Numeria - Haunted Alien Shipwrecks


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion

Silver Crusade

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Was listening to Varia Suite, remembered one of the spookiest bits from Super Metroid, go to thinking about Numeria...

If the Silver Mount or any other sizable(read: dungeon-sized) bits of wrecked spaceship ever get explored, there have to be alien ghosts and other forms of undead.

They could be undead remnants of the crew or passengers, a menagerie of alien prisoners, dangerous exotic life from multiple planets(like akatas), bioweapons, etc.

I'm imagining a ship with a currently faulty but still live power system. When the PC's arrive, it's offline. Only emergency lights are on. Almost all of the technology inside the ship is inert, and the dead are restless and angry.

If the power is brought back online, the lights come on. Whatever strange alien power source is used by the ship has enough of a positive energy effect to suppress all undead activity in the ship, so all incorporeal undead vanish for the time being and all solid undead go inert. Unfortunately, the damaged security system and faulty maintenance tech comes back online, so now there's a new threat.

And the power connection is still unstable, so the power goes out and comes back at random intervals.

So what alien life do we have confirmed for the Golarion-verse. We have the witchwyrds, but I never really thought of the Silver Mount wreck as one of theirs. They're so widespread however they could very likely have been on the ship as passengers. There's the akata too, but who in their right mind would keep them as pets? Possibly illegal cargo(bioweaponry) or captive specimens for scientific purposes? What else could populate this thing and have undead templates slapped on them?

Can't help but imagine some alien corpse in a sealed room, holding a strange symbol that looks almost, kind of, sort of like the symbol of Desna. Cue benign ghostly quest-giver or cache of personal logs on whatever went wrong with the ship.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Pathfinder #14 has the highest concentration of aliens in it. That's where the witchweird was originally from. It also has the akata and the moonflower (also both aliens, also both reprinted in Bestiary 2).

Beyond that, there's also elves, which are probably from another planet as well, but not from a technological planet, and they've been on Golarion long enough to more or less be natives there now, so they're not a good "alien" race to haunt a spaceship with.

There's also some Lovecraftian critters in Bestiary 2 that come from outer space—the shantak sort of falls into this category, but it's also from another dimension too.

Beyond that, we haven't done many more aliens yet. We will some day though! (Soonest in Pathfinder #46, which will have a giant-sized Lovecraftian bestiary with lots of HP Lovecraft aliens in it.)

Grand Lodge

You could mine d20 future for aliens and tech...


I like the bioweapons idea, combined with the malfunctioning positive energy power source, imagine if clueless someone tried to fix it.

In my version simple robots don't fit into the world, nanotechnology is more suited and good-looking. I pictured them closer to anomalous axiomites, an ancient crude version of them.

Also from a fantasy novel, R. Scott Bakker's Inchoroi were inspiring, the part where their ship was an ark and they had spears of light. Except I replaced their magical technology (Tekne is like fleshwarping) and used non-organic and pure energy materials.

The dweomerborn, ephemerals and elmarin from Spelljammer could haunt the site.


Want this. That is all.


Mikaze wrote:

Was listening to Varia Suite, remembered one of the spookiest bits from Super Metroid, go to thinking about Numeria...

If the Silver Mount or any other sizable(read: dungeon-sized) bits of wrecked spaceship ever get explored, there have to be alien ghosts and other forms of undead.

They could be undead remnants of the crew or passengers, a menagerie of alien prisoners, dangerous exotic life from multiple planets(like akatas), bioweapons, etc.

I'm imagining a ship with a currently faulty but still live power system. When the PC's arrive, it's offline. Only emergency lights are on. Almost all of the technology inside the ship is inert, and the dead are restless and angry.

If the power is brought back online, the lights come on. Whatever strange alien power source is used by the ship has enough of a positive energy effect to suppress all undead activity in the ship, so all incorporeal undead vanish for the time being and all solid undead go inert. Unfortunately, the damaged security system and faulty maintenance tech comes back online, so now there's a new threat.

