Mass Effect: The Spaces Between
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Alliance News Network connection established. Welcome, Guest of the SSV Arcturian Jade.
Op. Ed:
It has not been a good Galactic year. There has been a rise in tensions throughout colonies in and around the Terminus Systems -- pirates, biotic extremists, human Manifest Destiny, Batarian belief in Divine Right to Rule, Enkindler cult protests, and sightings of mystery ships in all sectors.
Not to mention the betrayal of the Council by a member of the SpecTRes, the Geth incursions throughout Alliance and neighbouring territories, and the assault on the Citadel, culminating in the near-death of all Council members, the destruction of dozens of starships, and the deaths of tens of thousands as a result.
But the Council prevailed, after a fashion. They survived, the Geth ships were destroyed, the rogue SpecTRe was defeated, and the Hero of the Citadel went out to single-handedly lead the taskforce to eliminate the remainder of the Geth forces, now in disarray.
Disaster struck again, when an unknown assailant cut down the SSV Normandy SR1, an exemplar of what can be accomplished when humanity and the Council Races cooperate, and with the ship's loss, 22 crewmen, including Commander John Shepard, hero of the Battle of the Citadel.
Does our hope for peace and prosperity lie dead in space along with him?
B. Quinten Falcone, Editor, ANN Eden Prime
***
You, each of you, have been specifically selected and called upon by your government to join a multilateral force to investigate this new threat to Galactic security, and to give the appearance of the Council working together to track this ship that killed the Hero of the Citadel, and eliminate it as a threat. You are meant to be among the best and brightest your government could muster, or a widely-renowned specialist in your field, tapped for this diplomatically-sensitive mission.
For the purpose of this game, we will be using the Mass Effect d20 system made available here: http://masseffectd20.freeforums.org/med20-pdf-links-t512.html
Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the changes it makes compared to other d20 systems; while most of them are relatively light, there are several that bear immediate attention.
Foremost is the combat system, which eliminates the distinction between standard and move actions and instead provides you with two major actions, a swift action, and a free action in a given round. While this is functionally very similar to the core system, it does allow for one to both fight and use offensive or defensive powers in the same round. A full-round attack action still enables you to make your third (or fourth) attack as usual.
Also worth noting is the manner in which automatic weapons and recoil are handled. You may notice that, for example, the M8 Avenger rifle is denoted as "A4" in its rate of fire, with a recoil of -3; that is to say, an attack with the Avenger makes four attacks at your highest Base Attack Bonus, all resolving at a -3 penalty. This is cumulative for multiple attack actions made, and does not reset until you take an action which interrupts the firing of your weapon. Despite the fact that this game is set almost immediately after the first Mass Effect, we will be using the thermal clip/ammunition system as it is logistically easier to manage and track than weapons with heat-sinks.
Please also note that ability points and feats are awarded at a slightly higher rate than other d20 systems.
For the purposes of this game, you will be assigning stats from the following array: 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8. These may seem high, but you are meant to be amongst the best the galaxy has to offer.
