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Rules (wip):
D&D actually has its own unique space aliens; I've always just used those because everything about space in D&D is gnarly. There are a lot to choose from. Some entirely unique to D&D, others inspired by popular media like the Cthulhu mythos.
For mechs you have all sorts of golems, clockwork/steamwork machines and races like the Warforged.
Honestly, I'm half thinking of running mines of phandelver, but replacing the black spider with a Warhammer 40k crossover: The Patriarch.
Genestealer Cults infect the local population, preparing for the main invading Tyranid forces.
You might be interested in #rifts setting
https://therpjournal.wordpress.com/2025/03/26/rifts-an-underrated-gem-in-the-world-of-tabletop-rpgs/
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth where dimensional rifts have torn open, bringing magic, monsters, and alien technology to the planet. This fusion of genres allows players to encounter everything from high-tech cyborgs and vampires to dragons and ancient deities. Rifts offers an unprecedented amount of flexibility for creating characters and stories. You can be anything from a power-armored soldier to a mystic who commands the forces of magic, or even a dimensional traveler with access to alien technologies.
@INeedMana
I just noticed Piefed's hastags aren't visible over here on Mastodon. Odd.
I was hoping it would behave like a hashtag when you view it via mastodon instance. AFAIK so far link aggregation fediverse doesn't really interact with hashtags fluently. Even on *bin it is like a separate thing
If you're open to branching into other systems, the folks at !scifi@ttrpg.network can help you pick an easy to learn and vibe appropriate system for your adventure.
If you look up Expedition To The Barrier Peaks it's a dnd module from the 80s where the party investigates a crashed spaceship and deals with robots and aliens, it's still pretty good I'd say
Just adding that illithids were first introduced in this module as the aliens.
@Shkshkshk @rpg Given that magic and high fantasy are commonplace in D&D and the average character sees ten impossible things before breakfast, it'd be hard to pull off something truly confusing/surprising.
Maybe something like the Borg that very distinctly meld technology with organics, using technology that's utterly alien to a fantasy setting, like calling in an orbital bombardment or plasma beam rifles or energy shields.
You actually gave me a different great idea. In my setting, we have all the normal fantasy stuff, but the elves are robots who often modify their bodies to do stuff like have plasma cannons hidden in their arms or directly interface with the GPS satellites. I think something like the Borg would be a great way to handle half-elves.
@Shkshkshk @rpg a big thing about aliens is that the concept works because there is only humans in our world, so they are true aliens to us. The moment there is diversity of intelligent species, the impact is lower in that aspect. I think that what you need to ask you is What makes this aliens and not just another specie that comes from somewhere else? What are the rules that are broken with their presence? What constitute their alterity? The answers to that will guide you to what you are after
Palladium RPGs have a concept of mega-damage. Itβs 100x standard hit points. So 1 md = 100 hit points. But more than that, regular damage points make no effect on MD items, vehicles, etc. Like how a very powerful character could deal 100+ damage, but if they tried that against the side of an aircraft carrier, it wouldnβt hurt it structurally. But if a tank shot it, it could damage the ship.
So there could be a lot of calculating of effects and then thereβs no effect that actually applies.
Something like that.
But more than that, regular damage points make no effect on MD items, vehicles, etc.
Almost, if you deal 100 points of SD to something with MDC it will deal 1 point of MD. However 99 points of SD will do nothing.
If youβre looking for some inspiration, might I suggest the Orz?
Weird talking fish aliens whose language canβt always be properly translated. Replacing more alien concepts with words like *happy*, *frumple*, etc.
Part of the fun would be to determine if being called a *happy* *camper* is a good or a really bad thing.
Interesting idea. Wonder how to do this best at the table
If you want the characters to be confused, but not the players, pop in some classic tropes.
Two that spring to mind:
Transporter technology - High pitched noise, swirly patterns, a vague sense of being dissolved, then the reverse.
Impossibly sterile rooms - no obvious furniture, panels on the walls automatically open to provide things, beds rise out of the floor, etc.
For your average d&d party, stuff like getting zapped to another plane of existence, potentially including literal hell or a plane made up entirely of gears, isn't an entirely unexpected circumstance. I played in a game one where due to some crazy shit happening to us in the feywild we ended up in sort of the backrooms of the D&D multiverse with an impossibly long tapestry hung on the wall that was a physical manifestation of the weave.
Between those sorts of hijinks and flying around on spelljammers through interplanar space with crystal spheres and all of that mumbo-jumbo, aliens, space travel, and alien technology almost look tame in comparison.
I feel like your best bet to really confuse the characters is probably to have aliens simulating a normal d&d environment for them- maybe the room they wake up in on the ship looks very much like a stereotypical d&d tavern, but little details are wrong. Maybe there's a bard strumming away on his lute but his fingers don't quite match up with the notes he's playing, and the bartender asks if the party would like a "brewed and fermented barley beverage" instead of an "ale"
And the clothing the rest of the people there is all strangely generic and maybe a little dated and things are just generally not adding up, like why is there a red wizard from thay happily playing cards with a waterdavian city guard, and why is that guard drinking in his uniform? and are we even in waterdeep right now? because the elf at the table over there is reading a baldurian newspaper, and also holding it upside down. And is it just me, or are there a whole lot of twins and triplets here?
But things like detect magic aren't turning up anything fishy because it's not magic, it's science.
And maybe when you try to tap someone on the shoulder to ask what the hell is going on, you phase right through them because they're all holograms. A simulation orchestrated by the alien abductors to help the party feel more comfortable and so that they can study them in something close to their natural environment.
You might try the novel Eifelheim for inspiration. In 1348 an alien ship crashes in the Black Forest. It's wild exploring how the Jesuit priest, peasants and villagers react. The author throws a lot of medieval trivia around and it's fascinating.
@Shkshkshk @rpg Clarke's 3rd Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
So magic users are going to be really confused, because this magic is totally unlike anything they've ever encountered.
Think hard about how D&D magic interacts with the alien tech.
@Shkshkshk @rpg E.g. does "befuddle" work on the ship's AI? Can you cast a fireball through a force field?
In my setting magic is superscience left over from the first age. Could be nanites in everything, could be something weirder. The players casting spells is similar to if your dog figured out how to say "Alexa, all lights on" and realized saying those magic words created light.
Also, the aliens are going to be demons, sort of, being the children of the Fear of the Other and the Fear of the Incomprehensible. Not that the aliens or PCs would know this. So magic will work fine.
For the mechs, either magic statue or nerfed iron golem, but requires a rider vulnerable to called shots and the whole thing is vulnerable to electricity.
Aliens? Make them weird. No, weirder. No, weirder than that. Have them make mistakes or horrendous assumptions based on mistranslation or skewed concepts.