FAQ

 

1. Characters Allowed

 

1.1 Which continuities do you allow? Is it just the ones you have timelines for on the wiki?

1.2 Do you accept toy-only characters from ____ series?

1.3 Why do you not allow G1 Optimus Prime or Megatron?

1.4 Would Bandai Gobots be accepted? The ones who jumped continuities and gave the Transformers the Spychanger technology. Guys like Bug Bite for instance?

1.5 Do you allow non-Transformer robots who appeared in one of the continuities (example: Death's Head) or other non-Transformer characters who appeared in a Transformers continuity (example: Spider-Man)?

1.6 Can I apply for a character just revealed in the episode/comic issue that came out today?

 

2. The Application

 

2.1 Why do you insist the applications be in a plain text format, and why can't they be attachments?

2.2 Do you guys have a set system when converting from tech spec to Deadzone stats, or are you just making things up as you go along?

2.3 Why do you ask about my character's greatest fears?

2.3.1 Why can't I list "fear of failure" as my only primary fear?

2.4 Why do you ask the question about how I perceive my character's role in the game, what my goals for the character are, and what sort of RP I'm looking for?

2.5 The Character History Question

2.5.1 Why don't canon characters have to answer the character history question?

2.5.2 My character's background is a mystery! Nobody knows where they're from!

2.6 Character Skills Questions

2.6.1 Why do you guys keep nerfing/reducing/deleting the skills from my application?

2.6.2 What are the most over-applied for skills?

2.7 What sort of answers are you looking for on the Physical Weakness question?

2.8 What personalities are overdone?

 

3. Character Powers, Abilities, and Features

 

3.1 Do my Cyber-Key powers work?

3.1.1 How much does the Cyber-Key boost my firepower?

3.1.2 I didn't know about this when I applied for my character!

3.1.3 But now my character sucks!

3.2 My Beast Wars character sucks because he's tiny! Is there anything I can do about this?

3.3 Why do you guys care about Fuel Efficiency (Endurance)? Isn't that always handled pretty abstractly in the series?

3.4 What kind of stats can my Animated Autobot be reasonably expected to have accepted? What about my Animated Decepticon?

3.5 Can my character have a penis?

3.5.1 But it's absolutely essential for performing my character's function!

 

4. Game Play

 

4.1 Why do we post in rounds?

4.2 Why aren't the radio threads in rounds?

4.3. So I only have to post every other day, right? Because it takes 48 hours before I get skipped?

 

5. General Information

 

5.1 Why is the game rated PG-13?

5.2 How do you guys advertise your game?

5.3 You guys have some players with multiple accounts just to make the game look more popular, don't you?

5.4 Will you help me set up and run my game?

5.5 Who is Adminimus?

 

1. Characters Allowed

 

1.1 Which continuities do you allow? Is it just the ones you have timelines for on the wiki?

 

We allow almost every Transformers related continuity currently active, with only a few exceptions. We do not yet have timelines for them all, but we accept applications from them.

 

The list of currently accepted continuities includes:

 

G1 Cartoon - The original cartoon from the 80's as it appeared in the U.S. Includes the animated movie.

 

G1 Marvel - The Marvel comics series, including the U.K. stories.

 

G1 Movie Marvel - A prominent alternate universe that sometimes intersected with G1 Marvel. The events of the Animated movie occurred (with some modifications, as presented in the Marvel Movie adaptation), but the timeline leading up to it had more in common with G1 Marvel than G1 Cartoon, and it diverges completely from any other continuity after 2005.

 

G1 Marvel Other - There are at least two other G1 Marvel Transformers timelines, and well written applications from these will be considered.

 

G1 Japanese - This is not merely a continuation of the U.S. cartoon, because S4 is radically different between the two. Also, G1 Japanese includes Scramble City. Characters from this reality tend to use the Japanese names for Transformers (for example, calling Optimus Prime, "Convoy").

 

Beast Wars/Beast Machines - This is treated as a seperate continuity, and not the future of any G1 series, because it introduces elements that contradicts the other G1 timelines.

 

Robots In Disguise - This continuity is separate from all other continuities and is known as Car Robots in Japan. Here, the Autobots fight the Predacons in the quest for the O-Parts.

 

Armada/Energon/Cybertron - Mini-Con chasing, crystal weapons, and Cyber-Keys ahoy!

 

Movie - This refers to the 2007 movie rather than the animated movie, as the animated movie is a sub-component of at least three other continuities. The prequal comics and such are also included here.

 

Dreamwave G1 - It appears to be based largely on G1 cartoon with G1 Marvel elements worked in, although it diverges prior to the animated movie. War Within is included in this continuity, although it occurs in the distant past.

 

Dreamwave Armada - This was a very different continuity from the Armada cartoon, and is, again, handled as a seperate continuity.

