Combat
Combat is among the main focuses of Mass Effect, and is therefore also one of the main focuses of Mass Effect Tabletop. As in most role playing games, combat is where the game gets strict with rules and becomes turn based. There is still freedom to improvise, and anything not directly listed here is under discretion of the DM.
On each player's turn, they have a certain amount of AP to spend (More on that in the "Action Points (AP)" tab). They may use it on any number of actions, however any leftover AP at the end of the turn go to waste, and are not rolled over into the next turn.
The goal of combat will change from battle to battle. Sometimes the goal is to kill all enemies, sometimes it is to get safely to an evac point, sometimes it is to intimidate the enemy into submission. Whatever the goal, combat will only finish once the bullets stop flying.
On each player's turn, they have a certain amount of AP to spend (More on that in the "Action Points (AP)" tab). They may use it on any number of actions, however any leftover AP at the end of the turn go to waste, and are not rolled over into the next turn.
The goal of combat will change from battle to battle. Sometimes the goal is to kill all enemies, sometimes it is to get safely to an evac point, sometimes it is to intimidate the enemy into submission. Whatever the goal, combat will only finish once the bullets stop flying.
The Turn Order
Combat in the Mass Effect Tabletop is carried out in rounds. Within each round, each combatant gets a turn. At the beginning of each round, every combatant makes an initiative roll, and are ordered from greatest to least to determine in which order they will act. Any ties between allies may be resolved by agreement, but otherwise ties must be resolved by opposed initiative rolls. A combatant's initiative bonus is determined by their dexterity modifier plus any relevant modifiers.
Movement
During a battle, a soldier must move. There are many types of movement, from walking normally, to dashing, to crawling, to rolling. All movement costs AP depending on how far you move.
Certain movement types grant bonuses to defenses. These bonuses do not stack with one another; only the largest applicable defense bonus applies per turn, and the bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Certain movement types grant bonuses to defenses. These bonuses do not stack with one another; only the largest applicable defense bonus applies per turn, and the bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Hustle
The standard quick walk, Hustling is the most basic way to get around. It costs 3 AP to move one meter. You cannot hustle while prone.
Dash
Running, when you really have to get somewhere fast. You must run in a straight line, and it costs 2 AP per meter moved. When dashing, you gain a +2 dodge defense bonus until the start of your next turn, which does not stack with rolling. You cannot dash while prone.
Crawl
Crawling costs 6 AP per meter moved. You must be prone to crawl.
Roll
You may perform a dodge roll on your turn. This costs 7 AP. You may roll up to 3 meters away in a straight line. When rolling, you gain +4 bonus to dodge defense until the start of your next turn, which does not stack with dashing. You must be standing to roll, and may end your roll either standing or prone. You may only roll once per turn.
Lying Prone
You may lie prone in combat. This restricts your movement, however it also reduces your profile, granting +3 bonus to dodge defense. While prone, you can only move yourself with the crawl action. Dropping prone from a standing position costs 2 AP. Standing from prone costs 4 AP.
Attacking
Firearms
The most common form of attack in Mass Effect, firearms are rather straightforward. Take a gun, point, shoot. Using any gun does not take any specific training, however some classes are better with some weapons. Firearms come in 6 types: Heavy Pistol, SMG, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle and Heavy Weapon.
Firing a gun requires both line of sight and line of effect. Most guns can break through thin cover like sheet metal or windows, but anything thick, like a doorframe or brick wall, will stop any bullet whose weapon does not have the Piercing property.
To fire with a gun, first select your target, and spend AP equal to however many shots you fire times the weapon's AP cost. Roll a 20 sided die, add your Perception Modifier and any other related modifier. Compare this result with your target's defense score, which is 10 plus any related dodge or cover modifiers. If your attack total is higher than the target's defense score, you hit your target and deal damage noted in the weapon's "Damage" property. If your attack roll is equal to the target DC, you graze the target and deal half the listed damage. If the total is less than the target DC, you miss the enemy. Subtract ammo in your magazine for every shot you fired. When a magazine is empty, it must be reloaded with a thermal clip before it can be fired again, costing AP noted in the weapon's "Reload" property.
