[WOTC] Character Pool Source Control
Character Pool Source Control assigns separate Character Pool policies to reliable personnel acquisition sources. Starting soldiers, Resistance HQ recruits, SPARKs, and personnel rewards can each follow different rules through Mod Config Menu.
It also adds Civilian → Engineer / Scientist roles to the Character Pool, explicit Shaojie Zhang and Peter Van Doorn Old World Hero choices, and a correction for later faction-soldier rewards.
- Separate Character Pool policies for reliable acquisition sources.
- Full Mod Config Menu support.
- Civilian → Engineer / Scientist Character Pool hierarchy.
- Full modular outfit customization for pool engineers and scientists.
- Explicit Shaojie Zhang or Peter Van Doorn Old World Veteran.
- Optional exact pool appearance for a pool-selected Old World Veteran.
- Corrected Find Faction / Find Farthest Faction soldier rewards.
- Character Pool control for constructed SPARKs.
- Optional first-promotion restoration of a pool character’s soldier class.
- Advanced reward and Covert Action rules through INI configuration.
- Optional diagnostic logging.
- MCM localization for all 11 WOTC languages.
Every source can use the game’s standard modes:
- None / Inherit — use the surrounding rule or global Character Pool setting.
- Character Pool Only — prefer an eligible unused pool character.
- Random and Character Pool — use the normal mixed behavior.
- Random Only — ignore the pool for that source.
Mode names come from the game’s official localization. If Character Pool Only finds no eligible unused entry, vanilla can still generate a random character.
Open:
Options → Mod Settings → Character Pool Source Control
Separate controls are provided for:
- Starting Soldiers
- Starting Faction Soldier
- Initial Resistance HQ Recruits
- Monthly Resistance HQ Recruits
- Covert Action Personnel
- Faction Soldier Rewards
- Constructed SPARKs
- Old World Veteran
- Others
The MCM also controls staff separation, Old World Hero selection, first-promotion class restoration, the faction fix, and debug logging.
When enabled, a Rookie’s normal first promotion restores the valid soldier class saved on its single matching Character Pool entry. Explicit class assignments, GTS and Psi training, the tutorial, Rookie, Psi Operative, civilian roles, missing classes, and duplicate names are preserved or ignored. The promotion movie uses the final restored class.
Guerrilla Operations, Council missions, Resistance Operations, Points of Interest, and Black Market personnel share a generic callback without a reliable source identifier. Exact reward rules can still distinguish personnel types.
Staff can be prepared directly in the Character Pool using the same two-level organization as Soldier → Grenadier:
- Create or open a Character Pool entry.
- Choose Civilian as the character type.
- Choose Engineer or Scientist in the second class/role field.
- Customize the name, head, body, colors, and outfit normally.
- Save the character.
Selecting a staff role automatically enables VIP and disables Soldier / Dark VIP usage for that entry.
Civilian entries use the Soldier appearance system for the complete modular outfit editor. When awarded, XCOM 2 converts them to the real Engineer or Scientist template while preserving identity and appearance.
If no matching role exists, the reward is not blocked: the mod leaves the pool untouched and uses normal vanilla behavior.
The Old World Veteran option provides:
- None — preserve the configured Character Pool mode.
- Shaojie Zhang
- Peter Van Doorn
An explicit hero overrides normal veteran selection. None preserves every classic Character Pool mode.
The veteran is created at new-campaign startup and appears in the Barracks after the opening mission. Make the selection before starting. With appearance preservation enabled, a veteran actually selected from one unique pool identity keeps its exact pool appearance instead of Firaxis’ classic torso, hair, and glasses. Random veterans and explicit heroes are unchanged. The Resistance Warrior armor item and classic biography remain.
Later faction soldiers use `Reward_FindFaction` and `Reward_FindFarthestFaction`. The mod matches these rewards to the faction represented by the reward context before generating the unit, preventing a later Reaper, Skirmisher, or Templar from being created for the wrong faction.
This fix is independent from Character Pool selection and can be disabled in MCM.
Constructed SPARKs controls the Character Pool policy used by Mechanized Warfare / Build SPARK Proving Ground projects.
The Lost Towers SPARK is copied from its narrative unit and is not replaced by Character Pool generation. Shen’s Last Gift is required for SPARK content.
- Starting Soldiers: Character Pool Only
- Starting Faction Soldier: Character Pool Only
- Initial Resistance HQ Recruits: Random Only
- Monthly Resistance HQ Recruits: Random Only
- Other sources: None / inherit global setting
- Engineer / Scientist separation: Enabled
- Restore pool class on first promotion: Enabled
- Preserve pool-selected veteran appearance: Enabled
- Explicit Old World Hero: None
- Faction reward fix: Enabled
- Debug logging: Disabled
Advanced users can add exact rules to
:
Stable source keys and exact `Reward_*` / `CovertAction_*` names are supported. The last matching rule wins.
Official game strings are used for Character Pool modes and Civilian/Engineer/Scientist names. MCM text supports English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Van Doorn uses his localized vanilla biography.
The mod preserves existing template delegates. It also overrides `X2StrategyGameRulesetDataStructures` only to make the first-promotion movie use the final restored class; another mod overriding that same utility class conflicts. It can be added mid-campaign for future recruits and promotions.
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
- X2WOTC Community Highlander
- Mod Config Menu
- Resistance Warrior Pack
The Resistance Warrior Pack is a hard requirement because this mod integrates directly with its new-campaign Old World Veteran routine. Shen’s Last Gift is optional and is needed only for vanilla SPARK generation.
- Subscribe to the requirements and enable the mod.
- Open Options → Mod Settings → Character Pool Source Control.
- Choose a policy for every desired source.
- Prepare Civilian → Engineer / Scientist entries in the Character Pool.
- Select Zhang or Van Doorn before starting a new campaign, if desired.
Required DLC:
These DLC should be installed in order to use this item.
XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
Required items:
Click the title to search on this site.
X2WOTCCommunityHighlander v1.31.0 — Steam Workshop
[WotC] Mod Config Menu — Steam Workshop
[WOTC] Calm Personality — Steam Workshop