And the power connection is still unstable, so the power goes out and comes back at random intervals.

So what alien life do we have confirmed for the Golarion-verse. We have the witchwyrds, but I never really thought of the Silver Mount wreck as one of theirs. They're so widespread however they could very likely have been on the ship as passengers. There's the akata too, but who in their right mind would keep them as pets? Possibly illegal cargo(bioweaponry) or captive specimens for scientific purposes? What else could populate this thing and have undead templates slapped on them?

Can't help but imagine some alien corpse in a sealed room, holding a strange symbol that looks almost, kind of, sort of like the symbol of Desna. Cue benign ghostly quest-giver or cache of personal logs on whatever went wrong with the ship.

One of the great things about a "dungeon" of this type is the trap potential. Granted, many of them aren't even going to be purposely set, but a result of damaged tech or fluctuating power levels.

Perhaps there are tubes that adjust gravity to ascend or descend between levels. When they work, it's magic. When they don't it's time for that rope (or levitate, or fly spell). When they get kicked into overdrive by a sudden power surge, it's a reverse gravity trap.

As for aliens, an encounter with one or more moonflowers would be nasty. Perhaps the ship had one in stasis being taken to a research facility in order to study it and come up with better methods of destroying them. With the power out and the stasis fields down, it's had time to grow, feeding on the various vermin that are ubiquitous to nearly all dungeons, perhaps even other living cargo that's managed to survive and even flourish, despite the prowling undead.

There's also the possibility that the crash was caused by the malevolent forces that dwell in the dark places between the stars. As James stated, Lovecraftian beasties would provide a fine element to such an environment. Perhaps they're even the reason for the restless dead...

Sczarni

Very much want.

I have some ideas for a "Conan meets the Space Marines" style adventure set in Numeria.

PC's are Kellid (or other locals) who must explore their lands, looking for food/water/antidote for their village/etc, and stumble across a cache of "Technic League" style weapons/gear.

Basically, everyone gets a super fun toy, low magic-items otherwise, and a romp through crashed spacecraft, fights against Technic League baddies, perhaps even an encounter with a certain metallic death-spitting scorpion-bot...

Having a huge dungeon crawl through a spacecraft not just once, but twice (a la Dark World) sounds super fun, as well.

Liberty's Edge Contributor

Awesome title!
I have been dreaming about an adventure like this for a long, long time!

I keep thinking "Barrier Peaks" meets "Aliens" except the aliens are dead and trying to reincarnate themselves using mortal hosts. Their experiments thus far have been unsuccessful and they desire to test more using intelligent life as the base creatures. Or something like that.

Its nice to know there are others out there with similar dreams.

Silver Crusade

I think if I ever put one of these together, the Lovecraftian elements would actually play a very minor part or none at all. Maybe it's just me, but the Lovecraftian horrors have their fingers in so many pies as it is in the Golarion-verse that I'd hate to see it steal the thunder from new alien races, monsters and elements that would be introduced in such an adventure.

James Jacobs wrote:
Pathfinder #14 has the highest concentration of aliens in it. That's where the witchweird was originally from. It also has the akata and the moonflower (also both aliens, also both reprinted in Bestiary 2).
Shadowborn wrote:
As for aliens, an encounter with one or more moonflowers would be nasty. Perhaps the ship had one in stasis being taken to a research facility in order to study it and come up with better methods of destroying them. With the power out and the stasis fields down, it's had time to grow, feeding on the various vermin that are ubiquitous to nearly all dungeons, perhaps even other living cargo that's managed to survive and even flourish, despite the prowling undead.

I had forgotten about the moonflower, and a flourishing garden of them feeding on alien vermin and critters could definitely make for a neat area.

Now I'm imagning a closed-off cave that the wreckage managed to pierce, where some of the living cargo managed to spill out, including the moonflowers. Over the millenia this area managed to develop into a unique enclosed biosphere, just outside the fell influence of undeath haunting the ship nearby. A strange alien jungle of fleshy plants, ceiling crustaceons, luminescent spores that possibly take root in your skin...

