Interest Check - Mass Effect Roleplay [Forum] [Dice]

[TacoMann]

I currently have a Custom Mass-Effect based roleplaying system under construction. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in joining up and helping me try out the system after I've finished ironing things out. These here forums would be used to keep track of Character Sheets, and non-combat issues. In-Character RPing between deployments, OOC discussion, system information, In-Universe Political issues and events, etc. Of course, I've been designing the system so you don't really need to know the setting to get the game....

 

[Skari-dono]

I'd be interested in giving it a go. Been recently thinking that I need more science fiction in my games


Anything in particular I should know about the game though? Haven't played Mass-Effect so I know little if anything about the setting. Also, if you have a character-sheet, I'd love to see it; you can tell a lot about a game by its character-sheet, is what I believe

 

[Varna]

I've played through the entirety of the series. I wouldn't mind giving this a go but can we get a taste of what this system is beforehand? So we can know what we're jumping into.

 

[TacoMann]

Allright, so, so far, what I have planned is for the political and noncombat workings to be almost entirely Forum-based, with a seperate set of statistics from combat garnered through a point-buy system being your primary way of dealing with , and how many credits are on your Chit. The combat deployments will be done on Roll20.


Quick term clarification to sum up one thing in a nutshell before I begin:


"Biotics" = "Space Magic".


Not quite true, but that's the gist.


The combat takes a whiff of inspiration from old fasioned Turn-Based Strategy games such as Shining Force and Fire Emblem, as well as more modern tabletops such as Pathfinder. In essence, I'm working to translate Mass Effect 3's multiplayer into a tabletop game, except with much more room for player customization, and an even wider variety of class-race combinations. In theory, once the system's finished, you could treat any playable multiplayer character as a Pre-Gen squad member.


Ability Types:


Class: The unique, permanent, passive statistical benefits of your class and subclass.


Physical: Permanently and Passively affects the user's combat abilities, melee abilities, and movement.


Weapon: Directly affects a specific hostile target.


Mode: Applies an effect directly to the user.


Exotic: Alternative abilities, temporary buffs or area effects, deployed tools, and other more exotic abilities


Leader: A unique effect immediately applied to the squad, along with passive bonuses for squad-members.


Each ability is tallied using a point-buy system, with each rank costing a number of points equal to its rank level, capping out at 6. Certain powers are Teir-Based, only being available to a character with enough Tech-Savvy or Biotic Potential. What abilities are available depends on your race, class, and power-teirs.


Classes:


Soldier: Pure Combat Class, tends to have excellent physique and durability, with class abilities focusing on weaponry.


Vanguard: Biotics & Combat Class, tends to have good physique, durability, and biotic potential, with excellent mobility. Vanguards must take some form of Charge-Based Ability.


Adept: Pure Biotic Class, tends to have excellent Biotic Potential, with good mobility.


Sentinel: Biotic & Tech Class, tends to have excellent Physique, with good biotic potential and tech-savvy. Sentinels must take some form of Protective Mode or Exotic ability.


Engineer: Pure Tech class, tends to have excellent Tech-Savvy, with good mobility.


Infiltrator: Tech & Combat class, tends to have excellent mobility, with good tech-savvy. Infiltrators must take some form of cloaking power.


Now, I intend for there to be 2 types of PC's, with availability dependent on the game. In games where each player is independent, there will be 1 "Squad Leader", and 2 "Squad Members", this includes Player vs Player, and solo missions. In group missions, including breaches and lockdowns, each player will recieve one "Squad Member". This is a game that will be heavily based around group dynamics, in-combat. Even a high-teir squad leader is not Shepard, and even Shepard, unstoppable as (s)he is, would be nothing without their crew.


1) Squad Members: Squad members have 5 Abilities each, 1 "Physical", 1 "Class", and 3 "Weapon", "Mode", or "Exotic"-type abilities. Squad Members have 84 skill points to divvy up amongst their 5 abilities, each ability requires 1 point for any benefit to be gained.


2) Squad Leaders: Squad leaders gain the 7 Abilities each, 1 "Physical", 1 "Class", 1 "Leader", 4 "Weapon", "Mode", or "Exotic"-Type abilities. Squad Leaders have 101 points to divvy up amongst their 7 abilities, each ability requires 1 point for any benefit to be gained.





Like most tabletop RPGs, you've got your core stats, these stats are quantified on a 6-point scale, which is almost entirely race-based.


