30 réponses à ce sujet

[JPVS]

Ever since Lair of the Shadow Broker came out, I've been working on a Mass Effect conversion for a tabletop rpg. After so many months of working alone, I decided to share the work in the web last december. I was surprised by the number of people that became interested and eventually helped with a few ideas and playtesting. The result is now a very solid Mass Effect d20 game whose manual over a hundred people have received and enjoyed (with several already playing in ME d20 campaigns using these rules).
Now that the game is mostly finished (few things remain, of course, but the most important rules are already created) I've decided to share it with all of you.

For those unfamiliar with the term, the D20 system is the open source core rules for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, so the MEd20 system builds off an established rules system and conventions and is broadly compatible with a wide number of third party expansions. The ME d20 uses the basic mechanics of those rules but plenty others were altered by me in order to make this game feel like the Mass Effect we love.

This game is a free fan-made conversion of Mass Effect and so the manual is available free of charge to anyone that requests it. You can do so by PM from here or from the foruns where I'm displaying all this work (see below).

In addition, there is a professional designer (Tommy Rayburn) working on a much better layout for the manual of this game, which will also be available once it is completed. Here are some of the images of what he has done so far:
img717.imageshack.us/img717/7273/17415821.jpg
img707.imageshack.us/img707/3858/18581802.jpg
img39.imageshack.us/img39/6051/74394821.jpg
img822.imageshack.us/img822/3774/47411226.jpg

Anyone interested in either helping or keeping in touch with future updates for this game, can follow all this work on the following foruns: masseffectd20.freeforums.org/

Once more, this is a completely free fan-made conversion of the Mass Effect franchise to the d20 system. I will gladly send the manual, free of charge  and by e-mail to anyone that requests it (as I have done to more than a hundred people). So, if you do request it please provide an e-mail to where I can send the manual.
Anyone is also welcome to share their ideas or opinions, both here and the foruns mentioned above.


CREDITS
Game Designer: João Paulo da Vinha Santos (me)
Additional Contributions: Ricardo Freire da Silva, Olivier Brassard, Christopher Humphries, Tommy Rayburn, Javier Suarez, Bobby Weiss, Mathew Rodriguez, Robert Day, S. D. Kahler II, Yoav Beeri
Graphic Designer: Tommy Rayburn

Currently, the manual of this game has the following rules (not necessarily in this order):
Ability Scores, Races, classes, Skills, Feats, Combat Powers, Tech Powers, Biotic Powers, Ammo Powers, Equipment, Combat Rules, Environmental Rules (which includes hazard level from ME1), Character Morality, Vital Statistics (aging and such), Gamemastering, Losing Body Parts (such as breaking legs, having hands cut, etc), NPCs and Enemies


PS: I'll use this topic to answer any question, idea or opinion as well as to provide a feedback of what was added in the manual. Once Tommy's version is finished, I'll also warn anyone interested through this topic.

Modifié par JPVS, 08 septembre 2012 - 12:07 .

[LukeBLT]

I've nearly got a d20 conversion for the Dragon Age series finished as well, but that got me to thinking about a mass effect one. I'm glad to see someone else had this idea too. I had a look at the forums and it looked really interesting so I'll definitely PM for a copy.

[gisle]

It is impressive. I have looked over arbitary pages on the forum and found one little issue. Asari adulthood physicall is really young, most likely around 20. Asari on Illium in ME2 wanted to join Eclipse aged 60 and have moved out of her parents home. 40 is very young. Adulthood is around 50-60 then. Just nitpicking here.

Krogan mature really fast too. However, Warlord Okeer was far from venerable, and he's at least 1400-1500 years old.

Modifié par Gisle-Aune, 08 septembre 2012 - 03:59 .

[lillitheris]

Nice work! I’ll have to check it out when I have the time one of these years…been too long since any RPG campaign.

[JPVS]

Gisle-Aune wrote...

It is impressive. I have looked over arbitary pages on the forum and found one little issue. Asari adulthood physicall is really young, most likely around 20. Asari on Illium in ME2 wanted to join Eclipse aged 60 and have moved out of her parents home. 40 is very young. Adulthood is around 50-60 then. Just nitpicking here.

Krogan mature really fast too. However, Warlord Okeer was far from venerable, and he's at least 1400-1500 years old.

I tried finding out about adulthood ages and how long they can live but there was no concrete information. Had to be a best guess estimation

[lillitheris]

JPVS wrote...

