Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook

Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Publisher	Renegade Game Studios
First published	August 22, 2022
Written by	Ryan Costello, Gabriel Hicks, JF Sambrano, Bryan C.P. Steele, Elisa Teague & Eddy Webb
ISBN	ISBN 978-1-7368843-3-1
Page count	288
Price	$55.00 USD

The Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is a rulebook for the Transformers Roleplaying Game. It was released digitally on August 2 2022, with a physical release following later in the year.

The book contains rules for players and Game Masters, with a focus on creating fun stories and engaging combat, as well as tools for creating characters, an extensive library of weapons and equipment, and a dossier full of potential enemies. It also contains the introductory adventure "Troubled Waters".

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Prime's War Journal
• Autobots vs. Decepticons
  • Earth Time Units and Their Interrelation with Cybertronian Perception by Perceptor
• Transcript of an interview with Jetfire
• The War for Energon
• Earth: Our New Home
  • Autobot Lexicon
• Autobot Data Files
• The Transformers Roleplaying Game
• The Game Master
• Playing the Game

Chapter 2: Character Creation

• Creating Your Character
• Step 0: Discuss with your GM & Other Players
• Step 1: Character Concept
• Step 2: Essence Score Increases and Skill Point Investment
• Step 3: Select Influences
• Step 4: Select an Origin
• Step 5: Select a Role
• Step 6: Describe your Character
• Step 7: Form a Team

Chapter 3: Influences

• Hang-Ups
• Background Bonds
• Having Multiple Influences
• Customizing an Influence
• Bureaucrat
• Cube Player
• Experiment
• Former Senator
• Gladiator
• Hunter
• Inventor
• Machinist
• Racer
• Scavenger
• Security
• War Veteran
• Hang-Ups

Chapter 4: Origins

• Choosing Your Origin
• Converting Between modes
• Origin Traits
  • Fitting In
• Bot Mode Statistics
• Alt Mode Statistics
  • Filling in the Driver's Seat
• Defining Your Alt Mode
  • What About Beast Modes?
• Chassis Selection
• Champion
• Cutter
• Lookout
• Monolith
• Outrider
• Rainmaker
• Seeker
  • Cool Your Jets
• Support

Chapter 5: Roles

• Role Out
• Role Overview
• For the Allspark!
• Analyst
• Field Commander
• Gunner
• Modemaster
  • Defining Your Mini-Con
• Scientist
• Scout
• Warrior
  • Losing a Limb

Chapter 6: Essence Scores and Skills

• Essence Scores - The Four 'S's
• Skills and Specializations
• Skills Ranks and Skill Tests
• Unskilled Rolls
• Specializations
• Gaining Skills and Specializations
• Essences & Skills
• Strength
• Speed
• Smarts
• Social
• Using Skills
• Step One: Choose Skill
• Step Two: Skill Dice Shifts
• Step Three: Edge, Snag, or Both?
• Step Four: Determine Difficulty
  • Edge and Snag versus Upshift and Downshift
• Step Five: Roll Skill Test
  • Skill Tests are Meaningful
• Step Six: Determine Results
• Story Points - The Great Equalizer
• Energon Points

Chapter 7: General Perks

• Picking General Perks
  • Who is your Companion to You?
• Mini-Con Perks

Chapter 8: Equipment

• Hardpoints
• Assignment and Requisition
• Equipment Properties
• Weapons
• Weapons List
• Upgrades
• Armor
• Kits
• Support Equipment
• Vehicles
• Non-Cybertronian Vehicles

Chapter 9: Combat

• The Flow of Combat
• A Combat in Steps
  • Creatures in Disguise
• Types of Actions
  • Decepticons, Attack! Group Initiative
• Free Actions
• Movement
• Combat Actions
• Types of Attacks
• Melee Attacks
• Ranged Attacks
• Blast Attacks
• Multiple Targets
• Multi-Weapon Attacks
• Making an Attack
• Character Size and Scale
  • Scale and Size on the Table
• Damage and Repairing Damage
  • Discuss Defeat with your Table
  • Optional Rule: Human Engineers
• Vehicle and Alt Mode Combat
• Aerospace Combat
• Space Combat
• Operating Vehicles
• Other Forms of Combat

Chapter 10: Exploration

• Time
• Movement
  • A Bulldozer As Fast As A Motorcycle?
• Special Types of Movement
• The Environment
• Recharging
• Diseases
• Conditions
• Interactions with Humans
• Between Missions and Downtime

