v0.7.0

Many hands

First, we want to give a thanks to following people. They've been providing a lot of great feedback and ideas through Github and it's really spurned a lot of improvements.

• bpmcpherson
• nmmoriarty
• Duneday
• damuttley
• SrShadow
• BLUEmusta
• TheMarmotKing

Additionally,

• Alex Needleman has continued to playtest and provide a lot of great feedback.
• David Thompson has offered his help with design.

Thanks to everyone!!!

What's next?

We've got a lot of things in the works!

Angara Race

Ben (bcmcpherson), our local Andromeda expert has been creating a lot of Andromeda content. Most notably is his Angara concept. We're not quite ready to include everything in the system because we need to do a bit of housekeeping on the backend. But, we encourage you to test out the race and provide feedback!

Digital Character Sheet

Ben has also been working on a version of the Character Sheet in Google Sheets. Once the finishing touches are ready, we'll get it up on the site.

Loot Generator

As the dust settles on the cost of mods, weapons, and armor, we've been working on a Loot Generator and guidelines for awarding credits. That should be out in the very near future.

General

• Added a note about race/class restrictions. Though we provide a rule of thumb, final decisions should be made by the GM.
• Created a Combat section in the rules to reduce the length of General rules. (Some rules now exist in multiple locations, if applicable to that category).
• Added infrared vision as a new sense.
• Changed Rapid Reload to a bonus action and made it a variant rule.
• Changed Thermal Clips to a standard rule. Not tracking thermal clips is a variant rule.

Classes

• Removed Perception as skill option for Sentinels & Adepts. Added for Infiltrators & Soldiers.
• Added additional information about spellcasting to each class page.
• Vanguards weapon proficiency choices changed. Instead of automatically gaining shotguns, vanguards automatically gain melee and have the option of shotguns. Vanguards are geared heavily towards a melee class and should gain that proficiency.
• Sniper fighting style changed to +2(basic) and +4(adv) damage made with Sniper Rifles if no hostile creature is within 10m.

Adepts

• To accommodate the changes in Lift, Biotic Control allows the Adept to lift a target 1 size larger than its current capability.
• Barrier Ticks rescaled from 2-5

Engineers

As alluded to in our previous release, we've been working on an overhaul of the Drone Jockey (Engineer) subclass and it's finally here.

• Drones are now a stat block in the bestiary. As such, the Drone ability will summon the bestiary version. Medics are still the only subclass that can access the Repair (Healing) drone.

• Drone Jockeys are completely refactored. Though the multi-drone approach was fun, it significantly slowed down combat and proved slightly too powerful at all levels. Instead, Drone Jockeys function almost identically to 5th Edition's Ranger - Beast Conclave. You'll get to create a Drone Companion that persists outside of combat, gains valuable stat and defensive increases, and has its own personality.

Infiltrators

• Moved Evasion to the 14th level
• Removed Cunning Action at 14th level
• New ability Fast Hands gained at 7th level

Sentinels

• Added barrier ticks (2-6) and the ability to cast Barrier, Barrier Detonation, Lash, Phase Disruptor.
• Sentinels can take the Protection fighting style.
• Increased spell and tech point progression, bringing them in line with Vanguard and Infiltrator casting potency.

Soldiers

• Sharpshooter subclass features aligned with 5th Edition's Sharpeshooter class from the Unearthed Arcana
• Gain Tactical Clip at 7th level for faster reloading

Vanguards

• Barrier ticks rescaled, still from 3-10, but distributed more evenly across levels

Races

Primarily due to work of the contributors listed above, we audited each race. We focused on missing lore specific traits, balancing the traits between races, and clarifying trait mechanics. Of particular note, Asari will use Charisma as their spellcasting modifier for biotic spells, rather than Wisdom.

Asari

• Cantrip replaced with Biotic Initiate, similar to 5th Edition's Magic Initiate, giving all Asari some biotic powers
• Asari always use Charisma as their spellcasting modifier for biotic spells.

Geth

• Ability bonuses changed to +2 INT, +1 STR

Krogan

• Added Powerful Build

Quarian

• Ability bonuses changed to +2 INT, +1 CON.
• Hermetic suit uses exhaustion rules when breached.
• Options for Cybernetic Augmentation improved.

Turian

• Added radiant resistance.

Volus

• Ability bonuses changed to reflect their race: intuitive with above-average intelligence (+2 wis, +1 int)
• Savvy Dealings, now gives proficiency in Persuasion. The "discounts from vendors" was too open-ended and could pidgeon-hole Volus players making all shop transactions.

Vorcha

• Added poison resistance & limb regeneration

Unshackled-AI.

• Removed option of starting feat, balancing their lvl 1 options with other races.