Heck, it could go full-on megadungeon possibly, paired up in some sort of symbiotic relationship with the ship.

James Jacobs wrote:

Beyond that, there's also elves, which are probably from another planet as well, but not from a technological planet, and they've been on Golarion long enough to more or less be natives there now, so they're not a good "alien" race to haunt a spaceship with.

Yeah, elves just wouldn't cut it for me... If it had to be humanoid aliens, I'd prefer something at least as strange as a twi'lek or an asari. Preferably a mixed crew though, with far weirder varieties of beings like turians, elcor, ithorians, or vortigaunts Or even full-blown "starfish aliens"...which reminds me:

On the idea of a Desnan alien corpse to provide info or a benign ghost, one of those "space angels" perhaps? (which I still can't help but imagine as being like the aquatic beings from The Abyss) Maybe as a passenger, stowaway, or captive specimen, who knows?

Shadowborn wrote:
Perhaps there are tubes that adjust gravity to ascend or descend between levels. When they work, it's magic. When they don't it's time for that rope (or levitate, or fly spell). When they get kicked into overdrive by a sudden power surge, it's a reverse gravity trap.

Sweet. :D

Digitalelf wrote:
You could mine d20 future for aliens and tech...

What are some of the best books for this, btw?

Numerian wrote:
(Tekne is like fleshwarping)

!

Devices or unstable materials that can temporarily or permanently bestow an Eidolon style evolution to a target, for good or ill?

psionichamster wrote:

Basically, everyone gets a super fun toy, low magic-items otherwise, and a romp through crashed spacecraft, fights against Technic League baddies, perhaps even an encounter with a certain metallic death-spitting scorpion-bot...

Still want more of that scorpion-bot...

Silver Crusade

Tim Hitchcock wrote:

Awesome title!

I have been dreaming about an adventure like this for a long, long time!

I keep thinking "Barrier Peaks" meets "Aliens" except the aliens are dead and trying to reincarnate themselves using mortal hosts. Their experiments thus far have been unsuccessful and they desire to test more using intelligent life as the base creatures. Or something like that.

Its nice to know there are others out there with similar dreams.

If you build it, they will come. :)

Contributor

Mikaze wrote:
Was listening to Varia Suite, remembered one of the spookiest bits from Super Metroid...

Nice.

That is all. :P

Shadow Lodge

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Mikaze wrote:
Was listening to Varia Suite, remembered one of the spookiest bits from Super Metroid...

Nice.

That is all. :P

DO WANT Metroid (PFRPG). And Zelda (PFRPG). And Silent Hill (PFRPG).


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mikaze wrote:
Still want more of that scorpion-bot...

Yeah, I've been spending time ever since I saw that picture trying to come up with a good work up for it.

Just need to figure out how the current firearms rules would handle a minigun....

Oh, and I had never heard of Varia Suite before stumbling into this post. Holy crap awesome is about all I can say.

Dark Archive

Idea: Crashed alien craft contains long-dead corpses. corpses removed for study at local university/by local wizard.

investigations of the craft show that it lacks any life-support systems whatsoever and it's control system is made of dead neural tissue (brain in a jar, Libris Mortis)

Corpses turn out to be wights, members of a race that went fully necrotic ages ago, and now plies the stars in cold craft seeking still-living planets on which to hunt. Or something.

By this point, the alien zombies have stopped playing possum and are now wreaking havok wherever they were taken.

Silver Crusade

Maybe there are certain types of individuals they need to harvest in order to repair/rebuild their ship too?

devil.in.mexico13 wrote:
Oh, and I had never heard of Varia Suite before stumbling into this post. Holy crap awesome is about all I can say.

You might want to check out the follow-up album, Expansion Pack, as well. IIRC, it rounds out the missing tracks from the original game along with some of the new pieces of music.

