Character Creation

Please read rule changes

CHARACTER CONCEPT
Before a player starts generating attributes, he should put some thought into what sort of character he wants to play. Does he want to play a roguish pilot, quick to withdraw his pistol when things get sticky? A taciturn explorer driven to see everything the galaxy has to offer? In MASS EFFECT RPG, any character concept found within the Mass Effect universe might be possible*.


 * terms and conditions may apply, no you cannot play as a reaper.

The GM should give the players an idea on what sort of campaign he intends to run for the players. If the game focuses heavily on combat, the players may consider choosing more martially-oriented characters. If the campaign runs deep with intrigue, then building characters with strong social abilities and skills makes more sense. The GM should encourage the players to discuss what kind of careers might be the most useful during a campaign. Ideally, a group of PCs should include a mix of characters to ensure they'll survive whatever the GM comes up with, keeping the campaign style in mind - someone who can fight well, someone who can pilot a ship, a person handy with an Omni-Tool, and so on. Some overlap may occur, but there is enough variety in MASS EFFECT RPG that even if two players choose the same career, each could offer his own unique abilities and talents.

It should be noted that no character is ever a "wrong" choice, regardless of the campaign. The GM should never discourage a player from a particular character choice and should integrate all the character concepts into the campaign at hand. Indeed, part of the fun that comes from playing MASS EFFECT RPG is the interesting mix of characters thrust together during a campaign.

GENERATION STEPS
To create a character, each player follows these steps. The steps are briefly explained below, then broken down into more detail throughout the course of this chapter.


 * 1) Determine Character Concept and Background
 * 2) Determine Starting Obligation
 * 3) Determine Starting Motivations
 * 4) Determine Character Description
 * 5) Select Character Species
 * 6) Select Combat Class
 * 7) Choose 2 free combat class career skills
 * 8) Chose free powers (class depending)
 * 9) Select Character Career
 * 10) Choose 2 free character career skills
 * 11) Select specialization
 * 12) Choose 2 free specialization skills
 * 13) Invest Experience Points
 * 14) Improve attributes
 * 15) Unlock talents
 * 16) Improve skills
 * 17) Determine Derived Attributes
 * 18) Choose Equipment