Mass: the Effecting/Hard-Won Experience
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Hard-Won Experience
In Mass: The Effecting, your character possesses one of the six Archetype minor templates. As well as a special active and passive ability, this template gives your character a number of points to spend on Biotic, Combat Training and Tech talents, marking them out through their exceptional capabilities.
Each type of Archetype talent is distinct from the other two. Biotic talents are potent, specific uses of biotic power, draining to use but devastating in effect. Combat Training talents passively enhance a character's existing abilities or opening up new options in combat. Tech talents grant a great deal of flexibility through high-performance omni-tool programmes that augment and aid one of four skills – Engineering, Interfacing, Medicine and Science.
Each talent category is actually made up of 3 or 4 talents – so the Combat Training talents are Assault, Command, Guardian and Tactical. Your character can have up to 5 dots in a particular talent.
While your character's starting talent allocation is constrained by their Archetype, you can purchase any kind of talent for them with your character's experience points as the chronicle progresses. An Adept can acquire Combat Training talents to help them survive the battles they keep finding themselves in, and a Soldier can pick up some Tech programming tricks. However, if you wish to purchase Biotic talents with a non-Biotic Archetype, you should either make some concession to this in your starting character concept (such as the character having biotic potential but never getting the implants or training to use it) or something should have happened to enable this. Non-biotic individuals are simply unable to spontaneously start using biotic powers due to the way biotics work in the Mass Effect setting.
The experience cost for buying dots in a talent with experience points is equal to new dots x 5. If your Archetype has only one category of talent, then the cost of buying dots in that category is new dots x 3. If your Archetype has two categories of talent, then the cost of buying dots in those categories is new dots x 4.
For example, a Soldier who wishes to increase their Command Training purchases at new dots x 3, as Commant is a Combat Training talent and the Soldier Archetype only has the Combat Training category. A Vanguard who wishes to increase their Command Training or Integration Discipline talents purchases at new dots x 4, since the Vanguard Archetype has the Combat Training and Biotic categories. Both Soldier and Vanguard pay new dots x 5 for Tech talents, as neither has the Tech category.
Biotic Talents
Biotics are capable of controlling mass effect fields due to nodules of element zero in their bodies. This can grant them tremendous power, but requires the use of implants and biotic amps to fully exploit. Biotic use also comes at a cost – it puts a huge drain on the user's metabolism, increasing their energy intake needs by a ferocious amount and building up static charge in their bodies to sometimes dangerous levels.
The different biotic talents are referred to as Disciplines. The three Disciplines are Distortion, Integration and Kinetics. Each point in a Discipline allows the character to pick a single power from the Discipline's list, granting the character the capability to use that power at will. These powers are picked when the dots are acquired and cannot be changed.
Using Biotic Powers: Using a biotic power usually involves rolling a dice pool of Resolve plus the character's dots in the relevant Discipline, with a variety of effects depending on the power in question. Using a power also requires that a cost be paid. This cost is in points of Bashing damage or Willpower, and possibly both. Points of Armour rating do not reduce the amount of damage taken from using biotic powers.
Unless otherwise noted, using a biotic power is an instant action. Biotic powers that target characters or locations other than the biotic themselves require line of sight.
Biotic powers require at least some freedom of movement to act, as biotic users are trained to use mudras to activate their implants and nervous systems in particular ways. Restraining a biotic is an effective way to prevent them from using their capabilities.
Boosting Biotic Powers: A biotic character can choose to boost a power, pushing themselves to the limit to empower themselves further. This increases the cost of the power, as noted in the boost's entry.
Willpower Points and Biotic Powers: Willpower points spent to activate or boost a biotic power do not count towards the one point of Willpower that a character can normally spend per turn to increase their dice pool or defences. A character could conceivably activate a biotic power that costs 1 point of Willpower, its boost that costs another point of Willpower and then spend their one point of Willpower per turn for a +3 bonus to the activation dice pool.
Kinetics and Countering: A biotic may choose to spend their turn's action countering the Kinetic abilities of another biotic within 25 yards. If they do so, they may take no other action but inflict a penalty on all Kinetic power rolls by the target equal to their own dots in the Kinetic discipline.
Distortion
Distortion is the Discipline of molecular agitation and the manipulation of mass to distort and warp.