I tried finding out about adulthood ages and how long they can live but there was no concrete information. Had to be a best guess estimation

I don’t think the krogans’ expiry date is ever mentioned. It might be implied that they’ll live pretty much forever if they don’t meet a violent end. And they usually do.

The implication of krogan maturity is clearer; it’s at most around 10 years to be strong enough to fight, probably less.

Asari maturation is in the 40-60 range, I personally have it set at about 40. The can live ‘up to a thousand years’.

[gisle]

JPVS wrote...

I tried finding out about adulthood ages and how long they can live but there was no concrete information. Had to be a best guess estimation

I just wanted to supplement information to give you a better estimate.

As for krogan, I think they would be able with modern tech to transplan spare parts to practically live forever.

lillitheris wrote...

Asari maturation is in the 40-60 range, I personally have it set at about 40. The can live ‘up to a thousand years’.

The reason asari don't age fast is that their cells regenerate. I think the mental and social maturity is around 40-60, but otherwise, I think they grow at the same rate as humans to physical maturity. Something like that were agreed upon in EezoRP.

Modifié par Gisle-Aune, 08 septembre 2012 - 09:54 .

[Sweawm]

I so would want to read the full complete rule book!

It would be awesome to be able to play this.

[JPVS]

Alright, thanks for the input! Will see about correcting it
Though Krogans living forever seems a bit too impossible. Eventually all life decays.

[JPVS]

Sweawm wrote...

I so would want to read the full complete rule book!

It would be awesome to be able to play this.

Just send me a PM with an e-mail address and you shall have the rulebook

[Constipator369]

Working on something similar myself. Except most of the game mechanics are already in the game, so all I do is wrork on the character creation and accuraccy issues. Plus I've expanded on the idea and there are 4 powers per character, but 8 talents - one for every weapon class, one "class skill" and one "meelee skill". That's 180 points to max it all out - 3 points per level, 60 levels, like in ME and ME3. If anybody wants to help in making it (make a lot of big charts) or in testing it (not many people (read - practically noone) in my town are into ME, not to mention paper and pen RPGs), please send me a PM. Nothing more to be said.

Modifié par Constipator369, 15 septembre 2012 - 08:19 .

[Drifting Sno]

This looks and sounds awesome. Just sent you a PM about the manual.

[JPVS]

There is now a 4-pages character sheet for this game (created by Alistor, based on the initial work from Frol). Anyone that request the pdf manual will receive it for free as well

In addition, the manual has been updated with new features such as Cybernetics.
The age has also been corrected per Gisle-Aune and lillitheris suggestions.

The glossary is the next major update to this ME d20 game

[JPVS]

HELP WANTED

Currently the professional designer (Tommy Rayburn) that is adapting this Mass Effect d20 rulebook into the great-looking manual I've presented in the first post is overburden with work and is unable to advance in the manual effeciently and as quick as he wished. So we talked and he asked me to find someone that could aid him in this effort.
He is currently using inDesign, an Adobe software, and requested that anyone who wishes to help uses that software as well. He will, of course, pass along the documents of the ME d20 he was working on so this professional-looking version of the manual is finished sooner rather than later.

I'd like to remind those interested that he is doing this for free. He is a Mass Effect and a tabletop RPG fan and started this work has an hobby, not as a means to make money. Anyone wanting to help must keep in mind they'd be doing so for free as well. The manual, of course, will present in the credits the names of anyone that contributes directly to this game.

If there is someone interested (we are not looking for just one person) please contact me through this topic or through PM.

[Dbohr]

Well, me, my brother and a few friends already did a conversion using the Star Wars Saga system. The Saga system is an intermediate step between the old d20 system and D&D 4E. As yet, everything is in Portuguese, but the game terms remain in English, so anyone proficient in the SW Saga system should have little trouble finding out what we're saying.

You can check the complete pdf here: http://holocast.terc...sEffectSaga.pdf

We also recorded several play sessions and broadcasted them in form of podcasts. Everything is in Portuguese, so it may be a little difficult to non-speakers. Sample play session here: http://www.terceirat...iority-o-sinal/

A new "DLC" pdf is in the works :-)

Modifié par Dbohr, 26 octobre 2012 - 01:41 .

[JPVS]

Ah more portuguese people on the vanguard of progress!

[Dbohr]

Brazilian, actually, but we do what we can :-)

[JPVS]

Ahh brothers from the other side of the Atlantic

[Dbohr]

Salve, patrício!

