𝙈𝘼𝙎𝙎 ⟡ 𝙀𝙁𝙁𝙀𝘾𝙏 | SEEKING CREW TO TAKE ON THE REAPERS.

[minccino]

Hey there! This is an interest check for a Mass Effect RP that takes place between the events of Mass Effect 2 and 3
as the galaxy recognizes the looming Reaper threat and prepares for an intergalactic war. Instead of enjoying Commander
Shepard's story, the plot will follow the story of our crew. I am hoping that by having everyone in the same crew
that there will be plenty of opportunities for bonding moments and exciting interactions when combat comes into play.
Perhaps our dear Commander is a Renegade? Perhaps the crew is not Council-approved at all and are just a bunch of
space cowboys trying to make the galaxy a better place. We can discuss the details, but we need a crew first.

The RP will consist of original characters only and there will be a set roles that can be taken around the ship. A
Commander for sure, a doctor, a pilot, etc. It's all bare bones for now, but who would be interested in this venture? ​

 

[Silverbird]

@Silverbird Welcome aboard fellow infiltrator. Glad to see you finished Xann.

I should stress that Xaan is *barely* an infiltrator - no tactical cloak. He just relies on sneaking and tech more than straight up violence, so it's a better fit for him than any of the other classes.

As far as size goes - something like the Ebon Hawk also feels a little small and cramped for Mass Effect to me. I'm just looking up some numbers: the Ebon Hawk is apparently around 24 meters long, while something like the Tempest from Andromeda is 95 meters. I think that only had around 10 people aboard - I didn't play much of Andromeda, but I don't remember it having much of a crew.
Anyway, if we don't want to have much of a crew outside of the player characters, I think that's probably more the size we'd be aiming at.



I'd also be happy to have something like that Batarian Frigate, with some NPC crew backing us up - but I'm fine either way, most of the interesting Mass Effect action happens when you hit the ground anyway.

Edit: Just noticed I've been flipping between Xaan and Xann. Should probably pick one.

 

[Sync]

I didn't look up the numbers for the Ebon Hawk - I tend to get more excited about deck plans. >.>

But if those are the numbers, then it's going to be too small, especially if there are going to be NPC crew with us. (Incidentally, that's something that's always struck me as odd about Star Wars: How small some of their PC ships are.)

But you're right about the Tempest. I've only played through Andromeda twice, but I did quite like the Tempest - small, fast, and lightly-crewed while packed with plenty of facilities. The only downside for the Tempest for us is that it carries no armaments. But given that just about all technology and equipment used in Andromeda was originally designed & built in the Milky Way prior to the events of ME2, something like Tempest is a viable option.

The Batarian frigate is pretty good, too, and more likely to fit what DreamCrusher is thinking of in terms of what Kar "acquired". It also more-closely fits my thinking in terms of what size ship we might be able to make use of as a group.

Compare numbers for the Yu'Garr vs SR-1 vs Tempest:

	SSV Normandy SR-1​	Yu'Garr​	Tempest​
Length	125m​	149m​	95.2m​
Width	51m​	59m​	55.1m​
Height	28m​	38m​	13m​

All ships have 3 decks (the Yu'Garr has a taller tail-fin, where the Tempest is far more compactly designed), so any would work well, and the Yu'Garr is more likely to be in need of repair and maintenance in the wake of lack of formal ship facilities for Batarian vessels.

EDIT: added Tempest comparison, fixed SR-1 numbers.

 

[Queen Trish]

I reckon something like a modified Tempest with some basic armaments would be ideal. Mass Effect in general doesn't go by the Star Wars/Warhammer approach of having massive dreadnought warships exchanging megaton-ordnance with each other; the main merit of the Normandy is its agility and stealth, allowing it to conduct surgical strike offensives, which prove much more effective against the Reapers than conventional warfare. Just look at Palaven - It's arguably the best-equipped planet in the galaxy for fighting a conventional land-based war, and they were crushed far more easily than anyone expected.

