I love the mass effect series of games (albeit less so than I used too, after the way they decided to end the last one), and was inspired to attempt a conversion of ETOE after running across a topic over on the D20 radio forums: http://www.d20radio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=168&t=11765&sid=866f27c0e25b568976bde85d167634da&start=15. I hoping that I could bounce ideas off the ETOE community and get some feedback.

I feel that the theme of EOTE is perfectly fitting for Mass Effect 2, and waned to continue using that variant of the setting and theme in the material I am converting.

Thus far I have ideas for:

-Using the Kinetic Barriers as another form of Wound threshold on top often current threshold, 'Shield Threshold'.

-Using Biotics like force powers (much like the topic above suggested),but writing them so that if you do not buy the Biotic rating at Character generation you (baring your death, and complete surgical/Cybernetic resurrection) cannot buy into them later.

-Separating staring XP into two distinct pools, one to buy attributes (roughly enough to take an attribute from One all the way to Four), and one to buy skills (you may keep half of your unspent XP points from Attributes for skills).

-An optional "terms" system for character creation.

As for Races I decided to start with A, and then took the Asari template off of the D20 radio forums started to rework it a bit. Thus far I have rewritten the meld ability, and swapped Presence 3 for Cunning 3. I am not thrilled thus far with my wording of the rules for the 'Meld' ability, and have yet to cut the starting XP into separate pools.

Asari

Characteristic Ratings:

Brawn 1

Presence 2

Intellect 2

Cunning 3

Agility 2

Willpower 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 12+Willpower

Starting Experience: 90 XP

Special Abilities:

Asari begin the game with one rank in either Charm or Coordination. They still may not train Charm or Coordination above rank 2 during character creation.

Natural Biotics: All Asari are born with the ability to use biotics without the need for an implant. They begin play with a Biotics Rating of 1.

Meld: Asari are able to attune their nervous systems to that of another individuals; allowing for the sending and receiving electrical impulses directly through the skin and effectively rendering (albeit momentarily) the central nervous systems of both participants into one unified system. It is this ability that allows the Asari to act as “contact telepaths”.

-an Asari, may attempt meld with another character: [spend One "Biotic" Point, two if Opposed] Should the character be a willing participant, the meld may occur automatically, under duress/stressful conditions the characters may make and opposed Discipline test (in the case of a forced melding the active player uses Coerce rather than Discipline), with both participants suffering a single strain for each advantage or threat rolled by their opposites.

-Once melded the two characters may freely exchange surface thoughts to one another. Each participant may attempt to conceal information from one another, via a Difficult Discipline test, inflicting strain or suffering strain based on the number of uncancelled Advantage, or Threat on the dice respectively.

- [spend One "Biotic" Point] This ability may also be used to recover lost or suppressed memories via a Hard Discipline test. Each uncancelled Threat inflicts strain on both participants, or may disrupt the memory causing the information to become unreliable. Each uncancelled Advantage may shape the memory into a more coherent thought, providing more information, well Triumph results in a full restoration of the lost or suppressed memory in question.

-Edited the Asari 'Meld' ability

Have a look at THIS THREAD from beta. Several of us were discussing various conversions of the game.

I was playing through all 3 ME games around that time and posted some ideas on the ME Races. I was toying with calling it "Edge of Citadel Space" or Edge of the Terminus

EDIT: Actually... I just will copy and paste my post here:

ASARI -----

10+Brawn, 11+Willpower - 100xp

BRA 1 - PRE 3 - INT 2 - CUN 2 - AGI 2 - WIL 2

Free Rank in Negotiations, Plausable Denyability Talent

SALARIAN -----

10+ Brawn, 11+Willpower, 100xp

BRA 1 - PRE 2 - INT 2 - CUN 3 - AGI 2 - WIL 2

Free Rank in Skulduggery, Rapid Reaction Talent

TURIANS -----

10+Brawn, 10+Willpower - 100xp

BRA 2 - PRE 2 - INT 2 - CUN 2 - AGI 3 - WIL 1

Free Rank in Survival, Expert Tracker Talent

KROGAN -----

12+Brawn, 9+Willpower - 90xp

BRA 3 - PRE 2 - INT 1 - CUN 2 - AGI 2 - WIL 2

Free Rank in Resiliance, Battle Rage (same as Wookiee)

QUARIAN -----

10+Brawn, 10+Willpower - 100xsp

BRA 2 - PRE 1 - INT 3 - CUN 2 - AGI 2 - WIL 2

Free Rank in Mechanics, Utinni Talent

BATARIAN -----

10+Brawn, 10+Willpower - 100xp

BRA 2 - PRE 1 - INT 2 - CUN 3 - AGI 2 - WIL 2

Free Rank in Perception, Convincing Demenor Talent.