 

IDW G1 - G1 characters, elements from the G1 cartoon and G1 Marvel, but combined in sometimes vastly different ways. Their Bumblebee considers humans expendable.

 

IDW Beast Wars - Characters from this continuity who understand the time-phasing/teleportation technology used here are very unlikely to get approved, as this is game-breaking technology. Other characters from this continuity are available, but will be approached with caution.

 

Animated - The Autobots are primarily civilians who can just about handle human super-villains. Except for the ones who've designed themselves to go up against the Autobots. The Decepticons are mucho-powerful compared to the Autobots.

 

Devil's Due WWII G.I.Joe Crossover - Uhm. Sure. You can never have too many iterations of G1, right?

 

Devil's Due regular G1/G.I.Joe Crossover - If you like playing characters from a universe where the Transformers are consistently getting pwned by humans, why not?

 

Hearts of Steel - G1 characters with steampunk alt modes. Because steampunk makes everything cooler.

 

Playskool Go-Bots - Yes, we're serious. This is a valid continuity. However, a character from this continuity will only be granted to a roleplayer who has proven themselves (that is, you need to have an approved character from another continuity already in play), and requires an exceptional application. Remember: this universe only has one genuine faction, the "Go-Bots" (who use a varient of the Autobot emblem), and it is not a violent universe. A character from this reality would probably be shell-shocked.

 

We may have missed some. If something's not mentioned here, feel free to ask about it. Binaltechs and similar will probably be considered. The jury is still out on Kiss Play, but it would probably take an exceptional application.

 

The following series are not included:

 

Star Wars Transformers - No. Just... no.

 

Animorphs - I am given to understand that this was a very excellent series of books, but we'd like to keep our Transformers just a bit roboty.

 

Botcon Continuities - First, these tend to be very obscure and therefore difficult for the admin to research/verify. Second, these often tend to be alt-U G1 continuities, and we already have nine on the 'approved' list.

 

Please note, characters from continuities listed as 'unavailable' may, under certain circumstances, be considered for temporary plot characters.

 

Not Star Wars Transformers, though. Or Animorphs.

 

1.2 Do you accept toy-only characters from ____ series?

 

Absolutely! We already have several toy-only characters. It's a blast to watch a good role-player take a character defined only by their tech specs and give them life!

 

1.3 Why do you not allow G1 Optimus Prime or Megatron?

 

Because, more than any other characters in the Transformers continuity, G1 Optimus Primes and Megatrons warp the very landscape of character interaction simply by existing. The moment one of these two characters is introduced into an environment, certain things fall into predictable patterns around them. While we do keep some of the stronger themes from canon Transformer series (the Autobot/Decepticon conflict, for example), one of the distinctive features of Deadzone is the non-standard character interactions that develop from the mingling of different time periods and continuities. We feel that an Optimus Prime or Megatron would detract from that.

 

No other characters have the sort of impact on the landscape those two have. Not even Galvatron, not even Rodimus Prime. Further, not only do we not allow G1 Optimus Prime or Megatron, we would be very careful before approving other Optimus Primes, as they tend to be very similar to each other. Megatrons tend to have more variance, but would still be looked at more closely than other apps.

 

For that matter, all Optimus Primes and Megatrons are going to be looked at very closely and likely rejected. Even tiny Megatrons, like Beast Wars Megatron, tend to be somewhat world-warping.

 

1.4 Would Bandai Gobots be accepted? The ones who jumped continuities and gave the Transformers the Spychanger technology. Guys like Bug Bite for instance?

 

The answer is "no" for two reasons. First, this game is limited to Transformers in some way, shape, or form, not just transforming robots. Those Go-Bots' IC explanation is that they were not Transformers, but Go-Bots pretending to be Transformers, and so they don't qualify. Second, they were universe-hoppers, which plays all sorts of havoc with our setting.

 

1.5 Do you allow non-Transformer robots who appeared in one of the continuities (example: Death's Head) or other non-Transformer characters who appeared in a Transformers continuity (example: Spider-Man)?

 

No. Our theme is strictly Transformers. As such, no non-Transformer characters will be allowed. Some consideration may be given to non-transforming robots that are considered to be part of the Transformers species, such as a G1 cartoon Cybertronian from the period before transformation was invented; this would take an exceptional application, though.

 

Similarly, we do not allow the organic *master partners in without their associated Transformer. For example, you cannot apply for Daniel as Arcee's head without also applying for Arcee.

 

1.6 Can I apply for a character just revealed in the episode/comic issue that came out today? Can my pull-point be today's episode?

 

No. The pull-point for any character from an ongoing series must have been publicly available for at least a month, whether you're talking comic book or cartoon. Further, since spoilers are inherent in the introduction of any new character, a character cannot be applied for until at least a month after their introduction in their base series. We feel that a month is sufficient time for those concerned about being spoilered to get caught up on the material.