Dark Archive

Rusty Shackleford wrote:

Idea: Crashed alien craft contains long-dead corpses. corpses removed for study at local university/by local wizard.

investigations of the craft show that it lacks any life-support systems whatsoever and it's control system is made of dead neural tissue (brain in a jar, Libris Mortis)

Corpses turn out to be wights, members of a race that went fully necrotic ages ago, and now plies the stars in cold craft seeking still-living planets on which to hunt. Or something.

By this point, the alien zombies have stopped playing possum and are now wreaking havok wherever they were taken.

Oooh. Creepeee.

Also, fun!

(Each levitating BoJ controls X amounts of 'bodies,' with their HD determining how many each one has? Status in their society is based on how many 'units' they control, although, some of their energy is tied up controlling the bodies, putting the PCs in the unfortunate position of making the final encounter harder for every 'unit' they slay, as the BoJ regains some of the energy it was using to control that body to use powering it's own attacks on the PCs, or to animate spare bodies lying around the lair, waiting for 'control slots' to open up...

It can only 'untether' from one body per round (to free up energy for offense/defense), so if it's surprise attacked in it's lair, while it has a full contingent active elsewhere, it might be surprisingly easy to defeat!)


Very half formed thought here...but the idea of non-ghost style haunts came into my mind while reading through this. Sorta a forced dream used to unload a large ammount of information to a single person in a short ammount of time...which, being alien information, would likely cause all sorts of mental damage to PCs who triggered said haunts.

Dark Archive

Fraust wrote:
Very half formed thought here...but the idea of non-ghost style haunts came into my mind while reading through this. Sorta a forced dream used to unload a large ammount of information to a single person in a short ammount of time...which, being alien information, would likely cause all sorts of mental damage to PCs who triggered said haunts.

Sci-Fi-esque 'teaching machines' that are tuned to brains very different than the PCs could just cause mad hallucinations and short term (or long-term...) confusion spell effects. Fun!

Possibly a 'translation machine' could scramble a PCs language centers in an attempt to 'teach' it the alien language, resulting in the PC speaking a word-salad gibberish until healed (and being incapable of casting spells...).

And let's not dismiss the horrible, horrible consequences of stumbling into the medical bay, where 'helpful' surgical machines attempt to 'cure' the PCs of such terrible conditions as; 'subject has too many arms and legs and not enough tentacles, removing mutant appendages' or 'subjects blood isn't at the right PH balance, correcting with hydrochloric acid booster shot' or 'six of patients eyes appear unformed or are missing, stimulating optical growth.'

Silver Crusade

Set wrote:
Fraust wrote:
Very half formed thought here...but the idea of non-ghost style haunts came into my mind while reading through this. Sorta a forced dream used to unload a large ammount of information to a single person in a short ammount of time...which, being alien information, would likely cause all sorts of mental damage to PCs who triggered said haunts.

Sci-Fi-esque 'teaching machines' that are tuned to brains very different than the PCs could just cause mad hallucinations and short term (or long-term...) confusion spell effects. Fun!

Possibly a 'translation machine' could scramble a PCs language centers in an attempt to 'teach' it the alien language, resulting in the PC speaking a word-salad gibberish until healed (and being incapable of casting spells...).

And let's not dismiss the horrible, horrible consequences of stumbling into the medical bay, where 'helpful' surgical machines attempt to 'cure' the PCs of such terrible conditions as; 'subject has too many arms and legs and not enough tentacles, removing mutant appendages' or 'subjects blood isn't at the right PH balance, correcting with hydrochloric acid booster shot' or 'six of patients eyes appear unformed or are missing, stimulating optical growth.'

Kind of liking the idea of certain body modifications actually making parts of the dungeon more survivable while presenting problems in their native environment.

Also, on the PC that got the info-download...maybe that makes him or her the prime target for the Technic League, who would dearly love to know what's rattling around in there. Then there's the Neh-Thallgu...

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

devil.in.mexico13 wrote:
Mikaze wrote:
Still want more of that scorpion-bot...

Yeah, I've been spending time ever since I saw that picture trying to come up with a good work up for it.

Just need to figure out how the current firearms rules would handle a minigun....

