THE INFINITE BROOD (Starcraft/Supreme Commander Crossover Quest!)

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THE SWARM SHEET
  • Informational
    • The Brood of Blades
    ​
    Cerebrate Prime: Samantha Clarke
    LEVEL: 5
    XP: 205/210
    TRAITS
    Strategic Genius: Once per structured encounter, Sam can create a piece of the environment that is in her favor as a sticky spark. Roll a d3 for its value.
    Empathetic: upon meeting an NPC, learn their motivation!
    Legendary Commander: Gain 4 Command sparks at the beginning of each mission/combat. Command sparks may be spent to give NPCs orders, which they may either obey or refuse to obey (doing nothing instead.) Command sparks may not be regained via skills or powers.
    Hunted: Something wants her - but for what? +1 Danger to all scenes​
    SKILLS
    CLOSE COMBAT (2): Brawling, Edged Weapons
    PERSONAL (2): Awareness, Resilience
    SOCIAL (4): Charm, Empathy, Leadership, Taunt​
    MASTERY
    ACU Pilot (2): Nanofabrication [Mass], ObSat Operations [Range]
    The Hilt (4): Biomorphic Spawning (People), Regeneration (Durability), Physical Perfection (Speed), Telepathic Dominion (Range)​

    POWERS
    The Living Swarm
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Gain 1 Living Swarm spark, +1 per vent reduction.​
    The Living Swarm: While this swarm exists, move in three dimensions and through anything smaller than a keyhole, reforming at will. You may expend these sparks to cause 3 Hit Sparks in a Area 2 radius.​
    Area Upgrade: +1 to Area Characteristic​

    Biomorphic Reinforcement
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Create 1 Biomorphic Reinforcement spark, +1 per vent reduction, which can be given out to anyone within Range 2, or to yourself
    Biomorphic Reinforcement: +1 to Damage or Mass characteristic for the purpose of raw physical strength/feats.

    Back to Back
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Choose 1 ally (+1 per vent reduction), within Range 1. Each can take one action using one of your skills, any of them that you wish. Once they have done so, you may make a free attack with your melee weapon, getting +1 to your skill per ally that acted.​

    Adaptation
    Vent: 4-0
    Effect: Create a number of sparks equal to the enemy's difficulty, narratively based on turning their abilities against them. Works on enemies of Diff 2>, +2 per vent reduction.​

    Just as Planned…
    Vent: 6-0
    Effect: Vent 6 heat and create 1 Planning Spark for her or an ally, +1 Spark per vent reduction.​
    Planning: The person holding this Spark can expend this to get +1 to a skill check as a free action. Using this Stack counts as you are helping for the purpose of relationships.​

    GEAR
    Zeratul's Psi-Blades
    Adds: +0 (Edged Weapons) | Characteristics: Damage [Speed] (4)[1]​
    Shadowstep (3): Can expend as a free action to move without crossing intervening space.
    Guarded Space (3): Can expend to use Damage as a secondary characteristic for Durability, reducing incoming Damage characteristics.​

    GALACTIC WAR
    Victory Points: 5    ​
    RESOURCES​
    TERRAN DOMINION [Background] (1)​
    The men and material of the Dominion - limited, but they're mustering as we speak. ​
    ALLIANCE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES [Mastery] (1)​
    While you have access to several ACUs of every faction, they lack economic and technological support to be fully effective. ​
    ZERG HIVE [Mastery] (1)​
    The scant few Zerg you control that are free of Amon's influence. Mostly Zerglings. ​
    AEON FLEET [Background] (1)​
    While half a dozen CZARs seem impressive, they're not actually well made for ship to ship combat. ​
    ALLIED COHESION [Motivation] (1)​
    The alliance is fragile and weak.​

    FRONTS​
    Trade Sector-34-51 [Pirate Activity]
    Pirates Raiding 6 (Supply Lines in Disarray 1)
    COMMAND: Jim Raynor | ARMY: Raynor's Raiders
    RESULTS: Pending

    Braxis [Zerg Invasion]
    Borealis Siege 6 (Zerg Rampage1)
    COMMAND: General Samantha Clarke | ARMY: Brood Clarke
    RESULTS: Pending

