User:Garhdo/Profile Reconstruction

’’’Profile Reconstruction’’’ is the character creation system of Mass Effect and its sequels. The process starts with the player either selecting a preset character or creating a custom character.

When creating a custom character, the player can choose to play as a male or female. The default names are John Shepard for male characters, and Jane Shepard for females, though only the first names may be customized.

Pre-Service History
The player then selects Shepard's pre-service history, by choosing Spacer, Earthborn, or Colonist. This choice affects how others talk about the main character and, in combination with the psychological profile, determines how many bonus and  points the Commander has at the start of the game. Some assignments in Mass Effect are only available to those who selected a particular pre-service history. Shepard’s pre-service history will also be mentioned by other characters or by Shepard themself in conversation throughout the trilogy.

Spacer
‘’”Both of your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years. Following in your parents' footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen.”’’
 * Spacer characters have a unique assignment  available in Mass Effect. A traumatised soldier will approach Shepard in the Citadel Wards asking for charity. This assignment also features Shepard’s mother Hannah Shepard, who can be talked to both here and in Mass Effect 3: Citadel. Hannah only appears with this background as in both of the other backgrounds, Shepard’s parents are deceased or otherwise absent.

Earthborn
‘’”You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned eighteen.”’’
 * Earthborn characters also have a unique assignment. A member of a gang Shepard belonged to in youth will approach Shepard outside Chora's Den in the Wards. Shepard is asked to help free a member of the gang from a turian in the bar.

Colonist
‘’”You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and you enlisted with the military a few years later.”’’
 * Colonist characters also have a unique assignment. When exiting the docking bay elevator, you will receive a request from C-Sec to help a fellow survivor of Mindoir, who was taken by slavers during the raid on Mindoir when you were sixteen.

Psychological Profile
Following a selection of pre-service history, the player must choose a psychological profile: Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless - each of which relates to a specific event in Alliance history and places Shepard in a prominent role. Each psychological profile provides special dialogue options to Shepard in certain assignments in Mass Effect. Shepard’s psychological profile will also be mentioned by other characters or by Shepard themself in conversation throughout the trilogy.

Sole Survivor
‘’”During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and now you alone are left to tell the tale.”’’ The Sole Survivor's unit was slaughtered in a Thresher Maw attack on Akuze.
 * Sole Survivors begin the game with both bonus and bonus  points and have special dialogue in the UNC: Dead Scientists assignment.

War Hero
‘’”Early in your military career you found yourself facing an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. Your bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet.”’’ The War Hero almost single-handedly repelled an attack by batarian slavers on Elysium.
 * War Heroes begin the game with bonus points and have special dialogue in the UNC: Espionage Probe assignment.

Ruthless
‘’”Throughout your military career, you have held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. You've been called cold, calculating, and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military always goes to you first.”’’ The Ruthless character sent 3/4ths of his/her unit to its death and murdered surrendering batarians on Torfan.
 * Ruthless characters begin the game with bonus points and have special dialogue in the UNC: Major Kyle assignment.

Class
The player must then accept a military specialization, which determines a set of talents. The six classes are Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, and Vanguard. In the sequels, imported characters can change their class from the previous game. The class choice will also affect weapon proficiency – in Mass Effect if Shepard is not proficient with a weapon, the Commander can still fire it, but cannot zoom in with it, and many weapon bonuses are void. In Mass Effect 2 certain weapons will be unavailable to certain classes. This applies to all weapons except the pistol in Mass Effect, and the pistol, submachine gun and heavy weapons in Mass Effect 2, which all classes are proficient in. In Mass Effect 3 however, Shepard can use any of the five weapon types with every class, but cooldown is affected differently for each class.

The player's choice of class does not affect the story in any way; there is one minor variation in dialogue when speaking to Kaidan Alenko, which refers to any chosen biotic class or biotic bonus talents in Mass Effect, as well as a line of dialogue based on class selection with Liara T'Soni in Mass Effect 3. A biotic class may also get an additional line when Samantha Traynor is talking about Grissom Academy, while the Engineer class will have an option to repair systems quickly during a situation on Omega.

Bonus Talents
If the player is creating a second character, at this point any unlocked bonus talents may be selected. These talents are unlocked by gaining the achievement for each talent. The player can choose one additional talent to add to their skill base. This talent is not reliant upon the existing class or prerequisite talents. For example, a pure Soldier can have a tech bonus talent, and an Engineer can be given Singularity. In the case the Soldier class is not chosen, a second weapon specialization, such as the Assault Rifle for the Adept, may be chosen instead of another ability.

In Mass Effect 2 Bonus Powers are unlocked by gaining the Loyalty of your squadmates. In Mass Effect 3 they are unlocked by conversation with squadmates and completing Downloadable Content.

Appearance
The ultimate stage of customization, the player may alter their character's facial structure, head, eyes, jaw, mouth, nose, hair, scarring, make-up (female only) and beard (male only). Alternatively, the player may select the default appearance. In the sequels, imported characters can change their appearance from the previous game, and facial codes are also provided for each unique appearance.

Finalize
Before the game begins, a profile summary is shown for review, and a chance to return to previous stages of customization and make changes is available.

If Commander Shepard is not edited, and is accepted as stock, Shepard will be Earthborn, a Sole Survivor, and a Soldier. If Shepard is male, his name will be John Shepard; if female, her name will be Jane Shepard.

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Need to know any mentions of profile reconstruction affecting subsequent games (missions, perks, etc) Any major differences in Profile Reconstruction between the three games to be noted.