#thescienceofmasseffect

[scienceofmasseffect]

Earth and Citadel Station

At the ending of Mass Effect 3, the Reapers hijack Citadel station out of the Widow Nebula and park it over London, Earth. We are afforded breath-taking vistas of the Earth’s disc as we board the Citadel and make our way towards the Crucible and conclusion of the Reaper War.

The coloured choice is made. The Milky Way galaxy is changed forever.

But what of Earth and Citadel, provided the latter did not disintegrate in a red blast of bad War Readiness score?

Citadel’s orbit not shown to scale.

1): We have tens of kilometers long object in an unconventional geostationary orbit above Western Europe. 

It is between low and medium Earth orbits, per our sights of Earth as trek to confront The Illusive Man and then the Starchild. Such an orbit would require constant corrective maneuvers to maintain position above London, but for lack of that we can thank and blame the Reapers, element zero and other assorted shenanigans in Citadel’s capabilities.

2): Nights in Western Europe will be affected. Citadel’s Wards’ exteriors will reflect sunlight at evening and morning across the continent and the Atlantic when the Sun has already set. It will be like a mini-moon, and combine that with full moons for prolonged twilight.

3): The garbage disposal systems that created and maintained Widow Nebula are now dusting over Earth. While the planet receives some tens to up to hundreds of tons of cosmic dust daily, this is very dispersed. Citadel’s output would form a stream that stretches from England to perhaps all the way to Newfoundland and Quebec. 

This also will reflect light, present a navigational hazard to spacecraft and dust the Atlantic Ocean and any lands falling under its wake with a cocktail of exotically ground down garbage.

4): Every satellite orbit will be affected. Bad news for anything without its own means to maneuver and correct orbits, there is now a giant 44.7 * 12.8 * 12.8 kilometers large volume of space station influencing them, if not to crash into directly.

Any satellite to be replaced will have to take Citadel’s existence into account or they will de-orbit or get flung out of position sooner or later.

5): Maneuvering to dock with the Citadel got also somewhat more tricky, but only in comparison to its past position in the Widow Nebula. It’ll be routine to pilots who are docking with anything else orbiting planetary bodies.

---

I would like to thank and credit the following people and communities for contributing to the discussion when this topic was brought up:

Infrastruct of Cerberus Daily News RP forum

Rhapsody in Taupe of Cerberus Daily News RP forum

Sentient Solutions of Cerberus Daily News RP forum

Turtle of Calibrations Mass Effect Discord

Anjian of Calibrations Mass Effect Discord

Cerberus Daily News RP forum and Discord in general

Calibrations Mass Effect Discord in general

[scienceofmasseffect]

On Mass Relays

On the topic of mass relays and transiting them - we can observe a manner of macro-scale uncertainty principle at work.

Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that we cannot predict all values of a particle perfectly at the same time. There is a limit to precision of other variables, if we know one for certain.

Mass relays appear to have a mechanism reminiscent of the uncertainty principle in that they have a finite amount of detail assignable to transiting mass and where the transiting mass arrives.

A communications buoy can transmit a laser beam at very high accuracy to another buoy on the other side of a relay, as photons are light. The available precision can be dedicated to aiming the laser beam to its destination, another buoy with high precision.

Whereas coordinating a massive fleet of tens of warships, the available precision goes into tracking the thousands and thousands of (kilo)grams of mass, leaving the mass relay deposit the transiting fleet just somewhere near the receiving relay in its host system.

This we know from Joker and the Codex.

One could in theory test the limits of a relay by making it transmit unfathomably large mass (say, the asteroid that destroys Viper Nebula's relay) and see how far out it would come out on the other side. Maybe deep inside the receiving star system or well into its Kuiper belt equivalent.

In addition there must be some manner of quantum entanglement communication between the relays. The lost Mu relay was ejected from its host system by a supernova, yet its counterparts could still link to it. 

Viper Nebula relay and the Citadel respectively also had hidden capabilities to access all the primary mass relays to facilitate the Reapers’ plans of massive surprise decapitation strike, so they must have been linked with each and every relay built.

[scienceofmasseffect]

On Mass Relays: An Addendum

As part of reading into my previous post on mass relays, I re-read the official CDN news articles for more information, and came across this:

The TR-15 Letus probe made headlines as the closest approach to a neutron star, even though it did not apparently transit through Kappa Iota relay. How is this?

The Kappa Iota relay is transmitting said neutron star's radiation through the relays or more accurately, the neutron star is bombarding the relay's mass transit corridor with its emissions and its transporting all of it to Kappa Iota's vicinity.

What can we learn about this? One can transit without specifying mass! Or the relay mis-interprets the radiation as commands for mass and destination.

This creates an interesting set-piece! A spherical radius of randomly appearing radiation around the relay. Or a fan, if the radiation retains momentum and direction of travel!

[scienceofmasseffect]

Canon Turian terminology post

0Today’s post was brought to you by a dive into the original run of Cerberus Daily News, active during the first year from Mass Effect 2′s launch.

There are very likely similar posts existing already out there to mine. I hope mine can add something novel to the available offerings.

Outside interactions between Shepard and turians they came across, the terrorist attack on Vallum and following war on Taetrus brought us a lot of turian concepts and terms as part of news articles covering the conflict. This is a list of them with explanations.