Very cool. I did a LOT of work last summer to make a Pathfinder conversion for Mass Effect that I used for a campaign in the fall. It was a huge hit and I had a lot of fun doing it. I fully intend on working on some races and stuff for this, and I'll definitely post them around here when I do so. I'm glad other people are interested in this too!

I like the Asari entry, but the automatic biotics thing makes me scared because of how strong that seems. I was thinking about this the other day and it seems pretty strong.

I do like some of your ideas, though. I'm not sure if kinetic barries need to be that complicated though. I think they could just act as items that give you Defense bonuses. But, if you get hit by an attack, the kinetic barrier "Breaks" and you lose that defensive bonus for X rounds depending on the shield. You could have some shields that recharge quickly but add a smaller amount of defense, and some that add more defense but take several rounds to recharge. I think that would be simple and clean, and would synchronize with this system simply.

I like the idea of buying a "Biotic Rating" only at character creation, but perhaps it wouldn't require purchasing a spec tree, and would only cost 10 EXP. It wouldn't grant anything besides the rating and the ability to purchase further powers. Biotic Implants could give boosts to the Biotic Rating, and it could count as a characteristic for all purposes, except that it couldn't go above 2 or 3 during Character Creation, but it could be increased with Dedication.

I don't think we should separate EXP into two pools though. I don't see why that should be done in Mass Effect when it isn't done in Star Wars. If you prefer doing that with your EotE games normally, I say go for it. But I wouldn't do it in ME if you don't do it there.

I'm extra eager to start working on some of these conversions, now that I have people to compare notes with !

And Brash, not a bad start. I would definitely tinker and increase the power on some of those, though, and I don't agree with some of those stats, but I really like where it is going.

Is your work on a Pathfinder conversion available anywhere?

Sorry, forgot to mention... Feel free to look over what posted, use or disregard. I am not planning on doing one now. I am working on an Old West conversion.

I would love to see what you come up with through and will be watching the thread.

Epi: Indeed it is! It is uncompleted, and will likely remain so, since I'd be much more inclined to just do EotE with it now, but here's everything I did for it! I got weapons, feats, races, classes, and a few enemies done with it, along with the basics for how powers work (though I didn't get to the actual write ups for the powers. I just used PF spells that fit thematically and changed them around a little bit, while inventing a few new ones as I went.) My friend even whipped up a character sheet! Feel free to use it as you wish! My only stipulation is that you have fun with it!

You'll find the link here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i1pus8lboj58882/ETHgCJS8kP

And yeah, I'll definitely take some inspiration from what you posted there, and I'll most definitely post the stuff I do make up on here as I go! I'm currently working on a bunch of other Star Wars races, but once I'm done with that I will probably whip up the basic races .

I was looking at your WWW conversion, and it seems really interesting! I like it.

Ah, sorry I missed that in my type up; I added the cost of one force point to use the ability and one point to use it its memory based ability. I may go and separate the ability out entirely turning it into an Asari only biotic power with magnitude and control based upgrades.

As for the two distinct XP pools, my intent was to be able to give players more verity in the possible characters they can generate. As it stands the book even tells you Spend XP on Attributes now, you can't later, which lends to the image that 90% of the characters generated by the game are going to be the youth full of ambition and talent, not the veteran lacking in raw talent but well skilled.

For Turians I was thinking about making their racial bonus a bonus to will power, as they are a martial society, with emphasis on discipline, civil service, ect. I may likely reassign the bonus attribute for Asari back to Presence as most conversions I have seen do this and I feel that it is a sensible choice. For Batarians I feel like leaving them at the Human standard of attributes, and giving them a bonus die to sight based perception checks.

