Mass Effect d20

[Callos_DeTerran]

I would be more then happy to help with this project, I like to think that I know a fair bit about D20 modern/future and I adore the Mass Effect universe.

Heck, even if it's quite simply just coming up with weapon 'templates' for each company as universal traits to be applied to a given weapon for easy customization. (I do agree that PCs shouldn't be allowed to customize gear on their own, it can get ridiculous quickly and doesn't fit with presented information in-universe).

[reddevil]

If people are still interested in working together on this project I have created a wiki page that will make it easier to see what we are doing (instead of looking through pages on a forum). Anyone can signup to join and help out. Join here
the secret password to auto join is "masseffect" no quotes. If you've never edited a wiki before feel free to join anyway as they are quite easy to work with. So far I have added in races and created a bunch of pages and navagation links.

[CaelenVasius]

KEELAH!

It has been a SUPER long time since I've visited these forums, but I did so today only to find a grand project in the works; MASS EFFECT D20!

I haven't come to offer my sage advice, but to point out something; I've been simultaneously working on a 4e version of MASS EFFECT since ME2 released. I've already got most of a Player's Handbook, a Galaxy Guide (DMG of sorts), the beginnings of a Monster Manual, and most of what I call "Species of the Galaxy" (think like the 'Races of Stone' and 'Races of the Wild' books from D&D 3e, in which new races were issued, as well as new classes for them; also, my version includes more in-depth info on the 'base races' and classes, since I wanted the PHB descriptions to be relatively basic.

I am currently writing powers for all the classes, and expect to be done in a few weeks (assuming my free-time levels stay on target). At that time, I'll begin the graphic arts portion of the books, turn them into pdfs, and then distribute them (for free, of course; I own no part of Bioware, Electronic Arts, or Wizards). If you'd like, when they get closer to completion I can send pdfs to people, or find a place to host them long-term.

As for my personal d20 experience, I've been playing D&D since 2002, and moved onto 4e when it released. I've played Star Wars d20, D20 Modern (including the future expansion books), and a tiny bit of cyberpunk. For other RPGs, I've played Serenity, Dark Heresy, old WoD, and D02 (heh). An avid gamer, one of my favorite things to do is create.

I've beated ME1 with every class in the game, own and have read both novels, and am currently working on my 2nd ME2 playthrough. Mass Effect has me by the quad.

I'll keep up to date on the project, and maybe grab help from you 4e peeps out there for inspiration on powers; even I run out of helium-3, and I want there to be many options for powers.

-Caelenvasius

[Lord Iames Osari]

Can we keep this on the topic of adapting d20 Modern/Future? It's great that you guys have your own projects, but if you go back to the Homebrew forum as a whole, you will see a button labeled "New Thread". In fact, here is a screenshot to help you find it.

I would be more then happy to help with this project, I like to think that I know a fair bit about D20 modern/future and I adore the Mass Effect universe.

Heck, even if it's quite simply just coming up with weapon 'templates' for each company as universal traits to be applied to a given weapon for easy customization. (I do agree that PCs shouldn't be allowed to customize gear on their own, it can get ridiculous quickly and doesn't fit with presented information in-universe).

That would be great. I'm away from my books right now, but when I get back home I'll do up some baseline stats for the various weapon types (not counting heavy weapons).

[reddevil]

No reason to get angry I was just suggesting a place where it may be easier to work on such a project, and asking if people would like to work together on it. If you think im hijacking the thread I'm sorry but the title was Mass effect D20 and that's what I was talking about.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The title is Mass Effect d20, and the Opening Post says that the plan is to use d20 Modern and d20 Future. Coming into the thread and talking about how you have your own project based on Star Wars Saga or D&D 4e - especially if you're not offering any critique or comment on anything else in the thread - is as inappropriate as me going into the [4e] two new at-wills for dual-wielders thread and starting to talk about my custom melee combat rules for dual-wielding characters in GURPS 4th Edition.

[imp_fireball]

Next on my agenda for things to figure out:

• Batarians
• Drell
• Volus
• Vorcha
• SPECTRE Advanced Class
• Paragon/Renegade implementation
• Figuring out what exactly each Biotic/Tech talent does mechanically
  
  • Should they scale with level or require multiple purchases?

If your going with game mechanics, the specter advanced class really only adds 1 additional talent tree - which grants unity (ability to revive team mates; maybe if they aren't already dead - perhaps the suits can automatically stabilize people). Also, bonus health and accuracy (d20 - bonus hp, bonus to-hit).

Not really enough to make for an additional class - rather, I'd probably just make it a special feat that requires you to be ordained.

Specter is really more of a rank or designation - like say, I could be a 00 agent, but that wouldn't mean I'd need to have 00 agent as my advanced class.

