X-Com, adapted [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

RoboEmperor

2017-09-30, 11:37 AM

I misspoke, its not fail 40% of the time, it's fail 60% or 80% of the time. So you cast magic missile? You miss 40% if hes in the open, 60% if he's behind cover, 80% if hes behind cover that is half his height.

Oh and make NPCs have a crit rate of 60%. So they threaten criticals on a roll of 9-20.

Oh, don't make the NPCs fail at all. They have a 100% hit chance no matter what.

Oh and make them recover 1hp a week with absolutely no way to speed it up. Cleric's heal spell gives temporary hp and doesn't heal actual hp.

Oh and every map you play on, make sure your PCs are in the wide open. No cover at all while the enemies start in cover that is half their height.

Oh and outnumber the PCs 3:1.

Oh and make your NPCs auto-ready an attack action for free at the end of every turn if they are heavily armored.

Oh and give your NPCs poison attacks that cannot be avoided no matter what.

Oh and self-destruct 100% of the loot.

Oh and make it mandatory that PCs recruit spellcasters that prevent the end of the world, and then roll a die everytime your PCs go on a mission to see if they recruit these spellcasters or some useless mook. So there's a chance no matter what they do they lose because they didn't roll the spellcaster mission rewards.

Wait, did I say outnumber the PCs 3:1? I mean 10:1. Those alien landing missions have 33+ aliens against your squad of 4-6.

Oh and make the maps mega-huge. Like 20 run actions to get from one side to the other and fill the entire map with enemies.

Oh and make the enemies teleport around so the PCs have to go all the way back and all the way forward back and forth until they finally catch the goddamn bastards.

Oh and when the PCs advance, make sure the enemies are positioned so you alert 6-9 of them at once so they completely surround and overwhelm the PCs with superior action economy, hit rate, hp, and flanking.

Oh and make the PCs spend 90% of what little gold they scrounged up from the self destructed loot to keep the population from panicking, because that's the most important thing.

Oh and when the area effects spell fail 10% of the time, make sure it lands on your own PCs potentially killing half the PCs outright.

I personally beat Impossible Ironman several times so I know what I'm talking about. Implement these things and I guarantee you that your players will feel the full XCOM experience.

Buufreak

2017-09-30, 12:01 PM

Recommended mechanic #1 - Save game crystal trick :)

I'm curious about the rules though. Are you going to use D20 Modern and D20 Future? XCOM 1, 2 or Apocalypse? Or the new series?

Or is this pitting characters from a PL3/4 D&D world against Spacejamming PL7 aliens?

XCOM could be set up as an Affiliation which grants bonuses to different ranks based on members' Kill Count, or Alien tech recovered. Rank can be used to decide the stipend per month, plus gear being issued.

This is why I love these forums. They always ask the right things that help get my brain rolling in the right direction. I'm actually looking to salvage a PbP starter from here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536091-D-amp-D-3-5-X-COM-Enemy-Unknown), but since I would potentially take over as DM, things are subject to change. As such, feel free to ignore his bit of houserules for this separate exercise.

snip

Yes, I get your point, you have had negative experiences with X-Com and find it too hard/frustrating to enjoy. Feel free to move on, now.

RoboEmperor

2017-09-30, 12:08 PM

Yes, I get your point, you have had negative experiences with X-Com and find it too hard/frustrating to enjoy. Feel free to move on, now.

All my sarcasm is valid mechanics though, like clerics giving only temporary hp with heals, and loot self destruct. I did go a little overboard, but if you don't implement any of my sarcastic mechanics, then you're really not looking for XCOM mechanics :P

If we're talking about xcom 2 and not xcom EU or EW, don't forget to add a 8 round limit to the encounter before the players fail. Concealment mechanics are already in the game through hide/move silently. Oh and kill player creativity if going xcom 2, at least xcom ew let you play 10 different ways, xcom 2 was all luck and only 1 way to play. Do the best with what you get, 0 planning or consistency.

edit: I ragequit xcom2 but not xcom ew. I enjoyed the aesthetics of that game quite a bit so i replayed it a lot. These days I only play classic though, impossible is way too stressful.

