A Galaxy Free of Reapers - Mass Effect Interest Check

[Miyr]

I am wondering if there are any players out there that are interested in doing a Mass Effect themed group game. I advertised for a one x one Mass Effect story and there were no takers. For anyone that would be interested in doing a group story based on this fantastic series of games, please feel free to comment below with ideas, suggestions, or character proposals.

My general plot idea follows the concept that the Reapers were defeated by Commander Shepard and her crew. The galaxy is now struggling in the aftermath of a Reaper-free universe.  There are still terrible scars left on planets and in people’s hearts. Not all races have adjusted and adapted to this new reality as well as others. The galactic power balance has also shifted, giving humanity a stronger foothold in the universe.

I am open to people playing any of the races (excluding Reaper) or classes that were present in the game. Our characters will become a crew on a new ship with a new mission (left open to discussion). If the timelines line up and someone is really interested in playing an existing Mass Effect character, we can discuss that as well. Otherwise I am planning on the crew being new original characters. I’m also willing to let people double up on characters.

Plot

This story will revolve around a new crew trying to survive in a universe where all races learn to coexist together and follow the path Commander Shepard has set forward for them.

Idea 1: A mix matched group of scientists, technicians and soldiers band together after the Reapers are destroyed. They had been charged with working on the crucible and are currently stranded at the rendezvous point Admiral Hackett commanded the ships to flee too. This group comes together in the aftermath and tries to find their way home or possibly explore potential ways to help heal the universe.

Idea 2: This team assembles in Omega, anywhere from 5-50 years after the Reapers were defeated. The mass effect relays are well under repair, some already completely repaired so hyperspace travel is semi-functional between the various systems. The Citadel (now hovering over Earth) is far along in the repair process and is partially inhabited by various council species.

This crew will either work under Aria’s guidance as a special tactics force of Omega, creating mayhem or peace depending on her current whims. How and why they would work for Aria would be set up during plot development.

Another possibility is that they assemble in Omega, being recruited by advertisements or various newsblasts by the Alliance, The Council, or potentially be agents of The Shadow Broker. The "mission" given to the crew could vary from obtaining Reaper/Prothean tech to further the technology of Omega/The Alliance/The Council, go help repair mass relays, investigate new unknown depths of the universe, or possibly just be out for their own gains.

I'm thinking that the members of the crew are survivors of the war (if of a longer living race) or their descendants. These individuals could hold Spectre status or simply be hired guns. If they are agents of the Shadow Broker, their status would vary depending on race and rank.

Idea 3: It has been 100-300 years since the Reapers were defeated by Shepard. Mass relays are fully repaired and Earth now serves as the capital hub of council space. The Citadel hovers over Earth, completely repaired. Humanity is the dominant race of the galaxy, working closely with the other races of the galaxy to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.

This group could delve further into the origin of the Reapers, potentially investigating more truths about the Protheans, or are focused on rebuilding the galaxy and furthering their respective organization's goals.

Most of the characters would be descendants of the people that fought in the war, primarily having known peaceful times and avoided the chaos of war.

Idea 4: Prior to the defeat of the Reapers, a group of people band together and lend their assistance to defeating the reapers. This would simulate the various online multiplayer battles. There would be an objective to obtain Reaper/Prothean tech and the team would go in to get it. Who they are working for could vary from The Alliance, The Council, The Shadow Broker, Cerberus, or for the Crucible.

Idea 5: If you like certain elements of my suggestions or have your own, please feel free to comment and add below.

After I get some people who are interested, I’ll create an OOC thread with a character sheet to iron out the plot. Please express your interest/comments/questions in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

-Miyr

[Cold Heritage]

I am expressing interest in Idea 4. I might be interested in Idea 2 and Idea 3 if there was a bit more there so I could get a better handle on what the characters might get up to.

[Kendre]

I would be interested in idea 3, myself. However, I agree with Cold Heritage that a bit more plot detail would be nice.

