Saturday, June 22, 2024

OSR: Modern Magic Items

This is a post intended for my modern occult setting, or any urban fantasy-inspired one.  These are magic items you could find in a bin or hidden in your senile grandfather's attic, long forgotten but still potent.  
Lucky Dice:

A trio of purple foam dice, covered in velvety felt.  The pips are white.  Holding the dice makes you feel confident.  Also, no matter where they fall, they will always return to the owner's pocket after enough time apart.  

Abilities:
- When you roll a die, if you don't like the result, 1/round you may reroll that die.  However, you must use the new result.
- 3/Day, you can add +1d6 to any die roll you make.  Alternatively, you may subtract -1d6 from any die roll you make.

White Rabbit's Foot:

A rabbit's foot, smelling of stale biscuits and strong tea.  Fainty, coppery undertaste.  Feels very heavy and holding it gives you a soft, warm feeling.

Abilities: 
- At the beginning of the day, roll 3d20.  At any point, when you roll a d20, you may replace the roll with one of the pre-rolled d20s.  The White Rabbit's Foot can store up to 3d20.    
- Whenever someone rolls a d20, 1/round, you can steal the result of their roll and replace it with one of the pre-rolled d20s.  You may then replace another roll with the one you have stolen.  
- Every time you roll a "1" as one of your d20s at the beginning of the day, decrease the number of d20s you roll by one.  Do this each time you roll a "1" at the start of each day, until you roll 0d20.  At that point, you are cursed.  

The White Rabbit's Curse:

You are cursed with bad luck.  Whenever you roll a d20 in opposition with someone else, if they roll lower than you, you must swap results with them.  Ex: If you roll a "10" and they roll a "5" you take the "5" and they the "10".  If their result is better than yours, nothing happens.  

Additionally, every time you roll a "1" on a d20, you suffer a Critical Failure.  This means that something truly awful happens to you.  

The only way to break this curse is to find White Rabbit and give him back his foot or beat someone in a game of chance (while still cursed).  Cheating is permitted.  

How to Destroy the White Rabbit's Foot: 

Use the White Rabbit's Foot to smash 6 mirrors on Friday the 13th, move it under 4 ladders, spill salt on it, open an umbrella over it while indoors and let a black cat cross in front of the person carrying it.  Then burn it.  Alternatively, give it to a powerful Wolf or Dog spirit.  The latter method won't destroy it, but will keep it contained for at least 1d20+10 years.

Attempting to destroy it in any other method will fail and bring a catastrophic amount of bad luck down on those who attempted such methods, which inevitably results in something awful happening to them, like being struck by lightning, a building collapsing on them or being drowned in a freak non-water flood, such as the great Molasses flood of January 5th, 1919.

Neckbeard's Blade/Katakuri/Nippon Blade:

A sword that resembles a cheap mall-ninja katana, yet despite seemingly made of flimsy metal and overwrought plastic decorations, it is indestructible, bending but never breaking, warping but always returning to it's normal shape.  You'll look absolutely ridiculous with it until you use it to hack through someone like butter.

EGO Weapon:
If you have a CON or CHA less than 9, you can wield this weapon.  However, wielding this weapon will rob you of your ability to behave appropriately around women, especially beautiful ones.  You will view all women as damsels in distress that need to be saved and will devote yourself to serving your "ladies".  You also must save to avoid making awkward passes or inappropriate comments.
If you have a CON and CHA greater than 15, you can wield this weapon.  Doing so will allow you to unlock the weapon's second ability.  
If you have a CON or CHA between 10 and 14, you cannot wield this weapon.  In your hands, it will only be a useless cosplay weapon that does 1 damage on a hit.  You also have a 2-in-6 chance of losing it every time you leave it unattended for more than 8 hours.  If you do lose it, the sword will not be found.  It has vanished, gone in search of a worthy wielder.   

Abilities:   

First:
- 3/Day, the wielder of the sword can teleport up to 100' as a free action on his turn, as long as he teleports within 10' of an enemy.  

Second: 
- 3/Day, the wielder of the sword can cause the blade to gain an impossible sharpness that will allow it to cut through anything non-magical or non-living.  If an object is too large for the blade to emerge from the other side, the wielder can make a STR check.  On a success, the blade shears through the object anyway.  