Buufreak

2017-09-30, 12:28 PM

All my sarcasm is valid mechanics though, like clerics giving only temporary hp with heals, and loot self destruct. I did go a little overboard, but if you don't implement any of my sarcastic mechanics, then you're really not looking for XCOM mechanics :P

If we're talking about xcom 2 and not xcom EU or EW, don't forget to add a 8 round limit to the encounter before the players fail. Concealment mechanics are already in the game through hide/move silently. Oh and kill player creativity if going xcom 2, at least xcom ew let you play 10 different ways, xcom 2 was all luck and only 1 way to play. Do the best with what you get, 0 planning or consistency.

edit: I ragequit xcom2 but not xcom ew. I enjoyed the aesthetics of that game quite a bit so i replayed it a lot. These days I only play classic though, impossible is way too stressful.

That's at least a bit more concise. And no, I've only played vanilla x-com 1. No expansions, no add ons, just base game. I enjoyed it thoroughly, entirely because it made me slow down, breathe, and think, but also because consequences were very real and if you screw up enough, you softlock.

That's something I try to provide in every game I run: consequences are very real and sometimes are very crippling. That said, I don't want to completely throw the 3.5 book out the window. I want a game that rewards tactics, stealth, and more importantly, character and player skill. So lets turn down the RNG machine and let base stats mean something.

Further, I have noticed a difference in damage. DnD uses something like 1d8+2. X-Com uses 1d2+8. One of these is far less swingy than the other, eh?

shaikujin

2017-09-30, 12:41 PM

Just random ideas. Will add if I think of more. Ideas below includes mechanics from all the different versions of the game.

The affiliation needs to provide a budget for loaned equipment to the soldiers, otherwise, they'll be severely under-geared to go against aliens with plasma weapons.

Use the gnome contraption rules in Dragonlance Races of Ansalon for research of captured equipment, and the production. Can also be used to research into earth technology.

Allow piecemeal armor, and the ability to purchase chest pieces which grants flying earlier on.

Lots of teamwork feats. Maybe double or triple up the benefits to encourage players into using them.

Sectoids = Psionic Gnome/Illithid aberations
Ethereal = Illithids
Mutons = Orc/Ogre/Troll hybird
Chrysalids = Mindstealer drones (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20030727a)
Cyberdisk would be some form of construct with a self destruct blast.

MECs = Warforged Grafts or Half Golem template
Would you have Floaters and Snakemen?

Interceptor = Eberron Airships equipped with Ballistas and Firebomb initially. Then upgraded to Bombards or researched/recovered alien weapons. Use ship combat rules in Stormwrack.

Skyranger = Eberron Airship with no weapons.

Return to the Temple of the Frog module has rules for alien weapon proficiency, blasters, power armor, maps which you can steal ideas from.

For base improvement, use Stronghold Builder Guidebook and allow the players to combine their resources. If affiliation rank is high enough, one of the benefits could be the Landlord feat.

Are you open to PF and 3rd party books?

ATHATH

2017-09-30, 02:14 PM

I've actually pondered doing something like this a while back. Unfortunately, most of my ideas about the subject have already been mentioned in this thread, so I don't have much to add.

Idea here: Make it an E6 game, with each level being a "rank".

