Mass Effect: From the Ashes
Placeholder page for a future Mass Effect game using the Shadowrun 5th Edition rules.
Setting
This is a Mass Effect game using the Shadowrun 5th edition rules as a base, set in 2237 CE, or 50 years after the end of the Reaper War. The galactic landscape has changed dramatically and looks suspiciously like the Shadowrun setting -- great disparities across cultures, balkanized power bases, and the rise of corporations as powerful and nearly sovereign force. Some elements remain familiar, but time has marched on so has the galaxy.
Shepard and Mass Effect 3 Ending
Commander Alexandra Shepard of the System Alliance Navy, Spectre, and galactic war hero did not survive the Reaper War. She and s small group of allied forces (both regular military and insurgent "N7" teams) were among the few to reboard the Citadel to position and power the Crucible that ultimately defeated the Reapers.
A variant of the Destroy ending occurred when the Crucible was ignited. This resulted in decimation of the Citadel, leaving little more than a husk of a station. The weapon created by the Crucible and Citadel combined -- and emanated throughout the galaxy via the Mass Relay networks -- relied on Reaper weakness dark energy frequencies and pulses. This cascade effect of pulses throughout the galaxy eliminated all Reapers in a Relay system or any of its neighbouring systems. However, rumours abound of a few Reapers who were in deep-space transit at the time of the purge and who escaped the robotic genocide. Despite the "Star Child's" claims, the energy pulse only affected Reapers and most (but not all) Reaper forces.
The Citadel and Galactic Governance
The reformed Citadel Alliance is now the pan-galactic forum for civilizations to air their grievances and form consensus to solve large problems.
Council Races Factbook
Fifty years after the Reaper War, many changes have occurred to the races of the galaxy. A primer on what's changed on each of the Council races.
Rise of the Corporations
One of the largest changes is the rise of the corporate autonomy after the Reaper War. Corporations now exert tremendous influence in daily life, the Matrix, and politics at all levels. This coincides with the Shadowrun's canon of outsized corporate influence and flavours this version of Mass Effect heavily.
The Matrix
After the Reaper War, the galactic communications infrastructure was rebuilt from the ground up due to the Reaper destruction of virtually all comm buoys that facilitated commerce and communications. Corporations were uniquely positioned to 'assist' and setting up the 'new extranet', now called the Matrix, was one of the reasons they were able to leverage so many concessions from galactic governments. The structure of the Matrix is similar to the Shadowrun 5th edition description, including the prevalence of wireless tech, multiple 'grids' and corporate control.