Good morning. The tabletop subforum is young and rather sparse. I would like to help rectify this by running a game, should there be sufficient interest.

[u]The System[/u]

I plan to use Robin D. Laws' [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest_%28role-playing_game%29]Heroquest[/url] system (not to be confused with the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest]other[/url] Heroquest). Chances are you haven't even heard of it before. That's alright - I don't require any prior familiarity with the system and I am willing to take care of much of it by myself and explain the rest as we go. If I do my job right, then not being familiar with the system shouldn't be a major handicap at all, the way it might be with some other games. That is because Heroquest is a narrativist game, geared less towards number-crunching and realistic simulation and more towards telling a story, something that everyone here should have at least a passing familiarity with.

[u]The Setting[/u]

Bioware's Mass Effect trilogy (or is that quadrology now?) you are more likely to have heard of, on average. I expect anyone who would be interested in this game to be at least somewhat familiar with and more importantly interested in its setting, though I do not require academical expertise or 100% completion (besides, the [url=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_Wiki]wiki[/url] is always at your disposal). That is an actual requirement as well as an assumption, because I'm not sure why else someone would want to play this; playing around with the Mass Effect setting is a big part of what I look forward to in relation to this game, and I hope that the same goes for any interested players.

That being said, this isn't exactly the same Mass Effect setting. I prefer to be true to its spirit than to its letter. On the surface, things may be similar enough - there is the Citadel Council, the human Systems Alliance that is trying to join the turian-asari-salarian trio, the Batarian Hegemony that lurks in the Terminus Systems. There are even some familiar NPCs out there, though their role in the story may end up being very different. But there are also certain... creative additions and changes that may not be apparent at first glance. Some are relatively mild reinterpretations: for instance, I think the game hadn't really sold how new and not-so-ubiquitous humans would be in the galaxy at large, and I plan to play up that angle. Others are simple expansions that do not contradict the canon but build off it: it has been implied now and then that there are other minor species in the Terminus Systems that Commander Shepard has never encountered, and existing races may have some rogue colonies out there as well... not that the asari Matriarchs would want you to know that. Changes like those should add to the diversity and the excitement of exploration - something that I think was a very big part of the fun of playing through Mass Effect on the first time, and that I want to recapture here.

But I've also taken the liberty to rearrange some of the setting's deeper secrets. The Shadow Broker is still out there, but his (or her, or their) true identity and motivations are different, and you might never find them out. Systems Alliance intelligence and conspiracy theorists alike are aware of a "human survivalist" group called Cerberus, but its true plans, structure and resources are a matter of much speculation and little certainty. Prothean technology is the foundation for modern galactic civilisation, but the mystery of its creators may well have a very different resolution. And there are other, even more enigmatic forces at work too. Hopefully this should make your investigation this much more suspenseful.

And, of course, Commander Shepard's dead, or perhaps has never existed, and none of the events from the games have happened as yet. The galaxy is still in danger though, and needs to be protected.

[u]The Game[/u]

The exact details of the premise are still somewhat in the air and depend on what sort of characters I get and what the prospective players would prefer. The short of it, though, is that the Citadel Council has seen fit to assemble a special task force to deal with some outstanding threats to galactic stability in the Attican Traverse and beyond... and it all escalates from there.

One of the things to decide when coming up with your character would be whether he or she is a Spectre, a Spectre-in-training or not at all connected to the program. I'd rather not have an all-Spectre group, that would be silly - but one or two might serve our purposes just fine, with the others perhaps being candidates who might become Spectres later on based on their performance. Or maybe none of you are connected to the Spectres at all, which would make any encounters with the Spectres particularly tense if they should see you as a sign of the Council's disfavour and mistrust. Or it may be something in between, not unlike the actual series. Your choice. Either way, you have a) superiors who give you orders and b) considerable operational freedom in how you get those orders done.

Regardless of that, though, your characters are expected to be competent. When coming up with your character concepts, look to actual squad members and character classes for inspiration. You are about that powerful, and have that kind of specialisation. Give some thought to your background; if your character got assigned to this group by the Council, then there must have been some reason. A military or intelligence background is likely; mercenaries and other freelance specialists are somewhat less so, but still within the realm of the possible. Outright criminals would have to be both really good and really trustworthy; so think ME1 more than ME2. Species-wise, expect all due preference to be granted to the three Council races and humans, though drells, quarians and even batarians and krogans might find their way onto the team if you could come up with a plausible explanation as to why.

A note on the game's style. Once again, the video games are about as good a guideline for it as anything you would find. I am going for an epic, cinematic game, where you could blast your way through vastly superior numbers of mooks... so long as you plan well. Clever tactics making good use of your equipment, powers and environment will be rewarded. While action is perhaps the primary focus, character interaction and investigation are a major part of the game as well. Likewise, as in the games, comic relief is more than welcome, but the characters on the whole should not be overly silly, and I reserve the right to veto them on that ground.

I have some requirements for people who would want to play this. While a few typos and awkward sentences wouldn't be a deal-breaker, I would prefer it if my players had good grammar and spelling. I believe brevity is the soul of wit, and so will usually favour well-written, clear, coherent and concise posts over long and rambling ones (although this applies more strongly to action than to if, say, you wished to detail what your character gets up to in his downtime or in her inner monologues). Perhaps most importantly, I want them to be able to commit to the game and to post... let's say three times a week, if not more often. If for some reason they would need to be away, I would like it if they notified me in the OOC thread if it is at all possible. If someone disappears without trace, I reserve the right to NPC their character for the duration of the current mission and then deal with them as I see fit.

For this reason, while I seek no more than 4-6 players at the moment (and even 5 might be stretching it), I would never say no to having some spare applications. If someone disappears, I may well need to bring in the reserves.

I intend to start the game at some point in mid-February, if all goes well. But that's no reason not to start looking for players and working on characters now. I'll explain how to make characters based on the rules a bit later; for now I want to see interest, comments, questions, and any initial thoughts on what character concepts you would like to use.