X-VertorFormBots: Sentient Transforming Robots in X-Plorers

If we look at my existing rules, I am pretty much 90% there to use X-Plorers to run your favorite transforming robot series.

We just need to add a few more rules.  (You will need to refer to the previous 4 rule additions I did.)

Character Generation:
Do your normal 3d6/4d6 take 3 highest rolls as usual.  Then generate a Mecha of the size you choose, with Medium size being default.  For our purposes your character IS the Mecha so do not roll for HP.  Just add 1 HP to the Mecha, plus any bonus/penalty for Physique.

All sentient Mecha characters are considered to be permanently part of their machines and as such are considered to have the "Cybernetic Interface" mentioned in the first part of my house rules.

Super Light PCs are considered to be Armor and thus a Transformation Gear only costs 2 System Points.

Level Advancement: At each level your character gains 1 HP, plus any Physique bonuses/penalties.  Every odd level (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9) your character gains 1 extra System or Weapon point.

Being a multiple mode conversion Mecha simply costs 1/2 the cost of a Transformation Gear for every new form chosen.

Some advice on transformation: No matter what your Mecha turns into, your statline is based on your Mecha form, though certain attributes will change temporarily in your new form as follows, ignoring any boosts/reductions in your original form's creation, but modified by System Point upgrades:

Physique: Stays as Mecha form.
Agility: Goes to default Vehicle.
HP: Stays as Mecha form.
AC: Goes to default Vehicle.
Speed: Goes to default Vehicle.
System Points: Ignored.  You already spent the things!
Weapon Points: Weapons stay the same as on Mecha, but have new locations.  (Option: Extra WP can be earned in the new form via weapon placements and such so that a weapon in Mecha form that only does 2d6 damage may be hull mounted in Vehicle form and gain extra damage or range or whatnot.  It would explain why in Transformers: The Movie, Galvatron turned into his Gun Tank mode before shooting Starscream.  He did more damage as the weapon was hull mounted!)

If turning into things like Helicopters, Jets, Large Angry Dinosaurs the correct System Point options will have to be spent for those forms as well as taking the Transformation Gear.

Options to actually encourage people to play Light and Superlights:  They have a 10% xp gain bonus given their small size means they are risking more than their larger buddies.  Also, Heavies and Superheavies have a 10% xp gain penalty as they aren't risking as much, and it takes more effort to maintain the fuel costs of such large machines.

Combining:  A Combination Gear is a 2 System Point upgrade (1 for Light and Superlights) that allows any number of machines (prebuild this unless you are doing some anime campaign where new things are introduced to constantly up the ante...) can combine into one larger robot.  It takes 2 Vehicle Scale turns to combine, and units should be within their Speed range of at least one member of their team.

A Presence saving roll is needed to initiate combination with all components (if sentient. Something like GaoGaiGar which is one robot and 3 AI machines that are just slave units just needs the sentient machines.) to combine.

Damage to the combined unit is divvied roughly equally between components when hit. When a component has taken 25%, 50%, and 75% damage another Presence roll is required to keep it together.  If one unit fails, the whole machine falls apart.

Combined unit's AC is 2nd highest AC of the components, +1 for every additional component. 

Physique is the same as AC, as is Agility, but AGI goes DOWN as it just keeps getting too darn big to be nimble.

Intelligence  and Presence requires another group Presence roll, and if everyone passes use the highest INT of the components, if even one fails, use the LOWEST for each category.


Speed is the same as a default Superheavy Mecha.  

Count the size points of the combined unit. (With Superlight being 1 point, and Superheavy 5.) If the points are 9 or higher the combined unit is counted as a Starship scale machine while combined. (Which means its getting serious bonuses against the Vehicle and Personal Scale units.)  However it's Speed and weapons ranges are still in Vehicle scale, though it does move and act in Space scale.

How does that sound so far?

If this looks good all I need is to add in rules for super weapons for combined units, a "Slave AI 1-3" thing for AI controlled components and we have ourselves a rules light giant sentient robots/anime mecha game to go along with the existing rules I have done to tech up X-P!


(Rest of combining rules go here soon!)

As we can see most of our favorite robots can now be created, though some really won't come into their own until they level up enough to have the System Points to do everything they want.

Take that classic combining robot made out of 6 construction vehicles.  They are medium to heavy machines which means they need 6 System Points just to have a Vehicle mode and their Combined mode.  This is leaving out any personal upgrades they might want or any high powered weapon systems.

But the risks could be worth it.  From 6 guys to one giant beast considered to be a Space scale machine with +5 to its AC, +5 PHY,  and the potential for spare WP/SP to be used for absolutely MASSIVE weapons only such a fearsome machine can carry!