 

 

2. The Application

 

2.1 Why do you insist the applications be in a plain text format, and why can't they be attachments?

 

Among the qualities important for text-based roleplay (as opposed to table-top) are the ability to present yourself coherently in writing and your own reading comprehension. The app itself generally gives us a large enough sample of your ability to write to judge you by, but our ability to judge reading comprehension is a bit more limited. Sure, some indication can be gathered by how well you understand our questions, but being specific on format provides on extra test.

 

Further, this RPG has rules. By playing here, you are agreeing to follow these rules. Your ability to follow the rules of the application, such as specifics in formatting and the proper subject line, is an indication of how well you'll be able to follow the rules of the game itself. If a player cannot respect something as simple as a request for a plain text application, how can we be sure they'll be respectful of the moderators and other players in the game itself?

 

Finally, while the niceties provided by things like rich text, html, or Word documents can make an application clearer, they can also make it harder to read if used incorrectly. By requiring the application be in plain text, we remove the risk that an applicant will inadvertently make their app harder to read in an attempt to make it look more impressive.

 

2.2 Do you guys have a set system when converting from tech spec to Deadzone stats, or are you just making things up as you go along?

 

A little of a, a little of b, with wriggle room for when the actual cartoon/comics/movie clearly contradicts the stats. Following is our typical guideline for conversion. Please note that this does not apply to small-sized Beast Wars/Beast Machines characters.

 

Strength

 

Gestalt level (5) only goes to characters with a gestalt-level or greater strength. That is, fully assembled gestalts, Omega Supreme, city formers.

 

Otherwise, here is the normal tech spec to Deadzone conversion:

 

1-4: Below Average

4-6: Average

6-8: Strong

9-10: Dinobot/Leader

 

Efficiency/Toughness/Armor

 

This is a tough one, as we tend to play fast and loose with it, but we do still do some consulting with the stats, plus our own precedents.

 

The top level of Efficiency, Self-Contained Reactor, only goes to characters who are either mentioned as having a self-contained reactor of some sort, or who have an alt mode where it would be expected (nuclear submarine, aircraft carrier).

 

Some people get a 4 in Efficiency with a special notation, because, while they can travel considerable distances while fully fueled, they are not actually efficient and getting them fully fueled is very difficult.

 

Generally, a 9 or 10 of Tech Spec Endurance nets some combination of 4/3/3 or 4/4/3 in our Efficiency/Toughness/Armor group of stats. Notice that fives aren't mentioned. Fives tend to only get used in very special cases, with strong canon support. With this as the working rule of thumb for our top levels, we move down from there. We also reference real world equivalents as far as fuel efficiency goes.

 

Agility

 

No direct equivalent tech spec stat, although we tend to look at both Speed and Skill as baseline references, plus what the tech spec and canon shows about them. Also occasionally used to reference manual dexterity, although a person using it this way will have a notation.

 

Intelligence

 

Equivalent to the tech spec Intelligence stat. Tech spec to Deadzone conversion:

 

1-4: Dumb

4-6: Average

6-8: Above Average

8-9: Exceptionally Bright

9-10: Genius

 

Overlaps are to help account for differences between tech spec stattings and presentations in canon, but remember that we usually shoot low if someone falls into two categories unless their other stats are run low as well.

 

As an interesting side note, Intelligence is our highest average stat. It appears no one wants to play dummies.

 

Firepower

 

Directly equivalent to the tech spec Firepower (or Fireblast) stat. However, a 5 (City-Buster) is only awarded in very special circumstances. That is, you have to have some evidence your character really can destroy or do significant damage to a city in one shot to warrant this level.

 

Otherwise, tech spec to Deadzone conversion runs as follows:

 

1-4: Low

4-6: Average

6-8: Well-Armed

8-10: High

 

As an interesting side note, Firepower is our lowest average stat. Perhaps this explains why everyone manages to survives battlefields full of random shots flying around.

 

Ranged/Melee

 

We reference the tech spec stat "Skill," the tech spec write-up, and available canon support for these. We also make a couple of basic assumptions. First, Transformers are, by and large, from ranged weapon-oriented cultures, although the bias is stronger in some series than in others. Characters also tend to be good at one or the other, but not both. Also, fives are, as usual, awarded very, very rarely. For example, a Melee of "Death on Two Legs" means your character approaches Bludgeon's level of skill at melee. Simply having a "10" in skill on your tech spec is not enough to guarantee a five in either stat, although you can probably swing a 4/2 or 4/3, depending on what other support you bring to the table.

