Camelot Cosmos: An Introductory Excerpt

What is the Camelot Kosmos?

“King Gawain XXIII is a good and wise ruler, for he looks as a King should to the best examples of the past in order to guide his own actions. He knows the deeds of the Round Table better than any man living, I warrant, save the Arch-Bishop himself.”
– General Perudur Sweetwater, Camelot

The second chapter of the Player’s Book details the Camelot Cosmos. A section of space containing a collection of planets which have been very heavily influenced by the Arthurian legends of King Arthur, Merlin, Uther Pendragon, Lancelot and all the characters familiar to us from the literature of Sir Thomas Mallory and the romances of the Middle Ages. These legends have, however, been confused with real people and events in the imagined history of the setting, so that the understanding of the deeds of King Arthur held by a well-informed reader today may differ markedly from the legend as presented in the book.

Imagine a world where the loyal knights of King Gawain XXIII fight an endless battle against the android soldiers of an undying Morgan le Fay.

Imagine a world where magical Doors transport spies and armies between distant planets in the blink of an eye and where thousands of humans from a lost technological civilisation sleep in cryogenic stasis, deep beneath the surface of a green and pleasant land.

Imagine a future that sees our own time as a lost golden age, and that is slowly rebuilding human civilisation after its near extinction.

Imagine a world where monks pick through irradiated shopping centres for the secrets of the ancients, and where skill in the joust can decide a man’s social status.

Imagine Arthurian knights in space, and you have some sense of what the Camelot Kosmos is intended to be.

Within the books you will find descriptions of the various planets which exist within the Camelot Cosmos, together with all the rules necessary to play characters and run adventures in this setting. Players should note, though, that all of the information about the setting is written twice. Once, in the Players Guide, in a way that represents the common understanding of an average person living in the time of the Camelot Cosmos, and once more, in the GM’s Guide, in a way that reflects knowledge of the secrets and truths available only to those ‘in the know’. For a proper enjoyment of the setting, it is recommended that players do not read the GM’s Guide as so much enjoyment can come from the uncovering of secrets.

Camelot Cosmos: Sample Character

Characters in Camelot Cosmos can be generated randomly or by making choices. Characters are normally defined by:

A physical or psychological aspect

A racial or regional aspect

A professional aspect

There are also other aspects available for NPCs or with the GM’s discretion, villainous attributes, heroic attributes and so on.

Camelot Cosmos starts out much lower powered than normal FATE games with much more potential for character growth. Aspects start out weaker, but can become stronger over the course of play. Aspects are also much more defined, in keeping with the more rigid roles of class and societal structure in the Cosmos.

For my example character I’m going to go with the random method, because that can throw up some interesting quandaries and ideas that you have to reconcile in working out who and what this character is.

I choose a physical aspect first, I want the character to be more defined by what he does than who he ‘is’. I roll ‘Slow’ as my aspect, which can be both good and bad, but which can also be taken to mean methodical. This gives me access to the following skills: Academics, Appraise, Craft, Endurance, Resolve, Search.

I choose a racial aspect next. I want to tie into the setting closely and give my character a connection to place and people. I roll a Mordredder. Mordred is a wasteland, hellhole of a world which indicates a tough, dangerous life. Perhaps a reason for being slow and methodical? Being a Mordredder gives me access to the following skills: Alertness, Ambush, Danger Sense, Recall, Scavenge, Stealth.

Lastly I roll my professional aspect and get a Druid. That’s going to be tricky to fit with being a Mordredder but perhaps I can work something out. Being a Druid gives me access to Animal Handling, Herbs, Hunting, Stonedweller Lore, Survival and Weather Sense.

Each aspect also gives me some suggested equipment. In this case, heavy shoes, herbs and a staff, and a lucky charm to wad off evil.

I read up on the description of Mordred (the planet) and its people and jot down a description of my character ‘Knum the Wanderer’ as a tall, lanky man with large, piercing, flint-grey eyes. I ask the GM if I can have a sun hat as extra equipment, and he agrees.