Physique: Represents your characters' physical limits, including their Base Maximum Health, their Weight Capacity, and their Base Melee Power.


Durability: Affects your characters' base armor, and their steadfastry (What knocks them down, what launches them, what merely staggers them)


Tech-Savvy: Affects your characters' base shields, their noncombat technical utility, and their maximum teir of Tech-based Powers.


Biotic Potential: Affects your characters' base barriers, their noncombat biotic utility, and their maximum teir of Biotic-based Powers.


Mobility: Affects your characters' ability to navigate the battlefield, increasing their number of ways of getting around, using the battlefield, and how your maximum movement increases as your level your "Physical" Skill.





Playable Races


Races - Council: These races have the highest political privileges and the most worlds tied to their governments within Citadel-occupied systems. They are often looked poorly upon in the terminus systems.


Humans: 'nuff said. Homeworld: Earth


Turians: Avians, Militaristic culture, favoring Soldiers and Sentinels. Homeworld: Palaven


Asari: Blue-Skinned monogendered (Biologically Female) Race, Long-lived, all Asari are naturally biotic, favoring Adepts and Vanguards. Homeworld: Thessia


Salarian: Amphibians, infamous stereotype for tendencies towards SCIENCE!! and short-term solutions over planning. Favoring Infiltrators and Engineers. Homeworld: Sur'Kesh


Races - Citadel: These races, while not having a member of the Citadel Council, bear embassies on the citadel, and have a fair share of privileges in Citadel-occupied system.


Volus: Stout, portly business-savvy race. Suit-bound outside certain atmospheres due to breathing mostly ammonia, and hailing from a high-pressure planet. Favors Engineers and Sentinels.


Drell: Green-Skinned reptilian race, uncommon, but swift, with a flair for assassins and bodyguards, due to their religious conclave with the Aquatic Hanar. Favoring Infiltrators and Vanguards.


Races - Outsiders: These races do not have embassies on the citadel, and have few rights within citadel space. They are often viewed with contempt by Citadel authorities, but typically Thrive in the terminus systems


Batarians: Hardy, four-eyed, brutal mammals. Reputation for slavery and isolationism. Bear much unique tech, and favor Sentinels and Soldiers.


Quarians: Nomadic, space-faring people, suit-bound due to poor immune systems. Due to spacefaring life being standard, known for excellent technical skills, favor Infiltrators and Engineers.


Krogans: Brutal, infamously hard to kill, reptilian warriors, inflicted with sterility plague. Favor Soldiers, and Vanguards.


Vorcha: Savage, short-lived, durable, highly adaptive reptiles, viewed as vermin or beasts by most of galactic civilizations. Favors Soldiers and Sentinels.


Geth: Synthetic Hive-minded creatures, with modular frames, hated by most of the galactic community for the actions of a splinter-group known as "The Heretics". Strongly isolationist. Favors Engineers and Infiltrators, or Soldiers and Sentinels, depending on frame.





Once I make a forum, I'll have an info-dump Sub-Forum with the specific functions, abilities, and more, as well as more indepth detail on the races and classes.

 

[CelticHero37]

I'd be interested. I haven't really done RPing like this online before. But I have played tabletop a few times.

 

[Elemental Son]

I loved the ME series; I'd be down for this.

 

[DeusExAlice]

I'm very interested in -observing- this. My activity is so flaky I don't wanna burden anything, but I do like the ideas you got =D


Plus ME isn't an interesting setting or anything <___<...>____>


Also, why no reapers as a playable race? They're totally PC friendly =D

 

[TacoMann]

Burn. BURN. BUUUUUU- then again you may encounter slain or lost squad members later... muahahah.

 

[Varna]

So, any updates on how this is coming along? Tis been a few days since any activity or the line was shown.

 

[TacoMann]

Sorry, I was out of town for afew days, I've been working on a draft for a Mass Infodump thread under Resources. 
...And I've lost the fuckin' draft. Yay.

 

[CelticHero37]

Oh, that sucks.

 

[TacoMann]

Yeah, it was almost done, too. Oh well. Guess I'm re-starting from Scratch. And Memory. Fuck. So yeah, expect to see an "under construction" thread go up in Resources soon, so that way I don't lose it like the fuckin moron I am.

 

[CelticHero37]

Hey! Have faiths in yourself xD