Bareface - Turian individual who lacks facial paint of their birth or homeworld. Early in turian history when they began to establish extra-palavenian colonies, these colonies developed their own identities, cultures and symbols to display that. Facepaint was one obvious way of displaying one’s loyalties to their homes. Lack of facepaint meant unwillingness to commit. Barefaced individuals represented the unknown and were threats. Politicians were quickly saddled with this slur.

Meaning of being bareface was covered in the Codex on turian culture.

Cabal - Turian special military unit consisting solely of soldiers with biotic capability.

Wiktionary defition: A usually secret exclusive organization of individuals gathered for a political purpose. A secret plot.

Turian cabalists are a concept of some notoriety, as they distinctly differ from their non-biotic peers. Hierarchy society generally encourages towards honesty and straightforwardness, and the Cabals’ break from this towards subterfuge, separation and at times isolation marks them as comparable to barefaces in terms of social status. In canonical case of Nyreen Kandros, she was re-assigned to the Cabals due to her biotics manifesting, but was underutilized due to their undeveloped nature. She did not realize her powers’ full potential until Aria T’Loak’s tutelage.

Cabals were first mentioned in Cerberus Daily News article from June 10th 2010.

Claw salute - A salute done with hand, or just the claw. Possibly witnessed in Mass Effect 3 during Shepard’s operations on Menae and Tuchanka.

Claw salute was first verbally mentioned in Cerberus Daily News article from April 30th 2010.

Carifinum - Emergency management agency responsible for public crises on Taetrus. Unknown whether this is canonically generic term for all Hierarchy emergency management agencies or solely the Taetrian instance’s name. Some Earth equivalent agencies: FEMA in the United States of America, Ministry of Emergency Situations/EMERCOM/MChS in the Russian Federation.

Most likely inspired by latin word Caritas, meaning something dear, expensive or charity.

Carifinum was criticized first in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 14th 2010.

Enrarium, (The) - Old post office of Vallum city, serving as museum in contemporary times. Source material presentation seems conflicting, the name Enrarium is presented with the, denoting its unique, and then translated as “old postal office” which is a generic descriptor.

Enrarium directly has no existing translation in real world languages. However, Wiktionary tells us that -rium suffix is used to indicate the setting where a given activity is carried out: for example, auditorium, gymnasium, planetarium. So enra or enrar is implied to be something post or messaging related activity.

A turian child was rescued from ruins of the Enrarium in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 7th 2010.

Facinus - Separatist-slash-terrorist group campaigning for Elurian continent’s independence from Taetrus and its colonial Hierarchy administration. Became infamous when they subverted a commercial freighter’s FTL plotter and set it to accelerate into the colony’s capital city of Vallum.

Facinus translates directly from Latin, meaning a deed or an act, or more specifically crime, wickedness or an evil deed.

Investigations fingered Facinus being the culprit in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 4th 2010.

Hielae - A throwball sports court. Were utilized as makeshift storage spaces for turian remains in aftermath of Vallum blast.

Wiktionary and Latin offer no material. Original construct mimicking latin structure.

Rescue services resorted to using hielae courts in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 2nd 2010.

Haemona Medical Center - Healthcare provision establishment with capacity for 1500 patients, vastly overwhelmed in aftermath of Vallum blast after survivors sought help therein. Served as scene for grizzly activity of harvesting organs from the blast casualties.

Haemona itself means nothing, but haemo means pertaining to blood in ancient Greek, as seen in medical contexts like in haemophilia.

Haemona Medical Center was mentioned in above May 2nd entry and then later in Cerberus Daily News article from May 9th 2010.

Laudatix - Ministry of citizenship rankings. Generic term, as it was presented in the article as “the colony’s Laudatix”. Manages official records and processes promotions and demotions of citizen rankings within its jurisdiction. Also organizes oseruns, or ceremonies where the citizenship rank promotions are publicly proclaimed and entered into effect.

Latin verb laudo, meaning “I praise/commend/eulogize/compliment” conjugates to laudatis, amongst other forms.

Taetrian Laudatix resumed normal operations in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 11th 2010.

Mexta - A traditional turian sword with both ceremonial and practical uses, such as dueling.

Appears to be an invented word.

Turian general Partinax wanted to fight the Facinus figurehead with a mexta in the Cerberus Daily News article from June 3rd 2010.

Oserun - Citizenship rank promotion ceremony. Official ceremonies are arranged by the local Laudatix.

Appears to be an invented word.

See Laudatix for the article where it was first mentioned.

Radiatum, (The) - The Taetrian parliament building. Possibly also a generic name for turian parliaments, but use of the leans heavily on unique building name. Earthly equivalents: The Russian State Duma building, Brazilian National Congress building.

From Latin radiatus, past participle of radiare (“to radiate, furnish with spokes, give out rays, radiate, shine”), from radius (“a spoke, ray”).

It all began in the Cerberus Daily News article from April 28th 2010.

Sevnis, (The) - A building in Vallum that served as emergency government headquarters after the blast. Was targeted by an aircar bombing attempt.

Appears to be an invented word.

The Sevnis made headlines in the Cerberus Daily News article for June 1st 2010.

Signis, (The) - Office of the primarch of Taetrus. Was obliberated in the Vallum blast, and later rebuilt. Seems to denote an unique building.

Fom Latin signum (genitive signī);a mark, sign, emblem, a miracle, (Medieval Latin) a signum (medieval tower bell used particularly for ringing the 8 canonical hours).

Was destroyed in the Cerberus Daily News article from April 29th 2010, and later rebuilt in August 8th.

Viceroy - A Hierarchy political role. A primarch’s second-in-command.