On to shields I was hoping that my concept of them would not prove overly complicated as, it's just a secondary wound pool to draw from, much as shield are in X-Wing.

And that would definitely be one way to do it, but I'll tell you now that that's what I did for my Pathfinder Mass Effect conversion and while it totally worked, it does kinda bog down the system a bit because you have to keep track of if you took damage and if the shields are going to start recharging and how much they recharge, etc. With the simplicity of this system, that might be a little too much book keeping, especially as a GM running potential encounters with multiple dudes using Shields. Plus, there could be an ongoing Biotic power that you could commit a dice to and it would count as a shield, and just give you Defense the same way, as a biotic barrier.

I would agree with Turians having a high willpower but a low agility. Their chitinous forms and somewhat lanky builds really don't lend very well to quick movements or anything. But, to counteract that, I'm thinking their free skills could be chosen from a selection that may or may not include Discipline, Vigilance, or Ranged (Heavy) since they all have combat training. I'll get into more details in my own interpretations, but I'm eager to see what you come up with too.

I would totally agree with Asari. They are ALL about Presence.

Batarians, though, i would actually give a 3 in Cunning to, since they are secretive, perceptive, and streetwise. I think it would be fitting. A 1 in Presence would also make since, since erryone hates them (except me!)

Your not the only one that likes Batarians, and I do see a some logic for giving Batarians a rating of cunning 3, but that said in the books I have read and in the games; I see them as having around about base human stats, and giving them skill bonuses to things like perception, and streetwise a Racial modifier for sight. In my reading Cunning implies to me a decent ability for foresight on their part and few Batarian characters have demonstrated this, most show the willingness to cut off their nose to spite their face, if it will hurt the interests of their enemies or the see a good sort term gain (the Perfect example of tis from a Macro stand point would be the Planet Pragia).

I was more along the lines of thinking that a Cunning 3 presence 1, would be prefect for the Quarian though, some people may dislike/distrust the Batarians (about as much as most in the ME universe dislike/distrust Humans, or one another) but seem to loath Quarians.

Batarians:

Characteristic Ratings:

Brawn 2

Presence 2

Intellect 2

Cunning 2

Agility 2

Willpower 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+Willpower

Special Abilities:

-Batarians begin the game with one rank in either Coerce, Survival, or Streetwise. They still may not train Coerce, Survival, or Streetwise above rank 2 during character creation.

- Acute Vision: Batarians have evolved a highly developed sight, this grants a boost die on all sight based perception checks.

Edit: I am looking at drafting a third racial ability like, adaptable or resourceful... I am unsure of its use or wording.

Edit²: I was looking into what you said about book keeping, and I think that the issue of Shield book keeping may be mitigated a bit by ruling that Minion & Henchmen level opponents do not have the ability to recharge their shields. My idea is to have the rules of cover stay by enlarge the same, with non-stacking bonuses; a combat shield would lend one defensive setback die for cover, but cannot be combined with heavy cover to gain 3 setback dice.

Personally, I'm a huge proponent of cover defense stacking with armor defense, and in this case, I would let cover, shield, and armor defense all stack together. I mean, think about in the game how virtually impossible it is for you to take health damage when you are parked behind a small crate with full shields. Most attacks miss you. The few that might happen to graze you are completely mitigated by your damage resistance and your shields, which totally absorb them. But, that's just how I'll approach it, and likely when I start doing big-time write ups for this, I'll make rules for doing shields either way; with the temporary wound thresholds and the simpler defense dice version, and with the defense stacking and non stacking version. XD

But I disagree with batarians (though I'm glad you also love them!). Everyone gets super nervous around them, and no one knows how to deal with them. Plus, their actual government is extremely xenophobic, and doesn't let much more than propaganda leave their homeworld. Giving them 1 Presence makes a lot of sense, and given their natural affinity for picking up cues and being able to dominate conversations due to their heightened awareness, I think giving them 3 in Cunning makes perfect sense as well.

I completely agree with giving the Quarians 1 in Presence, since they are also both discriminated against and are somewhat xeonophobic. But, while they are indeed cunning, I would say that their primary trait is their natural intellect and affinity for computers and technology. As such, I would keep their Cunning at 2 and give them a 3 in Intellect.

