Hey all,

I don't know if there are any other d20 players here, but if you're interested in playing a Transformers style campaign I found/have this little gem: Amazon.com: Horizon: Mechamorphosis (9781589941847): Various…

It's written almost as though they were going to get the TF name but then didn't. My wife and I played a mini-campaign for fun and its quite competent as a starting point i thought.

 

Yeah, its a pretty cool system, but isn't self-contained (you'd need to make up a lot of your own... details, and/or tie it into the D20 modern system), and though its robust (combiners, partners/minicons, etc.), it can get a little complicated at times. 4E, loathe as I am to admit it, might actually be better suited to TF.

I know there was a Macross RIFTS system, was it ever applied to TF?

 

Yeah, there is a ton of important info missing, sadly. All in all, however, it is a nice start. It is pretty old (I've had my copy for quite a few years). There is a player's guide PDF out there that introduces Beast Era stuff.

 

Yea, that player's guide is solid gold, haha. I've got a bunch of people with the 3.5 rules, but nobody has been interested in a TF themed game.

 

I realize this is an old thread, but...

I've recently (5 months ago or so), started a TF campaign using the Mechamorphosis rules. Now the rules are kinda lacking in some parts (don't care about the story, since I'm playing in the IDWverse), so after 5 sessions or so we had to do a lot of brainstorming to get stuff working right. I browsed all over the 'net to check out the experience of others who used the system, and found their house-rules to my liking, and am now using that.

The system seems to be good for a night or two, but once you go from lvl 1 to 6 (like the party is now), its becomes a mess.

If you're interested, check my page at Obsidian Portal; Transformers - Tempus Exitium | Obsidian Portal

 

Might check this out. Now if only I could actually get people to play a tabletop game consistently.

 

That was what I thought would be the problem at first... didn't know any TF fans in my region... So I just made a Facebook post, and within an hour, I had 5 players  

Consistently is always a problem, with that lame real life stuff coming through, so we set dates at the end of each session. Now that I'm moving to the other side of the country (2 hour drive), we'll be playing approx. once a month, but 8 hour sessions instead of 4.

I've been DMing (GMing  ) for 17 years now, so I know consistent play is a permanent problem. One of the reasons I registered with Obsidian Portal; If one of the players can't make it, we'll still play, and they can read up on it on the website. I give them the option to play a one-on-one session to fill out the blanks, but that is rarely used, usually ending up in "I've spent the session in the CR chamber" or something similar. If multiple players can't make it; we'll just set a new date.

And, tough as it is, if players can't make it for 3 sessions in a row, well, tough luck, but no more playing then (of course we all do our best to come up with dates that work for everyone).

 

One of the best campaigns I ever GM'd was this glorious 2-year long TF campaign using a custom cap for the home-brew system I had been using with the local players for years at that point.

I set the story in the period between the end of G1 and the Beast-Era (It was the 90s  ) my main players took on the roles of a advanced-model-prototype-Transorganic femme names "Nightshade," a team of duo-con/multi-force style Autobot-beasts lead by "Razormane," and a Autobot Snowplow name of "Frostheave" (Who's getting retconned into being PCC Icepick and becoming a present for his player this year  )

We hit every corner of mecha fiction, and they ended up toting Primacron around as their handyman and mascot, ahhh good times good times.

#1 lesson of good GMing and fun gaming: The rules don't matter. Gygax said it, and it's true. Never forget it  

D/L

 

True as true can be! I ran a long-term (16-year long) campaign called Dark Universe, where EVERYTHING could be played. You want a werewolf? Can do it. Invid Invasion Armor? Got it. Cybernetics? Got it. Knight in shining armor? No problem. And all in the same world. Had SO much fun doing that...

Bending rules for fun is always cool. A couple of session ago I had a tank drive up a huge tree he shot. The tree started falling over, he used it as a ramp, transformed half-way, and pulled a helicopter out of the sky.

Ruleswise; that was impossible.

Funwise: H3ll Yeah!

 

Cool. A long time ago I was trying to make some simple rules for a transformers tabletop game featuring Micromasters, since I'm lazy I gave up. Maybe I should buy this, I'm curios enough even though I may never end up finding people to have a game with ^^

 

One of the cool things about Obsidian Portal is that it uses Google Maps in somewhat way, so you can find other roleplayers close to you. Maybe you'll have some luck in finding players that way  

If you plan on getting it, give it a thorough read... there's a lot of mistakes in there, but the Errata is no longer available on the site. I've put it all on my OP (Portal, not Prime  ) account, so it's there for the taking  

 

The BEST system to do this would be GURPS. They even have ready-made shapeshifting rules.

The problem is, we're looking at a real chore to make a "Transformer package" with all your basic abilities (Doesn't Breathe, Unaging, Pressure Resistance...and on and on), but GURPS, as well as having really complete shapechanging rules, also has a huge array of ready-made and buildable super-powers to create characters like Skywarp, Trailbreaker, Soundwave, and so on.

At base, you'd need GURPS Basic, Supers, Ultra-Tech, Vehicles, and Shapeshifters to make it work. Using GURPS you just give each player the base package, then a point value to represent whether they're a Bumblebee, Mirage, Ironhide, and so on.

But honestly, I've wanted to do this forever. I'd love it if we could collectively come up with ANY playable system, then stat out the NPCs for use. I'm on board for almost any system (if it's one I don't have I can get it) because damn...it's frustrating to try by yourself.