[Miyr]

I have added some more substance to Idea 2, 3 and 4.

I left them vague as they were because I didn't want to seem too redundant. I'm primarily thinking that once the time setting is in place, we would decide where the crew would originate from if we don't force two different elements to work together....Say Council Spectres and Omega Mercenaries.

I was going to see if there was interested candidates before delving in further to plot creation.

[TheRaven]

Dropping by to drop some tentative interest.

[Creative Accountant]

Definitely interested in this! Undecided plot wise at the moment but I will think on it...

P.S. Shepard was a bloke who had a serious bromance with Wrex. I can't believe you referred to him as a her  ::)

[xPeachyPuff]

I would also be very interested in a Mass Effect group game (: I guess I prefer idea three as well really....But I'm not sure I like the idea of human's being the dominate race of the galaxy...I liked how people kinda looked down on them; it would be quite interesting to play out. Not sure how people feel about that idea.

-xSRx

[BruceTheCat]

I'd also like to express interest in the game. I agree though with SR that humans being the non dominant race was something that I enjoyed about the series. However I would like that idea if we play as a party of mostly non humans if that is a option?

Then maybe we could be the ones being persecuted and looked down on.

[Kendre]

Being the underdog is always more fun. I mean, everyone remembers Omega from ME2:

"You, sir, are a blight. And you! And you!"

It just makes for interesting plot, and provides for the hilarious dialogue that Mass Effect was known for.

[Miyr]

Creative Accountant: Don't worry about having to commit to an idea. I am more than willing to open up discussion on the plot once a crew is assembled.

P.S. Where you have AWSM bromance, I have delicious lesbians. :D

xSnorkleRainbow: The reason why I said humanity was the dominant race was because the Citadel is orbiting Earth in the end of ME3. Due to proximity I thought humanity could be the dominant race but I am fine with the non human species remaining the top dogs. :)

Red Lobster: I am fine with people playing non humans and was actually looking forward to having a blended crew.

Kendre: I could see how humanity being the underdogs 'still' would bring amusement to the game. It would definitely be aggravating considering Shepard is human and the Citadel is orbiting the Earth. Udina's actions haunting humanity far off into timespace LOL.

[Kendre]

A wise friend of mine once said of Udina, "Fuck that sheisty old man! He's up to something! He's old and white, and probably a republican!"

[Cold Heritage]

I guess as long as I could play a human heavy weapons guy with like five guns, it's not super important what idea takes hold. I'd really like to play out idea 4 and shoot guns at Reaper forces, Cerberus, and whoever else.

It would be a bit disheartening to me - I ran a Paragon Shepard who tried to bring out the best in everyone - if we set the game after the events of the video games and aliens still looked down on humanity . . . but, well, I guess it's in character for the xenos who spent three games ignoring Shepard.

[Creative Accountant]

A wise friend of mine once said of Udina, "Fuck that sheisty old man! He's up to something! He's old and white, and probably a republican!"

Was Udina white?!?!?

[Kendre]

*facepalm*

[xPeachyPuff]

Alright, I understand what you guys are saying. I suppose at the end of ME3 things would be different, but it would be nice if there were still a lot of anti-human characters around.

-xSRx

[Creative Accountant]

The Batarians are still going to be pissed at Humankind no matter what. I also think the other races will be quite angry that humankind is so powerful so quickly. It took them a long time to become accepted and only the Turians, Asari and Salarians have any real power in the council. There could be some seriously Emotion = Angry Elcor stomping about the Citadel...

[Cold Heritage]

Was Udina white?!?!?

It blew my mind when I started playing three and he started to inconsistently sound Irish.

[Creative Accountant]

It blew my mind when I started playing three and he started to inconsistently sound Irish.

Dear lord! I need to go back and play it again to find this white Irishman!

"Top o the mornin Shepard. What's the craic out in the rest of the galaxy?"