See Signis for the April 29th 2010 article where it was featured.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Galaxy Standard Year - Revised

It would appear that the length of a GST year in comparison to an Earth year was in fact 1.09 and not 1.1 as I had calculated previously. This information of the GST year’s length (and in fact all the GST measurements) came from a physical print of Mass Effect Codex that was given out as feelie in deluxe versions of the first Mass Effect game. What follows is a revised section of my old article with new numbers and higher accuracy.

Galactic Standard Time is what the Citadel Council races have agreed to use to measure time. 20 hours to a day, 100 minutes to an hour, 100 seconds to a minute, and one GST second equals 0.5 Earth seconds.

A GST hour holds 100*100= 10 000 GSD seconds or 5000 Earth seconds. This translates into 5000/3600 = 1.389 Earth hours or 83 minutes 20.4 seconds

A GST day holds 20*10 000=200 000 GST seconds or 100 000 Earth seconds. This translates into 100 000/86 164.098 903 691 (stellar day or the 23 hours 56 minutes 4.01 seconds one) = 1.16057617119369 days, or approximately 27 hours, 51 minutes, 14 seconds rounded up.

The Galactic Standard Year has been described to be an average of Palaven’s, Thessia’s and Sur'Kesh’s. Palaven and Sur'kesh both have orbital periods of 1.2 Earth years and Thessia has just 0.9. The average would have rounded up to 1.1 Earth years or 401 and a half days. However the physical ME1 codex states it is actually 1.09 Earth years or 398 days, 3 hours, 1 minute and 48 seconds.

GST year in Earth time is 31471749.9002522 (Earth year in seconds) * 1.09 = 34304207.3912749 seconds. From this we can derive GST year’s length in its days.

34 304 207.391 274 9 / 100 000 (GST day in Earth seconds) = 343,042073912749 GST days. Rounding it up we come to 343 GST days and 84 GST minutes.

First division without remainder gets us seven 49-day months for neatest numbers. Anything beyond that goes into results with fractions. This can be also divided by seven to get us a neat seven weeks that are seven weekdays. Again, anything beyond this is ugly fractions.

There’s something to twist your head around.

and the same without clutter:

GST minute 100 GST seconds = 50 Earth seconds GST hour 100 GST minutes = 83 Earth minutes 20.4 seconds GST day 20 GST hours = 27 Earth hours 51 minutes 14 seconds GST week 7(?) GST days = 8 Earth days 2 hours 58 minutes 36 seconds GST month 49(?) GST days =  56 Earth days 20 hours 50 minutes 15 seconds GST year 343 GST days 84 GST minutes = 398 Earth days 3 hours 1 minute and 48 seconds.

If you caught me making a mistake, be sure to point it out!

[scienceofmasseffect]

ODSY drive, contemporary drives and Reapers

The Reapers are technologically superior to the organic species of the galaxy --  but the degree of that superiority is a matter of debate in the intelligence community.

The Reapers' thrusters and FTL drives appear to propel them at more than twice the speed of Citadel ships. Estimates of their location in dark space suggest they can travel nearly 30 light-years in a 24-hour period.

- Mass Effect Codex, excerpt of Reaper Capabilities

Pondering over how fast the ODSY drive is, I began to dig into the codex and crunch some numbers. We were not told how fast FTL travel really is until Mass Effect 3 came and pegged the organics’ ship tech vaguely to being less than half of 30 light-years a day of the Reapers’ top speed.

So, how fast do Systems Alliance et al fly? Mass Effect Wikia noted in their FTL article it to be “dozen” light-years, but I was not able to find any backing up evidence in the codexes, save for the codex excerpt I’m using.

Let’s put the fork between contemporary Milky Way FTL drive speeds between 7.5 and 12 light-years a day. That should give us a good range of less than half of Reaper velocity.

The distance from Milky Way to Andromeda galaxy is 2 500 000 light-years. Andromeda Initiative states that the journey will take 600 years.

ODSY thus covers the distance of... 2500000/600=4166,67 light-years in a year.

In a day it would cover... 4166.67/365.25=11.41 light-years in a day.

That would be going into the upper bracket of projected contemporary drive velocities! Internally consistent!

What about the Reapers then? We know the light-years/day but we need the light-years/year now.

30*365.25=10957.5

Nearly 11 000 light-years in a year! Reaching Andromeda would only take then... 2500000/10957.5=228.15 years. Reapers could’ve gone to Andromeda and back in one extinction cycle’s span easily! Fortunately for us, their creators never programmed them to extend the “life preservation” program to other galaxies.

I find these numbers internally consistent and thus am content with them. ODSY represents a revolutionary step in drive technology, in which denizens of the Milky Way become capable to cross dark space similarly to Reapers, but not as capably as them.

TL;DR

Contemporary space drive velocity: 7.5-12 ly/d

ODSY drive velocity: 11.41 ly/d or 4166.67 ly/a

Reaper drive velocity: 30 ly/d or 10957.5 ly/a

[scienceofmasseffect]

Potentials of the ODSY drive

ODSY Drive System With the Arks unable to refuel by traditional means in dark space, the journey to Andromeda is only made possible by the ODSY Drive System. The ODSY is a massive experimental drive core specifically designed for this trans-galactic voyage. It is capable of recycling static energy that would typically cause a starship to explode, instead storing it to power the Ark’s primary systems. Meanwhile, an electromagnetic ram-scoop will gather hydrogen from the Ark’s surroundings, converting it into fuel as needed.