 

[minccino]

Late to the discussion but I agree that the Tempest would be a good blueprint for the size of the ship. As for my character, I'm still tossing up ideas because I'm constantly trying to fill roles with newcomers coming in, but my final thing would probably be a character like EDI? Does less of the hands-on engineering and more of invisible hacking and like Decker says, Crusher will be the Commander of the ship but my character can plot points of interest and guide the crew towards valuable resources like a GPS/sentient map would.

Still want her to be a cyborg instead of a full-on robot like EDI, though, so I'm fleshing out a backstory where a large portion of her is the AI. Like Shepard was reworked under Cerberus, perhaps she was an experimentation or she was caught in some combustion that fused her being with the AI. So anyways, her brain is all circuits and bolts, and she struggles to retrieve her human memories. I'm thinking less of visible mechanic parts for her as normal cyborgs go, and more like her robotic parts are underneath her human flesh and woven cohesively with her organs. Still bare bones for now, but what do you guys think? I'd love some help just adding to her concept too (I'm honestly better at execution than building profile skeletons. )

Maybe some of the brains of the crew actually helped put her back together and programmed her to have these navigation tools.

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

I would like to point out that the size you posted for the SR1 Normandy is most likely incorrect. According to "Edwin Evans-Thirlwell. "Mass Effect 3: how MGS, Concorde and Final Fantasy influenced the Normandy". Official Xbox Magazine."

The "official" length of the SR1 Normandy is 170 metres (560 ft). Of course, that might not be 100% accurate based on the measurement he used to write the article but it is perhaps the closest approximation possible considering it was published in Xbox Magazine at the time.

--

I'm still going to disagree with the Tempest decision in regards to size, mainly because I just don't envision the Blood Pack using ships of that size or of that ideal (speed and maneuverability over durability and brute force). After all, the two Blood Pack weapons we got are both focused around damage at the cost of ammo usage and poor recoil. To me that gives a pretty good idea about what they focus themselves upon.

Executioner Pistol

The Executioner Pistol is a heavy pistol in Mass Effect 3. Invented by Blood Pack weapons experts, the first Executioner was improvised using spare parts and scrap metal during an Omega territory dispute. The result was a handheld cannon able to fire high-impact, armor-piercing slugs, although...

masseffect.fandom.com

Blood Pack Punisher

The Blood Pack Punisher is a submachine gun in Mass Effect 3. The Punisher features a secondary barrel that fires one armor-piercing round per main-barrel burst. It was developed by Blood Pack gunsmiths who found that their vorcha recruits frequently forgot to optimize ammo loads in the heat of...

masseffect.fandom.com

--

I reckon something like a modified Tempest with some basic armaments would be ideal. Mass Effect in general doesn't go by the Star Wars/Warhammer approach of having massive dreadnought warships exchanging megaton-ordnance with each other; the main merit of the Normandy is its agility and stealth, allowing it to conduct surgical strike offensives, which prove much more effective against the Reapers than conventional warfare. Just look at Palaven - It's arguably the best-equipped planet in the galaxy for fighting a conventional land-based war, and they were crushed far more easily than anyone expected.

True but the point is that our group is an unsanctioned, rag-tag crew of individuals wanting to find and fight the reapers. By the looks of it we won't have support, we won't have a base of operations or a safety net to fall back into if things go poorly. Why would someone like Kar take a smaller ship than he could reasonably acquire?

If someone else wants to be captain and provide the ship then by all means but I just don't see this making sense for Kar to have chosen if he's the one bringing the ship for the team.

 

[minccino]

If that's what you envision for him, then go right ahead. I don't think the ship's details is worth stressing over as long as it fits the story well enough.

I honestly wasn't expecting this to become as detailed as it was. Just wanted to take a crew and RP some fun shenanigans.

 

[TheDecker]

If that's what you envision for him, then go right ahead. I don't think the ship's details is worth stressing over as long as it fits the story well enough.

I honestly wasn't expecting this to become as detailed as it was. Just wanted to take a crew and RP some fun shenanigans.

