Overview

The game mechanics for Mass Effect: Legends are based upon the Open D6: Space system and incorporates large portions of LeDition's Mass Effect D6 Conversion (used with permission).

Please be aware that we are not a TRUE D6 game, nor are we holding to the entirety of LeDition's conversion. We do use both as a foundation but we have adjusted and changed many rules and mechanics to make these two sources work better in a MUSH setting. We do encourage players to obtain and review both files, which are open source/Open Game License, to better understand the origins of our system, but also to be mindful that only game rules and mechanics contained here on the Wiki site are considered to be valid for Mass Effect: Legends MUSH. These sources are considered informational only for our game purposes.

Read on for an explanation of how game mechanics work at Mass Effect: Legends.

Character Sheet Terms

  • Attributes: The seven (including biotics) foundational bases for skills (and biotic talents, which behave not unlike skills)
  • Skills: Specific applications of a character's Attributes.
  • Trained Skill: A skill that has been chosen by the player to be purchased to levels beyond the default of the governing Attribute.
  • Untrained Skill: Any skill not listed on a character's +sheet. It may be used at the default D value of the governing Attribute it falls under.
  • Talent: An ability that enhances a skill or provides a more powerful sort of action or attack than a skill.
  • Move: 10 meters per round for average humanoid.
  • Ranged Defense Value: Ranged Defense Value equals: three times number of dice on Dexterity attribute, plus any pips, plus skill points in Dodge skill.
  • Melee Defense Value: Melee Defense Value equals three times number of dice on Strength attribute plus any pips plus points in Melee skill.
  • Brawling Defense Value: equals three times number of dice in Strength attribute plus any pips plus points in Brawling skill.
  • Vehicle Defense Value: equals three times number of dice on Mechanical attribute plus any pips plus skill points on Rover Operation skill.
  • Starship Defense Value: equals three times number of dice in Mechanical attribute plus any pips plus points in Pilot skill.
  • Damage Resistance: equals the number before D in Strength plus and any armor character is wearing plus any bonuses from talents.
  • Brawling/Melee Damage: D in Strength plus Lift skill divided by 2.
  • Initiative: equals Perception attribute multiplied by 3 plus any pips modified by other stats (check the table later in this chapter)
  • Hit Points: equal 3 times Strength +20
  • Paragon/Renegade: A reflection of the sorts of choices or actions your character takes.
  • Medals: Medals are earned through plots and may be 'spent' in exchange for a +15 bonus to one dice roll.
  • XP: Experience. Earned with votes received from other players or from staff during plots or missions. Spent to increase character stats.
  • Credits: Credits measure how much wealth your character has at start of the game. Characters earn credits weekly (after approval) based on the following: 3Dx100 - base pay scale and then adjusted by: +1D for 4D in Knowledge, +1D for every +3 in Appraisal, Bargain, or Business.

Attributes

Each character has seven attributes, which measure basic physical and biotic capabilities.

Dexterity: A measure of how physically articulate your character is, including his eye-hand coordination and agility.
Strength: Measure of your character’s physical power and ability to resist damage.
Mechanical: Your character’s prowess at operating mechanical equipment like vehicles, shields, spaceships, and sensors.
Knowledge: Measure of your character’s overall intelligence.
Perception: Your character’s awareness of herself and things around her, including the ability to interact with others.
Technical: Your character’s ability to manipulate, repair, and modify technology.
Biotic: A character's ability to control dark matter and manipulate it as a form of personal attack or defense. Biotic is the only attribute in which a character may possibly have no dice (Asari begin with 1D).

Unlike other game systems, such as D20 which uses 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sided dice, the D6 system only uses 6 sided dice. Throughout the details of game mechanics you will find references to both ".. 2D, 5D+2.. " and so on. To clarify: this is the same as saying "2D6 or 5D6+2."

When you put dice in an attribute, you can either put whole dice in each attribute, or you can give each a mixture of whole dice and pips. Each die equals three pips.
e.g. You’ve distributed most of your attribute dice, but you have four dice left to put in Perception and Technical. You could put 1D in Perception and 3D in Technical, or 1D+2 in Perception and 2D+1 in Technical, or some similar combination.

All species have unique attribute minimum and maximum values which are listed on each species' page - you may access all MUSH allowable species from the top Wiki menu.

