(OOC) Transformers: Robots in Disguise!

[hafrogman]

Motto is the the one that sticks out right now. Also Nexus Reserve, which as far as I can tell should be 1 + 2 + (2 + 1)*3 = 12.

 

[rangerjohn]

Thinking about it you'd probably be better of with bear's endurance. Your pretty much going to be hit at your size, even with mage armor or shield. With bear's endurance thats 6 hps still not good. Looks like OP was a heck of lot higher than 3rd. One hit from Megatron and a third level character is toast, of course the reverse is true also. What about Cure Moderate for d10+3, you can get that for special power 3. You would probably get multiple uses per day, I definately see OP or Jack Knife with a high charisma.

 

[rangerjohn]

Of course, the above suggestion is with the caveat, that it is the nanites healing the damage. I don't see him healing someone else. He had the temperment if he had the ability, but I don't see him being able to heal others. With that restriction in mind maybe we could talk the GM into making it either Special Power 2 or Cure Serious for Special Power 3.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Motto is the the one that sticks out right now. Also Nexus Reserve, which as far as I can tell should be 1 + 2 + (2 + 1)*3 = 12.

Cool, I'll get them edited out the next go around... (tommarow)

With that restriction in mind maybe we could talk the GM into making it either Special Power 2 or Cure Serious for Special Power 3.

If I'm reading this right I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with a 1st level power which is a zero level spell... To be honest I'm not even seeing any 1st level spells that really strike my fancy, hence the fact that I took 3 on the alt form when I only needed 2. (I'm loving that 50% better overall speed.)

 

[rangerjohn]

Well in that case, I don't know what to tell you. You right, Gargantuan characters are pretty much siitting ducks, and you don't have the con bonus, such a character would normally have. I mean what are you sitting at, pretty much 54 hp max? 36 for level, 15 with 20 con, and 3 for toughness feat. Taking a blow from Megatron at 4d6+str bonus.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Well in that case, I don't know what to tell you. You right, Gargantuan characters are pretty much siitting ducks...

Yeah I took two ranks of Adaptive Defense hoping and preying someone hits me with a natural 19 and I can pretty much have the next round damage free. (At least from that source.)

I just sort of ran out of ways to fix my defense... I guess I could have gone with a less than impressive alternate forum, slower, and less maneuverable but its not so cool when the tracker trailer goes out of control and runs over that poor family and their hatchback. At least not compared to some of the hairpin turns Jackknife can do right now.

and you don't have the con bonus, such a character would normally have. I mean what are you sitting at, pretty much 54 hp max? 36 for level, 15 with 20 con, and 3 for toughness feat. Taking a blow from Megatron at 4d6+str bonus.

I wish I had a con of 20. I have 18, I saw that the table went much higher than that but I couldn't bring myself to be so one sided when it comes to being the group leader.

Edit: Maybe we should go gestalt. (how this would fix anything is beyond me.)

 

[rangerjohn]

HF, you need cable to take winch.

 

[Vendetta]

Special powers, really didn't excite me and except for mirage I really don't remember to many of G1 have them... Now I could be wrong I have the memory of an old man...

Actually, pretty much every one of them had some kind of “special power” Some where just very skilled at something, like Wheeljax at building gizmos or Ratchet at healing (Though, not “magical”) But guys like Hound could create Holographic projections, Jazz could use his speakers to make disorienting sonic attacks, Sideswipe could fly, Ironhide was extra tough, and Bumblebee was annoying. (or was that just me?) Anyway, they all had some “thing” that stood out to make them each different. Even the Decepticons. Thundercracker could roar his engines with a similar effect as Jazz (though, with some sonic impact), Rumble could pummel the ground into an earthquake-like state and Skywarp could teleport… anyway, enough about THEIR powers.

You don’t need special powers, though. Brawn was just strong but nothing special. Prime was just all around powerful… your “special power” might not be a power, per se, just those two big flame throwers are significant enough

* I do have a question, on your Alt Form rules, you Alt form rules is it more advantageous to use your rule or is someone better of using the form feats that one gets?

