On another forum ran by an indie game company I’m working with some nice people to see if we can make a rpg setting book for a hypothetical sequel to H. G. Wells’ classic novel “War of the worlds”.
The premise is that the first invasion was just a recon mission. They were relaying data cxonstantly back to mars and evne sent back data on what was killing them. So the martians invented a defense against those microbes and in 1914 launched an all out migration to earth.
Well, things didn’t go perfectly for the martians this time around either, partly due to the fact hyumanity hadn’t been sitting on it’s hands for 17 years but had formed a “League of nations” with the goal of establishing a defense for humanity should another alien invasion ever occur.
So about a year after the arrival of the mibration the martians control a few large areas of earth, but have been unable to expand. Humanity has, at a terrible cost, been able to contain them and thwart their efforts at expansion up to now.
One thing humans did was invent defenses against the martian black smoke weapon, as in gas masks and protective gear long befoe they were invented in ww1 in our timeline. Another was the development of an infantry launched short right anti armor rocket, essentially think of an early version of a panzerfaust and you’ve got it.
So the martians found their tripods being overwhelmed by infantry attacks in massed waves taking them down with massed rocket fire.
One thing the martians did to respond was to create infantry of their own as their massive tripods were tought but could be outnumbered and swarmed by infantry, they needed counter infantry to defend against them.
Eventually the martians came up with some responses to human infantry. One of them became known by various names: The Taken, the possessed, the infested and the Damned.
These were larger than average humans males with strong builds who appear to have had a small, miniature martian (Minimartian, cute name but we need something more ominous for the game. We’re working on it. Incubus seems likely.)literally grafter onto their backs like some big, obscene backpack. parts of the martians flesh extend over he chest of the Damned.
Tendrils from the huge tumor-like body of the martian entend into the skull of the Damned, and the cerebrum has been completely taken over by neural tendrils. No trace of a human upper brain or mind remain. The minimartian controls the body and has access to it’s senses.
The arms have been amputated, replaced with fungoidal, cancerous looking lumps at the shoulders from which a quartet of 1 meter long, 3" thick tentacles extend.
A sort of living gas mask covers the Damned’s mouth and nose, protecting it from martian black smoke and other gas weapons. The eyes are still exposed as they are better adapted at seeing under earthly conditions and serve as the the minimartian’s eyesight.
I imagine they might hold a type of martian made weapon, some type of mini heat ray perhaps, or even something new as long as it fits in with the original Wells novel.
So that’s the idea. Is anyone interested in taking a crack at some initial artwork for it? This game is such a small product line you really won’t get paid, at most a free copy of the pdf maybe, and full credit in the game, along with, if you wish, your name and email and or webpage listed. It might be doable based on a stand human male model with some weird evil looking stuff added on. I can do some hard objhect modeling and mechanical modeling, and might do some weapons, tanks, tripods, etc myself. But the organic sculpting isn’t my think, dearies. Any help is appreciated.