 

Finally, a high "skill" can also be interpreted to mean the character is very skilled at their particular job, and can be used to argue for more skills on the skill list, and skills of higher ranking there. Normally skills should be generalized and generic (and sometimes a single skill name will cover a wide range of actual abilities), but for a character's pinnacle-specialty, the more interesting, unusual, and relevant to their personality, the better. Finally, when you're talking OCs, characters with multiple very low stats are more likely to swing more skills at higher levels, and more generally useful skills, as it is assumed those characters were forced to develop these skills in order to compensate their weakness. It should be noted that many skills lists are not that long, with many highly competent canon characters only ringing in at 4-6. Currently, the reigning king of the skill list is Emirate Xaaron, with 11, although fragile Fleetwind comes in second place.

 

Speed

 

We have a hard Speed system, where the categories break down as follows:

 

0-50 mph : Slow

50-150 mph : Average

150-800 mph : Fast

800-25000 mph : Zoom!

25000+ mph : Poof!

 

Slow-to-Average is mostly arbitrary. Average-to-Fast is set low enough to let most of the sports cars characters be fast, but high enough to keep slow pokes like Kup and Long Haul out of the category. Fast-to-Zoom is based, loosely, off the speed of sound. Zoom-to-Poof is based, loosely, off the escape velocity on Earth.

 

Most robot-mode running speeds will be assumed to be Slow, unless reason is given to think otherwise. Those with robot-mode flying can usually move at Average while flying, but not running. Those characters who have specific top speeds mentioned will have those included in parenthesis after the generic values.

 

2.3 Why do you ask about my character's greatest fears?

 

Largely because the tech specs have a "Courage" stat, but we don't have one here. So we just ask about it instead.

 

But also because including that question tends to encourage the player to examine the personality more closely and discern aspects that might not have occurred to them otherwise. Very few characters in any canon are completely fearless, but pinpointing what frightens a character can reveal a lot about them. If no fears are revealed in the source canon, a player can extrapolate logical ones, but it should be pointed out that for many characters that have a full bio something that fits our requirements can easily be determined just by thinking about that short little paragraph.

 

Also, keep in mind that, while being fearless might seem 'cool' or 'bad-ass,' often the true measure of courage is not whether or not your character is frightened, but how well they perform while frightened.

 

Finally, the question is in here because the admin enjoy answering it for their characters. We're weird like that.

 

2.3.1 Why can't I list "fear of failure" as my only primary fear?

 

Because something like three out of our first five applications did that, and we got sick of it. It is, frankly, not a very original or interesting fear. Keep in mind that you can still include "fear of failure" as a fear; it just can't be the only one. Also: please remember that it is allowable to create a logical fear for your character that fits your character as you intend to play them, even if it did not get explicitely mentioned in canon. Just remember that it can't contradict canon, either.

 

2.4 Why do you ask the question about how I perceive my character's role in the game, what my goals for the character are, and what sort of RP I'm looking for?

 

This question is here to try to root out any potential compatibility problems. The setting and environment of Deadzone is not for everyone, and if a player's goals and interests in role-play are vastly different from what we offer, it lets us know that this may not be the game for them. This is not to say that we think they are probably bad role-players. Only that they are likely to be more satisfied in another game. We also are looking for possible disconnects between character type and player goals. A good example of this is someone applying for a character who functions, primarily, as a warrior, but who states they want to avoid combat RP. A conflict like this is an invitation to player dissatisfaction, and may lead to problems down the road.

 

At any given time in the game, there are character types that it would be useful, plot-wise, to have around. This section provides a handy way for us to identify if your character fills any particular gaps or niches we'd like to see filled. Now, mind you, there is nothing wrong with a character whose primary purpose and role is "generic warrior," "generic medic," "generic scientist." There were plenty of those in the series, after all! However, the more unbalanced any one faction is, physically, at a given moment, the less inclined we are to approve characters who add nothing more than more combat strength to a faction that already has the advantage in that area. The same sort of thinking also applies to the "generic medic" and "generic scientist" roles.

 

One thing that very few players take advantage of is this question's potential use as a means to sell your character to us. If you have specific plot ideas that you'd like to see run that require your character, this is the place to tell us about it. They can be grand, sweeping plots, or smaller-scale, but the best ideas have the potential to involve a lot of other players and, to be blunt, don't focus on your character's awesomeness. If you've got ideas for plots that would require/spotlight your character, but also allow several other characters to shine, that's great! Tell us about it! Make us want to approve your character just so we can run that awesome plot you mentioned in your goals section! Note: "My character takes over/tries to take over the Autobots/Decepticons" is not an awesome and original plot. It actually gets mentioned a lot.

 

Finally, it should be noted that it's possible to state that you are inflexible in some goal, provided it is a reasonable goal, and still get your character approved. As a specific example, the character Needlenose was applied for as an Actionmaster, something that was set to wear off quickly after his introduction. The applicant stated that they did not insist that he have his Actionmaster status, but did add that if he did, they wanted to be involved in at least one reasonably sized battle with the character still pumped up before he returned to normal. Being inflexible in this goal was not deemed unreasonable, and the character was granted.

