Within the Valor Knights RPG is a simple OSR-based system derived from The Black Hack and Bloat Games' own BoD system, using primarily the d20 and d6, but utilizing the standard dice for damage rolls etc. Valor Knights is a class-level game with four classes (Leader, Warrior, Support and Mini-Bot) and levels that run from 1-10.
The titular Valor Knights are robotic beings from the planet Techtrillion, who are engaged in a war with the evil Chaos Lords over Electrocubes, their energy source. Their war has found its way to Earth, and that's where the story of the Player Characters begin.
The game itself is perfectly rules light, allowing the Game Master to tweak and bend it as is befitting an Old School Renaissance game, as is explained on page 7 of the rulebook. Rulings vs. Rules, a design ethos I've become more and more enthused by as I run one-shots and learning games for folks who have not played RPGs before. The basic mechanic of this game is the d20 roll- with a twist. Several years back, Fantasy Flight Games released their Star Wars RPGs and introduces a two-axis task resolution mechanic. Tasks could succeed or fail, and have something fortunate or unfortunate occur. These two axes were independent of one another. This means you could succeed, but something bad happens. Or fail, but something good happens. Or any other combination. In FFG's game, this required custom dice with custom symbols. In Valor Knights, this is achieved with a standard d20 (success/failure) and a standard d6 (fortune/misfortune) for resolution of rolls. The game also incorporates the popular Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic from Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
The Attributes are the familiar six: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity and Charisma. The game eliminates the traditional ability score in favor of generating and using the modifier itself- so no 18 Strength which gives a +3 modifier, the Strength would simply be +3. This is fast and easy, and a table on page 11 gives the information to toss 6d6 and end up with a Valor Knights character. The game adds a Luck stat, which allows re-rolls, and does slowly regenerate during the course of a campaign.
Armor Class gives way to Evade, which determines how hard the Valor Knight is to hit. Armor Points act as damage resistance, though no successful attack can do less than 1 HP of damage. Hit Points are determined by 10+Con score, modified by Class. Interestingly, CON seems to only apply once, not at each additional level as in many OSR games. Characters deal damage based on their Class and STR or DEX score, regardless in most cases to what type of weapon they wield. In other words- weapon choice is purely stylistic, which is pretty cool in a world like Transf- erm- Valor Knights. One could even go the GoBots route and allow the ranged attacks to be blasters generated from the fists of the character. It's wide-open, anything goes.
The combat rules are short and sweet, and mostly in line with other games based on the original 1974 engine in some way. One important difference jumped out at me- characters may choose two actions, but may do the same action twice. So it is possible to double attack, which combined with one of the Warrior class abilities could be pretty impressive. Your character could have The Touch. The Powerrrrrrr.
Each class has special abilities to differentiate them from the other Valor Knights. Leaders, of which there may be only one in any party, are what they say on the tin. They lead, and their abilities are geared toward that end. The Warrior class is also straightforward and geared toward its title. Both of these classes are able to generate Ion Shields and Plasma Melee Weapons- the Ion Shield is universal to all Valor Knights, but the melee weapon is not. The Support class are the scientists/technicians/Clerics/Ratchet/Wheeljack characters. They are able to heal and generate force fields. The Mini-bot class are pretty cool- small, fast, lucky and perfect for playing a Bumblebee or Cliffjumper.
Bad Guys(tm) do damage to Valor Knights based on their HD- so once again, it's up to the Game Master to provide the "skin" for the weapons. They can be anything, take any form, but they will do appropriate damage to the threat represented by the Bad Guy in question. The long way 'round is to stat up the Chaos Lords as PCs, and use those stats as well.
The book concludes with some sample characters, all of which feel like good fits for the genre. All told, this little book contains the seeds of what could be a pretty awesome one-shot or campaign game.
So... that got me thinking.
Geeks of a Certain Age remember when Transformers came with TechSpecs cards that told you all about their abilities. What if you could quickly and easily convert your favorite G1 Transformers into Valor Knights stats for a fast and furious Transformers RPG?
Start with this table:
10 +3
8-9 +2
6-7 +1
4-5 +0
2-3 -1
1 -2
Then apply the TechSpecs in the following manner:
Strength = Strength
Intelligence = Intelligence
Speed = Dexterity
Endurance = Constitution
Rank = Level
Courage = Charisma
Firepower = *SPECIAL
Skill = Wisdom
For Firepower, one could skip the damage supplied by Class and instead use the NPC damage table on page 28. Bumblebee, with a Firepower of 1, would deal out 1d4 damage under this rule, with Megatron and his Firepower of 10 dealing 1d10+1d12 damage. If this rule is used, HTH damage could be calculated the same way, but using the TechSpec Strength.
Since this is an OSR game with Rulings, Not Rules, a GM can delve into their own imagination or other OSR games to give abilities to the characters like Thundercracker's teleport, or Mirage's invisibility, or Hound's illusions. Cliffjumper's glass gas might function as Hold Person. Windchager's magnetic abilities might inflict 2d8 damage to metal items (from the table on page 28) and allow him to throw, move, or levitate things. It's the OSR, go for it.
So, if you're a fan of 80s transforming robots and Old School RPGs, as soon as you can lay your hands on a copy of Valor Knights, it's just the ticket for a rules-light evening of transform-and-roll-out goodness.
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