-Andromeda Initiative briefing video

As positive or negative electric current is passed through an FTL drive core, it acquires a static electrical charge. Drives can be operated an average of 50 hours before they reach charge saturation. This changes proportionally to the magnitude of mass reduction; a heavier or faster ship reaches saturation more quickly.

If the charge is allowed to build, the core will discharge into the hull of a ship. All ungrounded crew members are fried to a crisp, all electronic system are burned out, and metal bulkheads may be melted and fused together.

The safest way to discharge a core is to land on a planet and establish a connection to the ground, like a lightning rod. Larger vessels like dreadnoughts cannot land and must discharge into a planetary magnetic field1.

As the hull discharges, sheets of lightning jump away into the field, creating beautiful auroral displays on the planet. The ship must retract its sensors and weapons while dumping charge to prevent damage, leaving it blind and helpless. Discharging at a moon with a weak magnetic field can take days. Discharging into the powerful field of a gas giant may require less than an hour. Deep space facilities such as the Citadel often have special discharge facilities for visiting ships.

- Mass Effect Codex, FTL Drive: Drive Charge

The ODSY drive, which seems so far been utilized solely for Andromeda Initiative’s purposes is a revolution in drive technology. Recycling of static energy eliminates discharge needs and ram-scooping more fuel makes the ships self-sufficient.

If (or when) utilizied in the Milky Way, the ODSY drive could become a serious contender to replacing the Reaper-built mass relay network. A ship drive that renders empty space and barren discharge and refueling sites irrelevant to spread of inhabitation and economic exploitation.

Given the careful wording of massive drive, I am interpreting it that ODSY drive is only economic in its very early experimental stages for vessels as big as the Arks and Nexus, that severely dwarf Systems Alliance cruisers. So not an instant opening of flood gates for Citadel in old Milky Way yet.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Galactic Standard Time

You might have seen this mentioned in the codex. Galactic Standard Time is what the Citadel Council races have agreed to use to measure time (at least on the Citadel). 20 hours to a day, 100 minutes to an hour, 100 seconds to a minute, and one GST second equals 0.5 Earth seconds. (Thanks to cognitiveinequality for pointing this out! Note to self: half as long is not half plus original measurement)

A GST hour holds 100*100= 10 000 GSD seconds or 5000 Earth seconds (that is 5000/3600 = 1.389 Earth hours or 83 minutes 20.4 seconds)

A GST day holds 20*10 000=200 000 GST seconds or 100 000 Earth seconds (that is 100 000/86 400 = 1.157 Earth days or 27 hours 46 minutes 4.8 seconds)

Little note of interest here is that Thessia's day is 27 hours and 36 minutes long in Earth time. Perks of being the founder of Citadel Council? You get to dictate the galactic standard.

The Galactic Standard Year has been described to be an average of Palaven's, Thessia's and Sur'Kesh's. Palaven and Sur'kesh both have orbital periods of 1.2 Earth years and Thessia has just 0.9. The average rounds up to 1.1 Earth years or 401 and a half days. Leap years every other year for us! A GST year in GST time is...

GST year in Earth time is 401.5* 86 400= 34 689 600 Earth seconds or 52 034 400 GST seconds, and GST year is 52 034 400/200 000= 260.172 GST days.

There's something to twist your head around.

and the same without clutter:

GST minute 100 GST seconds = 50 Earth seconds GST hour 100 GST minutes = 83 Earth minutes 20.4 seconds GST day 20 GST hours = 27 Earth hours 46 minutes 4.8 seconds GST month ??? GST days = ??? Earth days GST year 260 GST days 3 GST hours 44 GST minutes = 401 Earth days 12 hours

Given the love for decimals in the GST it's likely that a GST month is 20 days long, as that gives us the roundest sum of 13 months. Any larger than that and you get fractions of days for month length, which leads us to next matter.

The GST week. Does the GST calendar have just two weeks per month with 10-day weeks? Or four weeks with 5-day length? Do they even follow concept of week? Who knows.

If you caught me making a mistake, be sure to point it out! Also, feel free to edit the masseffectwikia.com with these.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Character Generation Sheet for Mass Effect

I wrote this sheet about a year ago for my own amusement. It was based on a different RPG setting and system, but I adapted it for Mass Effect with appropriate changes.

ATTRIBUTES

Diplomacy – How smoothly the character can interact with others, strike diplomatic deals and negotiate benefits for themselves.

Fighting – How well the character can defend himself and fight, or lead others in combat situations.

Scheming – How well the character can come up with plots, trick people and contact other secret organizations.

Credibility – How credible the character is when engaging with other people. People of low credibility can threaten with war or murder only to be duly ignored, when high credibility characters can merely affect things with their presence (or lack of it!).

Wisdom – How intelligent and smart the character is. Persons of high wisdom have the insight to know when their idea is f*cking ridiculous and better left alone.

Economics – How well endowed (monetarily!) and capable the character is in arts of trade. Characters with high economics have awesome income and can strike good business deals.

Innovation – how innovative and open to new ideas your character is. High innovation attribute benefits economics, scheming and fighting amongst other nifty things.

