Definitely interested in the TF RPG. Doubt my gaming group would be into it though.

 

Most of the fandom every time Hasbro tries to make a Transformers Card Game:

 

I don't care about card games, but a tabletop RPG? That sounds great! And a Power Rangers one is coming too! I'm a bigger fan of Transformers than Power Rangers, but I think the latter would actually be more fun as an RPG. I can just picture a bunch of players sitting around a table yelling out the catch phrases.  

 

Interesting. I will have to take a look. For these properties I think a tactically deep but narrative based combat system would work. Think like the momentum/power based combat systems that characters have to build up to finishing/decisive attacks. Probably more dramatic movement rules, though I prefer tactical movement myself.

Personally I had a half formed 3.X d20 hack. Characters had two types of levels, frame and class. Frame represented mostly alt mode influence on the character and were usually 10 levels for standard characters. Minion characters like deployers and minions had less. Characters couldn't just level up frames, it was story based upgrade. Frame wouldn't give skill points, but gave ability points and other bonuses, special powers, ect.
Then characters had their class that was more traditional DnD features.

I abandoned that for another idea that never left early concept phases. I based it off RnK systems and mapped tech specs directly into the game. Energon was a 9th ability that mapped to a push/power ability similar to Void in L5R. I had better luck concepting science and engineering in this system. Sadly I never did anything with it.

 

Hoping my review copy arrives soon, I really enjoyed the Power Rangers Deck Building Game, and Renegade has an amazing history of treating licenced properties with respect. Power Rangers Heroes of the Grid is one of my favorite games of all time, definitely my favorite Co-op, I\'d love to see the deck builders be successful enough where they look into a tabletop miniatures game for GiJoe and Transformers. I think this is going to be a fantastic partnership. 

 

I\'m very curious about the RPG game I assume it\'s basically DND with transformers skin sorta anyway but sign me up.
also can we get an official transformers Mtg set.

 

Nothing makes me feel more like yelling for people to get off my lawn than people complaining about tabletop instead of video game.

If you have never tried playing a game with other human beings you should give it a shot! It's much more fun to roleplay with people who have more than 3 preprogrammed responses.

 

Still antsy regarding the card game but I guess non-americans/canadians are still screwed regarding pre-order with the bonus Jazz charater and additional cards? RPG is cool too, I doubt I'll be playing it but I wouldn't be surprised if I'll end up with it anyway.

 

i hope Essence20 will have some sort of gaming license or a generic rulebook like what Genesys or Fate Core have. that way people could add their own settings.

 

Despite my misgivings over the Power Rangers RPG being set during the early years of the franchise, I’ll still be buying it because I’m a sucker for Power Rangers. As for the TF RPG, I’m probably gonna wait until after it comes out. I backed Commandroids so I’m already gonna have an RPG system I can use for Transformers if I want, and I know it’s a system tailor-made for Transforming robots, rather than a generic system slapped across three brands.

I’m still butthurt we never got official rules for PR Hyperforce.

 

TBF I didn't start any TTRPG until late in my 20s... So feel less old!

 

And the anarchy of having players deliberately going off-script and messing up the plot just because!

I plan to get both Power Rangers and Transformers so I can do a crossover. I think the Zeo era would make for a good setting to have the Decepticons team up with the Machine Empire. It's hard for me to choose just one because both franchises are near and dear to my heart.

 

About 18 years ago I participated in a beta for someone who developed an RPG system that he was hoping to sell to Hasbro right after the WOTC acquisition and had done all the work and had a rather refined system. I had to sign an NDA and everything. He had art, a lengthy rule book, a method of creating a character or using an existing G1 character tech spec to create a version of an existing character for the game, etc.

It was a relatively straightforward system, based off a D10 for most die rolls, and was pretty fun. I played Springer and Blitzwing in the test campaigns, and Cosmos in a special one-shot "Defend the Ark!" mission.

I don't know what happened, if he tried and failed, or if he never even got the chance to pitch, or what. AFAIK I'm still under NDA, so I've never shared the rules. Also, since it was about 3 PC's ago and several e-mails, I don't think the document has survived as a copy anywhere in my possession.

I'd love to do a TF: RPG if it's any good.

 

This is gonna be a long rant about the RPG based on what was mentioned in the RPG discussion and Character Creation. Feel free to read this if you don't have time to watch the vods.