I have completely typed up my rough outline of all of the "Core" races for this variant of the Mass Effect setting, a lot of the choices I have made, are to with a eye towards each species niche,(like giving Salarians the boost to Intelligence over the Quarians), and studying any available material on each race as the exist in ME and as Biowear drafted them, along with many interpretations of the species on the net. I have found that the split pools most helpful in creating differentiations between each species (at the cost of making characters who are better fleshed out, and creating a slightly higher level of play then a raw ETOE character), although a bit of balance tuning will have to be undertaken on each. The parentheses next to some of the characteristic ratings show my fall back ideas should the way I have each species written prove flawed.

Core stats for each race:

Asari- Presence

Batarians-all rounders

Drell-Agility

Humans- All rounders

Krogan-Brawn

Quarians: Cunning

Salarians: Intelligence-Skill monkeys

Turians: Willpower

New Skill:

Martial Arts (Agility): 'Martial Arts' are used in unarmed combat, the difficulty of 'Martial Arts' checks are Average unless the opponent is incapable of resisting (in which case the difficulty is set by your GM). -Agility based version of Brawl.

Asari:
Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 1
• Presence: 3 (2)
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Agility: 2 (3)
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 11+Willpower

Starting Experience:

• Attribute Pool: 90 EXP
• General Pool: 20 EXP

Special Abilities: Asari begin the game with one rank in either ‘Charm’, ‘Deception’, or ‘Coordination’. They still may not train this skill above rank 2 during character creation.

Natural Biotics: All Asari are born with the ability to use biotics without the need for an implant. They begin play with a Biotics Rating of 1, and the ‘Asari Meld Basic Biotic Power’.

Batarians:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 2
• Presence: 2 (1)
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2 (3)
• Agility: 2
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 11+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+Willpower

Starting Experience:

• Attribute Pool:90 EXP
• General Pool:30 EXP

Special Abilities: Batarians begin the game with one rank in either ‘Coerce’, ‘Survival’, or ‘Streetwise’. They still may not train this skill above rank 2 during character creation.

Keen Sight: Batarians have evolved a highly developed sight, this grants a boost die on all sight based perception checks.

Drell:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 2
• Presence: 2 (1)
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Agility: 3
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+Willpower

Starting Experience:

• Attribute Pool:70 (90) EXP
• General Pool:25 EXP

Special Abilities: Drell begin the game with one rank in either ‘Athletics’ or ‘Survival’. They still may not train this skill above rank 2 during character creation. Drell start with one rank in the 'Expert Tracker' Talent.

Gifted by the enkindlers: Drell born with the ability to use biotics, are capable of using them without the need for an implant.

Arid Homeworld: Drell may remove a setback die imposed due to hot or arid environmental conditions.

Low-Light Vision: Drell gain a boost die negative to see in darkness, but they are otherwise colour blind and suffer a setback die on sight based perception checks.

Humans:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 2
• Presence: 2
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Agility: 2
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+Willpower

Starting Experience:

• Attribute Pool:90 EXP
• General Pool:35 EXP

Special Abilities: Humans begin the game with one rank in two different non-career skills of their choosing. They still may not train either of these skills above rank 2 during character creation.

Krogans:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 3
• Presence: 2
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Agility: 2
• Willpower: 1

Wound Threshold: 14+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 9+Willpower

• Attribute Pool: 90 EXP
• General Pool: 15 EXP

Special Abilities: Krogan Begin the game with one rank in both ‘Brawl’, and ‘Survival’. They still may not train either of these skills above rank 2 during character creation. Krogan, start with one rank in the ‘Durable’ talent.

Blood Rage: Upon suffering any wounds a Korgan will being dealing +1 damage on any Brawl and Melee attacks, after a Krogan is critically injured, this modifier is upgraded to become +2 damage on any Brawl and Melee attacks.

Born Survivors: Krogan add one Boost Die to any Resilience checks made to overcome extreme heat and cold, toxins, and radiation.

