After getting lost on the Aliens wiki the other day (shortly after googling, "If Hudson had never encountered a xenomorph before why did he use the term 'bug hunt?' and being heavily, heavily pleased with the resulting answers) I have put a lot of thought into eventually - far future - running an Aliens game using the OW ruleset.

That in and of itself would be fairly easy to port. The Colonial Marines would use standard Guardsmen loadouts with specialists here and there using the respective loadouts.

The main thing would be nerfing the Tyranids as their templates would be the best match for the primary Alien antagonist (the misnomered "Xenomorphs" in which xenomorph is incorrectly used as a Proper Pronoun instead of a noun that Lt. Gorman originally intended that includes a litany of Alien lifeforms... /rant).

Has anyone made an effort to port the Nids from Deathwatch to Only War? Would it be a matter of simply dropping toughness and insane weapon power?

What about general thoughts on the subject - has anyone else done something similar to this?

What about general thoughts on the subject - has anyone else done something similar to this?

Not with Only War. Though I did write total conversions for both Mass Effect and Battletech by using the Dragon Age P&P rules.

And so I say: go for it. Re-writing existing rules you like to conform to a different theme is fun and can be a rewarding experience. It's a bit like ... painting a mini! Even if you never actually end up playing it, the act of creation alone is a good pastime to keep the brain juices flowing, but with any luck you may some day even find an opportunity to try it out in practice.

Pen & Paper has the big advantage of easily allowing for people to change all sorts of things, drawing inspiration from the rules they're working on or completely different sources. Merging and reshaping as they see fit. And for what it's worth, I deem the Only War rules to be relatively "comfortable" to work with.

If Hudson had never encountered a xenomorph before why did he use the term 'bug hunt?'

I'm gonna go with the Colonial Marines occasionally getting called in by paranoid settlers to deal with false alarms about supposed "alien activity", or the soldiers actually having to deal with (non-sentient?) hostile indigenous lifeforms every once in a while?

If Hudson had never encountered a xenomorph before why did he use the term 'bug hunt?'

I'm gonna go with the Colonial Marines occasionally getting called in by paranoid settlers to deal with false alarms about supposed "alien activity", or the soldiers actually having to deal with (non-sentient?) hostile indigenous lifeforms every once in a while?

Actually it is a reference to other life forms - sentient or not is irrelevant - that are not humanoid. Because, I believe during breakfast Frost makes the comment, "...Arcturian poon tang? Doesn't even matter if its male or female!" Referencing another, sentient alien life force. So, the CSM had dealt with aliens before, just nothing that matched the Great Devourer the Engineers created.

Aside from that, I am getting really comfortable with the Only War ruleset - and to date it is probably my most favorable of the 40k RPG rulesets. I think it has solid foundations for something other than itself, which I suppose is true of most RPGs that are fun to play.

When I do start getting some things together, would I be able to post to these forums? I suspect not.

I wish there was a spoiler tag. POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!



Check out Salvaging Solace. It's got stats for Termagants, Genestealers and a Tyranid Warrior. Compare those to their DW stats and you should have a good chance at converting the rest.

If you want Pearl, I can have a look at doing a Tyranid bestiary appropriate to their tabletop stats, though it'd probably be a tertiary project unless you need it with relative haste.

Thanks, Myr, Sadly, I don't think I have that supplement, dude.

Lazarus, that would be awesome. At least then I would have a base to work with when putting together the Aliens. I mean, yeah, I have the Deathwatch supplements but I am not sure how to properly convert them. I suppose getting them somewhere near OW Orks is a good start.

Could I recommend a Lictor as an appropriate foundation for a Xenomorph? I could prioritise such to help you get the ball rolling.

That sounds perfect and was exactly what I was thinking. However, I also wanted it to be squishy enough that squad of colonial marines could be an equal match for the same amount of xenomorphs. Whereas the Lictor is kind of a badass.

When I do start getting some things together, would I be able to post to these forums? I suspect not.

Hmm, why not? People do that all the same over on the Dragon Age forums.

I'd be surprised if FFG had anything against it. If anything, it only goes to show what you can do with these books.