You under estimate the power of Player unpredictablility. Players- "What's the Kobolds backstory? What's it's name?" The Gm- "It's just a friendly kob-" players -"We are taking it with us everywhere now, keep him safe and train him under the worship of Bahamut! We will NEVER let him go." Gm - "*sighs with deep internal screaming.* It's name is Sorjak, his father fought in the great war..."

Jokes aside, no worries we wont forget the original premise of fun and shenanigans.

 

[Sync]

True but the point is that our group is an unsanctioned, rag-tag crew of individuals wanting to find and fight the reapers. By the looks of it we won't have support, we won't have a base of operations or a safety net to fall back into if things go poorly. Why would someone like Kar take a smaller ship than he could reasonably acquire?

If someone else wants to be captain and provide the ship then by all means but I just don't see this making sense for Kar to have chosen if he's the one bringing the ship for the team.

You're probably right about the size of the SR-1, but then detailed info on the ME ships isn't precisely provided, so a lot of it is conjecture. It's possible that 125m is for the primary hull, and the rest of the ship's length is provided by the thrusters. >.>

That said, I don't really mind about the ship itself. Just be nice to know what we're in as we flit about the galaxy. While I'm happy that Kar probably did get the biggest "hunk of junk" he could get his hands on, I doubt it would be too large (eg cruiser-like), otherwise he wouldn't have gotten near it to be able to take it with him.

As Silverbird pointed out - most of the fun action for players is going to take place either inside the ship (so no Reapers), or planet-side or station-side (so no ship).

If that's what you envision for him, then go right ahead. I don't think the ship's details is worth stressing over as long as it fits the story well enough.

I honestly wasn't expecting this to become as detailed as it was. Just wanted to take a crew and RP some fun shenanigans.

Heh - you forget the old RP truism: "when presented with options A, B, and C, any given group of players will invariably choose option D".

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

That said, I don't really mind about the ship itself. Just be nice to know what we're in as we flit about the galaxy. While I'm happy that Kar probably did get the biggest "hunk of junk" he could get his hands on, I doubt it would be too large (eg cruiser-like), otherwise he wouldn't have gotten near it to be able to take it with him.

Oh no no, that's why I was suggesting a Frigate. Obviously we can't go too big because that wouldn't be believable for Kar to get, nor would it be easy to operate or maintain since larger ships need larger crews, which need more supplies and wages. Frigate should, in theory, strike a balance between speed while also having enough tonnage to survive a battle if need be. I certainly doubt we would delve too deeply into naval combat but we do have a pilot and tough situations seem like a perfect opportunity for them to shine now and again.

Sorry if all this pushed any buttons but I am known for taking my character building rather serious even in games that are otherwise fun and silly. If people want a smaller vessel it's totally fine, I just wouldn't be able to justify it being from Kar. I'm not trying to lay down ultimatums or such to change the group's decision, I'm just trying to protect the integrity of my character concept.

 

[Sync]

Oh no no, that's why I was suggesting a Frigate. Obviously we can't go too big because that wouldn't be believable for Kar to get, nor would it be easy to operate or maintain since larger ships need larger crews, which need more supplies and wages. Frigate should, in theory, strike a balance between speed while also having enough tonnage to survive a battle if need be. I certainly doubt we would delve too deeply into naval combat but we do have a pilot and tough situations seem like a perfect opportunity for them to shine now and again.

Sorry if all this pushed any buttons but I am known for taking my character building rather serious even in games that are otherwise fun and silly. If people want a smaller vessel it's totally fine, I just wouldn't be able to justify it being from Kar. I'm not trying to lay down ultimatums or such to change the group's decision, I'm just trying to protect the integrity of my character concept.

Nah...all good here. I don't see any button-pushing going on. I just see a bit of good-natured debate about details, and a GM going "where the heck did all this come from?"

