The Queen's Own Aerial Hussars Return - XCOM alike chtulhutech RPG
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| Crest and tie colors of the regiment. | Unsanctioned proposal for a modernized crest. |
- The primary mission is to go after supernatural critters: vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, that stuff
- Extradimensional intrusion subtly alters physical constants, making them fuzzier. Current Commonwealth Council doctrine is that successful removal of all extradimensional intrusion (victory condition) will allow existing fusion power plant designs to operate at a net gain. Partial victories negate intentional or collateral damage to infrastructure, etc.
- Activity has increased recently, estimate is because decrease in science education, although cause/effect relationship is not confirmed. The various critter types seem to be often hostile to each other. Official doctrine is that there is a danger of Earth being used as a convenient battleground, Revelations used as an example.
- A certain psychological profile is required for field actions, namely, all operatives must be the right amount of slightly crazy to start with, in order to avoid culture shock. Candidates are rare enough that anyone with any tactical experience is considered. It takes a particular kind of brain to believe in fairies but want to kick them out.
- Recruits from and operates in primarily Commonwealth countries (The US branch is considered suspect). Originally an offshoot of the Roman Inquisition that was nationalized during the reign of Henry VIII.
- VERY british. Red jackets, handlebar mustaches, etc. Played to stereotype -- trooper may want to loot grocery stores in LZs just to get better food than fish n chips!
- Has existed in its current configuration since Victorian times. This shows in a number of ways. Was mostly mothballed in the 1960s due to Cold War concerns that aren't explained until later.
- The current Skyranger equivalent is the missing Avro Arrow prototype, with Rogallo landing wing and RATO bottles. The bomb/missile bay replaced by a small operatives compartment. This explains why there is only one of the damn things; its semi-mythical status seems to protect it from undue influences. The Skyranger has to turn around and land for rapid extraction, so returning to base is done by conventional means when possible.
- The current Interceptor equivalent is modified BAC Lightning aircraft, a number of airframes are available for adaptation. They are rarely used, but have been deployed against dragons and suchlike.
- The main base exists inside a small area of very anonymous, very large largely-dismissed office building reminiscent of Bristow or the Crimson Permanent Assurance short movie (with 1970s era furniture and all), somewhere in the greater London/Toronto/Sydney area; new rooms must effectively be cleared, although there isn't a 5 day delay for it.
- The paradox of the current scientific paradigm needing enforcement at all is known, but nothing better is available -- we need a world in which the lights turn on when the switch is flicked, no incantantion required. Base personnel is encouraged to play oWoD and WH40K in their spare time, even.
- Advanced tech that isn't hardened tends to fail around supernatural critters, so personal electronics is cut off circa 1994. Laser guns are possible, iphones not so much. The Nokia 3310 works and is in fact standard comms equipment, the Skyranger carries a microtower.
- Current doctrine is that magic is off-limits to humans but didn't use to be; possible development, but seen as dangerous compromise (see Meld/psionic in XCom).
- Due to high secrecy being paramount and the difficulty of slushing funds in a way that other intelligence agencies cannot catch, participating countries must bid for assistance on a case by case basis. This explains the XCOM like resource scarcity. Rather than panic levels, countries have "suspension of disbelief" surveys to determine how well the dimensional barrier is holding; damage to some infrastructure, notably the electric and data grid is also a factor. The US is a special case, the Hussars have been forced to occasionally support fundie christians to provide a counterbalance. OTOH, Occasional missions against cultists must be undertaken.
- Satellite coverage is complete at start, but isn't very good due to existing satellites being at best 40 years old -- hot spots can be identified, but that's basically it. New microsatellites can be launched, this provides better tactical info such as PKE scans.
- Some critters may be long-estabilished -- sparklepire covens, for example. Bring Hardiman powersuits and jackhammers, and enjoy the loot. In fact, the Vampire Mafia can be the setting's secondary antagonist (EXALT/CoS equivalent), with their own agenda. Since they are based in Italy, attacking their fortress would probably require enlisting the Regular Mafia, for numbers.
- As per XCom, true Council aims past the immediate are unclear. Restore the british empire? Gain a monopoly on magic?
