X-COM 2 - 2019 Campaign Thread

[Vanya Mia]

((Everyone else stayed in Mirg, there are no unusual error messages in the server log, so in all honesty I can't see a reason this end for your problem. The issues are persistent but it's ONLY you experiencing them. Sorry but there's nothing I can do. It's got to be something with your own set up or ISP.))

[Klasa]

What a shitstorm. Thanks to their traitor Cullen, ADVENT came and murdered most of the people they still knew in the world. Even harmless Old Man Bob, God rest his soul. And despite their much improved skill since the group started, they should have died too in that raid. But they didn't, thanks to this group called XCOM. Of course, it turns out that the rescue wasn't exactly free for any of them. Turns out the price of a rescue was enlistment, go figure. But hey, it's not like they didn't sign up to kill the xenos bastards already, plus now they'd get a complete upgrade to their equipment and outfits. Now all Henderson needed to do was think up some good training montage tunes.

[Karvon]

He had survived again, barely. The ADVENT strikeforce had all be obliterated their hideout and the ruins above. Stanley had tried to avoid the fighting, but troopers seemed to be everywhere and he got hit several times by weapon fire and passed out at least a couple of times. Eventually, he came around and crawled clear of the shooting. Well armed humans showed up and led them out of the inferno to a shuttle and they all flew off. Stanley passed out due to exhaustion and when he awoke, they were preparing to land on one of the biggest space ships he'd ever seen. It seems the old special forces XCom had survived, in some form, after all. After some time for healing up and orientation, the team was merged into this new rebel group. From early morning till late in the evening, every waking hour seemed to be spent in some sort of training. While the classroom sessions came easy to him, the PT sessions ran him ragged; he simply wasn't as strong as most of the others and lagged a bit in some of the physical drills. In the few hours of free time he did have during the week, he strolled around the ship taking mental inventory of bits and pieces of scrap materials and surplus items lying about. Once he had more free time, he planned to salvage some stuff and see about constructing some useful gear.

[Shadani]

Jess found herself wandering whenever there were no training sessions to occupy her. Often as not, she'd wind up at the med bay, sitting next to Sarah's bed. They didn't talk much. She knew exactly what it was like to see the person most important to you in all the world gunned down right in front of you. She knew that words weren't going to change a thing.

Knowing that you're not alone, though, well... that's always worth something, at least.

"Wasn't ever really much of a fight," she said to Bo, when Vic came to visit. "We annoyed 'em a little here and there, and they ignored us until they decided we were worth squashing. Like a little bug. Most of our people didn't make it."

She gestured to the chamber around her. The ship around her, its creaking metal hull and the ever-present hum of its powerful engine.

"'Least now, we've got ourselves a really, really big bug."

[Lazybones]

Session 12

+450xp for full-party IC posting.

[Lazybones]

Soon after your meeting in the briefing room, Central sends each of you an emailed message.

Welcome to the Planning Committee, everyone. We all know that X-COM has limited resources and about a million things to get done, but I think it’s important that the people who will be fighting on the front lines have a say in our priorities. So welcome to the team, Alpha.

Each of the Department heads have submitted their requests for projects. Here’s what we have available at the moment:

Research Projects

• Magnetic Weapons. It’s pretty clear that we need to upgrade our weapons technology as soon as possible. We haven’t been able to capture any intact alien weaponry due to their self-destruct tech, but Chief Chen says we should be able to manufacture our own magnetic weapons if we invest enough time and resources into the project. She says that completing this project should provide us with a working mag pistol prototype, but more advanced models will require further research. [Research Cost 10]
• Motion Scanner. This is an interesting idea from the Science Department, using particle displacement technology to develop a scanner that can detect enemy motion, even through solid objects. Doctor Tygen says that the scanner should work to about a hundred meters out. One prototype will be provided when the project is completed. [RC10]
• Improved Medikit. Doctor Ranma tells us that we can improve our basic medical kits to provide more effective battlefield triage. All current medikit production will be upgraded once this technology is researched. [RC10]