I finalise the character by choosing where to spend my skill points (6 in each skill set of each Aspect) and adding a ‘phase’ description for each aspect, describing how I came to be each one.

Character:

Name: Knum the Wanderer
Concept: Wandering healer

Aspects:
A). Slow, Rank 1: “Measure twice, cut once.”
B). Mordredder, Rank 1: “Surrounded by death, I try to bring life.”
C). Druid, Rank 1: “In the harshest land, life springs anew.”

Level/Skill/Aspect
1 Academics A
2 Alertness B
– Ambush B
– Animal Handling C
– Appraise A
– Craft A
2 Danger Sense B
2 Endurance A
3 Herbs C
1 Hunting C
1 Recall B
1 Resolve A
1 Scavenge B
1 Search A
1 Stealth B
– Stndwller Lore C
1 Survival C
1 Weather Sense C

Gear:
Heavy boots, staff, herb pouch, hat, lucky charm.

Description:

Knum grew up in the harsh landscape of Mordred and around Asylum City, as an orphaned street brat. Here he learned to be careful. He was eventually taken under the wing of an off-world Druid who taught him a few things before cutting short Knum’s apprenticeship. Since them Knum has wandered the wastes around Asylum city, picking Mordred’s scant herbs and doing what he can to help Asylum city’s underclass, battered, torn, sore and abused as so many of their bodies are through indentured servitude to the dead of the world.

Camelot Cosmos: Design

In producing the art and design for Daniel Jupp’s ‘Camelot Cosmos’ we decided to go for a Beardsley-esque style, since he was quite famous – in part – for his illustration of Arthurian legend, upon which Camelot Cosmos draws. I wanted a stark, old-school look to the books, even though they’re for a Space Opera game of adventure, warfare, questing and romance and even though they use a (heavily modified) FATE system, which is thoroughly modern. Raven did us proud there and continues to develop and improve as an artist while maintaining her own distinctive style.

While Agents of SWING has come in for some stick over its design choices, I liked the stark, minimalist approach there and I wanted to keep things relatively simple for Camelot Cosmos as well. Of course, ‘simple’ and ‘Art Nouveau’ don’t go together particularly well but I also wanted to reference the ‘lost technology’ theme and was inspired, in great part, by A Canticle for Leibowitz. In a memorable few scenes in that the initial lead character slaves over an illuminated manuscript of a circuit board pattern and this clash of medieval artistry and modern technical design has always stuck with me.

It is quite, quite possible that I over-think things!

The interior won’t have spot illustrations but, rather, will have ‘plates’, prefacing each chapter. This will make it a bit of a ‘text heavy’ book (though I’ll lighten that with the tables and sidebars) but having the art mark the chapter should, in theory, make flipping through the books to find things visually easier in the ‘dead tree’ version.

This is a big work. Daniel has put a lot of work into it and the ‘secret’ background of the world is sufficiently important that this will be our first book that is split into the traditional Players/GMs guide.

For your examination and comment, I include the covers to the two books and a mock up of an interior page.

You should be able to click to see larger versions of the images.

Camelot Cosmos: Open Consultation – Logo

Camelot Cosmos is a game written by Daniel Jupp and produced by Postmortem Studios which will be out imminently. It takes the Arthurian mythos and transfers them into a future society with shades of both Pendragon and Deathstalker, driven by an intensely modified version of FATE.

The art is in, the book is in layout at the moment, but we need a Logo.

Please examine the below and vote for your favourite, offering comments below. The art – including covers – will all be black and white but a little colour on the title couldn’t hurt… or could it?

Mass Effect: Postscript

For those of you who don’t know I have been very unwell for the last few weeks (depression issues). Re-playing Mass Effect 1 & 2 has been a very welcome distraction, something to occupy my brain and stop it turning on itself.

That’s what the best kinds of fiction can do when you need it to, get you out of your own head into somewhere/somewhen else. Mass Effect has consistently hit the right notes for me in humour, in Science Fictional thinking and falling into a sweet spot somewhere just on the harder side of Space Opera.

