The Rules
Character Creation
Ok, the hardest part of the entire game is character creation. It really isn’t hard; it just seems to take forever for anyone to create their character. All you really need to do is give me an ideal of what or who you want, and make a tech spec for them, just like one that you’d find on any TF for the past sixteen years.
Here’s a template for a tech spec, in case there’s any question:
Name: (self explanatory) STR: RNK:
Allegiance: (See allegiances allowed below) INT: CRG:
Type: (What kind of vehicle or TF are you) SPD: FRP:
Function: (Scout, Fighter… etc) END: SKL:
Quote: (nifty catch phrase)
History: (Write out thoughts, attitudes, past, or
allusions to the future…You can even put special weapons and stuff here)
Allegience:
Autobot(with permission), Decepticon(with permission), Predacon, Maximal, Destron, Cybertron, Human, Alien.
Most
of the Allegiances you should know. However, Autobots
disbanded and Decepticons were outlawed. Destron
and Cybertron are in reference to the political
structures that spawned the Autobots and Decepticons from the beginning. The Auto’s and Con’s were the ‘elite’ forces,
and the Destrons and Cybertrons were the broader government behind them. They are (were) all living in peace since
the Pax Cybertronia (which outlawed the Decepticons to all allegiances and
disbanded the Autobots)
STR: Strength, sheer brawn.
INT: How smart are you, also how far back do your memories go.
SPD: How fast, and how much multi-tasking can you do
END: How thick hided are you, also how susceptible are you.
RNK: How high are you in the echelon of your designated Allegiance.
CRG: Are you chicken shit.
FRP: How much damage can you ship out with ranged or energy based weapons.
SKL: How slick are you… Affects EVERYTHING.
Game Play
Ok, here’s how it runs. It’s kind of lack ‘Pass the story’ except that I’m a final editor.
Here’s what I mean. You make a character, and I’ll send you the First Episode for that character. You then decide what the character thinks, feels, wants to do, says, etc… and write me a reply. Now, the reply can come in literally ANY form. EVERYONE has a different style, but the more the better. Some people will write a sentence telling exactly what they say next. Some will write a story continuation from where I left off. Some will write out a few sentences based around reactions to what they’ve seen or heard, and then what they want to do about it. It DOES NOT MATTER how you reply, but ALWAYS send a reply. After you reply, I will look at it, incorporate it and rewrite it into Episode format. I tend to include a LOT of what the players write, but of course, sometimes conditions form changes in the system. It then just continues in the same format, Episode, Reply, Episode… etc.
The replies come more or less at your own pace, except when
you are around another character, or when the story line HAS to proceed.
If the latter is the case, then you have five days to reply, after which I will allow myself to continue the story without the reply. Problems if you don’t reply are:
I get ticked after a while (MAJOR problem)
You’re character begins to fall into the background
and his stories get blah (this sometimes happens regardless, but
it will definitely happen without replies.)
Really baaaaad things begin to happen, as if you were
cursed by bad luck.
You end up being forgotten in the shuffle for several
weeks or months.
I stop writing you episodes.
I do understand about schoolwork, and difficulties to getting to the net, but for the most part, it should only take a few minutes to reply. Considerably less time than it take for me to write a typical episode.
Ok, here are a few examples of recent replies to give you an idea of how to reply to an Episode. As you can see, the three I chose are extremely different, but all are perfectly acceptable. Zab writes quick reactions and plans, Backdraft talks about details he wants to see done, and Dr A… well Doc takes the story and writes the next portion (he ends up with some of the longest and most detailed stories ;-) :
--Zabgoth the Mad Bastard,
Destron
Well, i say me and Slayer interogate ------------ and root out any potential traitors before we leave, if Backdraft lets us. And i think i'll go spar with that human. i'd like to knock him around a bit.
--Captain Backdraft, Admiral
of the Cybertronian Armada.
I get back on detail and check some things out. I make
sure the weapons systems are okay and make sure the engines and shieldings are
up to specs and then ask they go 50% higher. I want anything that will kill
time.
I am going to make myself confront Megatron (working on my rage control :)) and
tell him I talked with Skyjammer and I think he'll be okay now. I apologize for
him too.
If Skyjammer says yes then I want to get all 3 of em together and ask for
opinions of other candidates for the mission.
--Dr Archeville, Beast Machine
Prototype.
Clench had a goodproposal, Archeville thought. Too bad I
don't have the experience he thinks I do. On the other hand...
"Very well, Clench, I accept your offer - with one modification..."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"Allow me to restore Phil, my computer, back to full operational capacity.
You said you already have everything you need from him, right?"
"Hmmm... very well. But as soon as you do, you begin working for me."
"Of course, Sir..." *Archeville bowed a bit, his mind racing with
ideas*
Archeville placed the last bit of plating back on Phil, restoring him
completely. The hardest part was connecting Phil's CPU to his power core and
voice chips - after that, Phill was able to tell Doc where the various parts
went, though Doc's "instincts" were becoming better and better.
Archeville then informed Phil of what had transpired since his abduction.
"... and that's how I was able to repair you."
"Fascinating, Doctor." *the sphere floated over tot he 'neural net
column' and examined it* "And this 'brain' is quite impressive,
considering the ones who built it only had my raw data to go by."
"Yes, it is, Phil. But we must destroy it, along with Clench's
WarWorld..."
*Phil spun around to face Archeville* "But... why, Doctor? I am restored,
and it would be fairly simple for me to bypass the security codes and locking
mechanisms of this ship and allow us to..."
Archeville cut him off. "No, Phil. I can't quite explain it, but
somehow... all this, all these events, have lead me here, and I know I HAVE to
stop Clench. Besides, you know as well as I that the Decepticon form of peace
is in actuality iron-fisted tyranny. And how long before Clench sets his sites
on other worlds?"
"You... are correct, Doctor. I will, of course, do all I can to assist
you."
"Excellent. Now, I've managed to spare us some time - if, or when, Clench
calls to check on my progress, I've set up a worktable full of spare 'computer
drone' parts for me to work on. I'll just say his techies did an awful job
dismantling you, and it'll take longer than anticipated to repair you. In the
meantime, we've got to find a way to get my memories from your CPU back into my
head..."
STORY CHANGES
SINCE THE BEGINNINGS
Several months have passed since the story’s beginnings. In that time, there began a rash of ‘mystery raids’ that wiped out seemingly random outposts. No one knew who was responsible, and it was throwing the peace of Cybertron for a tilt.
The Cybertronian armada was sent out to try to stem the raids and to put an armed presence in space to give a sense of security to the colonies under Cybertronian protection.
While they were gone… Well, we’ll leave that for the Episodes to explain.
The web page is at:
http://bobconvoy.home.mindspring.com/rbuster.htm
The entire story beginnings are written out (as well as a timeline of events and a quick terminology description) at:
http://bobconvoy.home.mindspring.com/Roadbuster/TIME.HTM
That’s it!
Good luck!