Paragon - You're a nice person, always seeking the solution that is beneficial to who you are helping. You also think ahead, and generally do what you believe is right.

Renegade - You are hard minded (and possibly hot headed), seeking to complete the mission no matter what gets in your way. Anything short of the ultimate objective is either brushed aside or bludgeoned very hard.

Just use the reputation system from D&D for paragon/renegade. There's also alignment, but Modern doesn't use that. Association clearly does not fit paragon/renegade, so it's probably safest just to roleplay.

The reputation element would just be there to enhance things like diplomacy (charm) or intimidate (renegade).

A high paragon or high renegade usually has a high reputation, because in the game you have to do a lot of stuff to get a decent level in either of those scores. So its got nothing to do with how good/evil you think you are or how many petty crimes/heroics you commit to - it's all about doing big things and enhancing your reputation that way (hence quite different from D&D alignments). Note also that the best thing you can have is high neutrality (a high score in both paragon and renegade as that would give you both high diplomacy and intimidate (to a limit of course, since the game had a limit) and also make you unpredictable RP wise).

If people know you as a paragon they'll generally listen to you when you try to reason with them nicely (diplomacy). If you're a high renegade people will know that it is not a good idea to piss you off, because you know how to be bad (intimidate).

Not much beyond that.
----------

Other things to note:

- You forgot the soldier talent tree!

- I'm assuming you are forgoing the class system designed in the game, which is fine. It allows more customization when players want to select talents.

- As for the talent system, go with the game. Give each talent ranks and then have talent un-lockables, just like the game (maybe depending on Modern classes or feats). Don't scale the talent point gain though (keep at 3/level or whatever, or higher since d20 has less leveling then mass effect) - that was purely in the game for the sake of level capping and differentiating the team mates from Shepard.

- Krogan should probably have a +4 to fort saves versus paralysis too. It says so in the wiki.

- If this were D&D, I'd give the Turians a bonus to Martial Lore, but it's not. Also, I didn't really consider Turians uncharismatic. Or Hanar particularly intelligent for that matter (sure they're good with words, but can they do math any better than a human?). Also consider that Hanar were pretty low-tech when they first joined up with the citadel.

- Tech talents depend on utilizing tech mines (at least in ME 1; that's the only one I've played). Assume that people with tech talents simply know how to configure them properly. Also decrypting would just be hacking and electronics would be a repair bonus that applies to electronics (and works very quickly, somehow without needing omni-gel - which pretty much covers repairs regardless; note that you can't use omni-gel to craft something from scratch since that'd be 'cheating'). First aid uses medi-gel - a nanite that can deplete quite quickly but can be activated on designated team mates via the omni-tool. Medi-gel has a limit to the amount it can heal on an individual but it can be dispersed among creatures at a limit (which you'd have to establish). Also, each medi-gel has one use and is expended completely regardless of what it heals or how much it heals. The 'first aid' talent would reflect how well you can make use of the medi-gel or how powerful the medi-gel is. Healing with an omni-tool via medi-gel could be an immediate action. Also, it probably wouldn't require a treat injury check - no physician's knowledge here, just some techie with an omni-tool.

- Biotics are talents that are essentially spells but a bit more interesting in the sense that can be upgraded with ranks, and drastically change things around via table top physics. I'll let you handle that. Would take a lot of testing if you wanted to keep it intersting.

Here's some default ideas to get you started:

- Throw: Make it like kinetic thrust in the d20srd. Maxed out, it's quite a bit better (higher numbers).

- Warp: Causes very minor DoT and boosts damage made against the afflicted target. Maxed out, it is very lethal.

- Singularity: Some sort of gravity affect like null gravity (if that exists in the SRD, can't remember), but it draws people into a specific area and flings them around so that they have no control over their limbs and it's pretty much impossible to re-orient themselves unless they're very strong or wait until the affect ends.

- Lift: Make it an uncontrollable levitate affect against all targets within a certain radius - the more ranks, the more powerful and the higher the elevation (also affects objects). Also, read up on levitate in the SRD. There's a portion there that tells you what happens when you start spinning uncontrollably in the air. With lift, that pretty much already happens automatically. Also, they're more vulnerable to throw, and have even more trouble resisting it since they aren't grounded.

Tech Stuff

Note that because tech uses tech mines, they must have line of effect. Biotics don't necessarily need line of effect - rather, just a general idea of where the target is (line of sight usually helps, of course).

- Sabotage: Overloads target weapons in a small radius. Target must wait for weapon to cool down as if it were overheated - and this is after the affect ends.

- Shield Overload: Overloads portion of target shields causing some electrical damage to target's hp. More shield/hp damage per ranks.

