so kind. Surely they come to protect us from the other aliens. They understand us so well.

Understanding humanity is they thing they are so good at.

No human knows what a Nord looks like. They variate their shapes frequently, changing through appearances and personalities like a person changing clothes for a new occasion. Nords are masters of Psychology and Sociology. They understand all too well how humans think. A Grey may be able to delve into your mind, but a Nord knows exactly how you feel. They know exactly what they need to say, to do, to seem like in order to get you to do whatever they want.

Nordic technology is rarely obvious. The most apparent aspect of it is the Nord's ability to change appearances. How much of this is psychic illusions and how much is real is anyone's guess. For a Nord, Appearances are merely one of many tools to open the proverbial vault that is the human psyche. Each and every aspect of how they look and present themselves is carefully tailored to provoke a certain effect. They can seem awesome and glorious, or benevolent and approachable. Nords have a good understanding of the motivations and urges of humans, and are very skilled at prodding human thoughts in the directions they wish. Their experiments in Social Engineering often end up shaping history itself.

For such a mysterious and deceptive species, Nords have a fairly straight forward reason for abductions. They want to understand how humans think, so stealing them away is the logical method. Most abductees remember their abductions as pleasant interviews with beautiful and kind people, regardless of what really happened.


EDIT:

Funny thing, now that I think about it, these three aliens line up nicely with the three categories of Attributes. Mental for Greys, Physical for Reptilians and Social for Nords.

[radmelon]

I actually think it was a reference to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide tot he Galaxy "trilogy", where there is an alien "race" which is a super-intelligent shade of blue.

Well, he said one of the things that he was referencing, so it was most likely both. I would also like to note that I picked up on both of them immediately, The guide is one of my favorite books, and The color out of space is my favorite lovecraft story.

[Zale]

To be fair, the Hoovooloo spent most of the book as a free standing refracted crystal.

[Amechra]

It was both, of course!

[Admiral Squish]

Huzzah! Commentary! I was beginning to believe that this thread would simply die out.

Now, I'll get to each of you in turn, though since the posts are so large, I'll spoiler them for convenience. I’m trying to keep up, but I think I missed a few. I’ll get to your posts soon enough.

Leliel:

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Uh, not Destroy All Humans.

Not unless you plan to satirize the nWoD even as you play it.

I would also suggest drawing both links and differences from abductees and changelings taken by alien-inspired True Fae, like the Three Androgynes from Autuum Nightmares: Given how "true" aliens return their subjects, it's even more confusing, since the Three mostly return their subjects as mortals after swiping something of vague emotional import (such as a picture of the subject's family), and even the ones that are taken to Arcadia are invariably returned, safe if not particularly sound, a year and a day later.

Perhaps changelings view them with both empathy and envy. Abuctees were at the mercy of something both far more powerful and far stranger than they ever could be, but at the same time, the only thing they did was tinker around with experiments, and they never created a fetch. There can even be a bit of arrogant contempt-abductees were returned, while most Lost had to escape.

Perhaps an abductee's power, while mysterious and strange in nature, also has a basis in real (pseudo)science. They can fiddle with gravity, for example, but if you had a hypothetical graviton detector, you could see they were altering how many of them were in the area-no making people fall sideways, only float.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot about the experiment explanation!

Obviously, a risk to improving your powers is that you have to deal with the abductors, and even the most benign extraterrestrial usually doesn't comprehend how painful their experiments can be. And that's lucky, because then you just have to communicate with them properly-most are pushing their own agendas as well.

This is also a good way to show the "antagonist" faction-Reptids are probably responsible for the tendency of humanity, as a species, to associate all things scaly with evil due to their half-remembered brutalization of their subjects. While people who were initially given their Experiment powers by reptilians are no better or worse then any other, they can probably guess from whatever memories they haven't repressed that whatever those things want, it's definitely not something that is going to result in any great good for humanity.

But their weapons can be so tempting...

Destroy all humans is more a reference for possible schemes/tech than the tone. Besides, from what I hear, most WoD games rarely follow the horror themes laid down in the source books.

There will definitely be parallels drawn between them. There are a lot of similarities, definitely, but at the same time, neither can really understand the other properly. Taken never understand what it's like to be replaced in your own home, and they don't have the whole escape thing. But at the same time, the changelings don't nessecarily understand the powerlessness of the experience. A changeling escaped, they beat their keeper in some way, at some point. For the taken, they're taken, tortured, experimented on, sometimes kept for decades, then simply returned at the whim of their abductor. They never get to take back the power.

I definitely intend for there to be a lot of pseudoscience involved in the abilities and powers. I will probably make up a few terms just to get some of the effects we have in mind.

Actually, the idea was that learning new PAs or upgrading current abilities would be more like unlocking new aspects of your existing experiment. The abductors make a point of making it hard to find them, so communicating with them would be extremely difficult. Grays and nordics are in space, reptoids in their deep, subterranean lairs. Unless they're out hunting.