Chapter 11: Locations

• Cybertronian Bases
• Decepticon Headquarters
• Other Bases
• Interesting Places
• Potential Attack Sites
• Common Earth Biomes

Chapter 12: Threats

• Playing Threats
• Non Combat Adversaries
• Loot
• Combining Threats
• Specific Decepticons

Specific Decepticons Acid Storm Airachnid Armorhide Astrotrain Barricade Blitzwing Breakdown Cyclonus Dead End Demolisher Detour Kickback		Knock Out Mega-Octane Megatron Ravage Shockwave Skywarp Slipstream Starscream Soundwave Tantrum Thundercracker		Decepticon Drones Insecticon Drone Scourge Drone Seeker Bomber		General Decepticon Threats Decepticon Annihilator Decepticon Assassin Decepticon Commando Decepticon Seeker Decepticon Seeker Rookie Decepticon Seeker Scout Decepticon Sniper Decepticon Soldied Decepticon Spy
Unaligned Cybertronians Cybertronian Brawler Cybertronian Trader Heat Seeker Drone		Human Threats and NPCs Human Civilian Human Military Pilot Human Scientist Human Soldier		Vehicle Threats Armored Tank Combat Jeep Combat Jet Compact Car Military Helicopter		Mini Sub Motorcycle Pickup Truck Race Car Speed Boat

Chapter 13: Running an Adventure

• Adventure Balance
• Adventure Breakdown
  • Gaming Terms: Campaign vs. Session vs. Part vs. Scene
• Troubled Waters
• Preparing the Game
• Beginning the Adventure
• Part 1: The Abandoned Energon Facility
• Part 2: The Bridge is Falling Down!
• Part 3: YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED, STARSCREAM!

Notes

• This book was originally slated for release in early 2022, but several delays saw it waylaid for months until the digital edition finally released in August. As per Renegade Game Studios' online storefront, physical copies are estimated to drop later in the year.
• Aside from art produced specifically for this book, the artwork provided within borrows a lot of material from IDW Publishing's two runs as hosts for the Transformers comic book license.
  • As such, a number of prolific Transformers artists have their work featured within the book, including Brendan Cahill, Casey Coller, Andrew Griffith, Guido Guidi, Marcelo Matere, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Livio Ramondelli, E. J. Su, Priscilla Tramontano, and many more.
• Much of the Hasbro-produced art from this book sees character sporting their Evergreen designs, a standard for Hasbro-licensed products and auxiliary media since 2016.
• The "Autobot Data Files" found in the first chapter, as well as the Decepticons found in the chapter "Threats", present a who's who of famous and infamous characters, including the ever-present Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream, but also a whole slew of B- and C-list characters, some of whom we rarely see represented in any type of media, including:
  • Veritable newcomers such as Anode, Rubble, and Gauge.
  • Nobodies like Armorhide and Mega-Octane from Robots in Disguise/Car Robots.
  • The G1 incarnations of Demolisher of Transformers: Armada fame, and Airachnid and Knock Out who both originally appeared in Transformers: Prime.
  • A few random combiner team members; Breakdown, Dead End, and Tantrum.
  • Strangest of all, however, might be the inclusion of Erector, who hasn't had a toy out since 1989, and whose appearances are so rare that his "Notes" section on this very wiki is about as long as the rest of his page combined. His most recent appearance, and one of his most prominent at that, was in issues 10 and 11 of Transformers: Galaxies in 2020.
• The "Threats" chapter contain an collection of other randomly assorted tidbits such as:
  • Blitzwing speaks German, a likely nod to his Transformers: Animated counterpart.
  • Slipstream's bio mentions that she may be "an advanced clone of Stascream", a clear reference to her status as just that in Animated.
  • Breakdown's profile, while just as limited as the rest of the Cons', hints at a partnership with Knock Out, and Knock Out's cheekily refers to Breakdown as his "assistant". This seemingly springs from the popular fan theory that Breakdown's Transformers: Prime namesake and Knock Out were more than just allies, something that IDW Publishing built upon once the duo had been introduced in first the 2005 continuity, and then again in 2021.
    • As a further nod to Prime Breakdown, this Breakdown is shown with his hand transformed into a large hammer, a weapon favored by the former.