    Typhan II [Active Xel'Naga ACU]
    Typhan II Occupied 6 (Xel'Naga ACU Spotted 1)
    COMMAND: Lt. Colonel Mathew Horner | ARMY: UEF Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending

    Deep Space Sector 981 [Hive Fleet Identified]
    Zerg Hive Fleet Spotted 6 (Kerrigan? 1)
    COMMAND: Citizen-Commander Dostya | ARMY: CN Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending
    ​
    ENEMY ASSETS (Currently Known)
    ​
    THE GOLDEN ARMADA
    ACTIVITY: Unknown | Threat Level: 6​
     
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  • Informational
    • DragonCobolt said:
    Each round, the hatchery makes 3 larvae - if you allocate them, they stay allocated until you re-allocate them. It's like moving around a set resource - like allocating power between a spaceship's various systems (which is exactly what it is, that's what advanced vehicle rules are meant to represent, I just reskinned it to be a Zerg Base.)
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    Yeah- I got that, but I mean like-
    so if there's more Larvae than the component can handle, even at the max overheat, or if we didn't want to overheat, what do the extra larvae do? just, nothing until we build more to accomodate?

    And how do we get more things to build up with?

    EDIT:
    Also lmao, I only just realized there's actually an Itch.io thing for HEAT, does seem fun to figure out, so- one more for the collection as it goes, oooh
     
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    [X] Mass Hydra (One Hatchery, two Hydralisk Dens, bank 8)
    [X] Roach-Hydra (One Hatchery, one Roach Warren, one Hydralisk Den, bank 9)

    "Rush and Creep" is described as the stealth approach, but Hydras are the ones that actually have a stealth spark, while Roaches get a "Tool" characteristic instead? Seems odd.

    Biomorphic Spawning and Regeneration give us lots of People and Durability, so I think we want lots of tech structures to turn those People into Damage.
     
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    DragonCobolt said:
    "I see," you said, frowning. "Can it still make Cybran units?"

    "WITHOUT GUIDANCE FOR METAL STRANDS, METAL FORMS...INCORRECT. WRONG. LACK GUIDING INTELLIGENCE. MERGE WITH ZERG STRANDS. CREATE SYNTHESIS."

    "Infested Cybran units," you said, then shook your head. "Those units are like mine - drones. That's how they're supposed to work."

    "BETTER THIS WAY."
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    So, we're throwing Zerglings at cybran drones to control them, or is the assimilative takeover a Vlarke only thing?
     
    Evillevi said:
    A quick question, when you were rolling the d6 for the Stop Zagara Reinforcement, you used a d6. Is this a typo then?
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    Nah, I just divided by 2 (you round up!)

    beleester said:
    [X] Mass Hydra (One Hatchery, two Hydralisk Dens, bank 8)
    [X] Roach-Hydra (One Hatchery, one Roach Warren, one Hydralisk Den, bank 9)

    "Rush and Creep" is described as the stealth approach, but Hydras are the ones that actually have a stealth spark, while Roaches get a "Tool" characteristic instead? Seems odd.

    Biomorphic Spawning and Regeneration give us lots of People and Durability, so I think we want lots of tech structures to turn those People into Damage.
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    Took means it creates sparks that represent tool use making difficult take easy. So, it can make stacks of sparks covering tunneling and stealth with more diversity than the merely aggressive spine assaults of the lurkers!
     
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    So, I don't know if Dragon is using this bit of info or not, but the reason there are no cerebrates in Starcraft 2 is not because Kerrigan or the Protoss killed them all, though Kerrigan definitely killed a bunch, but because they needed the Overmind to sustain themselves and with it dead, they will die themselves eventually. Hence, a bunch of them fusing together to make a new Overmind in Brood War.

    I bring this up, because its possible Kerrigan might actually be mistaken about Daggoth's recall of Zagara. It might not be to dispose of her but to ensure that Daggoth's brood will still have a capable leader when it passes. Of course its also possible she knows this and is simply lying because she wants Zagara to be loyal to her, and it'll be much easier ensuring that by grabbing her before she inherits the largest Zerg brood.

    It has been ages since I played through SC1 and BW so I can't actually remember Daggoth's personality enough to say which is the more likely option.
     