4D Glasses:

A pair of green and black 3-D Glasses, seemingly made of flimsy plastic, yet it is impossible to break them.  Gives off a faint aura of energy, like you're carrying a sightly radioactive alloy in your pocket.  

Abilities:
- 3/Day, the wearer of the glasses can look into the future to see the outcome of an action.  He does this by asking the Referee "How will an action go?" or "What happens if I do X"?  The Referee will then have them roll for that action.
- If the wearer then takes that action, the Referee should have him roll again.  If he rolls lower than the foreseen result, the wearer may use the foreseen result instead.

by elleblink
Nekomata's Ears:

A headband with a pair of realistic looking black cat ears.  If you have long enough hair, they look like cat ears coming out of the top of your head.  They'll make you look cute if you're cute, but if you are brutish and violent looking, they just look vaguely ridiculous.

Abilities:
- You gain retractable claws that you can extend, causing your unarmed strikes to do 1d6+Atk sharp damage.  
- You gain the ability to speak to Cats as if you shared a language.  Cats will also treat you as an honorary Cat, extending to you privileges* that humans do not get.
- You gain advantage on any roll made to climb a surface soft enough that your claws can penetrate it.  If it's softer than wood, your claws can pierce it, if it's harder, they cannot.

Cat Quests:

When you first put on the Nekomata's Ears, nothing will happen.  However, if you wear them for at least 1 week a senior Cat will come to you and present you with a quest.  If you complete this quest you will receive a Feline Boon.  You can choose not to complete the quest, but if you fail to do so, you will need to apologize to the Cat and make recompense before it will give you another quest.  

What is your Quest?

1d4
1- Help the Cat reclaim some territory that rightfully belongs to it.  The disputed territory is currently occupied by 1d4 [1= Some rascally teenagers who are using it as a place to party; 2= A couple of stray dogs are hanging out there; 3= Another Cat has claimed it and won't give it up without a fight (or a bribe); 4= Something legitimately horrible and dangerous that escaped from a Carver's lair, a Nest of Pale Crawlers, a Monstrous Dog, etc.]
2- Help the Cat write a love-poem for the beautiful but cold-hearted Molly (she-cat) that lives nearby.  Your quest-giver has a good heart, but couldn't write a sonnet to save his life.
3- Chase off a monster that is frightening the Cat.  The monster is 1d4 [1= A big, noisy dog that slobbers all over everything.  Actually really friendly; 2= A bunch of construction workers working nearby with power tools; 3= An Investigator is attempting some very ill-advised experiments with a Cloud Elemental, an illegal fusion of Water and Air.  This is causing localized thunder and strange weather phenomena; 4= Something legitimately horrible and dangerous (See above for potential examples).]  
4- Bring the Cat something delicious.  Specifically, it wants 1d4 [1= A specific (rare, expensive or magical) type of fish, as fresh as possible; 2= Luxury dog food; 3= It wants you to steal the food of another Cat is doesn't particularly like and bring it here so it can eat it's rival's food; 4= A bowl of breakfast cereal, but with fresh blood instead of milk.  Also milk, but on the side.]

What Feline Boon are you offered?

1d6
1- 3/Day, you can reduce falling damage by 1d6+[your level].
2- 3/Day, you can jump up to 10*[STR modifier]' vertically or twice that horizontally.
3- You learn the 'Pounce' maneuver.  If you take a running start and leap at someone, you do +1d6 weapon damage on a hit and the other creature must save or be knocked prone.  However, when you do this, if you miss, you are knocked prone and collide with whatever was behind the target when you pounced.
4- You gain the ability to see in low-light like it was bright light.  However, there must still be some light, you still cannot see in complete darkness.  Your eyes also shine like a cat's.    
5- You have advantage on Perception rolls based on hearing and scent.  You also gain the bonus to any roll made to track a creature via scent.  
6- 3/Day, you can instantly clean yourself off and appear clean and pristine, as if you just took a bath.  For the next 10 minutes after using this ability, you have advantage on any CHA checks or reaction rolls.  

If you do 1dX+1 Cat Quests, you will be approached by a Senior Cat, either a Cat Noble or a Cat of a naturally higher rank, such as a Tiger.  This Cat will present you with a new Cat Quest.  If you complete it, you will be granted a Greater Feline Boon.  

What is your Quest?