Spells

• Charge
  • Advanced Option Necrotic Strike removed. Replaced with Barrier Regen. References classic Charge/Nova Vanguard from ME3. But primarily
• Decoy. Clarified the spell's mechanic
• Guidance. bonus can be used on attack rolls. Limited to 1 target.
  • Multi Tap. Allows application og Guidance to 3 targets (must still cast the spell for each target).
• Invasion renamed to AI Hacking. Better elicits the spell mechanic and allows for creation of Andromeda's Invasion in the future. gives Vanguards another option to regain barrier ticks.
• Lift. removed the "Sleep" mechanic and changed to a ranged spell attack. Cannot benefit from being cast at higher levels. Limited to Medium target.
  • Advanced Option Control, now a bonus action, reduced movement to 6m.
  • Advanced Option Heavy Lift, allows you to lift a Large object or creature.
• Overload
  • Quad Leap removed. Replace with increased damage options.
• Sentry Turret. Sentry turret is now a stat block, casting this spell creates a turret.
• Tactical Scan duration reduced from Infinite to 10 minutes
• Turbocharge Removed. With the removal of RoF, Turbocharge was removed. We will add it back in a later version.

Bestiary

• Added Geth Forces
• Added Drones
• Centurion: was missing speed, saving throws, and senses. CR was too low. Added resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage, which correctly brings CR to 3.

Weapons

Weapon Balance

If you averaged the damage of all weapons before and after v0.7.0, you could argue that we've nerfed the weapons. But we consider this version to bring a much better balance to the weapon system, despite the slightly reduced damage overall.

We noticed quite a few problems with the previous versions

1. Weapons dealt 15-20% more damage than in 5th Edition
2. The spread of damage was huge 1d4 => 4d10
3. The Rate of Fire mechanic didn't have any benefits other than being flavor about the weapon. And even the flavor was difficult to apply. Take the M-4 Shuriken: in the game, this weapon specifically has a six-round burst, meaning 6 RoF. But since it's meant to be a starting weapon, we had to make it deal 6d1. There are other cases where RoF didn't directly correlate.
4. Weapon damage was unbalanced. We received a lot of feedback that Shotguns were too powerful, Sniper rifles underpowered, and melee weapons worthless.

Our solution was to create weapon profiles and build from those profiles. In doing so we also created distinct levels for the weapons that mirror 5th edition's item rarity (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare). This provided a system in which we could make objectively better weapons, whereas previous versions attempted to make all weapons unique (save for the starting weapons).

We're very pleased with the result and feel the weapons are more balanced than they've ever been. If you'd like to read the entire discussion, please refer to the github issue. Additionally, we prepared an analysis of the new weapon balance.

Changes

• Weapons now have a 4-tier rarity: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare.
• Weapon costs have been adjusted to reflect rarities: Common >= 3,000, Uncommon >= 10,000, Rare >= 30,000, Very Rare >= 50,000
• Rate of Fire (RoF) has been removed. While we liked the flavor it added, it didn't have any other benefit. Plus, it was difficult to keep the flavor consistent among weapons.

Assault Rifles

• Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle: 4d6 => 2d6, deals and additional 1d6 damage to synthetic targets.
• Cerberus Harrier: 4d4 => 2d6
• Geth Pulse Rifle: 6d4 => 2d6, deals radiant damage
• M-15 Vindicator: 3d4 => 1d10
• M-55 Argus: 3d6 => 1d12
• M-7 Lancer: 4d6 => 2d6
• M-76 Revenant: 5d4 => 3d4
• M-8 Avenger: 3d4 => 1d8
• M-96 Mattock: 1d10 => 1d8
• M-99 Saber: 1d10 => 3d6, customization options changes
• N7 Typhoon: 5d4 => 2d8
• N7 Valkyrie: 2d6 => 2d8
• Particle Rifle: 6d4 => 2d10
• Phaeston: 4d4 => 2d4
• Striker Assault Rifle: 4d6 => 1d12, special updated, can start targeting to deal additional damage

Heavy Pistols

• Acolyte: 1d8 => 1d6
• Arc Pistol: 1d8 => 1d6
• Executioner Pistol: 1d12 => 2d12
• M-358 Talon: 2d8 => 2d6
• N7 Eagle: 4d4 => 2d4
• Scorpion: 1d8 => 1d6

Melee

• Asari Huntress Sword: 1d6 => 1d8
• Krogan Warhammer: 1d12 => 2d6 (1d12 as a one-handed weapon)
• Monomolecular blade: 1d8 => 1d10
• Omni-blade: 1d6 => 1d8
• Omni-hammer: 1d8 => 1d10
• Omni-whip: 1d8 => 2d4

