Just when I had a solid strategy for beating 3.18, another one comes out! While I'm fussing with that (and getting my founder's head repeatedly blown off by security guards while trying to steal cloth to make police uniforms; clearly no training doctrine of "continuum of force" in the LCS world!), a notion crossed my mind for a possible feature:
The Liberal Road Trip!
The core idea being that not everything that you need/want to do for the revolution is really achievable within the city limits, no matter how great the city. (Los Angeles, CA, or New York, NY, we're getting there, but Denver, CO? I love my town but I don't see a revolution here affecting the country). Now, including the somewhat unlikely but revolutionarily necessary things on the outskirts of the city is an excellent start (nuclear plants, intelligence headquarters), but I think this can go a bit further.
This ought to be more than just "one more zone for site actions, that doesn't just take a car but gas money and an extra day or two to pull off", though. I mean, that would be a decent implementation under the current framework, but pretty soon all of your site actions would be in the DC area, and eventually there's a question of why you don't just get a safehouse there...
My suggestion? Less like standard site actions and more like "missions"; scenarios which arise under specific circumstances and permit the opportunity to dispatch a squad to a remote location to pull off a dangerous mission. These would put the squad far away from any assistance, and if they went south, would either result in intense firefights or multi-state car chases (bail out and run! Jack a new car! Switch license plates! Hide in the forest! Jack another new car! Give up and get in a shootout with the pigs and their choplifters!) for the survivors. Corresponding rewards could be great--a very highly ranked sleeper, the chance to knock off or even kidnap a high level official, or a decisive and lasting blow on issue. Once you actually got the squad there (after organizing a vehicle, supplies for the raid, the squad, and gas/motel/campground money), it would play out like a site action.
Some possibilities I thought of for possible road trips...
- The office of a {senator/congressman/cabinet official/Supreme Court Justice/White House staffer} is going to be recruiting interns next week at an out-of-state university. If we can get a college student in good health to [LOCATION] by [TIME], we have a chance of installing a federal sleeper!
Smarter and prettier recruited college students should have a better chance of making the cut. If successful, you lose the student for personal use but you'd have a sleeper very high up.
- {Our sleepers report/our hackers have learned} that a {Senator/Congressman/cabinet official/Supreme Court Justice} is going to be taking some personal time at a remote hideaway near [LOCATION] in two weeks. If we get a strike team there, we could arrange a covert assassination--or an enlightenment.
A covert assassination would have an advantage of not causing such a severe backlash, but the disadvantage of not being a proper demonstration of your power.
- {Our sleepers have reported/our hackers have determined} the precise route and schedule being followed by a convoy filled with nuclear waste materials on its way to a disposal site. We can demonstrate the vulnerability and extreme danger of nuclear power once and for all, if we can overcome the guards at [LOCATION] on [TIME].
This stuff could also be plausibly made into a dirty bomb, or at least, a credible threat of one. Doing so seems really counterproductive to Liberal interests, though. Anyway, successfully pulling this off could make the public terrified of nuclear power for a decade or more.
- The Conservative party is holding their convention at [LOCATION] on [TIME]. It would be a prime opportunity to wreak havoc, eliminate a high ranking conservative, enlighten a few people in budget hotel rooms, or plant sleepers.
The backlash for violence at a convention would realistically be huge, unless the tolerance level was quite high. And once it was that high, the guards should probably openly carry assault rifles. Unless you first got the gun control laws to L or L+....
- The Liberal party is holding their convention at [LOCATION] on [TIME]. We could recruit a few promising agents and sleepers, and ensure that the moderate does not carry the day.
This seems pretty tame. Maybe it would be better as a "challenge" scenario where the CCS was planning to disrupt events?
- A hero of the Liberal Cause is about to be executed by the government at [LOCATION] on [TIME]. If we can save him, we will have a powerful ally.
Powerful enough to be worth saving, but of course, he got taken, and taken alive, so he isn't like a Liberal Chuck Norris or anything.
- A conservative {senator/congressman/cabinet official/Supreme Court Justice/President/Vice President} is about to give the keynote address at an out-of-state university at [LOCATION] on [TIME].
- It's just barely possible we could kidnap the automaton, squirrel him away at a {cabin/budget hotel/abandoned tenement block}, and have him enlightened before we're caught. The risk is immense, but a sleeper that high up? Worth it, right?
You'll have to be extremely confident of your Psychology, and you certainly couldn't finish the job before it was reported a kidnapping--but with any luck, under these circumstances the C+ would be considered a hostage, not a Manchurian Candidate.
- A kidnapping is out of the question, but we could get a handgun close to him. The liberal might not walk away, but we can be almost sure the target won't, either.
The trick isn't taking down the conservative. The trick is surviving when nine agents pile on you the moment he goes down.
- Security's too tight near his person, but we might be able to get someone in line of sight with a rifle. We'll only get one shot, though.
High skill makes this less of a problem, although the backlash for political violence should be high.
- We're not getting a gun of any sort within range or line of sight of him, but just how badly do we want to take this one down? Because I know a guy who knows his explosives....
Collateral damage is a hugely bad idea, but if that's what it takes to take out a C+ Justice before the next election cycle risks removing your L+ President....
- The Pope is planning to visit [LOCATION] at [TIME]. Normally, we might not care, but our sleepers have warned us that {the CCS/a call-in on the AM radio show/a misguided fellow traveller/an intelligence agency/a vengeful corporation} intends to assassinate him and frame us for the deed! As Conservative as the old coot is, the public backlash would be immense if we allowed this to happen.
A possible "challenge" mission/road trip that would trigger if the LCS was doing just too well.
- There's strong evidence that {the CCS/an intelligence agency} plans to manipulate the voting in [LOCATION], a battleground site this election. A decapitation strike at the local cell would preserve the people's will, but if we could enlighten a few of the agents we could...clarify the people's true Liberal spirit.
This could trigger at close elections, allowing the LCS to either trust in the people or tip things in their favor; failing to respond would be detrimental to the outcome of the votes.
- {Our Sleepers/our hackers} have located a federal warehouse at [LOCATION] filled with {cannabis/firearms} readied for disposal at [TIME]. A timely raid could greatly supplement our inventories and highlight the clear need for {looser drug laws/tighter gun controls}.
Cannabis could increase the profitability of selling brownies, or just immediately be liquidated for a lot of cash. Firearms are always useful.
I think this would be an interesting feature to add to the game, and give the LCS some chance to influence the politics of the country in addition to the public opinion on the issues. Plus, if people get in over their heads too early, it offers some more chances for Fun/Losing!
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Topic: Possible Feature: Liberal Road Trips (Read 2167 times)