Quarians:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 2
• Presence: 1
• Intellect: 2 (3)
• Cunning: 3 (2)
• Agility: 2
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 9+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+Willpower

• Attribute Pool: 90 EXP
• General Pool: 40 EXP

Special Abilities: Quarians begin the game with one rank in either ‘Computers’ or ‘Mechanics’. They still may not train this skill above rank 2 during character creation. Quarians start with one rank in either the ‘Scrounger (Utinni)’, or ‘Technical Aptitude’ talents.

Compromised Immunity: Quarians possess a weakened immune system and thusly have to wear environment suits in order to avoid potential life threatening illness. A Quarian that does not have, or has a punctured enviro-suit, treats oxygen as a dangerous atmosphere with a rating of 4, and suffer a setback die to resist Toxin or Disease.

Starting Gear: Quarians begin the game with a custom enviro-suit, which counts as ‘Vacuum Sealed heavy clothing’.

Salarians:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 1
• Presence: 2
• Intellect: 3 (2)
• Cunning: 2 (3)
• Agility: 2
• Willpower: 2

Wound Threshold: 9+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 11+Willpower

• Attribute Pool: 60 EXP
• General Pool: 60 EXP

Special Abilities: Salarians begin the game with one rank in both ‘Education’ and ‘Perception’. They still may not train of these skills above rank 2 during character creation. Salarians start with one rank in both the ‘Rapid Reaction’, and ‘Rapid Recovery’ Talents. Salarians May train 1 skill up to 3 at character creation, this may be one of the two starting skills listed above.

High Metabolism: Salarians only require one hour of sleep each day, although this does not give them the healing benefits of 8 hours of rest in only one hour, only mitigates the need for 8 hours of sleep. Natural healing still works as normal.

Low-Light Vision: Salarians gain a boost die negative to see in darkness.

Turians:

Characteristic Ratings:

• Brawn: 1
• Presence: 2
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Agility: 2 (3)
• Willpower: 3(2)

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 12+Willpower

• Attribute Pool: 90 EXP
• General Pool: 25 EXP

Special Abilities: Turians begin the game with one rank in either ‘Discipline’ or ‘Leadership’. They still may not train either skill above rank 2 during character creation.

Reflective Carapace: Turians have an evolved resistance to radiation, granting them a ‘Boost Die’ to ‘Resilience’ checks made to resist the effects of radiation.

Talons: When a Turian makes 'Brawl' or 'Martial Arts' checks to deal damage to an opponent, he deals +1 damage and has a critical rating of 4.

Edited to add the Drell.

Editted to add 'Martial Arts'.

Very nice. I like a lot of this, but there's a few things I'm not so sure of. For starters, I really don't like the split EXP pools. People shouldn't be restricted to what they spend their EXP on. You're thinking too much about how to make the races more "distinct" when good roleplaying can do that for you, as can the starting stats and abilities already present.

I also see what you are trying to do with the "each species is good at one thing" angle, but keep in mind that you shouldn't compromise what would make the most sense for what would be the most symmetrical. I mean, even in the EotE book, there are two races that have a 3 in Brawl and none that have a 3 in certain other stats.

Turians would NOT have a 1 in Brawn. They are all typically decently hardy. I would keep them at a 2. If anything, they should have a 1 in Agility because, I mean, they can't even have reach AND flexibility. And, they can't dodge roll .

As for some of the racial abilities, I like a lot of them. I'll be certain to post my takes on all of this stuff when I get around to it eventually.

As for Careers, do you guys think we should use the careers in the book now, or should we make custom ones based off the six classes in game? I mean, we could do that... but I feel like it isn't exactly needed. I think the specializations we have now/the ones we will get in the future can probably cover just about anything that people want to be, and anything that any of the classes as is would be. Alternatively, it could be a fun exercise, if nothing else.

When I was working on mine, I kind of was going to just use the ones in the book just because it would be quicker and they fit ok.

Krogan might be more suitable with Agility 1, they're big and tough, but have trouble moving about. They tend to use brute force and shotguns to counteract that fact.

Thanks for the feed back, I wasn't necessary trying to aim for every race is good at one thing, but more around every race in ME has its thing it dose best at, and the statistics should try to lend them selves to that flavor without being confining.

As for the Turians I do agree that 1 Brawn isn't the best, but most sources have noted them as having an Avian based evolution, so with this said there Agility would be mostly ok, if not above average, but their hardiness may find its self lacking compared to other races with hollow bones and long thin structures (but then again the Carapace may even this out). Ultimately I could not decide on one stat in which to drop and had to make a call on it.

