(Interest check) X-COM: Enemy Unknown

Hi there and thank you for reading this, I have for a while been thinking about running some form of X-COM game and I finally put my fingers to the key's(since pen to paper is kinda of a lie). The idea is that the group would be the striketeam of a base. It would be quite a bit of combat but I would also like to focus on some of the RP aspects of it all. As for system I was planing to use nWoD but I am looking over other option's, if anyone got a good idea then please poke me about it. Welcome to X-COM (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit). You are now a part of a tradition that spans back to the late 1990's. Let me appraise you of X-COM's activities to date, more importantly, the activities of the Aliens we have encountered. Back in the mid 1990's it became evident that "we were not alone". By 1998, UFOs began to land openly in rural areas; the aim of these early missions was the abduction of local inhabitants and animals. Our first military contact with the Aliens led to the massacre of an entire squad. In November of that year, and emergency meeting was convened at the United Nations. As a result of that meeting, X-COM was established. In the following years, X-COM waged war against the Alien menace. Most of this activity occurred in the cities and rural areas of Earth, but eventually it took us to the Alien's main Base on Mars (Cydonia). Our victory at Cydonia saw the defeat of the immediate Alien threat, but, in its turn reawakened a second of destruction that X-COM were later enlisted to counter. Alien activity have once more begun and you have been chosen from the best people around the world for your particular skill set to help combat this second invasion. So this would be after the first invasion but rather then play Terror from the deep we would go another way with it. While it will be based on X-COM it won't be strictly following lore to the letter. The group would not only be soldiers but other members as well. Maybe there is a Doctor on the team, a hacker or what not. So rather then being combat only there will be a opportunity to play something that is not a solder. I was planing to run missions, a mission might be more then a session and between missions there will be some downtime and time for other things that is not murdering aliens and stealing all they got. Best regards The Riddler

Well, I'm definitely interested. XCOM and nWoD seems like a good mix. EDIT: If I were you, I would look into the Mirrors: Infinite Macabre supplement. It's designed for running games in space (interstellar travel and whatnot) but the rules for creating aliens might be useful.

A) What is nWoD? B) Would we be able to chose what buildings we build in our base and what upgrades we priorities ect like in the video game?

Odd, I was wondering about this just the other day... I'd love to see what you've come up with, in terms of porting it to Roll20. -Phnord

A) nWoD stands for New World of Darkness that is the new books from White Wolf in the World of Darkness series. Vampire: The Requiem and so forth. We would only use the standard book since we won't play as any supernatural beings. B) I have given this some thought and I would like that, that you chose a bit as a group what you focus your research on and such and decide on the layout of the base to some extent. Most likely I would place down the base first and as it expands you would chose where everything goes. While I do not want to get to caught up with the base building and such I like it if the players have a say in it at least. For instance you might only have a bullet proof vest and a standard assault rifle to start with and you have to chose if you want to have access to better armor or weapons, maybe something else like better intelligence or the like. New World of Darkness

Well I am definately interested, but you havent mentioned what time zone or what time grid you are looking at playing in?

Oh sorry about that. I am in GMT+1 but I am not sure when it would be played or for how long it would be. I usually play around four hours per sessions sometimes a bit longer. I currently have a Shadowrun game on Saturdays so most likely Sunday would be the best day for me and I would be able to do between 14:00 - 23:00 so somewhere between there. Most likely a weekly or bi-weekly game.

Right after talking a bit to two interested players I will be more flexible on the day and time. I will write up a bit more things that I have thought about incorporating as well when I get home and have a bit more time. If anyone have any questions please ask then thats what this thread is here for. Best regards The Riddler

System-wise, I enjoy the ease and simplicity of Night's Black Agents from Pelgrane Press. It assumes that the PCs are experts in their fields, be it guns, investigation, demolitions, chemistry, etc. And you can always create your own categories. NBA, is based on spies and agents that discover vampires are a real part of society, and its a strong investigative focus (where it is assumed you are expert enough to "get the clues"), but there are other books based on the same ruleset (called Gumshoe) that expands into a genre like Firefly (see Ashen Stars by Pelgrane Press), or Cthulhu (see Trails of Cthulhu, also by Pelgrane Press). It's a very good system, and is on the cinematic side, rather than about trading blows until the bad guys run out of hit points. Bonus: simple 1d6 system + add the points players choose to spend to succeed. Super easy to macro for in Roll20 with very little fuss. Players simply keep track of their spends, and GM sets the pace for refreshing player pools. BTW, I think you're gonna scare some people away with that wiki entry for nWoD. That's a lot to digest. Maybe limit that to the new rules system, as that is really the "nugget" people need to agree or disagree with. I've only played the older WoD myself, so it's good info. If you don't want to get into virtues, and vices, and morality as stats, I think NBA is "cleaner," and focuses more on how you can play a good super-agent, and not some adult with personal conflicts. I'll still have a look at nWoD, but I think I'm going to lean heavily on "some other system." (doesn't have to be NBA, but something that feels less unncessarily complex is good). I love X-com, so it's difficult for me to say no, but I would need to know more about the schedule before I could commit, and would like to know how long the campaign might be. Every GM knows that drop-outs suck, so this is certainly an important detail for everyone, all around. My recommendation is that the GM should first state his available times, as there is no getting around that. And then the potential players chime in with their available times that fit within the GM's availability.

I am familiar with Pelgrane Press systems and they are indeed very nice and cinematic. The reason for suggesting nWoD is that its not very combat heavy and the rules are simple but for those that like to do a bit more in combat that would still get their "fix". I liked nWoD wiki for the person that did not know what it was. I was planing to use only the base system rather then to go in on the different books there are. I have thought about several other systems my first plan was to use Shadowrun but I changed my mind since that system is very rule heavy and I would love something lighter for this. I am have also started to write on a "X-COM system" based on the attributes that one could find in the old games. Where the system would only be used for combat an all other things would be roleplayed. As for my time schedule. I work Monday to Friday, eight to five and I am home between six and seven. I could play then. I got a Shadowrun game on Saturdays and I could play on Saturday evenings starting around seven and forward maybe. I can do Sundays as well now that my schedule at work have changed a bit and I do not have to work overtime everyday. I will look into the Pelgrane Press systems again since it was a while I read them over and see how they fit.

I really like X-COM and would be very interested in this. So long as it's not on Saturday evenings, since I have a Numenera game at that time. Sunday would be ideal but weekday evenings are fine as well.

Same here, Saturday is the only day of the week I can't make. Got a D&D game around that time.

Definitely interested in playing if you get it up and running. Keep me in the loop.