1d4
1- Steal a treasure from a nearby enemy.  The treasure is 1d4 [1= A magical herb; 2= A magical toy; 3= A trophy taken from a defeated enemy; 4= Something small and worthless that used to belong to the Cat Noble.]  
2- Help the Cat humiliate another Noble Cat.  The Cat Noble in question is arrogant and annoying- do something that makes him look bad, weak, silly or something alike.    
3- Help the Cat negotiate and come to an agreement with another creature.  The creature in question is 1d6 [1= A higher ranked Cat; 2= A powerful Bird; 3= A ghost; 4= A Cat Ghost; 5= A Wizard; 6= A Pale Crawler.]
4- Drive off an enemy.  The enemy is 1d4 [1= A fallen Cat, corrupted by sin; 2= A pack of dogs, organized into a noble court around a Dog Duke; 3= A Hellhound; 4= A hostile Ghost].     

What Greater Feline Boon are you offered?

1d4
1- The ability to transform into a Cat.  3/Day, you can transform into a housecat.  While in Housecat form you can do anything a normal cat can do, but keep your intelligence and charisma.  You cannot do anything a Cat could not do, such as talking or casting spells.  You remain a Housecat for 1 hour or until you choose to transform back.
2- Ambusher.  When you attack a creature from stealth, on a hit you do +2d6 damage.  
3- Terrifying Yowl.  3/Day, you can emit a terrifying screech.  All enemies within 50' must save or be frightened of you.  
4- Stealth.  3/Day, you can cloak yourself in an aura that muffles sound, suppresses your scent and makes you harder to see.  This gives you advantage on stealth checks for 10 minutes or until you do something loud and dangerous, like making an attack, screaming, breaking something, etc.  Direct sunlight will also burn this aura away within 1 minute.   

Meteor Mitts/Gold Star Gloves:

A pair of red boxing gloves, tied together and marked with a golden comet logo on the back of the hand.  No identifiable brand or logo can be seen.  When worn, you faintly remember long hours training with a white-haired coach who pushed you hard, made you the man you are today.  

Abilities:
- Grant the wearer the ability to make fist attacks that do 1d6+ATK damage when wearing the gloves.  
- 3/Day, the wearer can make a fist attack against a humanoid enemy.  On a hit, that creature must save.  On a failed save, that creature is knocked unconscious. On a success, it takes +1d6 damage.  This may not work on certain types of enemies, such as Constructs, Undead, etc.  Additionally, any creature with HD more than 2x the wearer's current level has advantage on the save.  Creatures with HD more than 3x the wearer's current level are immune.
- 1/Day, the wearer can unleash a vicious flurry of 2d6 punches at one enemy or any amount of enemies they can face.  The wearer should roll once per enemy targeted and use that roll for each attack targeted against that enemy.     

from mommy-labs.com
Magic Foil:

A roll of aluminum foil that only contains a tiny amount of foil.  When not being used, it is always found inside a battered cardboard box labeled as "Terry's Magic Tin!"  Other labels on the box proclaim the various esoteric properties of the foil, claiming it can do anything from flipping burgers to curing cancer.  

Abilities:
- The foil on the roll can be taken and folded like paper into any shape you can imagine.  When it has taken on the form of that object, it can function as that object.  Ex: You fold the foil into a sword and it becomes a sword.  You fold it into a lockpick and it becomes a lockpick.  Etc...
- There is always enough foil to cover the inside of a medium-sized bathtub.  Referee's Discretion applies on how much this exactly is, or if the user has enough to fold into a specific object.  
- The foil can only be folded into something that could be made of metal.  It has no other magical properties.

The POWER:

A keyboard, red and glossy, with no visible brand name and more settings than you can shake a stick at.  It never runs out of battery and seems to radiate an aura of power.  Being near it is like standing near a blazing campfire, while reaching out to touch it will make every hair on your body stand on end.  

Abilities: 
- Allows the user to cast spells as per a 'Free-Form Wizard'.  The user can do this by making a roll as if they were a spellcaster.  The user must be able to touch 'The POWER' and hit the keys to trigger this ability.  
- If the user can think of and play a song that reflects what they want, then the Power will give them +4 to their roll to cast the spell, unless the song is one of the ones listed in the "Greatest Hits".
- If any songs from the "Greatest Hits" list is played, it triggers that effect instead.  The POWER will only allow 3 of the "Greatest Hits" to be played in one day.  Others played after that will have no effect.  

