FS3 Question - Transformers
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So I've often been tempted to try and do something for my small group of friends who would love to play a Transformers game via Ares. The big hurdle is that Transformers players love their coded combat and I don't have the coding ability to create something that would work via the Ares web portal.
So my question, on the most basic level, is could FS3 work for Transformers? I know someone did a Gundam game once and it's similar, though not quite the same. I'm not that familiar with FS3. I've read through the documentation and played on a few games that used it but have never used the system for a game myself.
I might be vastly over simplifying things but could you handle the human > transformer > titan/gestalt scale simply by adjusting things like armor and penetration? Human weapons and armor in the 3-8 range, transformers in the 10-15 range, and titans like 17+ or something?
I know it says FS3 works best cooperative but most Transformers combat code is generally just 'hit > damage' anyway and this seems to work in a similar fashion?
Anyway, it's hella-early and this was just something that was rattling around in my head. Any thoughts or suggestions would be very welcome.
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@zombiegenesis I don't know too much about Transformers, (having seen only a couple of the movies and the Rescue Bots kids show) but I can speak generally about combat in FS3.
The weapon/armor behavior is complicated (described in detail here), and is probably the hardest part of the system to balance.
Skew it too much one way, and bullets bounce off bulletproof vests like Superman. Skew it too much the other way, and bullets tear through them like paper. With a wide variety of weapon types all having different penetrative capabilities (pistols, shotguns, knives, rifles, etc.) it is incredibly tedious to tune everything to generate a "fun" balance.
The built-in BSG configuration does have two "classes" of weapons and armor built in - personal and vehicle. This works because:
- The weapons and armors of each class are balanced against each other.
- Cross-class combat (i.e., a rifleman versus a space fighter) is pretty uncommon thematically in BSG, so the quirks of the system can be hand-managed by the GMs.
I think you could make the transformer robots work similar to the vehicles in the BSG setting, but having it also tuned for titans would probably be a bridge too far.
