Xcom in Tabletop

I agree 40KRPGs are strangely suited for the combat. Their rules are a bit clunkier than I like though.

A game with great basebuilding is Cryptomancer.

So I smooshed them together.

I guess you'll have to throw out the Corruption and Mutation stuff for XCOM, but I like to think the system is solid enough without it. A bit less goofy, even.

Speaking of 4E... it's a well made tactical game but it might require a lot of hacking to provide X-Com experience. Maybe take a look at the latest Gamma World, the one based on 4E instead. Make it slightly less silly and it'll work like a charm

I was going to suggest Alternity, since it's my go-to for sci-fi systems.... but is right. Dark Heresy/Only War is the best fit, what with the incremental bonuses and percentile system, and the ability to shift capabilities impressively with talents.

No problem: got it from the last xcom thread yesterday!

What are the diffrences of DH2 from the old one?

Consolidated skill system, aptitudes instead of a rigid career system, different mechanics for psychic power bringing it in-line with the rest of the game mechanics, a bunch of changes to how some things in combat works. That is the gist I can think of off of the top of my head.

What would you say are crucial elements and mechanics for an X-Com-like system?

Base building? Research? Interception? Morale? Quick character creation? TUs? Others?
Would also love to know your reasoning

No traveller mentioned here? Wat?

Xcom board game is fucking amazing.

Having encounter/daily powers come from items/mutations like in Gamma World would definitely fit. You'd need to remove the random mutations though, and equipment should be chosen instead of rolled for.

So basically Gamma World 4e where you pick and choose your powers from what you've acquired/researched already.

4e's rules for partial and total cover/concealment (either -2 or -5 to attack rolls) already work well with Xcom. You'd probably need a lower max level than 4e in order for enemies to continue remaining challenging, though, since the half-level bonus to attack rolls and all defenses could end up becoming more important than armor/cover.

You could just remove level scaling and keep only stat bonus scaling.

Regular 4e needs the half-level bonus in order for a level 3 character to be better offensively than a level 1 character, since the stat bonus gain only happens at levels 4, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21, 24 and 28. Maybe you could opt to gain a stat bonus instead of a feat?

Increasing stats more often would fit the way older games did it. Also, most of damage output increase should probably come from tech tiers

Feats already give you to-hit bonuses though, so it's very likely you'll have more of those than at level. Plus you should have a magic weapon by then as well.

Thinking about it...

>You'd probably need a lower max level than 4e in order for enemies to continue remaining challenging, though, since the half-level bonus to attack rolls and all defenses could end up becoming more important than armor/cover.

As long as your enemy AC scales with you, it doesn't really matter, a +2 bonus will remain a +2 bonus.

But really, I'd just run it in Gamma World or Strike!, both are already simplified 4e.

Oh, and yes, monster math should get a rework

I'd personally run enemies as different based on the level of the group. So a Sectoid could be a level 1 standard artillery or a level 5 minion, for example, if you want to keep them slightly relevant but still weaker.

I mostly agree with you but I also have a rogue thought that in this case 5E's approach to monster design* might work better as long as it doesn't turn enemies into featureless sacks of HP. Maybe some sort of middle ground?

*there's only a certain range of possible ACs so that there's never ACs you can't hit or can't not hit, most stats and abilities are derived from items

All 5e did was half the bonuses, and let the d20 take care of the rest.

True, but it also derives monster damage, AC and HP from stats and items unlike 4E where it's mostly a function of the threat's level

Nah, your max bonus from stats in 5e is like 5. In 4e it's something like 10. Magic weapons and armor also scale beyond 3, where the ones that are in 5e are stuck.

It's really just 4e but halved.

Oh right, you mean for monsters... okay, I can see that, though it's really more just a change in design philosophy.

Well, yes. And that's really the only thing I'm talking about

We did it with FUDGE, adding some extra fudge dice.

What I mean is, monsters are still essentially statistically the same, but halved. Very few actually have significant items influencing their stats (like, the only ones I can recall are the humanoid enemies in plate, which btw was fucking retarded since each costs as much as a magic item). Some, which are supposed to be stand-in for "elites" or "solos" have very high statistics (like HP, saves, to-hit etc.), and by extension, needed inflated stats to justify those, but Xcom doesn't really have any of that stuff (or didn't until Alien Hunters).

You're not at all wrong, and that's why I mentioned featureless sacks of HP initially, because that's what I feel most 5E's monsters are like.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, it would probably make sense to have some alien templates and change their stats according to their equipment, so that a sectoid with a plasma rifle does plasma rifle damage or a gillman has defenses* similar to those of a combat armor

One problem with 4E and its simplified forms (GW7 and Strike!) is that it's not deadly enough for an X-Com game. Aren't characters supposed to survive 4 hits on the average?