"So...you're a big, bad, Transmetal now..."
—Blackarachnia to Tarantulas, "Coming of the Fuzors, Part Two"
At one time, all Cybertrons were metallic. Then, later, they became partially organic, until having organic parts was the norm. The concept of "Generation" refers to a Cybertron's advancement on this scale. It is a reflection of his model type, a reflection of what is strong and what is weak about his construction.
Shorthanded "Organic," this is what any Transformer in the Beast Wars will start out as if no points are spent to alter the form. This form, like any form, has its advantages as well as disadvantages.
Generation One Beasts are allowed only two forms. The Beast Mode is a single, common animal of any type, any animal for which DNA is available to scan. A Cyberorganic may choose a now-extinct animal, such as a dinosaur or saber-tooth tiger, for his beast mode, but may not have as a beast mode any supernatural animal such as a unicorn or griffin. The "original" form, or robot form, is a humanoid robot of any appearance, typically incorporating elements of the beast form into its overall design.
The Cyberorganic has fully functional organic parts in beast mode, and therefore must eat food as well as deriving energy from energon. The advantages to the fully organic beast mode are many: first of all, the animals are not effected by the presence of raw energon. In beast mode, a Cyberorganic can approach and handle raw energon at will without damage to body or spark. Also, a Cyberorganic who chooses a common animal of comparable size to himself can blend in with natural animals of the same type without looking conspicuous.
Because there are immense internal variations in Cybertronian height, fitting all of a Cybertron's mass into a corresponding realistic animal form may not always be feasible. For example, a character who has an insectoid beast mode will not be able to fit all of his mass into the size of an average insect under normal circumstances. However, Cybertrons who choose larger mammals as forms blend in well.
Starting Spark: Three
These Cyberorganic-classifed "Fuzors" behave exactly like the Cyberorganic Beast, but with one extra ability: they may choose two animals as opposed to one for their beast mode. This is still one single mode; however, the two animals are blended together into a supernatural animal. Being a Fuzor makes creatures like griffins suddenly completely possible, giving the character both the wings of the eagle and back claws of the lion. However, fuzors have a much more difficult time blending in with animals in the "real" world, since the combinations that fuzors form typically do not exist. Creativity and variety is encouraged while choosing animals; try to find two creatures that support each other in interesting ways.
Starting Spark: Four
A Transmetal Cybertron is one whose beast and robot modes are both metallic in construction. Where a Cyberorganic would form an animal that was real for all intents and purposes, a Transmetal only forms a robotic version of that animal. This makes blending in with nature impossible.
Transmetals have a special advantage in that they can choose for themselves a third form, the vehicle form. The vehicle form is nearly always a logical extension of the beast mode, though sometimes a simple change can produce an entirely new function. For example, a racecar is made from a beetle simply by adding wheels.
Transmetals have another advantage in that they can soak the damage related to exposure to raw energon. For each round of damaging exposure, roll soak to ignore the potentially aggravated damage. This soak roll is not necessarily standard, and its difficulty can fluctuate depending on the proximity and amount of raw energon nearby. However, because Transmetals have no organic form, they must make this roll whenever they are exposed, regardless of form.
Starting Spark: Three
A Transmetal Fuzor behaves exactly like a combination of the two forms above. He gains all the benefits and weaknesses of a Transmetal (soak energon damage; choose vehicle form) as well as the ability to create a beast mode of two different animals combined together.
Starting Spark: Four
A new class of Transmetal created by melding Cybertron technology with that of the Vok, the Transmetal II Cybertrons are able gain supernatural power directly from their own sparks.
A Transmetal II chooses one beast form, which like the Transmetal beast form is a robotic version of the animal she mimics. She keeps the Transmetal ability to soak raw energon damage, but loses the third, "vehicle," form.
The ultimate benefit of becoming a Transmetal II are their innate "Spark Powers," which are mental and magical in nature.
Because Cybertronians in the know dislike Vok technology, and because Cybertronian scientists have little or no explanation for the Spark Powers gained by Transmetal IIs, TIIs are often feared or disliked by others, particularly Cyberorganic Beasts who believe advancement should have stopped with their class.
Starting Spark: Three
The final edge of Cybertron evolution. It was discovered by accident, and it probably shouldn't have happened, but it was found that, when a Cybertron attempted to incubate the spark of another, he would change. The body would grow to accommodate the new energy, and would gain special powers and abilities.
An Optimal Cybertron is any Cybertron whose body has, at some time, contained two sparks. These sparks are generally highly compatible: a Cybertron with an amount of Pure Design or Past Spark seeks out their original ancestor, and places their spark inside his own spark cavity, or, two Cybertrons with affection for each other can make the decision to become one entity. The Optimal's body may still contain two sparks, or, the secondary spark can be removed and placed in its original body. For more information on the process that creates an Optimal, see Optimization, under Procedures.
