“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
― Arthur C. Clarke
EtherealsXCOMNo one would have believed in the last years of the twenty first century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's... Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
The Ethereals scour the galaxy , seeking a species both physically enduring and capable of wielding a mysterious power they refer to only as "the gift". It's a power they themselves posses in abundance, but for which a serious price needs to be paid. Already, many species have been tested and found wanting, and the Ethereals have made them their servants in their ever expanding search. And now, their sights have been set on Earth.
Facing a threat they do not understand, the nations of the Earth have united to reactivate a special contigency unit, known as the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or XCOM. Tightly overseen by a mysterious council of 16 representatives, it's XCOM primary responsibility to investigate and eliminate any and all alien threat to the nations of Earth. They're Earth's first and only line of defense, the best and brightest the planet can support.
The aim of the game is to defeat the other side by developing better weapons and deploying them more effectively. Each turn consists of four phases:
For the Ethereals:
Design Phase: During which news weapons, aliens, ships, whatever are designed.
Attack Phase: During which it is decided where to deploy UFO's, and which aliens to send upon them
Revision Phase: During which existing designs are fixed/modified, using the same process as the Design Phase. [This revision will only take effect the following turn]
Battle Phase: In which I describe the outcome of all that happened in the turn.
For XCOM :
Design Phase: During which news weapons, troop training plans, ships, whatever are designed.
Revision Phase: During which existing designs are fixed/modified, using the same process as the Design Phase.
Interception Phase: During which you can scramble vehicles to intercept UFO's
Battle Phase: In which I describe the outcome of all that happened in the turn.
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The first turn is a special turn. Each side receives 2 designs and 2 revisions, with the aliens recieving 1 extra revision to make up for the fact that their revisions are generally delayed.
The mainstay of any Arms Race are Designs and Revisions. Suggestions are posted in the thread, and the most popular one is rolled up.
Unlike your common or garden Arms Race, I will not be using a d6. Instead, in a completely unprecedented way, I'll be using a 2d4. This means rolls will fall between 2 and 8, with the extremes being less likely.
For a design of Normal difficulty, the results are thus:
Roll (probability): Result
2 (1/16): Utter failure. You get nothing except the knowledge of what not to do.
3 (1/8): Buggy mess. Whilst you managed to make something, it isn't really usable.
4 (3/16): Below average. It works. Not especially well, but it works.
5 (1/4): Average. You get what you asked for, more or less.
6 (3/16): Above average. It works, and somewhat better than might be expected. Not a lot better, mind.
7 (1/8): Superior craftsmanship. It does its job and it does it perfectly. Its performance is exceptional and it is as reliable as clockwork.
8 (1/16): Unexpected boon. Not only does it work, but it does things you never even expected it to. If no 'bonus features' make sense, then you just get experience with some related field.
Designs of other difficulties modify the roll value like so: Trivial (+2), Easy (+1), Normal (+0), Hard (-1), Very Hard (-2), Ludicrous (-3). Designs harder than Ludicrous are Impossible, and will never yield a successful product, and will only grant experience on a 6 or higher*. Similarly, if the result of your roll would be less than 2 after modifiers, you get no experience.
Also note that the results above are guidelines. Results may not exactly match, but the 'value' will be the same, roughly.
*Said experience may or may not make the design possible. I'll let you know at the time.
What can be designed
You can design pretty a lot of things, provided they're thematically consistent with the XCOM universe. Magic is right out, for example. Psionics, on the other hand, are a respected scientific field of inquiry.
The difficulty will depend on how much, if any, new tech is involved, and how much engineering work is required to put the tech together.
The primary things you'll be designed are infantry equipment, mission profiles, base infrastructure, aliens (for the ethereals), training programs (for XCOM), UFO's (aliens) and interceptors (humans).
If in doubt, ask. I will tell you if a design is totally outside the scope of the game, though I generally won't comment on its viability otherwise.
Note that Earth has entire civilian economy, while the Ethereals have a lot of tricks up their sleeve. Neither side needs to design from scratch.
What can be revised
Revisions are a lot more limited than designs. A revision must be based on an existing piece of equipment.
You can fix bugs, make modifications, or even make 'new' equipment as a variety of the old. Difficulty again depends on the amount of new tech and engineering work required.
Almost all of your designs will have a certain cost attached. Costs are the primary reason why the Ethereals do not destroy the planet with waves of UFO's, and why XCOM doesn't drown everyone in rookies.
Cost comes in 3 categories :
The first is vehicle points. These determine how many UFO's or interceptors or such each side can deploy at the same time.
The second is unit points. These determine how many units of which alien race or what specialty each side gets to deploy at the same time.
The third is equipment points. These determine what equipment you can give your ground forces, though on special occasions vehicle may use these as well.
Aliens landings are fine and all, but why are they here? Both XCOM and the Ethereals have varied reasons for the missions they fly. The type of mission determines the nature of the engagement, the environment in which the attack takes place, and the possible rewards. New missions can be designed over time, but in the beginning the two sides start with the following missions:
Ethereal:
- Abduction : A basic mission that focuses on acquiring genetic material by abducting humans
- Raid : A basic mission that focuses on spreading fear by engaging in rampant destruction
- Infiltration : A basic mission that tries to subtly contact sympathetic elements on Earth
XCOM:
- Interception: A basic mission to destroy incoming UFO's.
- Down and Capture : A basic mission to force UFO's to land and then capture their valuable materials
- Investigation : A basic investigation mission, that tries to find Ethereal symphatizants.
The resistance to the alien takeover is led by XCOM, backed by the council. If the council gives up hope or abandons the XCOM project, then any organized resistance will crumble, and the aliens win.
The council representatives can be divided into 5 regions, each of which contains several countries :
Africa
---> Egypt
---> South Africa
---> Nigeria
Asia
--->Australia
--->China
--->India
--->Japan
Europe
--->France
--->Germany
--->Russia
--->United Kingdom
North America
--->Canada
--->Mexico
--->United States
South America
--->Argentina
--->Brazil
Each nation has a PANIC METER, which at start ranges from 0 to 4. If at any point the PANIC meter reaches it's maximum value, the nation will abandon the XCOM project. Depending on the situation, they may even join the aliens, or stay out of the fight altogether. Not all is lost when a nation panics, with sufficient effort, or a tactical strike on some politicians, recovery is possible. If 5 nations PANIC, the aliens win.
Not all hope is lost, however. If XCOM succeeds in bringing the PANIC meter into the negatives, they can start building an undestroyable war coalition, forcing the aliens to give and retreat. If 5 nations join the alliance, XCOM wins
Either side can also attempt to destroy the other utterly, by finding and destroying their main base(s), and any subsequent attempts to rebuild.
Many missions will provide you with tokens.These tokens are consumeable items that can be used when convenient, and that provide a simple, one-time bonus. Tokens come in the following 3 categories :
1) Research Tokens : These tokens are restricted to a certain area (for example, "alien anti-grav" ) and provide a small bonus to a single design or revision.
2) Cost Tokens : These tokens count as a 1 time reduction in the cost of an item
3) Support Tokens : These tokens can provide special support to a mission.
The other source of tokens is the black market. Every turn, each side gets to pick 2 tokens from a selection of tokens from the black market. Doing better at missions may expand the possible pool of choices.
Note: If the rules are similar to those used by Nuke9.13, he stole them through timetravel.
Poll
10 (50%)
Author
Topic: XCOM Arms Race II : Enemy Unknown (Read 4898 times)