Firing a gun requires both line of sight and line of effect. Most guns can break through thin cover like sheet metal or windows, but anything thick, like a doorframe or brick wall, will stop any bullet whose weapon does not have the Piercing property.
To fire with a gun, first select your target, and spend AP equal to however many shots you fire times the weapon's AP cost. Roll a 20 sided die, add your Perception Modifier and any other related modifier. Compare this result with your target's defense score, which is 10 plus any related dodge or cover modifiers. If your attack total is higher than the target's defense score, you hit your target and deal damage noted in the weapon's "Damage" property. If your attack roll is equal to the target DC, you graze the target and deal half the listed damage. If the total is less than the target DC, you miss the enemy. Subtract ammo in your magazine for every shot you fired. When a magazine is empty, it must be reloaded with a thermal clip before it can be fired again, costing AP noted in the weapon's "Reload" property.
Melee Attacks
Whether it's hitting someone with the butt of your rifle, slashing with an omni blade or giving someone an old fashioned Glasgow Kiss, Melee attacks are a foundation for any good fight. Melee attacks must be made at melee range, naturally, so you must be adjacent to the enemy and have line of effect.
To attack with a melee weapon, select a target and spend 6 AP (Unless otherwise noted in weapon or misc stats.) Roll a D20 and add your Dexterity modifier and any other related modifier. The defense score of your target is equal to your their Fitness or Dexterity score, whichever is higher, plus or minus any of their relevant modifiers. Dodge and Cover bonuses do not benefit someone defending from a melee attack. If your accuracy roll is higher than the target's defense, deal physical damage equal to your weapon's damage + your fitness score + any misc modifiers. If your accuracy roll is equal to the target's defense score, deal half this damage. Improvised weapons, such as the butt of a gun or any improvised solid object, have a weapon damage of 10. Unarmed strikes have a weapon damage of 0. This damage has no modifiers based on health type. In addition, any enemy hit by your melee attack loses 3 AP on their next turn. This AP loss does not stack with multiple melee attacks. If the accuracy total is less than the target's defense score, the attack is blocked, dodged or otherwise has no effect.
Attacking an enemy you cannot see means you must choose a direction to attack and suffer a -5 penalty to your accuracy roll. If you choose a direction with no creatures, your hit misses no matter what your roll.
To attack with a melee weapon, select a target and spend 6 AP (Unless otherwise noted in weapon or misc stats.) Roll a D20 and add your Dexterity modifier and any other related modifier. The defense score of your target is equal to your their Fitness or Dexterity score, whichever is higher, plus or minus any of their relevant modifiers. Dodge and Cover bonuses do not benefit someone defending from a melee attack. If your accuracy roll is higher than the target's defense, deal physical damage equal to your weapon's damage + your fitness score + any misc modifiers. If your accuracy roll is equal to the target's defense score, deal half this damage. Improvised weapons, such as the butt of a gun or any improvised solid object, have a weapon damage of 10. Unarmed strikes have a weapon damage of 0. This damage has no modifiers based on health type. In addition, any enemy hit by your melee attack loses 3 AP on their next turn. This AP loss does not stack with multiple melee attacks. If the accuracy total is less than the target's defense score, the attack is blocked, dodged or otherwise has no effect.
Attacking an enemy you cannot see means you must choose a direction to attack and suffer a -5 penalty to your accuracy roll. If you choose a direction with no creatures, your hit misses no matter what your roll.
Heavy Melee
If your weapon has the Heavy Melee property, you may instead choose to spend 10 AP to deal twice the regular amount of damage and incur an AP penalty of 5. Otherwise, the rules are the same.
Powers
With every class comes powers, which you can pool talent points into upgrading. These powers are extremely varied, and have many kinds of effects. Generally, they use accuracy checks similar to those of firearms and melee attacks, however they use different ability scores. All powers, with the exception of passive powers such as Cryo Ammo or powers used with firearms like Concussive Shot require at least one free hand to use, cannot be aimed, and cannot score headshots.
