Transformers: Collision Course - Play by Post Edition!
Transformers: Collision Course is a pop-culture kitchen-sink of a setting, a mashup of various Transformers settings, Power Ranger, GI Joe and more!
TYPE
SYSTEM
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Monday – 4:00 PM UTC
Jul 14 / Session 7
1–2 Hour Duration
4 / 7 Seats Filled
Schedule
About the adventure
Welcome to the world of Transformers: Collision Course! Taking place in late 1995, this is an original timeline which kicks off a decade after Season 2 of the original cartoon, mixed with events from the Marvel and IDW comics. In the decade since the arrival of the Transformers, humanity's path has already been irrevocably altered. While Optimus Prime and Megatron's war has once again spread to the stars, Earth has become home to the Earthforged: protoforms kept in stasis when the Ark left Cybertron, revived with the help of Earth technology. Under their protection and aid, Earth has thrived, with the conflicts of old not ended, but mostly quieted... until now. Following unusual spacetime disruptions, a new threat emerges: The Cybertronian Empire. A splinter group from before the time of Megatron, they seek Earth's resources and ready supply of Cybertronian soldiers to further their aims of expansion. Under the command of Pyro, an Earthforged Autobot charged with the leadership of Autobase New York, your team has three directives: Reconnaissance Investigation Defense. That's right, this is a mashup of G2 and the 2001 Robots In Disguise cartoon, which means that it may delight fans who get all of the nods to other continuities...but! Since things are subtly different from what you might know, this is a great place for beginners to get a taste of Transformers without all of the burden of learning 40 years of lore in advance!
Game style
Theater of the Mind
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Roleplay Heavy
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
If you've already built a character in one of my workshop classes, and want to bring it over, your task in Session 0 will be pretty simple: Share your concerns, establish your boundaries, and get to know your fellow players. If not? It's time for character generation. Everything in the Transformers Core Rulebook is available, but Enigma of Combination builds are not, and Decepticon Directive will be at my discretion. All characters will enter this campaign at level 1.
Keeping things simple and straightforward, here's what I expect to do: 1) Weekly "deep-dive" check-ins. This will include "office hours," time to address questions around the world in which the game takes place, casual discussion around players, characters, and those interactions, etc. 2) Weekday "plot advancement" checkins. This is where I'll check on active scenes, move things forward, and address combat. Ideally, I'd love to be able to run more than one of these per day, but "as time allows" is always the trick to PbP. 3) DM replies -- I generally prefer to keep discussions on the server, but if you have a private matter as relates to the game, these will take priority. This includes any concerns regarding your personal lines and veils, especially if they've either changed, or I've missed a nuance that matters to you.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You'll need: - Discord account (Discord.com) - A willingness to write!
What Chris brings to the table
In addition to the Discord server and VTT, here's what I'm bringing to the session: - New takes on old characters/toys - A penchant for cliffhanger session endings - Mostly Theatre of the Mind, but some maps-- both custom and sourced from map designers - A deep, almost obsessive exploration of the lore - Cameos! In past campaigns, I've folded in aspects of GI Joe, Power Rangers, MASK, Stargate SG-1, Tokusatsu Spider-Man, Jem and the Holograms, and Challenge of the GoBots, just to name a few. - Alternate History: On this Earth, things have moved a little differently since the 1960s. Some of that makes room for the fiction, and some of it means that you're in a 1995 with electric cars and missions to Mars. - Rule of Cool: I won't let everyone get away with everything, but if we can creatively interpret the rules so that everyone's having fun, I'm inclined to let you try.
Homebrew rules
Limits on Lend Assistance will apply as progression moves skills into the Automatic Success range too frequently. This is less to penalize users with high skills, and more to support players' ability to enjoy narrative tension instead of immediately winning without thought or effort.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Platforms used
Safety
How Chris creates a safe table
In Session 0, I'm going to go over a small bit of the lore-- as might relate to any triggers. Transformers stories often delve into areas of warfare, mad science, and death, so it's important that we're all on the same page there. Beyond that, the obvious bits: Pronouns (both in and out of character,) any triggers that I might have otherwise missed, etiquette and policies around bleed and post-session discussion, and anything else I might have missed. The way I see it, if we aren't all having fun, then I'm wasting your time and money, so if we need to pause because you're uncomfortable, 1) You should feel free to ask for that pause, and 2) I should make sure to adjust the game to provide that fun.
Content warnings
Safety tools used