Chasing the Stars ~ Omega, 2185 (OOC discussion)

Jan 6, 2017 16:25:11 GMT Space Cowboy said:

Jan 6, 2017 15:47:58 GMT @tzeenchianapostrophe said:

Tbh I don't expect to see entire discussions evolving around specific characters, so an entire forum might be a little overkill. (but maybe I'm wrong)

As for an approval process, I think it pays not to be too anal about it, different players have different tastes.
Some might consider anything that's not following a MP kit to be OP, while others (me among them) think that things should be looked at
in a semi-realistic scenario, as in "what makes sense for a character of this type if Mass Effect was real".

By the way, when it comes to canon my opinion is also the same.
Take for example the part of my Drell Assassin story about the "organic biotic amp" he has, it isn't strictly canon, but it makes sense (to me at least),
and it also makes sense as part of his story and training and purpose as an assassin.

My point is that I'm more concerned about people actually making an effort with their characters and RP than about them religiously following canon.
As long as the "deviations" are plausible interpretations of canon rather than blatant additions, I don't really have a problem with it.

All that said, if someone does end up producing some true abomination, I suppose having *some* oversight over character quality might be worth it.
Still, as small as this section is, not wanting to scare people away with too much regulations and pressure is also a consideration.

I think you're reading too much into my suggestion. I'd be thinking the same level of overview as you just suggested, not pouring over minute details of lore for any slight variation

I know nothing about ME MP character builds, as I don't play it. Its more important we get a good character and background than what skills they can or can't have. All I was thinking is that don't say your character is super good at everything. I'd prefer reasonable, realistic characters for the setting, not demigods that could wipe the floor with shepard and take down a  reaper by themselves.

I know this sort of roleplaying is very flexible compared to RPGs, but you might consider including some sort of "attribute" system that allows people to give a general idea of how good their character is at certain types of things. Think SPECIAL from Fallout, with its 1-10 scale. I've done online roleplaying like that in the past, and it was very useful for determining who is faster or who is stronger, as well as ensuring all characters are on reasonably even power levels. Maybe have something like:

Strength

Perception

Willpower (for biotic strength)

Agility

Intelligence

Presence

Health

Or if you want a more Mass Effect flavor, you can have general areas of expertise (the three types of Mass Effect powers plus tactical and social to account for general skills) with subcategories:

Combat Prowess (Endurance, Strength, Weapons)

Tech Prowess (Electronics, Medicine, Fabrication)

Biotic Prowess (Telekinesis, Kinetic Fields, Spatial Distortion)*

Tactical Prowess (Stealth, Perception, Acrobatics)

Social Prowess (Intimidate, Diplomacy, Bluff)**

*Shamelessly ripped from the ME wiki

**Shamelessly ripped from D&D

These could then be subject to restrictions based on a character's knowledge of specific subjects (From their backstory). So even if your character is good with medicine (and therefore has high tech prowess), they might not be good with computers if their backstory doesn't allow for it. You obviously wouldn't want this to be a straitjacket for characters, but it could be a helpful guideline for determining how effective a character is in certain situations.

...and it looks like I got a bit carried away with what was intended to be a brief suggeston. I should go.