Well… while it stands in the middle priorities, no, not really. (But didn’t really notice that when I wrote it up… I granted two shifts, which I thought was fair… and apparently so did the game designers because they grant two form feats that could do the same if you took that priority and dropped it onto the form feats priority. BUT if you wanted those specific alt form shifts AND the maximum number of Form Feats, you could put a five on Form Feats and priority up the alt form to get those shifts as well. (might be a good way to stock up on delayed form feats)

But I sort of assumed it to be base and then the cha + 1 every time you leveled up, not for each level.

It should say “Including first level” (oh, it just said “including first” so that can be confusing, sorry)

has anyone else looked over the ramming rules? Those are NASTY.

EEK! Man, that is splat city… We may have to tame it down for level/hit die considerations… I’m glad I granted max hit points… I may have to give out some bonus hit points to keep everyone alive! (including my villains :evil grin: )

Is High Performance a form feat (as table) or not (as feat write up). Where is the Weapon Network feat that appears on the form feat table?

Gahd… High Performance could go either way, reading it. A mechamorph could just be very skilled pilot or it could be that he’s just that well made… so, my ruling on the matter is that it is a form feat and that he is just that well made because that is what the name makes me think when I read it.

As for Weapon Network… I have no idea what it is

HEALERS!!!!

Never fear, true believers… many of your favorite toons will appear in this game as regulars and semi-regularly. Including, but not limited to, Wheeljax and Ratchet.

Not sure... A Katanna is usually stated out as a bastard sword. (Which can be used as a martial weapon in D&D with two hands) So Jackknife do to his size may be able to wield Bushido with no issues at all. (DM's call)

In the DMG, the Katana is an exotic weapon when wielded with one hand but can be wielded as a Martial weapon by using both hands… so if you use Bushido two-handed, then yes, you can wield him without the exotic feat.

Originally Posted by hafrogman
One posibility would be to give additional priority points as we level.

Not a bad idea. The only problem is that the points for Attribute per priority are 6, which would take an ability score from 16 to 18, a bit much… and worse with lower cost attributes. (you could literally go from 10 to 15 that way)

So… Perhaps we can come to some middle ground. At level 5, 10, 15, and 20, we could have a priority boost;
Alt form boost (though, I don’t know what that would be… maybe Jack-knife could get a trailer or something or Bushido could turn into a wakasashi as well)
A single Form Feat (instead of two)
a single +1 to any one ability score (though, you get those every four levels… so I don’t know if I like that… however, since there are not “magic items” that boost ability scores… then again, who says there can’t be super nexus energy devices that do that?),
An extra gear points (though, I did change it so that every level you gain an extra gear point to improve or add new gear (BTW, you can save those up for bigger gear down the road a few levels)
A special Power Point or maybe bonus Nexus Energy Reserves

anyway, these things are not official, but I’m willing to discuss them and add something like that. But, to be honest, I think really only Form Feats are “reasonable” considering the rules already established. But I’ll go for the extra chance at boosting ability scores if there are not gizmos in the game that boost them… BUT, maybe we can make up a couple more form feats, say, six of them, each one boosting a different attribute by 1? What are your thoughts on the matter?

Am I the only one who finds the fact that Soldiers don't get full BAB progression kind of strange?

Actually, you might find me odd, but I rather think they did it so that soldiers wouldn’t be able to hit every T-former larger than him at will. I think the to hit progressing in the d20 system REALLY makes it easy to hit once you get a few levels under your belt. But, honestly, yeah, a soldier and a scout having the same “To Hit” progression just doesn’t seem right. But it is probably to balance the class abilities that they get every odd level when a normal fighter gets only feats ever even level… not sure really what the thinking is behind it, though.

Hmm, eep, does anyone want to give me hand with my background ? I put Bushido together because he seemed like a fun character but looking at him in hindsight he fits the Decepticon mould better than the Autobot, apart from the Honour thing.