However, I also wanted it to be squishy enough that squad of colonial marines could be an equal match for the same amount of xenomorphs. Whereas the Lictor is kind of a badass.

Well, no reason you can't have several different types of xenomorphs! I recall they had different types even for the normal "grown-up" alien (remember the queen's bodyguards?), plus their exact body shape and capabilities also depend on what sort of host they spawned from (see the alien from Alien 3, which was born not from a human but from a cow or a dog, depending on the cut-version of the movie).

It's a nice way to have both "cannonfodder" aliens in your game, as well as ones that can creep out the entire squad.

Has anyone made an effort to port the Nids from Deathwatch to Only War? Would it be a matter of simply dropping toughness and insane weapon power?

I did. My conversion can be summed up as "Meh, looks about right. My guys like a challenge."

And deciding to use the DW corebook stats for the Tyranid weapons, NOT the errata ones.

Alternatively, if you just want Genestealers, you might want to have a look in Creatures Anathema (for DH1), for about the right powerlevel of 'stealers for (early) OW.

Oh, and if you use my conversion, you might want to hold the really big bugs

Hive Tyrants and Biotitans er very for guardsmen.

Unless they are fearless, obviously

Genestealer: Noun. 1. Tyranid vanguard organism. 2. Xenomorf from "Alien" with the copyright numbers filed off.

The thing is, the Aliens universe has drastically less background to draw upon than 40K . So, rules aside, you will have to generate an enormous amount of background material from scratch- which begs the question: why not just run OW vs. 'nids in the Jericho Reach, and strive for an Aliens 'feel' to the missions, rather than than create a new system/setting/background/etc...?

Perhaps they just like the franchise and would prefer to go with the original rather than a bad copy. 40k may be so diverse that it contains and allows homages to almost anything, but this very same feature can also be a downside if you want to limit it to that one movie etc. If you want to play Alien rather than something Alienesque .

Because if you wish to immerse yourself into a particular IP, all the other stuff that goes into 40k - Space Marines, the Inquisition, other Xenos, las weapons, the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Imperial Cult, and the gazillion other pop-culture references - suddenly turns into baggage simply by existing, which ultimately means your experience won't be as "pure" as with a proper Aliens game.

Besides, I wouldn't say that the Aliens IP has that much less background, concerning the stuff that actually matters. If you're looking around, there's actually quite a lot that has come into existence via licensed products such as comics and games, or the Predator crossover. Ultimately, however, you don't even need much background to stage a simple adventure on a lost ship or an empty colony. Players will be able to draw upon the movies and fill in the blanks themselves. Here, the lower volume of "established background" can actually become an advantage, because (I assume) everyone will have seen the Alien movies and will be able to draw upon them for inspiration. In 40k, on the other hand, the material and its scope is just a big mess, with content conflicts and contradicting interpretations everywhere you look, making it very tricky for players in your group to just come up with things that won't be a problem for someone else. Hell, half the community hasn't even yet realised there is no canon.

I haven't actually watched any of the Alien media besides my housemate playing Alien Isolation ^^;

But uhh, can't be that hard right?

The thing is, the Aliens universe has drastically less background to draw upon than 40K . So, rules aside, you will have to generate an enormous amount of background material from scratch- which begs the question: why not just run OW vs. 'nids in the Jericho Reach, and strive for an Aliens 'feel' to the missions, rather than than create a new system/setting/background/etc...?

Because that is not what I want to do. A challenge to create background and fluff isn't a problem for me.

At the end of the day it is almost an argument of semantics. For one thing, getting this done immediately isn't the goal, so I don't NEED to run an OW game vs. Nids in the reach. Eventually I would like to run a Colonial Space Marine game. If that means simply changing some names on certain things and playing it by ear on others, so be it.

But just Running a game of Guardsmen vs. Nids in the 40k Universe is basically the opposite of what I want to do.

I haven't actually watched any of the Alien media besides my housemate playing Alien Isolation ^^;

But uhh, can't be that hard right?

Wow! I kind of pity and envy you at the same time now.

Go watch them. They're classics!

Do the Predator movies, too, while you're at it.