Attribute Advancement

The attributes you choose for your character represent their maximum potential. Most of the time, you will improve your character by improving skills, or with modified equipment that may provide attribute or skill related bonuses. However, there are times where you may wish to increase the base Attribute in order to achieve an "across-the-board" increase to all skills under that Attribute. It is, though, expensive to raise an Attribute and it will take time, reflecting upon the fact that physical or mental improvements are slow developmental processes. Learning to play the piano at a basic level (a skill) can happen in weeks. Learning to become more fleet footed or to improve over all balance (dexterity attribute) would take months maybe even years for significant improvement (Dex 2D to Dex 3D).

To increase an attribute by one pip after Character Creation costs 10 times the number before the attribute’s current "D" in experience points (XP).
e.g. To improve Strength from 2D to 2D+1 would cost 20XP. While improving Perception of 3D+2 to 4D would cost 30 XP.

Skills

Skills are specific applications of an attribute. For example, the skill dodge is a specific use of your character’s Dexterity. Characters may advance skills beyond Character Creation limits by spending experience points (XP) through scenes with other players or by participating in organized game plots. See the Skill Advancement section below for more details.

All skills listed under an attribute begin at that attribute’s die code. To choose skills in which the character has trained or has some experience, add character points into the desired skill.
e.g. You’ve chosen your attribute scores, putting 2D+1 Attribute Dice into Technical. If you want your character to be better in the demolitions skill, you could add 3 points into the demolitions skill, making it +3, and giving you a total Demolitions skill of 2D+1 (+3), rolled as 2D+1+3. However, if you decide that you will add 2 more pips into the base Technical attribute to improve all Technical skills (trained or not), the demolitions score becomes 3D(Technical Attribute) +3 (skill points), rolled as 3D+3.

The number of trained skills under each attribute that a character may purchase while in Character Creation with is equal to the number of dice and pips in the attribute plus number of dice on your knowledge attribute.
e.g. You have purchased Technical at 3D+1 and your Knowledge skill is 3D. The total numerical value is 7, so you may "train" up to 7 total skills while in Character Creation beyond the base Technical Attribute value of 3D+1.

Untrained skills may still be used but default to their governing attribute value and may only become "trained" skills by purchasing the skill or and increase to the Attribute itself once you are approved and earning XP from roleplay and plot participation.

Skill Advancement

Learning New Skills

The cost of a new skill equals five XP minus the number of whole dice in the governing attribute. Final cost cannot be lower than one.
e.g. You have 3D in Mechanical. The cost to learn a new skill would be 5 - 3 = 2XP to acquire the new skill at +1.

You may not purchase a new skill and improve it past +1 in the same XP cycle.

Improving Skills

The XP cost to raise a trained skill by one point equals the number of the points after the improvement.
e.g. A character has dodge at +5 and wants to increase it. To raise the skill to +6, the player must spend six XP. To increase the skill to +7, the character must spend another seven XP and so on.

A skill may only be improved by one skill level per week, even if the player has sufficient XP to purchase additional skill levels
e.g. A player has Electronics at +4. It will cost 5 points to reach +5. The player has earned 12 XP, which is enough to buy both +5 and +6 levels (11 points total). They still may only spend XP to reach +5 and then must request an XP spend to +6 in the next week/XP cycle.

Skill Specialization

Characters may specialize in two skills. Specializations reflect a greater familiarity in a particular area covered by a base skill.

When you give your character specializations built off of base skills you have already purchased, those specializations are considered bonuses when attempting specific related tasks.
e.g. A player decides to make a mechanic character. After taking 3D in Technical, they purchase Repair at +3 as a trained skill. Then the player purchases a specialization of Repair: APC Mechanic (specialization) at +2. When making general repair rolls, the player rolls only repair: 3D+3, but when trying to repair an APC the character may roll: 3D+3+2.

You add the specialization's value to a roll only when you use the specific item or knowledge reflected by the specialization. For all other situations you will only roll the base skill (or attribute if you didn’t purchase it as a trained skill).
e.g. If your character’s Technical is 2D+2 and her demolitions is +4, you could give her a demolitions specialization of vehicles also at +4. Then when she is attempting to blow up planetary vehicles, she rolls 2D and adds 10 to the total, rolled as: 2D+2+4+4).

You decide that for your second specialization, you’ll give your character vehicle repair: ground vehicles, but you won’t take the full vehicle repair skill for her, spending just +4 in the specialization. This allows your character to have vehicle repair: ground vehicles at 2D+2+4 (adding +4 to the die code of the base attribute, Technical, which is 2D+2). Thus, when your character attempts to fix a hovercraft, you roll 2D+6, but if she tries to make adjustments to a boat, you only rely on the attribute’s score, which is 2D+2.

