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An alien born elsewhere coming to earth as a child is still an alien, so yes they would get the bonuses from their home planet.

It becomes an issue of species vs. acclimation. Acclimation in most cases takes a long time to substantially alter and mutate a species. So NMI is correct, not that there was ever any doubt.

This is true because of chemical interactions triggered by diet and differences in atmosphere. I would allow for slight variations on the parent powers based on the new climate. But, using your Jurassic Park example, a dinosaur would still be a dinosaur and its basic nature would remain unchanged. I cannot see wings just suddenly mutating to flippers unless food was unavailable to the point of causing the alien to become aquatic. It is about the utility necessary to maintain the means of survival.

Leon Kennedy wrote:

Stone Gargoyle wrote:This is true because of chemical interactions triggered by diet and differences in atmosphere. I would allow for slight variations on the parent powers based on the new climate. But, using your Jurassic Park example, a dinosaur would still be a dinosaur and its basic nature would remain unchanged. I cannot see wings just suddenly mutating to flippers unless food was unavailable to the point of causing the alien to become aquatic. It is about the utility necessary to maintain the means of survival.

But a hoo-ha just sprouts from nowhere and that's ok? It's the same premise - the frog is still a frog. It just mutated spontaneously to grow the male appendage.

That is not accurate. All creatures start out genetically female until the x chromosomes become y chromosomes and introduce male traits which are already lying dormant. The male sex organ is simply a female one pushed outward and producing different chemicals. It is much easier to change the gender of a creature than to drastically alter its bone structure or body chemistry. The easiest things to influence, as shown in genetic tests, is turning scales into feathers or the growth of teeth and claws. Certain powers would still be beyond a reasonable level of mutation.

Leon Kennedy wrote:But a hoo-ha just sprouts from nowhere and that's ok? It's the same premise - the frog is still a frog. It just mutated spontaneously to grow the male appendage.

"hoo-ha" i LOL'ed

Leon Kennedy wrote:

Stone Gargoyle wrote:
That is not accurate. All creatures start out genetically female until the x chromosomes become y chromosomes and introduce male traits which are already lying dormant. The male sex organ is simply a female one pushed outward and producing different chemicals. It is much easier to change the gender of a creature than to drastically alter its bone structure or body chemistry. The easiest things to influence, as shown in genetic tests, is turning scales into feathers or the growth of teeth and claws. Certain powers would still be beyond a reasonable level of mutation.

We ARE talking about comic book heroes here, so I don't think anything is beyond a reasonable level of mutation.

Except Aliens are limited by their genetics, which is the point of this thread. You just seem to be arguing in favor of chaotic nonsense rather than logical evolution.

Leon Kennedy wrote:I'm not arguing in favor of chaotic nonsense. My point was that some species, in the right environment and circumstances, will spontaneously alter their DNA in order to survive in that environment.

With available chemicals allowing them to do so. The main difference in chromosomes is chemical content which write characteristics.

Leon Kennedy wrote:]As for your argument about x and y chromosomes - you are incorrect. The Y chromosome contains all of the genetic information for the male traits, and these traits are NOT recessive/dormant in the cell structure until introduced. In fact, all embryos start out as female UNTIL AND UNLESS the y chromosome is introduced. If a Y chromosome isn't introduced into a fetus/embryo, that fetus will be female. There are no recessive or dormant genes here - the embryo is female, period. When a Y chromosome is introduced into the embryo, the embryo becomes male, and all of the genetic information in that chromosome is used to create what are typically known as the "male" aspects of the creature.

When I see your doctorate in biology, only then will I take your opinion as an expert one. Until then, I will go by what I have read on the subject.

Leon Kennedy wrote:Knowing this, one can extrapolate and assume that the african tree frogs spontaneously changed their own DNA in order for life to survive. How this is done I do not know, nor will I pretend to. Something in them changed their DNA to introduce the components of the Y chromosome so that a female could become a male spontaneously. This wasn't a matter of the femal organs growing larger to appear to be male. How could a female generate sperm? She can't - she has to be male.

Obviously she can or it would never have happened. It is POSSIBLE, just highly improbable under normal circumstances.

Leon Kennedy wrote:Now, continuing down this path you can see where I threw out my original idea of aliens having their DNA altered within a single generation to survive in an environment that is not their natural home. An alien living on this world for a period of who knows how many years might - and that is the keyword - MIGHT have the potential to have their DNA spontaneously altered from what it originally was in order to survive here.

No, what you said was that any and all traits should be possible, and again we get back to the issue of possibility vs. probability. It is IMPROBABLE they would have severe genetic divergence from the parent species. Your argument is that it should be probable, when it simply isn't.
But moving past your lack of understanding of basic genetics, let us get back to game mechanics. According to Aliens Unlimited and HU2, aliens are defined by their traits and any superhuman abilities are a result of those traits, so any superpowers would come from them and not just spontaneously appear.

I usually just play the alien as written. I usually buy off the rack, too. But seriously, with all the options for aliens in AU and AUGG, it is just easier.

Leon Kennedy wrote:@Stone Gargoyle: Easy! Slow down! I'm not here for an argument. I'm just pointing out that we're talking about stuff in a comic book world, and that anything should be possible. I just used a real-world example to try to get my point across. I guess, in the end, it's up to the individual player and his/her GM.

Pretty much. I really meant no offense, just a bit cranky yesterday.

Dakkon wrote:now you got me confused . So if an alien baby from a twilight planet , wich would give him nightvision (i guess i'm at work right now).Would have it on earth too, just from parent side or not? same goes for the alien weapon and vehicle or skills.

It really depends on where he was raised as far as some skills, but natural ability type skills would apply. Yes, he would have nightvision due to having eyes which evolved over a long time to adapt to darkness.