Manufacturing Projects

• Additional Medikit Production. We all know that medical supplies are at a premium. We can dedicate a portion of our manufacturing output to augment what Doctor Ranma can put together in Medical each week, but that means a cut in other areas. [Manufacturing Cost: 2/kit]
• Advanced Surgical Kit. Our medikits are pretty fantastic, but even they can only do so much. This kit, designed for field use, can keep a critically injured team member alive long enough for more substantial medical intervention back on the Avenger. [Game Note: this is a one-use Raise Dead device.] [MC5/kit]
• Improved Research Capacity. Doctor Tygen has been requesting upgrades to his facilities in the research lab for some time now. This upgrade would allow him to work on two research projects simultaneously. [MC10, adds +1d10 Research Capacity/week]
• Improved Manufacturing Capacity. Chief Chen says that a few simple upgrades should allow her to significantly improve production in the workshop. [MC10, adds +1d10 Manufacturing Capacity/week]
• Improved Medical Capacity. Doctor Ranma has submitted blueprints for a device that would allow her to produce more medical kits each week. [MC10, adds +1d6 medikits/week]
• Mundane Toolkits.Chief Chen can produce just about any kind of ordinary toolkit in the workshop. Just let her know what you need and we'll see that it's added to the queue. [MC varies depending on the tool.]

Everyone, be sure to submit your recommendations by Friday so we can maximize our production decisions.

Just a reminder that the rules for the Strategic Game have been posted in the other thread. Let me know what Research and Manufacturing projects you favor, and what skill you want to use to help. You can help out on one project at a time. If your project is not selected by the group, I'll count your work against the cost of that project if and when it is taken up by X-COM.

[Lazybones]

Also, in response to another question I got: you don't need the Advanced Firearms Proficiency feat to use rifles (it does allow you to use Autofire), but it is a prerequisite for Heavy Firearms Proficiency. You'll need HFP if you want to use machine guns or sniper rifles. Those aren't mandatory at all, and you can make it through the entire campaign with just a pistol if you want to focus on other elements of your character's development.

Also be aware that one of the X-COM "classes" uses a sword, in case that affects your feat choices. You might ask why anyone would choose to use a sword in a world where guns exist: 1) ADVENT armor protects against piercing attacks, but slashing, not so much; 2) It looks cool.

[Vanya Mia]

((For information Bo now has 8 medkits and a couple of minor heals left from the tablets, so I don't think we need to boost their production for this week and hopefully have enough for an emergency one each next session. I would like to request she gets a regular medical kit and/or surgery kit as they give useful boosts including avoiding skill point negation, lowering DCs of some checks and - if I remember correctly, and I haven't checked - one of them allows a time limited small heal without supplies.

Bo has no skills that could contribute to structural capacity but has Craft Pharmaceutical and Knowledge Earth & Life Science both at 9, so I'd like to throw her into getting the standard kits first out of current Manufacturing Capacity and then have us work towards the Improved Med Kit Production aspect. Which I'll post IC unless opinions move us to all do an alternative. We can only work on one upgrade at once so if you all want to focus on something else as a group, such as Improved Manufacturing Capacity, then shout but knowing how fast we tear through healing usually that extra base production would be useful for spreading a few around.

As an aside I think the machine pistols, SMGs, operate in the same way as regular pistols in that you can use them with basic firearms proficiency but yes - they need Advanced still for automatic fire. Also, if you want to use that sword to look cool take Archaic Weapon Proficiency. ))

[Shadani]

((Some of us have talked a little about what to do this week, strategy-wise, and a few questions about how things work came up. Figure this would be the best place to ask for some clarification! In no particular order:

1) Both research and manufacturing havea base output of 1d10. I assume this means we choose an 'active' research project AND a manufacturing project each week, and those points go towards that project. In addition to that, we currently get 1d6 medkits each week. Is that right?

2) You mentioned in the rules that people can work on projects that aren't the active project, and that you count your work against the cost of that project. Can we 'complete' projects this way, though? Could Bo, for example, decide to focus on making extra medkits or tools and have a reasonable chance of actually making some if that's not the active project?

3) How many points of progress does a 'success' represent? It's not clear how much we can expect to contribute relative to the base output.))

[Ayram]

((Daud chooses the manufacturing capacity project and will use his craft mechanical, a +8, to try and help it along.

For research, he chooses magnetic weapons))

Daud was feeling the pressure over choosing a project. While it seemed like the team more or less agreed that manufacturing should probably take priority at this time, he felt like research was probably the more important of the two, just not the most efficient 1st choice. And there was the real or imagined threat of making enemies on the ship. Would Doctor Tygen or the rest of them hold a grudge against him for his choice? It seemed silly to think that they would, they were all adults. But Daud was new, didn't know anyone, and was suddenly in a position to dictate whether or not their work was worth pursuing. If he were them, he might feel a little resentment.

Well, he did have to go where the bullets were flying, so there is that.

The democratic process of the distant past seemed nice in theory, but this was an at least semi military outfit. Shouldn't there be a commanding officer to make these kinds of choices? Eventually he stopped agonizing over it and sent in his decisions.