Renegade Game StudiosTransformers RPG Core Rulebook

Great book even if you just love transformers. The rules explanation is complex and is not laid out for first time players or novice gm's.My main gripe is the game mechanics (Rules) are at the back of the book and the character details are at the front. If you read it cover to cover it's like someone tried to write a mystery novel about transformers D&D characters. You don't really get whats going on until the end of the book. This is more an editor critique than a game design one as it is a fun game to play. There is plenty of transformers specific gameplay mechanics like Alt-Mode and Cybertronian weapons.

Just got the book today and me and my mates are all hyped to try this system out. We've all been fans of Transformers since each of us were kids and now as adults we're excited to tell our own version of the Transformers.

Just got this, the first official Transformers game. Read about 50%, first impressions:- It’s very pretty.- Five pages of background at most- A gallery of a handpicked known NPCs- 99% is rules for a generic system that could be anything other than Transformers. A d20 variant with LOTS of Feats to track of.- Almost 140 pages of character creation, that’s nearly 139 pages too much. They could have said « distribute 16 points in 4 stats, and allocate them to skills ». It’s got so much detail it makes WH40K look *simple*.- 98% of the rules are about fighting and battle (eh, it’s a giant robot game).- Reading the character creation doesn’t make much sense before you read the combat rules.- The adventure looks very railroady with no agency, just a handful of combat scenes.- A lot of content repeats itself (ex the Cybertronian Perk is half a page and repeated 9 nines in the same chapter).- Organization of terms and concepts is messy- Too much detail that has little actual impact in gaming- Players who dislike identity politics will find some of the virtuous signaling somewhat cringe (lesbian robots (!), pronouns…), but there isn’t that much of that overall. It’s not preachy like the 5th edition of D&D.In short:- It’s pretty, the art and layout are really nice- The system is very generic in a D20 System way and not specific to Transformers, in fact Alt mode is pretty much useless most of the time-It’s needlessly complicated (10 Free actions per turn?)- The twenty or so transformers (Decepticons) fully featured are presented convincingly though and it’s fun to read their bios- This isn’t a narrative game at all, it’s a D20 System variant based entirely on « Feats » (named in lots of different ways here)- Many Transformers can’t translate directly in this system (ex, the Dinobots, the Combiners) and no mention of the Quintessons- It’s assumed you know the background including what’s a Junkion- The background has lots of contradictions about mixing toylines (G1, G2, Armada…) at the same time and epoch without explanation- A LOT of filler text and repeated stat blocks- Could be 75% shorter- Cartoon Action Hour makes a better job system wise at customizing Transformers, but 1) it’s not official and 2) it’s not as pretty- The d20 Mechamorphosis book is also a better alternative, if only because it’s simplerRating so far: 3/5 and that’s mostly because of the pretty layout and art, but honestly if I wasn’t a biased Transformers fan, as a game it stands at 2/5: not awful, but not something more Transformers-ish in gameplay than say playing D&D or Four Against Darkness with a reskin of Barbarian => Dinobot, Rogue => Tapemaster, etc…If at least the adventure had been good… It’s just a few combat encounters.

Book arrived damaged!! Good game but layouts could be better like they are in gi joe.

Lots of options for creating Transformers in a system based on D&D 5e.

When i got the book the spine and the cover were not attached. I sent it back and the replacement had the same problem only two to four sheets of paper were holding the book together.

The book looks absolutely awesome! And I was so excited to get it. However my heart sank when I noticed that my book’s spine had been ripped due to it being placed in a bag not a box with wrapping. Kinda sad since the book costs a good penny. Been in contact with Renegade though and things should be set straight hopefully. Looking forward to transforming and rolling out.