Buufreak

2017-09-30, 02:40 PM

Cosi

2017-09-30, 03:50 PM

The most interesting aspect of XCOM is how it separates combat and non-combat. The characters you control on the tactical level (a squad of XCOM soldiers) has no relation to the characters you control on the strategic level (the various personalities on the base), and is dramatically more expendable. That's interesting, but it doesn't map to D&D terribly well, particularly more recent editions. If you wanted to do XCOM in D&D, I think you would want to hack (or take inspiration from) the oldschool style of having quickly generated expendable characters for the squad, and then a series of classes with non-combat abilities for the base. Then you have each player control one (or more, depending on complexity) character in the fireteam, and an unrelated one on the basis. So something like:

Squad: Rocket Heavy (AoE damage, cover destruction)/Base: Chief Scientist (faster and cheaper research, chance to unlock missions against alien tech centers)
Squad: Offensive Support (gas grenade, suppression)/Base: Air Controller (planes get better damage, more UFO missions)

And so on in that vein. If I were doing it, I'd probably write up a series of 3 to 6 level "Soldier" classes with a choice of two abilities at each level, based on the game.

Don't use XCOM mechanics? That game is ****ing atrocious. Your win/loss is 99% luck and 1% skill.

If you want to use it, make your players roll a d20 die every single time they do something and make em fail 40% of the time. Anything that doesn't target, make them miss 10% of the time because that's XCOM. You lose the entire game because your rocket missed once.

This is not even close to true. The game has chance involved, but playing well absolutely reduces that risk.

AnonymousPepper

2017-09-30, 04:37 PM

My goodness, the amount of salt in the thread can only be described as hypernatraemia. Y'all, the RNG in XCOM is pretty hefty, but it's not that bad.

Anyway, I feel like it'd be a pretty good fit actually. The RNG fits in well with the d20 mechanic, imo. Although with the power level of high-level XCOM soldiers, bearing in mind that there are 7 levels (rookie and then the six ranks) I'd say E9 (skip levels 6 and 8), E11 (skip 4, 6, 8, and 10) or E13 (skip even levels) would be more suitable than E6/E7, banning tier 1 and 2 casters or allowing them as a prestige class from an E7 system; the sheer power of the abilities of higher-ranked soldiers makes for an almost exponential increase in capability.

DrMartin

2017-09-30, 05:10 PM

Have your players create multiple characters and have them assemble their team for any given mission from the collective roster.
Use some low- or slow-healing variants, so that characters who get wounded in a mission are out of commission for the next one or two.
Have them pick their mission, and have their choices count - have them choose between saving some innocents and taking active steps in thwarting the bad guy´s plot.
Have some kind of Armageddon clock running, and have the players know exactly what´s the status and how little time they have left.

RoboEmperor

2017-10-01, 12:55 AM

This is not even close to true. The game has chance involved, but playing well absolutely reduces that risk.

You're kidding right? XCOM EU or EW impossible difficulty = Lose because you didn't get a map with a rooftop, Lose because you didn't get an engineer reward in a month, Lose because your 90% to hit Rocket misses, Lose because a 85% chance to hit shot misses and the alien kills your best soldier who is in full cover.

Maybe it's different in the 1st XCOM game, but in XCOM EU or EW your survival of the 1st month is 100% rng.

shaikujin

2017-10-01, 05:36 AM

You're kidding right? XCOM EU or EW impossible difficulty = Lose because you didn't get a map with a rooftop, Lose because you didn't get an engineer reward in a month, Lose because your 90% to hit Rocket misses, Lose because a 85% chance to hit shot misses and the alien kills your best soldier who is in full cover.

Maybe it's different in the 1st XCOM game, but in XCOM EU or EW your survival of the 1st month is 100% rng.

I hear you. I too have experienced the horror of missed rockets killing my own troops. Though I feel that the gripes you have isn't quite fair for the normal difficulty levels.

There are 4 difficulty settings (Easy/Beginner, Normal, Classic/Hard, Impossible), but the comments you gave are based on playing at the most difficult "Impossible" setting. A setting which the developers expect players to select *only* after finishing the game at least once and want to really challenge themselves.

It's not called "Impossible" for nothing. I mean the panic level is 16 at the start of the game and alien activity raises panic by a minimum of 2. Soldiers' HP are gimped, Aliens receive bonus HP, aim & crit, AI is not hobbled. The first few months are especially crucial and is indeed heavily dependant on the RNG giving you missions with whichever personnel rewards you need.

