I have been kicking around an idea for a TF fic for sometime, consisting almost entirely of OC's. The story began development as a G1 cartoon based one, but I have since decided to bump it over into the TF Animated continuity to add a new flavor to the events.

What follows is a preliminary brief intro to the series.


TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED: ((TBD))
Sometime after the capture of Megatron, the Autobots have struck out into the cosmos again, driven by stories of adventure and with a renewed urge to explore the universe. Far beyond the traditional borders of Cybertronian space, a new colony is under construction with the best intentions and drawing in myriad pioneers to the new frontier. But the Decepticons are aware of this new outpost as well, and crave it's resources for themselves.

The story follows a new group of Autobots, plucked from their usual duties to serve as a makeshift defense force for the fledgling colony from the aggressions of marauding Decepticons. The defenders must work in equal parts to defend their new home as well as to gather the resources to continue to build it, while the various Decepticons raze the colonists, and scour the planet for energon, and their own agendas.

CAST
AUTOBOTS
(Main hero) - an Ex-asteroid miner, now repurposed an rebuilt to be a part of the new militia forces. Enthusiastic and dedicated to helping build a new future for the Autobots.*
Flatbed - a heavy hitting former Elite Guard, now retired from combat and serving as a medic and engineer.
Foundry - a construction expert, slow and surly, but eager to see some action
Skylancer Major - the comendant of the Arielbot Academy originally just visiting the colony, but has since been drafted to assist the Brig as military advisor.
Brigandine Prime - the representative of the Elite Guard kicking the scraplings into shape to help defend the colony. An old veteran and stuffed-chassis career soldier. Known to most as "The Brig"
Avalanche Minor - An Ex-elite guard drafted by the Brig to lead the main team. Lacking confidence since his last team was wiped out, he is slowly rebuilding himself into the leader he was.
Alligner - The civilian leader of the colony, a dreamer with hopes to build a better tomorrow without ever resorting to violence. Resents the Elite Guard's presence and resists their demands at every turn.
-Other characters pending redesigns-


DECEPTICONS
Terradyne - A 'con convict, and deadly opponent rebuilt by Raiser. Terradyne now lives to help destroy the colony and recover an artifact he believes is buried beneath its' surface.
Metalraiser - The manipulative and shadowy acolyte who leads a covert group of Decepticons to disrupt the colony to his own ends.
Linebreaker - a Thug, from protoform to the scrapyard. Linebreaker acts as an enforcer and generally destructive thick counterpart to Terradyne's cold hatred.
-more Pending redesigns-


So, thoughts, constructive criticism, etc? I hope to start banging out the first episode in the next few weeks as I lock some of the other characters into place.

NOTE
*the Main character was originally called Slipstream, but sadly the name has now been taken by that slagging Fem-scream clone. Grrrr!

Be glad Slipstream was taken. My entire post would otherwise be about how wrong the name sounded for your character.

Now, what exactly are you looking for? You've got me interested, sure enough. The basic concept sounds fine. I can't really comment on the characters because I don't know enough about any of them: for all I know, I'll either be telling you exactly what you have in your notes or the exact opposite because you know "X".

Appearance/Alt modes would be good. Transformers has always tended toward names matching characters. There are exceptions, of course, and plenty of existing names are nice and generic so they on their own they only give the vaguest of clues. Off the top of my head, look at pretty much all seekers. Starscream works as a jet but could work for a spaceship. Or heavy artillery (think plasma cannon). Or ignoring the alt mode, it easily describes Starscream's personality, which could have been inserted into a different position/function other than "Air Commander". Although Soundwave made more sense as a mini-cassette player than a jet, Starscream's name, style, and personality could have worked for a communications officer. Or a singer character. So many options. Ditto for Thundercracker (heck, almost the exact same options as Starscream). Skywarp is a bit more specific (if he didn't teleport and/or fly through the skies, his name would seem really random). Moving onto the coneheads, we have Dirge, Thrust, and Ramjet (hey, real words for names!) that again, and while Ramjet is more restrictive in making sense (jet, missile, not much else), Dirge and Thrust can work for just about anyone given the right alt mode or attitude.