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

As for my character, I'm still tossing up ideas because I'm constantly trying to fill roles with newcomers coming in, but my final thing would probably be a character like EDI? Does less of the hands-on engineering and more of invisible hacking and like Decker says, Crusher will be the Commander of the ship but my character can plot points of interest and guide the crew towards valuable resources like a GPS/sentient map would.

Still want her to be a cyborg instead of a full-on robot like EDI, though, so I'm fleshing out a backstory where a large portion of her is the AI. Like Shepard was reworked under Cerberus, perhaps she was an experimentation or she was caught in some combustion that fused her being with the AI. So anyways, her brain is all circuits and bolts, and she struggles to retrieve her human memories. I'm thinking less of visible mechanic parts for her as normal cyborgs go, and more like her robotic parts are underneath her human flesh and woven cohesively with her organs. Still bare bones for now, but what do you guys think? I'd love some help just adding to her concept too (I'm honestly better at execution than building profile skeletons. )

Maybe some of the brains of the crew actually helped put her back together and programmed her to have these navigation tools.

That's actually a neat concept in regards to Cerberus. If your character was the result of experimentation that somehow managed to escape she could have knowledge of the Reapers, knowledge pulled directly from conversations with the Illusive Man and Commander Shepard (or just general archives from their systems) that, although certainly incomplete, could help guide the ship towards likely areas to investigate and drive things forward. Honestly that concept sounds all but perfect to me since your character would be guiding Kar, and the rest of the crew, from point to point.

Determing the ratio of fleshy to metal parts is more difficult, and certainly will prove challenging if you want a picture reference, but it sounds like you are leaning towards a human exterior but cybernetic parts within which shouldn't be too difficult to achieve if that's the route you want to go. Perhaps she was much like Shepard, a body they retrieved from death and attempted to experiment upon in order to perfect the process? Perhaps your character was one of the prototypes that came before Shepard's resurrection and thus she's got more metal inside her and is a bit more robotic in mentality as a result?

 

[Sync]

Late to the discussion but I agree that the Tempest would be a good blueprint for the size of the ship. As for my character, I'm still tossing up ideas because I'm constantly trying to fill roles with newcomers coming in, but my final thing would probably be a character like EDI? Does less of the hands-on engineering and more of invisible hacking and like Decker says, Crusher will be the Commander of the ship but my character can plot points of interest and guide the crew towards valuable resources like a GPS/sentient map would.

Still want her to be a cyborg instead of a full-on robot like EDI, though, so I'm fleshing out a backstory where a large portion of her is the AI. Like Shepard was reworked under Cerberus, perhaps she was an experimentation or she was caught in some combustion that fused her being with the AI. So anyways, her brain is all circuits and bolts, and she struggles to retrieve her human memories. I'm thinking less of visible mechanic parts for her as normal cyborgs go, and more like her robotic parts are underneath her human flesh and woven cohesively with her organs. Still bare bones for now, but what do you guys think? I'd love some help just adding to her concept too (I'm honestly better at execution than building profile skeletons. )

Maybe some of the brains of the crew actually helped put her back together and programmed her to have these navigation tools.

Hmmm...

What if, as LDC suggested, YC was the first-run for Cerberus' Project Lazarus? Initial experimentations started with a flesh-and-machine hybrid construct with an AI (or advanced VI) to drive the machine parts, and while a fresh cadaver was available it was found that some biological systems needed mechanical augmentation/replacement to assist with the entire reanimation process. The Proof-Of-Concept was close to activation and delivery (all AI/VI systems were loaded and tested, and the cybernetic-organic integrations were performing as expected), but was shelved in favour of cloning/regeneration when The Illusive Man declared that, for Shepard, he wanted the "new version" to be as close to the original as possible.

In the chaos that was the fall of Project Lazarus (the sequence in ME2 where Shepard wakes and meets Jacob and Miranda, and Wilson is exposed as a traitor or double-agent) YC is activated and manages to get to a shuttle and get off-station and...then stuff happens.

 

[Sync]

@minccino - Is this how YC is going to be...?

