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I've been toying around with trying to start a Mass Effect RPG campaign locally now that my Deathwatch one fizzled and have been putting some thought into what system to use. I'm familiar with Star Wars Saga (had all the books but sold all but the core) and liked the base d&d 3.9ish system but the force powers were way too front loaded in power for my tastes. I still own a substantial number of Shadowrun 4e books and do like that system but have to admit that it has a steep learning curve, especially for my target audience who never played any PnP rpgs prior to the above deathwatch game. As much as a different rpg group I was in didn't like D&D 4e, it may be a good fit for what I'm trying. Most of the group plays minis games so the mini heavy mechanics and rules wouldn't faze them as much as the Deathwatch and Shadowrun loosey goosey systems did and will respectively. In addition, the at-will/encounter/daily power system is reminiscent (to me at least.. feel free to discuss) of the power system in Mass Effect itself with the lower recharge time powers like concussive shot or throw being effectively at-will whereas longer recharge ones are encounters or possibly daily. I'm not looking specifically to replicate the video game on the tabletop but can't help but think the similarity might be a positive thing in this particular case.

Looking around at whats been going on with 4e since 2009 when we stopped playing it, it looks like a certain company has steadily been pushing out scifi/fantasy hybrid books using the system under the Amethyst name initially and more recently under the magic-free Ultramodern 4 system. Anyone have any experience with both this pnp rpg as well as the Mass Effect Rpgs? Does it seem like a viable system to use with it? If so, what are the differences between the various flavors put out by this company? The company was nice enough to publish an SRD free version of the ultramodern rules that I've legally downloaded and will be looking over... from a first glance, it looks like it has the requisite tech needed for a Mass Effect type game. Combined with the 4e magic system (basically, just using wizard/sorc powers from the PHB with the classes in ultramodern) might work. The Amethyst system already has a mix of tech and magic ready to go out of the box but it doesn't have a handy SRD for me to look over and see if it fits for us. In addition, with the flip flopping of 4e to essentials, it looks like the evolution book uses the Essentials rules whereas the foundation book uses the original 4e trio of core books.. and now there is a pathfinder version as well.

Our very own Lynata (the Lovely) has done some awesome work on this:

http://me-rpg.wikispaces.com/

Lynata has done some nice work there. I'd personally prefer to use a system I'm already familiar with though due to the relative inexperience of the group I'd be working with. Heavy Gear works better IMO on the minis side than RPG side and Rifts is just too much of a cobbled together mess, leaving me with d20 and SR as scifi systems I've used for any length of time. I saw from a search here that Ahtman played Amethyst at some point so maybe he's kept up with the various incarnations of scifi-fantasy gaming from the same company.

Hah, came here to link just that wiki. Thanks for the compliments! Really makes me think I should put more work into it, if only I weren't so fickle-minded.

Is your group familiar with d20 and/or SR? If so, I can relate to your thoughts. If they are complete newbies to P&P, however, I would suggest taking a look at Green Ronin's AGE rules. They are essentially a step back to simpler times, when your rulebook was 30 pages thick, and is incredibly easy to learn. Even new guys could just spend, say, half an hour before the first game, and they know all that is important. At the same time, the system "mixes things up" by using Stunt Dice that allow you to pull special actions aside from the basic stuff.

Rather good review, just in case you want to give it a read:
http://ronblessing.blogspot.ie/2010/01/play-thru-dragon-age.html

 Lynata wrote:
Hah, came here to link just that wiki. Thanks for the compliments! Really makes me think I should put more work into it, if only I weren't so fickle-minded.

Is your group familiar with d20 and/or SR? If so, I can relate to your thoughts. If they are complete newbies to P&P, however, I would suggest taking a look at Green Ronin's AGE rules. They are essentially a step back to simpler times, when your rulebook was 30 pages thick, and is incredibly easy to learn. Even new guys could just spend, say, half an hour before the first game, and they know all that is important. At the same time, the system "mixes things up" by using Stunt Dice that allow you to pull special actions aside from the basic stuff.

Rather good review, just in case you want to give it a read:
http://ronblessing.blogspot.ie/2010/01/play-thru-dragon-age.html

They're not complete noobs to tabletop rpgs as they have a few months of Deathwatch behind them but nothing other than that. With Deathwatch, we were all new to the system so we got into some bad habits that later were difficult to break. I'd prefer to stick with a system I'm familiar with for that reason. In addition, Shadowrun is a system that I already own so would require no $$ investment whereas the Ultramodern SRD is free and I have easy access to the core 4e books as well. The group overall is a bit flaky unfortunately with plenty of missed sessions despite RSVPs in the prior 24 hours so I don't want to invest heavily moneywise into books in case the idea doesn't pan out. I appreciate the suggestion but I'm pretty set on sticking with a system I already know.

Fair enough. Good luck then!

Thanks! On a related note, I found this entry on the ME3 forums (ironically NOT when I was looking for tabletop RPG stuff). It looks like someone has also done some work converting ME over to d20 of the 3/3.5/PF variety (haven't looked through too much yet but didn't see the typical 4e powers and keywords there).

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/368/index/14029274

http://masseffectd20.freeforums.org/index.php