Conversion to the Mass Effect universe

[brunop]

PLayed a few games and I love it so far. I am also of great fan of Mass Effect and I would like to convert 5150 to Mass effect. Anybody already done that?

[infierno]

I haven’t but would be interested to see what you come up with!

[Shon Maxx]

I wanted to do this a while back but never got around to it. Still, I did come up with Star Wars for Future Tales so I'll see if I can apply it to this. Now the last 5150 game I played was Fringe Space, so I don't know how different to current version is. I'll use FT rules and hopefully that'll help you.

Races:
Asari - Humanoid (Magic)
Salarian - Humanoid (Genius)
Turian - Warrior (Fierce)
Krogan - Humanoid (Hard as Nails)
Quarian - Humanoid (Genius)
Batarian - Humanoid (Cruel)
Drell - Humanoid (Quick Reflexes)
Elcor - Large (Massive)
Hanar - Small (Slight)
Volus - Small (Slight)

As for Powers, I'd use the Magic rules. Damage could be Warp or Flamethrower, Defend could be Barrier or Armor, and Dazzle could be something like Tactical Cloak.

I also used, both in my SW and fantasy games, a rule called Magic Skill, which I'll call Powered Skill for this. When performing a Challenge, you get a +1d6 to your roll. However, like with Magic, if you fail you suffer a -1 to Rep. Since the game doesn't use cooldowns, that seemed like a fair trade-off.

Those are some ideas off the top of my head. Hope they help.

[brunop]

I've begun looking at some races. It's a bit more difficult than I thought. I specially have a hard time figuring the rep of each species. Some feedback would be welcome.

ASARI: 

They are considered great diplomats and are perceived as attractive by most of the other species. While they appear feminine, they are not gendered. They live a long time so they have great wisdom. They are better suited to stealth and guerilla tactics than conventional warfare. On their homeworld, some Asari dedicate themselves to a brutal form of justice and become Justicar.

Translating this to 5150:
Homeworld: Thessia





Gendre: Mono gender (no male or female)

Attributes:

· Charismatic (attractive to every species)

· Stealthy (since they are highly trained in guerilla warfare and stealth)

· Psy powers (biotics)


• (1, 2, or 3) = Rep 4.

• (4 or 5) = Rep 5.

• (6) = Rep 3



Job: Asari exotic has a chance to be a Justicar (6) 



SALARIAN:
Salarians have a high metabolism, which make them really fast but short-lived. They are highly observational and have unorthodox ways if thinking, which make them great at research and espionage. In combat, they prefer to take full advantage and strike first than to wait and see if the enemy will shoot.

Translating this to 5150:
Homeworld: Sur'Kesh



Gender: Androgynous but 90% of the species are males. Male (1-5), Female (6)

Attributes:

· Logical (the have high aptitudes for Research and technology, knowledge, gathering intelligence, spying

· Quick Reflexes (they have fast metabolism and move quickly and they believe in always shooting first)



• (1, 2, or 3) = Rep 4.

• (4 or 5) = Rep 3.

• (6) = Rep 5.




TURIAN:
Turian are militaristic and disciplined. They put the need of the group before their individual needs and have a strong sense of public service and self-sacrifice. Thus, they never break and rarely leaves battle. They train long and hard to become elite fighters.

Translating this to 5150:
Homeworld: Palaven



Gender: 1-4 (Male), 5-6 (Female)

Attributes:

· Nerves of steel (highly disciplined, they never break)

· Crack shot (extensive military training)



• (1, 2, or 3) = Rep 3.

• (4 or 5) = Rep 5.

• (6) = Rep 4.



KROGAN:
Krogan are brutal warriors with really though skin and multiple organs that makes them hard to kill. They are highly individualistic and always work as mercenary. In a fight they can enter blood rage which make them effectively impervious to pain and uncontrollable. They are selfish, blunt and unsympathetic, and they are quick to anger. In combat, they use brute force to overwhelm their enemies.

Translating this to 5150:
Homeworld: Tuchanka



Gender: Always male, except on Tuchanka: 1-5 (Male), 6 (Female)

Attributes:

· Rage

· Resilient

· Cruel (to represent the difficulty of getting a positive reaction with a Krogan)





• (1, 2, or 3) = Rep 5.

• (4 or 5) = Rep 4.

• (6) = Rep 3.



Job: Krogan are always mercenary when encountered outside of Tuchanka

Loner: Never more than 1 Krogan in an encounter

[soypunk]

Jan 30, 2022 13:29:07 GMT Shon Maxx said:

I wanted to do this a while back but never got around to it. Still, I did come up with Star Wars for Future Tales so I'll see if I can apply it to this. Now the last 5150 game I played was Fringe Space, so I don't know how different to current version is. I'll use FT rules and hopefully that'll help you.

Just a note to say that if you are interested in hacking THW games to various SciFi settings I found Future Tales (and the supplement which contains the alien trait tables) to be very helpful compared to what I found in 5150 No Limits & 5150 Fringe Space (or even what's in the new 5150 New Beginnings/Known Space) You'll also get access to the Larger Than Life encounter system which is more story driven (It is meant for "two fisted pulp" tales so rather than hauling cargo you are trying to defeat the villain, rescue someone, etc.) As always you can mix-n-match just about any THW product with another, so collecting them all has advantages That said, you'll probably want to look at one of the military-themed titles to add in the mission encounters that might also match up better with the Mass Effect setting. Kinda depends on how you want to run your story.

[infierno]

Jan 31, 2022 20:07:58 GMT soypunk said:

Jan 30, 2022 13:29:07 GMT Shon Maxx said:

I wanted to do this a while back but never got around to it. Still, I did come up with Star Wars for Future Tales so I'll see if I can apply it to this. Now the last 5150 game I played was Fringe Space, so I don't know how different to current version is. I'll use FT rules and hopefully that'll help you.

Just a note to say that if you are interested in hacking THW games to various SciFi settings I found Future Tales (and the supplement which contains the alien trait tables) to be very helpful compared to what I found in 5150 No Limits & 5150 Fringe Space (or even what's in the new 5150 New Beginnings/Known Space) You'll also get access to the Larger Than Life encounter system which is more story driven (It is meant for "two fisted pulp" tales so rather than hauling cargo you are trying to defeat the villain, rescue someone, etc.) As always you can mix-n-match just about any THW product with another, so collecting them all has advantages That said, you'll probably want to look at one of the military-themed titles to add in the mission encounters that might also match up better with the Mass Effect setting. Kinda depends on how you want to run your story.

Thanks for the suggestion, looks like Future Tales is still available thru Rebel Minis:

www.rebelminis.com/futuretalespdf.html

[brunop]

I just bought future tales and will be looking through the rules.

thanks for the suggestion.

[Shon Maxx]

You can also use the Insanity rules in Lovecraft’s Revenge for playing Indoctrination.