Xenomorphs for Holmes Basic

Alien came out 2 years after the Holmes set, with the perfect organism invading theaters in 1979. The film had a touch of cosmic horror in the background, with the crew exploring a crashed alien vessel seeming very familiar to the antarctic expedition in Lovecraft's "At the Mountain of Madness". In fact, my family often jokes that the only reason Guillermo Del Toro's adaptation of the novella was cancelled is because Prometheus came out.

In any event, while the outer space setting of Alien may not fit with the Holmesian underworld, the themes of ancient, alien ruins filled with monsters is, and I'm sure Zenopus's tower has enough room for another species. Please note that this post will not contain the alien queen, the runner alien, predaliens, or anything else after the original film, they may be written about later, but not now.

The xenomorph life cycle has 4 main stages; The ovomorph, facehugger, chestburster, and adult.

In its first stage, the xenomorph begins as little more than a fleshy egg that opens when anyone comes with 5 feet of it, allowing the facehugger within to burst forth. These eggs have 1 hit die and AC 8.


(Image from behind the scenes of Alien: Resurrection)

The facehugger is a more complicated creature than the ovomorph that birthed it, resembling a cross between a pair of hands and a spider, with a long tail. This creature will leap towards the nearest creatures face, requiring a saving throw against dragon breath. If the saving throw succeeds, the facehugger is dodged, and scuttles off into the shadows for its next attempt. If the saving throw fails, the victim instantly falls unconscious, the facehugger inserting an ovipositor down the victim's throat, along with supplying oxygen. Any attempt to remove the facehugger will result in the death of both the facehugger and the host, whether through the facehugger choking its victim to death, or by the facehugger's acidic blood burning through their face. Anyone who strikes a facehugger in melee combat must make a saving throw against dragon breath or take 1d6 damage from its acidic blood.

Facehugger
Move: 180 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1/2
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: see above

(Image from Alien)

After 1d6 hours, the facehugger will fall off the victim's face, and they will return to consciousness. The victim will have no memory of the facehugging, and will feel fine. After 1d6x4 hours, however, the next stage of the xenomorph life cycle will birth itself through its host's torso; the chestburster. As the facehugger, anyone who strikes the chestburster in melee combat must make a saving throw against dragon breath or take 1d6 damage.

Chestburster
Move: 180 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 1d6


(Image of the ThinkGeek facehugger plush, that I actually own!! I chose this because the actual scene from the film is rather gruesome)

Xenomorphs grow alarmingly fast, reaching maturity within 1d6 hours as long as there is matter to consume with its metal jaws (organic or inorganic materials can be digested). Anyone striking a xenomorph in melee combat must make a saving throw against dragon breath or take 1d6 damage

Xenomorph Adult
Move: 120 feet/turn/climb 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 3
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 3
Damage: 1d8 each


(Image from Alien)