A Beacon of Hope

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	"A Beacon of Hope" {{#if: \| {{#if: \|; (')}} {{#if:\|; ""}}}}
Publisher	Renegade Game Studios}}
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Published in	Transformers Roleplaying Game Adventure & GM Screen}}
First published	October 26, 2022}}
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Written by	Ben Heisler and Paige Leitman}}
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{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

"A Beacon of Hope" is an introductory adventure for the Transformers Roleplaying Game. The adventure is optimized for 3 to 5 1st level Autobot characters.

Our adventure begins at Autobot headquarters, the Ark, where the heroic Autobot player characters are performing maintenance under the supervision of the Autobots' senior engineer, Hoist. The up-and-coming Autobot player characters are afforded some time to get to know each other, bragging of prior adventures and what they'd otherwise be up to if not stuck working here. As the small talk wraps up, Blaster enters amidst some blaring rock n' roll music to announce that the player characters are to report to the big bot himself, Optimus Prime, leaving Hoist to finish up today's work on his own.

In the operations center, the player characters are greeted by Optimus who explains that they are to aid Chromedome with a matter most urgent. Chromedome is the brains behind a secret project that will hopefully see the Autobots finally reestablish contact with Cybertron after four million years of radio silence. They have dubbed this project "Project Beacon", and entails sending a rocket into the far reaches of the Solar System to act as a transmission beacon, allowing them to communicate with their homeworld. The rocket is nearing completion, as is the advanced Virtual Intelligence, the VI, that will guide the rocket in lieu of an actual Autobot pilot.

After accepting their mission, the player characters gear up, say their goodbyes, and roll out!

Part 2: Team Rocket is Blasting Off Again

The player characters travel along Autobot Road to reach the secret rocket site, an abandoned military facility hidden behind a hologram. There, they are greeted by Quickmix who asks about their qualifications and explains the scope of the project, explaining that they can assist in the construction of the rocket, the Beacon of Hope, in many different ways as he gives them the grand tour of the site.

The final stop on the tour is an old control room, outdated even by human standards. Quickmix enters the player characters into the computer system, and marks them with a small insignia to denote that they're a part of Project Beacon. Just as the last insignia is fastened, an explosion rocks the entire facility and the live security feed shows Decepticons rushing through the breached walls, attempting to steal material meant for the rocket. In a panic, Quickmix sounds the alarm and ponders what defensive systems to activate...

To secure the facility, the player characters are forced to balance the power grid and the site's defenses, prioritizing some areas over others or risk shutting down the generators completely. Alas, the Decepticons seems to have already breached the VI Lab, as Chromedome calls out for help on the comms. The player characters head towards the lab as more explosions rock the base.

As the player characters close in on the VI Lab, the sounds of laser fire and metal-on-metal violence echo though the corridor. Inside the lab, the VI yells at the Decepticons to leave, while an unarmed Chromedome has taken cover behind a workbench. A group of Decepticons is making life difficult for Chromedome, and the player characters intervene, while also contending with the Virtual Intelligence's drones who are unable to tell friend from foe.

As the battle draws to an end, the rallying cry of Optimus Prime carries through the facility as he has arrived with reinforcements! Realizing this, the cowardly Cons flee, taking whatever spoils they can and leaving their defeated comrades behind.

Following this, Prime collects the brave player characters and explains that the Decepticons made off with important rocket components, but what’s worse, they managed to steal at least a portion of the code for the Virtual Intelligence. Good news is, the Cons are close by, as they seem to have broadcast the code to a location within a few hundred kilometers. Prime then tasks the player characters with finding the base, fearing what the Decepticons might do with the VI in their possession.

Part 3: Over the River and Through the Woods

The player characters chase down the fleeing Decepticons. By assisting each other in the task of tracking and catching up with the Cons scampering through the forest and across the Colorado River. The party catches up to a small group of Decepticons and attempts to get one of the stolen components back as the Cons scatter.

Closing in on the Decepticon base, the player characters must avoid a cadre of Decepticon drones, but soon come upon yet another decommissioned military base - this one overrun by the Cons. Optimus Prime hails the team and explains that they should stay put and await reinforcements... before suddenly realizing that he probably can’t stop the party from getting back at the Cons after today, giving them his blessing to press on.

Part 4: Taking Back What's Ours

The player characters head closer to the Decepticon base to spearhead the assault, knowing that the heavy hitters will be arriving soon enough. The area is flooded with Decepticon soldiers and Recordicon threats, but they push on, nonetheless.

While exploring the compound, the player characters collect several pieces of rocket components, or "Beacon Bits", as they struggle against the Decepticon forces hold up inside. Most of these Cons are veritable no-names, however, several Ravage clones prowl the area, as do Laserbeak and Garboil. As they're taking care of business, the player characters learn that the Decepticons are constructing a rocket of their own, one that they will use to destroy the Ark, and that the terrible duo of Soundwave and Starscream are the ones headlining this whole venture. At this time, Optimus Prime arrives with his troops, Hot Rod, Arcee, and Ratchet, and together with the player characters they continue to explore the base.

Pushing on, the Autobots come upon the Decepticon rocket, the "Ark Cracker", which is well underway in terms of construction. Overseeing the construction is Beastbox, who rushes the party head on. Following Beastbox's defeat, the remaining Decepticons surrender.

Heading into the final area of the base, the Autobots come across Soundwave directing his subordinates to corrupt the Autobot VI. Something that seems to be working! Assured of his victory, Soundwave greets the interlopers with a barrage of Recordicons, including the snarling Rumble. Optimus orders the player characters to stop the corruption of the VI while he and the other Autobots focus on the much bigger threat of Soundwave and his minions.

