X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

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X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Fri Oct 26, 2018 5:40 pm

The year is 2035, twenty years after the Alien War ended with humanity’s complete and utter defeat. For a time it looked as though the peoples of the Earth would prevail, united in their resistance under the leadership of X-COM. But the aliens proved to be too strong, and internal divisions weakened the alliance of Earth’s nations at a critical moment.

The governments of the Earth have been disbanded, replaced by the puppet administration of ADVENT. ADVENT promises unity, peace, and progress for its subjects, but dissent is not tolerated and those who challenge its authority quietly disappear. ADVENT forces patrol the streets of every major city on Earth, and with a nearly complete stranglehold on information, most people in the current era can barely remember what things were like before the aliens came.


Game Rules

The campaign uses the following hak packs: This module uses the community-built d20 Modern total conversion for Neverwinter Nights. See the d20 Modern Project PDF at the NWN Vault for a description of the six basic classes that are available at the start of the game. The manual also goes into detail about advanced class options and the other unique features of the d20 Modern conversion.
  • Wealth options in d20 Modern do not apply in this campaign. All equipment will either be scavenged or issued by the character’s sponsor organization.
  • Forum posting awards will be as usual: 10% of the XP needed for a level by the lowest-level player character for posting in-character at least 24 hours prior to game time. An extra 5% bonus will be awarded if everyone posts.
Character Creation Guidelines
  • All characters are human; other racial options are not available.
  • Player characters will start at 1st level, as members of a resistance cell that is just beginning to fight back against the alien occupation of Earth. The setting is a generic Western country, but we can place it in a specific location if the players prefer. The campaign begins at a very local level but will eventually send the characters on missions all over the world.
  • Player characters from the last campaign are not available. This campaign is set in an alternative timeline from the one where Vasily, Catalina, Hadrian, and the rest of the group traveled to Mars to destroy the leaders of the alien invasion. In this timeline the Second Alien War (i.e., “Terror from the Deep”) never happened. If you would like to play a relative to one of those former player characters, send me a note.
  • The campaign will be very low-powered to start. I expect that leveling will be fairly rapid, at least for the first few levels.
  • Proficiencies: You will need the Firearm Proficiency: Personal Weapons to use handguns. The Advanced Firearms Proficiency is needed to use rifles and submachine guns. You will need the Heavy Weapons proficiency to use machine guns, rocket launchers, and sniper rifles. There will be an option to access Armor proficiencies via training later in the campaign, so you do not need to take those proficiencies during character creation.

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Fri Oct 26, 2018 5:41 pm

I anticipate that Assault on Aldera will carry us through January 2019, but I thought I'd put up these guidelines now in case folks want to start tinkering with character outlines now. Feel free to post questions and comments in this thread.

LB

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Vanya Mia
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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Vanya Mia » Fri Oct 26, 2018 7:19 pm

Since LB began building D20 2.2 has been released and is available on the Vault from here: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nw ... version-22

If you have not played D20 Modern recently I would strongly advise that you read the manual before character creation. Classes only go up to 10 levels and so multi-classing is expected, but DON'T plan to take any of the FX classes, or Investigator or Techie, as they are incomplete and I can't guarantee to have completed the scripting. If that changes I'll let you know.

Note that while some occupations provide you with weapons profficiencies (or armour for that matter) these DO NOT allow you to progress the feat chain as they are item granted and that is not going to be adapted in the short term. If you wish to take further weapon profficiencies beyond small arms training you will need to take Firearm Proficiency: Personal Weapons as a feat.

Characters will need to be created locally and sent to me before the game.

I may have had time to try out the hak set with NWN EE before then and if so will let you know, as that may allow on server character creation.

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Sat Oct 27, 2018 5:23 pm

Thanks, VM!

D20 Modern is a strange and complicated beast, but it's a lot of fun as well.

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Vanya Mia
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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Vanya Mia » Tue Nov 13, 2018 5:25 pm

I am wondering about playing a survivor of an original combat team, but that means there would have to have been an original attempt to fight. Might there have been something like the team we had before but they lost? Or is it better assuming the scenario would be a little more like that in the old TV series V in that they came as friends at first but changed?

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:48 am

I'm basically following the plot of the game (with a few tweaks and twists).

This is from the game's Wikipedia entry:
The game is set in 2035, 20 years after the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and its expansion, in a scenario in which humanity was defeated by aliens. XCOM proved incapable of attenuating the alien threat and was quickly betrayed by the council nations, who surrendered to the aliens shortly after the invasion began. XCOM became nothing more than a resistance force, and went off the radar to avoid persecution at the hands of the aliens. Most of its members either submitted to alien rule and left behind their past or, some, like Central Officer Bradford refused the alien administration and went into hiding. Earth is now controlled by the aliens through the puppet ADVENT Administration, and XCOM has been long-forgotten, members silenced and records erased. ADVENT has done much to gradually improve public opinion of the aliens, most notably by the propagation of the belief that the aliens came in peace, and that the forces of Earth retaliated aggressively and with prejudice.
So yes, I could definitely work with you on a character idea where you were a former soldier, either with X-COM or one of the national military forces that tried to stand up to the aliens.

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Vanya Mia
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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Vanya Mia » Thu Nov 15, 2018 2:53 pm

Cool. I've a couple of character concepts in mind, one gives a nod to Lieutenant Spiers from Easy Company (Band of Brothers fame), another might be an Admiral Adama type from Battlestar Gallactica, or I might straight up reprise Catalina as a survivor of a lost cause. Will think on it!

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Shadani » Fri Nov 30, 2018 11:52 am

The direction I was thinking of going involved playing someone too young to properly remember the old world. Offspring of a bunch of survivalists/conspiracy nuts/doomsday cultists who bunkered up during the invasion, but got smoked out by Advent at some point before present. Undecided on class, though.

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:39 pm

The way it's looking now there will be two start options for player characters: you are either in ADVENT custody, recently arrested and awaiting "processing," or you are already part of the resistance cell (having joined relatively recently, you are still a low-ranked recruit). If you choose the latter I will send you some inside information about the group at the start. The first option can work with just about any background you like.

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Re: X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

Post by Lazybones » Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:03 am

I tested the X-COM 2 mod in NWN:EE; it seemed to work fine. At some point we'll do a multiplayer test to see if folks can log in to my server. It's on a different computer so I assume I will have to do some fiddling with my router settings.

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