This chart from National Geographic is basically a campaign matrix.
Pick and choose. Want post-apocalypse from alien contact? Choose a "Harmful" alien interaction, such as "Unintentional Harm: Acts of Incompetence." What if Earth went all Gamma World because aliens unintentionally caught Earth in a solar-system wide science experiment?
Want friendly aliens? Well, how did meeting them go? Was it good, neutral, or bad? If it was good, was there exchange of science or were they essentially uncaring?
How about "Intentionally Hiding." Come on, how can you not create a fun adventure when the PCs stumble upon proof of the aliens who don't want us to see them? Maybe they fear our violent ways, or unleashing theirs on us, or fear our diseases or social contamination? Are they like Tokugawa Japan, an advanced culture seeking isolation? Or are they like fearful sasquatches of legend, running off when they see man?
This matrix is pure gaming gold.
great find!
ReplyDelete+followed
Thanks for reading and thanks for following!
ReplyDeleteYou didn't happen to save the Alien encounter matrix on your pc somewhere did you? The natgeo site has suffered irreparable link rot and that page and matrix are now gone.
ReplyDeleteI did not. You'll have to use some internet necromancy to find it.
DeleteWas it this article:
Deletehttp://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/19/when-aliens-attack-would-et-eat-us-enslave-us-or-exterminate-us-for-the-good-of-the-galaxy/
And this matrix:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160130163352im_/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2011/08/contact-scenarios.jpg
I hate that I always forget the Wayback Machine exists until I've spent over an hour searching around and are reaching the "desperation" levels required to post on reddit asking if anyone knows of a site... but right before I do a small part of my brain will pipe up, "Hey, let's check the wayback machine first."
And whatever I looking for is always, //always// on the Wayback Machine.
That's it. I updated the post with the new locations!
Delete