[TheRedFear]

Put me down for idea 4. I have a perfect idea for an N7 Vanguard who was part of the resistance on earth. There could conceivably be other alien races on earth when the Reapers hit(Tourists, Alliance consultants, council spies, maybe even immigrants) so there should be no problem with people wanting to play other races on earth.

We could throw in elements of Idea 1 as well. After the Reapers are finally defeated, we'd have to deal with millions of militarized aliens now stranded above a devastated Earth that can't support it's own population, let alone all these new mouths. You gotta figure the months(possibly years) it's going to take to repair the mass relay is going to be a very tense period of time that tests the strength of this alliance as food and eezo run low, and cerberus splinter factions start rearing their head.

The only question is which ending do we follow? Destruction, Synthesis, or Control? I personally vote for destruction(Sorry EDI!!!), because the race for Reaper salvage would provide alot of tension and storyline potential. Whereas with Synthesis and Control, the Reapers are right there actively helping and eliminating most of the problems for us.

Oh, and preliminary Dibs on the "War Hero" background. Suck it bitches! If memory serves, a Default Shepard started from scratch is "Sole Survivor", so that leaves the Hero of Elysium background wide open for me. Hehe :)

A wise friend of mine once said of Udina, "Fuck that sheisty old man! He's up to something! He's old and white, and probably a republican!"

If he'd been Republican, the Council never would have been able to institute a universal gun ban on the citadel...which means that when Cerberus stormed the Citadel spouting all their anti-alien crap, they would have run head first into a couple of thousand(if not million) armed aliens with fresh memories of what happened when Saren's Geth invaded.

At which point Shepard could have just taken the rest of the day off and waited for Cerberus forces to surrender. Considering how fast Cerberus folded when the unarmed civilians of Omega were set loose on them, Shepard probably would have had just enough time to feed his/her fish.

[Countdown0]

As with anything involving Mass Effect, I'm interested in this if there are still opening available :D

All of the ideas sound good to me :P

I'd prefer to play a human character, bit I'd also be interested in playing some kind of AI :D

[Humbugearthquake]

Hey! Color me interested, I would love to play a geth tech (Favorite character: Legion).
The plot ideas sounds great and just to throw an idea out there for debate I think a fun thing to explore would be the power struggle that might occur in these mayor events, like an intergalactic war. Colonies fighting for independence, pirates taking advantage of the damaged military and roaming free, we could be on a mission to help different planets assume order and peace a few years after the war.

I'll most surely bookmark this and check back in a while :)

[DigitLninja]

I am interested but I have one question and an idea.

Question:
you have merely said that the Reapers are gone, you haven't specified what ending to ME3 we are going to be using if we use one at all. According to the options we have no reapers but also technology no longer exists, that would mean the Geth are dead, most of the Human Biotics would be in a lot of pain or dieing, most of the Quarians would be dead without the technology of there suits.

If we go with option two than the Reapers are servants to the counsel races and eventually someone would decided to steal a reaper to get rich.

Option three is that all races are Tecnorganic and rebuilding the galaxy with no threat of reapers.

Or we could throw all those ideas away and say that the reapers were removed, the Galaxy is back to normal, Shepard is retired with a family on the Quarian home world and happily married to Tali-Zora vas Normandy.



Idea:
I like the idea of having a rag tag group of people on Omega helping Aria clean up after retaking it and losing her friend in the process.

I think the council would have seen all the help the Shadow Broker would have provided to the war effort and spoken with her about coordinating the Specter forces, make her the operations chief for all Specter's.

I would also say that Omega would be the perfect training ground for potential recruits, the Broker would be working with Aria to keep Omega under her thumb while at the same time taking down some potential threats to the galaxy without drawing too much attention to themselves.

I would also say that the Broker would position a Turian Specter as the commanding officer, someone who remains known only by the code name 'Archangel' and remains fully suited when in public...

That gives us some fin references to play with, some reasoning behind the group being formed and plenty of missions to chose from, including investigating why Cerberus was so interested in the location.