It's supposed to be "Impossible" to win. Though there are specific strategies players have come up with to win (which relies on both luck and meta game knowledge of what comes in the following months). As you've said, you've completed Ironman Impossible several times, but I'm thinking that these experience has skewed your views towards only the "Impossible" setting.

It's like making D&D characters face only encounters where the CR is 2-3 times their appropriate level.

I quickly learned not to use rockets in cases where a missed rocket could kill my own troops. And that I can use medikits to heal hurt soldiers before the mission ends so that they do not need to spend so much time in the sick bay. I also learned that even with 95% hit chance, I can still miss at the worst times (it's the same for even the older versions), and try to have a buddy pop a ghost grenade to invis the both of them.

For the old DOS based XCOM 1, Once I restart a few times, I learned to build my first base in the north pole because the first alien ship always appear where your first base is. That way, I can control where my first few tactical maps are - mostly flat terrain with no buildings where the aliens can ambush soldiers I send in.

Andreaz

2017-10-01, 07:40 AM

Don't use XCOM mechanics? That game is ****ing atrocious. Your win/loss is 99% luck and 1% skill.

If you want to use it, make your players roll a d20 die every single time they do something and make em fail 40% of the time. Anything that doesn't target, make them miss 10% of the time because that's XCOM. You lose the entire game because your rocket missed once.

Don't be salty about the game, bro XD After the first mission it's not really luck anymore. You spent your entire time in this thread literally spreadnig misinformation. If you don't like x-com that much...please just don't participate. It's healthier for the thread and you'll avoid working yourself into a stroke.

That said, X-Com actually translates fairly, fairly well to the d&d paradigm. It's turn based, with a couple actions per round per character sans special abilities, attack rolls hit/miss resolve much the same way, fights that extend past the third round with dangerous enemies will likely leave one of your characters out for a while (or outright kill them)...
Healing is the part that doesn't translate well. There you can only heal through rest, the in-battle healing is more akin to temporary HP.
Cover too, though it actually DOES apply, we just don't use it much. Cover mechanics work fine.

X-Com's baseline is really a simplified d&d, by comparison.

RoboEmperor

2017-10-01, 08:46 AM

Don't be salty about the game, bro XD After the first mission it's not really luck anymore. You spent your entire time in this thread literally spreadnig misinformation. If you don't like x-com that much...please just don't participate. It's healthier for the thread and you'll avoid working yourself into a stroke.

I have not? My information is accurate for XCOM EU and EW, not the 1st game, which I never played. Whenever someone mentions XCOM I expect it to be EU or EW since its the most modern reboot of the whole thing.

As I mentioned before I did enjoy EW as I really like the aesthetics of my soldiers, and I liked how I can transform my squad into a completely mechanical one filled with only Alloy SHIVs or Colonel Sniper MECs. But that doesn't mean I have to like its crap mechanics. There's a difference between hitting most of the time and missing/critting occasionally, and missing most of the time and hitting one hit KOs occasionally. One is strategic and the better player always wins, while the latter is 100% dependent on RNG. There's a reason why most people go grenades/rockets early game and transition to SHIVs/Colonel Sniper late game, because it removes the RNG portion of the game.

It's the same reason everyone hates save-or-dies in d&d 3.5. XCOM's mechanics is essentially everyone spams finger of death until one side dies. It's a crap mechanic.

Cosi

2017-10-01, 08:59 AM

I have not? My information is accurate for XCOM EU and EW, not the 1st game, which I never played. Whenever someone mentions XCOM I expect it to be EU or EW since its the most modern reboot of the whole thing.

Technically they released XCOM 2 a while back (I think a year?), which is more recent.

That said, you are flat wrong about the difficulty of XCOM:EU/EW. Not only does skill matter, people play the Long War fan mod (which is dramatically harder), and still manage to win consistently. See, for example, Beagle's Impossible/Iron Man runs in the mod (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUeHJ2RU1e0). If you are losing to XCOM RNG consistently, you are playing the game wrong.