Definitely an aspect of reptilians I'd love to explore. Part of the reason I said they should have been there since prehistory. You know, an old term for the devil is 'the dragon'. One theory I put forth was that the whole war in heaven was actually a primitive interpretation of a sizable battle between nordics and reptilians that took place around earth.

Absol179

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Another good movie reference would be The Fourth Kind. It's really creepy. At least, I thought so.

So, if I've got this right, the type of alien that took you is analogous to clan/auspice/path, etc., while what experiments they performed on you determine what kinds of disciplines/gifts/arcana you can access?

I really like the idea. And I don't think that the reptilians being underground since pre-history is too out there. Yeah, they should have been able to complete a takeover by now...if that was their goal. That itself is really chilling to think about: they have all this technological power, and all that time to establish complete dominion over us. They obviously are malicious, so...why haven't they? What are they really after?

I believe that the lovecraftian's should be in their category all by themselves, and that, for consistency's sake with the rest of the NWoD line, you should come up with a fifth category. But that's just me. A possible 5th category could be something akin to the Mothman: an extradimensional race that exists in the past and future at the same time. Sort of like the Mothman Prophesies. Alternatively, you could go with the mechanical intelligence, sort of borg-esque, but not so overt, to give a bit more of a machine-type abductor.

EDIT: Maybe also up the number of experiment types, to give an expanded berth of "powers?" I can't really think of what other categories there could be. Maybe you could instead make several different kinds of each of the base categories? Like, organic experiments might be broken down into augmentation, mutation, and grafting, while Psychic experiments could be faculties (expanding or augmenting mental abilities), awareness (mind-reading and clairvoyance), and projection (telepathy, mind-control). That way, you'd end up with nine different categories, and each different adbuctor gives you access to five, with one being unique to that abductor. That could work.

I also really like the support groups. I think a change of name for that category is in order, but the idea is great, and right along the line of what I was thinking for the organizations for a game like this.

Well, it's not QUITE like any other WW system. The abductor determines the types of experiment, and by exension, PAs available to you, but it also gives you a abductor-specific benefit and drawback for each type of experiment. For example, a reptilian organic is gonna be significantly different from a nordic organic. Overall, four categories of abductors becomes 9 mechanically distinct 'groups' of benefits and drawbacks.

That’s my take on it, at least. I was intending to semi-include the hollow-earth theory. Perhaps not a hollow planet, but a network of deep-crust tunnels and catacombs.

There seems to be a lot of support for starspawn being their own catgory. You know, in the original version my brother was working on, there were going to be six abductors. I just balled the three I didn’t find many reports about into the exotic category. Would you guys rather we made it into six (or seven if we still want an ’other’ category) abductors?

I was intending to break up the experiement types into three subcategories each, but I was having trouble coming up with subcategories that were distinct enough from each other.

I’m glad you like the support groups. That one’s all my brother’s idea, but I do really like it.

Pokonic

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As for the "Lovecrafts", I would go for the name "Starspawn". It gets the general idea's accross, and it's entirly reasonable that the name Lovecrafts are used in Hunter documents and such.

Also, one Org catagory could be Beastism: The general replacment of human organs/nerves/brain functions with things that bear resembalance to creatures seen as more primitive than man (and these may not nessisaraly be from earth.) Hearing may be tweaked, you might have pesudoeyes grafted to your inner thigh, you might have toes that for whatever reason are now in a contorted state that lets you shovel earth under you like a pro, ect.

Also, I would like to give a example antagonist to this wonderful little idea: the Mistakes. Each are abandoned examples of alien enginering that were sent to earth (or possibly the moon) so that they could be disposed of easly. These might range from humans or animals that got a bit too much cybernetics to remember there names (or fear of mankind), shoggothish horrors that are the end result of to much Bio bioenginering, and bloated Akiraish sins against nature that are the end result of a human not being able to withstand Psi energy, and paying the price for becoming...non human in mindset and apperance.

For some examples of Bio Mistakes, look at the puppies in this short film. (Warning, horror ahead, and a strangly Hunterish conversation.)

I like the name starspawn a lot, actually, though I’m not sure if it would count, since they’re supposed to be actually from another dimension.

Beastism… I don’t know if it would serve as a org category on it‘s own, but it’s a group of ideas I’ll definitely think about. I was intending for a graft category of some sort, and I’ll add in some of these ideas.

Oooh, I like the idea of Mistakes. I’m not sure of them being dumped, the aliens are interested in secrecy, after all. But I definitely like the idea of experiments that went too far and lost their humanity.

I watched like the first few minutes of that, but after Marble Hornets, I have a policy against watching horror of any sort to completion. What I did see looks cool, though.

