#tfrpg

[cloud-kaiju]

Good... uurgh... morning? Don't you hate it when you accidentally sleep for a year and tinies build a town on you?

And yet.. still feel sleepy...

Magda's body clock works on an entirely different scale since she became a Jotun, since she's basically a world boss herself! Whichever viking woke her up is probably going to be in trouble.

[tf-rpg]

What are all the races in Tales of Lore, or what are the most popular if there are too many to list?

Alright so here is the "Species Table" from my document, I made it to be able to roll up new characters. The bigger the dice you use, the weirder the results you get! The d4 x d4 table is pretty basic, classic races, then d6 x d6 is weirder, d8 x d8 feels like very premium species, and d10 x d10 includes broken OP and boss species.

So that's... 97 or so basic species, but then if you factor in that Tales of Lore allows up to 4 Species Hybrids then... I can't actually do the maths for the possible combinations.

Also a lot of species have subspecies in my head- elements for the Drakes, different kinds of slime, etc.

I imagine that like... Human, Daemon, Beastkin, Goblin, Drakekin, Feline, etc are the most popular vanilla races, very D&D adjacent, but yeah, it's mental.

[dazzletron9000]

cute n' silly things while I procrastinate on my wips (kobd brainrot heavy)

I wanted to do some of those plum things (little red bean is Breakout from tfrpg, honorary kobd kid)

animal crossing'd them too

[chocolateisbrainfood]

So I got a bit caught up with the Transformers Tabletop RPG game and the NPC/player characters, especially Breakout because her name is Breakout and she's a red sports car.

And since she had no canon design, I had to give her one. Designing what I think a canon character looks like was a lot of fun, though.

So like, of course in my head she's Breakdown and Knock Out's kid just like Wildbreak. Breakdown did not expect the sparkling he was carrying to be as tiny as she ended up being, but she takes after Knock Out a lot more with a few hints in there of Breakdown. In my head, she's the older sibling, even though Wildbreak is bigger (and takes after Breakdown's OG frame, because I am a Breakdown-got-the-big-frame-remod truther). They're different kinds of cars. She's a sports car, he's more of a muscle car. I fashioned her design after the Acura NSX.

She doesn't have a visible bot badge because her parents stressed to her that it's better to keep that hidden rather than making it obvious. Doesn't matter which side you're on. She is cautious and plans things out, tries to be friendly/good teammate even though she lacks her creators' more natural charisma, and really looks up to Bumblebee. Her parents were very supportive, even if they were concerned when she wanted to side with the Bots instead of the Cons. She has a very strong sense of justice and right and wrong and Doing The Right Thing Even When It's Hard and her creators have no idea where that came from haha.

I ship her with the other TFRPG character Chemtrail, because of course I'm shipping her with the impulsive, reckless, baby seeker who is always trying to showboat and trash talks all the time (it just hit me that she's basically like ES Nova Storm but hates bots more damn).

[grayseeker]

A Celebration of Seekers, you say...? Seekers are known to celebrate!

Jetpack Questions and Answers

Welcome to a special Q&A session about my upcoming zine JetPack, a Transformers zine all about Seekers! I invite you to join this creative endeavor—whether you’re an artist, writer, or reader fascinated by these fliers. Here are some of your most pressing questions answered, with the caveat that our project will evolve based on your contributions! I'll release a formal FAQ, along with a submission deadline and guidelines in June.

Questions and Answers:

Q: What inspired the creation of the JetPack zine?

A: I've always been fascinated by Seekers. I mean yes, I fell hard for Starscream when I first discovered Transformers back in the 80s, but I was also intrigued by his many lookalikes. The mere fact that these aerial warriors always seemed to appear in groups of three grabbed my imagination and made me want to know more. Nearly all my Transformers stories have been about Seekers, in one way or another. I know I'm not alone in this fascination, so I decided to create a zine that explores the untold stories of this culturally distinct group of Cybertronians.

Q: What kind of content are you looking for in JetPack?

A: I'm casting a wide net—seeking (pun intended!) everything from artwork and poetry to essays and short stories. Got Cybertronian drink recipes? News articles? Seeker legends and fairy tales? Tech specs for your Seeker OCs? A speculative nature documentary about Seeker nesting habits? Send it all! Whatever your medium, I'm looking for pieces that deepen our collective understanding and appreciation of Seeker lore and culture.

Q: Will you be accepting submissions based on [insert continuity]?

A: Absolutely! I'm primarily a G1 fan myself, but JetPack is open to all continuities, including alternate universe settings. You are also welcome to submit works based on original Seeker characters you have created.

