Guide Xenian Guide/Rules

[Wizard]

Xenians in Half-Life play a crucial role as they are one of the most commonly faced types of enemies throughout the games, from simple headcrabs to towering antlion guardians. Playing one well is important, as poor play can sometimes be uninteresting or outright disruptive of roleplay instead of enhancing or providing challenges for people to overcome.​

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Rules

1) Xenians should be mindful of their environment or where they’d be reasonably located.

• An antlion guardian will not be walking into a town or roaming the wild; houndeyes are unlikely to be found in an urban city setting, etc.

2) Xenians should not be used purely to disrupt roleplay situations.

• More on this in the ‘Disruption vs Enhancement’ subcategory.

3) Xenians are not characters; you should not be on one for extended periods.

• Recurring specific creatures in some scenarios may be permitted.

4) Xenians cannot PI/PK characters without admin or the player’s consent.

5) All other general S2RP rules should be adhered to.

• In some situations with some xenians, you can force actions (i.e., overpowering a character in hand-to-hand on a zombie/panthereye/gonome, etc.). Defer to rule four.

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Disruption vs Enhancement

Careful attention should be paid to whether you are interrupting or adding to a roleplay situation. While in most situations, people would appreciate a brief or simple encounter, sometimes it’d be better to simply leave them be. This is best explained with examples:

Situation A) A group of rebels are out on patrol throughout the forest without a clear objective. You decide not to join them and instead hop on a xenian to set up an encounter for them or attack.

This would be enhancing roleplay. Random creature encounters in the wild are precisely what would happen in Half-Life, and so long as you are within the ruleset above, this would be a fair and fun encounter. You may want to reconsider if they had a set objective, like leaving for a raid.

Situation B) A group of rebels are settled around a campfire either in the wild or in camp. They are just relaxing and roleplaying among themselves. You swap over to a headcrab and try to leap on one.

This would be disrupting roleplay. While yes, people should always be mindful of a headcrab jumping on them in the setting, you’re intruding on roleplay in a way that would not be appreciated. However, if you ask prior OOC, and they agree, then feel free.

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Durability

Some xenians, like the antlion guardian, gonomes, etc, are reasonably very durable enemies that will take a lot of beating to bring down. That being said, nobody wants to sit there shooting at a guardian for several turns of emotes. Consider a few things:

• Spicing up the encounter with additional enemies (an extra few antlions along it, other hostile creatures, etc).

This is admittedly difficult to do solo. There’s no harm in asking in OOC for an admin to help manage additional NPCs or recruiting other xenian players to help.

• Dying and reinforcing.

Why fight one big ass gonome when you could fight three or four? Within reason, this is an exciting alternative. Instead of making one long, drawn-out firefight, break it into smaller encounters. For example, rebels exploring an infestation zone get bothered by several creatures instead of one big enemy. This should not be enough to overwhelm people.

In the end, just be mindful of the enjoyment of others. If they cannot damage your creature for whatever reason, it should be made explicitly clear in their emotes so they are not wasting their time and instead explore other options. Any questions about the finer details can be directed to any staff member.


Additional xenian specific guides are included below, providing an outline and lore of the creature to help with roleplaying one. More may be added in the future and will be announced with a post.

 

[Wizard]

Spoiler: HEADCRAB/ZOMBIE

Normal Headcrab/Normal Zombie

The basic headcrab is encountered everywhere, like rats. They are fairly weak yet still decently agile for their size. Before obtaining a human host, they feed off almost any organic matter they can access. Like all headcrabs, they leap on their host and secure themselves around their head. Strong muscles around their underside and appendages make them incredibly difficult to remove. They suffocate the host until they are unconscious while trying to break through their skull with a ‘beak,’ a process that can take just a few minutes. Time is precious when someone is jumped on.
After roughly ten minutes, they re-animate. The infected begin to transform through intense biological changes, forming claws within approximately an hour. These undead are slow and simple and do not age or degrade as one might expect due to chemicals produced by the parasitic headcrab. Throughout all this, the host feels everything and is stuck in a state of agony for weeks. Beyond that, their cries of pain become mere echoes, or so people like to think. Either way, death is mercy. Upon death of the host, possible through several shots to the body, the headcrab detaches and will often flee. All other headcrabs exhibit this behavior.

Spoiler: FAST HEADCRAB/ZOMBIE

Fast Headcrab/Fast Zombie

A variant of the regular headcrab, either through intentional biological modification by the combine or evolution, these headcrabs are weaker but incredibly fast and agile, as if regular headcrabs weren’t terrifying enough.

They modify their host more extensively than the regular headcrab, shedding flesh until they’re just bones and a few ligaments. They’re as agile as the crab that infected them, able to run, leap, and ambush to shred people with razor-sharp talons. These fast zombies are not as durable and easily put down with a well-placed shotgun blast. Their host is also unlikely to be alive due to the massive modifications of the body.

