Mass Effect: Agents Introduction

Mass Effect: Agents
GM
Mark
Game Time
4th Saturday of the month
Characters
Argyle Mann Rahl'Temo Nar Whal Tyrus Kieren MacLeod Koll'Rinn Nar Teema Lauren

Introduction

I’m looking to try a Mass Effect game using the Shadowrun rules. For those who haven’t played the game, this is essentially cyberpunk in space with a number of setting-specific changes. It is the 22nd century and humanity has taken its place in the galaxy alongside a number of other sentient species. The discovery of advanced technology on Mars from a extinct species known as the Protheans catapulted human technology in every field. Genetics, starship travel, weaponry both large and small, not to mention contact with sapients (thus proving that humanity is not an isolated special case of sentient life) has fundamentally changed humanity forever.

Setting

The setting is the Mass Effect universe between the two Mass Effect games, late 2183 CE. This sets the scene where the events of the first game have taken place. This lets us know who all the major players are, the technology, the history, and a little of what’s to come. Humans have only been part of the wider galactic scene for 26 years after the First Contact War with the Turians at Shanxi in 2157. Later that same year they were given an embassy slot, angering many other races who have waited, or were still waiting, for an embassy of their own despite centuries of petitioning.

In 2183 humanity stepped up to the galactic stage in a big way. After the revelation that a Turian Spectre named Saren Arterius was responsible for the attack on the human colony of Eden Prime and the murder of a fellow Spectre, Saren was stripped of his Spectre status and Commander Shepard of the System Alliance was made the first human Spectre. The task of hunting down Saren ended with a massive attack on the Citadel led by Saren himself. Accompanied by his geth allies and a massive ship named Sovereign, rumoured to be a living starship whose members wiped out the Prothean race some fifty millenia ago, they inflicted massive damage to both the Asari and Turian fleets before the System Alliance’s Fifth Fleet arrived. The Fifth Fleet destroyed Sovereign and drove off the geth while Command Shepard faced down Saren himself on the Citadel and destroyed him.

Grateful for its timely assistance and recognizing Shepard’s pivotal role in saving the Citadel, the Council admitted its first new member in many centuries. Humanity took its place on the Council as its fourth member and settled in to deal with the galaxy-shaking realignments their actions have had throughout the galaxy. Other Council races resent humanity’s seemingly privileged treatment while former Council races such as the batarians simmer bitterly while they plot vengeance on human colonies outside Council-protected areas.

Player Characters

With this as the galactic background, PCs come on to the stage. You are all aspiring agents, operatives, or some other kind of “troubleshooter” working at a — shall we say — less-than-official capacity for your various patrons and employers. Dirty jobs that are outside the law or even legal jobs where the agency, group, or corporation needs deniability — that’s where you come in. It’s no secret that there is a great demand for people with your kind of talents, along with no shortage of paranoia on both sides of the hiring table in this business. Trust and a reputation as a good agent are two commodities not easily purchased on the black market, something your characters are hoping to earn.

Here are a few things to answer for yourself while creating your character (they’ll likely play some role at some point). Keep in mind that you are all low on the totem pole. Nobody is starting as Shepard after all.

• Your homeworld: Where are you from? Earth? One of Earth’s colonies? An alien colony where humans are a minority? A “space case”? (i.e. You grew up on starships and space stations, moved around a lot while growing up)
• You as an agent: What is your background? Why are you an “agent”? Was it a choice or were you forced? Why do you continue to look for work as an agent?
• Your employer: Who is it that you have been employed by? Is it Are you a freelancer or a an employee? How did you join this organization in the first place?
• Your contacts: Who are your friends? Do you have contacts outside your employment? What do they do? What do they provide you? How much can they be counted on?
• Your skills: What is it you do? Why are your skills valuable? When you need a job and meet a prospective employer, what is it you tell them? How did you acquire your skills? (This question will likely help shape the kind of character that defines you.)
• Your other interests: What do you down with your downtime? Do you have a family? A house in the burbs? Are you married with kids?

Creating a bullet-point list for this might be useful, both for you and for me. Depending on your background, there may be times when it comes in handy. (Whether it’s handy for you or me is another matter.) If you’re unfamiliar or uncertain about elements of the game, I encourage you to look at the Mass Effect wiki at http://masseffect.wikia.com or to ask anyone who’s played the game. You can always just be from Earth with little understanding about the galaxy at large. Anything your character should know (like technology, or the fact that humans now regularly live to 150 years old) can be supplemented in gameplay.

System Mechanics

I will be using the Shadowrun 4th Edition for this. You may see “Shadowrun 20th Annivesary Edition” in stores, which is 4th edition. Character generation is point-buy, with all PCs starting with 400 “building points” (or BPs). I will be writing up the system differences to account for Mass Effect-specific things, races, and metaphysics (like biotics). Magic will be greatly simplified to a subset of biotic abilities; armour will also be largely simplified to account for shields and built-in features that the game assumes, such as respirators and environmental-sealing. All this will come separately.

A few things that will come up:

• Build Point (BP) costs for all playable species
• Biotic Rules
• Gear rule changes to fit Mass Effect setting, including a completely simplified armor rules modification that accounts for shielding

Mass Effect 1 Continuity

For what it’s worth, here’s how the first Mass Effect game was played out for the purposes of this setting:

• Name: Commander Aiden Shepard (female) (Gaelic for ‘fiery’)
• Background: Spacer (Parents are in the Alliance military; mother is currently the XO for the Alliance dreadnaught SSV Kilimanjaro)
• Profile: Sole Survivor (Survived thresher maw attack on Akuze, unit was wiped out)
• Rachni Queen: Saved, set free
• Virmire: Wrex survives, Ashley Williams dies, Kirrahe survives (Does anyone like Ashley?)
• Battle of the Citadel: Eight Alliance cruisers are sacrificed to save the Council and the Destiny Ascension
• The Council: Captain Anderson becomes the Human Councillor; Udina remains the Alliance Ambassador and a general pain-in-the-ass.
• Shepard’s Relationship Status: Formed with Liara T’Soni (everyone likes Liara!)

As of the start of the game, Shepard and the Normandy are still out doing geth-hunting missions.