Just to prove that this system actually works, let's run through a brand new character—a beast that has never been on the show before.
Step One: Concept I want someone that will fit well in any situation, and I want a good war character with lots of fighting skills. I'm also pretty sure I want a femme-bot, someone colorful and likable. Definitely sounds more like a Maximal than a Predacon. I decide to make her a scout, and give her a flying beast mode, so, a Maximal bird. I'll choose a cardinal. Granted, usually only male cardinals are red, but I'm bending the rules a bit just to give the character a little flavor. (Besides, protoform and spark decide gender, not beast mode.) I fill in the Beast name, the Generation—I'll stick with Organic, so she'll be able to hide more easily—and the Protoform and Alliance, both Maximal. I'll keep her Class at Normal. I decide on an Investigator Nature for this character—meaning she is always curious and wants to learn new things. Now I'll give her a name: Redstreak.
Step Two: Attributes Next I'll move down to the Attributes section. For a scout, Perception is the most important, so I'll choose Mental Attributes first. I wanted Charisma, so Social will be second, then Physical. Three dots in Perception for a total of Four—that's an excellent rating. I'll make the other Mental Attributes three apiece, still not too shabby. For Social I want a three in Charisma and a three in Appearance; that leaves only average Manipulation, but I don't see Redstreak as the manipulative type. Finally, only three points to spend in Physical. I want her to be fast, so I give her a Dexterity of three; Stamina of two. That leaves only one dot in Strength. Not great, but, for a female bird, it makes sense.
Before I move down, I have to decide on Beast Mode Attributes. I have 1 Strength, 3 Dexterity, 2 Stamina, and 3 Appearance: a total of nine points to redistribute. A bird has got to be fast, so I put four of those points in Dexterity. I stick with a 1 Strength, and put two points in each other Attribute. Looks okay.
Finally, on the Attributes section, I put a "x 2" next to her Strength. That's a 2 in Strength, then, which means she's as strong as an average human.
Step Three: Abilities
Moving down. I decide to spend the majority of my points in Skills: the kinds of things a person would learn involved in heavy combat. A point of Survival, a point of Stealth, a point of Security. Two of Leadership, since she would have to work well with others. A point of Piloting and a point of Animal Ken. Three points each in Melee and Firearms. This is a working woman.
Talents next. Two Alertness—a scout has to have this—and three Athletics (that's important later). A point of Brawl and a point of Dodge. A point of Primal-Urge, and a point of Streetwise. For Knowledges, I have only five points to spend. Yuck. I want to spread them out, if I can, so I put one each in Computers, Investigation, History, Repair, and Procedures.
Step Four: Advantages
I have five Background points to spend. Since I want Redstreak to be important in an active unit, I'll spend three of them on Rank. As for the rest...I know there used to be an Autobot named "Bluestreak," so I'll shove those last two points into Pure Design just to keep the Gen-One Purists guessing.
Twelve points of weaponry seem like a lot, but they usually go fast. Start with the obvious, and give her claws in bird mode. That's two points. Now, robot mode. I want at least one Melee weapon and one Firearms weapon, and more of the latter, if I can afford it. I'll spend five of my points on the Paired Swords option, because they look so nice shaped like feathers. Now, to give my character an edge, not to mention fitting her name, I'll choose a flame thrower. I decide to shoulder-mount the weapon, so I note that it is Attached. Already, all my weapon points are gone.
I can spend eight points on new Mechanisms. I want to make sure Redstreak has wings in both of her modes, so I spend three of these points on Flight. (That's why purchasing a three in Athletics was so important.) I'll mix the rest up. She needs a Radio, because she's in an army. I also decide to give her a point of Speed—great news; now I can give her bird mode an extra Dexterity point, for a total of five. The next Mechanism is a bit tricky, but I want to make sure my scout can hide easily from enemies, so I give her the Demolecularize Mechanism to allow her to shrink to the size of an "ordinary" bird. She just barely has the Stamina to cover it. I have only one Mechanism point left, so I decide that Tracking 1—Scanning for active allies—is useful.
