TF Views

Exactly. What O6 said. Especially with the dice number and amount of sides to the dice. I only used a d20 in the example because that's what I'm used to from having played D&D (which for the record is really not that much. Enough to learn the mechanics and that's about it).

It also depends on how the system works. Sometimes you need to roll less than the number on your stats to make it and sometimes it's higher. With combat it's usually higher checked against the target's armor rating. When I was running my TF RPG a couple years ago, we just used the tech spec stats and numbers as the character creation system so I had players rolling a ten sided die compared to their character's stats. In that case, if someone wanted to notice something while walking down the hallway, they would have to roll less than their stat for intelligence. The idea being that the higher the intelligence the easier it is to make the roll. So, if Grimlock's intelligence is listed as 7 (which it is on his tech spec) then the player playing him would have to roll a 7 or less on a ten sided die to notice something.

But yeah, the only time you would be called to roll something like that would be if there was something in the room to roll for. Like if you say "I'm walking down the hallway" it would basically go one of two ways: Dom would say either: "you reach the end and enter the bridge, where you see Rodimus, Perceptor, Kup and Blurr. Or... Roll a D10 (or whatever we wind up using). You roll and report the result. He then tells you that you either A) Notice something in the room or B) Don't notice anything in the room and proceed onto the bridge. He basically would have had you rolling to determine if the Mini-Con spy goes undetected or is discovered. Often times if you miss the check and your character doesn't notice something the DM won't usually tell you what you've missed because it will likely come up later and be relevant to the situation. In this case, if the observation check is missed, the minicon would continue it's spying and you may notice later that the light fixture is missing on your way back through the corridor. Or not if your dice hate you and you miss it twice. That's basically the equivelant of your character being so focused on what he's doing that he's not paying attention to his surroundings.

It's usually innocuos things like just noticing something out of place, although in D&D it can be as critical as not recognizing a trap and taking damage or not taking damage. A truly good DM won't put you in situations like that unless you're just going through a mindless "dungeon crawl" (where you go room to room in a place with the sole intent of killing enemies and avoiding traps). Even using the Trypticon example from earlier, a good DM wouldn't have responded with "Prowl gets eaten, roll a new character" the response should have been something like "Trypticon turned his head at the last minute, Prowl bounced off and landed in a building, roll for damage." Thus the resulting failed action would only result in an injured player character, not a dead one. I really can't stress enough the desire to avoid dead PCs whenever possible. Unless we're going to roll multiple characters with the idea that some of them will be expressly "cannon fodder"? But, I would not be in favor of that.

The implication was that Prowl would be Trypticon's prisoner, rather than his lunch. He's a city, after all, not an organic thing with digestive juices. BUT I SEE YOUR POINT =3

Shockwave wrote: I really can't stress enough the desire to avoid dead PCs whenever possible. Unless we're going to roll multiple characters with the idea that some of them will be expressly "cannon fodder"? But, I would not be in favor of that.

Can I throw my hat in this ring, too?

It's one thing to have the occassional potential for death, like with boss fights and such, but to have even random encounter-style fights be so risky doesn't seem right. In a traditional RPG we'd all spend enough time on our characters that having them go out like punks would really be disappointing.

And, here it is. The first story I have written in *years*, at least discounting script drafts for "Mosaic".

Remember, when reading this, consider how it would translate into the game.

What sorts of stats would be relevant? What sorts of traits would a character be using?

What sorts of dice checks would there be? How/why would points be awarded?


Dom
-typing speed is everything.

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The Chase: A Bit of PCC RPG Fluffery.


Speed, contrary to what some people and robots seemed to think, was not everything.

Unlike many speedsters (Cybertronian or human), SpeedTrap was actually pretty good about remembering
that. There was usually somebody just a little quicker or a little luckier. And, speed
generally meant that one was likely to get in to trouble that much faster and be more
likely to be caught out in the open without back up.

And, that was precisely the situation that Speedtrap was trying to avoid as the sun set behind
him on I-40.

"'Trap, you need back-up?"

