Transformers One Sourcebook: Difference between revisions

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Publisher	Renegade Game Studios}}
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First published	September 2025}}
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Written by	Jacob Blackmon, Carlos Cabrera, Ryan Costello, Kim Frandsen, Paige Leitman, Brandon Perdue, Mike Pohjola, Erin Roberts, and Jim Sorenson}}
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Page count	112}}
Price	$45.00 USD; }}
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Revision as of 00:57, 22 September 2025

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{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

Transformers One Sourcebooks is an expansion sourcebook for the Transformers Roleplaying Game. Based on the animated movie, the book highlights settings and characters from the film, along with a new Origin to represent the film's cogless miners and seven new Influences.

It was released digitally in May 2025, with a physical release in September of the same year.

Notes

Continuity notes

As a tie-in with Transformers One, the book (unsurprisingly) draws quite heavily from the characters, concepts, and mythology laid down the film—profiles include Sentinel Prime, the various members of the High Guard, cogless energon miners, and soforth. Presumably in order to avoid conflict with any potential future media, certain profiles and names are marked as "non-canon"—in the case of character profiles, those that describe the characters' proficiency in battle or include alt-mode rules are marked as non-canon, while those that only describe the Bot characters in the context of being energon miners are unmarked. (However, see "Errors", below.)
As in the film, but unlike in most other modern media (including Transformers One tie-in media), the term "Transformer" is used exclusively to refer to Cybertronians with the ability to transform; "T-cog" is also explicitly noted to be short for "transformation cog". Cybertronians unable to transform are instead referred to as "Bots".
The last chapter of the book shifts to a more multiversal focus, speaking broadly about the origins of the Thirteen, their exploits, and the history of the Cybertronian race across multiple continuities. To this end, the book includes profiles for seventeen Primes, and notes that what's true in one universe may not be true in another.