Actually, Decepticons were not “evil” per se. They were just robots built by the Quintessons to serve a military function while the Autobots were built to sell as commercial equipment. In fact, they didn’t take on the names “Autobots” and “Decepticons” until much later. So, Bushido was probably a “Decepticon” who’s honour would not accept the direction that Megatron was leading them and switched over to join Optimus Prime, who just seemed so much more noble than Megatron on the battlefield.

(Boy, how many of my “answers” were already answered before I even got to post. I’ve been gone all day and can’t believe how many posts you guys have made (very cool and exciting) and I’m just reading through them and answering things as I get to them… then find you guys have figured out most of it a few posts later. But, I’ll not delete my thing above time.)

I was think of replacing Cliff Jumper from the series, as a scout 2 soldier 1.

Do it! A scientist would be nice but there will be plenty of battle and soldiers and scouts will be needed. As mentioned above, I’ll be bringing in many of the old boys so will be able to fill in any “holes” that come up. So play what you want to play for this baby! It’s all about kicking Deceptiscum tailgates all the way back to Cybertron! (actually, I’m hoping we’ll see some great RP and not just be hack and slash, but you know what I mean )

SUGGESTIONS FOR RANK 1 POWERS
(though, a better “transformer name” ought to be chosen)
Resistance: Gain a +1 on your next save… it could be a “reflexive” power that acts on its own to help Jack-knife overcome physical or mental stresses. (Simply pay 1 reserve point before making a save)
Flair/Daze: Turning on his bright headlights, Jack-knife can temporarily blind an opponent, making them lose an action.
Light: Similar except he floods an area with light.
Touch of Fatigue: By touching a target, Jack-knife is able to drain 1d3 points of Nexus Energy from a Transformer’s reserve. If that transformer’s energy reserve is at zero, this drain does temporary con damage, as described on page 55. -1 rank cost for touch only (no range), extra damage (drain), +1 rank… total, 1 Rank.
Message: Jack-knife, a leader on the battlefield, often has to send important messages or orders. He’s developed a tight beam transmission system that cannot be intercepted.

Don’t know… Guess you could do a priority of zero and sneak in one more point somewhere.

but its not so cool when the tracker trailer goes out of control and runs over that poor family and their hatchback.

BWAHAHAHA! HONK HOOOOONK *smoosh* “Sorry!”

And lastly… I’ve been considering how much damage you Transformers can do and how much (little) you can take. I knew I needed to give you max HPs but didn’t consider this nightmare. I thought the melee attacks just did insane damage and they do so I wanted to give a boost with the gear boosts I added to ranged weapons and such… I certainly didn’t want to nerf the melee weapon damages (I hate doing that) but now you all are waiting to die when Bumblebee runs amok with a plastic putty knife naturally imbued with his own Nexus energy (as all mechamorphs do when wielding any weapon). So, in my infinite desire to change every freaking rule (I don’t really want to, it just is starting to seem that way) I think I’ll be adding a hardness score to every Transformer. This hardness will stack with any DR you get from the soldier class and will be based on size.

Medium: 7
Large: 8
Huge: 9
Gargantuan: 10

After all, aren’t Transformers made of Cybertronian metal that is harder than normal earth metals? Anyway, sorry for the length of this post, but I had a LOT of catching up to do tonight. (Btw, it took me two hours to do this) So tell me what you think about the hardness thing and anything else. I’ll probably be posting the lead in story tomorrow evening so we can get this thing going

 

[hafrogman]

I love the hardness rule! I was looking at the 10/Nexus DR and thinking, 'now why would Transformers be able to bypass that?' Because if you watch the show and movie, they spend half their time beating on each other to little or no lasting effect. If I wanted to make a Robotech mech, then I'd want something that blows up the first time it's shot, but not a Transformer that does that.