Aiming Abilities
Line of Sight and Line of Effect
Most abilities require you to be able to see your opponent, and for your attack not to be blocked. Line of Sight means that you must be able to see at least one part of your target. Line of effect means anything you launch at your target must not be impeded by any object. Certain situations may impede one line but not another; for example, a character has line of sight on an enemy who is hiding behind reinforced glass, however there is typically no line of effect, as most bullets or powers would not penetrate the glass. On the other hand, smoke grenades impede the character's ability to see the enemy, even though there is nothing physically blocking them from firing.
Aiming
Firing from the hip certainly looks cool, but it is far from effective. To aim with a weapon, select a target and spend 4 AP. Aiming grants +3 to accuracy against this target until you perform any action other than attacking the target, or until the beginning of your next turn, whichever comes first.
Headshots
Headshots, or "Critical Hits", happen when an accuracy roll is made, and the d20 result is a natural 20 (Natural: just the die roll, before modifiers). If the attack hits the enemy, you score a headshot and deal 3x the normal amount of damage. If you must roll to determine your shot damage, multiply the total damage after rolling. Any damage modifiers are also multiplied when scoring a headshot.
If the target does not have a head, or the head is, for some reason, not particularly vulnerable, damage is still multiplied, and the shot is considered otherwise well placed.
If the target does not have a head, or the head is, for some reason, not particularly vulnerable, damage is still multiplied, and the shot is considered otherwise well placed.
Aiming Headshots
Rather than simply aiming at the enemy, it is possible to aim specifically for the head. Doing so has the exact same rules as regular aiming, however rather than the +3 to accuracy, you can hit with these shots on a roll of natural 19 or 20. If you already have an increased critical threshold, simply add so there is one extra value that can result in a headshot. For example, if your critical threshold is naturally 18 to 20, aiming a headshot increases to 17 to 20.
Any penalty that states that you cannot aim also inhibits aiming headshots.
Any penalty that states that you cannot aim also inhibits aiming headshots.
Firing with one hand
Firearms are designed to be used with two hands, however they can be fired with one hand, should the other be occupied. When firing a weapon in one hand, suffer a -3 penalty to the accuracy of the shot, and you cannot aim. If you are firing two weapons at the same time, both weapons suffer a -6 penalty to accuracy, and you cannot aim. When firing a weapon in either hand, spend AP and draw from this value to fire each gun. For example, if you are firing a weapon that requires 2 AP to fire and a weapon that requires 3 AP to fire, you may spend 6 AP to fire the former weapon three times and the latter weapon twice. You could also spend 4 AP to fire the former weapon twice, however the latter weapon is only fired once, and the extra AP spent on the latter weapon is wasted.
Readied/Suppressing Fire
You may prepare for an enemy to move, peek out of cover, or otherwise show themselves before you shoot. To do so, you must stay peeked out of cover or otherwise be capable of firing, and spend AP equal to how many shots you plan to fire. You retain any aiming benefits from your turn. At any time until the beginning of your next turn, you may declare an attack and fire however many shots you readied on the target of your choice. After you fire, you remain where you were and cannot move until the beginning of your turn. You interrupt any action that has not yet been resolved when you declare your attack.
Blind Fire
Blind firing a weapon is holding the weapon out of your cover without peeking out and looking at what you shoot. To do so, you must be in cover. Choose a straight line from yourself, rather than a target, and the attack targets the first creature that the line crosses. Calculate the attack normally, however you do not gain any attack bonus from weapon precision, perception modifier, or aim. You also incur a -3 penalty to this attack. You may not blind fire a power.
Defense
A character's defense modifier represents how difficult they are to be hit by an attack. This value changes frequently based on their current situation, and is modified by two major factors, cover and dodge. All characters begin with a base defense of 10.
Cover
Taking cover is the act of hiding behind an object from your enemy. Cover grants bonuses to your your defense, could negate line of sight or effect and could allow for a stealthy entry to a guarded area. Cover can be of various heights and sizes, such as floor-to-ceiling or chest-high.
