Xeno Codex (3.5e Sourcebook)/Introduction

= Introduction =

Origins of Aliens
This sourcebook is unlike the star-trek and xenophobic or one species approach of most science fiction stories of the past. Instead taking the approach of many species relying on each other. Should one become dominate the others intervene. In fact subtlety is more heavily practiced here - for the societies (not races) in control are usually the minority of the culture. (Like the Z culture.)

The major xeno societies include the following:

Travelers of the Fates

Zeitgeist

Shadows and Insurgents

Ethergaunt

Denizen

Q

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 posibility 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 deserpately 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!