[New RPG] Citybots

[Warcry]

I notice that Fortress Maximus and Scorponok have both been claimed for the new game. Since they're both being run by the same people who claimed them, and the current characters are normal-sized, I'm guessing they'll be the same in the new game too?

I don't think we've actually talked about what to do with city-sized bots as a whole, though. These two have a lot of precedent for being normal-sized so m'eh on them, but what about Trypticon, Metroplex, Overlord, Grand and Brave Maximus, Omega Supreme, Metrotitan, Gigastorm and whoever else I'm forgetting? Are each of them currently running around in normal-sized TF bodies, do they not exist yet, or something else entirely?

[Aero Blade]

I personally wouldn't want to see anything bigger than Omega Supreme unless we manage to get our transformers back to Cybertron. Things as big as citybots probably wouldn't be easily evaced as we seem to be leaning towards, and would be pretty much impossible to hide once they do get to Earth.

[Warcry]

The size of the supposed 'citybots' is pretty wildly inconsistent. Other than that one UK comic issue with Metroplex I don't think any of them were ever actually drawn any bigger than Omega even when they were technically supposed to be. I would tend to prefer to keep them at his size, because that's about as properly colossal as you can get before people can see you from orbit.

[tahukanuva]

Yeah. Citybots are nifty, but if we're trying to stay undercover then they're mostly out of the question. Once are cover's fully blown (which is inevitable, really) then they'd make sense as part of the war on Earth escalating.

[Blackjack]

Omega Supreme at least would make sense as the Autobot shuttle/Ark, a la Animated, while I liked Trypticon-as-a-space-station like in WFC.

Although it's likely that none of them would show up on Earth...

Scorpy's gonna be big — Marvel comics/IDW appearance, roughly twice the size of someone like the Autobot cars, but not city sized.

[Springer85]

I would really love to see Metroplex in the RPG, but him being there from the start wouldn't make much sense. You could always go the IDW route with him and have him be a guardian of something important that travels from planet to planet to keep it safe. Maybe our Alpha Trion flees Megatron's assault in Metroplex as he takes something important with him that Megatron wants?

[Aero Blade]

Maybe our Alpha Trion flees Megatron's assault in Metroplex as he takes something important with him that Megatron wants?

It sounds like an interesting plot, but it would derail them heading to earth, as Megs would then be going after them. We could just have Metroplex routed to earth, but we then come back to the situation of blowing the cover on the tranformers early, as a citybot is easily spotted.

[Springer85]

What about that particular event happened in the past? Metroplex lands on Earth in the past and is burried in a volcano or deep underground. It'll kinda be like how Brave Maximus was burried on Earth in RiD.

Or, we just keep it simple and when the time comes, Metroplex will be built on Earth like in Scramble City.

[Brave Maximus]

Not much of an issue.
I was going to bring Alpha Trion to Earth with Skyfall Omega. Both of them could be on Metroplex, can park him in the asteroid belt or Mars and then it's a short hop over to earth ^^

[Springer85]

Awesome

[zigzagger]

I notice that Fortress Maximus and Scorponok have both been claimed for the new game. Since they're both being run by the same people who claimed them, and the current characters are normal-sized, I'm guessing they'll be the same in the new game too?

Yep. Figured it would simplify things by going the Marvel route (or, I dunno, maybe what Dreamwave was shooting for) with Fort Max this time around. He's a tricky character to play, as you know, and he's further complicated by being made up of elements from his Sunbow, Marvel and Japanese incarnations.

[Warcry]

Honestly, I couldn't imagine anything like Metroplex existing pre-war. He's probably the most 'military' of all the big bots, and what would be the point of a gigantic death machine on a peaceful world? It could be that he's a relic of the last great war, but that's usually been Omega Supreme's characterization rather than Metroplex's. Maybe Alpha Trion brings Omega with him, and later on we activate Omega and it leads to an arms race that produces Metroplex and the rest?

Plus using Omega Supreme as a starship makes more sense than using Metroplex, since Omega turns into a rocket but Metroplex's three modes are all pretty obviously ground-based.