Yes, there’s a controversy over the ending but that is, in part, why I set about doing an RPG conversion of it. To help me make my own endings. To get to better grips with the universe and to prove to myself a little, after what amounted to a near-breakdown, that I still had the chops to hack a little system adaptation and writing again with less pressure than actually getting back to work.

The conversion I have done works with the Heavy Gear 2nd Edition version of Silhouette, but most versions will work fine.

You can buy and download HG2 HERE and it’s only a hair over $10 US. Bargain for a scalable, gritty system.

HERE‘s a quick link to the Mass Effect tagged entries in this blog.

I also keep an in-character play diary of my Mass Effect (and other) games over on G+, HERE.

I haven’t played ME3 yet, but when I do – and have completed it – I intend to share my personal interpretation/version of the endings (the closure that’s missing) and my ideas on ‘what happens next’.

Obviously there’s a lot of gaps in the game material I’ve presented here, but then there’s a lot of gaps in the game too. That’s just room for you to be creative.

If you want a more Computer Game feel to the way the shields work, I’d double the regeneration and the total value, but I wanted them to, basically, be ‘one safe hit’ and nothing more.

Mass Effect Part Twenty: Odds & Ends

Normandy SR-1
The SSV Normandy SR-1 was a Systems Alliance starship developed in cooperation with the Turian Hierarchy. She was the first prototype of a ‘deep scout’ frigate and lends her name to the class. She had state of the art stealth technology, an outsized Mass Effect core and considerable range, though she lacked punch. She was eventually destroyed in a clash with The Collectors.

Concept: Stealth Frigate
TAC Scale
Size: 42
Crew: 30 (Commander, Flight Lieutenant, Navigator, Medical Officer, Chief Engineer, Staff Lieutenant, 2 Bridge Crew, 5 CIC officers, 8 Technicians, 4 Marines, 3 Engineers, Requisitions officer).
Movement: Flight/Space/FTL
Manouevre: -4
Armour: 80/160/240
Shields: 80
Weapons:
GARDIAN point defence laser system – Penalise incoming missile attacks by -2
Spinal Mount Mass Cannon – ACC +0, Dam x35, ROF 0.
Javelin Dual Disruptor Torpedoes – ACC -1 Dam x20, ROF 5
Fire Control +2
Sensors +3
Comms +2
Airlift Bay
Autopilot
Cargo/Vehicle Bay
Military Crew Accomodation x 30
Escape Pods
Cryosleep Pods
ECM +1
ECCM +3
Sick Bay 2
Vacuum Rated
Atmospheric re-entry capable
Radiation Protection
Life Support
Low Profile
Searchlight
Stealth 4
Difficult to Modify

Normandy SR-2
The Normandy SR-2 is a secretly built starship using stolen plans on the Normandy SR-1. It is twice the mass and packed with even more cutting edge technology than the original. It is also more luxurious and comfortable than the original with no concessions to military budgeting.

Concept: Stealth Frigate
TAC Scale
Size: 53
Crew: 30 (Commander, Flight Lieutenant, Navigator, Medical Officer, Chief Engineer, Staff Lieutenant, 2 Bridge Crew, 5 CIC officers, 8 Technicians, 4 Marines, 3 Engineers, Requisitions officer) – With room for extra.
Movement: Flight/Space/FTL
Manouevre: -4
Armour: 125/250/325
Ablative Armour: 20 (Lose one point per ten points of damage dealt)
Shields: 160
Weapons:
GARDIAN point defence laser system – Penalise incoming missile attacks by -2
Spinal Mount Mass Cannon – ACC +0, Dam x35, ROF 0.
Javelin Dual Disruptor Torpedoes – ACC -1 Dam x20, ROF 5
Thanix Cannon Acc -1, Dam x40, ROF -1, Ignores shields/barriers
Fire Control +3
Sensors +4
Comms +3
EDI Artificial Intelligence
Probe Launcher +5 Notice/Geology (60 probes)
Increased Range
Mineral/Geological Scanner
Airlift Bay
Autopilot
Cargo/Vehicle Bay
Luxury Crew Accomodation x 30
Escape Pods
Cryosleep Pods
ECM +2
ECCM +4
Sick Bay 3
Vacuum Rated
Atmospheric re-entry capable
Radiation Protection
Life Support
Low Profile
Searchlight
Stealth 2
Difficult to Modify