Well, if you feel like listening to our podcasts, you can have an idea of how the game adaptation evolved. I'll dig up the links and post here later.

[JPVS]

I'm bringing this topic back up to inform that after many months tthere is finally a new, professional looking manual (the one shown in the pictures on the first post) is now ready and can be distributed among anyone that wishes to have it.

This manual, designed by a professional designer (Tommy Rayburn aka revel911), with help from a Prepress Manager (Benjamin Slack aka baslack) and myself, aims to give this game that I have created a professional look that most fan-made games never get to see. For this I'm most thankful to Tommy and Benjamin, who took their free time to help, free of charge, to create this spectacular manual that I'm sure will amaze most of you, just like it amazed me.

This manual is the culmination of a work that has lasted nearly 3 years (I've been working on this Mass Effect d20 conversion ever since Lair of the Shadow Broker dlc came out) but it isn't, by any means, the end of it. I am pretty sure that new ideas will surface for an expansion manual as more and more people (including myself) find groups to which they can play this game. In fact, some are already surfacing (check the Mass Effect d20 forums: http://masseffectd20...s.org/index.php).

Like the previous manual (made entirely by me and greatly inferior in terms of visual quality and design), this new manual will be distributed freely to anyone that asks for it. You can either visit the forum to learn on how to get it, send me a PM through the forum, or send me an email requesting it (if the last method is used, I appologize in advance for any delay, as I expect my influx of e-mails to increase rapidly and there's only so much I can read every time I drop by the web).

I thank all of you that have helped creating this game, this manual and/or have shown interest in viewing and playing this game of mine.

[Mstark]

where can I get a character sheet? the PDF Download does not have one?

[JPVS]

This new manual inclues the character sheet at the very end of it

[Dead Reckoning]

I think the graphic design is too conceptual for a manual. The slanted margins and tiny text wrapping around images in the center of the page are not very easy to read. All of the topics are just crammed together. You should be able to skim through manuals and find what you are looking for quickly. It looks more like something you would see in a magazine. The design is good for fancy advertising, or editorial purposes, but not too successful for instructional.

In the age of Digital, you don't need to worry about printing and publishing costs. You can space some things out. I would probably dedicate 2 solid pages to each race - more if you need it. Put a character graphic at the top of the upper left column for each race, and have all of the stats, descriptions, etc in the same place on the page for each character (within reason). If one character needs less than 2 pages, fill the empty space with more images.

Keep in mind, I am just basing this off the images posted. I haven't seen the entire thing. But you want manuals to be easy to read, with information in a logically indexed form. Graphics, such as pictures, tables, graphs, Icons, etc help to break up the space and gives your eye more variety to focus on instead single spaced text (which gives me eye strain so i won't read it.).

I think this is a good idea though. I haven't played any tabletop RPG since the 80's. I probably won't start back up now. But I've always liked the creativity involved in making something like this.

[JPVS]

The reasoning behind the design is to make it feel like we were actually reading the codex from the games. Even the font used is quite close to the one used in the Mass Effect games.
The spacing (both between paragraphs, lines and between image-text), while it some occasions may not seem to be the best (that of course depends on who's reading) is actually bigger than the one you can find in other RPG manuals like D&D. It may not seem that way from the image, but that's because the image's small size gives a false impression of spacing.
And you are quite correct about the "age of digital". If this was made to be just a digital manual. It was actually made to be a printable manual (a color friendly version, with white background and black text will be made soon) as if this was indeed an official game. That's why 90% of the images used are property of BioWare, taken from the official Mass Effect Artwork . Plus I'm somewhat 'old fashion', I don't want players to use computers during the game. Far too easy for them to get distracted, even when they are enjoying it. That's the other reason why all the manuals I make for my games are meant to be printable.
And while I admit some sections that have large text walls may be a bit difficult to read (happens in every manual, no way around it... I still remember when I first try to read some sections from the Dungeon Master's Guide of D&D 3.5e.. got lost a few times, yes), it is easier to read and find what you are looking for in the real thing. The color scheme may require some getting used to by some people, as we are mostly trained to read black text in a white background.

PS: Most races (and especially classes) couldn't occupy an exact number of pages, though I did try. Filling it with unecessary images would be a bad strategy, given the intention of making this a printable manual it would just be a major loss of space and consequently ink and money.

Modifié par JPVS, 08 juin 2013 - 11:46 .

[Abraham_uk]

I was wondering..

If a class doesn't naively have assault rifle training, can that class still gain assault rifle training as a bonus power?