Cover comes in 3 types:
Light cover: This includes objects that do not entirely cover the entire body, or can be easily shot through. This includes trees, sheet metal or benches. This cover grants a +4 cover bonus to defense.
Moderate cover: This is an object that fully covers the body, but does not allow a full range of movement while obscured. A low vehicle, sandbag wall or upturned table are all examples of moderate cover. These types of cover most often grant +8 cover bonus to defense.
Superior cover: This is the toughest kind of cover; allowing even larger combatants to be completely obscured and be able to move freely while remaining hidden. This could include a floor to ceiling wall, a large truck, or pillbox. This is extremely difficult to hit through, and thus it is usually better to use suppressing fire explosives to circumvent it. Superior cover grants a +12 cover bonus to defense.
You need only move behind and against a piece of cover to gain the benefits of cover. Cover only grants benefits if the attack is coming from a location whose line of effect is impeded by the location of the cover.
While taking cover, it is impossible to fire past it. Therefore, it is necessary to peek out of cover in order to fire at any target on the opposite side. It costs 2 AP to peek out of cover, however your cover bonus is halved for as long as you are peeked out. It costs another 2 AP to duck back into cover. If you do not peek out of cover, you can only fire via blind-fire.
Cover comes in 3 types:
Light cover: This includes objects that do not entirely cover the entire body, or can be easily shot through. This includes trees, sheet metal or benches. This cover grants a +4 cover bonus to defense.
Moderate cover: This is an object that fully covers the body, but does not allow a full range of movement while obscured. A low vehicle, sandbag wall or upturned table are all examples of moderate cover. These types of cover most often grant +8 cover bonus to defense.
Superior cover: This is the toughest kind of cover; allowing even larger combatants to be completely obscured and be able to move freely while remaining hidden. This could include a floor to ceiling wall, a large truck, or pillbox. This is extremely difficult to hit through, and thus it is usually better to use suppressing fire explosives to circumvent it. Superior cover grants a +12 cover bonus to defense.
You need only move behind and against a piece of cover to gain the benefits of cover. Cover only grants benefits if the attack is coming from a location whose line of effect is impeded by the location of the cover.
While taking cover, it is impossible to fire past it. Therefore, it is necessary to peek out of cover in order to fire at any target on the opposite side. It costs 2 AP to peek out of cover, however your cover bonus is halved for as long as you are peeked out. It costs another 2 AP to duck back into cover. If you do not peek out of cover, you can only fire via blind-fire.
Dodge
While it is not feasible to actually be able to dodge a bullet after it is launched, a creature can move quickly and erratically, or shrink their silhouette in order to make it difficult for an enemy to land an accurate shot. See the "Movement" and "Lying Prone" sections for sources of Dodge bonuses.
Health
In many roleplaying games, there is only one health bar. In Mass Effect Tabletop, there are several. Health comes in four types that must be depleted in this order: Shields, Barrier, Armour and Vitals. Not everyone possesses multiple bars, and in fact it is nearly unheard of to have all four. Only when all bars are depleted will the target be incapacitated, or killed.
If one type of health is depleted, any excess damage is applied to the next bar. Any damage multipliers that affected the first bar (ex. a sniper rifle that deals extra damage against armour) still deal their total damage as though the new bar is the same type as the first.
If one type of health is depleted, any excess damage is applied to the next bar. Any damage multipliers that affected the first bar (ex. a sniper rifle that deals extra damage against armour) still deal their total damage as though the new bar is the same type as the first.
Shields
The first line of defense, electronic forcefield-like shields are created by Shield Modulators, implanted on one's person, but easy to remove or replace. Shields are vulnerable to rapid fire weapons and many Tech powers such as Overload, but resistant to most heavy-hitting firearms and nullify many biotic powers. When damaged, most shields auto-repair after a certain time. The strength of a shield, rate of repair and delay to begin repairing vary on the shield modulator in question. Shields are quite common and front-line fighters that lack biotic barriers almost always use them.