Reaper
TAC Scale
Size: 125
Crew: 0
Movement: Flight/Space/FTL/Walk
Manouevre: -6
Armour: 375/750/1125
Shields: 1000
Weapons:
6 x Reaper Cannon Acc 0, Dam x50, ROF 0, Ignores shields/barriers
Spinal Cannon Acc -1, Dam x100, ROF -2, Ignores shields/barriers
Fire Control +2
Sensors +5
Comms +5
Appropriate skills/Stats counted at 3/2

Destroyer
TAC Scale
Size: 55
Crew: 0
Movement: Flight/Space/FTL/Walk
Manouevre: -4
Armour: 165/330/495
Shields: 400
Weapons:
Hades Canon Acc 0, Dam x40, ROF 0, Ignores shields/barriers.
Fire Control +2
Sensors +4
Comms +4
Appropriate skills/stats counted at 3/2

Geth Armature
TAC Scale
Size: 7
Crew: 0
Movement: Walker
Manouevre: -1
Armour: 18/36/54
Shields: 40
Weapons:
Twin Mass Accelerator MG: Acc +1, Dam x14, ROF +3
Siege Cannon: Acc 0, Dam x20 ROF -2
Fire Control +3
Sensors +2
Appropriate skills/stats counted at 2/2

Geth Collossus
TAC Scale
Size: 9
Crew 0
Movement: Walker
Manoeuvre: -1
Armour: 24/48/72
Shields: 80
Weapons:
Twin Mass Accelerator MG: Acc +1, Dam x14, ROF +3
Siege Cannon: Acc 0, Dam x20 ROF -2
Fire Control +3
Sensors +2
Appropriate skills/stats counted at 2/2

Praetorian
TAC Scale
Size: 6
Crew: 0
Movement: Hover
Manoeuvre: -2
Armour: 18/36/54
Barrier: 80
Weapons: Twin Particle Beam ACC +1, Damage x4 ROF 3
Death Choir 10m radius centred on Praetorian, Threshold 6 to escape, Damage x8, ROF -4
Appropriate skills/stats counted at 3/2

M-44 Hammerhead
TAC Scale
Size: 7
Crew: 3
Movement: Hover
Manoeuvre: -1
Armour: 14/28/42
Shield: 40
Weapons: Guided Missile Launcher – ACC +1, Dam x15, ROF 0
Jump jets
Navigation
Geological Scanner
Fire Control +2
Sensors +2
Commms -1, Satellite Uplink
Advanced Neural Net (SI) spend one turn in prep to gain +1 to one action the following turn.
Airlift Ready
Jump Jets
ECCM 1
Hostile Environment Protection – All

Thresher Maws
RPG Scale
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 13, CRE -4, FIT 10, INF -5, KNO -5 PER 2, PSY 0 WIL 3
STR 11, HEA 4, STA 110 (115/170/280), UD 30, System Shock 9
H2H 3, Notice 3, Tunnel 3
Bite: x50 damage
Acid Spit: x60 damage – ignores shields.

Varren
Varren – or ‘fish dogs’, are omnivorous, adaptive, fast breeding pack predators that are a plague on many worlds despite their value as fighting animals, food and even pets. Even in a world of shields and armour, the Varren can still be dangerous.

AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 1, CRE -4, FIT 1, INF -4, KNO -5, PER 1, PSY 0, WIL 1
STR 1, HEA 1, STA 35 (22/40/75) UD 8, System Shock 6
Hand to hand 3
Bite UD+8 (x16)

Loki

Loki mechs are a cheap, stupid but modular and programmable series of droids, most commonly used as cheap cannon fodder by mercenary groups and paranoid – but money-wise, Volus.

