XCom Seattle
While on my current GMing hiatus I am going to spend as much time as possible cultivating my pet projects, this being one of them. In fact, this will be my prime subject, likely followed by HP Lovecraft's American War of Independence. This page is here to discuss a proposed game set in the XCOM: The RPG world.
Contents
System
As of right now I do not know what system would be best. I will put a few ideas under this heading where the pros and cons of each possibility can be discussed.
World of Darkness
This is kind of a strange dark horse. Combat is not a focus of this system, and it seems like a good deal of fighting will be occurring in this environment. Yet, if the aliens are to have strange mental and/or physical powers, this system is ready for it. Character generation is fast and furious, and so far those who have expressed interest in this game have indicated that player death needs to be a real fear, so this facilitates that.
WoD Proposal
Use standard WoD character generation rules. Utilize team experience from Hunters. Create some new merits and develop a flaw system.
Twilight: 2000
This system does a good job of setting actual combat veterans apart from non-combatants in what they can do under fire. This is important and could be an interesting factor. I could graft on a few new skills and create a more comprehensive system.
Twilight: 2000 Proposal
Players would choose their military experience base. Then there would be methods for generating stats. Combat characters would be really good at it, while non-combat characters would be much more well rounded.
Hero
Hero is always a possibility. The major issue is the clunkiness of combat. Once you know it, it works. But it tends to be quite deterministic in many things that should be variable. The character generation is really excellent, likely the best anywhere. For some reason, however, it lacks excitement.
Hero Proposal
In Hero this would be a 175 point 6th Edition or 140 point 5th edition game of normals. Power would be strictly controlled, but allowed under certain circumstances. Experience would be moderate.
Deadlands/Savage Worlds
The chips and cards are some of the best gaming innovations anywhere. They allow danger to be very high, but not have characters dying constantly. There are some major kinks we discovered last time to iron out.
Kink 1, Melee Weapons
In our last incarnation, melee weapons became absolutely devastating. With high strength they easily did more damage than guns, which cannot work well. People were constantly getting one punched, and I had to keep upping the ante to make things work.
Proposed solution: Melee weapons will do the lesser of either the characters strength or the weapon damage.
Kink 2, Armor
I think most of the reason armor was broken in the last attempt was that melee weapons were broken.
Proposed solution: Use armor straight out of the book, not the homebrew from last time.
Kink 3, Character Generation
Character gen is a lot of fun, draw some cards, put them on stats. Fun! But its also extremely arbitrary. One guy who draws a bunch of aces will be dominant.
Proposed solution: Develop a design character generation system.
Deadlands: Invasion
My new Deadlands conversion developed for X-Com is tentatively called Deadlands: Invasion. Its details will be laid out here. It seems to be pretty easy and maintains what it was that made Deadlands fun. The changes stated above will be the only mechanical changes to the game except for skills resolution. Character generation is completely different, detailed following.
Each character will begin with 2d6 in each stat and 10 skill points. Increasing a die type for a particular stat costs 2/3/4 for each successive level. So to go from d6 to d10 would cost 5. Skills cost 1 point each. Merit points cost 3 each. Flaws may be purchased at normal cost, and those points may be used to purchase merits only except with GM permission. Stats can be reduced to d4 in exchange for 2 points which may be spent anywhere, dice can be reduced to 1 for 1 point.
Skills resolution will work slightly differently. Characteristic rolls will use the dice indicated but will not be divided by 2. Skills when rolled will use the skill level in dice plus the characteristic dice, and the highest number chosen.
The Morrow Project
This is a post apocalypse game system developed in the very, very long time-agos. It has strange advanced tech and a very realistic-esque combat system. More research is needed.
Aftermath
Another old time post apocalypse system. I would need to read it more before I have an idea how to use it.
Characters
There are plenty of archetypes which make sense in this game. It would be important to know what the players want to do, but there is a storyline brewing here.
Militant
Whether or not you have been in the military, fighting is your forte. These characters are tough and practical.
Scientist
These kinds of characters have an interest in deconstructing alien technology. Another possibility would be a doctor.
Survivalist
Survivalist characters are general purpose types, able to fend for themselves in a wide variety of situations.
Diplomat
If you live by your wits and tongue, you are a diplomat. Negotiating with turncoats, trading with settlements or just gleaning important information, diplomats have many applications.
Setting
The game setting is called Seattle, but its more closely identified as Pacific Northwest. During the alien invasion the northwest was devastated. Bremerton and Bangor were completely leveled along with Fort Lewis and McCord. Seattle took a good hit from falling debris left from starship hulls. Portland was the second North American alien base, after Mexico City.
It is likely the initial setting will be in the heavy forest, either on the peninsula or east of I-5 between Olympia and Portland. We have so much green here that DB Cooper parachuted into the great unknown with thousands of people on his trail. The aliens will have even more trouble than that. The exact location will coalesce when characters are more concrete.
With the destruction of the armed forces major bases came the fracturing of many governmental controls, yet halls of government were not major targets of the alien invasion. Areas of high concentration of air capable military might were targeted and hit hard, but many land based military establishments as well as National Guard type areas were left alone. Civilian governments have gone into exile, and are of little effect in strongly rural areas, but they still nominally command their armed forces and attempt to rally and govern the people.
Local Governments
Many areas continue to be in a state of anarchy, but most have achieved some sort of order either through martial law, civilian government or survivalist militia. Families and family groups often create their own wilderness cells and survive for their own benefit.
Daily Life
Though the aliens are the primary enemy of people in name, often it is those who are close and compete for the same limited resources who are the real enemies. Competition for food, shelter and supplies is violent and often deadly.
Survivalist militia are often the most ruthless when dealing with other humans, blaming 'liberals' for the invasion and following devastation. They clash most strongly with the remnants of civilian government, which they seek to eradicate just like the alien menace.
Military forces, including National Guard, often utilize their armor superiority to threaten violence and achieve their aims without incident. They have the means to take prisoners and often do. Among all factions they tend to be the most expansionist. The military are sometimes willing to submit to civilian authority if it can be shown to be valid and competent. They negotiate with survivalists for tangible assets, such as buildings and territory, yet never submit to their rules.
Civilian government are supported by local authorities such as sheriff and police departments, and sometimes National Guard. They also are supported by local populations and any weaponry owned by those people. They are rarely expansionist and rarely negotiate with Survivalists. Their main goal is to maintain the status quo in their general area.
Antagonists
What good is a game without enemies? Maybe Gabe might like to explore empty tunnel complexes (Zing!), but most people want something to interact with. Here are your enemies and what you need to know about them.
People
I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords! That makes you a Turncoat.