"Negative Ortega. Just keep as many of your people off the road as possible, and make sure that the city
limits of Flagstaff are as clear as possible. This is going to get messier before it is over."

Ahead of Speedtrap, three identical Decepticon tanks rolled towards Flagstaff. One of the grey tanks
rolled slightly ahead of the other two. Together, the trio formed a more or less unpassable, and moving,
obstacle. Speedtrap was more than a little grateful that most humans were smart enough to avoid
obvious threats. But, if one of the Decepticons transformed, or even used its alternate mode turret,
and attacked, there would be little most humans (or Autobots) could do about it.

Speetrap shut down his siren and light bar, (which had reflexively activated when he spotted the
Decepticons).

"Autobase, request back-up."

"Speedtrap, what is your situation?"

"Am tracking 3 Decepticons along I-40. Am guessing they are either triple changers or have 2
alternate modes."

The comm-link fell silent for a moment, given Speedtrap enough time to further consider his predicament.
He had been heading west from Flagstaff on a routine partrol when he spotted 3 fighter jets flying in
the same formation as the tanks ahead of him were driving in. When he recognized them as Cybertronian and
ignored his attempts to contact them, he immediately radioed his human colleagues and warned them to keep
the road as clear as possible. By the time Speedtrap had turned around in an attempt to track the three
Decepticons, there were 3 tanks rolling east back towards Flagstaff.

"Speedtrap, hold position. Do not engage. Back-up is enroute."

"Targets are en route to Flagstaff."

"Understood. Back-up is enroute."

The comm-link fell silent. Speedtrap was not given to wreckless heroics. But, in addition to being an Autobot
soldier, he was also a deputized law officer. More importantly, he considered his police interceptor form to
be as much a uniform of office as a disguise. He was not going to allow 3 malefactors to block a road he was
patrolling with impunity.

Of course, Speedtrap had to admit that there was little he could do about it if they Decepticons refused to
cooperate. Speedtrap switched his sirens and light bar back on and decided that he would be writing a hell
of a report about the evening as he acellerated.

As he closed on the Decepticons, Speedtrap found it more than a little insulting that they did not seem to be
concerned with his presence. They almost certainly had him flagged as an Autobot, and therefor a possible threat.
But, despite his obvious pursuit, they paid him no mind.

"Attention Decepticons, pull over and power down all weapons, on orders from the State of Arizona, the Federal
Goverment of the United States and the Autobots." Treaties in recent years had complicated matters of jurisdiction
pertaining to Transformers. One way of another, Speedtrap had ended up working for multiple organizations.
Typically, he acted as a highway patrolman, which suited him just fine.

Most human drivers, and the occassional unruly Autobot, would readily defer to his alternate mode or even the
local vehicles that it was based on. Even more aggressive humans normally settled down when confronted with
armed lawmen or alien robots. (Speed was not everything after all.) But, Speedtrap had little reason to expect
these Decepticons to be so deferential. (On the other hand, it was also kind of insulting that they were not
even a little worried about him being so close to them.)

With every passing moment, the Decepticons were getting closer and closer to the city. Given the amount of lead
time, it was not unreasonable to assume there there would be a response of some kind being prepared. The would
almost certainly be human military and law enforecement officials on hand, and perhaps a few Autobots.

But, an armed confrontation in or around a densely inhabited area would inevitably go badly for the humans and
Autobots. In addition to the property damage and loss of lives, there would be no small amount of political
fallout. There had been reports of Decepticons launching suprise raids seemingly to disrupt Autobot diplomatic
efforts, and this looked to be exactly that.

Speedtrap had no illusions about being able to stop the Decepticons. But, he was going to make every effort to slow
them down as much as possible, and maybe give his promised back-up a chance to engage the Decepticons away from the city.

"Decepticons, pull over." The lack of response was hardly a suprise. But, the warning had been worth the effort.

Speedtrap accellerated and veered to the right. His tires met dirt and sand as they left the paved road. The looser
terrain cost Speedtrap a measure of speed, but it was nothing that he could not compensate for. The tank of the right
of the formation started moving right in an effort to cut Speedtrap off. He was glad to at least have their attention.

