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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dd.stevenson" data-source="post: 6434437" data-attributes="member: 6683099">I think I would interpret xcom a little differently: I would say that principally you want the strategic level to get every player super pumped about using their new toys and gathering/preserving resources on the tactical layer; and you want each player coming back from each mission pumped about the strategic possibilities for what they've recovered. With that in mind, I think I would go a different route than partitioning the strategic layer into narrow specialized roles, however well it might match what actual military commands look like.My preferred idea so far has been to put each player in the role of a representative of a xcom member nation. Each player can allocate their nations funding as they see fit, and of course the players can freely negotiate with each other/cooperate as much as they like. In addition to making sure each player has a broad number of reasons to be excited/anxious about upcoming missions, this approach also opens up some interesting possibilities as far as aliens pressuring individual nations--now when the aliens threaten a research facility in Brazil, it will be a personal concern for the Brazilian representative rather than just a blip on the income/panic charts. If one wished to go further with that route there are also lots of possibilities for giving these players separate goals which may conflict with other players goals or even the mission of xcom itself.This approach could account for most strategic questions that are really just questions of funding, but it still leaves a few elements unaccounted for, such as base design and air-air combat. However, I don't think that any of these will be too difficult to manage, at least not with any group I've played with. Base design could be done by committee ("hey everybody, where are we putting this power generator?"). Triage scenarios could be handled by a simple vote from every council representative. And I can't see any reason that the players can't simply take turns rolling the dice for the interception missions themselves. As far as the aliens side of the strategic game, you're right I would definitely back up first and decide what the aliens in-world goals are. (Personally, I've always liked the idea of technological Cthulhu-esque beings that harvest energy from the psychic terror of humanity, leading up to some kind of fear-powered super weapon to be unleashed on xcom.)</blockquote>

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