Mass Effect?

[Agamon]

BTW: I am SO hoping for Tali and Wrex in ME3!

They are confirmed, actually (assuming Tali doesn't die in the ME2 import, that is).

 

[Bagpuss]

Sheppard seems to have been building several possible armies in ME1 and ME2 for when the Reapers do appear.

Spoiler

The Rachni assuming you let the queen live, the Krogan's assuming a cure for the genophage is found, even the Geth.

I'll be disappointed if none of them come to his aid in the final part of this story.

 

[Bagpuss]

If you were running a Mass Effect campaign, when/where would you set it what campaign model might you use?

I was thinking setting if after Sheppard's death might be a good time, it gives you a two year window when the key NPC of the setting is out of action so you don't need to worry about events of the game interfering. You can then integrate the players actions into the events of ME2, and have the Collectors appear.

 

[Agamon]

If you were running a Mass Effect campaign, when/where would you set it what campaign model might you use?

I was thinking setting if after Sheppard's death might be a good time, it gives you a two year window when the key NPC of the setting is out of action so you don't need to worry about events of the game interfering. You can then integrate the players actions into the events of ME2, and have the Collectors appear.

I was bouncing back and forth between parallel to Sheppard, just doing other stuff (it's amusing to think that he and his crew took down all the fires resulting from the Reapers in the entire galaxy, but cRPGs tend to be very narrowly focused, for good reason, obviously), and sometime after the events of the trilogy. I'm settling for the latter and hoping there isn't anything that happens that's too galaxy-shattering in ME3.

 

[Agamon]

Sheppard seems to have been building several possible armies in ME1 and ME2 for when the Reapers do appear.

Spoiler

The Rachni assuming you let the queen live, the Krogan's assuming a cure for the genophage is found, even the Geth.

I'll be disappointed if none of them come to his aid in the final part of this story.

I'm guessing that a couple of those options probably won't be possible in the time that they are needed. Besides,

Spoiler

the krogan will fight, genophage or not

You have a good point though, as every major race's homeworld is going to be a visitable location in ME3...even the Quarrian's (or shoud I say Geth's). I'm sensing a fair amount of diplomacy coming.

 

[Bagpuss]

Wow, now this is what I'm talking about. Looks to me like the next best thing to an actual Mass Effect game: Savage Mass Effect

Don't know if you've had a read of that yet, but I'm not sure about how it handles shields. Seems to me that it is nearly impossible to injure some in half decent shields and armour, since they effectively stack.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Don't know if you've had a read of that yet, but I'm not sure about how it handles shields. Seems to me that it is nearly impossible to injure some in half decent shields and armour, since they effectively stack.

It is. By design.
The guy that made that wanted a shielded individual to be nearly invulnerable to a single attacker. The key is to hit him repeatedly, usually from three or more combatants who willingly swap their weapons repeatedly mid-fight.

Basically, he wanted the combat to be the same as in the video games. If it's shielded then you have to shoot it a heck of a lot. Otherwise, you just have to shoot it a couple of times. Hitting it is easy, but actually damaging the dude (rather than the shield) is very difficult.


Other shield options are discussed on the Pinnacle Forums from time to time.

 

[Bagpuss]

It does limit your adventure design though. If the NPCs have shields then the PCs will have to concentrate fire, but as soon as the PCs have shields, then you'll have to use multiple opponents in every fight to stand a chance of injuring them.

 

[Agamon]

It does limit your adventure design though. If the NPCs have shields then the PCs will have to concentrate fire, but as soon as the PCs have shields, then you'll have to use multiple opponents in every fight to stand a chance of injuring them.

That was the idea in MA, though. One or two opponents didn't slow you down at all (unless it's a Geth Prime or Colossus, or a Thresher Maw or something huge like that).

SW does multiple baddies well, most opponents wil be unarmored, unshielded extras, so you can throw a bunch at the PCs.

That said, if it was built to emulate the video game, one might want to keep the group small (say, three? )

 

[Agamon]

After looking at the ressurected Savage Worlds thread, I'm wondering what might be the best way to physically represent encounters in this, with minis or narrative?

I'm leaning towards not using minis. I have no SF minis, and honestly, drawing rooms is one of the things I find annoying from D&D. The thing is, cover (taking it, running between it, getting flanked) is a big deal in ME, so how would one decide if one has cover or not in a narrative style?