Barrier
This biotic shield is created using the Barrier biotic power. This shielding does not auto-repair itself, but can be refreshed with another use of "Barrier". A new use does not stack with the existing barrier, but simply refreshes it back to its original strength. Biotic shielding is extremely resistant to tech powers and hard-hitting firearms, however is very vulnerable to other biotic powers such as Reave and rapid-fire firearms, most notably the Submachine Gun. A barrier cannot be active at the same time as a shield.
Armour
While not all pieces of armour contribute to the Armour health, it is one of the toughest health types to break through. Resistant to Biotics, rapid-fire weaponry and some Tech powers, the only reliable way to pierce this health bar is through hard-hitting, guns or blasts of fire. In addition, armour completely negates the effects of most biotic powers. The main drawback of Armour is its expensive upkeep: It cannot auto-repair and must be manually fixed if damaged.
Vitals
Vitals are the last line of defense, a creatures' natural health. Every organic creature has a Vitals bar. It is based on the creature's Fitness score and Race (see "Race") and is vulnerable to all types of damage equally. When a creature's current vitals level falls below half of their vitals maximum, they begin to suffer penalties outlined below. Vitals can be restored naturally over time, or with Medi-Gel, as described below.
Your vitals increase by die roll at every level. At first level, upon creation of your character, your total health is equal to the maximum possible roll you could make at this level. For example, a first level quarian begins the game with 80 health.
Your vitals increase by die roll at every level. At first level, upon creation of your character, your total health is equal to the maximum possible roll you could make at this level. For example, a first level quarian begins the game with 80 health.
Medi-Gel
Medi-Gel is an advanced healing gel. It is commonplace for medical stations or military squads, but private citizens may have a hard time securing it. It can be used to cure most simple illnesses, immediately restore a character's vitals to max, or wake an unconscious character. Medi-Gel costs 6 AP to apply, and can be used on oneself or any other adjacent character.
Death and Dying
Upon reaching 0 Vitals, a creature falls unconscious and enters critical condition. All natural healing ceases, however shields can still recharge as normal. The creature falls prone, receives no AP on their turn, and cannot take any actions. The creature still take damage from attacks as normal. If their vitals decrease to the negative value of half of their total health, they die. Once a creature again has a positive current vitals, it regains consciousness.
Until the creature is stabilised, on its turn it takes 1d20 points of damage from bleeding out. This damage is unmodified, untyped and cannot be resisted or reduced in any way.
Once a creature is stabilised, it no longer takes damage from bleeding out. Instead, on its turn, it rolls 1d20 and heals that amount. This healing is unmodified, untyped and cannot be improved in any way. The creature cannot be healed past 1 point of vitals as a result of this healing. The creature stops healing this amount when it is once again conscious.
If Medi-Gel is applied to a dying creature, they are immediately woken to consciousness with 1 point of vitals.
Any conscious, adjacent creature may spend 10 AP to attempt first aid on the dying creature. This action requires a DC 15 Medical check. If successful, the creature is stabilised and heals an amount of vitals equal to the result of the Medical check. The creature cannot be healed past 1 point of vitals as a result of this healing.
Until the creature is stabilised, on its turn it takes 1d20 points of damage from bleeding out. This damage is unmodified, untyped and cannot be resisted or reduced in any way.
Once a creature is stabilised, it no longer takes damage from bleeding out. Instead, on its turn, it rolls 1d20 and heals that amount. This healing is unmodified, untyped and cannot be improved in any way. The creature cannot be healed past 1 point of vitals as a result of this healing. The creature stops healing this amount when it is once again conscious.
If Medi-Gel is applied to a dying creature, they are immediately woken to consciousness with 1 point of vitals.
Any conscious, adjacent creature may spend 10 AP to attempt first aid on the dying creature. This action requires a DC 15 Medical check. If successful, the creature is stabilised and heals an amount of vitals equal to the result of the Medical check. The creature cannot be healed past 1 point of vitals as a result of this healing.