Spoiler: POISON HEADCRAB/ZOMBIE

Poison Headcrab/Poison Zombie

Unlike the fast headcrab, this variant is undoubtedly an intentional modification from the combine as a bioweapon targeted towards human resistance members. It appears designed to strike fear into people and kill with potent venom. It bears visual traits similar to spiders with a dark black coloring.

Being not as agile as a regular headcrab, it instead will try to pounce on a victim and use its fangs to inject a potent toxin into them to weaken them, then return later to attach once the victim is incapacitated and/or weakened. These are the only headcrab variants that exhibit some kind of intelligence, as they will flee if injured and wait until victims are too weak to fight back from their venom.

This toxin is also dangerous if ingested, though its effects are lessened. Anti-venom injectors are common among the combine, as unintended attacks on combine assets (Particularly the RPF) happen.

Hosts start as traditional zombies. However, over time, they are mutated into a lumbering- Durable form that hosts additional poisonous headcrabs. They begin as immature young parasites until they grow into fully formed poison headcrabs, which feed off the host’s deformed body. They eventually detach and bring more organic matter to add to the host, allowing for more and more parasites to grow, multiplying their number and further adding to the theory they are bioweapons instead of products of nature. These hosts are notably stronger than regular zombies but prefer throwing the poison headcrabs that grow on them at targets instead of attacking themselves. Yet when out of options, they will behave like any other zombie.

Spoiler: ARMORED HEADCRAB/ZOMBIE

Armored Headcrab/Armored Zombie

A variant of the standard headcrab, the armored headcrab sports spike-like growths along its dorsal side, providing heavy resistance to ballistics and blunt trauma. Rarely found outside of infestation zones, the growth is assumed to be parasitic. An exposed ‘heart’ on the underside further supports this theory, bulbous and abnormally shaped. Otherwise, the headcrab still behaves identically to a normal one, albeit more clumsy due to the armor.

The zombie behaves identically to a standard one as well; the only difference is the host must be shot several times to kill the body, in which the headcrab will detach and can be killed as well.

 

[Wizard]

Spoiler: ANTLION SOLDIER

Antlion Soldier

Antlions are the most common members of the antlion hive. This creature of alien origin is a large insectoid with razor-sharp claws and a thick chitin hide. Antlions are often at the forefront of the hive and are one of the most commonly encountered. Antlions often emerge from the ground to attack when disturbed or to hunt for food. They use their claws and mouths to rend at anything organic or hostile, dragging it back to their hive to feed their young. They behave like Earth’s ants, using pheromones to communicate and living in large colonies.

A durable hide makes them resistant to small caliber rounds and sharp weapons, but not immune. A few shots or a strong enough blow will still go right through into their gooey insides. The main threat comes in their numbers, as they’re never alone. Even scouting or scavenging, they travel in groups of three to four. Antlions are also capable of short-distance flight, leaping and using their wings to keep them airborne longer to attack or traverse their environment.

Spoiler: ANTLION WORKER

Antlion Worker

A rare type of antlion often found in hives, the worker bears several critical differences from the regular soldier. They are green to white with smaller, less effective wings and a larger, more formed head. They are rarely found outside the hive but may still slip out during a breach to the surface.

They tend to perform more routine duties around the hive, such as caring for grubs, digging, and forming hive structures. They use a strong acid to help melt through rock and dissolve organic matter into food for grubs to consume. This same acid can be used defensively, spit in a spray, or lobbed a projectile at the few brave enough to try to enter a hive.

Spoiler: ANTLION GUARD

Antlion Guardian

Another rare sight, the guardian is one of the largest antlions seen. Standing just under nine feet tall with a distinct large head and massive legs, it is a ferocious tank that sometimes joins other antlions in attacking threats and defends the hive itself. It often uses its thick head to crush and maim anything in its path, capable of destroying vehicles and flipping Combine APCs with relative ease.

While explosives are the most effective way to take one down, combined fire with armor-piercing or high-caliber rounds will eventually overwhelm it. Its thick head can shrug off all but the strongest projectiles; however, its underside and joints are notably weaker and make for a more appealing target.

 

[Wizard]

Spoiler: BULLSQUID

Bullsquid

The bullsquid is a xenian creature well adapted to the polluted, toxic environment of city sewer systems and other places outside them. If it’s filthy, muddy, and wet- A bullsquid is liable to call it home.

They are roughly four to five feet long from mouth to tail when fully grown, with yellow, orange, red, and black coloring. Bipedal with two strong legs and an equally strong- Muscular tail that can be used as a weapon. Several spiked tentacle growths around the mouth are adept for catching its preferred prey: Headcrabs. In adulthood, they are additionally capable of spitting a strong acid. Their hide is thick enough to withstand low-caliber bullets and is almost entirely slash-proof.

These creatures are incredibly territorial and will often not pursue threats far outside of their territory unless searching for food. Even then, it is not liable to chase humans beyond trying to get them out of their territory. When protecting their young, they are much more aggressive.

This is the bullsquid that holds up the xenian thread.