It may really come to just my interpretation of the current ETOE character generation system, is that by being open in the format it is, but having the only time you can buy attributes be at character gen, you give the player a false sense of choice, You may either dump as much as you can in to Stats and if you have left over buy skills, or make a subpar character. If noting else I think I'll go in and make Unified EXP pools, for those who wish to stick with the core mechanic giving them the option.

As for careers, I think ETOEs are pretty good, I would tweak them a bit for Mass Effect flavor, and add a few power based ones to some of the careers. The biggest thing is drafting a Biotic replacement for the FSE, and creating whole new powers.

I would leave most ME careers like, Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, ect to a military supplement once Age of Rebellion his selves.

Edit: I went and edited the Turians a bit giving them Talons, and buffing their wound threshold.

Edit: The Ag1 on Krogans may be interesting.

My turn!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ix12bp8ivdt37hr/PVVWMzb43M

I took some inspiration from some of yours, but I went in a slightly different direction with others. I also did some of the other popular races from the game, like the Protheans, the Yahg, the Volus, the Hanar, the Elcor, and the Vorcha.

I didn't put the Humans or the Geth up there, since the Humans can just use the EotE Human stats and the Geth can just use the Droid rules.

Oh, and as for the Biotics, in my take on this, Biotic Rating is basically Force Rating, but it works more as a characteristic. Most races start with 0 in it, and if they don't get at least one Biotics at character creation, then they can't be biotics. If they do get one, they will be able to increase it with cybernetic implants (biotic implants) and through buying more ranks in Dedication. To that effect, you cannot raise Biotics above rank 3 during character creation. Yes, that does mean that in order to get a biotic rating of 6 you would need to buy 3 Dedications. I feel that is fair, to be honest, since Biotic Powers will probably be really strong.

As for Tech Powers, I'm probably going suggest having them work as removable attachments on Omni Tools, and they will work like weapons, but using Mechanics and Intellect as the attack characteristic involved. Each different Tech Power will effectively work like a different weapon that can be used with that omni tool, but each omni tool would only be able to hold a few different tech power modules at a time (unless you got really tricked out omni tools that would be able to hold more.)

I've also debated more on how biotic and kinetic barriers should work and after running a few scenarios down in my head, I concede that using temporary wounds, or perhaps more fittingly, "Expendable Soak" is the best way to do that. It would basically increase their soak threshold, but once the soak blocks one attack it can't block another until it recharges (aka you don't get hit by a successful attack for X rounds depending on the shield.) For Minions and RIvals, it would basically just count as "First Hit Soak" that would probably go down and not come back up again unless you don't hit them again for awhile. So you win that one .

But let me know what you think about my take on the races!

Did anyone finish the conversion or came close to it?

I don't think they did. I still periodically work on some stuff myself. Some of the ideas I have are Omni-Tools and and Bio-Amps are necessary to access many of the powers in the game. For instance a Civilian Omni-Tool lets you equip 2 powers (this is beyond the basic stuff that ALL omni-tools can do, such as break down stuff to omni-gel, manufacture, flashlight, function as comlinks as per star wars, etc)

Omni-Tool powers are effectively attachments (as many have done above) allowing you to increase the functionality of an omni-tool. Most powers will be restricted, meaning if you want it black market is the way to go. Everyone in mass effect has an omni-tool so the basic functionality is pretty basic. 2 hardpoints, 1 encumbrance.

Weapons are as per blasters, just renamed/re-fluffed. Running out of ammo is your thermal clip overheating. Swap it out as per extra-reloads.

Bio-Amps are similar to omni-tools, letting you equip more powers. All Biotics must purchase the biotic universal specialization at character creation if they want it. (asari have this stipulation waived, as they are all naturally biotic, however some do not train their abilities). The Bio-Amp lets you access more powers, ie equip certain abilities.

Using the force die to represent biotic powers, each power will require a number of certain coloured pips to use. So a barrier may require 3 white pips to activate a feature whereas a lift might require 2 black, etc. The force die represents how element zero works. Positive/negative current equals more/less mass, etc. As a biotic becomes more powerful they will roll more dice. There will also be some strain cost for some powers to represent the extra body energy required. ie, biotics have a higher caloric need than most soldiers.

