Re: [SGII] Alien seed

>

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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