I really like Blackjack's idea of having Omega Supreme be the Autobots' spaceship, actually. It would give the Autobots an immediate goal other than survival: getting the resources they need to bring Omega back online so that they can turn him loose on the Decepticons. The Decepticons' ship could be a badly-damaged Trypticon (Or maybe Tidal Wave? Mostly because it would be a good pun if the Decepticons' base ends up underwater like in the cartoon, but also 'cause then we could hold Trypticon back to be Metroplex's opposite number.) too, and both factions could be in a race to see who reactivates their superweapon first? Obviously culminating it the two of them pound the crap out of each other in a public place.

And having two gigantic war machines slugging it out in the middle of a city would do a good job of blowing both factions' cover, too.

[Blackjack]

Or maybe Metroplex could be built in secret by Alpha Trion (or, hell, anyone can do this — say, Grapple) while on Cybertron? I actually liked the idea of Metroplex having been on Earth in the past. Similar, kind of, to my idea from another thread. Maybe he's sunken like Atlantis?

Just throwing ideas here, Trypticon could be built in secret in the Dark of the Moon (TF3 ahoy), away from human sights.

[Aero Blade]

I'm thinking back to the earlier suggestion of Alpha Trion being a figure of the church, and his typical standard role as a senator/political figure, and I just can't see him building a war weapon. Unless we're talking about an extreme personality change on him, Alpha Trion's not the kind to go about building weapons, a stretch to even condone them.

I agree with Warcry's idea on it, holding back Metroplex an Trypticon for later on. Using Omega Supreme and Tidalwave as the ships sounds like it'd work well.

edit/add: I do think it sounds reasonable that some of the guys might start work on a large fortification like Metroplex as things start to heat up in the war. Some guys thinking they might need it, so they get started on it now instead of having to rush on it later. When the evac occurs, Metroplex would be left unfinished, waiting for later when the bots have to return for it.

[Springer85]

I really like Blackjack's idea of having Omega Supreme be the Autobots' spaceship, actually. It would give the Autobots an immediate goal other than survival: getting the resources they need to bring Omega back online so that they can turn him loose on the Decepticons. The Decepticons' ship could be a badly-damaged Trypticon (Or maybe Tidal Wave? Mostly because it would be a good pun if the Decepticons' base ends up underwater like in the cartoon, but also 'cause then we could hold Trypticon back to be Metroplex's opposite number.) too, and both factions could be in a race to see who reactivates their superweapon first? Obviously culminating it the two of them pound the crap out of each other in a public place.

I actually like that idea very much. Gives Wheeljack something to do right from the start too, eventhough I'll have him invent some other stuff too

Is gestalt tech available from the start? If not, the Decepticons could still use the Nemisis and crash that. Then Megatron, aware that Omega Supreme is a problem for him, orders somebody to come up with a way to prepare for a possible attack by Omega. Hook (or someone else) comes up with creating a gestalt and viola: you have something that the Autobots would like to have their hands on too.

Tidal Wave would be great to see in the RPG too though

[Blackjack]

I agree with Warcry's idea on it, holding back Metroplex an Trypticon for later on. Using Omega Supreme and Tidalwave as the ships sounds like it'd work well.

Ditto. Metroplex and Trypticon seems to be the end-all-and-be-all in terms of size (barring Unicron, of course), while Omega Supreme, Tidal Wave, Scorponok and Fort Max are just big Transformers, Omega in particular the size of a gestalt.

I do think it sounds reasonable that some of the guys might start work on a large fortification like Metroplex as things start to heat up in the war. Some guys thinking they might need it, so they get started on it now instead of having to rush on it later. When the evac occurs, Metroplex would be left unfinished, waiting for later when the bots have to return for it.

Excellent idea.

Honestly, I couldn't imagine anything like Metroplex existing pre-war. He's probably the most 'military' of all the big bots, and what would be the point of a gigantic death machine on a peaceful world? It could be that he's a relic of the last great war, but that's usually been Omega Supreme's characterization rather than Metroplex's. Maybe Alpha Trion brings Omega with him, and later on we activate Omega and it leads to an arms race that produces Metroplex and the rest?

Aye. I've always liked the portrayal Omega as being a relic of the last Great War, perhaps the last Guardian robot or whatever.

