The latest movie in the Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands, is in theaters now, and the advance reviews for it are good! Unlike previous Predators outings, the protagonist is the Predator this time, and it’s sort of a coming of age story for a young Predator with half of Elle Fanning strapped to his back.
The entire Predator franchise is clearly cool, and we would all be fools not to take lessons for our own action games. We recently looked at how to pick apart the Alien franchise (part 1 and part 2) to steal ideas for your game. Now, on the eve of Predator: Badlands in theaters, let’s do the same with Predator.
Unlike the Alien xenomorph, which has a savvy, animal cunning, a Predator is an intelligent creature. Powerful, yes, and dangerous, but capable of complex thought, and with a culture and code that it follows. Yet, it is also monstrous and alien in its own way. To recreate the Predator for the Tales of the Valiant RPG or Mothership, or whatever game you’re porting the concepts into, first we must break down its key elements:
1. A Predator is a Hunter
The central conceit of the Predator franchise is that a Predator is a hunter. Whether it’s a cultural foundation, or a biological imperative, Predators hunt prey. They don’t murder, they don’t mindlessly attack—they hunt. And they enjoy it. They don’t want the hunt to end quickly; they want to test their prey, observe them, and draw out the chase so it’s not just enjoyable, but a challenge. This will come into play when planning the encounter. You can drop hints that the PCs are being watched or tested with traps and fleeting blurs of cloaking technology.
2. It Targets the Strong
A Predator doesn’t attack non-combatants or those who can’t fight back. It targets dangerous individuals — soldiers, criminals, warriors, killers. That sure sounds like an adventuring party to me. That makes PCs ideal quarry for the Predator creature and means it won’t go after horses or NPCs who aren’t a threat to it.
3. It’s Stealthy
A key element of a Predator is that it has a personal cloaking device that enables it to turn invisible. It uses this to remain hidden and watch its prey, stalking it through the wilderness and striking while unseen. Invisibility is easy to duplicate in a game. For low level threats this can be simplified to a high Stealth score, while for more experienced characters, it can be upgraded to something resembling the greater invisibility spell, where the creature can attack while invisible without becoming visible.
4. It Has Noticeable Blood
The Predator notoriously has fluorescent green blood. This is more than cosmetic! It allows the creature’s prey to see evidence of its presence when it’s invisible and indicates when the creature is injured. And if it bleeds, you can hurt it. Your Predator creature doesn’t have to bleed the same shade, but giving it some kind of distinct blood trail or other trackable feature can give your PCs a better chance at defeating it as well as more closely evoking the source material.
5. It Has Advanced Weaponry
Coming from an alien race capable of space travel, it’s no surprise that the Predator has access to a variety of high-tech weapons including explosives, energy beams, and a variety of projectiles. These can be simulated in the Tales of the Valiant game with magical abilities and weaponry. Since Predators like to take trophies (see below), perhaps these are the spoils of its kills over the years. The creature should have a mix of melee and ranged weaponry in addition to its other abilities.
6. It Can Mimic Sounds
This may seem minor, but you can be used to great effect. In Predators, one of the humans is killed early on and his body set up as part of a trap with one of the Predators mimicking a plaintive “help me” to draw the others in. Use this ability to set traps for the PCs or try to spook them as the creature watches them while camping, testing them to see what they do. The green hag in the Monster Vault has the Mimicry trait, which you can repurpose with impunity.
7. It Takes Trophies
Predators like to take something from those they kill. A skull. A spine. A weapon. While this doesn’t have affect its power or capabilities, this practice can be used to rattle the PCs. When they see the creature, a dragon’s tooth pendant hanging around its neck or a demon’s horns adorning its helmet signal that this creature is capable and dangerous. Of course, if it sports trophies, you need to make sure that the PCs recognize them for what they are. Call them out!
These trophies can also allow for interesting treasure should the PCs defeat it or find its cache of trophies. The magical weapon of a hero or the staff of a dangerous wizard can be the reason for getting the heroes involved! They may have to recover an important artifact that the creature took and return it to its rightful owners.
8. And More . . .
There are a few other elements common to the franchise that can be used or discarded as needed. For example, several of the films establish that Predators often carry explosive self-destruct devices to use if they fail in their hunt. You don’t have to give your creature a similar device, but it can be used to add a little extra tension (we’ll look at that more closely in the next installment). Predators also use the equivalent of hunting dogs in parts of the franchise. These can be simulated by reskinning dog-like creatures like death dogs, dire wolves, winter wolves, or the like.
Got any additions to this list? Tell us about it over in the Kobold Press Discord!
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