- I'm assuming that humans in Modern were meant to be the only option and weren't at all a racial thing (hence the only thing defining a character was occupation/talent/class/roleplaying/possibly gender; also Modern always assumed everything was set on earth). In Mass Effect, it'll have to differ. I could be wrong, they may have already added something special for humans in Future with the addition of aliens as racial alternatives. My suggestion would be to use stock D&D humans - bonus feat at 1st level, 4 bonus skill points at first level and +1 every other level. It makes sense - humans aren't at all amazing, but are mentally volatile and can be acclimated to eclectic traits without being at all intelligent. Rp-wise, their culture might encourage them to be acclimated to imaginitive qualities without being particularly wise. Hence, the council races initially considered them savages.

- Weapons and such are quire different in mass effect from regular Future (particularly grenades, which you can allow to explode at will); you'll have to come up with a whole item list. Which is why I hate progress levels. Different races would have different items, some ceremonial, some not, etc. Also there would be many different levels of quality, manufactured by different corporations - the only limit to items is price, which can scale drastically.

- One thing I forgot - Since Specter is more of an association then a class, the association would grant access to specter items, which are very powerful and very pricey. Also, the Specter association is difficult to get into (you gotta be ordained). Putting ranks in your specter talent reflects special council issued specter training.

Shouldn't krogans get some sort of blood rage ability too

Call it 'bloodied rage', meaning when they're bleeding they get MAD.

Hm... maybe the standard krogan battlemaster talent tree should grant something like die hard - or have die hard as a prerequisite. And then give bloodied rage.

Or a Krogan could automatically get those two things once they invest in their 'racial' talent tree, like endurance or what have you.

[Lord Iames Osari]

If your going with game mechanics, the specter advanced class really only adds 1 additional talent tree - which grants unity (ability to revive team mates; maybe if they aren't already dead - perhaps the suits can automatically stabilize people). Also, bonus health and accuracy (d20 - bonus hp, bonus to-hit).

Not really enough to make for an additional class - rather, I'd probably just make it a special feat that requires you to be ordained.

Specter is really more of a rank or designation - like say, I could be a 00 agent, but that wouldn't mean I'd need to have 00 agent as my advanced class.

Eh. Being a Spectre also gives you legal privileges, information clearance, access to high-end weaponry... And it's a way to extend talent progression.

Paragon - You're a nice person, always seeking the solution that is beneficial to who you are helping. You also think ahead, and generally do what you believe is right.

Renegade - You are hard minded (and possibly hot headed), seeking to complete the mission no matter what gets in your way. Anything short of the ultimate objective is either brushed aside or bludgeoned very hard.

Just use the reputation system from D&D for paragon/renegade. There's also alignment, but Modern doesn't use that. Association clearly does not fit paragon/renegade, so it's probably safest just to roleplay.

The reputation element would just be there to enhance things like diplomacy (charm) or intimidate (renegade).

A high paragon or high renegade usually has a high reputation, because in the game you have to do a lot of stuff to get a decent level in either of those scores. So its got nothing to do with how good/evil you think you are or how many petty crimes/heroics you commit to - it's all about doing big things and enhancing your reputation that way (hence quite different from D&D alignments). Note also that the best thing you can have is high neutrality (a high score in both paragon and renegade as that would give you both high diplomacy and intimidate (to a limit of course, since the game had a limit) and also make you unpredictable RP wise).

If people know you as a paragon they'll generally listen to you when you try to reason with them nicely (diplomacy). If you're a high renegade people will know that it is not a good idea to piss you off, because you know how to be bad (intimidate).

Not much beyond that.

I was thinking of something along the lines of Paragon/Renegade actions giving you Paragon/Renegade points, and those points can then be spent to enhance Diplomacy/Intimidate actions to take some special action, ala ME2's interrupts.

- You forgot the soldier talent tree!

See: Strong and Tough basic class talent trees.

- I'm assuming you are forgoing the class system designed in the game, which is fine. It allows more customization when players want to select talents.

Nope. Still having the basic classes. Strong, Fast, Tough, Smart, Dedicated, and Charismatic.

- As for the talent system, go with the game. Give each talent ranks and then have talent un-lockables, just like the game (maybe depending on Modern classes or feats). Don't scale the talent point gain though (keep at 3/level or whatever, or higher since d20 has less leveling then mass effect) - that was purely in the game for the sake of level capping and differentiating the team mates from Shepard.

I think I'm just gonna go with Talent slots and have the Biotic and Tech talents autoscale with level. One or two "ranks" in a talent at most.

- Krogan should probably have a +4 to fort saves versus paralysis too. It says so in the wiki.

Reread the first post. Krogan are already immune to paralysis as part of their Redundant Organs racial ability.

- If this were D&D, I'd give the Turians a bonus to Martial Lore, but it's not. Also, I didn't really consider Turians uncharismatic. Or Hanar particularly intelligent for that matter (sure they're good with words, but can they do math any better than a human?). Also consider that Hanar were pretty low-tech when they first joined up with the citadel.