- Oh, and of course, ghostbusting missions. If this is set in the eighties, the Real Ghostbusters could be colleagues or even competitors.
INTRO
The man is stocky and somewhat short, and counterpoints his baldness with a luxuriant black mustache. He's wearing some sort of uniform which you don't recognize -- at least the epaulets are just patches, rather than actual decorations, although there's really no justification for the red mantle. His Received Pronunciation makes him sound like a television announcer from the sixties. Behind him, firemen are applying a somewhat excessive amount of water and halon gas.
"Good afternoon, fellows - I am Sargeant Major Kipling, with the Queen's Own Aerial Hussars. I am afraid that there is no rational explanation for what you have just witnessed. However, your prompt reaction gives me cause to -- I'm sorry, you're all Commonwealth citizens, yes? You're American? Close enough. Well, this certainly speeds things up."
He quickly returns your ID, which is odd, since you don't remember handing any to him, then clears his throat.
"As a duly appointed representative of Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of" he clears his throat again "Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of Natural Law, I am hereby conscripting you into the Queen's Own Aerial Hussars. We are billeted at the former headquarters of Crimson Permanent Assurance, London. Our task, now yours as well, is to defend the Commonwealth against supernatural threats to its infrastructure. Now, where was I... Kindly accept this token as an advance on your wages, in lieu of the King's Shilling."
Before you can reply, he quickly bops your forehead with a brass tuning fork, which he then holds for you to take. A moment's ringing, and you notice a gleaming white jet airplane parked on top of part of the destroyed area. It looks like a smaller version of a Concorde, to which someone strapped a number of takeoff boosters. Now that you think of it, you saw it before, too, just weren't paying attention to it. Firefighters seem as partially oblivious to it as they are to the still-burning vampire fragments.
"Now, this gets us closer to being up to strength -- next time we're facing those sparkly bastards, perhaps we won't need to drop bombs quite so quickly, eh what?"
The man turns around, and makes a gesture as he heads towards the aircraft. "Well, are you coming?
HISTORY
The Aerial Hussars began operations after Langley's historical Aerodrome flights in 1896, and was instrumental in dealing with supernal and infernal (period definitions) threats to the British Empire throughout the first half of the 20th century. Of particular note was the secret war conducted against the Thule-Gesellschaft in the 1930s.
The regiment, however, was a victim of its own success; competing actions by the Thule-Gesellschaft and our organization depleted Outsider resources (and, some would say, interest) to such a degree that with shifting priorities after the end of the war, the project was deemed unnecessary and maintained with the barest of skeleton crews.
The project was briefly resurrected as a primarily Canadian-American joint initiative at the height of the Space Race, under the aegis of NORAD and the patrociny of the British Crown, but after very few operations and a brief turf war with a similarly set up UFO watchdog group, Nixon's space exploration cutbacks after the moon landings once again froze the project.
A number of recent occurrences have forced the Hussars into reactivation, despite woefully inadequate or obsolete infrastructure and equipment, forcing us to start almost from scratch.
PERSONNEL
| Designation | On force | Recruitability | Description |
| C3 | Enough | N/A | Command, Control and Communications staff make up the bulk of what was retained from the Aerial Hussars' previous eras. Their primary job is to allow field commanders to focus on strategy and tactics, acting as a buffer between operations personnel and logistic or administrative issues. They also handle matters pertaining to routine maintenance. |
| Academics | 5 | Medium | Researching that which is almost by definition outside the purview of science requires a rare breed of individual; academics analyze Outsider actions and try to predict their next move, and run the Hussars' intelligence network. They are also responsible for, hopefully, understanding more about the enemies we fight. |
| Vocational | 5 | High | Vocational personnel handles non-routine maintenance, custom fabrication, and some of the applied research. |
| Hussars | 6 | Low | Operations staff are whom it all comes down to ??? they are the Commonwealth's last line of defense against the unknown beyond the veil. Due to the terrifying or mesmerizing effects that Outsider presence tends to have, Hussars must be just the right admixture of grounded in reality and willing to deal with the uncomprehended ??? the right personality type is rare enough that anyone with a minimum of tactical experience is considered. Sadly, this forces the Hussars to field recruits who have to learn the art of war from scratch. |
KNOWN OUTSIDER TYPES
It should be noted that Outsiders are by no means an unified entity ??? in fact, current doctrine has it that Hadeans and Empyreans have been in a cold-war situation for much of humanity's history, and specifically intend to use our plane of existence as a neutral battleground. Vernacular names for Outsiders are acceptable during operations, but reports must use the official nomenclature, as a way to avoid confusion.