Science Officer

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Lovecraftian entities that would perform abductions, the two most obvious are the Mi-go, who will put your brain in a cylinder and fly it to Pluto/around the universe. And the Great Race of Yith who are in the habit of psychically possessing the bodies of humans across time and space. But these are just different kinds of aliens, not creatures from outside of reality.
Starspawn is a fine name for the category.

I've never played any WW games, but I like reading about them. I think something like this might fit in their style for character creation.

[Abductors][Experiment/Experience][Powers][Outlook/Group]

Threats:
Men in Black: A bit obvious, but perhaps necessary

Crusoes: Extra-Terrestrials stranded on Earth, many of whom will do anything to get off this rock.

Mistakes: Is a good one.

Missionaries: Some have come a long way to Earth to spread the good news. Unfortunately, the Earthlings don't always understand it when they hear it...

Anunnaki: Human beings who can count an Extra-Terrestrial as a distant ancestor. They're all a little bit crazy, see themselves as better than normal humans... who knows what they're capable of, or what they'd do if they knew you had been taken...

Invader Species: Beings accidentally brought along and left behind by abductors. Like zebra mussels brought to the great lakes in the ballast tanks of ocean-going vessels.
Either there aren't too many of them and they're smart enough to hide, or perhaps they don't survive too long after being brought to Earth. Maybe there's not to much potential for realism.

Investors: Earth may be a technologically backward slimeball, but it is not without opportunity for profit. An import/export business might make a lot of money if they sold some beads and cut glass to the locals and kept it quiet.


@Reptilians: Maybe make them aggressively single minded, like the 'reptile brains' concept. They have great technology, but don't have too many ideas for how to use it.

Definitely check out Coast to Coast AM and conspiracy theory stuff for inspiration. There are a lot of strange ideas out there.

I was thinking the creation would be more like [Abductor/experiment type][Experiment][Outlook/Group][PAs]

Men in Black are definitely going to be included. My brother’s take on them never made it to the notes, so I forgot to include it in the first post. His idea was that they’re not really government, they just sorta act like it and nobody asks questions. Perhaps they’re a hunter organization, perhaps they’re something else entirely. They use a lot of weapons and tools based of alien technology, and may even have their own experiments. For a moment I was considering having them be an ‘abductor’.

Crusoes sound pretty awesome. A gray living in it’s crashed spaceship, trying to repair it with earthly parts, or a Nordic who has decided the grand takeover plan is going too slowly and decides to come down to earth to step it up.

Where’d you get the word anunnaki? I’m not sure about aliens interbreeding with humans, since there is supposed to be a veneer of pseudoscience on this thing. But I could see genetic experiments blending the genetic traits of the aliens with human stock.

I saw something like this in one of the sources I looked at. I definitely like the idea. And they don’t necessarily have to be either one. If we have an MIB, that should be enough to keep most of their actions out of the public eye, and if it doesn’t, then those who report it will just be branded crazy.

Investors. This seems like an interesting idea, though with an MIB agency it seems like it would be difficult to pull off. Especially since the aliens likely wouldn’t want consumer goods, they would probably be more interested in resources. Reptilians would possibly like a steady supply of pets to devour.

Reptilians are gonna be thoroughly unpleasant creatures, you can rest assured. I don’t know if I can reconcile the needless cruelty and violence with a single-minded, goal-driven theme. Still… One source says reptilians are actually two races. The original draco-based life forms, and velociraptor-like dinos the dracos uplifted to become a servant race. It could be that the uplifted raptors are the needlessly cruel and violent ones, and the true reptilians are the truly single-minded ones.

The One Who Walks

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Ok, first of all, I want to say, this sounds Awesome! I love WoD, both new and old, and I'm alway interesting in new creepiness to stock the world with, although I don't really have anyone to play it with where I currently live...

One thing I wanted to point out is that all the nWoD games (with the exception of Changeling, which has 6, and Hunter, which has 6 at each tier, and I feel like kinda doesn't count, because you can play without any at all, if you want...) have 5 categories of basic thing you can be (5 Mage paths, 5 Vampire clans, 5 Werewolf tribes, ect.), so I think you need one more. The Exotics is nice "I have a concept but it doesn't really fit any of these..." option (I find myself missing the "caitiff" or "hollow one" options from oWod, for example...), but I feel like you need a fifth category.

Sadly, I don't know enough about UFO/Extraterrestrial lore to make a good suggestion as to what the 5th one might be, but maybe either expand the scope of one of the things you have classified under Exotics, or a plant-based intelligence, or maybe something like an intelligent world? Like, a planet who's civilization invented Nano-tech just a little too early in their technological development, and it got out of control and assimilated their planet, and achieved Strong AI/sentience in the process of breaking down and absorbing the minds of it's creators, but for some reason (I can't think of a good one right now... but one could perhaps be devised...) decided *not* to continue assimilating things, but instead to exist as a self-aware planet with the sort of collective consciousness of the planet's former population.