Step Five: Metal Made Flesh
I have three starting Willpower, three starting Spark, and ten starting Energon. I decide on the all-important Spark Location: the usual female location, at the center of the chest.
Now I can decide if I want to give Redstreak any Merits or Flaws. I decide on a simple Merit for one extra Freebie point: Intolerance. Redstreak simply can't abide by insects of any type. A strange hatred, but an appropriate one to work into a Maximal character. Perhaps her unit was once ambushed on a routine missionby a group of Insecticons.
That gives me a total of sixteen points to dish out. First of all, I'm dismayed that I haven't given my scout any vision-related Mechanisms. I decide to correct the problem by giving her two points of Spectrum vision. The problem is, I only have one point of Investigation, and I need two of those, too. I spend a total of eight points; two for the extra Investigation point, and six for the two dots of Spectrum vision. Now I have eight more to spend. I decide that a flame thrower is a poor distance weapon, and purchase a pair of lasers, also attached, one to each hand, at a cost of two points apiece. I sink two points into Energon, and two points to give Redstreak one additional point of permanent Spark. Done.
Well, mostly done. I have a good idea of this character's background and what she can do, but it remains to be seen how well she will fit into the current Chronicle. I'll write out a more detailed history of the character, and make a sketch. She's sure to see a lot more development as she's played.
If you want, compare these notes to the final version of Redstreak, which will open in a new browser window.
To take another look at the process, let's put together a different character—this time, a familiar face. Here's a quick-and-easy character-generation, a sample of how the Beast Wars regulars were initially generated with this system.
Step One: Concept
I'm taking a look at the Merits and Flaws section, and I see one that interests me a lot: the "Indestructible Spark of Starscream" Merit. It looks like a tough call, but I think maybe I can pull it off. As a Character Concept, I'm thinking along the lines of an insane criminal type...perhaps someone who realizes his terrible origins as a clone of one of Cybertron's Most Hated, and while he pities himself about it, revels in it as well. Since he'll be a clone of Starscream, let's give him a designation instead of a name: Protoform X. But, since we're being personable about it, we'll give him a name, too: Rampage.
No problem. Rampage was a Maximal experiment, so he's a Maximal protoform. However, he's way too violent to stay with the peace-loving race, so his alliance is with the Predacons. His nature is Monster. His beast mode is that of a king crab. And he has a vehicle mode—a tank—which means that he's a Transmetal. This is all pretty easy when you're sure of what you're doing.
Step Two: Attributes
Rampage is all about just that: causing physical mayhem. So I'm going to put the majority of his points in Physical Attributes. Optimus Primal described him as "brilliant," so I'd better go with Mental next. That leaves only three points for Social, but that's fine by me, since Rampage doesn't have a lot of time to attend parties while he's looking for colonies to destroy.
Rampage's best category is Stamina. He keeps going and going and going. I put three points there for a total of four. Rampage is huge, so I'll put three in Strength, also. That leaves him with a total Dexterity of two, which is only average, but he's not particularly quick. For Mental, I'll put two dots in Perception, and two in Intelligence. Above-average in both categories there, and a point left over for Wits. For Social, I'll put two points in Manipulation, and one in Appearance. That leaves him with an abysmal Charisma, but he's not the type for making fast friends.
Now for the Beast Mode. I reorganize all my Physical dots, plus Appearance. Twelve dots altogether. I'll sink most of them into Strength, giving the crab mode a Strength of six. Rampage's Stamina will be the same in both modes. That leaves him with a beast mode Dexterity of one and Appearance of one. I agree with these ratings, since a six-legged crab-tank is hard to maneuver, and not particularly cute.
Finally, I go ahead and jot down the "tank" vehicle mode. I place his Spark, which is on the left side of his chest (my right). Then I go back and write the "x2" next to his Strength rating. His robot mode Strength is now 8.