So yeah, a big paragraph about how I don't have enough information to really say anything. You ask for comments or criticisms, and I'll be happy to oblige when I get more info or when you give me an idea of what you're asking (are you wanting help fleshing out the characters, for example).

Thanks. I wanted to just throw out a brief description to start with, see what people thought of the concept.

As to alt modes, A few of them have had to be changed to fit better into the Animated universe, and as such, some guys got their names changed too. As I lock those in a little better, I will post a better list of everyone and their alt forms.

One of the few I can't decide on at all thought is Aligner. He's meant to be a political character rather than an action role, and he's a fairly young (Post-Great War) idealist. No particular Alt mode has jumped out at me for him yet.

Some other background for the story:

The story will take place an unspecified time after the events of Animated. Some assumptions include: Ultra eventually returned to his position as Magnus, while Optimus became a close advisor to him. Sentinel remains in the Elite Guard, though his prospects for advancement are slim. The rest of the Animated crew has dispersed, some to Cybertron, some back to Earth, but not before their exploits were broadcast and caused an upsurge in Autobots seeking to explore strange worlds such as Earth.

Following the success of Project Safeguard, the Aerialbot Academy opened on Cybertron. Young potentials who volunteered for reformatting were given Flight system upgrades and training under Skylancer Major and the Jet Twins (among others). While still not wide spread, more examples of flying autobots have begun appearing.

The Decepticons remain in a largely leaderless anarchy. Some failed attempts have been made to free Megatron and Shockwave, but no one has come close yet. Most groups are content to harass and occasionally attack the Autobots, but no one leader has emerged yet. Still, rumors persist in their ranks that Shockwave might still have some means of contacting the outside universe.

All right, still sounds solid to me.

Oh, and while was originally going to suggest you try and find a pointless form for Aligner, given I am not fond of total pacifists, it just occurred to me: find the biggest, baddest, rugged explorer vehicle with as many tools that are oh-so-close to weapons as you can find. Part of it would be irony: with barely any work, Aligner could be a war machine. I also think it would be fitting if one of the reasons he is avoiding war is because anything shy of it, and it doesn't really affect him. He's that guy that if everyone behaves, fine. If someone gets rowdy, he'll attempt to "keep the peace" because unlike everyone else, that guy can't hurt him.

To better illustrate, let me explain the type of troublemakers I see Aligner (as little as I know about him) preaching tolerance/forgiveness about instead of proper punishment, for fear it'd start a war. Think a lot of more thuggish bots who do their job as minimally as possible, but have high demands on the colony. Perhaps they know the colony really needs them, so they bend the rules as much as they can without breaking them. As long as they remain big bullies, they fall below "viable" threat for a big, bulky Aligner. The abusive "pat on the back" the thugs would use to "greet" someone who complains about them (sending them flying into the nearest bulkhead and then limping into the infirmary) doesn't phase Aligner.

So yeah, some big, bulky all-terrain SUV or Hummer type of vehicle.

Feel free to bring this discussion with AIM: I find I work better with a back-and-forth dialogue that isn't so... delayed. Anything relevant can be posted here, and stupid ideas from me can be forgotten.

Part of what I am working on is to get the right cast mix. I have a lot of character designs/ideas, but I want to create the core 5 Autobots, and a corresponding recurring 'Con cast. The Civilians will play a roll as well as the main elite guard team. So I basically need a cast of around 20 looks like, plus guests as I go heh. What can I say, I like to think big.