VALUE RANGE: 0-10 Mediocre 11-20 Decent 20+ Epic

SPECIES

Human - You're a member of the upstart species that appeared some 30 years ago onto the galactic scene, causing lots of commotion with all the feats your people have done. Seat on the Council, driving Hegemony onto the fringes, butting up to the Hierarchy, giving birth to Cerberus, building and deploying Crucible while Earth burned. You bring new ideas to a stagnant galaxy with your fighting spirit, but your hasty ascent to the top has slighted many who were ahead of you in line.  +2 Innovation +1 Fighting -3 Diplomacy

Batarian - You are a member of an old and established species that have suffered greatly in the past. Being marginalized by the foreigners, kicked off from your righteous holdings by the humans and then utterly shattered by the Reapers, you have much to do to regain your old glory, but with shrewd cunning and brute force, you'll persevere, no matter what the filthy aliens will say. +1 Scheming +1 Fighting -2 Credibility

Krogan - You were born under the merciless heat of Aralakh (or your ancestors at least did) and thrust into a world ravaged by survival of the fittest, where harsh school of life taught you to survive or perish. You're famed for your fighting prowess and feared for your fury, but can you prove you have more than just guts and muscle underneath your tough hide and plates? +3 Fighting -1 Scheming -1 Wisdom -1 Diplomacy

Turian - Duty and Honor run in your blood, whether it is to the Hierarchy or your own clan. For thousands of years your species has stood guard over threats to the civilized galaxy, and for that you enjoy trust more than others. You hone your martial skills, whether they are for offense or self-defense but your narrow focus leaves much to be desired elsewhere. +1 Credibility +1 Fighting -1 Innovation -1 Economics

Salarian - Many rightly call your amphibian kin the most cunning people the galaxy has to offer, and the scientists are no different in their praise for Sur'Kesh's highly acclaimed universities. However, your short lifespan does not always lead to decisions of best results for those who outlive you and they are many. +2 Scheming +2 Innovation -2 Wisdom

Asari - You are a member of perhaps the most graceful people to ever grace the galaxy with their beauty and wit. Long-lived, the asari have perspective that most people lack, being able to preside over multiple generations of other species, and their mind-meld gives intimate insight to people's thoughts. However, some think you are arrogant and stuck in age-old traditions, while the rest of the galaxy moves on. +2 Diplomacy +1 Wisdom -3 Innovation

Hanar - Born from Kahje's deep oceans, uplifted by the Enkindlers, you are unique in the galaxy filled with bipeds. Same goes for your social mores with your overt politeness to hide your true name and feelings you harbor for the unwashed barbarians untouched by gods. +1 Diplomacy +1 Scheming -2 Fighting

Vorcha - Most see you as a blight on the galaxy, which is not helped by your thirst for violence and lifespan shorter than salarians. Violent, short-lived and adaptable to harshest of environments, your lot in life has little to offer to you but path of menial labor others shun and thuggery. +4 Fighting -2 Diplomacy -2 Credibility -2 Wisdom

Drell - Rescued by the hanar from their expired homeworld, the drell of Rakhana have often been employed as assassins and assistants in the world of biped people by the aquatic hanar, and as a result, not many see you as more than tools of your Compact masters. +1 Fighting +2 Economics -2 Credibility -1 Diplomacy

Elcor - Built like a mountain, and deeply vested in the wisdom of the elders, Elcor are a traditional folk who prefer to firm ground of their homeworld Dekuuna rather than the cold void of space. Sometimes you perhaps look too long into the past wisdom of your predecessors than face the tomorrow... +1 Wisdom +1 Credibility -2 Innovation

Volus - Hailing from the ammonia pressure cooker world of Irune, you, the volus are people best known for their trading prowess and pressure suits. The turians trust their merchant work to you in exchange for military protection within Hierarchy, and outside it you'll always find someone needing an accountant. +2 Economics -2 Fighting

Quarian - Once cast out from your homeworld and shunned by others for creating the Geth, you once more have control of Rannoch, world untouched by Reapers and have a massive industrial base at your disposal. But the old grudges remain, invigorated by your fortunes... +2 Economics +2 Innovation -4 Credibility

Geth - For centuries the galaxy feared you, and for a good reason. Recently a splinter faction of your people allied themselves with the Old Machines, and then when the Creators attacked, you agreed to a deal that backfired spectacularly in your collective face. The organics still retain their grudges and hatred, and you struggle with your newborn individual character, trying to find your place in the world and within the Consensus. 1+ Fighting +1 Innovation 1+ Economics +1 Wisdom -4 Credibility

ALLEGIANCE

Citadel Nation - You're aligned with the states and laws of the Citadel space, and wish the galaxy would be just little bit more orderly. 1+ Credibility -1 Innovation

Terminus Nation - You're aligned with the states of the ever-fluctuating Terminus Systems, and you've never experienced better sense of freedom both in good and bad. +1 Innovation -1 Credibility

Independent - You're aligned with a government somewhere on the middle ground between C-Space and Terminus, like the Traverse. You might not be able to afford the proverbial big stick, but you sure do the talk alright. +1 Diplomacy -1 Economics

Unaligned - You don't pledge allegiance to any known government, big or small, and that leaves you an enigma to others. 1+ Scheming -1 Credibility

TYPE

Military - Military characters tend to lean towards Fighting skill, and depending on their career level, some auxiliary skills given prominence of military governments.

Civilian - Civilian characters favour Diplomacy, Economics and Wisdom in their career choices.

Criminal - Criminals employ Fighting, Scheming and Innovation in career choices.

CAREER

Note, these are not strict career choices, and are meant to be more as guidelines. If you rolled a dictator in the criminal career branch, your character does not need to be one, they merely have the skills to be one. Also, the bonuses are not cumulative. Politician gets only the points at its level, not the ones below it.

