Special Thanks to: Playtesters Ian F White Joshua Hayes Goran Tormac 2 Savage Aliens Chapter 1: A History of the Xenomorph Problem Chapter 2: Colonial Marines Chapter 3: The Universe Chapter 4: The Corporations Chapters 5: Character Creation Chapter 6: New Rules Chapter 7: Xenomorphs Chapter 8: Gamemastering Aliens 3 Chapter 1: A history of the Xenomorph Problem A Chapter 1: 4 The closing years of the responsible for numerous com- 20th Century saw a fading of munist takeovers. the great Nations and a rapid As the corporations grew, increase in the power and influ- they wove together the eco- ence of multi-national Corpora- nomic interests of the Nations tions. These Corporations were of the world, and the specter of not restricted to a single field; large-scale warfare was re- their interest were vast, cover- duced. With head-to-head war- ing all aspects of industry and fare economically unaccepta- economics, as they diversified ble, the advanced states set- into every field that held profit. tled for venting their hostilities They were also not defined by and waging wars in Third World country, society, or ideology. In nations. industry, in business, and in the media, the multi-nationals be- This trend continued came more powerful and more through the following decades, visible. as the corporations prospered and the interdependence of The first planet to have a the major Nations of Earth grew. scientific colony on it was Mars. Tensions did not end, but were The moon followed soon there- kept under control and re- after. Needless to say, Earth’s leased in ways that did not space exploration was not unit- damage anyone’s ability to ed; many different countries make money. Humanity entered have established colonies in the age of Space in an atmos- space. The major colonizers phere of controlled tension but are: The United Americas (USA, not outright war. Canada, parts of South Ameri- ca), China, Japan, The European The Age of Space came in Federation, and Russia. Though the wake of two tremendous rare, conflicts have occurred technological breakthroughs. between countries in space. The first was the reactionless The most significant cases are Displacement drive, which al- between UA and China, be- lowed Humanity to travel quick- cause of the differences in ly and cheaply within the Solar government between these System. The Jump Drive soon two powers; diplomatic unrest followed, expanding on the has occasionally turned into principles behind the Displace- war. China is believed to back ment Drive and taking Humani- the notorious PRA, a communist ty out into the stars. As tech- extremist group that has been nologies were perfected, explo- ration craft went out from Earth. 5 The search for minerals where Humans can live. and other raw materials was On every habitable world, colo- only a secondary goal of the nies have been established. explorers; those things were They have expanded at vary- available within the Solar Sys- ing rates, depending on the tem itself, in amounts that would corporate support they have keep humanity supplied for received and the qualities of many years. The most im- the worlds. Shiploads of people portant things the stars held and equipment are sent to were knowledge, the potential each Colony, and eventually of new habitable planets to the colonies begin to send ease the population pressures items of value back to the rest of Earth, and the opportunity to of Humanity; unusual life forms study new life forms. and mineral combination, the The greatest value for the product of local industries, and corporations lay in the life after a generation, skilled work- forms. Each world is like a gi- ers. gantic laboratory, where the These skilled workers are forces of nature have experi- part of the rapidly growing pop- mented on for billion of years. ulations of the colonies, and the The creatures produced in corporations have developed those laboratories, and the many techniques for managing complex chemicals contained them successfully. Colonists within them, possess abilities far have developed many tech- beyond those available to Hu- niques for making them suc- manity. Many of these abilities cessfully. are nearly miraculous. Colonists are taught to live The expansion into Space active, disciplined lives, to max- had been a slow progress, imize their economic value and since useful systems were rare reduce the risks of living in the and the effort involved in es- colonies. Good educations are tablishing colonies was great. available for those who are not. Still, at least six Earth-like worlds By contrast, the disorganized have been found, and dozens state of the population of Earth more that are at least habita- means that there are relatively ble. fewer people who are well dis- On other worlds, the pro- ciplined and well-educated, as cess of terraforming is under- the quality of life diminished