The maximum number of points the character may place into any base skill in Character Generation cannot be more than +9 greater than the governing attribute, while specializations can be no more than +10 greater than their base skill. If you specialize without also purchasing the base skill it remains capped at +10 above the attribute.

Outside of Character Generation, both Skills and Specializations may be increased to a maximum of +18.

You can find the list of skills, with definitions, here.

Specialization Advancement

Learning New Specializations

Characters may only, ever, have two specializations. You may not purchase a specialization in a base skill the same week as a request for that base skill.
e.g. A character does not have Dex/Ranged. They request Ranged +1. They may not purchase Ranged: SMG(Specialization) in the same week. They must wait until the following week. They may at that time, however increase the base skill by another level AND purchase a specialization in it however.

Improving Specializations

The XP cost to increase a specialization is one-half the level the specialization will be raised to, rounded up.
e.g. A character has Ranged: (Shotgun) +6. It will cost (7 / 2 = 3.5 rounded up) 4XP to improve the specialization to +7.

Talents

Talents are a further definition of what a character has been trained to do. Talent categories are broken down into three areas: Biotics, Combat, and Tech. For more details on specific talents and any prerequisites to qualify for them, please refer to the Talents section of the System menu.

Talents are more powerful and cost more.
To purchase a Talent in Character Generation it will cost 1 point.

Biotic talents are increased using character points, similar to skills. You may purchase any Biotic Talent up to +6 in Character Generation.

  • Biotic Talents: You may only buy as many Biotic Talents as you have Whole Dice in Biotics.

e.g. 3D+2 = up to 3 Biotic Talents

  • Combat Talents: You may only buy as many Combat Talents as you have Whole Dice in Dexterity and Strength total, rounded down.

e.g. 3D+1 in Dexterity and 2D+2 in Strength = 6D. You could purchase up to 6 Combat Talents

  • Tech Talents: You may only buy as many Tech Talents as you have Whole Dice in Technical and Mechanical total, rounded down.

e.g. 3D+1 in Technical and 2D+1 in Mechanical = 5D+2. You could purchase up to 5 Tech Talents

Talent Advancement

Buying New Talents

New Biotic, Combat and Tech talents cost 5XP to purchase.

The character must meet all prerequisites before requesting a new talent purchase. They may not make an Attribute/Skill purchase at the same time as requesting a new Talent purchase even if they have enough XP. If an Attribute (e.g. Biotics) or Skill is raised by +request in order to satisfy the requirements of a desired new talent, the talent purchase +request may not be made until one week after the skill/attribute request. This is to reflect in-game time developing the higher attribute/skill level.

Improving Biotic Talents

The cost to raise an already trained Biotic talent by one +level equals the number of the talent's points after improvement in XP.
e.g. A character has barrier at +5 and wants to increase it. To raise the biotic talent to +6, the player must spend six XP. To increase the skill to +7, the character must spend another seven XP and so on.

A Biotic Talent may only be improved by one level per week, even if the player has sufficient XP to purchase additional skill levels
e.g. A player has Pull at +4. It will cost 5 XP to reach +5. The player has earned 12 XP, which is enough to buy both +5 and +6 levels (11 points total). They may only spend XP to reach +5 in one week's period.

Wild Die

Whenever any player, including the GM, makes any roll, one of the dice must be different from the rest (in color or denotation). Designated as the Wild Die, this die represents the vagaries of life — like the direction of the wind affecting the flight of a bullet — that are too small to warrant their own difficulty modifiers.

If the player rolls a 6 on the Wild Die, this is called a Critical Success and she may add the 6 to her roll total and then reroll the Wild Die again. As long as she turns up Critical Successes on that die, she may continue to add them to her total and continue to reroll the Wild Die. If she rolls a 2-5 on the Wild Die, she adds that number to the total and stops rolling.

If the player rolls a 1 on the initial toss of the Wild Die, this is called a Critical Failure. The Critical Failure cancels out the highest die in the roll. Then the player adds the remaining values, and the roll is determined normally, but a complication occurs. The GM gauges the significance of the complication by the total generated — from a "nearly didn’t make it" result for a high total to a serious "we have a problem" obstacle for a low over all roll total.

On Mass Effect: Legends, the first D6 is always observed as the Wild Die in appropriate rolls.
If there is only 1D, it is still the Wild Die.

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