The advantages to being Optimized are many. Optimals can soak damage from raw energon like Transmetals. They can, if they desire, choose to be Fuzors with more than one animal feature to their beast modes, Chimera with as many animal features as they desire, or mythological beasts such as dragons. They can also choose up to three alternate vehicle forms if they so desire by spending five freebie points per alternate form, and can have Transmetal II Spark Powers, though they pay twice as much for them. Unlike Transmetal IIs, Optimals are generally well-respected, and often feared and awed for their ability. Optimals are typically large and of a high size Class. Optimals can access their secondary sparks for help in solving problems they cannot understand: decide on abilities for the secondary spark, and use this like the Past Spark background.
However, there is an important disadvantage to being an Optimal: Optimals can often pick up difficulty in distinguishing their current spark with their secondary spark. Botches on rolls for the Spark bring an Optimal closer to insanity as he wars with his other self... Any Optimal who botches a Spark roll becomes overwhelmed by the power of his secondary spark. He may be possessed by the other personality, or flooded with memories from the Matrix. This other Spark will likely challenge the Optimal for control of the body unless he can somehow be subdued. Particularly frightening encounters will cause the Optimal to gain a Derangement, the most common being "Flashbacks," "Nightmares," and "Split Personality."
Optimals are rare, and no Cybertron is Protoformed as an Optimal. For starting characters who are Optimals, decide how the character was Optimized and when.
Starting Spark: Five
Unlike human beings, Cybertrons as a race have a great variation in height. Though the majority of the Beast Wars Transformers are a lot smaller than their Autobot and Decepticon ancestors, which conserves their fuel output, some of these robots are still giants among the others. Players can spend Background points in the Size Background to determine their character's initial height and mass. For every dot spent in this manner, the Cybertron gains one extra die to his soak pool, along with some advantages in intimidating and overpowering members of smaller Classes. However, he also may gain difficulty in tasks that require fine manipulation, stealth, three-hundred-sixty-degree perception, and in some cases subtracts from opponent's difficulties to hit him. A character's Size Class should be noted on his character sheet. Changes in Size Class are common during changes of Generation.
A Normal-sized protoformed Cybertron is an ordinary human-sized robot. Most range from four to six feet in height, though certain extremes (three or seven feet) are still within the range of the class. For Beast Wars purposes, robots smaller than four feet are still considered Normal size protoforms. These robots typically weigh between one and three hundred pounds.
A Deluxe Transformer ranges in height from about six to eight feet, with females smaller than males. They typically have an even distribution of mass, and weigh between two and six hundred pounds.
Mega-sized Cybertrons are not usually very much taller than their Deluxe counterparts, but are a good deal more massive due to a lower or sometimes back-heavy weight distribution. This is the Size Class with the greatest height ranges between males and females, as male Megas can be up to nine feet tall, but female Megas barely reach seven. Female Cybertrons above this size class are extremely rare. Mega Cybertrons can weigh from five-hundred pounds to a few tons, though females have been known to weigh less and still belong to this class.
An Ultra-sized Cybertron is a good deal larger than a Mega-sized robot, and can be anywhere from nine to fifteen feet in height. Cybertrons protoformed from stasis pods at this Size Class are rare though not impossible; characters of this Class are more likely to be formed from the Matrix or Pit complexes directly. This is the largest possible size class for any stasis-pod originated character.
Super-sized robots are considered Autobot or Decepticon-sized robots, and can range from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height. Robots of this size must come from the Matrix or Pit complexes directly, or else have gained this size through a drastic change such as achieiving Optimal Generation. Cybertrons of this size are very rarely protoformed.
Giga-sized robots, which can be from twenty-five feet to the size of a starship, are enormous robots who are just as often interacted with as used as vehicles for smaller Cybertron passengers. For a Cybertron of this size, simply allowing information to pass freely from one joint to another across the great distance of his frame can often be a hassle. All Wits roll difficulties for Giga-sized Transformers are increased by one. However, all Strength-related difficulties are decreased by one to account for this Cybertron's massive size. Due to their general lack of mobility and difficulty getting into tight places, Giga-sized Transformers are generally not suitable as player-characters.
"Constructicons form Devistator, the most powerful robot!"
—Scavenger, "Transformers: The Movie"
Legends tell of groups of Autobots and Decpticons who could join together into one mind to create even more powerful warriors. This technology is all but lost on the current crop of Cybertrons, though there are some who still understand and practice it.