    Kosjurake said:
    So, I don't know if Dragon is using this bit of info or not, but the reason there are no cerebrates in Starcraft 2 is not because Kerrigan or the Protoss killed them all, though Kerrigan definitely killed a bunch, but because they needed the Overmind to sustain themselves and with it dead, they will die themselves eventually. Hence, a bunch of them fusing together to make a new Overmind in Brood War.

    I bring this up, because its possible Kerrigan might actually be mistaken about Daggoth's recall of Zagara. It might not be to dispose of her but to ensure that Daggoth's brood will still have a capable leader when it passes. Of course its also possible she knows this and is simply lying because she wants Zagara to be loyal to her, and it'll be much easier ensuring that by grabbing her before she inherits the largest Zerg brood.

    It has been ages since I played through SC1 and BW so I can't actually remember Daggoth's personality enough to say which is the more likely option.
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    Daggoth also seems to be actively cruel & sadistic, so I don't think this'll matter, whatever they're doing is bad.
     
    Kosjurake said:
    So, I don't know if Dragon is using this bit of info or not, but the reason there are no cerebrates in Starcraft 2 is not because Kerrigan or the Protoss killed them all, though Kerrigan definitely killed a bunch, but because they needed the Overmind to sustain themselves and with it dead, they will die themselves eventually. Hence, a bunch of them fusing together to make a new Overmind in Brood War.

    I bring this up, because its possible Kerrigan might actually be mistaken about Daggoth's recall of Zagara. It might not be to dispose of her but to ensure that Daggoth's brood will still have a capable leader when it passes. Of course its also possible she knows this and is simply lying because she wants Zagara to be loyal to her, and it'll be much easier ensuring that by grabbing her before she inherits the largest Zerg brood.

    It has been ages since I played through SC1 and BW so I can't actually remember Daggoth's personality enough to say which is the more likely option.
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    I didn't know that, actually! But I think it can add an interesting texture to my current plan, so I will incorporate it!
     
    [X] Rush and Creep (Build 2 hatcheries - one for free, one for 10. Then get 1 spawning pool and 1 roach warren - fast attack and sneaking ambushers!
    [X] Zerg Rush! (Build 2 hatcheries - one for free, one for 10. Then get 2 spawning pools and drown them in bodies.)
     
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Dec 19, 2023 at 12:46 AM, finished with 23 posts and 10 votes.
    • [X] Zerg Rush! (Build 2 hatcheries - one for free, one for 10. Then get 2 spawning pools and drown them in bodies.)
      [x] Rush and Creep (Build 2 hatcheries - one for free, one for 10. Then get 1 spawning pool and 1 roach warren - fast attack and sneaking ambushers!
      [X] Slow and Steady (Build 1 hatchery for free, then get a hydralisk den and a Sunken and Spore colony. Bank 8)
      [X] Mass Hydra (One Hatchery, two Hydralisk Dens, bank 8)
      [X] Roach-Hydra (One Hatchery, one Roach Warren, one Hydralisk Den, bank 9)
    Click to expand...


    ehehehe *zergling noises*
     
    ACT TWO, MISSION ONE: Among the Vileness (0.8)
  • Threadmarks
    • You tentatively reached out with your mind. It was like stretching out a limb you had never had before, ghostly and...itchy. It made your shoulder itch. Save you didn't have a shoulder at the moment. You were one with an ACU, and even Cybran ACU's didn't have itchy shoulders. This little conundrum irritated you somewhat as you pursed your mental lips and felt the connection flow between you and the drones. Unlike Cr or the other Zerglings, they didn't...speak to you, even with the Context of the Overlord that was drifting down through the ash streaked skies. Instead, they sang.

    Their eerie songs came to you and ran thrilling, up and down your spine. It was like being underwater, surrounded by a school of dolphins. Your eyes closed and the singing song bloomed and interwove together, notes rising and falling and twining - creating images of veins and...organs. You could see them and you realized you could add to the tune. You licked your mental lips and the drones drew back, waiting...

    Try...this, Sarah whispered in your mind.

    She sung a quiet note - rising, then falling. It was warm and left the air ringing afterwards.

    You coughed. You had never sung before.

    You hummed softly. The drones hummed back. The sounds overlapped - and in a way you had never expected, their glorious song and your harsh, croaking note complimented one another. It was as if their singing was able to bring your own closer to true. The note came to a close and several drones chirruped and squalled happily. You opened your eyes, drawing from the darkness of your focus and back to the world of Char and saw the drones sweeping forward, rushing towards mineral outcroppings and hissing veins of gasses. They nosed about, their beaks clacking, but you knew that they'd have no good place to get.