Yeah dude. At the very LEAST Alien and Aliens, quickly followed by Predator. Everything else can come later but should still be seen for posterity's sake.

Yeah dude. At the very LEAST Alien and Aliens, quickly followed by Predator. Everything else can come later but should still be seen for posterity's sake.

I totally agree that Alien ("Oh my God, it's behind you!"), Aliens ("Game over, man!") and Predator ("Get to zee choppa!") are all required viewing. The later movies, though... I find that bad sequals can actually reduce my enjoyment of brilliant originals (extreme example: The Matrix ), so I have to advise against ruining your appreciation of the originals with dreck like Predator 2 or Alien 3 or [shudder] Prometheus...

Yeah dude. At the very LEAST Alien and Aliens, quickly followed by Predator. Everything else can come later but should still be seen for posterity's sake.

I totally agree that Alien ("Oh my God, it's behind you!"), Aliens ("Game over, man!") and Predator ("Get to zee choppa!") are all required viewing. The later movies, though... I find that bad sequals can actually reduce my enjoyment of brilliant originals (extreme example: The Matrix ), so I have to advise against ruining your appreciation of the originals with dreck like Predator 2 or Alien 3 or [shudder] Prometheus...

I come at it from the absolute opposite. The sequels, while "bad" (which I agree, but is a touch subjective), are not only nostalgic for me, they help flesh out the overall universe. Yeah, overall they tend to suck more than rock, but at they same time they also give us more glances and tidbits into the bigger pitcture as a whole.

I still watch Alien Resurrection whenever it is on just because Ron Pearlman. Also, it has some pretty rad scenes. Overall - crapfest.

Personally, I think Predator 2 is awesome. I love warzone 1997 LA (or whatever year it was). LOL.

Edit: And legit, Promethius was one of my favorite movies... ever. I will now walk out of this particular strain of off-topic to avoid the "WHT BRO R U SRS?!" circle jerk. I really enjoy that movie and catch something new every time I watch it. I can't wait for the sequels.

I actually fell asleep at the cinema during Prometheus. I wish I was kidding.

I liked Prometheus, but not for the story it told per say, more for it showed how a Scav Salvage Crew might work in ICAR.

I haven't actually watched any of the Alien media besides my housemate playing Alien Isolation ^^;

But uhh, can't be that hard right?

Wow! I kind of pity and envy you at the same time now.

Go watch them. They're classics!

Do the Predator movies, too, while you're at it.

But skip the aliens vs predator ones. well the first one was ok , but the second one, no no no....

Yeah dude. At the very LEAST Alien and Aliens, quickly followed by Predator. Everything else can come later but should still be seen for posterity's sake.

I totally agree that Alien ("Oh my God, it's behind you!"), Aliens ("Game over, man!") and Predator ("Get to zee choppa!") are all required viewing. The later movies, though... I find that bad sequals can actually reduce my enjoyment of brilliant originals (extreme example: The Matrix ), so I have to advise against ruining your appreciation of the originals with dreck like Predator 2 or Alien 3 or [shudder] Prometheus...

I come at it from the absolute opposite. The sequels, while "bad" (which I agree, but is a touch subjective), are not only nostalgic for me, they help flesh out the overall universe. Yeah, overall they tend to suck more than rock, but at they same time they also give us more glances and tidbits into the bigger pitcture as a whole.

I still watch Alien Resurrection whenever it is on just because Ron Pearlman. Also, it has some pretty rad scenes. Overall - crapfest.

Personally, I think Predator 2 is awesome. I love warzone 1997 LA (or whatever year it was). LOL.

Edit: And legit, Promethius was one of my favorite movies... ever. I will now walk out of this particular strain of off-topic to avoid the "WHT BRO R U SRS?!" circle jerk. I really enjoy that movie and catch something new every time I watch it. I can't wait for the sequels.

I'm right there with you on Predator 2. "Fokin voodoo magic mon!"

The moment when you see the trophy room on the ship and you see the alien skull.. Blew my mind!

I find prometheus hilarious for all the wrong reasons. But if you like it, good for you man!

So... back to system conversions.

Predator= Kroot + Tau stealth technology?