Haze
This technique uses low-level distortion fields to create a shell of warped spacetime around an area, interfering with any sorts of senses or perception attempting to cross the shell's edge. To the outside world, the hazed air looks like warped, shimmering glass.
Haze affects an area centred on the biotic with a radius of Resolve x 5 yards. Roll Resolve + Distortion, with the power's duration in rounds equal to the number of successes. Any attempts to perceive by any means (sight, hearing, radar etc) into the area covered by Haze suffer a penalty equal to the biotic's Resolve, and indeed need to make Perception or other appropriate rolls in the first place.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the effect can be placed within 50 yards instead of being centred on the biotic.
Reave
This technique unleashes a powerful distortion field into the target's nervous or synthetic systems, causing a crippling overload.
Reave affects a single target up to 200 yards away. Roll Resolve + Distortion against an opposed roll of the target's Stamina. Success results in the target suffering wound penalties as if they had their last three health points filled with damage, with a duration of the biotic's Resolve in rounds. The penalty isn't cumulative with any existing wound penalties the target is already suffering, and can be reduced as normal by effects such as Iron Stamina.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, Reave nullifies any healing from any source during its duration, and it inflicts the -3 wound penalty in addition to any existing wound penalties, regardless of any Iron Stamina or other reductions.
Scramble
Scramble unleashes a thrashing flux of mass effect fields around the biotic, warping and distorting gravity and space.
Scramble affects an area centred on the biotic with a radius of Resolve x 3 yards. Roll Resolve + Distortion, with the power's duration in rounds equal to the number of successes. Everyone other than the biotic in the area of effect suffers a -2 penalty to their Speed, and to any attack rolls and Athletics-based rolls that they make.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1B, the -2 penalty to attack rolls also applies to any ranged attacks made against the biotic from outside Scramble's area.
Singularity
Singularity uses distortion to punch a gravity well into the fabric of spacetime, dragging anyone nearby towards its centre.
Choose a point within 100 yards; this is where the singularity appears, affecting an area Resolve x 5 yards in radius. Roll Resolve + Distortion, with the power's duration in rounds equal to the number of successes. Anyone in the area of effect must succeed in a Strength + Athletics check penalised by the biotic's Resolve in order to move in any direction other than directly towards the singularity, with successes equal to the number of yards they can move in a direction they wish. On the biotic's turn every round, everyone in the area of effect gets pulled 5 yards towards the singularity.
Cost: 1 Willpower point
Boost: For 1B, increase the number of yards the singularity pulls each round by the biotic's Resolve.
Warp
Warp creates rapidly shifting mass effect fields that tear a target apart.
Warp is used as a ranged attack by the biotic, with a short range of 100 yards and no medium or long range. This power uses Resolve + Distortion as its attack pool and is affected by other situational modifiers, such as cover, just as a normal ranged attack. If Warp hits, it has a Damage rating equal to the biotic's Resolve, with added damage from successes as normal.
If the target is already under the effect of another biotic power, Warp causes a biotic explosion. This increases its' Damage rating by 1 against the target, and inflicts a 3L explosion centred on the target with a radius equal to the biotic's Resolve in yards. The pre-existing biotic power immediately ends if it is a Distortion or Kinetic power.
Cost: 1 Willpower point
Boost: For 1B, Warp grants all attacks against the target Armour Piercing 1 for a number of rounds equal to Resolve.
Integration
Integration is the biotic discipline of molecular integration, using mass effect fields to strengthen and control the fabric of spacetime around the user.
Barrier
Barrier protects the biotic with mass effect fields in the same way as technological kinetic barrier generators.
Barrier provides the biotic with a number of biotic Shield levels equal to Resolve. These shield levels do not stack with any existing Shield levels, but will overwrite them if existing Shield levels are lower than the biotic's Resolve. Roll Resolve + Integration, with the biotic gaining a +1 bonus to resist attempts to knock them down or move them around for each success on the dice roll, as long as Barrier is in effect. Barrier lasts one scene, or until the Shield levels are lost.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, Barrier can be activated as a Reflexive action.
Charge
Charge encases the biotic in a mass effect field and launches them forwards at high velocity, akin to the technique employed by mass relays.
Charge allows the biotic to move up to their Speed x Resolve in yards in a straight line at near-instantaneous speed. This power doesn't allow them to pass through solid obstacles but they may go straight over gaps of up to their Speed in yards without any need for jumping checks. Roll Resolve + Integration, with each success increasing the biotic's Defence by 1; this effect lasts 1 round.
