Do aliens such as greys ever work as a race/antagonist/plot point in fantasy settings like D&D? Anyone have any experiences with them? I feel like they'd be a pretty interesting curve ball to throw at my players; something outside the normal villains you see in fantasy campaigns.
>>43629281
Ever heard of White Plume Mountain? It's a D&D module going clear back in the greybeard era where a flying saucer is crashed in a D&D world. the adventure goes up against rogue robots, mutant monsters, and alien plant monsters.
As for the Grey proper: there's a monster whose stats are in both d20 modern and the first D&D monster manual who are tall, grey-skinned humanoids with big eyes. They are shapechangers, and really fucking evil, and i can't remember their names.
>>43629281
The only "safe" way to do it is to have them be a "progentior" or ancient visiting race, that either no longer exists on the planet or is in such an extremely small concentration that they have no influence in global affairs. For whatever reason, they were unable to leave the world, so they were forced into some sort of hiding.
Have them be technologically advanced, but everything is beginning to fall apart, and the big, cool stuff isn't working anymore, meaning they're having to rely more and more on local technology to function (if they still exist). You could have their base be built around their crashed ship (most likely a colony ship if you want an actual race) that is barely functional by their standards (Basically AC, lighting, weak power, and medical facilities), but almost seemingly impregnable by local standards. Extra fun if they're all dead, and you have the party attempt to plunder the base and fight with the remnant security forces they left behind them.
TL;DR yes, but you can only really do it a certain way.
>>43629359
You're thinking of Expedition to Barrier Peaks anon.
>>43629359
You're thinking of a Bodak anon.
>>43629359
>As for the Grey proper: there's a monster whose stats are in both d20 modern and the first D&D monster manual who are tall, grey-skinned humanoids with big eyes. They are shapechangers, and really fucking evil, and i can't remember their names.
You're thinking of doppelgangers.
>>43629378
>you can only really do it a certain way.
Why?
Mind flayers basically fill that role already.
>>43629535
Mind Flayers are time traveling aberrations, not proper aliens in the spirit of scifi like the greys or X-Files style aliens.
>>43629660
I think the practical differences in game are pretty minor, if they exist at all.
D&D is already an unholy mishmash of weird fiction, fantasy, scifi, etc. Unless you're playing in a very specific mileau ("Arthurian Britain"), why shouldn't you mashup the x-files with Alice in Wonderland, HP Lovecraft, Conan the Barbarian, China Mieville and so on?
>>43629786
There has to be a level of moderation on the part of the DM. If you have full-on Independence Day style aliens in a fantasy setting, they're an unrealistic villain for the party to try to defeat, given their supreme technological advances against swords and magic missiles.
>>43629893
Eh, in a pulp setting lots of things can happen. But I agree with you in principle.
If there is an alien mothership that operates on the level of a natural disaster, then you'll have to let the party sneak through the air vents and toss a disintegrate spell into the reactor core, y'know.
>>43629380
Saw these guys and started thinking I'd like to run that module again. Make some real changes, some extended politics in the area, that sort of thing.
>>43629281ayy lmao
>>43629281
A low-magic fantasy setting where aliens show up could be really interesting. Like X-Files but with swords. The church could be aware of them but try to cover them up because a race of space-travelling sky demons would freak the shit out of people, and the party could either be agents working for them or be trying to investigate and learn about the aliens despite the church's best efforts.
Through in some monster of the week style adventures with creatures that aren't aliens (like ghosts, vampires, folklore monsters, etc.) and you've got a great campaign.
I've always really wanted to play in/run an X-Files game, though I'd personally prefer a setting analogous to 1890s America more than traditional fantasy.
>>43631444
>Like X-Files but with swords.
I would play the shit out of this. Has the potential to be a great horror campaign, as well.
>>43631444
>Medieval X-Files
Take my money. All of it. Fund this NOW!
>>43631444
The ending for that show really bothered me.Mulder just rolling over and giving up didn't sit right with me
>>43631969
Maybe they'll make up for it in the new miniseries
>>43629893
That really depends on the nature of magic in the setting.
Technology is bound by rules that magic actively breaks.
>>43632245
Not if the technology is fueled with enough Handwavium or Improbabilium, with maybe a touch of Phlogiston
>>43632294
So basically your advice is " aliens in fantasy are okay as long as you aren't a shitty writer"
>>43632398
Seems reasonable enough to me.
>>43632245
It exploits the same loopholes that magic does. Because they exist. Like all technology, you exploit the quirks of your universe to achieve the desired effect.
So you get shit like force fields, lightsabers, FTL, levicraft, and freeze rays.
>>43632398
That principle can pretty much apply to implementing most non-traditional things into a fantasy setting.