I stated one already. I used a giant emperor scorpion as a construct/clockwork. Claws can shoot scorching rays every round or use burning hands on any grappled creature every round. Tail can launch a fireball every 1d4 rounds. All spells as CL 11 but count as an extraordinary ability. Tossed on some resists/immunities and made it out of adamantine. Prolly never use it since my players aren't interested in Numeria though.


For those wanting an Alien spacecraft exploration may I remind you of (or introduce you to) the first, and in my mind unsurpassed, example of such a cross genre production,

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

Simply put a masterclass must read for anyone thinking of such an endeavour.

Sczarni

devil.in.mexico13 wrote:
Mikaze wrote:
Still want more of that scorpion-bot...

Yeah, I've been spending time ever since I saw that picture trying to come up with a good work up for it.

Just need to figure out how the current firearms rules would handle a minigun....

Oh, and I had never heard of Varia Suite before stumbling into this post. Holy crap awesome is about all I can say.

Depending on CR desired, you have some options.

Easiest is as above: Huge scorpion, construct traits, "eye lasers" = Scorching Ray/Retriever Eye Rays/Jabberwock Eye Beams, Miniguns = breath weapon (60' cone, piercing damage, DC & dmg scale up nicely as is)

Alternatively, build as an animated object & take a long time adding up all the little parts.

Dark Archive

psionichamster wrote:
Easiest is as above: Huge scorpion, construct traits, "eye lasers" = Scorching Ray/Retriever Eye Rays/Jabberwock Eye Beams, Miniguns = breath weapon (60' cone, piercing damage, DC & dmg scale up nicely as is)

That's awesome!

For aliens visiting worlds and capturing specimens, a huge scorpion construct that grapples with it's claws, and then zaps you into unconsciousness with a stunning taser-tail (5d6 nonlethal electrical damage, automatically hits a grappled target), could be neat.

It then hauls the twitching half-electrocuted body back to the ship in it's powerful mechanical pincers and deposits them in the ship's menagerie for later analysis.

Shadow Lodge

WARFORGED!!

Sczarni

Have a CR 11 Ultra Mecha Scorpion statted up, will post when home from work.

Sczarni

As promised:

Ultra Mecha Scorpion, CR 11

Basically, took a Retriever, changed up the attacks / abilities to match a Huge scorpion, lost the SLA's, and modified its feats.

Suggestions / critiques very much welcome.

Silver Crusade

psionichamster wrote:

As promised:

Ultra Mecha Scorpion, CR 11

Basically, took a Retriever, changed up the attacks / abilities to match a Huge scorpion, lost the SLA's, and modified its feats.

Suggestions / critiques very much welcome.

<3

I think I'm going to use this as its chassis if I ever have it show up in a game. Gonna slap on those machinegun mandibles. ;)


Also keep in mind that the passage of the Silver Mount through space could have drawn interest from another planet, and that their vessel may have had a problem while they headed for Golarion and crashed nearby, allowing you to introduce items that players who are familiar with the Silver Mount would still find fresh and baffling. Also you could have some rouge technic league members find the ship first, get ready to take off, and are killed/possessed by the ghosts of the original inhabitants, and are trying to get enough power to restart their vessel.
just ideas for you or anyone else, enjoy.


Intellect devourers, riding in the passengers' brains...


Shifty wrote:

For those wanting an Alien spacecraft exploration may I remind you of (or introduce you to) the first, and in my mind unsurpassed, example of such a cross genre production,

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

Simply put a masterclass must read for anyone thinking of such an endeavour.

Fantastic link Shifty! Excellent d20 conversion/resource material.

Scarab Sages

D20 future/Dark*Matter did reskin the Bodak as undead Grey - I always found that idea enticingly creepy.


No one's mentioned the Coeurl yet -- it was a one-time-only license, but official stats for the Black Destroyer do exist...

Grand Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Hmmm. Now I'm thinking I should break out some of my Star Wars maps and recreate something like Alien/Aliens inside a Numerian starship wreck with the PCs trapped inside.

-Skeld

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