- Tech talents depend on utilizing tech mines (at least in ME 1; that's the only one I've played). Assume that people with tech talents simply know how to configure them properly. Also decrypting would just be hacking and electronics would be a repair bonus that applies to electronics (and works very quickly, somehow without needing omni-gel - which pretty much covers repairs regardless; note that you can't use omni-gel to craft something from scratch since that'd be 'cheating'). First aid uses medi-gel - a nanite that can deplete quite quickly but can be activated on designated team mates via the omni-tool. Medi-gel has a limit to the amount it can heal on an individual but it can be dispersed among creatures at a limit (which you'd have to establish). Also, each medi-gel has one use and is expended completely regardless of what it heals or how much it heals. The 'first aid' talent would reflect how well you can make use of the medi-gel or how powerful the medi-gel is. Healing with an omni-tool via medi-gel could be an immediate action. Also, it probably wouldn't require a treat injury check - no physician's knowledge here, just some techie with an omni-tool.

No idea how I'm going to implement omnigel at the moment, but as far as medigel goes, I'm thinking that it'll just give a significant bonus to Treat Injury checks and increase the number of hit points that can be restored.

- Biotics are talents that are essentially spells but a bit more interesting in the sense that can be upgraded with ranks, and drastically change things around via table top physics. I'll let you handle that. Would take a lot of testing if you wanted to keep it intersting.

Here's some default ideas to get you started:

- Throw: Make it like kinetic thrust in the d20srd. Maxed out, it's quite a bit better (higher numbers).

- Warp: Causes very minor DoT and boosts damage made against the afflicted target. Maxed out, it is very lethal.

- Singularity: Some sort of gravity affect like null gravity (if that exists in the SRD, can't remember), but it draws people into a specific area and flings them around so that they have no control over their limbs and it's pretty much impossible to re-orient themselves unless they're very strong or wait until the affect ends.

- Lift: Make it an uncontrollable levitate affect against all targets within a certain radius - the more ranks, the more powerful and the higher the elevation (also affects objects). Also, read up on levitate in the SRD. There's a portion there that tells you what happens when you start spinning uncontrollably in the air. With lift, that pretty much already happens automatically. Also, they're more vulnerable to throw, and have even more trouble resisting it since they aren't grounded.

Tech Stuff

Note that because tech uses tech mines, they must have line of effect. Biotics don't necessarily need line of effect - rather, just a general idea of where the target is (line of sight usually helps, of course).

- Sabotage: Overloads target weapons in a small radius. Target must wait for weapon to cool down as if it were overheated - and this is after the affect ends.

- Shield Overload: Overloads portion of target shields causing some electrical damage to target's hp. More shield/hp damage per ranks.

Some decent ideas here, thanks.

- I'm assuming that humans in Modern were meant to be the only option and weren't at all a racial thing (hence the only thing defining a character was occupation/talent/class/roleplaying/possibly gender; also Modern always assumed everything was set on earth). In Mass Effect, it'll have to differ. I could be wrong, they may have already added something special for humans in Future with the addition of aliens as racial alternatives. My suggestion would be to use stock D&D humans - bonus feat at 1st level, 4 bonus skill points at first level and +1 every other level. It makes sense - humans aren't at all amazing, but are mentally volatile and can be acclimated to eclectic traits without being at all intelligent. Rp-wise, their culture might encourage them to be acclimated to imaginitive qualities without being particularly wise. Hence, the council races initially considered them savages.

They already addressed this in the Modern core book. Humans are the same as basic D&D already.

Call it 'bloodied rage', meaning when they're bleeding they get MAD.

Hm... maybe the standard krogan battlemaster talent tree should grant something like die hard - or have die hard as a prerequisite. And then give bloodied rage.

Or a Krogan could automatically get those two things once they invest in their 'racial' talent tree, like endurance or what have you.

Again, Krogan already have their rage and their incredible durability reflected in the racial writeups.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Okay, here is what I'm thinking for generic weapons.

{table=head]Weapon|Damage|Critical|Range Increment|Rate of Fire|Overheat/Cooling Rate|Size|Weight
Pistol|2d10|19-20|75 feet|S, A|10%/5%|Medium|2 lb.
Submachine Gun|2d10|20|50 feet|A or 3B|5%/1%|Medium|3 lb.
Shotgun|3d10|20|50 feet|S|21%/7%|Large|5 lb.
Assault Rifle|3d10|20|75 feet|A|5%/1%|Large|5 lb.
Battle Rifle|3d10|19-20|100 feet|3B|10%/2%|Large|5 lb.
Sniper Rifle|4d10|18-20|200 feet|Single or S|40%/20%|Large|6 lb.
[/table]

