Road to the Xeno Invasion 1 - A brief history of Aliens

Ever since the first time we turned our gaze to the sky, we have wondered if there is anyone else out there. Throughout history, we have imagined aliens of different forms, from humanoids to utterly bizarre creatures. 

In 1657, Cyrano de Bergerac’s novel Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon (Selenarchia) depicted non-human creatures inhabiting the Moon. Since then, the imagination of various authors has envisioned aliens of many different shapes, each one stranger than the last. 
 When touching on this subject, it’s impossible to omit the influence of H.G. Wells and his novel The War of the Worlds. This popular science fiction novel would become even more famous for the legendary story surrounding its radio broadcast, where we encounter for the first time an alien species that poses a threat to humanity and, most of all, is incomprehensible and disgusting to human perception.  

From this point on, works of science fiction have portrayed this “incomprehensible threat” in various ways, and the encounter with alien creatures became one of the central themes of pulp fiction. Noteworthy in the years following The War of the Worlds is the novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the same creator of Tarzan), which presents the adventures of John Carter, who is mysteriously transported to Mars (called Barsoom by its inhabitants), where he encounters a variety of intelligent alien races.

This novel would later serve as inspiration for works such as Star Wars and Dune, and presents the two traditional visions of extraterrestrial creatures: humanoid beings that are somewhat different from us, and creatures with biology and forms totally different from those of a human being.

In this way, the general public’s fascination with works featuring otherworldly threats grew, with works of fiction that would captivate generations. However, this paradigm would change completely a few years later. It was in 1919 that a young man from Providence, Rhode Island, would change science fiction and horror forever, starting with his first work, Dagon, in which an ancient deity ruled a mysterious coastal town. While H.P. Lovecraft laid the foundations for what is now known as “cosmic horror” with his first novel, it was in 1928, with the publication of The Call of Cthulhu, that it finally took shape.

From that moment on, our vision of beings from other worlds broadened, making it possible for us to perceive them as beings beyond our comprehension, with physiologies and abilities that surpass our understanding. These types of stories would become popular not only through Lovecraft’s own writings, but also through other enthusiastic writers known as the “Lovecraftian Circle,” who expanded this world to literally every corner of the universe.

But what does all this have to do with the TTRPG Xeno Invasion?, you may ask, dear reader. I can assure you it has everything to do with it. I only ask that you let me explain, because to understand the importance of this game, it’s important to know its origins.

Caligaes' XENO - Digital

0.00 USD

10.00 USD

Let’s take a small step back to 1938, when John W. Campbell’s novel Who Goes There? was published. A story in which an alien entity has the ability to mimic any lifeform and causes terror and paranoia in a small group of people. If this story sounds familiar, it’s because it was the basis for the movie The Thing from Another World and for its later and much more famous rendition, known simply as The Thing by John Carpenter. This story would later also serve as inspiration for Ridley Scott’s movie Alien (surely that name rings a bell).

  Now that we have all this background, we can move on to 1981, the year in which the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu was published by the editorial Chaosium. In this game, we take on the role of a character from Lovecraft’s novels, that is, an ordinary human who may be an investigator or a reporter, who must survive the cosmic horrors they encounter, with virtually no chance of surviving to the next session.  

This particular game has gained a large fan base who play it constantly and have made it one of the best-selling and most played role-playing games in the world, especially in Japan and China, where it is often the only role-playing game they know and have played, with an effect very similar to that of D&D in America.

However, all these stories have always been told from the perspective of the victim or survivor. In movies, as in role-playing games, the protagonists are humans seeking to survive these horrors. But all this changed with the publication of XENO, a one-page role-playing game, originally published in Spanish, where this time you take on the role of the cosmic horror itself: an alien creature with abilities and powers far superior to those of any human being, and even so, your character still feels the pressure to fulfill their mission.

Now that we have all this background, we can move on to 1981, the year in which the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu was published by the editorial Chaosium. In this game, we take on the role of a character from Lovecraft’s novels, that is, an ordinary human who may be an investigator or a reporter, who must survive the cosmic horrors they encounter, with virtually no chance of surviving to the next session.

So whether you’re a fan of science fiction and aliens or just unique role-playing games, you can’t miss this release.

Recent posts

News

Axo Convention - Road to Gen Con 2025 Part 1

Game content

3 More flame-based cults for your 5e games

Game content

3 flame-based cults for your 5e games