Early Access
This human-sized alien creature exists only to eat and reproduce. In doing so, it also destroys every form of life it encounters. Xenoparasites were likely biologically engineered by a species with advanced super-science. Xenoparasites don’t travel between star systems on their own; they were presumably spread across an area of space by their creators to serve as a broad-spectrum bioweapon. What has become of the original maker species is unknown, but given the fecundity and ferocity of the xenoparasite, it’s likely they were consumed by their own creation.
A xenoparasite uses an ovipositor to lay thousands of microscopic eggs in a potential host. The implanted eggs, like tiny medical labs, analyze the biology of the new host, adapt accordingly, and use the host’s genes to fertilize themselves and quickly mature. Within a day or two, the host gives explosive birth to multiple vicious, cat-sized juvenile xenoparasites. These juveniles have an edge in dealing with the particular species of creature they hatched from. Xenoparasites can smell when a creature has been implanted with eggs; these foes are knocked unconscious instead of killed so the young have the opportunity to mature. Adult xenoparasites build sprawling, wasplike nests in the areas they infest, using the nest as a base from which to slowly spread their influence. Whole space stations, moons, and planets have been covered in convoluted white nests crawling with death.
Motive: Eat and reproduce
Environment: Hunts alone or in small groups
Health: 28
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound; see Combat
Armor: 2
Movement: Short; long when flying
Modifications: Stealth as level 8
Combat: A xenoparasite bites with its mandibles and stings one victim with its ovipositor as its attack. The bite inflicts a moderate wound, and the ovipositor inflicts a minor wound; a damaged foe must make a Might defense roll or the ovipositor injects thousands of microscopic eggs into their body.
Every other round, an adult xenoparasite can make a flying charge attack of at least a short distance, then make an eased attack with its mandibles, inflicting a major wound.
Sterilizing the eggs within a host requires a difficulty 7 healing roll. Otherwise, the eggs hatch within a day or two of the attack, releasing 1d6 $juvenile xenoparasites$. After a few days of feeding, they grow to full adult size.
Juvenile xenoparasite: level 2, attacks against their host species as level 4
Xenoparasites can survive intense pressure (such as ocean depths and gas giants) as well as vacuum (including space). They can encrust abandoned spacecraft and desolate moons for millennia in extended hibernation, only to become active again when vibrations alert them to potential new food sources.
Interaction: These creatures are built to consume, not negotiate.
Use: Xenoparasites are tough aliens. A colony of them would be a challenge even for PCs normally accustomed to stiff opposition. A single xenoparasite introduced into an inhabited area could turn the entire place into an infested hive within a week.
Group GM intrusion: An NPC shrieks and bursts open, releasing 1d6 juvenile xenoparasites that immediately attack or flee in search of easier meals.