Risky Suicide Mission (LE2)

General Objectives

• []Include a random element -> To keep the mission tense and improve replayability. Even knowing the mechanics, there is no absolute safety net, anyone can die. Yet, the goal is not to have a completely random experience, but to let the player manage the odds, and take risks knowingly.

• []Preserve player agency -> Offer decisions that do matter. Unlike in vanilla, the decisions do no rest on knowing/guessing which choices are correct or incorrect. Rather, the decisions are about managing the individual strengths of your current team (which will depend on some of your choices during the rest of the playthrough -- not just loyalty), taking chances for a possible later payoff, and putting some squadmates more at risk to preserve others.

• []Improve squadmate characterization -> Use a more individual approach to describe the way each squadmate is prepared & motivated for the mission. Give a chance of success for squadmates that automatically fail at certain tasks in vanilla.

• []Restore hidden content -> Some cutscenes/squadmates combinations are impossible to see in vanilla (e.g. Thane succeeding at the biotic bubble). Some cutscenes are adapted depending on your squadmates' individual situations (e.g. Hold the Line leader will be one of your top squadmates).

• []Include an optional cheat -> All lost squadmates and crew members can be revived after the suicide mission. This is meant for people who find the idea interesting but still want to start the next game with everyone alive.

  New Mechanics

  • []No absolute win/lose condition. Any selected squadmate has a chance to succeed at any task, or to fail at it. But the odds heavily depend on some of your choices.

  • []Readiness Score. Each squadmate is assigned a Readiness Score (between Very Low and Very High), which depends on several things before the Suicide Mission, like Loyalty or participation in the 3 main Collector/Reaper missions. The Readiness Score has a strong influence on how likely a squadmate is to succeed at a given task. It is displayed in-game before any choice where it matters.

    []Readiness boosts during the Suicide Mission. Squadmates selected for specific tasks during the Suicide Mission will receive a strong Readiness boost, which can benefit them and the squad later. There is thus a signific