    At least...not without your help.

    You may not sing or know about this Zerg shit. But you knew how to flatten some terrain, even with a Cybran nanolathe. The spray hissed out and your arm swept left and right, carving down flattened terrain. The drones chirruped their joy at this, circled around, then settled into the ground. Their cocoons grew and swelled, and from it spilled the Creep, flowing across the ground. The living reality of it was remarkable - bringing hues and colors to the landscape you had...never noticed as a human being. It wasn't uniformly purple. There were striations and lines, curving intricacies of brightness and shadow.

    The darker patches are where the dying muscle tissue is shunted for a snack, if a creature has pushed their bioform pretty hard, Sarah murmured. The lines are veins. The bright edge is the growing limit, claiming and breaking into ground. The cocoons are almost hatched. Your eyes flicked over to them and you saw your hatcheries bloom, the vespine geysers being capped by several other drones. The sleepy feeling of the larval Zerg within the hatcheries filled your mind and you blushed...hesitated...

    It's okay, Sarah murmured.

    You hummed softly. Whistled. Several of the larva writhed, then formed into eggs. The eggs hatched, the drones sang to the world, their joy at renewal. You knew they had not seen Char for some time - their prior bodies, their prior forms, had been in the long, sessile nature of Spires on Landesal. You didn't even know where that world was, and their song brought to you images of a world of gentle, floating gas bags and jungles of narrow trees, deep within the reaches of Zerg space. Their song spoke of pride in being Spires, being home to fliers of every kind. They had returned to the Swarm as the Swarm left Landesal, bearing with them new Strands - a predatory lamprey like thing, which had been coaxed and teased into the shape of the Scourge.

    The image the song called up passed and you shivered from head to toes. It was beautiful.

    But you remembered seeing those Scourges plunging towards ships, and knowing how terrifying they were...

    It was hard to square the song with the slaughter.

    What are you going to make? Sarah asked, curiously.

    You noticed her tone had been gentle and helpful. You scowled slightly. Was she trying to get into your good graces again? Look at me, see how kind I am. Or...maybe she heard the song too...

    You pushed that thought out of your head. You sang a low, fast, driving pattern. The drones flew through the air, settling on the Creep. Their bodies grew and when they awoke to their sessile dreaming once more, it was not with the elegant, farsighted thoughts of the Spires. It was instead the writhing, bubbling heat of Spawning Pools - divots in the ground, frothing with the chemical juices required to bring forth not just Zerglings...but lots of Zerglings. As they grew, you focused...and felt the CHUFF CHUFF of the shoulder launchers going off. The impact slapped home and you got something you hadn't realized you had...missed.

    As the orbsats you had launched went online and provided an overhead view, you got a minimap. It flashed into the exact spot you wanted, projected through the nervous system of the infested ACU. It was a taste of home, even if it seemed to have grown Zerg biomusculature and spines around the edges.

    You regarded your tactical choices as the first of the Zerglings started to hatch.

    It was...

    Hum.

    You didn't want to say it looked easy. But you'd handled Aiur. Even with adapting to this strangeness, you were fairly sure you had a handle on this. Her hive was mostly centered around a collection of dens and burrows - a few sunken colonies, a few spore colonies, and a little hydralisk den to produce the slithering beasts. She didn't have much to be worried about, even if she...

    What metal creature are you? A sneering voice came into your mind. Zagara sounded like she was mildly offended to even see your features. ...Kerrigan?

    Not quite,     you said, smirking slightly.

    Another human in the Swarm. Pfah! I will obliterate you and rip your metal box apart!

    You had to admit.

    Part of you had actually missed this trash talking.

    Lets get to work.

    ---
    Like most campaigns, we start off a LITTLE easier than the climaxes of the prior campaign! A mere Danger 5 encounter - due to both Zagara's isolation and her relative newness to Queendom. She's got Hydralisk Dens, Sunks, and her Hatchery. The Dens and Hatchery are protected by the Sunks! The Hatchery is the "core" of the base: If it's gone, then you win!