AGI -1, APP 0, BLD 0, CRE -4, FIT 1, INF -4, KNO -5, PER 1, PSY 0, WIL 1
STR 1, HEA 1, UD 4, AD 4, STA 13/25/50 (23/35/60), System Shock 5
Shields 20
Programmed with three skills at 1.
Usually armed with a pistol, with a damage of 15, ACC of 0.

Ymir

Ymir Mechs are much larger than the Loki, a couple of tons of dumb, brute, intimidating force. Not as powerful as their appearance and profile would make them seem they are, nonetheless, a force to be reckoned with.

AGI -2, APP +0, BLD +9, CRE -4, FIT +5, INF -4, KNO -4, PER +0, PSY -4, WIL -4
STR +7 HEA +0, STA 35/70/140 (95/130/200), UD 20, AD 20, System Shock 5
Shields 120
Skills: Three skills at 1.
Rocket Launcher: ACC 0, DAM x140, ROF -1.
Twin Mass Guns: ACC -, Dam x30, ROF 4.

Kodiak Shuttle

TAC Scale
Size: 8
Crew: 2
Space/Flight
Manoeuvre: 0
Armour: 16/32/48
Shield: 120
Fire Control: 0
Sensors: 0
Comms: -1
Hazardous Environment Protection: All
Life Support

Kowloon Class Merchant Vessel

TAC Scale
Size: 35
Crew: 3 (minimum)
Space Travel/FTL
Manoeuvre: -6
Armour: 35/70/105
Shield: 40
When armed Kowloon are armed with either twin Mass cannon or a Javelin missile pod. Mass cannon ACC 0, x14 damage, ROF +3. JavelinL ACC -1, DAM x20, ROF +1.
Fire Control: -1
Sensors: -1
Comms: -3
Hazardous Environment: Space
Cargo Bay
Military Accomodation x10
Life Support

Athabasca Class Merchant Vessel

TAC Scale
Size: 45
Crew: 3 (minimum)
Space Travel/FTL
Manoeuvre: -7
Armour: 45/90/135
Shield: 60
Weapons: When fitted, as per Kowloon.
Fire Control: -1
Sensors: -1
Comms: -3
Hazardous Environment: Space
Cargo Bay
Military Accommodation x20
Medical Bay
Life Support

Atlas Mech Suit

TAC Scale
Size 7
Crew: 1
Walker
Manoeuvre: -3
Armour: 21/42/63
Shields: 50
Mass Cannon: ACC +0, Damage x8, ROF 0
Rocket Launcher: ACC +0, Dam x15, ROF -3
Claw: ACC +0, Damage x9, ROF 0.
Fire Control: +0
Sensors: -1
Comms: -1 (Satellite Uplink)
Life Support, Space rated.
Weak Point (Engine, Cockpit, -5 armour)
 

Mass Effect Part Nineteen: Collectors

Collectors
Once the Protheans, the Collectors – however many of them are out there – are now the pawns of The Reapers, controlled and dominated by them, rewritten, indoctrinated, implanted and controlled as a monitoring system on the development of life in the Galaxy.

Collector Drone
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 1, CRE 1, FIT 1, INF 0, KNO 1, PER 2, PSY -1, WIL -1
STR 2, HEA 0, STA 30 (25/40/70), UD 7, System Shock 6
Combat Sense 1, Small Arms 2, Hand to Hand 1
Armed with Assault Rifles
Collector’s can fly over short distances via Mass Effect and rudimentary wings.
Collector Drones have a Mass Effect Barrier with a strength of 40 that regenerates like a shield.