Greatest Hits:

If the user plays...

- "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio: All police or any other LEOs within 1d10 miles of the user all decide to take a coffee break for the next hour, or until something loud and noticeable draws their attention.  The user and every criminal within 1d10 miles knows this.  
- "Amazing Grace" by John Newton: All those unjustly imprisoned within 1 mile are set free.  All those who are justly imprisoned or serving a just punishment will instead receive a vision of Heaven or Hell, depending on their relationship with God.  These visions last 1d10 minutes and are life-changing.  
- "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John: Any of the user's allies who are above half HP are restored to full HP.  Those who are below half are raised to half HP and those bleeding out or dying are instead healed to 1 HP.
- "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi: The user will suddenly receive a sudden break, a bit of help from a stranger, a stroke of good luck or something that could be divine intervention if you squint at it.
- "Jukebox Hero" by Foreigner: The user suddenly becomes impossibly skilled as a musician and for the next hour can play any instrument and gets +4 to any roll made to perform with it.  
- "I Need a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler: A powerful ally will suddenly appear to aid the user in whatever their current situation is.  
- "Master of Puppets" by Metallica: All those within 1 mile will suddenly find their superiors in rank and status irresistible to resist.  All those within the radius must succeed on a save to disobey an order.
- "Yankee Doodle" by Richard Shuckburgh: Causes all firearms to do +1d6 damage for 1 hour.  Additionally, all creatures get +1 to Atk and Defense rolls, as well as damage, if they are fighting an oppressive government or agents of said regime.  
- "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie: Causes one female creature within 100' who has died to be returned to life.  This only works if the creature's soul hasn't moved on.  If the body is pristine or almost entirely undamaged, she will return to life as a living creature.  If her body is damaged, she will return as a Ghoul.  If it is severely damaged, she will return as a Zombie.  
- "Dog Days are Over" by Florence and the Machine: Causes the world to change.  It causes the current situation to come to an end in as natural, but swift a way as possible.  Play this one at your peril.     

by Spacey-Xannabelle
Psychic Television:

It looks like an old CRT TV, battered and old, but still functional.  However, it possesses one unique trait.  It has a small satellite dish on top of it, instead of any other form of connection.  It must be plugged in and connected to some form of TV service to display video.

Abilities:
- The Psychic Television can hear and understand everything you say.  It is fully intelligent and helpful.  
- 3/Day, it can answer any question you ask it.  It will respond by rapidly switching through the channels, splicing together words that the people on the TV are saying to "reply" to you.
- It will also sometimes randomly respond to queries, questions or desires presented to it or near it.  Ex: "If you're discussing how the orphanage will be shut down unless they can get $5,000 dollars by the end of the month, it will direct you to a local battle of the bands competition with a financial prize for first place.  Or if you're trying to evade the police, it will show you cop shows to remind you of how the police think and what they look for.

by Haco1

Thursday, June 6, 2024

OSR: Aliens: The Greys

by soyunmito
A race of savants, Greys are well represented in pop culture, despite the official denials of their existence.  Despite the facts that almost everyone has at least heard of them, most people don't believe they are real.  This is, in fact, what they want.  

Greys look exactly like you imagine, ranging in height from three and a half to four and a half feet tall.  They are covered in grey skin that is usually wet to the touch, glistening with slime.  Their mouths are small and dainty and they have huge, liquid eyes that are opague and black.  You can see your reflection in them if you get close enough.  They also have long, delicate fingers well suited to manipulating complex objects.  There are also Greys that rise to the height of five and half to six feet; these are known as the tall Greys, for obvious reasons.  However, short Greys tend to be much more common.  

Greys and humans have had contact for many decades, starting with the Roswell incident in the 50s.  There was never a crash, the Greys simply landed and informed the military that they were here.  The Americans quickly agreed to sign a secret treaty with them, with one of the stipulations being that the Greys could not reveal themselves publicly and must take measures to conceal themselves.  The Greys agreed to this treaty.  It is believed that this event might have been what created the Agency in the first place, or at least accelerated it's current incarnation, but this is speculation.

