X-Com: the Redshirtening

[Andor]

So. There are a couple of problems in X-com that would need to be addressed in any RPG worthy write-up. I have some potential solutions in mind but I'm curious to see if you guys can come up with any I missed.

1. Chryssalids. These guys are terrifying, they make the Alien movie xenomorphs looks like whales when it comes to reproduction. If they really could reproduce without limit as they seem to in the games then logically you could just drop one into the Serengeti or an arctic carribbou herd and Eurasia would be over run within a few days. Why does this not happen? Why does a single chryssalid escaping a terror mission not doom the earth?

2. Lasers. Laser weapons are the first thing X-com develops. Which is fine except that the high-density batteries implicit in man-portable laser weapons would rewrite the technology of Earth. Licensing the technology implied would easily give x-com essentially infinite funds. Solutions?

 

[MarkB]

So. There are a couple of problems in X-com that would need to be addressed in any RPG worthy write-up. I have some potential solutions in mind but I'm curious to see if you guys can come up with any I missed.

1. Chryssalids. These guys are terrifying, they make the Alien movie xenomorphs looks like whales when it comes to reproduction. If they really could reproduce without limit as they seem to in the games then logically you could just drop one into the Serengeti or an arctic carribbou herd and Eurasia would be over run within a few days. Why does this not happen? Why does a single chryssalid escaping a terror mission not doom the earth?

There is a mission on that theme in the XCOM Enemy Within expansion, showing the potential for them to get out of control, but mostly, I think the aliens just don't want a Chryssalid-infested Earth. Maybe Chryssalids have a very short lifecycle, or (like most alien races in the original X-COM series) they can't survive for extended periods outside of alien ships or bases, or else the aliens have their own control mechanisms for them.

2. Lasers. Laser weapons are the first thing X-com develops. Which is fine except that the high-density batteries implicit in man-portable laser weapons would rewrite the technology of Earth. Licensing the technology implied would easily give x-com essentially infinite funds. Solutions?

Infamously, the original game makes this a feature - with dedicated production facilities, you can fund your operations to extraordinary levels by manufacturing and selling laser weapons.

One easy answer is secrecy - X-COM don't want the aliens to develop countermeasures to their shiny new weapons, so they keep every aspect of the technology top-secret for the duration of the war. And marketing a brand-new technology would generally take a lot longer than the few months a typical X-COM campaign comprises.

 

[Cherno]

I am fairly sure that I ahve seen at least one X-Com fan mod for the Strange Aeons lovecraftian skirmish tabletop system:
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?board=45.0
I think it lends itself well to X-Com scenarios... Hell, the game basically IS X-Com, minus the research and UFOs, and nominally set in the typical 1920s/1930s era, although the weapons stats etc. are generic enough that it doesn't matter much if you carry a Tommygun or a modern H&K MP5.

 

[SRR13]

Perhaps the chrysalids need a certain level of evolution or a certain body structure to make with the spawning. I know the aliens, for whatever reason, wanted to advance the human race to a certain point. Letting a bunch of chrysalids go hog wild would be a quick way to depopulate the planet, which would be counter productive to the previously stated goal.


My own thought: One area I always thought that the game never delved into was what happened with the alien entertainment system. All you can do with it is sell it in EU/EW, but what if you took it one step further.

The scientists testing it found that humans really enjoy it, and thing they could produce it to sell to the general public. If the department heads choose to sell it they could make bank, but maybe there are some negative consequences to it. Perhaps some people get really addicted to it, or maybe EXALT hacks some and uses it to umplant subliminal programing to turn people into sleeper agents.

 

[Andor]

I am fairly sure that I ahve seen at least one X-Com fan mod for the Strange Aeons lovecraftian skirmish tabletop system:
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?board=45.0
I think it lends itself well to X-Com scenarios... Hell, the game basically IS X-Com, minus the research and UFOs, and nominally set in the typical 1920s/1930s era, although the weapons stats etc. are generic enough that it doesn't matter much if you carry a Tommygun or a modern H&K MP5.

Huh. I just took a look at the quickplay PDF and it does look nearly perfect. When they get done with the 2nd edition I may have to pick up a copy. Thanks! And interestingly enough it uses the same resolution mechanic I was already planning to use at the strategy level.

 

[Cherno]

Huh. I just took a look at the quickplay PDF and it does look nearly perfect. When they get done with the 2nd edition I may have to pick up a copy. Thanks! And interestingly enough it uses the same resolution mechanic I was already planning to use at the strategy level.

Glad to be of help. Pro-tip: the 2nd Edition KS campaign just finished, but you can still get all the special deals etc. from it directly from Uncle Mike's SA website (I think) as a sort of pre-order system. There are card decks for AI controlled enemies and other stuff. The SA forum on the LAF also has a stickied index thread with fan-made resources (I made cards for the equipment, for example).

 

[MarkB]

I'm strongly considering adapting D&D 5e's combat mechanics for an X-COM conversion - they actually work quite well for the recent version of the game. Each character having one attack action plus movement plus potentially a bonus action suits the system well, and the hit point numbers are low enough for quick combat resolution.

I think the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic would be a great way to work the strongly-emphasised cover mechanic: Attacking a character in half-cover is rolled normally, attacks against targets in full cover have Disadvantage (roll twice and take the lower result), and attacks against targets with no cover gain Advantage (roll twice and take the higher result).

 

[Andor]

I'm strongly considering adapting D&D 5e's combat mechanics for an X-COM conversion - they actually work quite well for the recent version of the game. Each character having one attack action plus movement plus potentially a bonus action suits the system well, and the hit point numbers are low enough for quick combat resolution.

I think the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic would be a great way to work the strongly-emphasised cover mechanic: Attacking a character in half-cover is rolled normally, attacks against targets in full cover have Disadvantage (roll twice and take the lower result), and attacks against targets with no cover gain Advantage (roll twice and take the higher result).

It depends on the level of granularity you want. In X-Com:EW or Long war modifiers include range (bonus or malus), cover, flanking, smoke, psi-effects, equipment modifiers, Perks, and possible wound or poison/acid effects.

If you bundled all that under the advantage/disad mechanic I suspect it would very quickly end up with all effects canceling out and attacks always being a straight roll. You would probably want some numeric modifiers in there just so it all doesn't become a very complicated wash. Even base 5e uses flat numeric modifiers for cover, probably for that reason.

 

[Cherno]

I might also add that Fantasy flight Games have released a board game version of the latest X-Com game. It features notactical combat unfortunately, so it's more global in scale but it has interceptor combat and research, I think. Might be worth looking into if you want to include those mechanics.

 

[SRR13]

I might also add that Fantasy flight Games have released a board game version of the latest X-Com game. It features notactical combat unfortunately, so it's more global in scale but it has interceptor combat and research, I think. Might be worth looking into if you want to include those mechanics.

seconded