The biotic may still make a melee or ranged attack after using Charge.
Cost: 1 Willpower point
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the biotic does not need to Charge in a straight line and may make any number of turns along the way, they may also cover a gap of twice their Speed in yards.
Smite
Smite uses mass effect fields to empower the biotic's unarmed strikes with immense force.
Smite is a reflexive action used to augment an unarmed attack. It increases the Damage rating of the unarmed attack by an amount equal to the biotic's Resolve, and the biotic may choose to make the damage Lethal rather than Bashing.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, Smite augments all unarmed attacks the biotic makes for one additional round.
Stasis
Stasis simply locks the target into place with integrated mass effect fields that prevent them from moving.
Choose a target within 50 yards. The target must make a Strength check, with a penalty imposed of up to the biotic's Resolve at the biotic's choice. If the target achieves no successes, they are locked in place for 1 round and are completely unable to act in any way. However, they gain additional Armour equal to the penalty that the biotic applied to their strength check, affecting all attacks whether against Shield levels or health levels, and which is cumulative with existing Armour.
For example, a biotic with Resolve 5 chooses to apply a -3 penalty to a target's Strength check. Since the target only has Strength 3, this reduces them to a chance die. They fail, and are locked in place for 1 round. During this round, they benefit from an additional 3 points of Armour against all attacks.
Cost: 1 Willpower point.
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the target gains no Armour from Stasis.
Wall
Wall uses similar mass effect fields to Barrier and Stasis to forge a layer of integrated mass effect fields across an area.
The Wall power creates a wall of biotic force that is up to Resolve x 2 yards wide and high. The centre point of the wall's line must be within 5 yards of the biotic when created. Roll Resolve + Integration; the Wall has a number of Shield levels equal to 5 + successes rolled. The Wall can serve as cover and an obstacle, preventing any movement through it. Attackers may choose to attack the Wall directly; it has Armour equal to the Biotic's Resolve.
The Wall remains present as long as the biotic is within 5 yards of it. If he moves away, creates a new Wall, or the Wall's Shield levels are lost, it immediately ceases to exist.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower, the biotic may make a Wall that will exist even after moving 5 yards away from it, or he may turn it into a shell of up to Resolve x 2 yards radius centred on himself.
Kinetics
Kinetics is the biotic discipline of directly applying force through mass effect fields.
Glide
The Glide technique involves applying kinetic mass effect fields to the biotic themselves, allowing them to defy the forces of gravity through fine biotic control.
Roll Resolve + Kinetics, with Glide lasting for a number of rounds equal to successes rolled. While Glide is in effect, the biotic can reduce the distance they fall each round to any speed including zero, and they suffer no falling damage when making contact with the ground. If they continue to have some downward velocity, they may also move sideways in any direction up to their Resolve in yards per round.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the biotic can move in any direction at all for up to their Resolve in yards per round, without any requirement to continue moving down. This allows the biotic to 'fly' upwards if they wish.
Lift
The Lift technique uses mass effect fields to pull the target up into the air.
Choose a target within 100 yards, and roll Resolve + Kinetics with a penalty equal to the number of remaining Shield levels the target has. The target is lifted a number of yards equal to successes rolled, lasting for the biotic's Resolve in rounds. A gentle drift can be applied to the target as they are lifted if desired, so they will move 1 yard per round in a particular direction.
The Lifted target is not incapacitated and may continue to try and act by firing, trying to grab hold of something, and so forth.
Lifting larger, heavier targets is more difficult. For each full 5 points of Size above Size 5, the Resolve + Kinetics roll suffers an additional –2 penalty, so lifting a small car (Size 10) would inflict a -2 penalty on the roll.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the biotic can add an area of effect to Lift of Resolve in yards, resulting in multiple Resolve + Kinetics rolls made if several targets are caught.
Slam
Slam uses fine control over a rapid flux in mass effect fields to exert huge force on a target, picking them up and slamming them down again.
Choose a target within 30 yards, and roll Resolve + Kinetics as an attack with a penalty equal to the number of remaining Shield levels the target has. Slam is not affected by other conditional modifiers such as cover. If Slam hits, it has a Damage rating equal to the biotic's Resolve, with added damage from successes as normal. The target is also knocked prone.