RoboEmperor

2017-10-01, 09:04 AM

Technically they released XCOM 2 a while back (I think a year?), which is more recent.

That said, you are flat wrong about the difficulty of XCOM:EU/EW. Not only does skill matter, people play the Long War fan mod (which is dramatically harder), and still manage to win consistently. See, for example, Beagle's Impossible/Iron Man runs in the mod (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUeHJ2RU1e0). If you are losing to XCOM RNG consistently, you are playing the game wrong.

That's long war, a mod, not the base game. I'm talking about the base game. I will be genuinely surprised if you found a thread where people say the 1st month in impossible isn't completely RNG based, because I was a hardcore xcom player for a while and I never came across such a thread.

But as shaikujin pointed out, I am basing my experience on impossible difficulty. Classic is totally winnable 100% of the time (by going a strategy that completely eliminates the rng portion of the game like tactical rigging + grenade spam into colonel snipers). I think you need to look at the game in impossible difficulty to fully understand why the rng model is bad though, because being unable to bypass the rng and having to deal with it head on is the only way you realize its a bad model.

edit: Being honest I am salty about xcom 2. I think they took everything bad about xcom ew and made a sequel out of that. I would stop responding to this thread as it is off topic if people didn't question my integrity and my facts. XCOM is a save-or-die model video game that is 100% reliant on RNG and in my opinion that is a bad model.

edit2: Just to be clear, my sarcasm was a joke. A stereotypical XCOM player is super salty about all the things I whined about, so I did it to portray a stereotypical salty xcom player. I'm sure you heard of the phrase "That's XCOM baby!"

edit3: I can't believe I forgot to mention the panic death spiral!
Soldier1 gets hurt
Soldier2 panics
Soldier2 shoots Soldier3
Soldier3, Soldier1, and Soldier4 all panic
They all lose their turns doing panic stuff
Aliens wipe em out next turn.
You ragequit and ***** about it online
Someone says "That's XCOM Baby!"

So to translate this to actual d&d mechanics, everytime a party member gets hurt, everyone must pass a DC15 will save or panic.

Vhaidara

2017-10-01, 10:20 AM

Lose because your 90% to hit Rocket misses

Sounds like rolling a 2- when you needed 3+ to hit.

Lose because a 85% chance to hit shot misses and the alien kills your best soldier who is in full cover.

Sounds like rolling a 3- when you needed a 4+ into someone getting a x3 crit with a bow.

These are hardly unheard of situations in DnD.

lord_khaine

2017-10-01, 11:16 AM

mattie_p

2017-10-01, 04:17 PM

Just because of this thread, I decided to start playing the OG XCOM yesterday. In the first month on easiest difficulty I got a terror site in Rio De Jeneiro, which has killed my entire squad 3 times (save games exist). I'm armed with rifles and grenades and they outnumber me and have like 5 cyberdiscs. I ended up not going again and just ignored it.

I completely support the brutal nature of the game as characterized in this thread.

Babale

2017-10-01, 05:38 PM

Funnily enough, I just started running an XCOM d20 game a few weeks ago.

I have 6 players, who take the role of Central Officer, Commander of Aerial Forces, Commander of Ground Forces, Chief Engineer, Chief Researcher, and Director of Intelligence. Basically each strategic-level turn is one week, and each department does different things to allocate resources to different tasks. For example, the guy playing Head Researcher has to split up his scientists to tackle different projects. The more scientists, assigned, the higher the odds of success that week, but you want to make progress on multiple fronts, so sometimes it's worth pausing one avenue of research to focus on another.