Q: Are we counting characters like Wingstun, who are only Seekers in some continuities? What about TFRPG characters like Blazewake, Blitzkrieg or Avia?

A: In a word: yes. I'm pretty open about what 'counts' as a Seeker. For example, I would consider submissions that explore the possibility that Knock Out from TFP is a modified Seeker (as Starscream seemed to imply in a certain dialogue scene) or the notion that Tracks from G1 might have a Seeker ancestor, thus explaining his flight capabilities (and, possibly, his apparent alienation from the other Autobots). My main criteria with these 'edge' cases is whether 'Seekerish' elements are central to the work. For example, a story about the G1 Aerialbots questioning whether or not they wish to identify as Seekers (and why), would be perfect, even though the fandom doesn't usually group them with Seekers as a rule.

Q: Will this zine be published physically?

A: I hope so! I'm looking into options for print publication. Ideally, I'd like to find a print-on-demand service that allows fanfiction, so that anyone who wants a copy of the zine can have it printed and shipped to them wherever they are in the world. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that most print-on-demand services allow fanfic. If you know of one that does, please drop me a DM and I'll look into it.

Q: Will NSFW submissions be allowed?

A: Yes. If I get NSFW submissions, I'll publish two editions of the zine: one that's SFW only, and an extended version that includes the NSFW content. That way, readers can pick according to their own preference.

Q: What is the deadline for submissions?

A: This is currently TBD. I'm thinking of setting the submission deadline in early November, though a firm deadline will be announced when I release the submission guidelines in June.

Q: I didn’t see my question here. How can I reach out?

A: Feel free to DM me with questions! Apologies that I don't take anonymous asks, but I can keep your question anonymous when I post my reply.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and curiosity about JetPack! I'm blown away by the response that the interest-check (linked below) has received so far. By the way, it's still open until May 31, so feel free to share this post. Tag a friend who loves Seekers, and let’s make JetPack soar!

[fandomstuckportal]

((tfrpg starter book when))

[zxid]

tablet is not working so i went do some pixel stuff with mouse.

Theyre gonna be face set for my Transformers RPG. Youre free to use them anywhere with credit ;D.

[tfrpg]

Worldsparks: Primus and Unicron

Primus, the benevolent creator deity of Cybertron, focus of a religion that once spanned more than a hundred worlds. Does he exist? Yes. Is he everything he is proclaimed to be? Not so much. But as an entity, Primus exists, and he could be considered a god by some measures. He is a worldspark, the living heart of an entire planet, a living being on an unimaginable scale.

On a smaller scale, Primus could be considered a scientist. He was born with curiosity and good nature, content with the immaterial rather than the physical. That he was essentially a planet, and one stuck in a predictable orbit around a single star, did not bother him. He developed the ability to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, to reach out and gaze throughout the entire cosmos, observe other galaxies. He experimented, within the depths of the core, with inventions and philosophy, mathematics and poetry. When life arose on the surface of Cybertron, he watched every moment, enthralled and excited at the possibilities.

At some point in his early history, long before the proto-sparks made their way out of the oceans, Primus made contact with another of his kind. By reaching out into the depths of space, broadcasting his presence to try and find someone else to speak to, he discovered another living planet. This other worldspark called himself Unicron, and they began to talk and communicate, sharing their discoveries and dreams with each other.

This continued for centuries, until Primus noticed a change in the stars. Something new had entered the solar system he called home. It was Unicron, having followed the transmissions from Primus like a homing beacon, his planetary body having been altered to allow him to travel across the endless gulf of space.

The two exchanged one final conversation, across the void, where Unicron explained his arrival. He had come to the conclusion that he must be the reason the universe existed, the sole occupant to do with it as he wished. It was his right, his very reason to be. The existence of Primus had thrown his entire sense of self into chaos. How could he be the pinnacle of all creation, the sole living entity, when Primus existed? The idea repulsed him, infuriated him, and there was only one solution he could see: destroy Primus.

The fight was unimaginable in scale, a desperate struggle at the dawn of the universe, and it was only his natural curiosity that saved Primus. Unicron was egotistical, self-obsessive, violent, but not creative. Primus, on the other hand, adored creation in all its forms, including mathematics and physics. To end their fight, he created the first space bridge. Reaching into the heart of the star that had birthed him, he bridged the gap to channel raw stellar matter at Unicron. The sheer force of the attack cracked Unicron asunder, his body becoming a new asteroid belt, but the core of his being managed to escape, limping away in agony.