| Designation | Threat level | Occurrency | Description | Doctrine |
| Teleiad | Low | Frequent | A small humanoid, occasionally winged, with strong but unpredictable powers. Various teleian cultures are known to exist, which probably accounts for the various cultural stories about faeries and the like. | Attempt capture and repatriation; return home as second choice; eliminate as third choice |
| Hemophage | Medium | Average | A former human with dimensionally altered metabolism. Nocturnal by preference, obligate hemophage, potentially immortal. | Refer to indoctrination as targets of opportunity; eliminate as primary choice |
| Lycanthrope | Medium | Rare | A partial shapeshifter that defaults to a humanoid form. Dangerous in either shape. | Attempt capture and restoration; eliminate as second choice |
| Hadean | High | Rare | A large, strong and brutish humanoid with taurine traits. Occasional winged specimens exist. | Capture as target of opportunity; eliminate in all other cases. Reports of a less bestial, more intelligent version exist. |
| Empyrean | High | Rare | A winged humanoid of Greek classical proportions. | Eliminate with extreme prejudice. The deity it claims to represent does not have goals compatible with the continued existence of the Commonwealth. |
ISSUED EQUIPMENT
| Designation | Research | Availability | Description | Doctrine |
| Barnett Diablo | Start | Guaranteed | The best slingshot money can buy; it is simple enough that it will operate when nothing else will, and can use anything as ammunition. | This has become a standard sidearm for us; it can also be used to launch noisemakers or other small payloads. The elastic band is a surprisingly effective whip. |
| Crystal radio | Start | Guaranteed | A simple, receive-only AM radio that allows the Arrow to broadcast tactical updates to the squad. | This simple design can be built with commercially available components, and is integrated into standard-issue helmets. Operatives wanting to forego a helmet can request a headband-mounted version. |
| Luger P38 | Start | Guaranteed | For some reason, the sidearms we confiscated from out... counterpart organization, the Thule Society, in Germany after the last war are extremely effective against Outsiders. | Silver bullets are manufactured internally and are standard issue. |
| AK-47 | Memetics | Average | This weapon needs no introduction; Nicholas Cage already took care of it. | The iconic status of the AK47 and its wide tolerances allow it to function near Outsiders with zero issues. However, it is a heavy and inaccurate weapon. |
| Nokia 3310 | Memetics | Frequent | The latest addition to our arsenal, it allows for helmet mounted two way comms and audio logging. Your standard issue helmets have been revised to hold one of these. | Memetic resilence for the 3310 is high, but do not count on it working every time ??? still, beats using radio sets from the 1940s. Surprisingly, the femtocell carried on the Sky Ranger works with these. We did buy a worldwide calling plan, too. |
| Stoeger IGA | Memetics | Average | A classic double-barreled shotgun. The media popularity of a sawed-off version allows use against Outsiders. Anyone playing video games in the 1990s is aware of this thing ??? however, its status as a zombie killer in public perception is waning. | Packs an extreme punch up close and personal, but has very short range. Occasionally misfires. Shells can be loaded with salt and other nonlethal payloads. |
TODO ask for help on iconic weapons
TODO add melee weapons (swords, etc) katana should require Memetics and have bonuses over a standard sword or mace, because trollface.
(Guess who wrote this?)ooh, getcha. mm. it would be an interesting discussion to have. because i can completely picture the notion o fbeing able to convince faerieis to enjoy curling up in bondagy pokeballs to be carried around as a ward agaisnt other, nastier magic because they violate NON-causality just as much as regular causality.