...Hey, I said I was unqualified to make good suggestions. :-P

Anyway, I really like what you have so far... I think I'm gonna do some poking around the internet/bookstore and do some reading, see if I can make useful contributions to this at some stage :-D in the mean time, keep up the awesome!

Lot of people saying we need more abductor types. I mentioned in an above rply, I could return to the original design which featured six abductors. I just snowballed the three I couldn’t find reports on into a single catch all category, but I could break It up again with relative ease.

The problem with the intelligent world idea is how would it remain hidden. You can’t hide a second moon looming in earth orbit, really.

I look forward to hearing what else you come up with! Seems like you have an interesting take on the whole thing. And don’t worry. I’m always this awesome.

[Zale]

Here's a Weird Science generator.

If you need techno-babble names for anything.

[Science Officer]

Annunaki is a term from Babylonian mythology, I've heard it used in the whole Ancient Aliens type of stuff. They don't need to be actually descended from Aliens or from those experimented on. They could just be immoral crazy people with strange ideas about extra-terrestrials and bloodlines.

Crusoes aren't necessarily crashed, some of them might have been left behind for various reasons...

If you want to cross over with other WW fan-games, Geniuses would probably be very interested in all these goings-on.

I personally would like to see more abductors, I think Starspawn, Robotics, and/or Insectoids would be worthwhile.

When it comes to Lovecraftian aliens, there is something of a scale. Some are remarkably human-like in mind if not body, others are inscrutable, some seem like gods, and some have forms that cannot be comprehended by the minds of humans. Their technology often seems magical, although whether or not there is any magic in the Mythos is a point of some contention. Clarke's Law and such.

So there are Starfish Aliens like the Yithians, the Elder Things, the Mi-go, the octopoid Starspawn of Cthulhu.
And then there're some which are less comprehensible, and possessed of greater power, who are more likely to be called gods than aliens, like Cthulhu himself and other Great Old Ones.
This probably only mostly true.

Crop-circles: What do they mean?

Moon-base? Secret Astronaut Corps?

[Amechra]

So...

How you gonna handle the electricity negation thing that UFOs do as they fly over-head? You know, where the abductee reports that their car or whatever stopped working, suddenly stalling in the middle of the road?

As for antagonists...

I had an idea for an insane fringe group that abducts aliens (ambushes them, or something to that effect), and figures out some of the tech, using it to basically form Area 51, which could act as an abductor.

The technique for abduction would be different, too; a black, unmarked car pulls up to the curb while you are walking along, and whisks you away. You wake up in some facility somewhere in an ice-bath, where Area 51 took out your liver and replaced it with one they took from a Grey.

Why? Because those damn aliens ain't gonna pass us by in the tech race, dangnabbit!

This group could have even started doing crop circles and the like as a way to discredit aliens; after all, when people are obviously the ones doing the crop circles...

Of course, that begs the question: are the Area 51ers fully human? Or are they one of those Pod People things...

[Elricaltovilla]

So what's your Morality/Sanity/Empathy/Synergy meter going to be called?

[SuperDave]

So what's your Morality/Sanity/Empathy/Synergy meter going to be called?

I was thinking "Façade" or "Normalcy". Basically, it would measure how well you pass yourself off as an average, law-abiding citizen. It would decrease with any action which made Muggles aware of your otherness, or brought the attention of the Men in Black, Torchwood, the Illuminati, Freemasons, or whoever your campaign's secretive international alien police-force du jour might be.

In a way, it would be similar to the "wanted rating" of the Grand Theft Auto games, only you'd want to keep this as high as possible. It would fall when you did things like talking about your Abduction publicly, when you used obviously unnatural abilities in front of a member of the general populace (especially a law enforcement officer or government official), or if you get certain biological grafts, use certain potent alien technologies, or have prolonged or intimate contact with members of the Abductor races.

[Pokonic]

Well, a idea: the Starspawn will inflict all three experement types on creatures, but they are...strange, to say the least.

There Org ability is Adaption. Your main issue is stopping yourself from growing hair all over when it is cold and keeping yourself from getting webed hands when swimming, ect. You can adapt to almost any hostile situation, but you have to surpress it to live a normal life.

There Psi ability is called Veil Unlifting. You can now see strange things using this universe as a rest-stop of sorts, and they mostly hate mankind. While you may be driven mad by these unending visions alongside normal reality, you, will some willpower, can force others to see them too. At the top tiers, you might be able to shove foes into the alternet plane proper.

There tech ability is Unmaking. Things break under your touch. Lie detectors crumble and short out. Cameras show you as a black void. You are athema to technology, and you know it. At higher levels, you basicly become the antichrist of computer programers.

[radmelon]

Unmaking sounds like it could be really fun, assuming you can keep it from screwing up tech you want to keep.