 

[minccino]

Some great ideas! I was halfway through writing a profile skeleton for my girl, then had this idea of making her a Citadel AI (full robot). Probably a failed model that was then scrapped and salvaged by one of the notorious gangs. The RoboCop definitely gave me that idea. xD Could still see her as (accidentally) retaining quite an extensive collection of Citadel info that shouldn't be available to the public, and her comms being able to tap into Citadel systems still. Since the crew isn't the most well-known for their sound moral compass and they aren't welcomed at the Citadel with open arms, they could use her to their advantage in some ways.

 

[Sync]

If the cyborg is coming out of the Citadel, maybe she's got a dump of Avina's knowledge and "personality" as part of her programming?

Still no reason Cerberus can't be involved if you wanted to consider that angle, although probably with less influence.

My only concern there, though, would be an AI coming off a Citadel factory - given the embargo on AI research placed by the Council in the wake of the Geth uprising.

It could be, then, that the Citadel built the robot-cyborg project with a VI, dumped it when the VI demonstrated it wasn't capable of the finesse needed to drive a cyborg of that complexity, and Cerberus picked it up and looked at putting an AI in over the advanced VI installed by the Council...?

 

[Lord DreamCrusher]

Wouldn't necessarily have to be Cerberus either, could be a rouge hacker that picked up the shell and modified the VI; possibly with remnant code they salvaged from Avina or possibly just personal tinkering. Could have been discovered by a criminal organization that wanted to try and turn the shell into an enforcer or such. Lots of options.

That is a point about the AI technology being banned in Citadel space though, you'd need to figure out a way to explain that somehow.

 

[Sync]

If not Cerberus, then possibly the Eclipse merc group might have picked the cyborg project up and tinkered...? Eclipse are known for their mechs and tech angles, maybe an Eclipse project got lucky with turning the ex-Avina VI into the AI the cyborg now has.

 

[Silverbird]

Could also always be some kind of black ops project - someone going "ok, just in case the Reapers are real, maybe we should we be exploring anything that could be used to fight them".

(Presumably that specific example would result in less of a Citadel RoboCop and more of a soldier, though.)

 

[Pepperjack]

So, I have kinda retooled my character idea. Thinking of being a Black market representative for the crew. Their own personal illicit arms and equipment dealer. Not related to Cerberus, at least directly, was thinking of them being tied into their own criminal syndicate: Wyvern. ^_^

Rough idea for character art

Tayon

 

[TheDecker]

Not a bad idea. Human I presume?

 

[Sync]

So, I have kinda retooled my character idea. Thinking of being a Black market representative for the crew. Their own personal illicit arms and equipment dealer. Not related to Cerberus, at least directly, was thinking of them being tied into their own criminal syndicate: Wyvern. ^_^

You were originally thinking Engineer, right?

No reason you couldn't do both - an Engineer-type who looks out for black market arms and equipment would be handy. Contacts to obtain, skills to make sure we're not getting dudded.

 

[TheDecker]

I may need to make a second character though, make it a girl. Things be looking mighty beefy if you catch my drift. Not that it matters too much. But for PLOT reasons I may.

 

[Sync]

Alani might be interested in that...plot device. >.>

 

[Silverbird]

I think we're actually pretty close on gender balance at the moment - Kar, Kassius, Xaan and Tayon on one hand, and Alani, Sidera, and Minccino's robo-girl on the other. 4 to 3.

 

[TheDecker]

I think we're actually pretty close on gender balance at the moment - Kar, Kassius, Xaan and Tayon on one hand, and Alani, Sidera, and Minccino's robo-girl on the other. 4 to 3.

It is rather fair, but I also like playing girl characters. Is my main point. But only if people were comfortable with me having a second character. That said, if I did it would be more so something in the way of either A ;Kelly Chambers. Or B; Some simple APC pilot who drives things like The Mako? (Totally a Tank Girl type personality if I did.) Essentially a B lister. Like those Scottish Engineers in ME2. Important enough to have dialogue but, not to take any center stage.