 

2.5 The Character History Question

 

2.5.1 Why don't canon characters have to answer the character history question?

 

We can generally tell from the way a player answers the other questions whether or not they're familiar enough with the source material to role-play the character they're asking for. Also, unlike an original character, there's no real question with a canon character how that character fits into their home universe. This information can become significant with an original character, however, and so we ask for it.

 

2.5.2 My character's background is a mystery! Nobody knows where they're from!

 

Your character may not know, but you, the player, are expected to know. "Amnesia" is not a background, it's an excuse. It's also asking the admin to write your background for you, and we will not do this. You have to fill out your own application.

 

2.6 Character Skills Questions

 

2.6.1 Why do you guys keep nerfing/deleting the skills from my application?

 

You're probably asking for too many, or asking for them at too high of levels. Remember that "average" means "your character could conceivably make a living doing this, although they would only be average in the field." This description, of course, only applies to those skills that one actually could make a living doing, but the general idea for how "good" average is still applies.

 

While there are a couple of characters who have skills lists in the double digits, these are rare, and many competent, highly skilled characters only have 3-4 skills on the wiki. Also keep in mind that many canon characters are not shown to exhibit a wide array of skills outside of combat. It is entirely possible for a character to have no skills, and still be a valid character.

 

Silly skills, or fluff skills, can be amusing, but should be kept at a minimum. A single fluff skill on an application ("Cloud Watching," "Conciseness") can be fun, but a long list of them gets tedious. Players are asked to keep to only one or two such skills, if they are included.

 

Finally, a lot of people request "skills" that are really not skills. "Mayhem and Destruction" is not a skill. It's something pretty much every Decepticon does by being a Decepticon, and some Autobots are capable of if you get them angry enough. Not everyone needs a fighting-style skill. While some people get training in specific schools of fighting, most of combat fighting ability is covered by the Melee, Ranged, and Agility stats. And so on.

 

So if we keep asking you to lower your skill levels or delete skills from your character, it's because we feel you have no support for what you've asked for, or because you're asking for a lot of fluff skills and skills that are not skills.

 

2.6.2 What are the most over-applied for skills?

 

Originally, it was Repair. Generally speaking, we'd like to keep significant levels of Repair restricted to the technically oriented characters to prevent them from being marginalized.

 

Since we made our ruling about Repair, First Aid replaced it as the most over-requested ability. The arguments sound good. "Doesn't everyone in our military get trained in basic human first aid?" Yes, yes they do. And they frequently immediately forget the bulk of it, because it does not get used often enough to stick with them. The fact is, not every character in the series is shown to be technically inclined, or to be able to do even basic level repairs. Therefore, not every character in the game is that way.

 

Intimidation is asked for too often, and often with justifications that are inappropriate. If your character is intimidating because they are large and heavily armed, this is not a skill but a side effect of their appearance. They are not intimidating because they understand how to encourage people to behave the way they want them to through the application of fear; they are intimidating because they are big and scary.

 

For example, Omega Supreme only has Intimidation at Average. The truth is, most Transformers would (and do) find him far more intimidating than skill alone accounts for. Most of Omega Supreme's Intimidation "omph" comes from being firking huge and hugely powerful. He does have some level of understanding how to use his size, and both his speech patterns and general stoicism would unnerve most robots, so he still has some level of the skill; it just does not reflect how intimidating he actually is.

 

Scouting has reached the level of "over-requested." Make sure it fits in with your character concept before asking for it, rather than simply using the logic of, "Well, they can fly fast, so they should be able to scout!"

 

Leadership. Not everyone is a competent leader. Unless you have either a canon source (for a FC) or a good background justification (for an OC), do not ask for Leadership.

 

Tactics. Tactics is the art and science of planning and executing battles (this is an oversimplification, but one that works for the game). It is also over-requested. Unless you have a canon source showing your character is a competent tactitian (for a FC) or a good background justification (for an OC), do not ask for Tactics. Tactics is really, really asked for too much.

 

Strategy. Strategy is the art and science of planning and executing wars (this is an oversimplification, but one that works for the game). It is also over-requested. Unless your have a canon source showing that your character is a competent strategist (for a FC) or a good background justification (for an OC), do not ask for Strategy.

 

Aerobatics. Aerobatics, for the purpose of this game, involves the use of flashy or showy flight-based altmode manauvers. Not every flier is trained in Aerobatics. In game fliers who have this skill for logical reasons are Fleetwind, who is an Aerial Dancer, and Skyblast, who is a Sky Painter. Most fliers are better off considering Dogfighting or Aerial Combat (we use both terms, but they amount to the same thing). However, keep in mind that simply having an aerial altmode does not mean your character is going to have Aerial Combat at very high levels, either.