As the tank's treads left the pavement, Speedtrap veered back to the left and on to the road without slowing down.
He sped up and between the middle and right most tank.

"Speedtrap, back-up is incoming."

Speedtrap was unable to respond. The middle tank started drifting to the right as the right-most tank pulled back on to the road.
The treads and side panelling of both were much closer than Speedtrap would have liked as he pulled ahead of them. (Speed may not
have been everything. But, it definitely had its uses.)

Pulling ahead of the tanks would give Speedtrap an chance to warn off any errant motorists with his sirens. And, (luckily?), it got
the attention of the Decepticons he had been pursuing. The turrets of all 3 tanks began tracking in his general direction. Speedtrap
was fast, but he had no illusions about being able to outrun or withstand a direct hit from whatever these particular Decepticons were
armed with. (There were any number of more heavily armoured Autobots who would have trouble with this situation. And, Speedtrap's armour
was nothing to brag about.)

Speedtrap skidded and veered to the left, turning into the skide just as a shell of solid ammunition passed over him and
exploded a bit ahead of where he would have been had he maintained his speed. Two energy beams cut across his original path.
Speedtrap made a quick mental not to add the attempted crushing and the tanks' firing on him to his report when he noticed incoming
aircraft.

A twin rotor helicopter flanked by a smaller but heavily armed single rotor helicopter and a heavily armed plane swooped in from the
South. As they got closer, Speedtrap noticed the large fixture attached under the larger twin rotor 'copter.

The Decepticons were either unaware of the approaching Autobot aircraft or were simply to focused on killing Speedtrap to care.

Speedtrap slowed down and peeled left, intend on getting himself out of the Decepticons's line of fire and getting himself away from
the Decepticons before other Autobots opened fire.

As Speedtrap's left tires contact the sand, the drag slowed him down enough for the left most tank to clip his right rear bumper.

The resulting spin sent Speedtrap to the left, though much slower than he had been going before, and slower than the Decepticon had
been travelling. Speedtrap's front left bumper ground in to the left treads of the tank before he was sent careening away from the
road, somehow flipping over in the process. Speedtrap came to a rough landing before he automatically transformed into robot mode
and momentarily lost consciousness.

He was jolted back to awareness by the sound of an explosion as one of the Decepticon tanks exploded. Speedtrap attempted to stand,
but his left leg, (coincidently the right bumper that was clipped earlier), gave out from under him. A further self diagnostic made
the damage to his right arm apparent.

Flames from the destroyed Decepticon illuminated the scene taking place on the road. One of the surviving tanks seemed to lunge
forward and into the air. Its mass shifted as it flipped over and launched itself into the air as one of the fighter jets that
Speedtrap had seen earlier. The Autobot plane flew over the carnage and and turned east to pursue the airborn Decepticon towards
Flagstaff.

While the single rotor helicopter engaged the other surviving Decepticon, the twin rotor 'copter flew in low over Speedtrap, dropping
the armature unit before turning back towards the road. As it fell, the armature shifted into the form of a green robot.

The Decepticon tank flipped up and transformed into a robot mode. (Speedtrap wondered if the Decepticon had been damaged in the
explostion that destroyed its comrade, or if it was possibly the tank that he had collided with earlier.) The Decepticon snarled
as he deployed a rifle and a sword.

Speedtrap barely took notice as the small green robot dropped by the twin rotored helicopter began examining the damage to his leg. The
Minicon chittered in a form of ancient Cybertronian that Speedtrap could only partially translate.

The attack helicopter launched another volley at the Decepticon as the twin rotor copter landed nearby and transformed into a grey and
blue robot with spinning blades on each arm.

The Decepticon staggered back, damaged but undeterred by the Autobot copter's relentless attack. The Decepticon responded by throwing his
sword at, and through, the attack 'copter. Speedtrap whinced as the 'copter fell almost straight down, exploding on impact with the road's
pavement. It was the sort of damage that was possible to survive, but certainly not guaranteed. The Autobot with blades on his arms seemed
unfazed by the damage to his wingman and calmly used his rotors to finish off the damaged Decepticon before taking to the air and heading
towards Flagstaff.