Rough team break down:

RETRIEVERS - Militia rescue and defense group
-(Main) - Jumpjet, Ex miner
-Flatbed - Large truck, Medic/heavy
-Idlewild - Monocycle, scout
-Pathfinder - Fem, (redesigning)
-??? - (Pending)

ELITE GUARD REPS
-Brigandine Prime - powered half-track
-Vanguard - APC, liaison
-Skylancer Major - Attack jet, Aerial Trainer
-Freefall - hover car, fem, Scout
-Avalanche - artillery transport, Ex-guard, militia Trainer

DECEPTICONS
-Terradyne - Assault copter (Possibly changing)
-Metalraiser - Crane/Artillery truck
-Linebreaker - monster truck, heavy
-Ordinance - Tank or Jet (still working on)
-??? - (Unnamed Jet)

ROGUES
-Maelstrom - Triple changer, Merc
-Pioneer - Space transport, Ancient Autobot
-Radius - cycle, Thief/Philosopher


CIVILIANS
-Aligner - ???, Governor,
-Centrifuge - ???, MoS rep
-Foundry - Mobile factory, Engineer
-Hammerslam - Excavator, Miners Guild

more later, gotta cut short for now.

Oh, and while you're using original characters, I can't help but remember how Octane and his "ilk" were so under-utilized in G1. Now, Octane got a few eps, but I am speaking of a specific point in his life: working as a "civilian Decepticon" in an Autobot controlled area. After being basically bounced from the 'cons, he found refuge with the Autobots and was working for a living. Might be interesting for some characters to be former 'cons who figure "Megatron lost. Again! He's had how long to beat the Autobots?" Gotta figure most Decepticons either are faithful hold outs, want to take over or... are done with it. Rebels without a cause... that realize it and are ready to make nice.

So wouldn't it be fun if some colonists were either secretly "reformed" Decepticons or even openly law-abiding Decepticons, seeking political asylum with the colonies?

Actually, I already have some in there hehe, Great minds and all that. Not telling who though.

As a very lousy GM who couldn't wait to get to the "good part" of his story in more than one RPG... yeah, I understand how important it is to keep things back. With my own current fic, I have rewrite many scenes because I am "rushing to the good stuff". You know, the big reveals and cool twists I planned. I mean, it isn't a twist if there's no road before hand.

Can I suggest something? Pick a few characters, develop them, post them here, and I'll take a look and let you know one otaku's opinion on them. Once everyone is a little more developed (I know, its hard to keep them spoiler free that way), it will be easier to whittle it down to the core cast, and who is better as a guest star.

One character I am not sure of is Idlewild. He worked great back when he was a Junkion speaking in 733+, but times have changed a bit and I am not sure about keeping him on. Might redevelop or dump him altogether.

Also, Edited the list above, forgot a key character, Avalanche.

I also realized while reading last night that I borrowed two names from Gobots w/o realizing it. (Pathfinder and Vangaurd). I am keeping Vanguard, but I think I need to change out Pathfinder personally. Although...It occurs to me I could just populate the civilians with Gobots hehe...Eh, maybe not.

So, just checking, the main guy is going to be an ex-miner, now a Harrier Jumpjet inspired alt mode? Can we call him Rocket?

*dodges rotten produce*

Zincoshine? No? Trying to think of something combining mining and flight in some manner...

I could still use some more information. When I said to pick two or three, I mean to give me like a good paragraph or three of write up.

For example, based on what you've given for Aligner and what I have suggested, his write up would look something like:

Aligner: As governor, he is the civilian leader of the colony and a dreamer with hopes to build a better tomorrow without ever resorting to violence. He resents the Elite Guard's presence and resists their demands at every turn. His young idealism combined with a surprisingly practical alternate mode for a colonist and impressive physical presence won the colony's support for him. Aligner turns into sturdy medical transport capable of traversing most of the colony with relative ease. Though he lacks any official weaponry, he carries an assortment of rescue and repair tools he could wield quite well, like a certain Autobot Medic. Note: Specifically his look would resemble Cybertron mode ratchet, but have most of the features of the Cartoon/Deluxe model (electromagnetic clamps, tools, and the EMP generator).

So yeah, something like the above for a few characters that would then let us further develop them, or eliminate them as "main characters" if they seem better as guest stars.