While the details of the treaty are largely unknown, it is believed that the Greys trade either technology or information for the right to kidnap and experiment on humans.  Their agenda is largely unknown, but the Greys seem to display a great interest in humans, particularly in our biology and physiology, but also in our psychology.  Other things that humans produce, such as our technology and culture have produced no visible reaction.  They seem to have no interest in such things.  

by Rucalok
Grey Technician:

Number Appearing: 1d4+2
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Languages: N/A
Treasure: Futuristic Technology, Amulets that boost psychic abilities, medical equipment, mysterious organic-looking plastic-esque substances

Grey Technician
HD 2
AR 3 [Nanoweave Garments]
Atk Tearmaker [See Below]
Mor 12
Saves 9 or less  

Telepathic: Greys are telepathic.  They can communicate with any intelligent creature with a mind within 1 mile of them, as long as the Grey is aware of that creature.  Greys can also sense the presence of non-shielded minds through the auras and mental noise all creatures naturally emit. 

Innate Spellcasting: Greys have psychic abilities that they can use to manipulate their environments.  Their MD burn out on a roll of 5 or 6 and on doubles or triples trigger a roll on the Chaos table, (see below).  Grey Technicians have 4 MD and know the spells Illusion, Invisibility, Magic Missile and Take Captive.

Chaos of the Greys:
1d6
1- Glowing orbs of varying colors and sizes fill the air around the Grey in a 30' diameter circle.  
2- Strange, dissonant tones fill the air, all creatures within 50' must save or be paralyzed for 1 minute.
3- One piece of human technology within 100' randomly and catastrophically malfunctions.  
4- One piece of Grey technology within 100' ceases to function for 1d10 minutes.  
5- The Grey takes 1d6 Psychic damage as backlash.    
6- All creatures within 50' of the Grey suffer splitting headaches.  They make all Attacks and rolls based on precision, focus or skill at disadvantage unless they pass a successful COG check.  This lasts for 1d10 minutes or until the Grey that triggered Chaos passes 3 saves.  

Grey Technology: All groups of Grey Technicians larger than 4 members or on some form of mission will carry a piece of Grey Technology to aid them on their quest.  Roll on the table below or select the one that would be most suitable to their purpose.  

Tearmaker: Grey Technicians are armed with for their species is a basic infantry weapon called (by humans) a Tearmaker.  These weapons fire tiny teardrops of metal about the size of a bullet at great speed.  The normal rounds do 1d8+2 damage, with a save to reduce damage as per damage from a firearm.  They also have a variety of other types of rounds- Grey Technicians will also carry non-lethal rounds which do 1d8 electrical and 1d6 DEX damage on a hit, with a save to reduce both as per damage from a firearm.  If these rounds reduce a creature to 0 DEX, that creature is unable to move for one minute.     

Tactics:
- Isolate and Restrain the Target
- Perform your Analysis
- Avoid unnecessary violence
- Flee if faced with stiff resistance

Grey Technicians are highly intelligent, but stiff to outsiders.  They will generally refuse to communicate with those they are abducting or experimenting on, as they regard them as little more than a potential data-set.  Scientists don't argue with the lab rats about the necessity of the experiment, that's silly.  

Grey Technicians will communicate with outsiders if they must, which they primarily do through telepathy.  Technicians are scientifically oriented, almost to an autistic degree, on issues of medicine, biology, genetics and other scientific issues relating to living organisms.  They can and do other things, but these are done begrudgingly, rarely with any real zeal.  Their true passion is science and experimentation.  They have commented on there being other types of Technicians, but these are universally regarded with disdain by Technicians that specialize in other fields.

They generally regard humans in general with benign neglect to subtle contempt.  They don't care that they are hurting us and wouldn't do anything to help us, but in truth, they are largely non-malicious.  To them, their actions are entirely justified and it is true that their experiments are rarely permanently harmful, though that does not make them pleasant to go through or that they leave no lasting injuries, physical or otherwise.      

by WeAreSuperNeutral
Grey Technology: 

All Grey Technology requires a degree of psychic power/magical skill to operate.  It is controlled entirely through mental input- creatures without this talent are unable to use Grey Technology.  

Additionally, Grey Technology is extremely difficult to repair or recharge should it's power cells fail.  Whenever you use a piece of Grey Technology, roll 1d20.  On a roll of 1, it stops working.  You will need to repair it before it can be used again.  This is often very difficult, as very few creatures know how to fix Grey Technology besides the Greys themselves, who do not hand out their technology to those they do not favor.  