In Mass Effect, ammunition is no longer an immediate concern for most man-portable weapons. Instead, weapons build up heat. A weapon's Overheat/Cooling Rate measures how much heat is built up in the weapon each time is it fired and how quickly that heat can be vented. Each time you make an attack roll using a weapon, increase that weapon's current heat by the first percentage. At the end of the round, subtract the second percentage from the weapon's current heat. When a weapon's heat buildup reaches or exceeds 100%, it ceases functioning until it returns to 0%. There are two ways to reduce heat once this happens; first, you can wait for the heat to dissipate (which takes 2 rounds, regardless of how much heat has built up or the weapon's Cooling Rate), or you can replace the weapon's thermal sink as a move action, resetting the weapon's current heat to 0%. Thermal sinks can be reused, but they take 10 minutes to vent their heat and become usable.

Weapons with a Rate of Fire listed as 3B fire in bursts of 3 bullets per pull of the trigger. They can be used with the Burst Fire Feat, but cannot be used for autofire.
[hr]
And, for armor, I'm thinking something along these lines:

In addition to its normal functions in the d20 system, armor grants shield points, armor points, or a combination thereof.

• Light armors grant (Equipment bonus x 5 x level) shield points.
• Medium armors grant (Equipment bonus x 5 x level) shield points and (Equipment bonus x 2 x level) armor points.
• Heavy armors grant (Equipment bonus x 5 x level) shield points and (Equipment bonus x 5 x level) armor points.

There are also barrier points, available to biotics who know the Barrier talent. Barrier, shield, armor, and hit points take damage in that order, and each type of protection has its own strengths and weaknesses:

• Barrier points are weak against the Warp and Reave biotic talents, warp ammo, submachine guns, and assault rifles. They take 25% more damage from those attacks.
• Shield points are weak against the Overload, Sabotage, and Energy Drain tech talents, disruptor ammo, submachine guns, and assault rifles. They take 25% more damage from those attacks.
• Armor points are weak against the Warp and Reave biotic talents, armor-piercing ammo, fire damage, pistols, battle rifles, and sniper rifles. They take 25% more damage from those attacks.
• Hit points have no special weaknesses.

[Closak]

What about the Reapers you Bosh'tet? *Dives for cover*
Or the HR?


"We do not believe that continuing what you are doing would be a wise course of action"
"Shut up, machine"
"We do not understand your request, further data is required"
"Okay, you are doing that on purpose"
"...yes"
"Stupid AI"
"Illogical organic"
"Freak of nature"
"Squishy meatbag"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING!"

[Lord Iames Osari]

The Reapers are monsters, not a playable race. I have no idea what HR is referring to.

[Closak]

HR=Human Reaper.

*Waits for monsters*



"We believe that you may have to wait a while"
"...(Faceplant) Why will you not leave me alone you infernal AI"

[Lord Iames Osari]

Yeah, it's gonna be a while before we get to that point.

[imp_fireball]

Hey, do you mind if I take some of your weapon ideas for my own homebrew?

Really great ideas.

Also, what about starship combat? I heard the future rules for spaceship warfare were crap (although that could be subjective).

The codex in ME1 gave specifics on space warfare. They even gave a simple formula for aerial bombardment in earth atmosphere and gravity.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Go ahead.

As far as starship combat is concerned, I have to admit I haven't really looked at Future's starship combat rules, and since all of the space combat we've seen in the games is cutscene-only, I'm not sure how to go about adapting it.

[DueceEsMachine]

wow. Some very good ideas. Just a thought, something I was working on the other day, shield regeneration - depending on the armor, shields should have a recharge rate - if you stay under cover for say, 4 rounds, they recharge the next round. different armors or mods can change how fast they charge

They would have to be consecutive rounds - i.e. if you got shot on round 3 of 4, then the recharge resets.

Not much to work with, but it was an idea. I like how your idea for the heating/weapons works, and while it might get bothersome, keeping track of all the percentages, it will probably take some testing to find out.

Also, another thought - melee attacks should bypass shield/barriers, right?

[Lord Iames Osari]

Hmmm. The ME1&2 cover system is hard to model in d20; I think I'd prefer to go with a round-by-round shield recharge rate - something along the lines of equipment bonus x level shield points per round.

With regards to melee attacks bypassing barriers and shields... do they in the game? I can't recall.

[CaelenVasius]

Space combat wouldn't really be a big part in the ME universe --- at least from a character's point of view. Unless you're a fighter pilot, computer programs take care of pretty much everything; targeting, weapons management, shield management, damage control, even flight, all are either heavily aided or even controlled by the ship's VI programming. This takes the activity away from the players and puts it into the GM's hands, which in my experience makes for a not-to-fun game. Fighters are more reliant on pilot input, since they lack VI controllers, but I don't see them as being a major part of your standard ME game.