When a combat mission occurs, Commander of Ground Forces selects a squad to go and equips them. The squad is selected from the roster, which consists of 3 characters that each player has. The characters are assigned one of (currently) 5 classes which I worked with the Ground Forces guy to make -- as new research develops he may create new classes (but has to devote resources to this). For example he wants to make a melee class eventually. Classes have just 8 levels, at each level you have 3 choices which affect your stats and also your abilities. If people are interested, I can share some of the classes.

ATHATH

2017-10-01, 06:45 PM

First of, i think i would recomend using another system, namely Shadowrun.

Its a lot better suited for a game without direct level scaling, where a lot of fights are won by use of cover and heavy weapons.

Additionally, its a game with a fairly detacthed magic system that can easily be refurbished as psionics.
Ooh, seconding this.

Plus, the power of Shadowrun characters tends to be mostly equipment-based, which would work really well with X-COM's tech progression and gear-dependent-ness.

Buufreak

2017-10-01, 07:25 PM

Babale

2017-10-01, 09:21 PM

For me, I have a level 1 newbie have +2 aim. So to hit a target in the open that's an 8, or 60%. Being in the open or flanked also doubles crit chance. Low cover grants +5 ac, so a rookie would now need a 13, or 35% to hit. High cover is +10, so a rookie needs 18, or 15% to hit. Also, armor doesn't grant ac, it grants temp hp.

shaikujin

2017-10-02, 12:42 AM

Unfortunately, I don't play shadowrun. Not out of a lack of interest in the system, but laziness to not want to learn yet another system... Can I get a few nods in the direction that would help a person learn or perhaps to emulate such things? I'm already breaking down 3.5's cover system into something that more readily works with X-Com's d100 accuracy system.

I love Shadowrun, but the learning curve might be a bit steep. Starting characters use either the priority systems or a build point system to select how much attributes/skills/race/magic talent/resources they get. There are no classes, everything is skill based, including sorcery and conjuration.

You only use D6 for rolls. Depending on which edition, difficulty can be determined by how many "hits" you roll. A roll of 5 and 6 is a hit.
Or in the older versions where you have to roll a target of say 22 for extremely difficult tasks (how to roll 22 using a D6 roll? If you roll a 6, you get to improve the die result by another D6 roll).

Each point in a skill generally means you add an additional D6 die to your dicepool. There are other ways to increase the dicepool, so it can get really big. It's normal to see players roll more than 20 D6 at once for a single test.

One of the jokes we have - you can tell who is playing SR at the local game shop just by checking out who's carrying a whole sack of D6.

Edit: Forgot the most impt part - there's no OGL/SRD for Shadowrun.

RoboEmperor

2017-10-02, 07:44 AM

Sounds like rolling a 2- when you needed 3+ to hit.

Sounds like rolling a 3- when you needed a 4+ into someone getting a x3 crit with a bow.

These are hardly unheard of situations in DnD.

The difference is missing those attacks in d&d usually doesn't result in a TPK.

I'm totally fine with mistakes causing TPKs for an increased sense of danger, desperation, etc. Just not RNG. If I did an XCOM inspired d&d game I'd do that, eliminate the RNG and make the strategic decisions of the party result in the end of the world or its salvation. In combat I'd setup multiple tactics the PCs can take and choosing the wrong tactic could result in a TPK. Sometimes retreat is the only option, PCs failing to detect ambushes or traps, etc.

Babale

2017-10-02, 09:15 AM

If you got to the point where a bad RNG roll is the difference between a victory and a party wipe, your strategy was no good anyhow. That's what XCOM is all about -- mitigating risk. Saying, there is 1 bad guy left. I have a 65% chance of killing it, but if I fail, one of my units will die. Therefore, I'm not gonna take that chance -- I'm gonna flashbang, or smoke, or break LOS and hunker.

Buufreak

2017-10-02, 09:31 AM

I love Shadowrun, but the learning curve might be a bit steep. Starting characters use either the priority systems or a build point system to select how much attributes/skills/race/magic talent/resources they get. There are no classes, everything is skill based, including sorcery and conjuration.

