Native to Klendathu in orbit around the star Alpha Centauri the Arachnids are the latest threat to challenge the advancement of man. Named Arachnids despite the fact they have but four legs, the "BUGS" as they are known to most have already proven a deadly threat despite having no technology. The Bugs are fiercely territorial, tolerating no other species on their worlds. The are able to seed distant worlds by launching spore pods into orbit with huge living plasma cannons, called aptly enough Plasma Bugs. It is this capability and the fact that a coordinated effort by a group of Plasma Bugs can dislodge the extremely abundant asteroid matter in their home system that makes them such a threat. One such asteroid was responsible for the complete annihilation of Buenos Aries.
The Bugs are extremely able tunnelers, meaning that any human response must be on the ground. And on the ground a human has little to match a Bug.
The most frequently encountered Bug that the trooper will meet. This four legged monster is a speeding engine of death. Aggressive to the point of idiocy this agile monster can perform in a wide variety of environments. Despite being much larger than a human, and weighted down by natural armor capable of withstanding better than 500 degrees Celsius or up to 5000 lbs per square inch blunt trauma, the Warrior is frighteningly fast, and often attacks in swarms of a few thousand of more at one time. The Warrior weighs 550kg and can reach a land speed of 64km/hr. It possesses 4 running legs and 2 smaller combat limbs. The body is at least half jaw and the rest spines. Colouration tends to blend with the terrain to a degree. Desert Warriors are coloured tan, and yellow with black highlights. A mindless killing machine it exists only to destroy the enemies of the hive, it feels no hesitation and will only take captives at the specific direction of a brain bug.
| WILL | 1/10 | ||
| TECH | 0/10 | ||
The Warrior can withstand a frightening amount of damage before being rendered unable to fight. This is reflected in the nature of its wound table.
| Light Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 1 | OOOO |
| OOOO | Mortal 2 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 3 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 4 | OOOO | |
| Serious Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 5 | OOOO |
| OOOO | Mortal 6 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | |||
| Critical Wounds | OOOO | ||
| OOOO |
Cutting Jaws: 2d10 (AP) +2d6 (AP)/rnd held in the jaws
Combat Forearms: Piercing Strike 3d6 (AP), Slashing Strike: 5d6 (AP)
Various Protrusions: 2d6 (AP)
Natural Speed: The Warrior does not suffer cumulative action penalties till its third action, and gains a +2 to all initiative checks.
The Warrior cannot really be said to have any skills, unless it is under the direct control of a Brain Bug.
This variant on the Warrior is fairly rare, thankfully. The Hopper is a more advanced warrior, it has all the same basic traits as the warrior with the addition of rigid gliding wings equipped with cutting edges. The hopper weighs 485kg, and can reach air speeds of up to 341km/hr. It is able to leap up to 50m and has a glide ration of 1 to 3, that is for each meter of initial altitude it can glide for 3 meters. The hopper is a distinct green colour, and while limited in its flight freedom is easily able to carry off a human sized target.
| WILL | 1/10 | ||
| TECH | 0/10 | ||
The Hopper can withstand a frightening amount of damage before being rendered unable to fight. This is reflected in the nature of its wound table.
| Light Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 1 | OOOO |
| OOOO | Mortal 2 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 3 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 4 | OOOO | |
| Serious Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 5 | OOOO |
| OOOO | Mortal 6 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | |||
| Critical Wounds | OOOO | ||
| OOOO |
Cutting Jaws: 2d10 (AP) +2d6 (AP)/rnd held in the jaws
Combat Forearms: Piercing Strike 3d6 (AP), Slashing Strike: 5d6 (AP)
Various Protrusions: 2d6 (AP)
Wing Edges: 4d6 (AP)
Stinger: 1d6 (AP) piercing damage plus unknown strength biotoxin.
Natural Speed: The Hopper does not suffer cumulative action penalties till its third action, and gains a +2 to all initiative checks. Remember to add the appropriate speed bonuses for damage and difficulty, the Hopper itself suffers no penalties for rapid movement.
The Hopper cannot really be said to have any skills, unless it is under the direct control of a Brain Bug.
The Tanker is the rarest of the known combat models. This huge beetle like insect weighs better than 5 metric tons, and carries a much more effective armor. It is the battering ram of the Bug army. The Tanker is easily able to knock down reinforced steel perimeter walls and shrug off most small arms fire. It is often left buried to act as an ambush weapon of lethal proportions. Because despite its great strength it is a different weapon that makes this creature so fearful. In its body is a reservoir contain up to a ton of a highly corrosive liquid, a liquid that eats through flesh as readily as it does through metal.
| WILL | 1/10 | ||
| TECH | 0/10 | ||
The Tanker can withstand a frightening amount of damage before being rendered unable to fight. This is reflected in the nature of its wound table.
| Light Wounds | OOOO | Critical Wounds | OOOO |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 1 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 2 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| Serious Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 3 | OOOO |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 4 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 5 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 6 | OOOO |
Cutting Jaws: 3d10 (AP)
Stomp: 5d10
Body Block: 10d10
Bio-Corrosive Spray: 5d6 per body region covered, damage continues for 3 rounds. Range: 50m, # of Shots: 100, WA: +1, sweep capable like a flamethrower. Fluid is also quite flammable, in the movie the creature obviously creates sparks to ignite this fluid causing a further 2d6 damage from initial contact and 1d6 per additional round.