I agree with DueceEsMachine, in that the weapon system for overheating seems to be a bit cumbersome, though this could be due to a lack of playtesting. It may end up being so easy and smooth to be a non-issue. I do think, though, that it is great how you;ve implemented the system as it stands now.

As for melee damage and shield bypass, it depends on whether or not you want the game to be more like ME1 or ME2. In ME1, melee damage completely bypasses shields, leaving them undamaged. This is easy to do in game terms. In ME2, melee attacks now drain shields, and are actually very fast at draining shields. In ME2, let a varren/husk smack on you a bit and you'll see what I mean.

And as for shield recharge, it again depends on whether you want ME1 or 2, as the system was changed between the two games. In ME1, shield recharge was done at a flat number rate, with modifiers attached to this; basically, you had [total shields, inc. mods]/[amount per round, inc mods]=[rounds till fully recharged]. The amount recharged per round could be modified by armor mods, feats, class abilities, etc.

In ME2, it was changed to a percent system. You had a certain shield strength which was modified by reasearch upgrades, and no matter how much or little shields you had it would take the same amount of time to recharge it. Basically, [Total shields, inc. research]/5(iirc, you recharge a base of 20% per second, making 5 seconds to fully recharge)=[Amount you recharge per round].

Either works, and both require some math.

As for how long it takes for shields to start recharging, I don't know...one round of not being hit seems to be fine, considering in the D20 system one round is approx. 6 seconds. But whever ends up working should be fine.

[Lord Iames Osari]

I think we'll go with the ME2 model for melee attacks. For shield regeneration, I think we'll go with a flat rate by round; we can't do a second-by-second regeneration like the games do because of the way the system works, and regenerating full shields every round would be way too unbalanced.

[CaelenVasius]

[Total shields, inc. research]/5(iirc, you recharge a base of 20% per second, making 5 seconds to fully recharge)=[Amount you recharge per round].

I mis-spoke when I used "seconds" in the second bracket. I meant to say rounds, to keep with the focus being on the D20 system rather than the video game's mechanics. And I do agree that one round recharge is too low. But in reality, it's two rounds.

R1: Bill takes damage, and his shields are depleted.
R2: Bill heads to hard cover, and is not hit that round, allowing his shields to recharge next round.
R3: Bill's shields recharge at the beginning of his turn.

Perhaps two rounds to recharge, bringing the total number of turns it takes to recharge shields to three.

I think that the ME2 method would be easier to adjudicate, though that may be because of the work I'm doing in my own project, which is based around 4e mechanics.

BTW, I apologize for my first post in the thread, it was not my intention to derail or troll the thread, merely to let the population know that I would be assisting, and that I had my own project. I have no intention of releasing it until it is finished, and my group is doing some rigorous in-house playtesting to finish it. Again, I apologize for the trouble caused on my part.

Question: How do you intent "shield points" to function in your version? Are they a sort of temporary HP buffer, or a damage reduction?

Similarly, are "armor points" just damage reduction, or are they a temporary HP buffer too?

[CockroachTeaParty]

Should not the Geth be a playable race? Granted, geth PC's would be one in a million, but hey, that's what PCs are for, right?

I'll think more about it, but obviously they would be constructs... might they be living constructs, ala warforged?

Also, a normal-sized geth would be the ideal PC race, not a geth juggernaut or geth prime.

I'll give it some more thought... glad to see other people interested in making Mass Effect d20!

[Callos_DeTerran]

A suggestion on the weapons, you can actually keep the 'clip size' from d20 Modern/Future, as long as the assumption is that everyone is using the fancy new guns that have heat sinks. A heat sink would have X number of shots in it for each different type of weapon, which fits with ammo as it already is in d20 Modern nicely.

I agree that space flight should be left in the hands of 'Cutscene' area for the purpose of the game. I've never had a chance to PLAY d20 Modern/Future space combat, but it looks as if it could take some time. Best to focus on the player scale for right now.

Also, does anyone know if different companies have different specialties or where I might find that out?

[DueceEsMachine]

I had thought similar things about the geth being living constructs - they sure seem that way in the game, the way their musculature works, ect.

I don't know. I don't think they would make exceptional pc's in every group, but I don't see why it shouldn't be possible. The problem is working out how the concensus works, the hive-mind thingy. You know what I mean.

Anyways - you could just say that it grants them access to other geth similar to a mind-link, but they say they share experiences, just from a different veiw. That sounds like trouble to me...

Edit: yes, different companies have different specialties, but they really don't have them all fleshed out. I went to the Mass Effect wiki, and looked at weapons to get a link to the manufacturers, and the small amount of data they have on them there.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Perhaps two rounds to recharge, bringing the total number of turns it takes to recharge shields to three.

I'm not sure. I prefer a flat rate, personally.

Question: How do you intent "shield points" to function in your version? Are they a sort of temporary HP buffer, or a damage reduction?