Cost: 1 Willpower point
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the biotic can add an area of effect to Slam of Resolve in yards, resulting in multiple Resolve + Kinetics rolls made if several targets are caught.
Shockwave
The Shockwave technique unleashes a powerful mass effect field that pulses out in a crashing wave, knocking targets from their feet.
Choose which direction the Shockwave emits, resulting in an area of effect starting at the biotic that is 5 yards wide and 5 x Resolve yards long. Make a Resolve + Kinetics roll once; each target in the area must oppose this with their own Strength roll. If they lose, they are knocked prone.
Cost: 1 Willpower point.
Boost: For 1B, all targets automatically fail their Strength check.
Throw
Throw exerts a strong mass effect field to catapult the target in a particular direction.
Choose a target within 100 yards, and roll Resolve + Kinetics as an attack with a penalty equal to the number of remaining Shield levels the target has. The target is hurled in a chosen direction for a distance of up to successes x 5 yards, and suffering Bashing damage in successes if they hit something. The target must make a Dexterity + Athletics roll with a penalty equal to the biotic's Resolve, or be knocked down.
This power can also be used to pick up objects and hurl them at people, inflicting Bashing damage equal to successes if the Throw can reach the target with the object. This has the benefit of most thrown objects not possessing Shield levels.
Lifting larger, heavier targets is more difficult. For each full 5 points of Size above Size 5, the Resolve + Kinetics roll suffers an additional –2 penalty, so lifting a small car (Size 10) would inflict a -2 penalty on the roll. However, for every full 5 points of Size above Size 5, the Damage inflicted by a thrown object increases by 2.
Cost: 1B
Boost: For 1 Willpower point, the biotic can add an area of effect to Throw of Resolve in yards, resulting in multiple Resolve + Kinetics rolls made if several targets are caught.
Combat Training Talents
Combat in the Mass Effect setting is fast, lethal and dangerous, thanks to the cutting edge technology deployed on the battlefields of the galaxy. Personal protection from armour and shields only goes so far towards securing victory – the rest comes from the training and talent of the commanders and troops themselves.
The different combat training talents are called Regimens. The four Regimens are Assault, Command, Guardian and Tactical. Each point in a Regimen allows the character to pick a single power from the Regimen's list, granting the character the benefits of that power. These powers are picked when the dots are acquired and cannot be changed.
The Command Training Regimen works slightly differently from the others, as noted in its description below.
Using Combat Training Powers: Most Combat Training powers grant their benefits all the time. Some allow the character to use new options in combat, such as Suppressive Fire; the character can choose when to use these options and when not to, and no cost is attached to doing so.
Assault Training
Assault training often covers close-quarter combat, ambushes, storming defensive positions and blitzkrieg insertion into hot zones.
Agility: Through a mixture of free-running and combat training, the character can ignore terrain penalties on their movement of an amount up to their dots in Dexterity; so a character with Dexterity 4 could ignore up to -4 in penalties. Ladders, crates, low walls and so forth are easy for this character to handle. Their speed is also increased by 1.
Ambush: The character is an expert at close, covert work. When attacking an opponent who is not aware of the character, they add a +2 bonus to the Damage rating of their attack. Perception rolls made to hear the character attacking suffer a -2 penalty.
Carnage: The character is an expert in dealing death with short-ranged weapons in close quarters. When firing at a target within the short-range of a pistol or shotgun, the character benefits from the 9-again rule, or 8-again if the weapon already has 9-again.
Close Quarters Combatant: The character possesses advanced close combat training. They ignore penalties to their Defence caused by multiple melee attackers, may choose to deal Lethal damage with their unarmed attacks, and benefit from the 9-again rule when making unarmed strikes.
Combat Drop Training: The character has been trained for rapid-deployment assaults into hot zones. When dropping into combat with armour-jets, from an aircraft or from orbit, the character is able to act on the same round they touch down and suffers no other penalties due to combat drops. They also treat all Piloting checks with armour-jets as rote actions.
Hard Target: Keeping a low profile and moving fast, the character renders themselves a hard target for attackers. If they move at least 5 yards during their turn, all ranged attacks against them suffer an additional -1 penalty on their attack pools. Running increases the penalty to -2.