The act weighed heavily on Primus. To unleash such raw and brutal aggression was not in his nature. So, when the first Transformers arose on his surface, he saw his chance to make peace with his conscience. He would help these tiny creatures, these children of Cybertron, to achieve their full potential. He began constructing a device just beneath the surface that would allow him to communicate with them, a complex transmitter-translator that would come to be known as Vector Sigma.

Through Vector Sigma, he spoke to the inhabitants of Cybertron, encouraging their development into art, philosophy, engineering, and more. He never gave commandments, nor taught his own discoveries. Mindless followers was something Unicron would do, and Primus refused to be Unicron. The children of Cybertron may have been microscopic in comparison, with mayfly lifespans that could not compete with the billions of years Primus had endured, but they were still alive just as he was. They thought, they felt, they created, just as he did. Primus did not see himself as their master, or their ruler, or even truly as their god. All he wanted was to be their friend.

[pinstripehourglass]

tfrpg replied to your post “to borrow from 4chan >Implying pin is a "man”

Pins is more man than any other. He's the personification of true glam mandom, as defined by JJBA.

my gender situation is complicated. I just don't mind being called a man

[theriseandfall-rpg-blog]

Apologies for the slow schedule, I know things have been slightly pushed out but I'm currently putting the graphic on the first character template and he'll be out within a few minutes! Thank you to everyone for all your excitement and support. Atlas will be our first character!

[zxid]

Because I’ve tried get more my time into commissions I haven’t had much time to work in the LLRPG so after a while I updated my character set fdhjbfjfd

if you wanna help me in progress you can tip me some kofi, x1 coffee ($3) you can request any 3 tfs of your choice and and for one (1) extra coffee a walking sprite for any of them so yeah, xD: https://ko-fi.com/zxid94

also some other stuff of it here : http://zzxid.tumblr.com/tagged/llrpg

[tfrpg]

Ranks and titles of Cybertron

On Cybertron, the rank of Prime is absolute, effectively the right-hand of God, chosen by Primus himself to lead his children and govern them wisely. It is a title that has been passed through many over the generations, but it is not by far the only title that exists.

After the establishment (or re-establishment, depending on your beliefs) of the dynasty of the Primes, other titles, both military and civilian, were introduced as the planetary government that would rule over Cybertron and its colonies was formed.

Two weapons were created to act as symbols of office, each imbued with powers imparted by the ancient relic known as the Forge. Stormbringer, a mass-hammer that could channel cosmic radiation into vast electromagnetic forces, and Sparkbreaker, an energon-sword that could burn at temperatures akin to the surface of a star. Both of these weapons soon became known by more common names: the Magnus Hammer, held by the one who bore the title of Magnus, and the Matrix Blade, held by the captain of the Matrix Knights.

The title of Magnus was held by the authority of all law on Cybertron, a position first held by Lex Magnus and last held by Ultra Magnus. Under the command of the Magnus were the Sentinels of the Justice Guild, officers of the law who patrolled Cybertron and the colonies. They were tough but fair, although any criminal who thought they could get away with terminating a Sentinel would soon find themselves facing the Magnus Hammer itself. The Justice Guild looked after its own.

None of the Matrix Knights held any specific title, considering their sworn duty to Prime and planet to outweigh any need for recognition for their actions. However, they all bore the insignia of their order, said to inspire fear and respect. They were the loyal elite guard of the Prime, capable and willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to protect Cybertron against all enemies. The sword itself was lost during the Fifth Quintesson Incursion, but the order of knights remained in service until the culmination of the Great War.

In the military of Cybertron itself, besides the basic ranks of "commander" and "lieutenant", there were two titles for those in position of absolute command: Supreme, the leaders of the Cybertronian spacefleets, and Maximus, the generals of the ground army. Because of the continual Quintesson incursions into Cybertronian space, a powerful military was a requirement in the early stages of the Golden Age.

Not always chosen for their size and combat capabilities, there were those who bore the title of Supreme or Maximus whose strengths lay elsewhere. Axalon Supreme was one of the greatest tactical minds in the Golden Age, whose fleet movements were considered to be like dancing. Fortress Maximus, who lived in the twilight of the Golden Age, was an expert in the design of next-generation weaponry, his designs still considered revolutionary years later.

[tfrpg]

Explaining the unexplainable

I've said a few harsh things about the more fantastical elements of the Transformers mythos in the past, it's true, but the truth is that I do genuinely think they are an important aspect with a place in the storyline. They just need to be used carefully and sparingly, with restrictions.