-Military-

Private +2 Fighting -4 Innovation

Lieutenant +2 Fighting -1 Scheming

Captain +3 Fighting -1 Scheming -2 Innovation -1 Wisdom

Colonel +4 Fighting -4 Innovation -1 Wisdom (or move over to Governor branch)

General +5 Fighting +1 Scheming -2 Innovation

Supreme Commander +6 Fighting +2 Scheming -2 Diplomacy -2 Innovation

Regional Governor +2 Fighting +2 Diplomacy -3 Credibility

Planetary Governor/Primarch +1 Fighting +2 Diplomacy +2 Credibility -2 Economics -2 Scheming

-Civilian-

Secretary +1 Diplomacy -2 Credibility -2 Innovation

Political Aidé +1 Economics +1 Diplomacy -1 Credibility -1 Innovation

Politician +3 Scheming +1 Diplomacy -1 Innovation

Member of Parliament +2 Economics +2 Credibility +1 Scheming -3 Innovation

Minister +3 Economics +3 Credibility +2 Scheming -1 Innovation

Prime Minister +4 Economics +4 Credibility +2 Scheming -2 Innovation

Peddler +1 Economics -2 Credibility

Merchant +2 Economics -2 Credibility

Entrepreneur +3 Economics +1 Innovation -1 Credibility

Branch Manager +4 Economics +2 Innovation

Executive Board Member +5 Economics +1 Innovation +1 Credibility

Chief Executive Officer +6 Economics +2 Credibility

Student +1 Wisdom +1 Innovation +1 Scheming -1 Economics

Embassy Aidé +2 Diplomacy -2 Innovation

Civil Servant +2 Diplomacy +2 Scheming -4 Innovation

Attaché +3 Diplomacy +2 scheming +1 Credibility -2 Innovation

Consul +4 Diplomacy +3 Scheming +3 Credibility -1 Innovation

Ambassador +6 Diplomacy +4 scheming +4 Credibility -1 Innovation

-Criminal-

Thug +1 Fighting -2 Wisdom -2 Credibility

Bouncer +2 Fighting -1 Diplomacy

Muscle +3 Fighting +1 Credibility -2 Diplomacy

Hitman +4 Fighting +2 Innovation +1 Scheming -3 Diplomacy

Boss +4 Fighting +2 Diplomacy +2 Credibility

Pickpocket +1 Scheming -1 Fighting -1 Credibility -1 Economy

Hacker +2 Scheming +1 Wisdom -3 Credibility

Fence +2 Scheming +1 Economy -1 Wisdom

Con Man +3 Scheming +2 Diplomacy +1 Wisdom -4 Credibility

Master Burglar +4 Scheming +2 Diplomacy +3 Innovation -3 Fighting

Miscreant +1 Innovation -1 Credibility -1 Economy

Courier +2 Scheming -1 Fighting

Conspiracist +3 Scheming +1 Diplomacy

Revolutionary +2 Credibility +2 Scheming +1 Fighting -4 Economy

Dictator +6 Credibility +2 Scheming -2 Diplomacy

TRAITS

Pick an equivalent number of good and bad traits.