1d8
1- Neural Chimes: Strange metallic cylinders that 3/Day, can emit a piercing chime that forces all creatures within 50' to save or be paralyzed.  The chimes can be used to target one creature or all creatures within range.  Greys automatically pass their saves against this device.    
2- Godhand Glove: A gauntlet of steel wires with embedded stones and etched stones that amplify psychic ability, enabling any psychic creature who wears the gauntlet to use telekinesis.  The creature can manipulate objects as if their mind could produce a force with a strength equal to the creature's COG (or INT) score.  Grey Technicians have a COG of 16 for the purposes of telekinetic strength.    
3- Floating Saucers: Tiny discs of metal about the size of pie tins that levitate on their own.  Can act as drones for the Greys, transmitting audio or visual data.  The Saucers can fly and move quite fast.  Their edges are also razor sharp and can cut through flesh and bone with ease if moving at sufficient speed.  [HD 1 AR 4  Atk 1d8+2  Mor 20 Saves 7 or less].    
4- Radio Wand: A rod of cut crystal that allows the user to scan an object within 50' and see inside of it, as well as see a 3D model of it in their mind.  Can only be blocked by Tetragrammatic Wards, an inch of metal, three inches of concrete or a foot of dirt.  
5- Retractor Ray: A device that fires a beam of energy up to 100' long.  Creatures caught in the light are paralyzed and can be moved forward or backwards along the beam of light.  This beam can only target one Medium sized creature at a time.  Creatures larger than this get a save to resist being paralyzed or moved.    
6- Excruciator: A device that when pointed at a creature, fires electrical pulses that trigger agonizing pain in whatever creature they strike.  The device has a 30' ray and creatures targeted take 1d8 psychic damage, save for half.  This damage cannot reduce a creature below 0, but it can inflict mental trauma.  It passes through non-magical armor, unless that armor is designed to keep out radiation.  
7- Cloaking Discs: Small devices that resemble micro-CDs contained in small black jackets.  When placed on an object and activated, they cover whatever they are touching in an illusion of the user's choice.  This object can be a creature or a static object.  These illusions do not stand up to physical touch.  The Cloaking Discs can only produce visual illusions.
8- Flight Suits: Outfits that resemble wetsuits, with padded areas that resemble bulletproof plating under the fabric.  The suits enable whoever wears them to levitate and gives them a flight speed of 30'.  The downside is that the suits are fragile and can be damaged by fire or acid or anything that gives the wearer a Horrible Wound.  If it takes damage of one of those types, the wearer must save to see if the suit breaks.   

Grey Envoys:

Number Appearing: 1 or 2
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Languages: Whatever languages they prepared for
Treasure: Grey Translation Devices, Ceremonial Robes, Futuristic Technology

Grey Envoy
HD 3
AR 3 [Nanoweave Garments]
Atk [See below]
Mor 14
Saves 10 or less  

Telepathic, Grey Technology: see above

Innate Spellcasting: Greys have psychic abilities that they can use to manipulate their environments.  Their MD burn out on a roll of 5 or 6 and on doubles or triples trigger a roll on the Chaos table, (see above).  Grey Envoys have 5 MD and know the spells Charm Person, Disguise Self, Invisibility, Hypnotic Pattern and Magic Missile.

Tearmaker: As Grey Technician.  

Tactics: 
- Avoid combat, Charm enemy leaders
- Disguise yourself as an ally or turn invisible
- Strike with overwhelming force if threatened

Grey Envoys are better known as "Tall Greys" to humans.  Unlike their shorter cousins, they stand from five to five and half feet tall.  They are much more loquacious and willing to talk to humans, in fact, they enjoy it.  Grey Envoys primary purpose is to negotiate and communicate with non-Greys.  They, unlike other Greys, can talk using their mouths, though they still prefer to communicate telepathically, though they understand that this is often considered invasive by non-Telepathic species.  

Grey Envoys are capable of speaking any language they need to and can learn a new one within a few days, depending on the complexity and availability of data.  A Grey Envoy might have difficulty learning how to speak ancient Greek or Hebrew, but could learn how to speak any common human language within a few days.  They always have strange accents or lack thereof, but otherwise talk as if they were fully fluent in the language (because they are).  

