Monday 30 January 2012

Revise That Currently Un-Rebooted Monster!

Perhaps of more general use, what to do with monsters that haven’t put in an appearance? Reviving a weird or obscure race, and bringing them up to Big Two-Parter status at least, is certainly tempting.

Sea Devils
Go a bit Deep One and a bit The Fog with them. Rising out of the water on foggy nights, draped in seaweed, attacking coastal towns and too-close oilrigs, armed with tridents, disguising themselves with sou’westers and the like. Yes, I’ve run this episode.

Ice Warriors
Big green lizard-men with a colony on Mars. Who are actually pretty sociable as long as they aren’t at war with you. I’d probably drop the thick pincers, and I’d naturally want to see what’s under the helmets. And maybe give them different weapons? Ice axes seem like a sensible start...

Rutans or Zygons
(Not counting The Gunpowder Plot for the sake of this lineup.)
Shapeshifters with an agenda which isn’t directly inimical but no interest in preserving human life. A Secret Invasion in a small, sleepy town perhaps. But with an added threat of taking it to the heart of the nation.

Axons
Greeting Earth neighbours! We are the Axon and we’re here to help! Oh, you’re not doing anything important with all that crude oil, are you?

Movellans
(I’ll get to them one of these years.) Created with one driving purpose. They will destroy the Daleks. And they don’t care about who gets in their way. They could stay as androids, be humans or aliens, but androids suits their unstoppable Terminator attitude to things. (If the Movellans ever show up, you’ve got two problems. One, you’ll be bloody lucky if you can get on their good side, because if you can they’ll help you fight the Daleks. Two, if they’re here at all, that probably means DALEKS!)

Krotons
Crystal intelligences building or taking over robot bodies, threatening a future Earth colony? Hey, why not? Heck, give them swords!

6 comments:

  1. Sea Devils: They have a culture like the Kuo-Toa and have taken over various small islands all over Earth. They sacrifice humans to the Volcano.

    Ice Warriors: Give 'em tails! Barsoom the heck out of their Mars because they really come from the far past. When they attack Earth, it's always Antiquity or something.

    Rutans: Jellyfish floating on the air, strangling Sontarans with their electric tentacles.

    Zygons: Masters of biotech, they make landfall in meatships and use various animals to invade, transforming our ecology, Chtorr-like, as they go along.

    Movellans: They're a created race. The original Movellans made them to be Dalek Killers, but were all destroyed before their creations could defeat the Daleks. Now they're running old missions, awaiting new orders that will never come.

    Krotons: The crystals have more varied shapes, but still need android bodies to movie. I see them as beautiful creatures who speak in a language of crystal chimes. They will destroy all humans because our vibrations threaten their nurseries.

    But you did a good job. I'd steal from you.

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    1. Thanks. Yours are generally wilder, which is of course a good thing when reinventing. Particularly the Daleks.

      That's about where I would go with the Movellans too. Created by Movell Industries...

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    2. Wilder was the point of the exercise. Not sure HOW wild I'd actually go in a real game.

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  2. Excellent and inspiring as always!

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    1. Great idea! Here are my own quick musings on the subject:

      Sea Devils: Forget about superstitious, victim-sacrificing pseudo-Deep Ones. Re-imagined Sea Devils are as technologically advanced as the Silurians and live in vast undersea cities, far from the “upper depths” which can be reached by human technology – and they’ll make sure that man will never reach, discover or endanger their communities. Their potent sonic technology allows them to communicate with and influence whales, giant octopi and other undersea leviathans, which they could use to destroy or deter any vehicle or probe coming too near of their abyssal abodes.

      Ice Warriors (version A): They never called themselves « Ice Warriors » in the first place, so forget about ice and ice-related motifs. These beings are reptilian Martians, period. Their armour is only worn by the warriors among them; it is actually an ultra-advanced form of biotech symbiotic exoskeleton which greatly increase their physical strength, enhance their self-healing etc; these “war-shells” also give them enhanced protection against the effects of solar light and heat, to which they are especially susceptible - so yes, all their cities, citadels etc are located underground – in the Caverns of Mars!

      Ice Warriors (version B): A reversal of the previous re-imagining, emphasizing the “ice” aspect. This race can only survive under extreme cold; they flourished during the Martian Ice Age and also established some colonies on Earth during our own Ice Age. One such colony, located at the North (or South?) Pole has laid dormant for centuries (if not millennia) – but of course, its sleeping inhabitants could awaken should another Ice Age dawn on the planet. Or perhaps they are trying to actually CAUSE such a massive climatic change, acting through other agents (controlled humans?) from their secret polar citadels.

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