The Tanker cannot really be said to have any skills, unless it is under the direct control of a Brain Bug.
The Plasma bug is probably the least threatening of the Arachnid classes, at least to the Mobile Infantry. The Plasma Bug is a massive shambling creature with no close range combat abilities what so ever. It spends its entire life growing large enough to make its one contribution to the Arachnid species. Then it dies. The Plasma Bug by some unknown process is able to generate and project a burst of highly charged plasma. Plasma is a state of matter in which electrons are stripped from their associated nuclei by heat. Great heat. The plasma that results is oddly fluid and may have temperatures as high as a few hundred million degrees centigrade. The Plasma Bug ejects this burst from its abdomen, dying in the process. The burst can reach beyond orbit, and has a startling level of accuracy. The combination of several Plasma Bugs can knock orbiting asteroids out of orbit on intergalactic trajectories with reasonable accuracy. The Plasma Bug can also be used to launch the Arachnids colonizing spore pods. The Plasma Bug weighs approximately 7 metric tons.
| WILL | 1/10 | ||
| TECH | 0/10 | ||
The Plasma Bug can withstand a frightening amount of damage before being rendered unable to fight. This is reflected in the nature of its wound table. But it should be noted that if it fires its plasma burst it will die within a few hours regardless.
| Light Wounds | OOOO | Critical Wounds | OOOO |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 1 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 2 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 3 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 4 | OOOO | |
| Serious Wounds | OOOO | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 5 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 6 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | |||
| OOOO | |||
| OOOO | |||
| OOOO |
Plasma Burst: This attack can easily strike at starships in low orbit. The accuracy is -5 unless guided by the greater perceptions of the Brain Bug. Damage: 12d1000 (AP), this is easily enough to cripple most starships if a direct strike hits.
The Plasma Bug cannot really be said to have any skills, unless it is under the direct control of a Brain Bug.
This Arachnid is very rarely seen though its influence might be felt. The Brain Bug is the leader of the planetary hive and as such is ruler of all the Bugs on a target world. Every single bug will fight to the death to protect this creature. Its thinks all the thoughts, triggers all the plasma bugs to fire. Without it the colony dies. The Brain Bug is surprisingly intelligent though no human has yet to determine how so. There are suggestions that this creature is telepathic, and may indeed possess other psychic powers. The Brain Bug is a large worm like creature, so bloated and fat that it requires the assistance of small beetle like bugs to move. The Brain Bug is thought to weight approximately 1 metric ton, and is not really capable of self sustained movement.
| WILL | 15+ | ||
| TECH | 15+ | ||
The Brain Bug can withstand a frightening amount of damage before being rendered unable to fight. This is reflected in the nature of its wound table. But it should be noted that the Brain Bug has a sense of self preservation and will react out of fear.
| Light Wounds | OOOO | Critical Wounds | OOOO |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| OOOO | Mortal 1 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | OOOO | ||
| Serious Wounds | OOOO | Mortal 2 | OOOO |
| OOOO | Mortal 3 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 4 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 5 | OOOO | |
| OOOO | Mortal 6 | OOOO |
Piercing Mouthpart or Palp: 2d6 (AP), This mouth part is used to augment the Brain Bug's data collection abilities. See Mental Assimilation.
Telepathy: The Brain Bug is capable of communication with all other Arachnids on its world, or any other Brain Bug on distant worlds. It can communicate with one or all at the same time. The Brain Bug is also able to completely control one of its soldiers, granting that individual the heightened mental stats listed.
Mental Assimilation: This nasty power allows the Brain Bug to literally consume the knowledge in a human brain. This is used in conjunction with the piercing mouthpart to remove a living brain for study. Killing the target.
Suggested Powers: Telekinesis, precognition, clairvoyance, and any others the GM feels are needed. It should also be noted that in some fashion the bugs can target planets outside their own solar system. The Brain Bug is the most likely candidate for this task.
Unlike the other Arachnids it is safe to assume the Brain Bug possesses skills.
Tactics: 10, Strategy: 10, Ambush: 10, Tunneling: 10, Arachnid Psychology/Biology: 10, Human Psychology: 5, Intuitive Analysis: 10
The book that the movie is based on suggests several other possible types of Arachnids that we haven't yet seen. Queens and workers in particular. There is also in the books a suggestion that the Arachnids have technology and can use it, which to integrate with the movie requires a specialist class of warriors that armed with projectile weapons, and a special technological caste to build them
All images used on this page are copyright to TriStar Pictures, 1996. Used without permission.