Grey Envoys are believed to be the ones that communicated with the governments of Earth and negotiated the deals that allow them to abduct and experiment on humans.  They are more sympathetic to our plight, but they are still loyal to their race above all else.  They have hinted that they need humans and the data we can provide for some greatly important project the Greys are working on.  No one but them knows what this project is, or whether or not it would be beneficial to the people of Earth.  

While the opinions of the Greys as a collective is largely unknown, it is known that the Grey Envoys do not value the governments of Earth much.  The Greys cooperate because that is the easiest way for them to carry out their secret projects, but the Greys find the restrictions on them burdensome.  They constantly test the boundaries of their agreements and will break them if necessary, but prefer to abide by their deals as much as possible and exploit loopholes and unclear language when they can.

by Redwoodjedi
Grey Services:

The Greys do not have much in the way of treasure, beyond their technology, but they might be willing to offer one of these services in trade.

1d6
1- Life Extension.  The Greys can make you younger, extending your life-span through the use of their impossible technology.  
2- Healing.  The Greys can easily fix any injury you have, including regrowing limbs or lost appendages.  They can also easily cure any non-magical disease and have a good chance of curing the latter, though it's not guaranteed.  
3- Transportation.  The Greys can take you anywhere on Earth you wish, as long as you can fly one of their spaceships there.  So unless it's underground or in another universe, the Greys can get you there.  If they really like you, they can also take you anywhere you want to go in the Solar System. 
4- Knowledge.  The Greys don't know everything, but they know many things.  Especially if your question relates to technology, engineering or biology, they'll be able to answer your questions.  Their biggest blind spot is humans and their current activities however, they don't really understand us or know what we're up to.  
5- Digital Manipulation.  Want a file scrubbed from 99% of the Internet?  Want access to any secure database on Earth?  The Greys could do it in five minutes or your money back.
6- Psychic Manipulation.  Want someone's memory modified?  Want to send someone a psychic message or vision?  Want to get rid of your own mental illness or inflict one on someone else?  The Greys can do all that and more.  

Big Twists: The Greys:

Big Twist #1: The Greys are modified humans.  Through countless centuries of evolution, inbreeding due to constrained gene pools and intentional genetic manipulation created the Greys.  Yet despite their odd and bizarre appearance they were once homo sapiens.  Though at this point, the gulf between them is as vast the distance between humans and chimpanzees.  

Big Twist #2: The Greys are a Slave Race.  The Greys were created by a greater Race at some point to perform some function, such as scientific research, exploration or some other esoteric purpose.  There are likely other castes of Grey out there designed for other purposes such as Artists, Warriors, Leaders, etc.  

Big Twist #3: The Master Race is extant.  The Race that created the Greys is still around and they are on their way to Earth.  The Greys are preparing the way for an invasion.  

Big Twist #4: The Greys are humans from the distant future.  Eons from now, the human race ascends to unimaginable peaks.  We master all technology, including near-supreme control over time and space.  This enables us to travel back in time.  The Greys that returned to our age are those godlike Star-men from some impossible future age, having journeyed back to humanity's infancy for their own ineffable purposes.  

Grey Plot Hooks:

1d6
1- The Greys abduct the party for their experiments.  They subject the party to a variety of physical challenges and intensive rituals to try and get details out of them.
2- The Greys have accidentally abducted a person who is notable and attracted media attention.  The Agency is attempting to cover up the evidence and silence anyone who knows better.  The party happens to be one of those loose ends in need of being tied up.
3- The Greys have lost a piece of their technology on Earth, but due to treaty constraints, cannot recover it, as it is located in a military/government/Agency facility.  They send an Envoy to recruit the players to steal their tech back for them.       
4- The Greys and some human representatives are having a secret meeting.  You are hired to spy on this meeting and try to find out what the meeting is about and what the agenda of the Greys and/or the humans is.  
5- The party are contacted by a Grey Envoy, possibly in disguise, who is concerned about a human weapon test.  The Greys would like you to infiltrate the base where the weapon test is being undertaken and investigate it, then report back to the Envoy.  
6- The Greys wish to speak to a particular person without the interference of the locals or the Agency.  Please create a distraction big enough for them to sneak in, converse with their target, inform them of what the Greys wish the individual to know, then leave.  Also, if you get caught, the Greys will deny all involvement.  

by OfficialPazora