Shotguns

• AT-12 Raider: 2d10 => 2d8
• Disciple: 2d6 => 2d4
• Geth Plasma Shotgun: 2d12 => 2d10
• Graal Spike Thrower: 2d12 => 2d6. Reduced additional damage to 1d6
• M-11 Wraith: 2d10 => 3d6
• M-27 Scimitar: 3d4 => 2d4
• M-300 Claymore: 4d12 => 3d8
• N7 Crusader: 2d6 => 2d10
• N7 Piranha: 2d10 => 2d4
• Reegar Carbine: 2d4 => 1d12

SMGs

• Blood Pack Punisher: 4d6 => 3d4, +1 to hit within normal range instead of +2
• Collector SMG: 4d6 => 2d8
• M-12 Locust: 4d4 => 3d4
• M-25 Hornet: 3d4 => 2d4
• M-4 Shuriken: 6d1 => 2d4
• M-9 Tempest: 4d4 => 2d6
• N7 Hurricane: 4d6 => 3d6

Sniper Rifles

• Black Widow: 4d10 => 2d12, increased heat to 3. Added ignores half cover and deals 1d4 extra damage on targets not behind cover. Essentially the heavier, higher heat version of the M-98 Widow
• Javelin: Ignores half AND three-quarters cover (more in line with fiction, as it's the highest piercing weapon)
• Kishock Harpoon Gun: 1d12 => 3d6. Added CON save for bleeding damage. Bleeding damage increased to 3d6.
• Krysae Sniper Rifle: 1d10 => 2d4
• M-13 Raptor: 1d8 => 1d10
• M-90 Indra: 4d6 => 2d8, increased heat to 10
• M-92 Mantis: 1d10 => 2d8
• M-97 Viper: 1d8 => 1d12
• M-98 Widow: 1d12 => 2d12. Removed "ignores three-quarters cover", reduced additional damage to 1d4
• N7 Valiant: 1d8 => 2d8. Removed +2 on ranged attack rolls, added "Can reload as a bonus action"

Weapon Mods

In the last release, we introduced weapon mods, but this was rushed and not thoroughly tested. It became clear that the stacking of certain mods (especially between weapons an armor) created very high bonuses. In 5th edition, +X items are limited to +4 for legendary type items, but our mod combinations could result in as much as +7. In response, we've changed or removed any armor mods or sets that increased the effectiveness of ranged weapons. Basically, let weapon mods buff weapons and let armor mods buff defenses. The only caveat is that armor can still provide boosts to melee weapons, as they currently have no mods.

• Rename "core" type to "ammo"
• Cranial Trauma Mod: Limit to one level (1 additional damage die on critical hit)
• Power magnifier: Limit to one level (currently lvl 3 has potential to add +9 with some subclasses).
• Concentration Mod: Limit to one level (19-20 crit)
• Piercing Mod: Rename piercing ammo. Negates resistance to piercing damage.
• Shredder mod: Renamed shredder ammo. Changes damage to slashing. Negates resistance to slashing damage.
• Quick release magazine: Limit to 1 level. "You may reload as a bonus action"
• Magazine upgrade: Limit to 1 level. Weapon gains a bonus to heat equal to 1/2 it's base heat score. (useless for 1 heat weapons)
• Extended Magazine: New. Weapon gains a bonus to heat equal to twice it's base heat score (limited for 1 heat weapons)
• High-Velocity Barrel: New. Reroll damage
• Heat sink: removed

Grenades

• Increased the radius of the smoke grenade to 4m.

Armor

Overall, we reduced or removed armor mods/sets/mechanics that increased ranged weapon attack and damage potential to avoid too much overlap and stacking between armor and weapon mods.

Armor Sets

In general, armor set costs were realigned to be 15% less than if you had crafted the armor from scratch, since armor sets cannot be upgrade later.

