Power Core Combiner RPG outline

[BWprowl]

Actually, now that I think about it, Leadfoot's pretty G2-ish too. His Torso Mode head in particular has that 'full-face visor' Cyberjet thing going on.

[Gomess]

One thing I'm noticing about PCC tech specs is that they're short as the the pit. But I DO like Undertow, from his personality to his fantastic old diving helmet.

[Dominic]

...Seriously, can we please centralise this on Earth?

Earth will be a good starting point. If nothing else. the backstory for PCC pretty much obligates this.

(and would force Dom/whoever to come up with situations where a guy with a boat altmode could get some usage!).

Players would know the nature of the campaign when they started. So, it would be up to them to choose/design an appropriate character.

It's a lot more interesting than the 'Knock down the door and murder everything' approach most RPGs and GMs seem to encourage/go for. I'd like to 'role-play', you know?

Much of this would come down to the type of character being used. For example, Bulkhead or Undertow would not be allowed to roll for diplomacy because they are just dumb muscle. Another huge component would be the moderator's discretion.

It would be on players to choose/generate characters that they will want to play consistently as.

Have fun with people noticing scale differences if you're playing Double Clutch and his Rallybots though!

For now, especially considering that we are not playing in person, scale is les of an issue. Of course, 40K does not have a consistent scale. (Seriously, compare most Imperial Guard models to Space Marines, and consider how big that they are supposed to be relative to each other.)


Dom
-combat will be difficult, especially with multiple drones or Minicons....

[Shockwave]

I don't see why combat needs to be all that difficult. You have an attack (strength) rating, and the opponent has a defense (armor) rating and player just needs to roll the difference and then roll for damage. Done, done and done. I figure the current tech specs system could be used to generate the numbers and keep them fairly balanced and consistent.

[Onslaught Six]

That works for melee attacks, sure, but what about TFs with guns? We might end up with several brute-type characters, a long-range guy would be an advantage...

[BWprowl]

That works for melee attacks, sure, but what about TFs with guns? We might end up with several brute-type characters, a long-range guy would be an advantage...

The way Mini-Con weapons work makes things interesting too. Look at Smolder: In vehicle mode his Mini-Con can connect to him to function as a gun, while in robot mode he gets to choose between using it as an axe or attaching it as additional armor.

We could create some interesting combinations depending on how we're allowed to mix-and-match Mini-Con partnership and functionality.

[Shockwave]

That works for melee attacks, sure, but what about TFs with guns? We might end up with several brute-type characters, a long-range guy would be an advantage...

It would still be balanced, range weapons would have a firepower rating. And again, still using the 1-10 scale that are on tech specs, it still keeps things even.

The only thing that I could see getting complicated is getting into the realm of encumbrances. Like in WFC if you fire your weapon continuously it becomes less accurate over time. There could also be modifyers for distance, wind speed, visibility, etc... But those modifyers in the end would still be minimal (at a +/- 1-2 points depending on the scenario). This also allows for differences in types of range weapons (like the difference between a Nuetron Assualt Rifle vs. the X12 Scapmaker. Obviously the Scrapmaker would have a higher firepower rating).

The effectiveness of Minicons would also still be balanced in this type of system, the minicon essentially being rated according the function it's performing at the time.

[Dominic]

Minicons would have to be swappable, if only to allow for the possiblity of either the Minicon or the Bulk being destroyed, leaving one without the other.

I am thinking that rank could be a factor in how many Minicons a player is allowed to have. (Keep in mind how valuable Minicons would be in this game. They would be like additional characters. It should not be cheap or easy to accumulate them.) Minicons could also attach to drones, as they do on the toys.


As for last night, even basic combat is iffy. Speed influences who goes first or even the quantity of attacks, with skill similarly determining if a blow connects. Then strength v/s endurance(?) determines the amount of damage done, subtracted from endurance(?) or strength(?). Remember, there are at least a few dice rolls in there.

And, that is just close combat between two fairly simple characters. (I ignored the potentially ruinous damage that Brimstone's wheel-axes could do.) Each additional Minicon would effectively be an extra character (with actions to be assigned) and each drone a potential attack dice roll...


Dom
-and that is why rule books are so expensive.

[Shockwave]

I'm thinking that minicons in combat would be treated as either weaponry or equipment depending on their usage at the time. The only thing I could think that would need to cause them to be considered separate characters is in the role playing itself or if a minicon decides to quit functioning as said piece of equipment mid battle.

I definitely agree that minicons should be either expensive or hard to obtain items given their potential usefulness.

[Dominic]

Keep in mind, Minicons can function independently. I am thinking that Minicons would effectively work as back-up for the bulk they would be assigned to. Each character would have an amount of tasks that they could execute per turn. The Minicons would have their own number of tasks that could be used by a player in addition to the main character's tasks. For example, the main character could be driving to/from an opponent, and a weapon moded Minicon could be shooting at the opponent. Similarly, the Minicons could be used for providing additional fire on behalf of the main character.

In context, Minicons could choose their own tasks, (saving the player a task), while drones could be assigned a redundant task across several moves at a cost of 1 task during their intitial turn.