My work on this was really limited to the race toying around I did during beta (if you look way back around the first page, I posted my work). That was really all I did for it. I just posted my work so the others talking about doing it could compare/contrast etc.

I personally think doing a Mass Effect one will be kind of hard until the Force is fleshed out more. All the biotics stuff should probably use those rules. I am planning on doing a Fantasy campaign using the ruleset someday, but want to wait for the force rules so I can base the magic on them.

I'm actually taking a look at doing something similar as well, but utilizing the time period prior to or at the same time Saren discovering Sovereign. I like what you've got down here as well... I'm still working out a system for biotics - I'm looking at light side points as "controlled" biotics, basically, the caster 100% has control over the effect of the biotic power, and dark side points, as "raw" biotics, like a biotic explosion (think Liara v. Jack). Problem is, I'm not sure if that's an accurate way to use the system... Still brewing it up of course...

The only other way I can think of using force dice is using it as a system for Paragon/Renegade actions... That's be interesting, but how to implement it, I'm not sure.

Well, obligation comes to mind. Some sort addiction perhaps? Or using dark side pips not only costing strain, but perhaps something more? Like adding setback dice? Upgrading difficulties?

- I'm looking at light side points as "controlled" biotics, basically, the caster 100% has control over the effect of the biotic power, and dark side points, as "raw" biotics, like a biotic explosion (think Liara v. Jack). Problem is, I'm not sure if that's an accurate way to use the system... Still brewing it up of course...

Nice idea. I kind of had a similar idea for my magic system.

My fantasy campaigns are also slightly Lovecraftian. No deities, magic is slightly dangerous. (Actually more like a combo of Lanhkmar and Conan)... anyway, the pips would represent a kind of control.

I'm actually taking a look at doing something similar as well, but utilizing the time period prior to or at the same time Saren discovering Sovereign. I like what you've got down here as well... I'm still working out a system for biotics - I'm looking at light side points as "controlled" biotics, basically, the caster 100% has control over the effect of the biotic power, and dark side points, as "raw" biotics, like a biotic explosion (think Liara v. Jack). Problem is, I'm not sure if that's an accurate way to use the system... Still brewing it up of course...

The only other way I can think of using force dice is using it as a system for Paragon/Renegade actions... That's be interesting, but how to implement it, I'm not sure.

For the first part, I'm doing something similar in my Phantasy Star Hack notes. Basically, "attack" powers (primarily Zonde, Foie, and Barta) use Dark Side pips, while healing/augmenting powers (Resta, Anti, et al) will rely on Light Side. My thought is the approach; you're dishing out pain with one, but using the other to heal and defend. I think it's a reliable approach, and one of my players who's been helping with soundboarding has been on board with the idea like that.

For the second, I think you'd need to create Paragon and Renegade scores that that point. Perhaps allow a Paragon/Renegade rating as a "reward" for certain tasks (like Fame/Infamy in older games), and allow the dice to be rolled like the Force Sensitive in Exile can with certain talents?

For example, your player has a Renegade rating of 2 and he's trying to gain the upper hand in a shady deal by intimidating the target. Dark Side pips could as success/advantages, while Light Side pips count as failure/threat.

Just a thought, anyway.

Using the force die to represent biotic powers, each power will require a number of certain coloured pips to use. So a barrier may require 3 white pips to activate a feature whereas a lift might require 2 black, etc. The force die represents how element zero works. Positive/negative current equals more/less mass, etc. As a biotic becomes more powerful they will roll more dice. There will also be some strain cost for some powers to represent the extra body energy required. ie, biotics have a higher caloric need than most soldiers.

What do you say for this: the player rolls the Force die, white pips allows to activate a feature whereas dark pips allows to activate a feature too, but the character suffers strain as he is not trained well enough and the biotics become a burden for his organism? The more rating he has, the bigger chance he will have a white pips and can use biotics without strain. When he rolls both black and white pips he can choose which use and which not...or maybe he needs all of them.

Deffinatly you'd need both pips for a power like SLAM. It lifts you up then smashes you to the ground.