If a player would like to generate a character that is a Combiner (sometimes called a Gestalt), he must declare this during character generation. He must then spend as many points in the Allies background as people he wishes to combine with. He or the Storyteller must then generate these other characters, whether they are PCs or NPCs. All of the aspects of one Combiner must be of the same Generation, same Protoformation, and Alliance. Finally, the final form of the combination must be generated. Its Protoformation and Alliance are the same as its components. For gaming purposes, consider this character to be an Optimal (place the background points there automatically), although it is not Optimized in the traditional manner. The final form of a Combiner has only one mode—that of a giant robot or, in some cases, a giant beast—but does not take the "No Transformation" flaw. It is automatically considered to be of a size in proportion with what it actually is: a combination of many other forms.
Because of this size, a Combiner is often much stronger than its component parts. However, there are tales of Combiners who had other exaggerated attributes. When creating the final form of a Combiner, place a "x 3" next to its Strength Attribute (as the "x 2" effective robot mode Strength; see Chapter Three). Also, place a "x 2" next to another Attribute. The most logical Attribute for this rating is Stamina, to account for the large size, but a Combiner may be instead super-fast, super-smart, or even super-beautiful!
If more than one aspect of a Combiner is run by a player, when the Cybertrons have combined form, have the designated "leader" of the group run the combined form. A Combiner's final form may take the flaw "Split Personality," if more than one of its aspects is fighting to control it.
A Combiner's final form may never have a higher rating in any Ability or Mechanism than those who make up its components. It may have more powerful weapons, but these should be a logical extension of its components' weaponry. Freebie points for the final forms of Combiners are typically placed directly into Attributes.
If one of a Combiner's components should be destroyed, the Combiner's final form cannot again be made. All of the components for a Combiner must be present to join forms. A Combiner's final form does not have its own Spark or Energon, but, rather, relies on the energy of those present within its structure. Thus, the main advantage to Combining is that Cybertrons joined in such a manner can pool resources to access more abilities. However, the resources used must come from one component originally. When the single Cybertrons transform down to their native forms, divide the combined form's expenditure among them equally.
Being a Combiner is difficult and complex, and, thus, Combiners are very rare now, much rarer than they were at the time of the Great War. Rumor has it that Tripredicus is a Combiner.
Organizations, Neutrals, and Other Unaligned
"Isn't there a way not to be either...?"
—Uriah Jackson, White Wolf Storyteller, after overlooking early Beast Wars RPG notes
Having an entire planet populated by only two races is harsh on some people's logic circuits. There are those on Cybertron who do not choose an alliance, but they are rare indeed.
All Cyberorganics on the planet today are protoformed as either a Maximal or Predacon. This is the only way approved by the rulers of Cybertron, but, in any tightly controlled system, there are those who slip through the cracks. During the Great War, Cybertrons were generated "the old fashioned way:" built from scratch. This may be possible if, for example, a spark was accidentally created and needed a non-government-approved housing, or a spark was without a body and without a blank protoform to be inserted into. Any Cybertron created in this manner would have no organic parts, and would thus be of a generation of Transmetal or above. The new creation would most likely have a name reflecting its origin. A Maximal dedicated to her cause would call her new creation an Autobot, and only the most apathetic of Predacons would not refer to her creation as a Decepticon. However, some more peaceful Cybertrons would not want such a connotation to befall their creations, and would not call the new Cybertron anything at all.
There are a handful of individuals who refer to themselves as Unicron protoforms. However, they do not do this referring out loud, for revealing their origins would mean nothing less than immediate deactivation. These are true protoforms that have descended from a Pit worse than the Pit: the mouth of Unicron himself. Unicronian protoforms, should one be found intact and unawakened, are platinum in color and coated with a blackish-purple gel. A Unicron's starting Willpower is five. (See disclaimer.)
Once a Cybertron has been protoformed, the choice of alliance is typically simple. Cybertrons are forced from their beginning to follow the alliance they were protoformed into. Changing alliances willingly is difficult, and a change typically only happens to the strongest-willed among Cybertrons, or those that are forced to change due to circumstances beyond their control. Most actually neutral Cybertrons simply stay with the alliance they were protoformed into, then stay as far as they can away from the war. Not all aligned are soldiers.
However, certain smaller factions have decided on different causes than the two main alliances offer. These factions, called Organizations, sometimes go as far as to create for themselves their own activation code to signify their lack of allegiance. Usually, an Organization has a common bond tying its members together, such as protoforming the same type of beast.
Organizations are difficult to recruit for, have a difficult time gaining power, and are usually crushed by the larger war. However, players may create Organizations, making them as simple or complex as they desire. Organizations may have their own rules for recruiting, and their own special requirements of their members. Most importantly, any player-created Organization must have a clear mission and code so that the Storyteller knows when to require members of this Organization to roll to preserve Spark. It is important to create Organizations with real methods and purposes, and not to use them simply as an excuse to stray from roleplaying the other "standard" Codes. Ask your Storyteller before using your Organization.
Previous Part: Spark, Energon, Will, Death