    HEAT: 0/6

    [ ] Send the Zerglings to overwhelm the sunks, then rip apart the hydralisks, then sunder the hatchery to pieces
    [ ] Send in the Zerglings to direct strike the hatchery - leave the dens and sunks to be captured by yourself
    [ ] Have the zerglings flank to surround the place - then destroy the base yourself, in your ACU

    SPARKS: Isolated Enemy (1)
    ENEMY SPARKS: None

    ENEMIES: Diff 2 Hatchery (People[Size] 3/2), Diff 1 Dens (Damage[Range] 3/1 [Attached]), Diff 1 Sunks (Durability[Size] 3/2[Attached])

    Due to the ease of the enemies and your raw power, you can take them down with 0 heat, 0 heat, then 1 heat in any order you want! It's an inredibly easy fight, tbh. This mostly just exists so you can show off.

    Mechanically, the first means you use your Spawning Pool's damage to just obliterate the sunks (ignoring all their durability and dropping them for 0 heat as it's your Leadership 3 vs Diff 1. Then the den for diff 1+1, then the hive for diff 2+2 means you get 1 heat.)

    The direct strike basically means you take out the central Hatchery, leaving the attached components to wither on the vine. Narratively, you capture them, but it doesn't really do much since you're using Damage and Damage sparks won't decay into resources you can use.

    The Zergling flank means not using your Spawning Pool and instead using your Physical Perfection as a secondary characteristic to batter down their durability and then smash them up with raw power! It'll get you REALLY horny but, other than that, no change!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Send in the Zerglings to direct strike the hatchery - leave the dens and sunks to be captured by yourself

    At some point I need to drill down on the combat system, it seems like it has a lot of potential
     
    [X] Send the Zerglings to overwhelm the sunks, then rip apart the hydralisks, then sunder the hatchery to pieces
     
    DragonCobolt said:
    The Zergling flank means not using your Spawning Pool and instead using your Physical Perfection as a secondary characteristic to batter down their durability and then smash them up with raw power! It'll get you REALLY horny but, other than that, no change!
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    oh my!

    horny you say?

    and the base?

    to smithereens you say?

    oh dear.

    Good News Everyone!

    [X] Have the zerglings flank to surround the place - then destroy the base yourself, in your ACU
     
    [X] Have the zerglings flank to surround the place - then destroy the base yourself, in your ACU

    Also, Narratively, it would mean we built it up to deal with reinforcements.
     
    DragonCobolt said:
    The drones chirruped their joy at this, circled around, then settled into the ground.
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    ohmyGoddess- the singing, the vibes- that's downright adorable Iloveitsomuch zxcmncxmcz
    DragonCobolt said:
    The image the song called up passed and you shivered from head to toes. It was beautiful.
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    I lovelovelove how the zergies communicate and are given direction lmao, it's adorable
    DragonCobolt said:
    You noticed her tone had been gentle and helpful. You scowled slightly. Was she trying to get into your good graces again? Look at me, see how kind I am. Or...maybe she heard the song too...
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    The conflicted feelings too lmao


    [X] Have the zerglings flank to surround the place - then destroy the base yourself, in your ACU
     
    DragonCobolt said:
    it'll be more evident as time goes on!
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    A quick mechanics question.

    As I understand the situation, We have 3 enemies which represents 3 distinct obstacles
    ENEMIES: Diff 2 Hatchery (People[Size] 3/2), Diff 1 Dens (Damage[Range] 3/1 [Attached]), Diff 1 Sunks (Durability[Size] 3/2[Attached])

    For our combat resolution the main mechanic is our Main Character stats/Sparks vs the Enemy (Diff + Nactions in a turn). We can do any amount of actions so long as we don't overheat or use our powers.

    Since our combat stat is 3, our ACU could solo them in reverse order of the nesting (Sunk>den>hatchery) for diff 1,2,4 with the hatchery resulting in 1 heat as the cost of fighting something whose difficulty is greater then our combat skill.

    My question is how does the zergling [4(2) stats ] translate to the fight. Does their stat cancel something out, add to our combat stat or ...?
     
    [X] Send in the Zerglings to direct strike the hatchery - leave the dens and sunks to be captured by yourself

    I wonder how this works.
     
    Hmm.

    [X] Have the zerglings flank to surround the place - then destroy the base yourself, in your ACU
     
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