on way, as hostile environments Earth. The value of trained, en- are slowly changed into places ergetic, and obedient workers 6 from the colonies increase. In addition to the above aspects of corporate life, a ma- jor part of each corporation’s management approach has been the establishment of a corporate military force. These forces are not large, but they are well trained, and have the best equipment their Corpora- tion can afford. With Colonies on many worlds, the power and influence of the Corporations rose rapidly. As they became more powerful, they became more of a threat to the Nations of Earth. The sit- uation was a very delicate one; the nations had far larger ar- by seeing corporate property. mies, but the Corporation con- Finally, one small crisis got out trolled space and vital high of control and erupted into war- technology. The same econom- fare. Dozens of other small ic interdependence, which pre- wars began within weeks, and vented war among the Nations the Earth spun into chaos. For- now, prevented the Nations tunately, the wars remained lim- from harming the Corporations. ited; few nuclear or biological Tensions between the in- weapons were used. creasingly wealthy Corporates The wars lasted for five and the Governments of Earth years. The war concluded with increased. The governments the formation of a joint council felt threatened. They saw the to oversee the affairs of both fabric of society changing and Corp and government for the thought they might not be a betterment of humanity. Out of part of the future of humanity. violence came the Interstellar Every political weapon was Commerce Commission (ICC), a used, including diplomacy, brib- coalition of Corporation and Na- ery, blackmail, and economic tions, which united Humanity. pressure. Separatist move- This organization was in charge ments were created to destabi- or regulating activities among lize Nations, which responded 7 its members, and the Colonial itarily and economically. There Marine Corps was created as are still underground rebel its military arm under the char- movements on most Colonies, ter that they did not have to but they pose little threat to the answer to any single corpora- ICC at present. tion. The wars had taught eve- The colonies, having sup- ryone that it would be valuable ported the Corps in the war, to have some sort of “police thought they would win more force” to discourage them from independence from external using violence to solve their rule. problems. The creation of the ICC Throughout the wars, the confirmed society's view that colonies strongly supported the the colonies were nothing more Corporations. They wanted to than Corporate property. Many remain free from the nations, colonies rebelled. They were al- and many believed they would ways going to lose. The ICC, receive status as independent Corporate forces and the CMC entities with increased control waged economic and military over their own affairs. When the warfare and overpowered all ICC was formed, it became clear but one corner of resistance. this would not be the case; the The rebel system of Alexandria Colonies were treated as cor- sealed itself off from the rest of porate property. Another cycle humanity. Soon after, the Union of hostility, tension, and intense of Progressive People formed diplomacy began, an eventual- from several rim colonies and ly several Colonies rebelled. set up a military border. Their The Colonial Marine Corps, sup- size is small but fortified. At- ported by corporate forces was tempts to retake their territory given the job of bringing the re- proved fruitless. Alexandria bels back under control. acknowledges the UPP's inde- The cause of the Colonies pendence but the ICC does was in danger from the begin- not. ning. The tremendous financial and military resources available The Colonial Marine Corps to the ICC meant that their loss- was created at the same time es could be quickly replaced, as the ICC. The intent was that while the colonies were very the Colonial Marines, funded by weak in technology, industry, coalition of all the space-going and population. One by one, Nations, would be an inde- the Colonies were defeated mil- pendent force that would re- 8 solve disputes among the Na- patrolled and unmonitored for tions and Corporation, and keep months or even years. It wasn’t the peace in the Colonies as until later, from secret grants well. Each nation had its own from corporations that believed portion of the force made up of the ICC to be corrupt, did they its own citizens, but they manage to compete again. shared equipment, training, and 2122 - First contact with Aliens doctrine. They were led by the creatures on LV-426. The Colonial Marine Corps High freighter "Nostromo" made Command, which included rep- landfall on the planet, one of resentatives from several na- the crew members was infected tions.