Why must Alpha Trion build Metroplex anyway? I liked the whole Autobots-build-Metroplex-on-Earth after they made an alliance with the humans thing that we have in Marvel comics and IIRC Dreamwave. Honestly the bit with Alpha Trion building Metroplex from IDW is something that I don't like, but then that's for the respective players of Trion and Metroplex to decide.

I really like Blackjack's idea of having Omega Supreme be the Autobots' spaceship, actually. It would give the Autobots an immediate goal other than survival: getting the resources they need to bring Omega back online so that they can turn him loose on the Decepticons. The Decepticons' ship could be a badly-damaged Trypticon (Or maybe Tidal Wave? Mostly because it would be a good pun if the Decepticons' base ends up underwater like in the cartoon, but also 'cause then we could hold Trypticon back to be Metroplex's opposite number.) too, and both factions could be in a race to see who reactivates their superweapon first? Obviously culminating it the two of them pound the crap out of each other in a public place.

Animated is awesome that way. I've never liked Omega's original impractical alternate modes. I mean, sure, a rocket and a tank and a base is cool, but a single gigantic alternate mode like WFC and Animated always made more sense to me. That's my two cents, though. And I've always liked Animated showing Omega Supreme as the Autobots' ship.

Meanwhile, Tidal Wave is seven levels of awesome if we get to use him, but then Trypticon would be even more awesome. I agree with Warcry holding Trypticon in reserve until Metroplex shows up... but traditions are made to be broken. Unleash Trypticon, I say!

[Warcry]

Or maybe Metroplex could be built in secret by Alpha Trion (or, hell, anyone can do this — say, Grapple) while on Cybertron?

I doubt there'd be the time to build anything over the amount of time that we've talked about spending on Cybertron. Certainly not a citybot that's being built in secret by one or two people.

I actually liked the idea of Metroplex having been on Earth in the past. Similar, kind of, to my idea from another thread. Maybe he's sunken like Atlantis?

If we're talking about reusing Brave Maximus's story, why not just use Brave Maximus and be done with it?

I'm thinking back to the earlier suggestion of Alpha Trion being a figure of the church, and his typical standard role as a senator/political figure, and I just can't see him building a war weapon. Unless we're talking about an extreme personality change on him, Alpha Trion's not the kind to go about building weapons, a stretch to even condone them.

That's going to be up to Brave since he's the one playing the guy, but unless he's using Crazy Sadist Shattered Glass Alpha Trion I figure you're probably right.

Is gestalt tech available from the start?

Probably not, no. Developing it and making it work would probably have to go through quite a few steps before we make it to something like Devastator, though.

Why must Alpha Trion build Metroplex anyway? I liked the whole Autobots-build-Metroplex-on-Earth after they made an alliance with the humans thing that we have in Marvel comics and IIRC Dreamwave. Honestly the bit with Alpha Trion building Metroplex from IDW is something that I don't like, but then that's for the respective players of Trion and Metroplex to decide.

Honestly, unless we want to use Metroplex right away (which IMO would be a waste) I think we should wait until we do need him and decide then where he came from.

[tahukanuva]

Developing it and making it work would probably have to go through quite a few steps before we make it to something like Devastator, though.

Duocons?

[Aero Blade]

Honestly, unless we want to use Metroplex right away (which IMO would be a waste) I think we should wait until we do need him and decide then where he came from.

[Blackjack]

I doubt there'd be the time to build anything over the amount of time that we've talked about spending on Cybertron. Certainly not a citybot that's being built in secret by one or two people.

It could be done halfway through by the time our RPG started... I'm just saying, though. Personally I think the origin would be better explored during the course of our RPG itself, something of a goal, a plot device to work to.

If we're talking about reusing Brave Maximus's story, why not just use Brave Maximus and be done with it?

It's been used before? I... didn't know that. RID, right? Haven't watched the series yet. Damned cliches...

Probably not, no. Developing it and making it work would probably have to go through quite a few steps before we make it to something like Devastator, though.

The Duocons, and maybe Omega Supreme? Omega Supreme is technically a combiner, and IIRC Marvel comics had the Autobots build Omega with data from Devastator. Or something along those lines. I vaguely remember Bumblebee recording Devastator combining to create Omega.... or was that Superion?

Eh, nevermind.

Honestly, unless we want to use Metroplex right away (which IMO would be a waste) I think we should wait until we do need him and decide then where he came from.