Monster of the Week #10

 

This week we hop over to the Alien RPG to use one of their monsters for this week.

Taken straight out of the Chariot of the Gods cinematic scenario - we are looking at the Abomination/ Beluga head Creature.

It's been RPG sale season, and one of the local comic shops near me is shutting down, so there has been plenty of new RPGs I have acquired and can look through to find unique monsters.

I purchased the Alien RPG, along with the Chariot of the Gods and Destroyer of World modules. I was pleasantly surprised at the simplicity of the system, and the brutality of the creatures in the Chariot of the Gods. The module takes no prisoners, and the base Abomination is a foe to be reckoned with - even before it transforms into the Beluga head.

What I found particularly cool about this creature is the stages it has. People are turned into Abominations by taking a vaccine-gone-wrong. The vaccine is meant to protect people from poisonous mold in derelict spacecraft. For those who have seen Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, you'll be familiar with the 2 infections, and alien spreading weapons in this scenario. The mold is effectively what is in Alien: Covenant, infecting people via spores and creating "Bloodbursters" (baby "Neomorphs") that burst out of the infected person's head or other body part. The vaccine that is meant to protect people from this is derived from black liquid (seen in Prometheus) but obviously doesn't do its job and makes people into tumor-covered monsters.

Now that you have the context - why did a 'space-zombie' make this list for this week and not the Bloodburster?

Well, maybe the Bloodburster will be another week! But the Abomination is more than the standard space zombie. Mechanically though, I really like how the infection of PCs increases in severity and provides different benefits to the players before they have to turn on their fellow crewmates or hand over their character sheet to the GM.

There are 3 stages to the infection players can have:

Stage 1: The PC or NPC is just infected. Players won't know they are infected at this point. Happens immediately once the player fails a sickness roll with Virility 6.  Infected people progress to stage 2 if they fail another sickness roll after one shift.

Stage 2: Players and NPCs become a "Mutant" - where they become much more aggressive, get stronger but less empathetic, and can still be played by players. Although... their time is short. Infected people progress to stage 3 within one shift.

Stage 3: The infected target becomes a "Revenant" - a tumor-ridden monster that barely resembles a human. Health and strength increase again here and at this point players will either need to kill their fellow crew or hand over their sheet.

Stage 4: Beluga head monster. The final form of this abomination. Even more deformed and stronger than the Stage 3 Revenant variant. This happens within 4 shifts after Stage 3 infection has occurred.

For me, having someone like this that changes dynamically within (potentially) a single game is quite unique. The cinematic style of Chariot of the Gods is quite a brutal game that multiple players could die in, so a threat like this is hugely impacting for players. While I like my games hard, I never want to remove player characters needlessly.  Chariot of the Gods encourages many to be infected so players can handle the consequences.

So why is the Abomination on my list? Because it is a formiddable monster that teaches space-travellers of the horrors in the corportate cosmos. It's both great as a narrative tool, but it also sets the bar for players to know that whatever they find in space - you should be afraid. This isn't D&D where you can swing many times at terrifying foes. It's also not Call of Cthluhu, where one monster reveal could turn you into a blubbering mess in a bout of madness. You are just a cog in an ever spinning wheel - hardened by your life as a spacer - but only just enough to keep it together that little bit longer before you die. The Abomination is a great starting monster to show life is cheap in space - especially because of how easy anyone can become an Abomination, and how lethal they can be once someone has turned into one.

In addition, the mechanics of an Abomination is quite unique in my experience. It has moves that cause players more Stress, which I think is a great way to up the stakes in the Alien RPG. Having a monster that can use its strength and presence to cause physical and psychological harm to players makes it a fun foe to combat. And that is why it is on my list!

I hope you had fun and may be encouraged to check out Chariot of the Gods. There are great playthroughs online about it that can show you how crazy an ABomination showing up can be (even ifd it isn't the biggest threat in the game!).

What do you think? Have you played the Alien: RPG and fought an Abomination? How did it go for you? I'll be running a game of Alien soon so will have the chance to see how players face off in a real game!

-KJ