Re: [SGII] Alien seed

[Mark Donald <mark.donald@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>

I've got just the vaguest sketch of a rules idea for an alien race. It's a bit half-baked at the moment, so bear with me, and it's an untested rules mechanism not background. It's meant to represent some kind of over-arching super-consciousness that directs its slave units e.g. a hive mind or Borg-style collective.

The bulk of the army squads are automaton types that are given yellow or green quality counters to represent their inability to act without direction.

Then the player is able to upgrade some of his force's quality and leadership counters according to the dictates of the battle.

For example, it could be that the player has a certain number of blue, orange and red counters of varying leadership. At the start of a turn, he can then substitute some squad's yellow counters for the vet and elite types depending on where he thinks the extra quality is most urgently needed. This represents the hive
mind 'personally' tuning in to that area of the battle and directing those particular squads with all the force of its vast alien will.

In the next turn the player could (for example) switch his elite counter to a different squad. The squad that had been elite now reverts to yellow quality and must rely on basic instinct/programming.

Another way it could work is by using Node units which act as outposts and conduits for the Consciousness. Node units can upgrade the quality of a certain number of slave squads within a certain range. E.G. a Red/1 Quality/Leadership node could transfer its counter to create one Red /1 squad within 12". Or two Red/2
squads or three Red/3 squads. While an Orange/2 Node could create one Orange/2 squad within 10" or two Orange/3 squads.

Another method might be to give the player Savas'ku style power points. He then distributes these among his squads to raise their base level quality and leadership and perhaps even armour and movement every turn.

One other thing I'd like to try is to allow the Consciousness to override the effects of suppression. Suppressions can be cleared if the Hive mind uses its super will to overcome its slave's natural instincts. In game terms this means killing a member of the squad to remove the suppression. The idea being that the
imposition of the Hive mind overloads the circuits/neurons of one member of the squad who drops down dead but it jolts the rest back into action. Seems a suitably callous and alien way to go about things.

Anyway, that's it. Like I say, I haven't got this off the drawing board or thought it through particularly far. But those are the lines I'm bumbling along.

Mark


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