 

If your character possesses a skill on this list, you will be required to provide justifications as to why they have it. If they are a canonical character, you will have to cite examples of the character using that skill in canon.

 

This skill list is from the application for Marvel Rodimus Prime. (Please note that he appeared in only five arcs in the entire Marvel UK run of the Transformers comic. These were the levels of justification required to grant a character with relatively little facetime these levels of skills.):

 

Tactics - Pinnacle (Write-up notes his ability as a tactician; 114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2: Very intelligent ambush is pulled off; Fire on High 1: organizes the hit and run tactics against Galvatron that successfully relieves him of his time device and keeps him distracted while it's rebuilt by Wreck-Gar; Head Hunt 2: Leads Death's Head into an ambush, forcing him to give up his hunt.; Time Wars: Organizes Autobots and Decepticons from two time periods, once more employing hit and run tactics against Galvatron and Megatron.)

 

Strategy - Excellent (Has to organize campaigns, lead the Autobots; Head Hunt 1 : Has successfully stale-mated Shockwave in a guerilla conflict; Legacy of Unicron 3 : can easily predict that the attack being made is abnormal for Shockwave; Aspects of Evil (inferred) : Less than a year after the forced withdrawal from Cybertron in 2009, has successfully regained an Autobot foothold on the planet)

 

Leadership - Excellent (Wanted: Galvatron Dead or Alive, and... many others. - Is apparently considered essential to have on Cybertron, else the Autobots face a loss of the war; Fire on High 1 - Can get a Junkion to talk normally; Time Wars: Commands multiple groups of Autobots on the battlefield)

 

Engineering - Good (Good enough to reassemble Kup in not the best of circumstances (Movie); also familiar enough with the workings of an interstellar craft to know just where to sabotage it in such a way that it would carry the crew to the destination and crash, killing most but leaving Unicron-him to wreck havoc (The Void-White Fire arc); Capable of hotwiring a spaceship built by an alien, unfamiliar species (Kup's Story); Capable of breaking into a spacecraft's navigational system and resetting the destination (Kup's Story); Successfully bypasses security systems designed by Kup (Kup's Story) and Kup and Red Alert (The Void-White Fire arc))

 

Pilot - Good (Successfully pilots an unfamiliar, alien built spaceship (Kup's Story); Assists Kup in piloting duties in the movie)

 

Fast Talk - Average (Does a convincing job of pretending to be genuinely in trouble, and that Kup and Blurr are really dead (114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2); convinces Death's Head (who had sworn revenge on him over the lost Galvatron contract, anyway) to give up his commission against him and accept one for Scourge and Cyclonus instead (Head Hunt 2); The acting portion of his mimicry job convinces Galvatron that he has really killed Starscream (Target: 2006))

 

Voice Mimicry - Average (Mimicked Starscream well enough to fool Galvatron (Target: 2006))

 

Ventriloquism - Amateur (Rodimus appears to know the skill, but supplements it with bi-pass vocal circuitry and an echo cell; it seems apparent that knowledge of how to do this is not common, as Hot Rod mentions having regularly fooled Kup with this trick (Space Pirates)

 

2.7 What sort of answers are you looking for on the Physical Weakness question?

 

The best way to answer this question is to start with what we are NOT looking for. A physical stat (such as Strength, Armor, etc) that is stated as AVERAGE does not qualify as a weakness, unless you are specifying situations where the stat actually falls into the lower category. Average is not a weakness. A physical quality that is shared by the rest of your character's build-type is NOT a weakness. For example, you cannot claim that simply having tires on your character's vehicle alternate mode is a weakness because they can be targeted. If your character's tires are more prone to blow-outs than normal, then it becomes a physical weakness. As a note: while we do state that applications without weaknesses are to be judged more harshly than normal, applications whose only 'weaknesses' fall into one of the above categories are worse than no weaknesses as all because, whether they are intended to or not, they come across as attempts to 'play' the admin.

 

A physical stat that falls into the lowest category for that stat is a valid weakness. A physical stat that is Average or above but falls into the lowest category under specific circumstances is a valid weakness. Anything listed in official write-ups as a physical weakness for your character is a valid physical weakness. Unusual repair requirements (for example, must be repaired by someone with Good or better Repair, rather than simply Average, or excessive repair times) are valid physical weaknesses. Unusual glitches that you intend to actually role-play are valid weaknesses (for example, most multi-changers sometimes end up in the wrong mode, or get stuck in a mode). Never actually role-playing these once you have your character will draw the ire of the admin.

