Xenomorph Life Cycle (5e Class)

Xenomorph Life Cycle

This class will have a great impact on the game, it is advisable for DM's to first read it through before allowing a player to pick this class. It is hard to think up ways to place a character with this class in an adventure, however one may decide to make the xenomorph a pet or familiar of a player.

The Alien/Xenomorph

Xenomorph XX121, commonly referred to as simply the Xenomorph and known colloquially as the Alien, is a highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species. The Xenomorphs are vicious predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of any life that could pose a threat to them. Like wasps or bees, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a fertile Queen breeding a host of subordinate castes. The creatures are known for their potent acidic blood and their pharyngeal jaws, although their biological life cycle, in which their offspring are implanted inside living hosts before erupting violently from their chests, is in many ways their signature aspect.

Creating a Xenomorph

Have you ever wanted to be the monster that everyone fears? To be an alien/xenomorph, the perfect hunter?

Quick Build

You can follow the Xenomorph Life Cycle quickly by following these suggestions. First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Strength. Second, choose the Experiment (5e_Background) or Otherworlder (5e_Background) background.

Class Features

As a Xenomorph Life Cycle you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per Xenomorph Life Cycle level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Xenomorph Life Cycle level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: none
Weapons: Claws, Tails and Jaws(Even inner jaws)
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Dexterity and Strength
Skills: Stealth, Perception and Investigation

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• None

Table: The Xenomorph Life Cycle

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	+2	The Chestburster
2nd	+2	Natural Armor
3rd	+2	Amphibious
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement, The Drone/Warrior
5th	+3	Perceptive Hunter
6th	+3	Natural Camouflage
7th	+3	—
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	Sharpened Claws,Hunted
10th	+4	The Praetorian
11th	+4	—
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	Guardian
14th	+5	Increased Mental Capabilities
15th	+5	The Queen
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement, Protective Crest,Nest
17th	+6	The royal facehugger
18th	+6	—
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	The Empress

The Chestburster

Finally at level 1 you are ready to break out of the body of your host who acts as your race, in the shape of a Chestburster. Chestbursters resemble large worms, beige or brown in color and with a mouth of metallic teeth and a tail capable of propelling the creature at considerable speed. As a chestburster all your abilities take a -2, but you gain:

Small size

As a chestburster you are 1 ft. in length and weigh about 20 lbs.

Acidic Blood

A defense mechanism all xenomorphs have, if you are damaged(Someone/something pierces your exoskeleton) your blood deals 1d8 acidic damage to anything that touches you, or is within 5 ft. of you. The target must then make a constitution saving throw at the beginning of each of their turns(the DC being your constitution), On a fail they take a 1d4 acidic damage, if the inflicted succeeds the acid stops dealing damage.

Speed

You move 30 ft., due to your tail like lower body, you may also use this as a spring to launch you 10 ft. into the air.

Jaws

Your jaws are your only weapon in this form dealing 1d4 piercing damage, it uses your Dex mod.

Senses

You have dark vision for 120 ft.

Understanding

Xenomorphs seem to understand the common languages, but they cannot talk or write it, only hiss, growl and drool. You use body language to tell others how you feel.

Hive mind

You can communicate very basic ideas to other xenomorphs within a 120 foot radius and sense other xenomorphs 120 foot radius.

Natural Armor

AT level 2 you gain a natural armor of 10 + Dexterity mod + Constitution mod.

Amphibious

You can breath underwater, and gain a swim speed of 30 ft..

The Drone/Warrior

At level 4 you molt into a drone/warrior type xenomorph. Your stats regain the 2 points they lost while you were a chestbuster.

Speed

You move 40 ft., you can now move on all-fours for 50 ft. Your swim speed is 40 ft.

Mobile: Xenomorphs are well known for their mobility, you can traverse any surface without difficulty while on all-fours(You may walk on walls and roofs and can move normally over difficult terrain) You are also capable of jumping extremely high and far, you may add twice your strength mod when calculating the distance you jump.

Jaws and Claws

You now have claws, these deal 1d6 slashing damage, it uses your Str. You have a main jaw attack that does 1d12 piercing damage, also an inner jaw, this you may use on dead enemies or enemies near death (Under 10% hit points remaining), it deals 2d10 piercing damage and heals you the same amount of damage you deal.

Acidic Blood

A defense mechanism all xenomorphs have, if you are damaged your blood deals 1d8 acidic damage to anything that touches you, The target must then make a constitution saving throw at the beginning of each of their turns(the DC being your constitution), On a fail they take a 1d4 acidic damage, if the inflicted succeeds the acid stops dealing damage.

Size

You are now medium, 7-8 ft.

Tail

Your tail can also be used as a weapon, it is as long as your body and has the reach property, you may use it as a bonus action to deal 1d6 piercing damage. Your tail is also extremely strong and can use twice your strength mod for any strength checks.

Understanding

You can understand language of your host including common but you cannot speak or write it, only hiss, growl and drool. You use body language to tell others how you feel.

Hive mind

You can sense and communicate with other xenomorphs in a 300 foot radius.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Perceptive Hunter

At level 5 you may add twice you Wisdom mod to all Wisdom(Perception) checks.

Natural Camouflage

You have at level 6 an advantage on all Dexterity(Stealth) checks and may add twice your Dexterity mod while in complete darkness.