Transformers references

Sentinel Prime's sword is referred to as the "Primax Blade", co-opting the name from Dark of the Moon Sentinel Prime's weapon of choice.
The Reticulated Sprotchet, a doohickey from the Sticker Adventures book "Battle on the Junk Planet", is name-dropped as one of the many pieces of mining equipment in the book.
The description of the Well of Sparks incorporates a few other characters and religions from IDW's "Phase 2" comics—these include Cyclonus of the Clavis Aurea, Pyra Magna of the Torchbearers, and Windblade of the City Speakers [sic], all marked as "non-canon".
Emirate Xaaron, another non-canon character, is mentioned as an example of a politician who might be found in Iacon Tower.
In addition to the standard "Covenant Thirteen" — Prima, Vector, Alpha Trion, Solus, Micronus, Alchemist, Nexus, Onyx, Amalgamous, Quintus, Liege Maximo, Megatronus, and Thirteenth Prime—Transformers One Sourcebook also includes a number of minor figures as potential candidates for a Thirteen roster. Three of these characters—Logos Prime, Autonomous Maximus, and Mortilus—had previously been tied to the Thirteen through Fun Publications' "Ask Vector Prime" column, written before Hasbro began aggressively marketing its "Covenant Thirteen" interpretation. Zeta Prime, of course, originated in Transformers One.
Notably, three of the Thirteen are deliberately conflated with members of the Guiding Hand from IDW Publishing's 2005 comic continuity; "Ask Vector Prime" had previously done this for the first two Primes below, and the third one continues that extrapolation.
- Amalgamous Prime's profile deliberately conflates him and the Guiding Hand's Adaptus, who served a similar function in Cybertronian mythology as the "first Transformer." The blurb describes him as the "Grand Architect" of the Thirteen, and suggests that his disruptive nature may have led him to deliberately initiate the God War, all feats lifted from Adaptus's appearance in Lost Light.
- Similarly, Alpha Trion's profile notes that he is sometimes known as Solomus, another member of the Guiding Hand, and sometimes worshipped under the title of Arrius, based on half-remembered accounts of the "true" Solomus in Optimus Prime #10.
- Logos Prime's profile incorporates a simplified version of his backstory from "Ask Vector Prime", noting that he was driven to madness after encountering a "creature beyond all understanding". Like several other profiles, Logos Prime's profile deliberately merges him with Epistemus, More than Meets the Eye's god of knowledge, and gives him the omniscient Magnificence as one of his relics.
The Arisen wields the Scepter of Sparks, an accessory that debuted with Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus.
Autonomous Maximus wields a Viewtrex Staff, a piece of equipment that originated in the The Transformers episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". The book suggests that he sometimes manifests as a Titan and could be revealed to be the Ark or Axalon, a nod to the Kingdom Ark toy, which was modeled after the Last Autobot.
Mortilus wields the Dark Spark, the plot device of the Dark Spark video game, and the Void Scepter, the Fallen's weapon of choice in Revenge of the Fallen, and which had already been associated with Mortilus in IDW's first continuity. It also states he was sometimes known as "Zarak Maximus", the name Ask Vector Prime gave to the unnamed giant Decepticon soldier from the Generation 1 Micromaster transports commercial, who was later made their own distinct character in IDW's second Transformers continuity. AVP had already jokingly suggested a connection between Zarak, the usual Headmaster partner of Scorponok, and Mortilus, and this sourcebook runs with that.
As with The Enigma of Combination, Nexus Prime's profile notes that he was originally known as "Nexus Maximus", a working name for the character that was hastily changed after an infamous mix-up.
While Zeta Prime featured as one of the Primes in Transformers One, his profile here draws heavily from his "Generation 1" counterpart, ascribing him the vamparc ribbons used by his IDW counterpart while also describing him as an ambitious commander with a penchant for nation-building.
Onyx Prime's name is given as "Onyx Prime (Primal)", alluding to the convention-exclusive Maximal (or Predacon?) whose name Onyx Prime's evokes.
Prima is said to wield both the Star Saber, as is traditional, and the Skyboom Shield—a new addition named, similar to the Star Saber and the Requiem Blaster, after one of the legendary Mini-Con weapons from Transformers: Armada.
The "Origins" section lays out a number of proposed backgrounds for the Cybertronian race. In addition to the well-known explanations—Primus, the Quintessons, and the AllSpark—the book also alludes to Cybertron's organic past from Beast Machines, and makes a veiled allusion to the ending of Tom Scioli's Go-Bots, describing a universe where mechanical lifeforms seeded the multiverse with mechanical worlds after evolving on Earth.
"New and Expanded Transformers Groups" outlines a number of alternate conflicts for players who want to look beyond the traditional Autobot-Decepticon war, highlighting various subgroups and factions from across the Transformers multiverse. These include the Destructons from Transformers in 3-D, the Cybertronian Empire from Generation 2, the Functionists from More than Meets the Eye, the Acolytes of Unicron from the Marvel comic... and, of course, the Renegades from GoBots. (It wouldn't be a Jim Sorenson book without a GoBots reference!)
A paragraph describing a theoretical Micromaster and Mini-Con-themed campaign uses the term "Bulks" to describe full-sized Transformers, a term that originated with the "Linkage" manga.
"Alternative Origin Stories" lays out four potential campaign settings based on notable Transformers comics: The War Within, Megatron Origin, Shattered Glass, and Unicron.

Real-world references

The Buzz-Boar, an example of a surface beast, is named after the vehicle of the same name from G.I. Joe.
Tying back to a decade-old bit of lore from Fun Publications' "Ask Vector Prime" column, Transformers One Sourcebook revisits the idea that the Thirteen visited ancient Earth, inadvertently mythologizing themselves as various Greek deities. Transformers One Sourcebook reiterates this bit of lore, and invents some new identities for those Thirteen members who didn't appear in "Ask Vector Prime", which include...
- The heroic tale of the Arisen gave rise to the myth of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Heracles|{{#if:||Heracles}}]].
- The tragic Logos Prime adopted the guise of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Demeter|{{#if:||Demeter}}]].
- The diminutive Micronus Prime became known as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Pan|{{#if:||Pan}}]].
- The intellectual Quintus Prime adopted the identity of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Janus|{{#if:||Janus}}]].
- Zeta Prime's ambitious feats of nation-building were immortalized in the exploits of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Romulus|{{#if:||Romulus}}]] and [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Quirinus|{{#if:||Quirinus}}]].