Collector Assassin
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 1, CRE 1, FIT 1, INF 0, KNO 1, PER 2, PSY -1, WIL -1
STR 2, HEA 0, STA 30 (25/40/70), UD 7, System Shock 6
Combat Sense 1, Small Arms 2, Hand to Hand 1, Gunnery 3
Armed with Particle Beams ACC +1, Damage x40 ROF 2
Collector’s can fly over short distances via Mass Effect and rudimentary wings.
Collector Assassins have a Mass Effect Barrier with a strength of 40 that regenerates like a shield.

Collector Guardian
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 1, CRE 1, FIT 1, INF 0, KNO 1, PER 2, PSY -1, WIL -1
STR 2, HEA 0, STA 30 (30/45/75), UD 8, System Shock 6
Combat Sense 2, Small Arms 3, Hand to Hand 2.
Armed with Assault Rifles that have the Warp Ammo effect on them.
Collector’s can fly over short distances via Mass Effect and rudimentary wings.
Collector Guardians have a Mass Effect Barrier with a strength of 80 that regenerates like a shield.

Harbinger
The local Collector ‘General’ can assume direct control of any other collector. This infuses it with biotic energy and activates its implants, ‘supercharging’ it for up to an hour before it dies.
The effect of this ‘supercharge’. is as follows
+1 Str and UD, +1 HEA, +1 to all skills. Increase each health level by 10. Increase barrier by 40.

Mass Effect Part Eighteen: Rachni

All but extinct the Rachni are almost a complete mystery. Little trouble was taken to understand them, and no quarter given during the Rachni wars. The queen is at the centre of a hive mind, held together by singing. They are capable of ship-building and FTL travel and despite other limitatons are a fierce and implacable foe when roused.

Rachni Workers
AGI 2, APP 0, BLD -4, CRE 0, FIT 1, INF -4, KNO 0, PER 0, PSY -1, WIL -1
STR -1, HEA 0, STA 5 (8/10/15), UD 1 (Bite x6), System Shock 5
H2H 1, Any relevant tech/building skills 3
Rachni workers can explode as a suicide attack (or when killed) as a 5m radius, Intensity 6 toxic explosion.

Rachni Soldiers
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 1, CRE 0, FIT 2, INF -4, KNO 0, PER 1, PSY -1, WIL -1
STR 1, HEA 0, STA 35 (32/50/85), UD 8 (Claw x18), System Shock 5
H2H 3, Small Arms 2, Combat Sense 2, Notice 2, Tactics 2, Dodge 2
Rachni Soldiers can spit acid, which bypasses shields and does x25 damage.

Rachni Brood Warriors
AGI 1, APP 0, BLD 2, CRE 1, FIT 3, INF -3, KNO 1, PER 1, PSY 0, WIL 0
STR 2, HEA 1, STA 45 (42/65/110), UD 11 (Claw x26), System Shock 6.
Biotic Strength 3
H2H 4, Small Arms 3, Combat Sense 3, Notice 3, Tactics 3, Dodge 3
Warp 3, Stasis 3, Barrier 3
Brood Warriors can spit acid which bypasses shields and does x30 damage.

Rachni Queen
AGI 0, APP 0, BLD 9, CRE 3, FIT 3, INF 3, KNO 3, PER 1, PSY 3, WIL 3
STR 6, HEA 3, STA 85 (102/145/230), UD 21 (Claws x41)62.43*50
The Queen can spit acid which bypasses shields and does x50 damage.
The Queen is considered to have all skills at 3 and all Biotic skills at 3. Her Biotic Strength is considered to be 8.

Mass Effect Part Seventeen: Husks

Standard husks, of whatever race, modify to have five armour, +1 AGL, -4 APP, -4 CRE, +1 FIT, -4 INF, -4 KNO, -1 PER.
An average human husk, then would have:
AGL 1, APP -4, BLD 0, CRE -4, FIT 1, INF -4, KNO -4, PER -1, PSY 0, WILL 0
STR 0, HEA 0, STA 25 (18/30/55), UD 5, AD 3, System Shock 5
Athletics 2, Hand to Hand 2 (no other skills)
Husks can also emit a 5m radius, intensity 8 electrical burst that does double damage to shields. This also goes off when they die.

