Mi-Go in Strange Aeons?

[elysium64]

I have just received my "Bundle of the Beast" from Uncle Mike and have only really read the basic game rules and flicked through the rest. Whilst waiting for the rules to arrive I have been purchasing and painting figures for my Strange Aeons/Achtung! Cthulhu project (Will start a thread shortly once I have a few more painted items finished), and amongst my purchases are a few Mi-Go, but I notice there are no listings for these in the rulebook. Has anyone created or adapted a profile for these? I will be making a few adaptations/counts as decisions to fit into my WWII background but was wondering if any long term players have any suggestions to help me.

[LidlessEye]

There's nothing official.  Aliens in general are something we've avoided up until this point, as they'll likely require us to bring in a whole pile of new technology and weapons to make them unique and effective.  I sketched out some very rough notes a few years ago, but they're entirely untested.  Here's what my first stab at a Mi-Go-type entity looked like.  Note that is completely unofficial - never playtested, and I'm not sure I've ever even shown it to Mike - so only use it if your opponent agrees, and don't expect balanced results.

Mi-Go - 6BP (complete guess on my part - will need testing to determine an accurate cost)
M   Dex.   Con.   A    W    Res.   Skills
6    4+     4/6     2    1     4+     Hideous
Weapons: Pincers (C.C.B.+2, Dam.D+0, AP1)
Special: Alien (this is undefined as such - maybe treat as a Humanoid)
Ether Wings: Equipped with wings capable of carrying them across the vast gulfs of space, Mi-Go are unaffected by terrain when moving.  Additionally, they are immune to all movement-reducing effects.
Surgical Precision: Injuries caused by a Mi-Go attack are rolled at a +1 on the Injury Table.
The Jar: Instead of automatically removing a Face Down model as a Major Injury, a Mi-Go may remove the victim’s brain.  The brain can be recovered by removing the Mi-Go carrying it as an Injury.  Should the Lurkers win, or the Mi-Go leave the table with the brain, the brainless model is considered Dead; no need to roll on the Major Injury table.
 

[Mason]

That does sound good.
Well worth playtesting.
Setting a BP for something so potentially damaging could be difficult though.

[Mathyoo]

I would go up to 8 BP, it is damaging, but so is the scrawny one - its low damage does help lower the points. But his high ccb should higher them again. I got not migos in my collection and I never found them interesting, so I am safe, .

[Mr. Peabody]

Yes please, we need the Mi-Go.

That chap sounds like a Mi-Go 'Surgeon' or 'Technician' and well worth a high BP. What do you think of also having more 'ordinary' Mi-Go, sort of worker/soldier types?

Would all injuries caused by Mi-Go be at +1 on the Injury Table or only those caused in close combat?

Very much like the idea of an Alien special category and Humanoid pretty much covers the base requirement. Alien could also define a vulnerability or restrict who or what aliens can build with or access to alien technology?

Speaking of tech, there is the freeze-ray to consider as well! Rate 1d3, 8", 1d+2, AP1 Strafe. Maybe it needs a 'Chill' special rule? With Surgical Precision, this and perhaps other alien weaponry could be quite nasty while in alien paws and yet not as nasty if ever used by earthlings...

[LidlessEye]

My general thoughts on Aliens:

• Immune to Psychology.
• Unable to cast spells.  Well, at least standard spells in Earth-based languages - nothing saying certain models couldn't have their own spells.
• Able to equip gear from a special weapons/tech list.  On the flip side of that, these guys don't quite understand Earth tech, and would probably incur some sort of penalty attempting to use it (eg. +2 Dex penalty firing a Tommy Gun).  Humans trying to use the alien tech would be a similar disadvantage.
• To borrow a bit from War of the Worlds, I like the idea of true Aliens (ie. truly otherworldly, and not beings from Earth's ancient past) having an increased susceptibility to bacteria and whatnot.  Short of adding a sneezing attack though, I'm not quite sure how to incorporate this effectively in game terms.

Based on point three above, I would say that Surgical Precision would only apply to ranged attacks made with an Alien weapon, which doesn't exist yet, so for now just apply it to close combat injuries.

Not sure what I think of the idea of multiple Mi-Go types.  I'm basing this pretty much exclusively off Lovecraft's own vision and, as has been our general approach with Strange Aeons,  tried to steer clear of later conventions introduced by Derleth and the Call of Cthulhu RPG.  I'd rather just have one basic archetype that can be modified through gear and skills to suit whatever purpose a player sees fit.  In my initial notes, this thing isn't even called a Mi-Go, but rather a generic "Fungoid" alien.

[Mr. Peabody]

Great points. Clearly the balancing act is keeping the brilliant simplicity of the game intact. So far a really diverse world has been created without breaking the thing.

I would love to see three or so of these things on the table, an 'away team' from Yuggoth...

[Mathyoo]

You can still do Kindred kind of thing - have Mi-Go and buy upgrade for command.

The thing with special table is...I don't like the idea of aliens using earthly weapons, but then again, take thompson, call it laser blaster and problem is solved...so this is kinda dodgy.

What about the rule from ST2, where dinosaurs can't be commanded by others - aliens aren't supposed to be understood by humans. Maybe that alien can command human, but not vice versa?

[Mr. Peabody]

Weren't the Mi-Go groovy with Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath? In Whisperer in Darkness they do some chanting together with at least one cultist.

A hive-mind ability, similar to Maddening Gibber (Ghoul King) would be a great way to balance them. Command could be part of a Mi-Go Surgeon/Scientist profile or just bought separately at a set cost. This, along with weird weapons that work less well in human hands could be a fun way to approach 'alien'.

For instance Bob Murch's Radon Zombies as aliens could operate in small groups alone or purchase a command unit for robots like the Promethian Killer Robots.

Maybe too 'Black Dossier'?

[Mason]

...... aliens could operate in small groups alone or purchase a command unit for robots like the Promethian Killer Robots.

Maybe too 'Black Dossier'?

Funny you should say that, as I have a Black Dossier planned involving Robots and an Alien Mastermind.
 

[Mr. Peabody]

Funny you should say that, as I have a Black Dossier planned involving Robots and an Alien Mastermind.
 

Dun, dun, dun!

[Mathyoo]

Make sure you put dangerous in every alien technology that humans use (drama button)

Thanks for the button Mr. Peabody...I knew it will come useful but had no idea it is going to be so soon!

[forcedperfect]

i LOVE the mi-go!  it'd be great to see them get some representation in the game, even if it's just as generic monsters.  i've been wanting to make a mi-go lab board ever since i read the "Proof of Life" scenario in "New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley" for CoC.  now that i've discovered SA, i feel like it's a pretty do-able project!