• Serrice Adaptor Gauntlets => cannot select bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing resistance
• Mantis Armor => +1 AC. Increase your speed by 4m. Increase your grenade capacity by 2.
• Collector Armor => reworked: +3 AC, auto-stabalize and medi-gel
• N7 Defender Armor => reworked: 20 shields (regen 10). +2 AC. Increase thermal clip capacity by 4. Increase grenade capacity by 2
• Terminus Assault Armor => 10 shields (regen 5). Speed +4m. When you lose hit points, as a reaction, you may expend a charge of medi-gel. +2 bonus to melee attack and damage rolls
• Cerberus Nightmare Armor => remove heat +2, instead double base heat. remove + to ranged attacks and damage.
• Blood Dragon Armor => remove + to tech and biotic attack and damage rolls, replace with reroll 1's on tech/biotic damamge
• Cerberus Ajax Armor => rework: 30 shields (15 regen). +1 AC. Increase your thermal clip capacity by 8. Increase your grenade capacity by 4.
• Cerberus Shade Armor => rework: 10 shields & regen, shield jumpstart, +1 bonus to melee attack and damage
• Inferno Armor => rework: When you lose hit points, as a reaction, you may expend a charge of medi-gel. +1 bonus to biotic and tech attack and damage rolls.
• Reckoner Knight Armor => rework: 15 shields (regen 5). When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
• Partisan Armor => immune to poisoned
• N7 Armor => rework: 10 shields (regen 10). +1 AC
• Kestrel Helmet => reduce +AC to 1
• Kuwashii Visor => rework. basically gives hunter's mark.
• Archon Visor => limited to 1/2 level of a specific class
• Umbra visor => reroll 1 instead of 1 & 2, limited to tech powers
• Mnemonic Visor => rework: reroll 1 on biotic spells
• Delumcore Overlay => rework: -1 AC. 1 additional damage die on critical hit
• Death Mask => rework: +1 AC. +1 on melee attack and damamge rolls
• Recon hood => rework: Infrared Vision 60m. Darkvision 60m. You can toggle between the 2 vision types as a free action.
• Strider leggaurds => remove adv. on Dex checks and saving throws, replace with +6m speed

Armor Mods

New

• Teflon Coating, resistance to radiant damage, 15,000

Changes

• Ablative Coating (+2 AC) => Resistance to piercing damage, 30,000 credits
• Adrenaline Regulators => increase cost to 40,000
• Archon AI (gain spells slots on a short rest) => increase cost 24,000
• Armor Plating renamed Ceramic Weave
• Asymmetric Defense Layer (+2 AC. Increase your hit points by half your level, minimum 1.) => +2 AC, 20,000 credits.
• Barrier (5 barrier ticks/long rest) => reduced to 3 barrier ticks, recharge on short rest, 24,000
• Energized Plating (+3 AC) => price increase 30,000 credits
• Focus Modulator (You gain a +2 bonus to ranged weapon, biotic, and tech attack rolls) => Basically will give the wearer the ability to cast hunter's mark, 3/long rest, 40,000 credits
• Life support webbing (Increase your hit points by half your level, minimum 1.) => Increases your maximum exhaustion by 1 level. At the first level, you suffer no negative effects. 15,000 credits
• Microservos (Arms) => price increase 24,000
• Microservos (Legs, +2 melee attack and damage rolls) => +1 melee attack and damamge rolls, 12,000
• Mag Latches => increase cost to 25,000
• Personal Disruptor Torpedoes => damage decreased to 3d12
• Recharge capacitors => changed mechanic to reaction instead of free action
• Revive AI => Price decreased to 50,000
• Savant Biotic Amplifier (add damage die on biotic rolls) => reroll 1&2 on biotc spells, 40,000
• Thermal armor => increase cost to 25,000
• Umbra AI => increase cost to 40,000, tech powers only

Shield Point Changes

• Shield capacity (arms) => reduced to 5 sp, 10,000 credits
• Sentry System (head) => reduced to 5 sp, 10,000 credits
• Shield battery (chest) => reduced to 5 sp, 10,000 credits
• Shield Modulator (chest) => reduced to 10 sp, 20,000 credits
• Shield Interface (chest) => reduced to 15 sp, 30,000 credits Note this makes max shields from mods = 45 (5 base, 5 arms, 5 head, 5 + 10 + 15 chest)

Shield Regen

• All shield regen => increase cost to 8,000

Removed

• VI aiming
• Weapon stabilizers
• Ceramic Weave

Armor Mechanics

New

• reroll any 1 on your [biotic, tech, or melee] damage rolls => cost 20,000

Changes

• shields: reduced potency to 5 to allow shield stacking on different pieces of equipment
• shield regen: increase cost to 8,000
• attack bonus (+1 to attack and damage bonus) => only allowed for melee weapons
• reroll any 1 on your [biotic, tech, or melee] damage rolls = cost increase to 40,000
• Damage or Condition Immunity => cost increase 25,000 (cannot be piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning)
• Resistance to 1 damage type => cost increase to 15,000, except for piercing damage (30,000)
• Instantly stabalize when you drop below 0 hit points => cost reduced 35,000
• AC Increase => price increased to 10,000

Removed

• additional damage die for [biotic, tech] spell
• Increase hit points by 1/2 level
• Increase weapon heat

Site Enhancements

• Grunt Generator has be improved for more variety. Before, high-level CR grunts always dual-wielded. Now, grunts can have legendary actions, and their equipped weapons appropriate for their level (i.e., no Very Rare weapons on a 1/8 CR grunt).
• Renamed "Tools" section to "For GMs"
• Moved rules for creating new armor mods and sets into the For GMs section