Sharpened Claws and Tails

At level 9 your claws become sharper and now they deal 2d6 slashing damage. Your tail now does 2d6 peircing damage.

Hunted

You now excrete a certain pheromone, which other xenomorphs react violently to. Any xenomorph you see until level 10 will attack you on sight.

Praetorian

Finally at level 10, the other xenomorphs no longer attacks you, as you have now molted into a praetorian. The Praetorian is one of the final stages in the life cycle of the species Xenomorph XX121, and arguably the most common and widely-acknowledged form of Xenomorph to emerge from the numerous expanded universe castes. Praetorians serve as guards to their Hive's Queen or Empress and unlike other Xenomorph types, Praetorians rarely operate outside their Hive grounds. They are among the largest and most powerful Xenomorph strains. Visually, Praetorians resemble a Queen, though smaller in size (although they are still far larger than typical Xenomorphs), typically standing at least 10 feet tall. You gain in addition to the Drone/Warrior traits:

Large Size

You now classify as large, standing 10 ft. tall.

Speed

You can now move 50 ft. on two feet, but you can no longer move on all-fours. Your swin speed remains 30 ft.

Decreased mobility

You are now too large to move on walls and roofs, but can still move over difficult terrain without any trouble.

Crest

You now have a crest upon your head forming a type of shield, it grants +1 AC. If you use it as a shield you are resistant to non-magical, bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage in the front of your body (If something attacks you from behind you have no resistance against their attack. You may use a charge at an enemy 20 to 50 ft. away from you and hit them with the crest, this deals 1d10 bludgeoning damage and knocks the target prone.

Screech

You may screech as a bonus action, anything within 30 ft. of you, that isn't a xenomorph (Including allies) have to make a DC 15 Constitution save, on a fail they are stunned for two turns, on a succeed they are unaffected. Any xenomorphs with 100 ft. of you will rush to your aid.

Guardian

As a Praetorian you are a guardian of the queen. At level 13, you grow stronger, gaining a +2 to Strength, with the maximum amount increasing to 22.

Increased Mental Capabilities

You start to grow closer to a queen on level 14, your Intelligence increases by 2 with the maximum increasing to 22.

The Queen

At level 15, you become a queen. One of the strongest xenomorph castes. Both your Strength and Intelligence gains +2, with their respective maximums increasing by 2 as well. Queens are much larger than Drones and Warriors. They stand approximately twenty feet tall at the hip. They have twin sets of arms and are built more similarly to a large theropod dinosaur than a humanoid. They also have a much larger braincase than the average adult Xenomorph, protected by a large crest above their heads. They also have a slightly stronger tail, which can be used as a weapon, along with their limbs and inner jaw, as shown in the climactic battle with Ripley in Aliens. Due to their immense size, they are extremely strong. You gain the following in addition to the prior traits.

Huge size

You stand 20 ft. tall

Strengthened Tail

Your tail now deals 3d6 piercing damage.

Protective Crest

At level 16 the crest upon your head grows stronger. Granting you a +2 to AC instead of +1.

Nest

At level 16 you gain the ability to nest as a downtime activity. It takes a week to grow your ovipositor and for each day after you've grown it, 5 foot of ground around you will be turned into a hive, this counts as difficult terrain for any non-xenomorphs, after you gain the ovipositor you may no longer move, unless there is an emergency in which case you must succeed a DC 18 Strength check to remove the ovipositor. Once removed you must regrow a ovipositor. You create an egg each hour(Less if the DM allows it), these eggs contain facehuggers which you may control. For balance you may only control three xenomorphs at a time. hen this facehugger attacks, while within 15 ft. of a target, a DC 10 dexterity check must be made by the target, upon a succeed, the facehugger will not be capable of latching on, while if the dice lands on a 20 the facehugger is killed. If the target fails it will be impregnated, unless killed, and within a day a chestburster will erupt from the target, this takes another day to fully molt into a drone xenomorph. http://imgur.com/TdIYPus

The Royal Facehugger

Much like the regular facehugger, this version moves faster and is stronger. It is used to impregnate a host with a queen embryo, this may only be used after your current queen has died. When this facehugger attacks, while within 15 ft. of a target, a DC 15 dexterity check must be made by the target, upon a succeed, the facehugger will not be capable of latching on, while if the dice lands on a 20 the facehugger is killed. If the target fails it will be impregnated, unless killed, and after a week a chestburster will erupt, this chestburster takes another week to fully grow into a queen (You character basically gets reincarnated, without the memories of its previous self).

The Empress

At this point in your life as a xenomorph you cannot evolve any further. You are now allowed to have the royal facehuggers impregnate hosts even while you still live, this allows for the birthing of new nests under your command, you may control up to two queens and these may not go beyond level 16.

Multiclassing

Multiclassing as a xenomorph is difficult for lore reasons. To this end two strategies have been made.

1. If you start as a non-xeno class and pick up xenomorph later then you can explain that your character has dormant alien blood and it has only recently been unleashed. If you go for this approach you gain all of the 1st level abilities while staying at your original size and being able to speak your known languages.

2. If you start as a xenomorph it is highly advised that you pick a non-magic class however if the temptation to play a xenomorph wizard is to great just bear in mind that you can't cast any verbal spells as xenomorphs can't speak

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