You only use D6 for rolls. Depending on which edition, difficulty can be determined by how many "hits" you roll. A roll of 5 and 6 is a hit.
Or in the older versions where you have to roll a target of say 22 for extremely difficult tasks (how to roll 22 using a D6 roll? If you roll a 6, you get to improve the die result by another D6 roll).

Each point in a skill generally means you add an additional D6 die to your dicepool. There are other ways to increase the dicepool, so it can get really big. It's normal to see players roll more than 20 D6 at once for a single test.

One of the jokes we have - you can tell who is playing SR at the local game shop just by checking out who's carrying a whole sack of D6.

Edit: Forgot the most impt part - there's no OGL/SRD for Shadowrun.

That sounds a fair bit like NWoD, with all the skill based d6 pools. Also sounds like 40K. That's the ones who usually end up with a sack full, the dude running imperials.

shaikujin

2017-10-02, 10:18 AM

Morale effects in Heroes of Battle pg 72 sounds like it'll fit right in.

Panicked results in dropping everything.
Rolling a 1 would result in a crazed effect, which includes going berserk and attacking nearest living creature. Sounds really familiar :D

shaikujin

2017-10-02, 10:21 AM

That sounds a fair bit like NWoD, with all the skill based d6 pools. Also sounds like 40K. That's the ones who usually end up with a sack full, the dude running imperials.

Ah, I've not had a chance to try either.
(I did play both Masquerade Redemption and Bloodlines PC games though).

lord_khaine

2017-10-02, 01:12 PM

I love Shadowrun, but the learning curve might be a bit steep. Starting characters use either the priority systems or a build point system to select how much attributes/skills/race/magic talent/resources they get. There are no classes, everything is skill based, including sorcery and conjuration.

You only use D6 for rolls. Depending on which edition, difficulty can be determined by how many "hits" you roll. A roll of 5 and 6 is a hit.
Or in the older versions where you have to roll a target of say 22 for extremely difficult tasks (how to roll 22 using a D6 roll? If you roll a 6, you get to improve the die result by another D6 roll).

Each point in a skill generally means you add an additional D6 die to your dicepool. There are other ways to increase the dicepool, so it can get really big. It's normal to see players roll more than 20 D6 at once for a single test.

One of the jokes we have - you can tell who is playing SR at the local game shop just by checking out who's carrying a whole sack of D6.

I would actually think its one of the easiest systems to learn, if you dont need to figure out the matrix stuff or how to use magic intially.
The rest of it is pretty basic, and as mentioned before, it does lend itself easily to a game where advancement is mainly in increased skill and gear.

Zakerst

2017-10-02, 02:55 PM

So some thoughts:

consider importing some of the weapons and equipment from d20modern, frag grenades, laser weapons ect

Some classes are still going to be powerful in e6 druids for example so keep an eye on those or consider restricting them.

Acid flasks and other alchemical items are ok to start with but very quuckly stop doing enough damage to matter.

Use the cover rules liberally and consider allowing people to flank at range for sneak attack damage.

The generic classes in UA might be an interesting thing to keep in mind/consider.

Stealth should be valuable and everyone should be doing what they can to have it (unless you have missions where "you're going in hot)

You'll need to restrict the monsters naturally occurring as if there are things like full grown dragons running around or liches or balors or even the big T, the "alien invaders" are gonna have a bad time.

Destructible environments/cover, consider giving objects and cover reduced hardness/HP

Blues (expanded psionics) might make for good sectoids

Warlocks have lasers and a few other fun things that if re fluffed work well.

Restricting magical healing might be important, likewise prebuffing can be really powerful if you're only having one combat a day.

Downed space ships (make them bigger) can be fun dungeon, not just the alien basses.

Magic items (wands with limited charges or eternal wands (limited charges per day)) could be fun ways to simulate captured tech (requiring a roll to successfully use)

Aliens with one use items of true strike (just to up the difficulty if that's what you need)

Tower shields for cover in the open could actually be useful