Similarly, are "armor points" just damage reduction, or are they a temporary HP buffer too?

HP buffers in both cases.

A suggestion on the weapons, you can actually keep the 'clip size' from d20 Modern/Future, as long as the assumption is that everyone is using the fancy new guns that have heat sinks. A heat sink would have X number of shots in it for each different type of weapon, which fits with ammo as it already is in d20 Modern nicely.

Well, I'm one of those people who wish that they'd kept the overheat mechanic or gone with a hybrid system for the second game, so that's why I implemented the hybrid system above.

[DueceEsMachine]

Okay - well, it just so happens that my group and I are playing a future game in our own universe/setting thing - so I'm going to attempt to implement your firearm rules and see how well they work.

I think for simplicity's sake, NPC's wont worry about over-heating. That would be too much paper-work for the DM.

Edit: just another thought - I don't think the player characters in the games ever got armor points, did they? I think it was something special for the NPC bosses/ Heavy Mecha robots. Just a thought. we'll try it without the armor points and see how well that works.

[imp_fireball]

Should not the Geth be a playable race? Granted, geth PC's would be one in a million, but hey, that's what PCs are for, right?

I'll think more about it, but obviously they would be constructs... might they be living constructs, ala warforged?

Also, a normal-sized geth would be the ideal PC race, not a geth juggernaut or geth prime.

I'll give it some more thought... glad to see other people interested in making Mass Effect d20!

Geth Prime and Juggernaught are only size large. Colossals might be huge though (the Mako is about huge, I'd say).

Geth would be a template for humanoid shaped constructs. Circumstantial Int and Wis bonus depending on how many are organized in a given area. A geth PC could be a 'liberated' geth that uses technology to keep its int and wis at a reasonable level.

A geth by itself usually has an Int of 1 or 2 and maybe a -4 Wis penalty.

The main advantage of a geth though is it can choose from a list of pre-programmed knowledge - usually a bonus to a skill or list of skills, a minor boost to a class feature or talent, or automatic proficiencies, but never any more than BAB equal to its HD, bonus natural armor or bonus HD. There would be point limitation.

A geth could also modify itself with less risk since its a construct (so it could make its legs more powerful without the need of cybernetics; of course, it still costs money).

Its humanoid nature makes it sort of like a living construct (it can run, etc.), but nothing more than that.

As for soldier talents, I was thinking immunity could be like DR/die hard combination, and shield boost could allow rapid shield recovery, even when you are being damaged. Adrenaline boost might immediately remove any talent cool down, restore action points or allow one additional use of a talent/special ability per day for a given duration.

[imp_fireball]

Go ahead.

As far as starship combat is concerned, I have to admit I haven't really looked at Future's starship combat rules, and since all of the space combat we've seen in the games is cutscene-only, I'm not sure how to go about adapting it.

Like I said, the codex pretty much tells you everything.

Space combat wouldn't really be a big part in the ME universe --- at least from a character's point of view. Unless you're a fighter pilot, computer programs take care of pretty much everything; targeting, weapons management, shield management, damage control, even flight, all are either heavily aided or even controlled by the ship's VI programming. This takes the activity away from the players and puts it into the GM's hands, which in my experience makes for a not-to-fun game. Fighters are more reliant on pilot input, since they lack VI controllers, but I don't see them as being a major part of your standard ME game.

It'd be a good for a game in which players take the roles of admirals and must organize their fleets accordingly.

Everything else would be GM handled of course - but player decision still matters. Even if a player is a captain with command over only one ship. Rolling the dice isn't entirely the domain of the players. The VIs don't have the power to make decisions after all.

Of course, it'd be pretty boring if a player was, say, a technician who had no authority over the ship and merely had to maintain things like typing commands into a computer console, but the same pretty much applies in a typical game of D&D where a player happens to be a bus boy commoner for a tavern - you'll get ordered around, you won't have much choice and there will be utterly little to no roll mechanics involved unless the GM throws some miraculous event upon you each day.

There could be all sorts of duties reliant on the PC captain - the captain must choose their crew. A PC helmsman wouldn't be very fun for the player, as all they would be doing is rolling pilot (spacecraft) checks all the time, but it's of clear importance to have an NPC with a high modifier handy.

As for piloting fighter craft, the same check would probably apply, but since fighters have stunning maneuverability, there would be all sorts of tricks the player could say they wanted to do, and depending on their strategy, they could get circumstantial modifiers - of course, there main goal would be dishing out disruptor torpedoes (they remove kinetic barriers) and then refueling, but due to the high degree of danger, there could be both high XP rewards and a different event every time they exit the hangar of their mother ship.

Different star ship level weapons (according to codex):

Lasers - Lasers are typically short range due to diffraction. They ignore kinetic barriers due to their absence of mass, but still must shred through the ablative layers of armor underneath.

