Exosuits

An Exosuit is a mechanical suit which dramatically enhances the capabilities of humans and other species, putting them on par with Transformers. Exosuits must always be at least the Size of the species designed to operate within them, and may be capable of transformation.

The upper capabilities of Exosuits will vary dramatically based on the setting. In many settings, the only "Exosuits" available to Humans will be automobiles with limited combat capabilities, written up mechanically as an Exosuit with Alternate Mode Vehicle. To treat something as an Exosuit, it must have some ability to shield an occupant from taking direct damage (so a bicycle wouldn't make sense as an Exosuit, but a stagecoach could).

The rules here are focus on Humans, but could be adapted to fit for non-human species of all kinds. Species with unusual abilities (such as native flight, psionic powers, natural armor, etc) are best represented with automatic Powers which come out of their available Energon Reserve as normal.

Human Tech Specs
Compared with Transformers, most humans are pretty pathetic. This is not as much of a judgment on humanity as it is accurate for how humans are depicted in the original Transformers series ... and arguably every other series since. Feel free to adjust Human Power Level accordingly based on your feelings.

Physically speaking, Humans are not anywhere close to as powerful as Transformer. As such, Humans do not have Strength, Speed, Endurance, Firepower. Instead, Humans have three new Tech Specs, each of which is on a scale from 0 to 5:


 * Build [0 - 5, average = 0]: Tracks a Human's physical strength and endurance
 * Agility [0 - 5, average = 0]: Measure of how fast the Human is with reflexes
 * Combat [0 - 5, average = 0]: Represents a character's proficiency with weaponry

Mentally speaking, Humans are capable of being as developed as a Transformer. As such, Humans can have up to 10 in the remaining Tech Specs:


 * Intelligence [0 - 10, average = 2]: As per Transformers
 * Courage [0 - 10, average = 2]: As per Transformers
 * Rank [0 - 10, average = 2]: As per Transformers, except that Humans do not have a Transformation Mode, and Rank also represents the Human's place within the social hierarchy (most often measured using primitive systems such as "Annual Income")
 * Skill [0 - 10, average = 2]: As per Transformers

Humans can have some notable gaps their experience and capabilities; as such, they may have 0 in any Tech Spec. For mental Tech Specs, this represents some sort of serious mental condition or social injustice; however, for physical Tech Spec, this often a lack of exposure or use as opposed to a physical handicap.

What about Endurance?
As Endurance is defined in terms of Transformer, all Humans have a 0 Endurance.

Refresh and Fate Points
Human characters do not gain Energon, but rather operate using Fate Points, as per standard Fate System rules. Human characters receive 1 Refresh Point per 10 Tech Specs, and can use this to purchase Stunts as per normal. Additionally, if a Human has not taken any Powers or is otherwise classified a "not quite human", they receive an additional 2 Refresh to purchase further Stunts with or gain additional Fate Points from at the start of an adventure.

Humans should get additional Fate Points based on the mission, similar to how Transformers gain Energon at the start of a session.

Human Aspects
Humans have modified Aspects from those found in Transformers, written more like a File Card than a normal Transformer Tech Spec card. Some of the Aspects here are unlikely to ever be actually triggered, but are still good details to have when thinking about a Human character.

Human Combat
Humans typically will have more Fate Points than a Transformer does Energon Supply, giving them a slight in-the-moment advantage. It is also often possible for Humans to use their environment to their advantage in escaping from Transformers, being able to squeeze into place where most Transformers are too large to go.

Human Movement
Unless physically fit, Humans are slow compared to Transformers, moving just 1 Hex each turn. This movement is increased by 1 for each point of Agility a character has.

Human Attacks
Since the focus of these rules is on keeping Humans simple, assume that when armed a Human has a Weapon Rating equal to their Combat Tech Spec + 1, and a Range on such attacks equal to their Combat x 4.

Exosuit Tech Specs
If a Human is piloting an Exosuit, they are in a position to start approaching the capabilities of Transformer. Exosuits have their own set of physical Tech Specs that function precisely as Transformers do, overcoming Human's lack of overall combat prowess.

To pilot an Exosuit without penalty, Humans must have a Combat Tech Spec equal to the Exosuit's Energon Reserve minus 1 (or  (Power Level / 10) - 1 ). Without this level of training, Humans suffer a penalty for each point of Combat Tech Spec which they are short on their Combat Tech Spec.

Exosuit Derived Specs use a combination of their own Tech Specs and those Mental Tech Specs of their owner. A Human who does not have basically unfettered access to an Exosuit should not fill out this portion of their character sheet.

If there is a desire to write up a Exosuit separate from a Human pilot, assume an average mental Tech Spec of 2 for all Derived Spec calculations.

Exosuit Stunts and Powers
As per normal characters, Exosuits gain an Energon Reserve with which they can spend on Stunts and Powers. However, unlike normal characters, Exosuits themselves cannot retain Energon in precisely the same way as Transformers do, and so will have no Energon Reserve.

Exosuit Aspects
At their core, the concept of Exosuits is that if a Human has one it is in many ways an extension of their character. Despite this metaphoric bond, Exosuits are technically their own entities with unique Aspects of their own as well:

Exosuit Modes
Effectively, an Exosuit becomes like a different Mode for a Human, modeled very much in the same way a Transformation Mode is for normal characters, including using Strength as a basis for their Exosuit's Equipment Points.

Like normal Transformer mode, Exosuits also have a dedicated Form Aspect.

Exosuit Transformations
Not every Exosuit transforms -- some are just designed to be enhanced work suits to even some of the ground between Humans and Transformers. However, many Exosuits can in fact transform. When applying these Transformations, Humans only have access to a Transformation Action when they are in an Exosuit which is capable of transformation.

Exosuit Transformations have an Equipment Point total based on their Strength rather than their pilot's Rank. As a rule, if a Human has a Rank below their Exosuit's Strength, it is somewhat of a sign that this Human is kind of over-their-head by having access to the suit. However, regardless of how low a Human's Rank is, only their Combat Tech Spec matters for whether they can pilot the Exosuit or not.

Converting From Fate System
The rule here are focused on using Transformers Fate for modeling Humans. However, it is possible to convert character from other Fate Systems to be used alongside Transformers as well.

As a guideline, Transformers are generally superior to Humans at performing many actions, as represented by their superior Tech Specs. Most of the time, it should be thought that a Transformer is spending their additional successes beyond 6 for additional durability and longevity for their crafted works, as opposed to simply being purely talented in a way few Humans have hope of matching. Additionally, Transformers are often use their additional successes in rolls to accomplish actions in shorter timespans. The spirit of the rules here is that Transformers are better than Humans at many things, but not multiple levels of superior to what Humans can accomplish.