Troubled Waters
Troubled Waters is an introductory adventure for the Transformers Roleplaying Game, featured in the Core Rulebook.
The adventure is designed for three to five player characters, and is meant to give players and Game Masters a hands-on introduction to different gameplay mechanics.
Contents
 Plot details for Troubled Waters follow. |
Part 1: The Abandoned Energon Facility
A group of fresh-faced Autobots is summoned to meet with Autobot commander Optimus Prime, and his second-in-command, Jazz. Before the meeting can take place, however, news reaches them about a failing Energon Sensor Array, and the new team is sent to investigate the issue.
Mountain Top Sensor Array
When the Autobots reach the mountain that houses the Sensor Array, they find their path blocked by a force-field - a force-field that shouldn't be there.
With a little (possible) help from Jazz, the group finds their way up a narrow mountainside road. At the top, they find that an avalanche has led to the entire parking lot being covered in rubble and the garage gate is partially obscured and damaged.
Through varying means, the party enters the Security Center and finds a computer panel that allows them access to the garage door, though which they can reach the rest of the facility.
However, there's also a second panel that's easy to overlook for the not-so-tech-savvy, one that controls the facility's security drones.
Security Measures
If the party fails to disable the security measures, a horde of Heat Seeker Drones rush out to protect the facility from intruders - a precaution put in place by Wheeljack.
Something Ain't Right
Once the drones are taken care of, the Autobots find that the facility has taken a lot of damage. As they enter and search the interior, the party realize that the Energon storage room is empty.
Further in, they discover a piece of Decepticon technology which they conclude is the reason for both the force-field as well as the failed Sensor Array. Using their technological know-how, the party attempts to disable the machine.
With a success, the force-field drops, and alarms immediately start blaring. Jazz then contacts the group and tells them that Teletraan I is picking up massive readings of Energon over at Sherman Dam. It's time to roll out once more!
Part 2: The Bridge is Falling Down!
As the PCs near Sherman Dam, they witness a badly damaged bridge threatening to plummet into the Colorado River below. What's worse, a group of Decepticon Seekers are making life even more difficult. Jazz orders the team to save "those cool cats".
Combat with the Seekers
A small squadron of Seekers are hounding the humans on the bridge, and while it's not the main objective of the mission, the party can choose to engage with them. Doing so, and defeating the Seekers, lends little relief, however, since they're just replaced by new Decepticon fliers.
A keen-eyed observer may realize that the Seekers in question seem to be keeping their distance, unwilling to engage in close combat: a clear sign that these Seekers are inexperienced and cowardly. Especially fearsome Autobots may be able to scare them off!
Navigating the Bridge
The bridge is a mess, with many different vehicles littering the roadway. One missed step could lead to falling into the river below. While that doesn't mean much to a Transformers, it could very well mean the end for a human.
Rescuing the Earthlings
To no one's surprise, the humans are all terrified, something not helped by the fact that their would-be saviors are giant, alien robots. One way or the other, the Autobots have to get the Earthlings to the safety zones.
Ruby Anderson
One of the humans the Autobots can save is a named NPCs by the name of Ruby Anderson. She is a high school student whose interactions with the PCs can affect the outcome of Part 3. If Ruby is threatened or forced by the player Autobots, she will be defiant and mad with them, but if they are able to persuade her, she will be hesitant to leave their side.
If the players and Ruby develop a loyalty for each other, Ruby will also call ahead to her aunt, Ruth, who works at Sherman Dam as an engineer, telling her of the Autobots' good intentions.
Everything Appears to be in Order!
Once all the humans are moved to safety. Jazz commends the troupe on their actions, hoping that this will go towards convicning humans that the Cybertronians aren't all bad. But the team isn't allowed to rest on their laurels, though, because a huge crack has appeared in Sherman Dam, threatening to tear the whole structure apart.
Part 3: YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED, STARSCREAM!
Well at the dam, the true scope of the Decepticon threat reveals itself. Flying overhead are a group of Seekers, and the horrified human engineers who operate the dam seem at a loss for what to do.
Jazz explains that too much water is rushing through the previously mentioned crack. Before he has time to say much more, his message is cut off by the voice of Starscream who gloats and mocks the rookie Autobots and then orders his Seekers to destroy the team.
Enter the Seekers!
On Starscream's orders, the Seekers rush into the fray from above. Three of these are part of Starscream's personal bodyguard and take center stage on a shattered piece of concrete in the middle of the river below the dam.
Skywarp, Acid Storm, and Thundercracker
The three name-brand Seekers, Skywarp, Acid Storm, and Thundercracker all focus on their own favored tactics druing the fight. Skywarp attempts to hinder the engineers and Autobots who try to engage the dam's release valves, Acid Storm harrows those Autobots trying to help the engineers out of their panic, while Thundercracker remains on the piece of concrete at all times, firing at anything that moves with his particle rifle.
The Seekers' overall tactic is not to harm the engineers or the dam, but to infuse even more panic into the situation.
Starscream, while very much a presence in the air, refuses to dirty his hands by engaging with some Autobot nobodies.
Dam Engines
The Autobots need to secure the passage of the engineers so that they can initiate the dam's flood valves, something that will take the preasure of the damaged parts of the dam. There are six of them in total, and they all need to be engaged.
Release the River!
Once all terminals have been engaged, the release valves begin gushing water and the damaged dam is saved. Incensed by the gaul of the rookie Autobots, Starscream boasts one last time that with the Energon collected from this venture, he'll finally be able to destroy Megatron once and for all. He and his Seekers then leave Sherman Dam behind.
Jazz comes back on the comms and comends the team on their good job, especially with the odds stacked against them like that. Now, he tells them, it's time for some much needed R'n'R - which, to him at least, means to remove and repair the teams' engine blocks.
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Errors
- In the first paragraph of Beginning the Adventure, "Earth", as in the human's homeworld, is rendered as "earth", as in, y'know, dirt.
Notes
- The team of rookie Autobots that are the main focus of this story, naturally goes unnamed since they're the stand-ins for the player's own characters, created using the Core Rulebook.
- Jazz provides some interesting nicknames for the team of Autobot PCs, calling them a "bunch o' spurwheels", "muffle-draggers", and "rim spinners".
- Jazz also calls Starscream a featherless turkey, and refers to Wheeljack as "wrench-wrangling" and "cross-wired".
