Transformers: Diaspora
The Transformers RPG, taken to the stars! Seek out new life, new civilizations... and save your own!
TYPE
SYSTEM
EXPERIENCE
AGE
About the adventure
Cybertron has fallen. A once-glimmering jewel of the cosmos has been drained and dulled in the corrosion of war without end. However, hope lives on. Optimus Prime has dispatched Arkships, evacuating Cybertronians to all corners of the galaxy, each one carrying a fragment of the Matrix of Leadership, a tiny crystal imbued with a fraction of the power of the Well of All Sparks. With that, your ancestors turned a once-barren rock into a new Cybertron, a colony capable of supporting and birthing new machine life. You are that dream. A new generation, born free of the conditions that began the Great War... but not without hardships. Not without differences. Over time, old lines are redrawn, redefined, and you find yourself in a cycle born anew, the enmity between Autobots and Decepticons reforged, and in that, you find your home, the only world you've known, to be slowly withering in the same way that Cybertron of old had. Your quest: Take a starship, form a crew, and seek a solution. Find the Primal Colonies of old, track down Optimus Prime, see if any truth exists to the legends shared in your youth... ...and reignite the flickering embers of your world to restore its glory and save your kin.
Game themes
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Monday – 11:00 PM UTC
2–3 Hour Duration
2 / 7 Seats Filled
GAME MASTER
Chris
he/him
5.0
(6)
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(6)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
8 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Inclusive
About me
Long-time player, been GMing a weekly game for the past year. Now I'm looking to share my interests with other players in need of a GM! Who am I? Well, first and foremost, a worldbuilder. I've had a fully-original far-future sci-fi setting in the works for so long now that my earliest notes are faded, illegible, and even lost. That was borne of my love of Star Trek, even before TNG came out, and heavily influenced by a voracious consumption of science-fiction books and TV series. It's something I've never let die out, filling notebooks and sketchpads over time, and leading to me running two campaigns in the settings back around the late 90s and early-aughts. Second, a "recovering theater kid." I soaked up creative writing and drama classes like a sponge, got up on stage in spite of my own nerves countless times, and realized that at the end of the day, I like the thrill of the performance. Given an audience, I'll find something to say, and if you give me a topic that YOU like, I'll try to make that the focus so that you're having a good time as well. Third, a pop-culture lexicon. From the original Transformers cartoon in 1984 to prestige science fiction on streaming right now, I absorb stories and commit many of them to memory, which serves to fuel my original creations, and the games I plan to run here. Beyond that? Husband, technology professional, and the full-time staff to two adorable rescue cats. Xennial, born right on the edge of two generations, polymath, and a jack of all trades. I've played at diverse tables, run diverse tables, and welcomed all-comers to my games-- to a point. My politics absolutely inform my behaviors and actions, and that includes the old chestnut of the paradox of tolerance: To be tolerant, we cannot tolerate the intolerant. I'll wear my heart on my sleeve on that point. What that means: I run an inclusive table. My personal lack of identity tags notwithstanding, at my VTT/Discord, we respect pronouns, identities, and above all, people. If you're bothered by the idea of DEI, or think that some people are "too woke," kindly seek another table. Thank you!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Bring a level 1 character concept, as per the TF Core Rulebook. Decepticon Directive is optional, and let's steer clear of the Enigma of Combination sourcebook, as the Enigma itself is currently lost and so Combiners will be exceedingly rare. Session 0 will let us firm up any details that you're missing, get everyone to know each other, and allow us to adjust as needed. If you bring a filled-out sheet, great! If not, you'll end Session 0 with one.
Discounts available! If you sign up for one of my Learn-to-Play workshops, I'll count that as a credit towards your session! Have you ever wanted to be an Autobot? To fight evil, to go on adventures... to explore worlds where you are truly a Robot in Disguise? This is the campaign for you! You'll leave your home colony, hiding in plain sight on alien worlds, disguised as local machinery, as THE heroes in your very own Saturday Morning Cartoon! We're starting at Level 1, and advancement is milestone-based, so the party will advance in lockstep. This means that everyone improves together, and nobody gets left behind. This is definitely a beginner friendly game, set in a custom timeline. This means that only the basics can be assumed (Autobots good, Decepticons bad, Optimus Prime is the leader, that sort of thing.) The rest is up to you to explore, so curiosity is meant to be rewarded!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Webcam is preferred, but a microphone/headset is a must: We'll use voice chat, and I tend to go on video so that my players can better understand me. You'll need accounts/software for Discord and Fantasy Grounds as well. Discord is free for all, and Fantasy Grounds will work fine for you with the free Demo version. The more you know about the rules, the better, but it's generally a quick system to grasp and I will talk you through it.
What Chris brings to the table
Tools I'm bringing: - Fantasy Grounds Unity Ultimate account for maps/navigation - Discord for Voice/Video/Chat - Map making software (DungeonDraft) - Visual aids for popular NPCs (aka, action figures!) - Custom Token borders for your Autobots! If you have your own art, I'll get you set up. Techniques I'll focus on: - Theatre of the Mind - Unique voices for characters - Puzzles and mental exercises! Play style: - Rule of Cool -- where we can keep it balanced. If I know what you're trying to do, I'll see what we can do within the rules-as-written. Essence20 has a system for this (Story Points) that really helps with this! - Deep lore -- There are extensive timelines and mindmaps that power what I'm telling, but what your characters is up to you to discover.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Webcam
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Chris creates a safe table
In Session 0, above and beyond setting clarification and chargen, I'd like to ensure that myself and all players know our player and character pronouns, and understand the core vibe: While some heavier topics may be alluded to, I'm portraying a flawed society, and if this has any triggering effects, we will move on, use our breaks to collect ourselves, and debrief openly and with grace and patience to ensure that all players are having fun.