The temptation with fantastical elements is to forgo the existence of rules. It crops up time and again, in all manner of places, where solutions to problems are just plucked out of thin air. Take Doctor Who, for instance: at the very beginning, the sonic screwdriver was introduced simply as a tool that could act like a regular screwdriver except at a distance. That was the extent of its powers, and though it seems like little, it could unlock doors and mess with machinery from across the room. A handy little gizmo, but it soon became a writer's crutch, and whenever the impossible needed to be done, all the work was dumped on the screwdriver. These days it can defuse bombs, detect holes in reality, and probably even cook you breakfast. Now the problem isn't the characters being smart enough to find a solution with their limited resources, but the writers trying to limit a device of limitless power. They got lazy with their work, relying on the sonic screwdriver to do everything, and now they're paying the price by having to work around their deus ex machina.

The same thing goes for roleplaying games. The players should be rewarded for thinking up ways for their rag-tag group to overcome obstacles. If the solution is always "Use the mystical widget you discovered to fix everything" then things become stale, boring, predictable. The moment they discover a mystical widget, they realise they've got what they need to solve everything. It becomes formulaic, and uninteresting.

In order to overcome these problems, rules are required. Limitations, like the original sonic screwdriver. For example, in Transformers: Prime, the Matrix exists as a source of incredible power and the repository of the wisdom of the Primes. However, the one time it is used, it drains its bearer (Optimus Prime) of his memories, reverting him back to the humble clerk he was before becoming the leader of the Autobots. It has to be revitalised, a task which requires those involved to push their limits. This price of use means that the Matrix will not, and cannot, be used whenever Optimus feels like it. There are consequences, not dire enough to mean it will never be used, but strong enough that it is a last resort.

The one other thing that should be mentioned is prophecies. Prophecies are not good storytelling, they are nothing short of the absence of storytelling. They remove personal motivations and all agency from the characters. The ancient evil wakes up because it was foretold, the characters must band together to stop it because it was foretold, one of them dies because it was foretold. In essence, a prophecy is telling everyone how the story goes before you actually tell the story. It makes everything boring, like revealing the punchline at the start of a joke, and then telling the joke anyway.

Not everything needs to have been written about thousands of years before it actually happens. The ancient evil could have woken up because it decided to, the characters banded together because they had a long and interesting series of arguments that ended in them putting aside their differences for the greater good, and one of them died because they realised that a noble self-sacrifice was what it would take to end everything. All the plot remains more-or-less the same, except the decisions are in the hands of the characters, not written out in advance by some ancient mystic on a cave wall eons earlier.

Unexplainable things such as bringing the dead back to life, having dreams about the future, travelling through time, or robots that speak fluent English even when talking to other robots... these are all fine. Not everything has to have a scientific explanation. But plot devices and bad storytelling aren't fine, even if they're dressed up as being "fantasy" to try and fool you. They seem like they'll make things easier for you, but in the long run it's quite the opposite.

[tfrpg]

The origin of life on Cybertron

Any explanation of the rise of life on Cybertron must start with mentioning one very important factor: energon. Energon is not unique to Cybertron, it is found across the universe, but on Cybertron it was once as common as water on the planet Earth.

Energon is a high-energy substance that is found in both solid and liquid states, though the former is more common than the latter. While in solid form, it is inert, and must be refined into its liquid form in order to release the energy within. Naturally-occurring liquid energon is rare, and is also toxic to most forms of organic life on direct exposure. So don't try drinking it.

So the story begins billions of years ago, on a metal-rich planet orbiting another sun, with two moons in the sky: primeval Cybertron, a world devoid of all life... so far.

In the vast energon oceans of primeval Cybertron,the incredible tidal forces of the two moons were at work. The strong and regular tides saw the erosion of the metallic shores, filling the energon oceans with ferrous sediment, which in turn became magnetized by the constant movement through the high-energy liquid. The movement of these magnetic particles through the energon caused small eddies to occur, temporary swirling collections of energon interconnected by electromagnetic forces, on a microscopic scale.

At some point, these little eddies stopped being temporary. They gained stability and became the first proto-sparks, equivalent to the first single-celled life on Earth. Yet being formed from energy, rather than solid matter, their existences were short. Because they were clusters of charged energon floating in an ocean of energon under the constant tidal stresses of the two moons, sudden currents or collisions with other proto-sparks would disrupt their fragile cohesion and dissipate them back into the ocean from which they were born.