Step Three: Abilities
I'll go ahead and put most of my stock in Talents, followed by Skills and Knowledges. A point in Alertness; a point in Athletics; a point in Dodge; a point in Subterfuge. Two points for Brawling, two for Primal-Urge. It seems like an odd move, but Rampage is definitely interested in shared emotions (fear, pain...), so I give him two points of Empathy. Finally, I sink three points into Intimidation, because he freaks me totally out.
I remember Rampage being capable of some fancy Melee combat, so I'll give him two points in that. Three points in Firearms, since a missle-launcher is his weapon of choice. Finally, two points in Stealth (it's hard to find a place for him to hide, but he manages to pull it off), and two in Survival.
Five points don't feel like enough for the Knowledge section, but they will do. A point in History; a point of Computers. One in Investigation; one in Enigmas; one in Matrix.
Step Four: Advantages
First-off, Backgrounds. I need to sink two points into Generation, since Rampage is a Transmetal. Rampage is also enormous: Ultra-class, so I'll put my other three points into the Size background.
Next is Weapons: the fun stuff. Rampage has a hand-held missile launcher, which costs five points. It also shoots plasma bursts. I can put both these functions on the same gun, so I do—there goes another four weapon points. I wouldn't want to forget the pinchers he has in his beast mode: three points for that. Twelve weapon points go pretty fast when you're making a heavy-hitter. Actually, I'm not done with weapons, but I have to quit for now.
Mechanism time, and all I can think about is armor. I'll give him a total of four points worth; it's one of the easiest purchases. Two of those will be general, all-over armor, but I'll specify on a different line for another two points. This armor is on his back; it's his shell in crab mode, and his claws in robot mode, either way, protected from a surprise attack.
It'd be a shame to put all those points in Empathy without giving him a little Mimicry, so I'll give him Mimicry 1, photographic memory. Good for tormenting old enemies. He hangs out underwater a lot, so I'd better not forget the Naturistics Mechanism. Most Cybertrons have a Radio, so I'll give him a dot of that, as well. He has the Primal-Urge to cover it. Finally, a point in Magnetism, so he can crawl down the rocks in crab mode. I have only one dot of Computer skill, but it's all I need.
Step Five: Metal Made Flesh
Ten points of Energon. Three Spark for a Transmetal; three Willpower for a Maximal protoform. And now I have fifteen freebie points to spend.
Well, not quite. Those points were sunk the minute I started, since every single one goes into purchasing Rampage's special Merit: Indestructible Spark of Starscream. Easy come, easy go. According to the text of this Merit, I have to choose a Derangement, so I do—Sadism. I'm glad to have it, since it fits with the concept.
I have to get a few Freebie points from somewhere, so I'd better pile on a few more Flaws. Here's one that looks interesting for a criminal type: Hunted. I guess that means I'll have to design the hunter, too. I'm thinking maybe manta ray, but let's leave that for another time. I'll also choose a Supernatural flaw: Emotional Vampire. Fear is the target emotion, and I'm thinking that now I've done enough to this character to drive him completely over the edge.
I took a lot of Flaws, but I can only use seven points to add on to the character. First-off, there's a weapon point I forgot; his gun is attached to his vehicle mode. That's taken care of in the Firearms listings. It's going to cost me two points.
Rampage is all about causing fear, so I'll sink two more points and give him a total of four in Intimidation. That allows me to choose a specialty, so I write "Soft voice." ("Is that fear you're feeling, Maximal...?") While I'm handing out specialties, I'll give them out up top, too. Stamina specialty: Survival, and Strength specialty: Grapple. He likes to keep an opponent in his grasp for as long as possible. I'm going to give him another point of Enigmas, too. Finally, since clones are bound to have echoing voices and old lives, I'll give him a point of the "Past Spark" Background.
Now I'm done. I make note of his weapons on the combat chart, and jot down his armor. I can spend time thinking of ways to flesh out the character even further while he's devouring humans on Colony Omicron.
For reference, take a look at Rampage's entire sheet in a new browser window. Be warned: it contains series spoilers.
Previous Part: Advantages, Backgrounds, Fleshing It Out