 Goto [ Index ] |
From a physical standpoint Robotech is a 110 page manual without character sheets and full of black and white art. It ran about $11.95 new, and was surprisingly quick with getting people into the game. The character creation section is only about 35 pages including the skill section. It does not waste much time checking for understanding that is for sure. Especially compared to more modern rpgs, such as Savage Worlds, which carries about the same amount of pages for character creation but is way simpler.
For those unfamiliar with Robotech’s rules, or in fact the Palladium system (which is the basis of all palladium’s games anymore. The rules borrow heavily from earlier games such as D&D, attempting to universalize concepts that were more specific in D&D such as the alignment system that has players choosing from alignments that are god, selfish or evil, rather than utilizing a true “neutral” (which they state is less realistic). Characters start with 8 stats rolled on 3d6. If a stat goes to 16 you can roll an additional die and add it to the score (making for scores such as 19-24). Then you pick a class and get skills and your SDC from there, (SDC stands for structural damage capacity, more on that later) as well as beginning cash.
Skills start with a base and can be modified by class (or O.C.C. as they call them) weapon skills are handled differently rather than being a percentage they give bonuses to using weapons in combat. As do hand to hand skills. Health is dealt with as hit points (your physical endurance stat+1d6) and SDC (structural damage capacity) which is determined by your class. SDC is like an initial layer of protection and is removed first. Once SDC is gone you go into hit points once in hit points for damage your character is going to suffer. (hit points represent serious injury). While more realistic than the old D&D model of “my barbarian can have 1 hp left and fight as if he is fresh on the battlefield” it still does not really do much to make include pain and suffering (you still fight the same but it’s the after battle effects that get you!)
Also Robotech introduced MDC, or mega damage capacity, which is used to measure armored vehicles and mecha level damage. In short 1 MDC =100 SDC. However you must be capable of delivering mega damage before it counts. (Doing 100 SDC in on single hit does not cut it.) This system is a bit lop sided (and while it works O.K. here it became a huge issue in Rifts when players did not always have access to MDC class weapons and armor.) While scaling damage is an important tool in any RPG that deals with giant robots or this level of heavy equipment. This is a bit too much record keeping especially when each mecha has an allotted amount of MDC per are and the areas in question are not always uniform making a universal hit location chart a bit of a problem.
The basic combat formula for the game is also perplexing in it’s odd simplicity roll over 4 on a d20 to hit. If it’s under a character’s AR than the blow hit’s the armor. If it is over both ratings you do damage first taking SDC then hit points. If a player wishes to dodge or parry a blow he must roll a d20 and beat the number rolled by the attacker. Pretty simple, before you add in all of the modifiers which this game uses in abundance. In fact like most palladium games there is a lot of cross referencing going on. Character creation for a simple veritech pilot had me flipping back and forth between the OCC and each skill to get the full range of each score, and thankfully I did not have any above average stats or it would have required more referencing of scores.
The world in the core book is limited to a post Macross idea with the notion of cleaning up rogue Zentraedi. My one real problem with this is that it smacks of living in the main heroes shadows. Much like early MERP or Star Wars which made it sound like all evil is defeated guess who gets to be the cleanup crew? While the book does have a decent amount of world notes it feels more like a palladium game with the robotech slapped on top than the other way around. Again comparing this to modern rpgs based on popular media such as Buffy (which can make even a non Buffy fan spew the verbage and sound like a hard core fan) or Red Dwarf, (which is almost more fun to read than to play!) this game could use a lot more connection to the Robotech world than it has.
Now I know what you are thinking. You’re probably thinking it’s unfair to judge a game written in 1986 by the standards of Today. I mean D&D 1st ed is not nearly as flexible or well designed as it’s 3.5 counterpart. And normally I’m inclined to agree. Just because I have been exposed to new games is no reason to state that the old is bad just because it’s old. Many games have come a long way from their first incarnations (look at paranoia, Shadowrun, or Champions!) but also keep in mind that Palladium has not really made any major changes to their system for years. Once they get out of their quagmire of financial trouble and the new Robotech makes it to shelves will it just be more or less a mild revision with “what we learned worked in RIFTS” or will they make a game worthy of one of the greatest anime sci fi sagas of all times. While I understand the desire to stick with what works, it’s also important to grow beyond what you have done in the past. In it’s time Robotech had a few innovations worth noting, but was still not revolutionary. I hope that Palladium gets out of their problems and marches forward with some new product, even if it means trying something just a little bit different. Otherwise I’ll stick with my old copy what’s the point in buying a new game that isn’t really new.