But some proto-sparks had a greater electromagnetic charge than others, and could not only retain cohesion better, but attract in more energon to grow larger and more complex. The larger they grew, the more ferrous particles were attracted, until over the generations these proto-sparks developed the first shells. At first just protective clouds of ferrous particles, they soon became solid metallic shells that prevented the proto-spark within from losing cohesion.

The primeval energon oceans of Cybertron were soon teeming with life in the shape of small metal spheres, each with a few apertures to allow the intake and expulsion of energon for the purposes of nourishing the proto-spark, and as a primitive jet-propulsion system.

Natural selection favoured those proto-sparks with larger, more complex shells, because an exposed proto-spark in a sea of energon would not last long. Especially since some proto-sparks had developed the first predatory instincts. By having thick prows on their shells that they used like battering rams, they could smash weaker shells apart, and eliminate the competition for energon in their territory.

Over millions of years, life on Cybertron began to diversify. The first plants appeared, sessile mechanisms that used roots to draw energon via pump stations developed from the crude propulsion systems of their distant ancestors. The mechanisms that proto-sparks could construct grew more complex, arranging the machinery slowly through the manipulation of magnetic fields.

Gradually the plants began to move out of the oceans onto the shoreline, keeping their vulnerable bodies out of reach of the competition while using their root system to take in energon from a safe distance. They flourished, and spread out, becoming the largest forms of mechanical life on the planet. They spread away from the oceans, further inland, where over millions of years they developed the ability to burrow their roots into the ground and tap reserves of solid energon, their whole bodies acting as refineries to turn it into liquid form. The whole planet was eventually covered in plantlife, from pole to pole, the rough and rocky terrain smoothed out by plantlife.

The first mobile land life developed to fill a niche: predatory herbivore. By attacking the refinery plants, they could gain access to the refined energon within. This saw the development into the first "true" sparks, as intelligence developed. Energon was used to fuel powerful engines that enabled land travel, and then later flight. Cybertron soon had land, sea, and air filled with mechanical life.

Those mechanisms who could contort their bodies to retract in appendages, or adopt a more streamlined shape, flourished. It soon became quite the advantage to be able to partially transform, and from there full transformation developed. But with multiple forms to operate came the need for increased processing power to cope. The machines got smarter, their neural networks more complex, and millions of years ago the first intelligent transforming robots came to exist.

This was the end of the Prototechnic Era, and the beginning of the Iron Age, a period when primitive Cybertronians would discover and change the world around them... a period to be explored in another update.

I am, however, obligated by certain boards of education to present an alternate theory to, quote-unquote, "teach the controversy" - which I will now do with a lack of enthusiasm:

There is no such thing as evolution, there were thirteen original Transformers who were created fully-formed by the omnipotent powers of Primus, the creator-god, in order to fight Unicron, yadda yadda yadda.

You can read more about that subject later. In the mythology update. Where it belongs.

[zxid]

So just curious, will your game be free to play?

free for everyone :D ♥

if i finish it of course

[tfrpg]

You and what army? How factions work

In every continuity of Transformers, there is a war, and wars have sides. Whether they are Decepticon and Autobot, or Predacon and Maximal, all Transformers belong to a faction. There are very few lone wolves in a universe divided.

But apart from a stylish insignia and a catchphrase to shout out before a fight starts, what benefits do factions have? The answer is backup and resources, which depends upon the size of the faction. A handful of Autobots, or even Decepticons, will have objectively less to work with than a vast interstellar empire — and objectively more trouble if that vast interstellar empire also happens to be their enemy.

Such things are not static, however. A faction can recruit and build to bring itself up from the underdog or, alternatively, cut its opposition down to size. Even those factions who may not concern themselves with the Autobot/Decepticon war will still have the ambition to grow in size and in strength.

A faction is defined by its own statistics, like a character would be, except there are just two: Size and Supply. Size is how large the faction is, and Supply is the resources available to it. The faction's insignia, its motto, mission, and all other details are part of its bio, and not a requirement to function.

Rather than Size being a literal count of how many members are in the faction, it's abstracted out a little, so an additional two members (usually) won't bring the numbers up, but an additional twenty might. It's an exponential scale.

At Size 0, a faction consists of one solitary member. At Size 1, it consists of anywhere up to 10 members. Size 3 is up to 20 members, Size 4 is up to 50 members, Size 5 is up to 100 members, Size 6 is up to 200 members, Size 7 is up to 500 members, and it continues on in that fashion.

