Monday, January 21, 2013

XENO HUNT - CHARACTER RULES

One year ago I posted the sketch of what would be the rules for a xenomorph-hunting boardgame (if you wish, click here to re-read them).
I was never too fond of the way to handle the different possible player characters. The special qualities of the officer and medic were balanced with a worse weapon, but it seemed a bit forced, honestly. And I always feared that people would think that having up to three identical characters, the grunts, was just lazy.
So I'm changing that part. First, I'm adding more different archetypes, so to speak; and the grunts too will get some special rules.That means the officer and medic won't need to be restricted in their weapon selection. This is how it all works...

Before the game starts, the players must select a role for their characters. All of those are limited to one per game; except for the "grunt", which may be chosen multiple times (in fact, players may play exclusively with grunts, if that's what they want).
Then, two skills will be selected at random for every character, from the list associated to their role.

Officer, the guy in charge, with a tactical mind and the balls to lead his men in lethal missions.
 · You don't spend an action to select an order. You can give that order to one of your men.
 · When shooting, you and comrades adjacent to you gain 1 extra space for range and add 1 extra point of damage.
 · The xeno player can't use any of his cards during your turn.
 · Up to three times per game, you may cancel any card the xeno player is trying to use.

Medic, the one that stitches his comrades back together and is never thanked enough.
 · You can use two actions (one full turn) to cure 1 Hit Point, to yourself or any comrade.
 · You start with 2 extra HPs.
 · A medikit cures 2 HPs instead of 1 when used by you (on yourself or a comrade).
 · You start the mission carrying two medikits.

Sniper, the one that prefer to take his time and kill from a safe distance.
 · You don't suffer penalty when firing at long range.
 · You can shoot through other minis (both comrades or xenos) and obstacles.
 · When shooting, you can choose to trace line of sight from any adjacent square.
 · If you roll a 6 when shooting at long range, you kill automatically (headshot!).

Heavy, the big guy that carries the big weapons and packs a punch in close combat.
 · In close combat, you can knockback enemies, and cannot be knocked back.
 · You begin game with 1 extra Armour Point.
 · When going for full attack (two attacks in one turn), you can make 3 attacks.
 · In close combat, you always make 1 extra point of damage (and will always make 1 damage point at least).

Scout, the lithe guy that scuttles unseen and hackes security systems.
 · You have extra movement (MOV stat of 6 instead of the usual 5).
 · You have the ability to move through airducts.
 · You can hack security doors and open them with any security key.
 · When moving, you can move through xenos and obstacles (but must end movement in empty space).

Lucky, the bastard with more lives than a cat and his own irish-leprechaun-grade lucky charm.
 · When a xeno is hurted next to you, you miracously dodge all of its acid blood spills.
 · When opening a weapons crate, if you already have the weapon there, you may choose another you still don't have.
 · When you find ammo, if it's useless for you, you may choose any other kind of ammo instead.
 · When shooting, if you roll a 6 on the die, you add 1 extra point of damage (and will always make 1 damage point at least).

Grunt, the standard trooper able to accomodate for any situation, a jack of all trades.
 · Once per game, you may cancel any card the xeno player is trying to use.
 · A medikit cures 2 HPs instead of 1 when you use it on yourself.
 · You can shoot through obstacles without penalties.
 · In close combat, you cannot be knocked back.
 · When moving, you can move through obstacles without penalties (but must end movement in empty space).
 · When a xeno is hurted next to you, you may dodge all its acid blood spills if you roll 4+ on a die.
 · You are immune to the watchful ability. In addition, xenos cannot be spawn within 4 spaces of you.
 · You can never run out of ammo for the pulse rifle.
 · When you have readied a dodge order, you gain the watchful ability.
 · Once per turn, when you kill a xeno you may immediately move up to 4 spaces and make 1 extra attack.
 · When going for full attack (two attacks in one turn), you can still move up to 2 spaces before each attack.
 · When you enter a new sector, the xeno player must turn the blips, revealing how many xenos there are.

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