From what they talked about in the presentation yesterday it does appear combat leans more towards narrative than tactical, with the creature being targeted choosing what stat to use to try to dodge or shrug off attacks. For a D&D or Pathfinder translation it's more like you have 4 ACs you can use depending on what you can convince your GM you can use. I'm curious to see this in action, especially since you don't roll damage, you just hit and do 1 damage (maybe more depending on equipment). Also dropping to 0 hp means your defeated, not dead or dying. That's not to say you can't die, it just leaves narrative room depending on the GM and the group.

For character creation the core stats are Strength, Speed, Smarts, and Social. Characters start with 2 and each and get more from Origins and Roles. Each point in a stat translates to a skill point for a skill associated with those stats. This is how you can add extra dice to rolls. Each point in a skill gets you a specific die starting at a d2 and increasing from there. For almost every skill you can then choose to specialize, so you spend a point to pick a specific use of that skill you can roll all the dice you have in it for. Examples are specializing in drifting from the driving skill or sharpshooting from targeting. There are no set specializations, so get creative and talk to your GM.

From character creation stuff, the character sheet is overall clean and straightforward. They did say that the sheets would be mostly identical between series. The three main aspects of characters are influence, origin, and role. Influences are like backgrounds that give some advantage in certain situations and small perks. You can have up to three influences, but any past the first gives you a hang up, which is like a disadvatage or character flaw the GM can use.

Origins are more expanded backstories. In the context of the GI Joe stuff they're what exactly you were before joining GI Joe, but they discussed it would be alt mode for Transformers. Examples were small fast car or big beefy land vehicle, but it doesn't seem like any super specific alt mode is mandated. Mechanically Origins boost one of the main stats depending on the origin, and those boosts MUST be spent on one of two skills under the boosted stat. Origins also influence health, movement, and have some other minor bonuses.

Then there's Role, which is basically your class in other RPGs. GI Joe has more general roles, which I feel will be how it works in Transformers as opposed to how it's color in Power Rangers. Roles give you various perks and benefits which are tied to your level. These are mostly health and proficiencies at level 1. One thing they give is how to spend Hero Points (Story Points in PR, no clue what it's called in TF), which are rewards for good role playing from the GM. Roles also increase two of your main stats during character creation, and you have to spend them in specific ways like the boost from Origins. There are also a few abilities that will define your playstyle, but those will probably be different in the Transformers version so I'm not gonna bother writing those out. Roles also have focuses, which further define how you would play like a Subclass in D&D 5e. The example character has a Commando role and Sniper focus to give you a better idea how this works.

Miscellaneous but they hinted there could be some similarities between Power Rangers Megazords and Tranformers Combiner rules.

They're continuing the Power Rangers game on Twitch every Monday, so if there are any notable take aways about the general system I'll be sure to post them. After all, they do keep hammering home the consistency and modularity of the system so you never know what little perks will pop up in an actual game.

 

No point in objecting to a TTRPG. They require totally different skill sets to make and totally in no way shape or form compete with each other beyond just asking for your time. Yeah we all want a good video game again but complaining about this as if it was one or the other is so off the mark it's not even in the same time zone.

It's really clear Hasbro don't mind the churning out tie-in's to currently popular games and mobile games with a F2P revenue stream. They don't seem interested in a traditional AAA game, Even Devistation was a "budget" AA title. I don't question that these talks are happening especially with the new movie. I just think Hasbro's mind is just on optimizing the income, quality comes second.

Now I Don't follow card games but I swear the last one was just shit canned like a year ago? I don't see how making another is going to change anything.

 

Sounds terrible. Then again, I grew up on THAC0.

 

In the other Renegade thread, it was explained it’s primarily style - as opposed to the prior card game, which was a CCG with random blind packs, this is a deck-building game, so you get the entire thing in a box. They offer expansions too, but it’s more like a traditional tabletop game that uses cards instead of an ongoing crack habit like Magic or Pokémon.

Which also seems to be how they’re running their toy lines these days, sadly…

 

One thing I’m not clear on with the TF RPG is whether or not you can even make Decepticon characters or a Con party. I didn’t hear anything about making Cobra characters for the Joe game either. Perhaps playable villain factions will be in different books?

 

That's true. It's probably due to marketing or maybe the liscence, but the good thing about rpgs is nobody says you HAVE to be the good guys. Mechanically there shouldn't be a difference playing a Decipticon compared to an Autobot. Same should go for Cobra since it's just a different military group with a cooler color scheme.