As battle commences, Prime turns his attention to Soundwave directly, while Hot Rod and Arcee take care of the Recordicon pests, and Ratchet aids both the player characters and their allies whenever the need arises. The player characters hurry to stop the reprogramming of the VI, using their know-how, brawn, and persuasive skills to rid the virtual Autobot of Soundwave's negative influence.

Conclusion

What happens next is up to the player's skill and luck in the "Ending the Corruption" minigame. However, it nonetheless leads to the end of the adventure.

If the player characters succeed in ridding the VI of corruption, the VI is returned to its Autobot roots and facing a humiliating defeat, Soundwave surrenders along with all Decepticons on the base preferring imprisonment to Megatron's ire. Following this, the VI, now indebted to the player characters asks them to name it and offers them aid should they need it in the future.

If the player characters fail, the VI becomes irreversibly corrupted and assumes control of the base. From there on out, it's a mad scramble to reach the outside, as the VI initiates a countdown to self-destruction, hoping to gain Megatron's favor by destroying the Autobots and annihilating Soundwave, he who thought he could control it. As the Autobots and Decepticons scatter, the base goes up in flames, and the Ark Cracker threat is eliminated once and for all. However, the Autobots spot a small piece of debris accelerating away from the explosion, only to then realize it's Garboil, soaring through the sky – oddly in the opposite direction of the other Cons…

Whatever the case, as the adventure wraps up, Optimus Prime thanks the player characters for their bravery and assures them that they saved Project Beacon and the Autobots from certain doom.

Featured characters

{{#if:* Autobot player characters (1)

Hoist (2)
Blaster (3)
Optimus Prime (4)
Quickmix (5)
Chromedome (8)
Hot Rod (15)
Arcee (16)
Ratchet (17)|

{{#if:* Autobot player characters (1)

Hoist (2)
Blaster (3)
Optimus Prime (4)
Quickmix (5)
Chromedome (8)
Hot Rod (15)
Arcee (16)
Ratchet (17)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Autobot player characters (1)
Hoist (2)
Blaster (3)
Optimus Prime (4)
Quickmix (5)
Chromedome (8)
Hot Rod (15)
Arcee (16)
Ratchet (17) }}{{#if:* Decepticon Foot Soldier (7)
Ravage Clone (9)
Decepticon Spy (10)
Decepticon Engineer (11)
Laserbeak (12)
Garboil (13)
Decepticon Scientist (14)
Beastbox (18)
Soundwave (19)
Rumble (20)|

Autobots }}{{#if:* Decepticon Foot Soldier (7) Ravage Clone (9) Decepticon Spy (10) Decepticon Engineer (11) Laserbeak (12) Garboil (13) Decepticon Scientist (14) Beastbox (18) Soundwave (19) Rumble (20)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:\|	Humans }}{{#if:* Virtual Intelligence (6)\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Decepticon Foot Soldier (7) Ravage Clone (9) Decepticon Spy (10) Decepticon Engineer (11) Laserbeak (12) Garboil (13) Decepticon Scientist (14) Beastbox (18) Soundwave (19) Rumble (20) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:* Virtual Intelligence (6)\|	Virtual Intelligence (6) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Notes

The introduction describes the use of "safety tools", a collection of handy ways for game masters and players to communicate both before, during, and after a game. This is common among many roleplaying groups and serves to make the game comfortable for all to play, as it allows the group to discuss what they want and, more importantly, don't want to see in their games, including material or scenes that could prove triggering for them. Among the suggested safety tools are:
- Lines and veils: a way to determine what lines not to cross during a game, and things people would like see veiled, i.e. scenes that "fade to black", such as romantic or especially gory ones.
- X-Cards: a way for players to indicate that what's happening at the table right now needs to stop immediately. It can be an actual card or the player making an "X" with their fingers or arms.
- Red, yellow, and green: another way to indicate how one feels about a game during play. Each player gets a card of each color and can flash it to the table during scenes. Green means "this is awesome, more of this", yellow "this is tolerable, but please move away from it", and red means "I'm uncomfortable".
Furthermore, the text explains that the players should try to be aware of each others' facial expressions during the game, as some might feel uncomfortable with even showing overt signs of discomfort.
If the X-sign or red card is thrown up, the game master should quickly move away from the scene, or take a short break.

Transformers references

In the introduction to the adventure, it's mentioned that the Ark crashed on Earth four million years ago, and that it, along with the Autobots and Decepticons, were reactivated following a volcanic eruption.
The Ark connects to the Autobot Road, underground passageways that allow the Autobots to move about beneath the surface of Earth to avoid detection by humans and Decepticons alike. We've seen versions of this appear in several versions throughout Transformers history.
Starscream hopes that the destruction of the Beacon of Hope and the Autobots will give him enough credit among the other Decepticons to depose Megatron. Where have we heard that one before?
The art depicting the unnamed Decepticon troops are drawn to resemble the Earthrise Fasttrack toy, itself based on the animation models for the Guardminders from Super-God Masterforce.

Real-world references

The title of the second part of this adventure is a reference to one catchphrase of Team Rocket, the primary antagonists of the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Pokémon (TV series)|{{#if:Pokémon|Pokémon|Pokémon (TV series)}}]] animated series from 1997 to 2023.

Errors

Rumble is red. This is in contrast to the Core Rulebook which states that Frenzy is red, and that Rumble is indeed blue.

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