Where "Ask Vector Prime" had Poseidon as an identity taken on by Adaptus, this book refers to both Adaptus and Poseidon as epithets of Amalgamous Prime. Unusually, the book claims that Nexus Prime was known as the Roman goddess Juno, where "Ask Vector Prime" had him known as her Greek counterpart Hera.

Errors

Even allowing for the "non-canon" disclaimer, the descriptions of Arcee as a "seasoned sniper" and Ironhide as a "rugged veteran of countless battles" really don't feel in keeping with the spirit of the film, which was very explicit about the miners lacking such opportunities in life. The profiles of Ironhide, Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are also illustrated with screencaps and stock art of their cogless forms, while the profiles—cut down from those printed in Decepticon Directive—include rules for their vehicle modes.
On page 41, Elita-1's Gear section is misspelled "Woulgear".
On page 62, "Quintesson" is misspelled "Quientessons".
On page 109, Gigantion is misspelled as "Gigantian".
Zeta Prime's profile claims he has a "perchance for empire-building". You can't just say "perchance". (Presumably, a penchant for empire-building was the intention.)

@@ Line 141: / Line 141: @@
 * While Zeta Prime featured as one of the Primes in ''Transformers One'', his profile here draws heavily from his [[Zeta Prime (G1)|"Generation 1" counterpart]], ascribing him the [[vamparc ribbon]]s used by his IDW counterpart while also describing him as an ambitious commander with a penchant for nation-building.
 * Onyx Prime's name is given as "Onyx Prime (Primal)", alluding to the [[Onyx Primal|convention-exclusive Maximal]] (or Predacon?) whose name Onyx Prime's evokes.
-* Prima is said to wield both the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]], as is traditional, and the [[Skyboom Shield (Prima)|Skyboom Shield]]—a new addition named, similar to the Star Saber and the [[Requiem Blaster (Megatronus)|Requiem Blaster]], after one of the [[Skyboom (Armada)|legendary Mini-Con weapons]] from ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Transformers: Armada]]''.
+* Prima is said to wield both the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]], as is traditional, and the [[Skyboom Shield (Prima)|Skyboom Shield]]—a new addition named, similar to the Star Saber and the [[Requiem Blaster (Thirteen)|Requiem Blaster]], after one of the [[Skyboom (Armada)|legendary Mini-Con weapons]] from ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Transformers: Armada]]''.
 * The "Origins" section lays out a number of proposed backgrounds for the Cybertronian race. In addition to the well-known explanations—[[Primus]], the [[Quintesson]]s, and the [[AllSpark]]—the book also alludes to Cybertron's organic past from ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'', and makes a veiled allusion to the ending of [[Tom Scioli]]'s ''[[Go-Bots (comic)|Go-Bots]]'', describing a universe where mechanical lifeforms seeded the multiverse with mechanical worlds after evolving on Earth.
 * "New and Expanded Transformers Groups" outlines a number of alternate conflicts for players who want to look beyond the traditional [[Autobot]]-[[Decepticon]] war, highlighting various subgroups and factions from across the ''Transformers'' multiverse. These include the [[Destructon]]s from ''[[Transformers in 3-D]]'', the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronian Empire]] from ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'', the [[Functionist Council|Functionists]] from ''More than Meets the Eye'', the [[Acolyte of Unicron|Acolytes of Unicron]] from the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel comic]]... and, of course, the [[Renegade]]s from ''[[GoBots]]''. (It wouldn't be a [[Jim Sorenson]] book without a ''GoBots'' reference!)

Transformers One Sourcebook: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:57, 22 September 2025

Contents

Contents

Character Options

Chapter 2: Your Characters, Your Group

Chapter 3: Threats & Allies

Chapter 4: Locations

Chapter 4: Campaigns and Variations

Notes

Continuity notes

Transformers references

Real-world references

Errors

Navigation menu

Transformers One Sourcebook: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:57, 22 September 2025

Contents

Character Options

Chapter 2: Your Characters, Your Group

Chapter 3: Threats & Allies

Chapter 4: Locations

Chapter 4: Campaigns and Variations

Notes

Continuity notes

Transformers references

Real-world references

Errors

Navigation menu

Search