 

Finally, just because an FC is never shown to have a particular weakness does not mean that you cannot make one up for yourself, provided it does not contradict anything that does show up in canon (ex: Mirage has requested stiffness in the joints. This is never stated anywhere in canon, but there's no canon reason why he can't have it). In fact, adding in little quirks here is often a good way to endear yourself. Of course, if a person is explicitly stated to NOT have weaknesses or physical weaknesses, that should be stated as well.

 

2.8 What personalities are overdone?

 

Currently, overly ruthless and Decepticon-like Autobots are overdone. We may add more or remove more personality-types as time goes on.

 

 

3. Character Powers

 

3.1 Do my Cyber-Key powers work?

 

Yes, as do all powers that are described as "Primus granted." However, they feel... off. Any character using their Cyber-Key powers will get a distinct, uneasy feeling while they use it, although they will find themselves unable to describe what, exactly, is wrong. This does not interfere in the ability’s effectiveness, but should be role-played.

 

3.1.1. How much does the Cyber-Key boost my firepower?

 

Erm... when you applied for your character's stats, you were applying for his stats at their maximum levels available to you under normal circumstances. Since your character can use their Cyber-Key power pretty much anytime they want to, that includes that. It also includes Mini-Cons that are mentioned as "dependant characters" in the application. Thus, the Firepower listed on your application and in your wiki entry is the Firepower level with your Mini-Con, Cyber-key, or whatever else in place. Perhaps the Cyber-Key lets you use additional weapons from additional places, or perhaps it will let you use a more continuous stream, but it does not actually raise firepower over your Firepower stat.

 

As a note, while this rule only applies to Mini-Cons mentioned as "dependant characters" on your application, any attempts to try to get around this rule by taking an Armada character without a Mini-Con and then a seperate Mini-Con who, "coincidently," only gets used to boost your Armada character's Firepower will be viewed very dimly. Dimly in a "If we notice you doing this, we will talk to you about it first. If you continue to do this after being warned, expect one of your characters to be taken away from you, and it just might be the non-Mini-Con" sort of way.

 

3.1.2. I didn't know about this when I applied for my character!

 

Well, you'll know better next time, won't you?

 

3.1.3. But now my character sucks!

 

If the only thing you liked about your character was his firepower, you probably should consider a different character. One you like because they're interesting to play, not because they've got interesting weapons.

 

3.2 My Beast Wars character sucks because he's tiny! Is there anything I can do about this?

 

When you introduce a new Beast Wars/Beast Machines, you have a choice. Either you can introduce them in their natural size, where they have advantages in agility, fuel efficiency, and being scaled for the starting world, Gillanan III, or you can scale them up to small-to-medium Tranformer size. This puts them on an even footing as far as strength and toughness goes, but they lose their extra boosts in efficiency and agility. It may be possible that at some point we end up with BW/BM characters that got scaled up, and some that didn't. The characters are free to be confused concerning the size changes.

 

3.3 Why do you guys care about Fuel Efficiency (Endurance)? Isn't that always handled pretty abstractly in the series?

 

Yes, and it's handled abstractly here. When you think about it, all the stats are pretty abstract. They're rough guidelines to use as tools for role-play, nothing more. But still, the need for energy was a main motivator in several of the source series, and so we tried to find a way to reflect it here. Like many of our stats, however, the differences between one level and another are really going to come into play when it's interesting and fun for them to do so.

 

Most characters will only be Average or lower in Fuel Efficiency. Higher than Average Fuel Efficiency will need a strong justification.

 

3.4 What kind of stats can my Animated Autobot be reasonably expected to have accepted? What about my Animated Decepticon?

 

Viewers of the new Animated series have probably noticed by now the big power difference between the Autobots and the Decepticons, even between the Elite Guard and the Decepticons. As the Autobots in this series, unlike the Autobots in other serieses where there are Autobots, are either civilians or peace-time soldiers, they get the short end of the power levels stick.

 

Animated Autobots should be in the low to low-average range of power levels. There will no doubt be exceptions from the canon, but original character exceptions are highly unlikely to be granted.

 

Animated Decepticons, as active military personnel, should run from average to high-powered. High-powered Animated Decepticons should not be standard for original characters, even if the majority of the canonical ones are.

 

3.5 Can my character have a penis?

 

No. No penis for you.

 

3.5.1 But it's absolutely essential for performing my character's function!

 

Then he'll be very bad at his function, won't he?

 

 

4. Game Play

 

4.1 Why do we post in rounds?

 

To allow those who cannot spend as much time on the computer as others, or who are in unusual time zones, to keep up and to be given the chance to contribute to RP fairly.

 

4.2 Why aren't the radio threads in rounds?

 

To give those who can be at their computer more often something to do. Also, because some of the major threads, such as the broadband threads, would become virtually useless if a round-posting method was enforced. Finally, it allows for banter and private conversations better.