So either the hardness or you could just ignore the 'everything is Nexus' and only given Nexus power to REALLY special weapons (Megatron's arm cannon comes to mind)

I suppose you are right that hit progression does get very high with +1/level. I guess my main thing is that with no dex bonus, and my size penalty I'm sitting at +0 to hit with my missiles. Hmm, maybe I should have thought of "Guided Missile" (as true strike)

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

anyway, enough about THEIR powers.

Man, I really like the Decepticon jets... :\ I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to shoot them. (Don't bash the beetle... My wife might be reading this thread. )

Your “special power” might not be a power, per se, just those two big flame throwers are significant enough

Very true... I made them cause it sounded cool. I guess way to many days of playing Battletech and the fact that flamers in that game where pretty useful.

(But didn’t really notice that when I wrote it up… I granted two shifts, which I thought was fair…)

True, I truly hate honesty but I find myself always being honest... Your write up to the alt form gives a 50% increase in speed, while the same form feat only gives a boost of 20% so I went with your version for that. (Yet me know if I need to adjust it.)

In the DMG, the Katana is an exotic weapon when wielded with one hand but can be wielded as a Martial weapon by using both hands… so if you use Bushido two-handed, then yes, you can wield him without the exotic feat.

Cool, I'll weezle a feat out of somewhere to give me the exoitc weapon feat... I mean how much fun would it be if I couldn't if I couldn't fire my gun, attack with Bushido and my flamethorwers all in one round? (Vendetta what do you mean that doesn't sound like much fun? )

Not a bad idea. The only problem is that the points for Attribute per priority are 6, which would take an ability score from 16 to 18, a bit much… and worse with lower cost attributes. (you could literally go from 10 to 15 that way)

I thought that a jump from 10 to 15 was a good thing...? (Okay, in all seriousness yeah that is a tad much... We haven't seen how this will look at high levels so maybe this is a whole “low level thing” and we should do the sum of 16 from the very beginning, and only look at expanding this at higher levels later on if it’s really needed. I think we’ve all give the 3rd level fighter a +1 sword when starting out as a family heirloom, its mostly the same thing)

Alt form boost (though, I don’t know what that would be… maybe Jack-knife could get a trailer or something or Bushido could turn into a wakasashi as well)

Why do I feel so naked now..? (I did give some thought being a controller and being a car carrier, but the size doesn’t quite work out and I was a tad bit worried you would drive up from California and beat me with a G1 Optimus Prime figure repeatedly and profusely so I went the soldier’s route.)

Actually, you might find me odd, but I rather think they did it so that soldiers wouldn’t be able to hit every T-former larger than him at will.

Yeah after I started looking at armor class I saw the reason why the nerfed the BAB progression...

Actually, Decepticons were not “evil” per se... *snipe*

Okay you peoples knowledge is starting to scare me...

I’ve been gone all day and can’t believe how many posts you guys have made (very cool and exciting) and I’m just reading through them and answering things as I get to them…

That's what you get for slacking off.

(actually, I’m hoping we’ll see some great RP and not just be hack and slash, but you know what I mean )

Indeed if I wanted to hack and slash I could have done it by myself... (As a young boy I use to play solo D&D by myself... It was little more than dice rolling and combat.

SUGGESTIONS FOR RANK 1 POWERS
Message: Jack-knife, a leader on the battlefield, often has to send important messages or orders. He’s developed a tight beam transmission system that cannot be intercepted.

Ohhh I like that!

Don’t know… Guess you could do a priority of zero and sneak in one more point somewhere.

Not needed I like the above.

BWAHAHAHA! HONK HOOOOONK *smoosh* “Sorry!”

So, in my infinite desire to change every freaking rule (I don’t really want to, it just is starting to seem that way) I think I’ll be adding a hardness score to every Transformer. This hardness will stack with any DR you get from the soldier class and will be based on size.

I'm not the greatest rules guy, and I don't have the hardness rules memorized but I memory serves me correct, its allot like DR… Except nothing can bypass it so Jackknife’s would be like 10/- right?

If I’m wrong someone pleases correct me.

If I'm right, it doesn't happen often btw, then does it stack if we get attacked by something other than a transformer?