In Transformers: Prime, the Autobots would be a Size 1 faction, being more than one member but still in single digits, and the Decepticons would be Size 4 or possibly even Size 5.

Size determines how much backup you can expect in the field. If you call base in the middle of a firefight and ask reinforcements, the number of reinforcements you get is equal to the Size of the faction. So the Prime Autobots, as per our example, can get one 'bot as reinforcement: Ratchet, typically. Meanwhile the Decepticons can muster 4 (or 5) Vehicons if they require reinforcements, due to their Size being 4 (or 5).

Backup isn't just limited to reinforcements, either. A faction can call in for a hacker to tap into systems remotely, or for a ground/spacebridge for extraction, or a shuttle and a pilot, or anything that might save their chassis. However bridges and shuttles aren't free, which brings us to Supply.

Supply is a rating, like Size, that covers the material wealth of the faction. Like Size, it starts at 0 (penniless) and increases exponentially. The higher the number, the more resources the faction has to play around with.

All those various items — ground/spacebridges, shuttles, etc. — have a Cost. For example, continuing with using Transformers: Prime as our go-to example, the Decepticons have a warship called Nemesis, which is outfitted with guns, a medical bay, a computer system, a cloaking device to avoid unwanted human attention, a groundbridge, and presumably a big hefty engine that keeps the whole thing running. It's a rather impressive mobile based of operations, so it's Cost 10.

Do the Decepticons have Supply 10? No, they don't. Because if their ship crashed and blew up completely, then you can bet they wouldn't have the resources necessary to rebuild it from scratch. However, the Nemesis itself counts as a resource: it has that swanky medical bay, after all, among other things. So if it crashed, the Decepticons would have even less Supply than they did before!

If they did have Supply 10, then they could build a second Nemesis, or a new one, depending on the state of the original. But if they did, that would take up resources. All that metal for the hull, energon, machine parts, and so forth. Building something with a Cost as high as your Supply will reduce your Supply by 3 steps. So after constructing Nemesis II, the Decepticons would have Supply 7.

If the Cost is one step below Supply, it reduces by 2 steps: a Supply 8 faction building a Cost 7 device would end up with Supply 6. If the cost is two steps below Supply, it reduces by 1 step: a Supply 8 faction building a Cost 6 device would end up with Supply 7.

However, anything 3 steps below or more is considered to be so trivial (in comparison) that it does not reduce Supply at all. For instance, a vast interstellar empire with Supply 50 does not need to worry about the cost of warships. It still won't treat them like toys, of course, but it won't need to scrape up the necessary resources to build one. It's a vast interstellar empire, it probably has a fleet of hundreds, maybe even thousands of them, out patrolling its territory.

Supply rises and falls with the actions undertaken by the faction, which can lead to many interesting missions. The Decepticons might have set up an energon mine that the Autobots can take out in order to prevent them from being able to complete their spacebridge — or they can take the mined energon to raise their own Supply. On the other hand, the Decepticons might need to raid a human military base to obtain the experimental technology required to enact their next insidious plan.

Cost and Supply work together to ensure that factions not only have a means to obtain shiny new plot devices, but also look after what they've got. If a spacebridge is destroyed, it means more than just not having a means to traverse the galaxy anymore, it means a new one must be built, and there needs to be enough Supply to afford one. Even that vast interstellar empire, with its extraordinarily high supply, cannot simply sit back and relax. If the Quintessons invade, then whole planets might fall, and that Supply 50 could soon dwindle to Supply 20 (or less!) if action is not taken to drive the invaders back.

Moreover, factions as a whole allow for small-scale efforts to impact large-scale events. If that war between empires takes place, then the actions of a handful Transformers might seem insignificant. But these things scale. The Quintessons might be a Size 50 Supply 50 faction, but the forces on one of the conquered worlds are, in essence, their own faction. A much smaller one. Then we see the actions of those Transformers start to seem more important. By undertaking missions here and there, destroying mines and warships, they slow reduce the Supply of the invaders. Just one step here, one step there, but slowly making progress until the tide has turned and suddenly they can't afford to build one more war machine, let alone the dozens required to subjugate the planet.

The Quintessons lose a planet, the empire regains it, and their Supply shoots up a few steps. The actions of a few, the actions of the players, have changed the course of a war spanning entire planets. Pretty damn heroic.

There's one more thing about factions that is quite important: who's in charge. Faction leaders must deal with politics and the responsibilities of their position, not only to stay in charge, but also to keep their followers alongside them. But those mechanics will have to wait for another time and another update.