 

4.3 So I only have to post every other day, right? Because it takes 48 hours before I get skipped?

 

Actually, we prefer our players to be able to post once per day per character whenever possible. We consider that to be a good posting rate. If a thread happens to move faster, great, but we're perfectly satisfied if it moves at about a round a day, which is what 'one post per day per character' leads to. The 48 hour time out is just there for those times when life unexpectedly kicks a player in the ass without pre-warning. If a player only occasionally nearly times out, it's no problem. Life happens to us all, and there's no need to apologize. If a single player is consistently holding up their threads for two days every time they're up, however, they can expect to be nudged by the admin. It's not fair to the other players. They still aren't breaking any rules, but it isn't very courteous.

 

One thing that consistently timing out does affect, however, is a player's chance of getting additional characters. There is currently no upper limit to the number of characters a single player may control in the game. However, if someone cannot post at least once per day per character on a regular basis, they are unlikely to get a new character approved.

 

Now, all of this does not take into account characters that spend fair amount of times outside of threads because they're on their own (such as Shrapnel), or people who give warning before they leave a few days. Because no one is waiting on these characters, it's not a problem.

 

If life really catches a player by surprise, and they're forced to spend an extended time away from the internet with no warning, well... we understand. Things happen. When they time out, they will be removed from their thread. It is assumed that they become 'crowd filler' at this point. When the player can return, they are welcome to decide what they were up to on the fringes of events, and work their way back into their thread.

 

 

5. General Information

 

5.1 Why is the game rated PG-13?

 

So we don't have to add, "What's your birthday?" to the application process. And then have to worry about people who lie about their ages to play, anyway.

 

5.2 How do you guys advertise your game?

 

Word of mouth, mostly. Many of us come from a number of other Transformers role-play communities (I believe the Transformers: 2005 MUSH and Livejournal's Nexus are two of our biggest sources of players) and when we get one person from a Transformers RPG, they tend to bring friends with them. Most of us have Livejournals, and some of us have advertised in our own Journals, but that still pretty much just counts as "word of mouth."

 

Also, a couple of us watch the Livejournal community Bad RPers Suck (I do it mostly to feel good about myself... "Man, I have got it so good as far as RPGs go!). While they don't allow advertising outside of a specific advertising post (one we have not used), by their rules, "Also, this LJ is not a game-advertisement and/or plugging community, though I don't mind if you mention a game by proxy in a post. Just don't spam the group." If I happen to spot someone bemoaning the difficulty of finding a good Transformers game, yes, I'll mention it, as have some of our members. If I ever spot someone else has already mentioned their Transformers game, I would not (because then it does start to seem like spam) so.... beat me to it, and it's all yours!

 

If you'll check the BRPS info page, they list a number of RPG advertising resources. Again, we've not taken advantage of these (although we occasionally consider it), but some might find them useful.

 

Finally, other games may advertise here if they wish to. We don't want our boards or our members to be spammed, but a single thread in the General Board to advertise your game and answer questions is considered acceptable. There's a lot of different RPGs out there, and a lot of different players. Not every game matches to everyone's tastes, and many players enjoy different games to meet different needs and moods. We don't consider ourselves to be in competition with any other game, and would therefore like to maintain a friendly relationship with other RPGs.

 

5.3 You guys have some players with multiple accounts just to make the game look more popular, don't you?

 

No, we have some players with multiple accounts because, when they run multiple characters, we think it's less confusing that way. We're honestly not that worried with "popularity" as long as everyone is having a good time. When running a Transformers RPG (which, think about it, is something that would traditionally be considered very geeky) becomes a popularity contest, something's been lost.

 

But we do have more "member" accounts than we actually have players, because some players run multiple characters. We also have two utility accounts, Anonymous and SceneMod, who serve specific purposes but who don't have any one player. Finally, we have a few members without approved characters, as it's a convenient way to watch the game, communicate with the mods, ask questions on the OOC board, or just... hang out, if that's what someone wants to do (most of our non-player-members are pretty quiet, so we're just making guesses with some of these).

 

5.4 Will you help me set up and run my game?

 

No. While we have no problem with politely answering the questions brought to us by those who run outside games, the admin of this game spend a lot of time on it and making it work, and currently have no interest in taking up additional responsibilities in outside games. We are flattered by your interest, but the fact that we have a moderately successful RPG does not obligate us to creating other people's RPGs for them.

 

5.5 Who is Adminimus?

 

Adminimus is the combined form of the Deadzone admin gestalt. We are an old school gestalt, built off the Devastator model, meaning we have difficulty taking action unless all our component parts are in agreement. The result of this is that we are sometimes slow and clumsy in responding to things. However, we feel this is a superior model to, say, the Superion model, where all component parts of our personality not dedicated to battling players would be shut down. Such a situation would be uncomfortable to both admin and players.

 

The Defensor model, where we decide that all our players are like our children, would be kind of creepy.