I've been thinking of writing some Dragon Age 2/Mass Effect stuff, of the 'Dragon Age characters and events roughly taking place in Mass Effect's setting' type, inspired by some very nice crossover/fusion artwork from Andrew Ryan and LordSantiago on deviantart.
Andrew Ryan's Work; http://andrewryanart.deviantart.com/
Lord Santiago's Dragon Affect pieces; http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/180/5/5/dragon_effect_isabella_by_lordsantiago-d55ci9i.jpg
The Hawke family live in the small, mostly-human agricultural colony of Lothering in the Attican Traverse...until the colony is burned to the ground by a combined force of Geth and Krogan. Maybe there was someone/something hidden in the colony that Saren was after, maybe it was just an act of pure dickish spite, no-one knows which, but in any case, the Hawke family (well, the survivors, at least) and Aveline are among the few left breathing. After some discussion, the group decides to follow Leandra's suggestion and head to Beckenstein, where her brother has been looking after her (very wealthy) family's properties and business, and should easily be able to put them up until they can get back on their feet.
...yeah, they get there just to find out that Gamlen's pissed it all away...and Gamlen himself is in debt to, amongst others, a pair of merc outfits...
And then Act 1 starts.
Marian Hawke: A former member of Lothering's militia, and the most skilled sharpshooter in the (former) colony. Also more than a bit of a smartass. She was on the fringes of Lothering's only city assisting in evacuation when the spaceport, the rail hub, and the bulk of the militia was annihilated by a score of Geth Armatures, and her orders changed from 'assist in the orderly evacuation of civilians' to 'JUST FUCKING RUN!'. She has WAY too much fun with her tactical cloak, once she gets her hands on one.
Bethany Hawke: A powerful, if relatively untrained biotic. Would much rather study than fight, but in a pinch, her biotic abilities show much greater finesse than her brother's. Eventually ends up in the Alliance's Ascension Project.
Carver Hawke: A biotic like his sister, Carver is the 'vanguard' to her 'adept'. Though the lack of a specialised biotic amp and serious training stymies his efforts to perform a true biotic charge as some Asari do, he's more than capable of a biotic punch that would knock a krogan on it's arse.
Their father Malcolm was one of the earliest human Biotics, and amongst the strongest of the first generation, with all the negatives that entailed. The eezo exposure that lead to Bethany and Carver being biotic proved to be slowly and irreversibly fatal to Malcolm, and coupled with the rumors that biotic children were being snatched up by persons unknown, Malcolm decided to take his family into hiding.
Varric Tethras: Author, entrepreneur, and small-time information broker, amongst other things...though how 'small-time' his info brokering is is up for debate. An unusually short human, but not a dwarf. Loves no woman like he loves his omni-bow.
Aveline Vallen: Former full-timer in the Lothering Militia, Aveline joins up with Bekenstein's police/security forces, before later being accepted into C-Sec. Wields her deceased husband's mattock assault rifle, the largest shotgun available to her, and an omni-shield.
Isabela: Former Pirate Captain, though details on what happened to her former ship and crew are few, far between, and often contradictory...though she's very wary around groups of Krogan these days. In the absence of a ship, she's still a very skilled thief, and extremely dangerous with omni-blades and/or pistols.
The Elves...or ELFs: The tightening restrictions on genetic engineering, and the Citadel's ban on the creation of sapient lifeforms, should have been the end of the human Tevinter Tech. Instead, the corporation packed its bags and headed into the Terminus, soon after beginning the sale of, amongst other crimes against nature, ELFs; Engineered Life Forms. Looking very much like slightly short, slender humans with pointy ears (someone in Tevinter Tech's staff is a troll), ELFs can be crafted to their future master's exact specifications, or simply churned out en masse to make a quick labour force. There are hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of ELFs in the Terminus systems; slaves to their masters, menial labour forces, or labour forces left to fend for themselves once their job is done. These poor souls have some difficulties initially surviving outside of their assigned roles, but freed (or abandoned) ELFs that manage to survive have formed small colonies or begun to trickle into Council Space.
Merrill: Designed to specialise in all things technical, Merrill is a whiz with everything from computers to the drive cores of starships...just be wary of giving her a gun; she's a pretty crap shot. She was actually TOO good with tech for her master's liking; her extreme aptitude and endless curiosity got her left behind with a grunt labor force that slowly took up a more primitive lifestyle under the leadership of their Keeper, leaving the tech-savvy Merrill feeling sorely out of place.
Fenris: An experiment in creating an ELF biotic and super-soldier that had...mixed results. He is an extremely skilled combatant, capable of forming strong biotic barriers around himself, his cybernetic forearms capable of generating powerful, though melee-ranged Biotic Warps that shred armor and organics alike, and he can pull off the occasional biotic charge, but his mental conditioning...well, it could do with a little work. Fenris is a free man, but not by Tevinter Tech's choice; he represents a considerable investment of time, money, and research to TT, and they are eager to get him back.
Anders: A 'student' of the BAaT program, and a former Alliance soldier who served with some reluctance (he was after the significant enlistment bonuses and free medical care to deal with his condition), who was eventually given a general discharge on medical grounds. A biotic fitted with one of the earlier L2 model implants, with all that entails; power comparable to most asari, with frequent migraines and mental stability that greatly varies depending on how much stress he is under and what kind of medication is on hand. A decent shot with common Alliance firearms (assault rifles and pistols), and an experienced field medic. A keen observer, if not necessarily a supporter, of a number of Biotic Extremist groups.
Sebastian: Youngest son of one of the wealthiest families on Beckenstein, the hell-raising rebelliousness of his youth ended sharply when his father shipped him off to military school. After a rough start, the attention and advice of the school's Chaplain began straightening him out, until eventually the then highly disciplined and deeply religious young man graduated top of his class, and immediately after joined the Alliance military. His admittedly short military career has been notable, with Sebastian developing a marked proficiency with the sniper rifle, and he was being groomed for eventual entrance into the N program. The deaths of his entire family after their private ship was raided, then destroyed by Blue Sun mercs, has put those plans on hold, as he takes an indefinite leave of absence to take care of his family's affairs and consider his future.
Something I've been considering is giving Hawke a ship, to allow her to travel about without having to worry about the hassle of public transportation...but I'm not entirely sure how wide-spread private ship ownership is in the Mass Effect universe...probably not as wide-spread as it is in the Star Wars universe, where you can get a second-hand light freighter for around 20,000 credits. I was thinking something like this;
MSV Apollo: An asari-built light freighter recently renamed after the Apollo missions/spacecraft. The former owner decided on this name after learning that the vessel flew off the assembly line in the same year as the first moon landing, making the ship more than 200 years old. Thankfully, the asari build their ships to last, and this particular model of freighter is relatively easy and cheap to maintain and upgrade, being unofficially dubbed the 'Maiden's First Starship' on account of the number of rich Asari maidens who head off into the galaxy in one of those models. Apollo is somewhat smaller than a human-designed Kowloon Class freighter, but is significantly more graceful in performance and appearance, a testament to the asari race's vast experience when it comes to starship design.
The previous owner of Apollo was a retired Alliance engineer who bought the ship as something to work on as a hobby, to keep herself busy, and for the joy of taking the occasional flight. On her death during the combined Geth and Krogan attack on Lothering, the ship (amongst other things) was willed to Marian Hawke, partly because the owner had no living family to give it to, but mostly in gratitude for Hawke's company and assistance in maintaining the vessel over a number of years.