"You okay?"

Spinout shook his head as he answered his comm-link.

"Yeah. thanks for the save. Sorry about your friend. Hopefully he can be repaired."

The voice on the other end of the comm-link laughed.

"Don't worry about the drone. It was not even mine. I borrowed it from skyburst."

Speedtrap remembered something about new drone and combination technology being tested out at a nearby, thought secret, facility.

"Ah, well, my apologies to him then. What is your name?"

"Name's Searchlight. You just stay where you are, let my little buddy work on you and wait for Skyburst. We took down two of those
Decepticons, but I need to make sure that this other drone I bothered from Skyburst gets back in one piece."

"What do you want me to tell Skyburt about the helicopter drone?"

"Blame the Decepticons, and point out that it is still easier to replace a drone than an actual Autobot.."

The green Minicon chittered.

"..or Minicon."

Speedtrap looked at the Minicon as it examined and repaired his leg. There were no two ways about it, he was going to spending some
time in the repair bay and would be slowed down for a time. But, speed was not everything, and having an arm and leg repaired was easier
than being fully over-hauled.

Gomess wrote:I really wanna go along with Dom's RPG idea until he posts the first bit of story and then just reply, "Nice fanfic d00d" and immediately quit. But that would be awful of me.

xxxxxxx wrote:If you pulled that on Dom in the mostly-hypothetical-at-this-point-RPG, I would totally start the slow clap.

...Can't... bring self... to go through... with... trollin'...

I'll read your fanfic tomorrow though. Any chance I can see what Speedtrap looks like? 'Cos "G1 S3 / PCC" is really no kind of aesthetic guideline for creating a character's appearance.

And, while you guys read this over the next few days, I will be catching up on the studying and paperwork that I did not get done this afternoon! (See how I put myself out for you. See how I love you all?)

Heh, Speedtrap is my fan character police recolour of Sunstreaker. Speedtrap is on the right.

Pictures of Skyburst and Searchlight can be found at tfu.info.

Gomess, are you planning to make a custom figure of your character?


Dom
-serious about that paperwork and studying thing.

Dominic wrote:Gomess, are you planning to make a custom figure of your character?

Ok, I owe you this one for laughing at my ignorance of D&D tradition earlier:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. No I am not.
...In all seriousness, why would I? So you know what they look like? Can't I just draw a picture? I mean, it's not like we're gonna be moving pieces around on a board or anything.

Wait, when did I laught at your for not understanding D&D tradition? I laughed at you for fundamentally misunderstanding gamer culture...and a bunch of other things. But, I never laughed at you for not understanding D&D.

As for the customizing, given the amount of lead time you seem to want, I was wondering if you were planning something really ornate.

In terms of general look, if this were a comic, it would be drawn by Geoff Senior, maybe EJ Su.


Dom
-and you thought I was going to say Don Figueroa.

Dominic wrote:I laughed at you for fundamentally misunderstanding gamer culture...and a bunch of other things. But, I never laughed at you for not understanding D&D.

Oh my goodness. You know what I meant. We were talking about D&D-style gaming, I made it clear I didn't understand that the majority of D&D-style gamers value rules over story context. lololol? sure why not

Dominic wrote:As for the customizing, given the amount of lead time you seem to want, I was wondering if you were planning something really ornate.

I'm not planning anything at all. You still haven't explained why one would need a toy to play an online RPG.

You do not need one. But, I am planning to make customs just for the hell of it. My thematic goal is to have the figures look like something that might have come from Hasbro. I would flip moulds/factons and try not to re-use Commander/Minicon pairings.

But, there is not need to have a figure of your character. Honeybear's character will be damn near impossible to make a toy of. But, he is coming up with a logical description of how it will work. That is enough for the purpose of this game.

Assume that you will start with a Commander and either a pair of drones or a Minicon. You can add to this over time using the points you earn in the game.


Dom
-thinking it might help to get a mock character sheet done.