Aliens in The City... Interest Check?

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Invader Zim. Squid Girl. Keroro Gunso. Gargoyles. An episode of Doctor Who that one time, I think?

Anyway, the plot in which a group of clearly inhuman aliens/mutants/monsters etc. wind up hiding within a vast city, as plucky human side-kicks help them out and scheming human and/or monstrous bad guys try to cause plenty of trouble.

I can't think of a decent name, but it would basically take place in a giant multicultural metropolis 20 Minutes into the Future, when a group of aliens from a distant world arrive on Earth in order to invade... only to wind up realizing that Earth is actually really advanced, that they don't mind it so much, and that it's constantly being invaded/undermined by other groups/aliens, so they've got to keep it safe. Cause, you know. They need to conquer it, of course.

Possible extra aspects: 1) The aliens are weird. Maybe still humanoid and similar in enough respects so that descriptions aren't too difficult, but otherwise pretty freaky. In which case, I already have a species that will work great in that role. It depends what other people would like. 2) That we make it a bit darker than normal, more adult. However, giving it a sort of Saturday-Morning Cartoon kind of vibe is also fine.

Opinions? Suggestions for a title?

edited 20th Apr '13 1:30:10 PM by Eventua

Is this going to be plot driven?

That's a good point... hmm, I suppose it would be plot driven (with an overarching story arc thing), but with a lot of the focus just on character interactions and antics, that sort of thing.

Can there be villains? Also, how dark can it get?

Hmmm... I might be somewhat interested in playing one of the human buddies, maybe (or maybe a villain, if they're allowed to be goofy enough)... But only if it sticks with the Saturday morning cartoon feel, since to me that would be a huge throwback to my childhood.

But yeah, don't feel dissuaded from running it how you want. And honestly, it is possible to mix darkness with Saturday morning cartoonishness, but we'll see how things turn out I guess.

edited 18th Apr '13 5:49:00 PM by Moerin

What she said.

Oh hell yeah. I've been waiting for a lighthearted, kid's show-y game around here. I'm definitely game for this.

Assuming I can find the time for it, at least.

EDIT: I'm all for weird aliens, too. We need some crazy monster dudes up in here.

edited 18th Apr '13 8:03:40 PM by Bindlestick

Yes. :>

Why am I thinking on the inclusion of cyberpunk stuff?

"And thus Echidna, mother of monsters said: 'What in Tartarus is that thing!?' Thus Echidna turn her head away in disgust, so utterly confused by the appearance of these monsters."

How crazy by our characters be, are human aliens allowed, and what kind of things can be expected?

Hey, kkut. Been awhile.

I'm tempted to put in a friendly Chyssalid of XCOM fame who communicates entirely in inhuman,terrifying shireks. One that acts like a sugar-high puppy to his human buddy.

Ah, yes, so this could be work then, hmm... mwahahaha! >:D

As for the aliens, I'd personally like to do what most of these series do in that the aliens are all part of the same series and thus show some noticeable physiological similarities. Know what I mean?

You can instantly tell that a Transformer is, ya know, a Transformer. Same with the Turtles, the Irkens, the Gargoyles.

For this reason, I'm thinking that characters would be split into one of three main groups:

• Humans - some are sidekicks, some are minor threats/antagonists (like pesky journalists, criminals or government agents).
• Invaders - aliens of the same species, who are obviously of that same species but still physically and mentally distinct enough to tell them apart. The main protagonists, though there might be some villains from their race later on.
• Others - aliens of either one or multiple alien races, who could show up as everything from monsters of the week to major characters.

I have two possible alien species for the 'invader' role - the Yaephath, and the Jebralgi. So I'd like some feedback/votes to see which of them you'd all like to see.

• The Yaephath (formerly 'Ahmun') - a nocturnal, hermaphroditic race from a Death World shrouded by almost constant night-time (and days so bright they shear your flesh, boil your blood and turn your bones to ash). They have a biological caste system, and create new castes by their 'Holders' being able to absorb genetic information from their food - eat enough members of a species, and the Holders can add valuable traits to their off-spring. They thus come in many different forms but possess several similar traits, and have the same body structure and basic abilities (including acid spit and echolocation). Due to an extremely powerful collectivist attitude bordering on a hivemind (along with a brutal, resource-poor homeworld) they would likely have not achieved much, but discovered a crashed spaceship containing advanced technology. Educated and assisted by an advanced AI, they have formed a religiously devout empire that lacks a true hierarchy - everyone simply serves because 'they represent the majority, therefore they must be correct'. Reference images can be seen in this gallery here: http://eventua.deviantart.com/favourites/46827419
  • If the yaephath, we would either play as a group of 'Pariahs' (yaephath born without their strong collectivist attitudes; rebels, basically) or as simply a group of invaders who got stranded on Earth with little or no contact to the rest of the empire, and so they have to adapt to a 'new' majority.
• The Jebralgi - a carefree and obedient race, whose homeworld was near destruction. Seeking both perfection and a new home, they devoted themselves to cybernetics and genetic engineering. Traveling on-board massive, self-sustaining 'MOTHER' ships, they go from world to world, harvesting them of both genetic material and useful inventions. New jebralgi are built rather than born - the jebralgi MOTHER ships will scramble stored genetic and cybernetic information, creating a new random combination each time. Thus, they hope, they will eventually create a 'perfect' life form. There are no reference images, but due to their chaotic nature, it's not really necessary.
  • If the jebralgi, we would play as a group of jebralgi sent to Earth. The reason could be that either our 'MOTHER' has taken a liking to Earth/is glitching, and so wants to protect it from her kin, or we would be a group of jebralgi set to prepare the way for a future invasion/build a new MOTHER on Earth/steal genetic material and technology.
  • This option would make more sense if we were going for a Cyberpunk or Bio Punk style.

edited 19th Apr '13 11:40:24 AM by Eventua

Oh, I could use an alien character from a failed RP I signed up to.

I like the first invader alien race.

edited 19th Apr '13 11:49:48 AM by Stratofarius

I'm a big fan of the Jebralgi.

I think I'm gonna go with this, then, and set up a sign-up thread. I'm also gonna use the Jebralgi as the player species - partly because they allow for a wider variety of character designs AS WELL AS making a near infinite source of monsters of the week/interesting bad guys, but also because I'm using the Yaephath for personal projects, whereas the Jebralgi are not planned for anything else.

Any ideas for titles, though?

I dunno, I kinda like the idea of just going with "Aliens In The City" as the title, but that's just me.

I like the title as is. Regarding the Jebralgi, could we reference/use Ben 10 aliens to construct a character?

Of course - feel free to reference aspects of various aliens from other settings

MODS, PLEASE LOCK THIS THREAD. THE SIGN-UP THREAD IS HERE: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13664844700A84836000&page=1

edited 20th Apr '13 1:29:53 PM by Eventua