Shock Trooper: The character has the training and experience of a hardened shock trooper and is used to running through hails of bullets and explosions without flinching. The character reduces all penalties suffered from the combat environment by 1, such as from suppressive fire, concealment granted by smoke grenades and so forth. They benefit from a +2 bonus to any dice pool to resist knock-downs, stuns and other disorientation effects, while their Speed is increased by 1.
Slam: Harnessing their raw strength, the character slams foes to the ground. After a successful melee attack at the end of a charge action, the target of the attack must make a Strength check. If they fail to get as many successes as the points of damage taken from the attack, they are knocked down. This technique is a favourite of Krogan.
Command Training
Command training prepares a character for the rigours of commanding a team in a combat environment, whether a naval commander overseeing their crew from the bridge of a spaceship or a black ops squad leader directing their team through an intense firefight.
Command Training works differently to the other talents available in Combat Training. Rather than offering a new power with every dot, the character instead gains one additional die into the group's Command pool, a pool of dice that refreshes each scene from which the whole group of characters can benefit. These dice can be drawn on for specific purposes by any characters who are in communications-range of one of the Commanding characters.
For example, a Soldier has Command 4, putting 4 dice into the Command pool. Another character in the group, a Vanguard, has Command 2, increasing the total dice in the Command pool to 6. At the beginning of every scene, this pool refreshes back up to 6 dice, no matter how many of the dice have been spent in the prior scene.
As long as one of the characters with Command allows it, anyone in the group can take dice from the pool for the purposes noted below, including the characters with the Command talent themselves. A character can take up to their Wits in dice from the pool in a single turn, and can spend them all on one roll or purpose if desired.
Command dice can be:
Concentrate Fire: Added directly to an attack dice pool, before rolling.
Co-Ordinate Action: Added directly to a secondary actor's teamwork dice pool to aid a primary actor with their action.
Priority Target: Added directly to the Damage rating of an attack against a target who is knocked down, held by a mass effect field, on fire, frozen, stunned or otherwise vulnerable, before rolling the attack pool.
Ready For Action: Added as a bonus to a character's Initiative score after rolling in the first round of combat, adding +1 per die used.
Take Cover: Applied as an additional penalty to an attack roll against a character who is in cover, augmenting the normal cover penalty by -1 per die used, before rolling the attack pool.
Stay Alert: Added directly to a Perception dice pool, before rolling.
Guardian Training
Guardian training demands the very best of a character physically, pushing them to their limits and beyond to help them and others stay alive.
Bastion: The character knows how to angle armour plating, shift their profile and minimise the damage from incoming fire. If wearing armour, the character benefits from a +1 to their Armour against any ranged attackers in front of them, as long as they haven't moved this turn.
Berserker: When taking at least one point of Lethal damage, the character may choose to enter a rage, gaining a temporary +2 bonus to Stamina and Resolve and becoming immune to penalties inflicted by suppressive fire. This does result in them gaining two health levels during the rage but, while the health levels are lost once the rage subsides, any damage taken is kept. Many Krogan enter a berserker rage in battle when wounded.
Bodyguard: The Character has the reflexes and training of a bodyguard, able to protect others with their own body. They can choose to serve as cover for allies when they are between the ally and attacker or are adjacent to that ally, inflicting a -1 cover penalty on attacks that increases to -2 if the bodyguard is carrying a ballistic shield.. This increases to -2 if the ally is willing to allow the bodyguard to drop them prone and shield the ally with their whole body, increasing again to -3 if the bodyguard is in heavy armour or is carrying a ballistic shield.
Fitness: The character is in excellent physical condition and has two permanent additional health points.
Resilient: Fists, batons, concussion grenades... Not much phases this character. They benefit from an additional point of Armour against all Bashing attacks, even when not actually wearing armour, and gain a +1 bonus to dice pools to resist stuns and knock-downs.
Second Skin: The character has the training and experience to treat armour like a second skin, entirely comfortable with its power servos and weight distribution. The character benefits from a +1 to their Defence and Speed while wearing armour.
Survivor: The character is too tough or just too damn stubborn to stay down, regardless of his injuries. He never falls unconscious as a result of having all his health boxes filled with damage, and doesn't need to succeed on a Stamina roll to do so.
Vigilant: The character is ever-vigilant for danger. If the character is or becomes aware of an attacker targeting an unaware ally, and the character is within communications range of that ally, the ally becomes aware of the impending attack immediately. The character's Initiative is also increased by 1.