Missiles/bombs/bullets/particle beams/etc. - Standard weapons usable at any range besides 'close/knife fight' range and typically propelled in conjunction with mass accelerators. Although these weapons have the highest range (especially with dreadnought battleships), their mass means that kinetic barriers can repel them - although they ignore ablative armor. Thus, ships without kinetic barriers will be devastated very quickly.

Disruptor torpedoes - Deployed by fighters at close/knife fight range, they get rid of kinetic barriers with ease, removing the need for lasers.

Ship Classes

As a general rule, the larger the ship the more expensive. Although expense also depends on other factors, such as fuel (especially when eezo is a factor) and technological relativity.

Fighter - Very fast and highly maneuverable. Used mainly to deploy disruptor torpedoes. The ultimate nemesis of the fighter is the interceptor (a fighter variant) and frigate. A fighter's maneuverability and speed means that it can avoid enemy fire from cruisers at close and short ranges, making it unconventional for cruisers to target them.

Frigate - Also quite maneuverable, the frigate is made to guard cruisers, using its broad side weapons to take out fighters. The frigate is flexible and adaptable to many encounters. It is the largest class of ship that can enter and land in atmosphere upon a planet.

Cruisers - Cruisers are a standard for fleet engagements. Their weapons are valued for long range, making them among the big guns for softening up targets. Many are also equipped with short range lasers and fighter craft. In large fleet engagements, they are made to guard the flanks of the dreadnought(s).

Battleship/Dreadnought - The pride of any fleet, dreadnoughts deploy weapons for extreme ranges, making them useful for sniping any enemy that doesn't have a dreadnought of its own to answer in kind. Although the range of a mass accelerated projectile usually gives an opponent literally entire seconds to maneuver out of the way, a dreadnought's main gun can usually propel its munition fast enough to actually eliminate the time gap, and offer enough raw force to really shake up a kinetic barrier (2 - 3 shots to remove it completely), making them very deadly weapons.

Typical Encounter - Fleet engagements hardly ever result in total devastation of one side, unless it is the defense of an important piece of territory such as an industrial planet, a political capital/center of culture or ship yard. When a sun shines upon a fleet, both sides are desperate to end an encounter quickly for fear of being cooked in their hulls. The weakest side of a conflict usually flees via FTL as soon as it can. Prior to the introduction of disruptor torpedoes, fleet engagements would often turn out to be long and slow slug fests against capital ships. Prior to kinetic barriers, they were incredibly short and brutal.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Edit: just another thought - I don't think the player characters in the games ever got armor points, did they? I think it was something special for the NPC bosses/ Heavy Mecha robots. Just a thought. we'll try it without the armor points and see how well that works.

The PC and partymembers never got armor that we can tell in-game. But there's no real way to make something NPC-only in a tabletop environment.

<snip Geth discussion>

The geth on the front page are supposed to be the standard humanoid models, yes.

As for soldier talents, I was thinking immunity could be like DR/die hard combination, and shield boost could allow rapid shield recovery, even when you are being damaged. Adrenaline boost might immediately remove any talent cool down, restore action points or allow one additional use of a talent/special ability per day for a given duration.

Hmmm. I might make Shield Boost into a Tech Talent (easily grabbable with the Tech feat). Adrenaline Boost (from ME1) can be made into a generally available use of Action Points. Adrenaline Rush (from ME2) would be hard to implement without risking Time Stop-esque brokenness.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Veni, vidi, offensi ligamentem
I came, I saw, I bumped the thread

[imp_fireball]

What about weapon talents?

Marksmen, assassinate, carnage and overkill?

Carnage would convert ordinary shotgun damage to fire damage, and do bonus damage in a small area.

Assassinate, probably automatically critical or do major bonus damage against all creature types.

Marksmen would lower cool down and increase firing rate (due to a combination of increased 'accuracy', 'stability' and 'shots before overheat' - both stats in ME1) and offer minor boost to damage.

Overkill would almost completely raise cool down to be on par with heat up - if that's not enough, increase damage due to increased bullets dispensed in automatic.

Also, tech stats - there's two things in ME1: Tech and Biotic protection. Tech protection might be the same as 'ECM' - sometimes when you use a talent like sabotage, it doesn't work on the enemy (which actually occurs in-game). This is probably due to ECM. I think it'd add a new angle to Modern (shield overload on the other hand, seems to always work for me).

Another thing was 'loss of accuracy' which took place after using certain abilities. In d20, it could simply be reflected as firing rate. Or, if you 'wild fire' you 'lose accuracy' and incur penalties to attack. Then there's weapon stability which reflects recoil recovery.

Maybe some weapons, you can't use certain abilities like double tap with, unless you fit a high enough kinetic stabilizer?