1. Artistic (+ 1 Innovation)

2. Disciplined (+ 1 Fighting, - 1 Innovation)

3. Quiet/Talkative (- 1 Diplomacy, + 1 Scheming / +1 Diplomacy, - 1 Scheming)

4. Intelligent (+ 1 Wisdom, + 1 Innovation)

5. Militaristic (+ 1 Fighting, - 1 Innovation)

6. Heroic (+ 2 Fighting, - 1 Economics)

7. Sacrificing (+ 1 Credibility, - 1 Diplomacy, - 1 Economics)

8. Welldoing (+ 1 Economics, - 1 Innovation)

9. Content (- 1 Innovation)

10. Persistent (+ 1 Economics, + 1 Diplomacy)

11. Calm (+ 1 Diplomacy, - 1 Fighting)

12. Slow to anger (+ 1 Diplomacy)

13. Negotiator (+ 2 Diplomacy)

14. Slick (+ 2 Scheming )

15. Civilized (+ 1 Wisdom, + 1 Innovation, - 1 Fighting)

16. Cultured (+ 1 Wisdom)

17. Religious (+ 1 Credibility, - 2 Innovation)

18. Chaste (+ 1 Credibility, - 2 Scheming)

19. Reserved/Outgoing (+ 1 Scheming - 1 Diplomacy/- 1 Scheming + 1 Diplomacy)

20. Musical (+ 1 Wisdom)

21. Unyielding (+ 1 Fighting, - 2 Diplomacy)

22. Incorruptible (+ 1 Credibility, - 1 Scheming, - 1 Economics)

23. Polite (+ 1 Diplomacy, + 1 Credibility)

24. Tolerant (+ 1 Innovation)

1. Alcoholic (+ 1 Scheming, - 2 Credibility)

2. Defers to Authority (+ 1 Fighting, - 2 Innovation)

3. Gossiping (- 1 Scheming)

4. Lazy (- 2 Economics)

5. Dumb (- 2 Wisdom, - 1 Innovation)

6. Immoral (+ 1 Innovation)

7. Fatalist (+ 1 Wisdom, - 1 Fighting, - 1 Diplomacy, -1 Economics)

8. Coward (- 3 Fighting, + 2 Innovation)

9. Dissenter (+ 1 Fighting, - 1 Credibility)

10. Warmonger (+ 1 Fighting, - 2 Diplomacy)

11. Manipulative (+ 2 Scheming)

12. Promiscuous (+ 1 Scheming, - 1 Credibility)

13. Junkie (- 2 Economics, - 2 Wisdom)

14. Greedy (+ 1 Economics, - 1 Diplomacy)

15. Vengeful (+ 1 Fighting, - 2 Diplomacy)

16. Fanatic (+ 1 Fighting, – 2 Innovation)

17. Short-tempered (- 1 Diplomacy, - 1 Scheming, - 1 Economics)

18. Undisciplined (- 2 Fighting, + 1 Innovation)

19. Rebellious(+ 2 Innovation, - 2 Credibility)

20. Violent (+ 1 Fighting, - 2 Credibility)

21. Apathetic (– 2 Innovation, - 2 Economics, - 2 Fighting)

22. Arrogant (- 3 Diplomacy, - 2 Scheming, - 2 Fighting, - 1 Innovation)

23. Corrupt (+ 1 Economics, + 1 Scheming - 2 Credibility)

24. Intolerant (– 2 Innovation)

25. Scheming (+ 3 Scheming, + 1 Fighting, - 2 Diplomacy)

[scienceofmasseffect]

Turians and humans - Quick look

How much do turians and humans differ on average? Let's have a look at Palaven's characteristics.

Day Length 28.3 Earth hours Surface Gravity 1.14 g Atmospheric Pressure 1.1 atm Surface Temperature 31 °C

Like earlier, these are most relevant pieces of data for our comparisons. As with the asari, turians have longer days than humans do on Earth. In fact, Palaven's day is tad bit longer than Thessia's. We can assume from this that an properly-fed (opposed to starved) turian can stay up longer than a human would on average. The atmosphere is thicker on Palaven, so turians can get their required oxygen with less effort than humans do. Human lungs > Turian lungs here. Palaven's gravity is stronger than on Earth or on Thessia too, so turians on average have got stronger muscles than the soft-skinned humans or asari. In addition, their martial culture probably encourages staying fit for duty. Palaven is hot though, lot hotter than Earth so turians are more accustomated to warmer climates. Recall Garrus complaining about the cold on Noveria? He isn't built for that kind of climate.

So on average, our turians are stronger and more energetic than humans, but their lungs are less capable than human ones. According to Patrick Weekes' twitter (private, cannot confirm personally), turians give birth to live offspring like humans do, but you've seen how slim turian bodies are.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/334/4/c/__mass_effect_3_omega_dlc___nyreen_fully_poseable_by_lezisell-d5mlsj1.jpg

Above link has Nyreen (extracted by lezisell) as our example. Given the unknown properties of the turian carapace, we don't know how well it can accommodate the inevitable ballooning resulting from progressing pregnancy. If it doesn't, turian babies will have to be small and/or undeveloped at birth to fit inside their mothers, requiring perhaps more nurture than human babies would. They seem to have at least similar fingernails as we do.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Krogan and humans - a quick look

Krogan are on altogether different scale from humans, so a direct comparison is impossible. This comparison will be working from the assumption of a Tuchankan creature with similar dimensions to humans.

Orbital Period     16.7 Earth Years Day Length     21.4 Earth Hours Atm. Pressure     1.1 atm Surface Temp     Varies Surface Gravity     1.14 g

Mass Effect wikia let me down and didn't write down the in shade and out of shade temperatures, but I think it was 30 something in and 74 out of shade (and this is the Shroud salarians built, mirrors in orbit to reflect Aralakh's light away). Definitely hotter than on Earth, and the Shroud wasn't there until salarians came to build it, so Tuchankans had to put up with very harsh heat between the 1980 years or so that passed between the end of their nuclear winter and arrival of the salarians. Tuchanka's gravity is stronger than on Earth, so anyone born and living there has stronger muscles as result. Atmospheric pressure is higher, so more oxygen is received with less effort. Day length is just few hours shorter so no large difference in need of rest.

However, since we are talking about murderlizards like krogan, who have multiple backup organs in case first ones fail, two nervous systems, regenerate injuries, weight a metric ton with armour and tower above humans (the krogan you see in the games are smaller to so they don't clip into everything), live past 1000 if given the chance and have the lovely blood rage defense mechanism, it's fair to say that humans are boned one-on-one with a krogan in comparison.

Here's a little comparison of height. According to the codex, krogan typically stand over 7 feet (or 2.13 meters), or about one Shaquille O'Neal's height. The human average was based on average of human male and female averages taken from Wikipedia (1.6-1.7 males, 1.5-1.6 females).

The manner in which krogan reproduce is unclear, as EDI states that one female can lay a clutch of up to 1000 eggs in a year, while Eve on the other hand speaks of horrors dealing with stillborn babies the fertile females have to go through. So do krogan lay eggs or give birth to live babies, or do the undeveloped eggs refuse to hatch? Another point worthy of speculation is the rapid maturation rate of the krogan. I recall once having heard that one year was enough for a new krogan to mature enough and be fit for battlefield, which would be pretty outrageous claim...but then again, one Tuchankan year is almost 17 Earth years which would make sense.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Salarian age

WARNING: HEAVY SPECULATION AHEAD

Humans in the Mass Effect era live up to 150 years nicely with help of modern medicine, and the codex believes that number is expected to grow as more galaxy's medical discoveries are put into practice with humans.

40 is the stated maximum limit of salarian's lifespan, with few individuals living past that age. Unlike humans, salarians have been around for 2000 years on the galactic scene, so it can be expected their lifespan cannot be extended past this point anymore without involving synthetic replacements, blueboxing their brains or evolving over time to live longer.

