THE HATE PLAGUE
Invented, created, discovered, or harvested by a sadistic
villain eons upon eons ago, the Hate Plague is a nano-
fungal threat to sentient beings everywhere. When it first
reared its hideous crimson head in a time long forgotten,
entire worlds fell to its madness, forcing a mysterious
and ingenious bio-alchemist whose name has been
lost to time to lead the efforts in finding a cure. Slowly
eliminating cases of the Hate Plague until they possessed
what they believed to be the last active spores of the
infection, this scientist sealed them away in an energy-
reinforced vault which was summarily shot into orbit
around a local star. The vault would use the radiation and
energy of the star to strengthen its seals and protective
measures, and the galaxy believed the Hate Plague to no
longer be a threat.
That was, until millions of years later, the star in
question went supernova.
The resulting explosion tore the vault to pieces,
spreading the insidious spores of the Hate Plague
scattering across the cosmos. Space is big, and very
empty, so most of these particles will be drifting on solar
winds through the void forever, never falling upon living
TRANSFORMERS ROLEPLAYING GAME – THE HATE PLAGUE
beings in any way. However, if even just one spore finds
its way to an inhabited planet, it will mean the return of
the Hate Plague in all its horrifying splendor.
Unfortunately for the current era, that very supernova
was being researched by an advanced human explorer
ship. While the crew were inside and protected by their
environmental suits, their shuttle itself was coated with
active spores that they brough back to Earth!
The Hate Plague spread (with the help of some less-
than-moral scientists) to Autobot, Decepticon, and
Earthling alike. Each victim took on the crimson red glow
of the nano-fungal sickness and was quickly consumed
by an all-encompassing rage. Friends and family violently
turned on one another. The hatred and anger that
swallowed up so many threatened to spread to the entire
planet, and while the Decepticons looked to perhaps
make the most of the ensuing chaos, the Autobots knew
they had to save their new home.
A newly returned Optimus Prime entered his
consciousness into the Matrix of Leadership and found
the essences of bearers long past… including the
unfathomably wise Alpha Trion. It was through this
connection that a cure was discovered: the concentrated
“light of wisdom” from within the Matrix. The Matrix was
opened, its epic energies released, and the Hate Plague
was extinguished across all of Earth.
But what of the other Hate Plague spores that are still
floating across the emptiness of space?
Game Effects of
the Hate Plague
A being can contract the Hate Plague by coming into
contact with one or more of the illness’ glittering red nano-
fungal spores. Once exposed and their bio-electric systems
infected, the mind-affecting radiation of the plague causes
the victim to glow red. This crimson coloration waxes and
wanes slightly, but any kind of sensor or scanner will detect
the target as glowing with infection with a successful DIF 8
Alertness or Technology Skill Test.
While most victims get infected through contact with
other victims (see below), anyone coming into contact
with even a single free-roaming Hate Plague spore must
immediately succeed at a DIF 20 Brawn Skill Test to
avoid contracting the disease.
The infection turns the victim into a contagious, rage-
filled monster that maintains a modicum of sentient
thought while still being focused utterly on the violent
destruction of everyone else around them. The following
effects apply to the victim until they are Defeated or cured:
• All actions taken must be attacks, or actions made
toward getting into range of their attacks.
• All Social-based skills are made with a Snag.
• Athletics, Brawn, and Might Skill Tests are all made
with 2.
• The victim has Immunity to the Frightened and
Mesmerized conditions, and Resistant to Psychic
Damage.
• The victim’s unarmed attacks gain the following
additional Alternate Effect: “Target becomes infected
with Hate Plague.”
Barring a special narrative element (such the opening
of the Matrix of Leadership), a victim infected with the
Hate Plague can be cured either by being Defeated using
radiation and/or light-based effects, or with a successful
DIF 25 Science or Technology Skill Test.
Plot Hooks
Introducing a powerfully infectious nanotech infection
like the Hate Plague can be the center of an entire
campaign arc and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If a GM is
ready for this kind of plot, the following are interesting
ways to introduce the nano-fungal threat in your own
Transformers Roleplaying Game campaigns.
TRANSFORMERS ROLEPLAYING GAME – THE HATE PLAGUE
Impervious Alloy
Available seemingly only from the ancient
mechanical beings known as Quintessons—
or so they claim— Impervious Alloy is a
Restricted Armor Upgrade that coats an entire
Cybertronian (or similarly armored piece of
equipment) with a shining silver coating that
makes the recipient Resistant to Fire Damage
and Immune to Alternate Effects added by
Critical Successes targeting them.
This Upgrade is temporary however, and
every time the recipient suffers damage,
the GM rolls 2d6. If the result is equal to or
less than the amount of damage suffered in
the attack, the coating is compromised and
begins to fall away in strips and flakes; it is
then no longer effective.
• A damaged Quintesson starship is found floating
through a vacant corner of space, mysterious, ominous,
and begging to be explored. There could be some
useful salvage inside for anyone willing to risk the
dangers… including the remnants of a Sharkticon pack
lousy with Hate Plague!
• Perceptor needs a mission team of trusted Autobots
to pick up a simple medical sample in long-term
storage at a friendly alien lab. When they arrive, the
team discovers the medical sample is anything but
simple—it is a single active Hate Plague spore in a
sealed container. The team must now return with this
dangerous cargo intact, risking infecting everyone and
everything along the way.
• Soundwave reaches out to the team with a rare request:
one of his Mini-Con’s last reports from a scouting
mission to a deserted moon claimed they saw “glowing
red monsters.” Megatron couldn’t care less about the
situation, so Soundwave is playing off the Autobots’
moral centers to save his minion.
• Mindwipe foolishly thinks his unorthodox scientific
knowledge can create and wield a derivative of the
Hate Plague spores as a weapon against the Autobots.
This will surely end in disaster, but less so if the
characters can somehow stop him or at least contain
the resulting exposure.