[TheRedFear]

In the modified Destruction ending, the destruction is bad but repairable. Which probably makes it the best option since the other two endingings are effectively conflict-free thanks to the prescence of the reapers actively helping everyone.

[Cold Heritage]

With Control you have have everyone going "Sic Semper Tyranis" to Shep-Catalyst, what with its proclamations that it would "destroy those who threatened the future of the many." But then it's just Reaper War 2: Sheplectric Boogaloo.

Does the Destroy ending address indoctrination? Having dead Reapers lying around didn't seem like a good thing when it showed up in-game, but the ending makes it seem like we're supposed to infer it just doesn't happen anymore.


I am not in favour of DigitLninja's ideas. They are not for me.

[TheRedFear]

I could easily see reaper "corpses" still indoctrinating those who aren't sufficiently careful about attempting to salvage them. You end up with Reaper cults trying to ressurect their masters.

[Miyr]

Sorry everyone, I went on holiday since my last post and was met with an amazing lack of internet and cell service. I am now going to read through the posts and answer questions/comments as best as I can (considering I've missed a lot of dialogue).

Just wanted to get a post out here that I am reading so people are aware I'm back.

[Miyr]

I know that quite a few people expressed interest in my plot ideas. I also noticed some interest in multiple plots. I'm going to pitch this out there that we could possibly do two different threads that have different plots. Just an option I wanted to get out there.

Now to answer questions:

TheRedFear and DigitLNinja: I did not specify which ending in my plot ideas because I was going to wait until I had a group of people assembled. I wanted to have a poll for which ending we wanted to pursue if we didn't create our own variation (say Destruction but the Geth and EDI remain or are salvageable which makes the Quarians survive).

Humbugearthquake: I think an intergalactic war could be interesting, but I don't know if that would necessarily happen considering Shepard got everyone to unite. Granted, the Batarians wouldn't want to align with the new alliance between races, but they are so wiped out I don't see them being a large threat. So it's something I think that could be pursued, but I wouldn't focus on it with this probably.

However....With the "Omega" plot line we could definitely play out a more "chaotic" galactic scene because we have all the merc groups fighting and Aria trying to keep them under control.

DigitLNinja: I don't know about the Shadow Broker and Aria working together as closely as you suggest, but the ideas you came up could be elaborated on further if we were to create an Omega themed game.

Comments:

When it comes to playable races, I am open to anything within reason. I would like to see a good mesh of races in the game.

The idea that there are "Reaper Cultists" is very fascinating in my mind. I know that the Reapers are destroyed in the "Destroy" ending, but who's to say that their minions were? If we alter the "Destruction" ending to where alternative versions of technology were not effected, this could work. And to be frank, the signal that destroys the Reapers could have been altered/fine tuned to only impact them. They have their own communication system through their "hive mind mentality", so it could have been introduced to them through that.

If I missed anything, I apologize. Just bring it up again and I'll address it.

[Cold Heritage]

In my game, it was possible to get the Batarian fleet remnants to join as a war asset, some of them fight alongside the N7 teams in the multiplayer, and I think EDI mentions that the Batarian refugees, without the oversight of the Hegemony proper, were not as xenophobic as might otherwise be expected. The Batarian slavers, pirates, and other criminals would probably stay criminals, but I think if we wanted to we could have the post-Battle for Earth Batarian government be on side with the anti-Reaper Alliance, even if it's only to get some help rebuilding.

I think that a Destroy ending with 'destroys Reapers only' is probably the most conducive to having a lot of interesting possibilities open to us.

[Miyr]

Because I know a lot of discussion may start on plot, I created an OOC thread so we don't spam up the interest thread. OOC Thread

Cold Heritage: I had the same thing happen in my game. I even blackmailed/pistol whipped one into fighting for me. I can see Batarians swinging either way depending on how we build it up.

[DigitLninja]

I have my double character set up.