- Coeloptera

 

From what I've heard of GURPS, it seems to be a system easily enough adaptable for anything. My group went with D20 simply because it's a system we all know and have worked with for years. We also kept our eye on a supplement from Mutants and Masterminds.

I got to admit, with the changes we made to the D20 system, it's actually quite workable. Not extremely hard, because I like to do roleplaying, not rollplaying. It works for us  .

The whole problem is that low-level characters can't do crap. And that you originally needed to buy your "special power" at first level, when you have access to jack sh*t. So I added bonus points, and the option to increase sai power. I mean, a 1st lvl Hound would be able to make a Hologram the size of a human. A 5th level hound (upping his power), would be able to do what he did in the cartoons (make large scale illusions).

The only one I personally have a problem with would be Soundwave. Rules-wise, (considering he has 7 or so cassettes) would need to be lvl 14 at least, but then the cassettes would not be able to do what they can. At level 28, Soundwave would be truly Soundwave. But then again, Soundwave is EPIC.

I wouldn't mind switching to a different system; with the only problem being lack of local resources (no more RPG shops, since the last one closed 4 years ago), and the time needing to be spent to alter everything we did. Still, we're subtly looking for a better system. So far, D20 Modern works...

Best thing to do would probably build a home-brew system out of scratch  

 

So...anyone actually wanna try tackling this, either altering or using an existing system or a homebrew? I'm game if I have assistance.

- Coeloptera

 

Do you mean an alteration on the Mechamorphosis system, or a complete new one? The alterations on the Mecham. system have been done (check my sig) by a lot of people already, and that works kinda okay.

 

So, tell me about the system. Can it properly represent a wide variety of skills and powers? Can it model fleshlings and their technology at decent levels?

- Coeloptera

 

The system is based off of D20 Modern. It works fine if you're using only transformers. Once fleshlings come in, the rules become simply "subtract 10 from all stats", which is ... weird. I'm still working on getting decent head-, target- and powermaster components done.

The powers are indeed wide. They basically use D&D spells, with a different name, and change that in a x use / day. It makes it simple, but it actually works.

They downgraded the amount of skills. For example; one has spot and search in D20, and they cut that down to 1 skill; Senses. Same for Hide / Move Silently, which became Stealth. Again; this works.

 

Hmm...D20, with TFs as the "base" huh? I might take a look. To me, though, a true TF RPG system should be able to handle everything from fleshlings up through Fort Max.

Have you statted out the NPCs yet? Can't fight the 'cons unless they have stats.

- Coeloptera

 

Statted out a variety of NPC's, but those stats are hidden to everybody but me. If my players wanna find a weak spot, they'll have to do so in-game  

And I agree with the fleshly stuff needing to be balanced. I'm still trying to figure out something with that. Been playing D&D for 19 years now, so I'm probably gonna figure it out sooner or later  . Considering we don't use that much human characters, it's not a priority at the moment.

In regard to Fort Max... you have TF's in all size catagories, the largest being of course Colossal. I'm thinking of taking it one step up, but I need to get a working system for city-formers. The book has some good rules for 'em, but to me Colossal seems too small  .

And Unicron is absolutely out of the question.

I'm in the middle of moving to the other side of the country now, so I haven't had the time to make some new stuff. Got some wild ideas that still need to be processed, but that'll be done later.

Ow, I don't know if you checked the stats on Obsidian, but one of the PC's is still statted through the old system. He didn't have time to update him. And if they all seem a little overpowered, that's basically because that's my preference  

 

Ah.... game talk. Music to my ears.  

Preach on, brothers!!  

The only reason the rules are there is to facilitate the fun. So many gamers forget that the "fantasy empowerment" appeal of gaming isn't necessarily about exploiting the rule-system to max out your character, but having a GM that knows that the he's there to make everybody feel like awesome main characters in an adventure movie, without having to work too hard for it.  

I know what you mean... I first tried my hand at a Transformers RPG system when I was around 12, and I periodically go back to the concept every 5 years or so, and try to revise it into something simple, intuitive, and workable. But I don't really have a consistent gaming group these days... real life and all... let alone one that would be psyched for a TF game.  

And then you'd have to find like-minded TF fans even!  

The reason why you're finding that Soundwave isn't working on paper is that you're forgetting a KEY ELEMENT.

His cassettes are their own characters, not extensions of him. He can already read minds and has super hearing and shit.  

Though really, if you were going to assign levels to established TF characters, I think Soundwave could actually be up around 28, so that's fair too... he is as you said, epic.  

I actually have a love-hate relationship with D20... always have. Never liked D&D, but it's the game that more people play, so once you lose touch with your old core group, it becomes the "common tongue" of gaming. I have to admit that the much-maligned 4th edition ruleset does have a lot of nice touches, and has yielded some of the most dynamic combat scenarios I've ever played (especially in a D20 system).

The best thing about building a home brew system... no useless supplements, no stretching the concept to appeal to every type of gamer, no obnoxious exploits. You build the skeleton to give you what you need, and then for the rest, you just wing it. Keeps it fresh.

I played a "homebrew" (as you call it) game in junior high for years that didn't even have character advancement... sounds completely insane, right? It was great. You built a character, who was competent from the outset, and they had adventures, sometimes they found new stuff, or gained or lost advantages, but there was no experience system. You didn't play for experience and for your next level... players just lived in the moment and the story!

Eventually we did add a really rudimentary points-buying advancement system, but the experience of playing that way really impacted on the way I look at gaming now.

Simple always works. Sounds cool.  

zmog