Abomination Husks are identical, but release an intensity 9 fire explosion instead.

Scions have the following statistics
AGL 0, APP -4, BLD 3, CRE -4, FIT 2, INF -4, KNO -4, PER -1, PSY 0, WILL 0
STR 2, HEA 1, STA 45 (28/50/95), UD 10, AD 8, System Shock 6
Athletics 2, Hand to Hand 2, Gunnery 2 (no other skills)
Their weapon attacks as a Biotic shockwave power with a Biotic Strength of 8

Banshees are statted as normal Husks, modified by Asari statistic modifiers, they have a Biotic Strength of 3. Their claws do AD+5 damage. They have the Charge power. They have the Shockwave power. They can hurl tracking, synthetic darts that do AD+5 damage at range with a +1 to hit. They also have the Barrier Power. Their skill level in all these powers is considered to be 2.

Brutes are made by taking a normal Husk and modifying it by Krogan or Turian stat modifiers. They have an inherent 20 armour instead of 5 and their razor arm does AD+20 damage.

Cannibals are made by taking a normal Husk and modifying it by Batarian statistic modifiers. They have an inherent 15 natural armour and a gun-arm which does x40 damage. Cannibals can devour/absorb a non-synthetic corpse to instantly heal a light wound.

Marauders are made by taking a normal Husk and modifying it with Turian statistic modifiers. They have an inherent 10 natural armour and 20 points of shields. They carry assault rifles and gain the Small Arms skill at 2.

Ravagers are created by taking a Rachni soldier and modifying it with the Husk stat modifiers. They have twin gun on a head mount that do x25 damage with a ROF of 1. When destroyed they unleash 1d6 swarmers.

Swarmers are created by taking Rachni workers and modifying them with Husk stat modifiers. They explode when killed and otherwise bite.

Mass Effect Part Sixteen: Tech Powers

It takes a whole turn of effort to prepare a Tech attack and then it is unleashed on the following turn.

AI Hacking (Electronic Warfare): The tech makes an Electronic Warfare roll against a target of 4 modified by the target’s WIL. EG: A WIL of -1 means a target threshold of 3. If they fail they are under control for a number of turns equal to the character’s Electronic Warfare skill level and also gain a shield boost equal to the EW skill level x10.

Cryo Blast (Mechanics): The character makes a Mechanics roll against a Threshold of 5 to configure their omni-tool and then sprays a gust of cryogenic particles (as a Mechanics/AGI attack roll). This freezes the target for a number of turns equal to the threshold gained.

Combat Drone (Electronics): The character spawns a floating drone out of forcefields and particles. This floats independently and has stats of zero. It attacks with a close-combat zap with a damage of 5 that does double damage against shields. It lasts for a number of turns equal to their Electronics skill total. It has 10/20/40 stamina and zero shields. It has a skill of 1 for zapping but can also lend aid in technical tasks, providing a +1 bonus to the user while it is operating.

Incinerate (Mechanics): The character prepares a field bubble of plasma with their omni-tool and then unleashes it as a small-arms attack. It does damage as per a fire with an intensity of their Mechanics skill +3. A mechanics/AGI roll must be made to hit.

Overload (Electronic Warfare): The character targets a synthetic or a shield system and hacks into it, to cause it damage. They roll EW against the target’s EW  do damage to shields or synthetics equal to their threshold x10. They need not have line of sight to do so.

Tactical Cloak (Electronic Warfare): The Omni Tool creates a field around the user rendering them invisible, adding their EW level to their Stealth skill for a number of turns equal to their EW skill level multiplied by two. They can even hide in plain sight.

Tech Armour (Electronics): The Omni Tool supplements the person’s shield with additional power and visible ‘bracing’. The extra shield lasts until destroyed and has a value equal to the creator’s electronics level x20. When destroy it explodes with a 5m radius doing electrical damage with an intensity equal to their Electronics level +3

Ammo Powers (Smallarms): Characters can use their omni-tool to single-load a shot as though they had specialist ammo.