Let's do some calculus with those numbers.

150/40 = 3.75

This simple division tells us that one salarian year lived corresponds to about 3.75 that of a human's lived years. Give it four years and that tadpole you thought was cute is probably fully grown already size-wise (perhaps sexually too but thankfully with less high school dating drama).

EDIT: Attempts to gain information to guess on sexual maturity of salarians stunted by lack of data on real frogs. Wikipedia has no mentions on when the metamorphosis of from tadpole to adult stage takes and if the adults are capable of breeding right away. This irritates me.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Batarians and humans - a quick look

Ah yes, the batarians, humanity's archnemesis up until Reapers showed up. Let us see how good they really are compared to humans now, shall we?

Day Length     18.5 Earth Hours Atm. Pressure     0.62 atm Surface Temp     33 °C Surface Gravity     0.96 g

On a quick look we can discern that batarian's day is some five and a half hours shorter than a human's. They stay up less, but on the other hand sleep less than we do. Khar'shan's air pressure is pretty damn low, leading to stronger and larger lungs to get the required oxygen. Humans lose this round to batarians. The average temperature is 10° higher than on Earth, so they'd be more accustomated to warmer climates, even more so than turians. Khar'shan's gravity is tad bit weaker than on Earth, so muscle mass advantage goes to humanity.

Most striking feature of the batarians, the four eyes grant them a visual capability beyond most races, evident in the subtle gestures that have developed in their culture (tilt head to right for insult, tilt left for compliment). Based on their sharp teeth, I'd also wager that a batarians rely on meat-heavy diet like turians do.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Salarians and humans - quick look

How much do salarians and humans differ on average (obvious mammal-amphibian difference aside)? Let's have a look at Sur'Kesh's characteristics.

Day Length 21.5 Earth hours Surface Gravity 0.94 g Atmospheric Pressure 1.42 atm

They have few hours shorter days than Earth does, but as the codex tells us, salarian metabolism is entirely something else than a human one is. Salarian only needs about an hour of sleep per day to function normally, so for once humans triumph out in longevity, but the salarians are back up lot faster and none worse for the wear. Sur'Kesh has weaker gravity than Earth, which gives us the edge in muscle power, and Sur'Kesh's atmospheric pressure is lot higher, leaving its inhabitants with lot more oxygen for less work. Human lungs > salarian lungs.

On average, a salarian will be frailer and weaker than a human. However, their metabolism gives them an edge by overall being faster on average with little amount of sleep. Salarians also possess a photographic memory, or as the phenomenon is called with humans, eidetic memory, granting them an eye for detail on par with the drell.

Salarians reproduce by laying eggs, not unlike our terrestial amphibians do. They're haplo-diploid species, or in clear English, unfertilized eggs produce males and fertilized eggs produce females. Given this setup, even one female could sustain a salarian population, but not without gross amount of genetic disorders from such small and closed genetic pool.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Quarians and humans - a quick look

Just what kind of bodies do the quarians' famed envirosuits hide underneath them? Let's try to wager at that with the help of Rannoch's characteristics:

Day Length: 32.3 hours Atmospheric Pressure 0.93 Earth Atmospheres Surface Temperature 48° Celsius Surface Gravity 0.89G

Quarians have (or had) about eight hours longer day than we do, which translates into a 16-hour period of daylight at Rannoch's equator. At average they'd be staying up four hours longer than humans do if the day cycle was maintained on the Migrant Flotilla. Lower atmospheric pressure calls for stronger lungs, but as we know the quarians have been living on ships for the past centuries, and their living conditions can be adjusted. On average, quarian has better lungs than a human but it might be diminished over living in space for many generations. Weak surface gravity leaves less muscle mass, unless the flotilla decided to crank up the artificial gravity higher. And damn the average surface temperature on Rannoch is hot! It's probably less harsh around the habitable oceans and rivers, but still, approaching mild sauna temperatures here. I wonder if the Migrant Flotilla keeps the same temperatures in their ships?

[scienceofmasseffect]

Battle for the Citadel and Crucible

You've seen the massive fleet that takes on the Reapers in Priority: Earth. At first it was cool, but then I got bothered.

Bioware was tossing their codex away for cool cutscenes again!

Massed fleet movement looks cool, but then there's this little thing: Warship thrusters inject antiprotons into a reaction chamber filled with hydrogen. The matter-antimatter annihilation provides unmatched motive power. The exhaust of fusion and antiproton drives is measured in millions of degrees Celsius. Any vessel caught behind them will melt like wax in a blowtorch.-Codex, Starships:Thrusters

Any movement in a column where the ship ahead of you leaves a trail of burning death for you to plow into is obviously bad news, and the massed fleets of the galaxy are just doing that. Except plot armour and ignoring past guidelines comes to the rescue.

Next up we have the furball around the Citadel which can be partially justified by the facts that:

Crucible must be delivered to the Citadel

Reapers are damn well expected to exploit this

Allied forces need to provide constant overwatch to ensue safe delivery of Crucible

Which still does leave us with lots of warships criss-crossing and making the immediate vicinity of Citadel a minefield of thruster trails.

There is also the thing that there are dreadnoughts fighting point-blank when their strategy is explicitly to stay in the back and engage at range where they are able to aim properly with their main guns. Taking slow-turning high value ships into knife fight range where Reapers can out-maneuver the dreadnoughts is foolish.