Complete Xeno (3.5e Sourcebook)/Introduction

= Introduction =

Outsiders are beings born from another dimension, and aberrations are species which fit not with the natural order of the world. The surface of the planet teams with life and magic, and intelligent beings walk its surface under a blanket of the sky above. But what above the sky, into the stars and heavens themselves? In some worlds, nothing... the stars are little more than pinhole lights in the cosmic cloth seperating the material from the outer planes or the far realm. But in other worlds the material plain extends far beyond a single planet, into the sky, and space itself, an empty void where the stars in the skies are burning suns of their own, possibly dancing with dozens of planets, planets which can host LIFE. In this expanded material plane, Faerun, Eberron, and other worlds are just one of many in the material, and while some may be populated with humanoid life, other beings exist, born in non-Earth worlds. They would be aberrations were they not beings originating from another material plane across the gulf of space.

Complete Xeno
While the book has the most material for Dungeon Masters seeking to add new elements such as the concept of an enemy no one yet understands, or perhaps as a First Race which has left relics across the land, there is plenty of material for players as well, allowing for the possibility of playing as alien races, campaigns spanning multiple worlds, invasion stories from either side, and abductions. It allows for games to break the mold of swords and sorcery, and possibly run modern or future campaigns with the standard D&D system. Naturally, Dungeon Masters will find dozens of monsters, feats, and lore about these alien species, allowing you to highlight just one, or all races in your game if you wish. Each chapter is devoided to a major alien species, including their home planets, ships, and technology, ready to be used in your campaign.

Origins of Aliens
While aliens share many traits with aberrations and outsiders, they are not nessicarly one of them. The key point of what makes an alien is that they are indeed material planar creatures (even the outsider ones, being native outsiders). However, their homelands are somehow alien and strange, by strange environments such as a sun too dim, or a world without a surface, or through proximity to strange effects such as brushing on the edge of the planes, existing in an alternate material world where the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, or a world where the planet is alive and erupting with magical energies powerful enough to change the surface of life upon it.

Regardless of their homeworlds, aliens can find means of traveling the great void between solar systems and still find the standard campaign settings without need of plane shifts to move into another dimension. As such, aliens by and large much either be technologically or magically advanced enough to allow for ships and other means of propulsion across the vast distances.

The major xenomorphic races include the following:

Gokiburi, or Gokes are they are known in shorthand, are roach-like creatures from a semi-tropical homeworld. They are dutiful, proud, brave, and persistant, but can also be totalitarian, domineering, militant, and expansive. Born with latent psionic energy, their paragon leaders possess subtle control over their colony with mental and pheromic means.

The Uberich are humanoid aliens, thin and lithe, and indeed weak of frame but possessing powerful psychic minds filled with evil intent. Able to home their abilities by focusing upon a single emotion, this idea has formed the basis of even their technology, literally riding upon engines of fear.

The Seppia are kindly curious creatures from a distant gas giant. Lacking legs to walk or a body pressurized for most earth-like worlds, they walk the land in construct bodies, appearing as the local humanoids do in an effort to understand life on a world with a surface.

Noo are creatures who are all one, a single planet consumed in a sentient slime. Finding itself unable to expand any further, it reached for the stars, sending child seeds out into the depths of space in hopes of finding new planets to colonize and grow its ever-widening conciousness. All Noos are part of the Noosphere, and the Noosphere is all of Noo.

The Tempus are beings from a world long dead, long lived ancient giants who wander the land ponderously, thinking throughs slowly to conserve energy and watching the universe pass before them. They have scattered across the cosmos now, and what seems like eons to many are but the passing of another day for them.

Appilons are hard-shelled creatures from a hostile world, a land of sulfer smoke and thunder. Born in a place which would kill any lesser being they have been built to survive against all odds, split into two types of beings which both weather out the everlasting storms of their world.

These six races mentioned here represent the most widespread and virulent of the alien species which roam the stars, though many others exist, be they uberich slaves or natives who have no yet left their homeworlds. Some pre-existing creatures may also qualify as aliens in a setting, the most likely of all being the Neogi. which possess spider-like flying ships, visiting from a distant star, or the Tsochari which hail from a yet unknown lightless dead planet out in space. Such creatures may be given the xenoblooded subtype if desired.

Xenoblooded and Xenotheric
Being from a strange place does have its perks, manifested through the xenoblooded and xenotheric templates introduced in this book. While not all aliens have these templates, many do, a biological requirement to survive on what are otherwise alien, hostile worlds or even purposeful genetic tampering on part of the races themselves.

Sufficently Advanced Science...
Several of the alien technologies introduced in this book are just that, technoligical, extraordinary items which often have magical or near-magical effects. Such things are inevitably useful in a magic-dominating world, able to bypass antimagic fields and giving "magic" to the otherwise mundane hands of aliens. While they have all be priced accordingly for their usefulness, you may rule that the seemingly magical weapons of the aliens are indeed magic items, build by magic-capable aliens, and thus following the normal rules for magic items. If you choose to do this, you can adjust the price lower as needed to fit similar magical items. Alien relics left on a world which does not understand them are also likely to treat them as magical items from a roleplaying perspective, even if they have no idea how they work, with all magical attempts to divine their function coming up blank. They may take on the role of lesser artifacts in this manner. Ancient alien races may be useful in explaining the origins of certain other artifacts or even the original origin of creatures such as warforged. Could the warforged been first used as a robotic exploring probe by strange beings from another time?

Introducing Aliens in your Campaign
So you have decided to use aliens in your game. You can finally play out battles in space and everything, but what if your campaign is pre-existing and you cannot start out with the knowledge of aliens in the first place? You may decide that you wish to start introducing the aliens subtly, perhaps beginning with an abduction, or strange sightings. The PCs could discover ancient ruins which ends up projecting a beam into space and weeks later, discover it has called something down from the sky. This brings of the questions of how they will interact: will they be benign or vicious? Why have they come? Do they bring their entire force of a small scout ship? More importantly consider the possibility of your PCs getting a hand on alien technology. You may wish to handwave it, saying it cannot be used because it is too advanced, and thus also provides a fine way to pose a powerful challenge against equipped opponents, yet not ruin the expected wealth by level by allowing them to loot the item-heavy bodies of their enemies. Alternatively you may want to allow them to use alien items, all the way up to starships. If such happens, your campaign setting may expand to other worlds, providing an even larger experience.

Politics, action, war, even ship-sailing themes can be explored using alien technology, as the PCs desesperately attempt to figure out how to fix their ship as hostile beings chase them down, or their diplomacy attempts end up causing a much larger problem for their home planet. They may reach another land filled with alien gods, or end up hurling through time, only to arrive back home in the far future. The choice is up to you!