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Dario Lazzari
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Evolved Edition: Extra Ideas for Facehugger Swarm

Sat 17 May 2025, 17:09

Hello! I've seen the little rule for swarms you added on the Facehugger, that's great! I want to post here my version of the rule (based on the first edition ones), written after I've saw the first Alien: Romulus trailer. Maybe this can give Free League designers an extra idea, or maybe it'll be useful for all players out there as a custom rule. Enjoy!

FACEHUGGER SWARM
ALIEN The Roleplaying Game by Free League Publishing - Written and laid out by Dario Lazzari for Dario Digital RPG

“A wave of them rushed at the glass, sensing the warm bodies beyond. Their reproductive organs thumped at the pane, smearing it with a combination of fluids. Their nails scraped like little rat feet at the glass and at each other. The pile grew as more and more of them leapt onto one another in a crazed push to get at the humans. [...] The pile grew and grew until all one could see was a mass of legs, legs and more legs. Three facehuggers pinned themselves flat against the glass, sprawled out completely to extend to their full wingspan. They formed a triangle that looked… deliberate.”
- ALIENS: BUG HUNT, Jonathan Maberry


GENERAL RULES
SPEED: 1
HEALTH: 6+1d6 per zone
ARMOR RATING: Impervious to all attacks except fire, explosions, and electricity.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: These special abilities are common to all varieties of Xenomorph XX121, as well as every Facehugger Swarm (see page 298 of the Core Manual): Acid Splash, Sprint, Resistance to Vacuum, Falling, Immune to the Cold, Radiation, No Respiration, No Heat Signature.

● SWARM RULES: The size of a Facehugger Swarm is measured in the number of zones it covers. Its Health is equal to 6+1d6 for each zone it covers. If a Facehugger Swarm's Health drops to zero, the swarm is destroyed.
● MASS OF LEGS: A Swarm of Facehuggers is a horrifying sight, a shapeless mass of legs and tails, solely dedicated to physically penetrating you with alien eggs, ready to mature in your chest. Anyone who sees a Swarm of Facehuggers must immediately make a Panic Roll.
● UNSTOPPABLE: The Facehugger Swarm advances and sprawls as a single, unstoppable, fleshy mass. He can break through any normal door or armored glass in one Round.
● REPRODUCTIVE FRENZY: When the Facehugger Swarm attacks a target in the same area, the victim immediately gets +1 Stress Level. Then, roll a d6 for the swarm:
○ 1 to 5: The Facehuggers hinder each other, trying to reach the victim. They don't attack for this Round, but the next swarm Reproductive Frenzy roll gets +1 (this effect is cumulative), as the creatures seem to gradually take on a sort of lethal pack organization.
○ 6 or more: One of the Facehuggers manages to reach the victim, always attacking only with The Final Embrace signature attack (see below).

● THE FINAL EMBRACE: The Facehugger gets to its victim, its acid making short work of any helmet or respirator in the way. Roll for the attack with six Base Dice. If it gets one or more, the poor victim is facehugged and immediately Broken. Their last sensations are horrible, yet strangely loving: a firm but gentle caress around their head; a smothering sensation followed by a warm burst of oxygen-rich air filling their lungs; a deep sensation of slow motion falling; it’s okay to fall asleep…
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_ArthurDallas_
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Re: Evolved Edition: Extra Ideas for Facehugger Swarm

Sat 17 May 2025, 20:59

We already had a discussion on the forum about this. Do a little research and you'll find it.

I like your signature attack for the swarm. I count 5 items (for the D6) and 2 underlying items. Please put the numbers next to your signature so that it comes to a total of 6, I imagine the first item is 1-2...

We had a conversation about the swarm to designate a number of victims fairly quickly without wasting too much time (helping the Game Mother). I think the signature attack for the swarm should designate a number of victims, with an increase in victims as we get closer to a result of 6.

You have to designate victims in both camps (both PCs and NPCs and facehugger victims too, they too will die but it depends on the weapons of the PCs and NPCs, you have to take several factors into account... it's not just the PCs and NPCs who die...

We had discussions about using conventional attack signatures for PCs and using a group model for NPCs.

Here is the swarm discussion, we had...
viewtopic.php?t=12534&hilit=swarm

Thanks,
Arthur.
Moderator (Free League Alien RPG Forums)

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