I like percentile systems. BRP in its Stormbringer-variant was my first "love" in the hobby. With Palladium -- though workable -- it always felt tacked on (which it of course was).
The Megaversal System is basically just another d20-roll-over-target# system. For sake of clarity, I would make it that way all across the board.

First of all, I would convert the percentages into 5% steps. Many people do this already, especially for leveling up. At this point, 5% in a skill is synonymous with 1 point on the d20 scale (e.g. a skill at 35% becomes a 7). However, instead of converting the skills to the d20 scale and just rolling under with a d20, I would actually ADD them to the d20 roll and try to target a 20. Modify the target number according to the situation.

I would say that with this sort of streamlining, using the 'Pundit model of skill categories'© is a given. One now adds additional bonuses to the roll, if the character has a proficiency in the skill category.

I have no problem with the way the Palladium system actually works, once you pass the poor presentation of the gaming system made by the author itself, who should, for, everybody's sake, hire someone to do the layout of his books, in a professionnal way circa 2010, and also include a clear exemple of character creation.

It is D20 for combat and D100 for non-combat related stuff.

Giving the palladium system an unified dice resolution mechanism is an interesting idea but I will stick to the old one (out of sheer conservatism and personnal tastes since I like rolling lots of weirdly shaped dice).

Quote from: yabaziou;794821I have no problem with the way the Palladium system actually works, once you pass the poor presentation of the gaming system made by the author itself, who should, for, everybody's sake, hire someone to do the lay out of his books, in a professionnal way circa 2010, and also include a clear exemple of character creation.

Neither do I. Heck, even though I am a very visual guy, I find the layout itself to be quite good on the eyes -- it could do with some more white space, but that's beside the point. I'd say that their books have mostly structural problems. Finding stuff in any rulebook can be a task unto itself, let alone in a RIFTS book.

Quote from: yabaziou;794821Giving the palladium system an unified dice resolution mechanism is an interesting idea but I will stick to the old one (out of shher conservatism and personnal tastes since I like rolling lots of weirdly shaped dice).

I can get behind that. I would do likewise out of conservativism and because I think percentiles are quite intuitive. I do have some folks I play with, who are just past systems like RIFTS, that didn't give a flying fuck about streamlining. So that would be the target demographic I guess.

For what it's worth, I can easily explain the Palladium system to a newbie. Far more easily than Vampire the Requiem or FATE (both of which I own). I had hours of fun years ago with this system, playing Rifts and Macross and once you get past the bad presentation (which gets worse in the last edition of the Rifts Core Book), it is quite easy to run (according to me at least). I like the over the top tone of the Rifts universe, and I find the physical skill system quite interesting. My only rtue regret concerning Rifts is its lack of Franch translation (which is not an issue but quite a big hurdle for mt fellow contrymen who happen to be a bunch of sorry losers when it come to read a language which is not French ... ). I will admit that I lost interest in the game development after the China worlds books, but I still think that the Phase World setting is awesome and I hope that in the foreseable future, I will be able to GM in it.

I also think it is important to roll D100 for non combat skills, because you gain 25 XP for each roll you made and using a different set of dice from combat related stuff makes it easier to follow and to explain (again, according to me).

Because the Palladium/Rifts engine is essentially a heavily modified TSR D&D hack with a BRP-like skill system tacked on, I am often tempted to modify it to a d20-like system of 1d20 + level + a fixed bonus (say, +4 or +5) vs. a 3.5e-like DC table.

Just write down the skills your character's trained in, ignore the dumb categories (one Radio skill, one Computer skill, one Lore skill, one Medical skill, etc.) and maybe allow for a "highly trained" level that doubles the fixed bonus (think WFRP 2e's +10% and +20% levels of skill training). Or perhaps handle it as specialization.

Haven't tested any of this, just toying with notions.

Quote from: The Butcher;794845Because the Palladium/Rifts engine is essentially a heavily modified TSR D&D hack with a BRP-like skill system tacked on, I am often tempted to modify it to a d20-like system of 1d20 + level + a fixed bonus (say, +4 or +5) vs. a 3.5e-like DC table.

Just write down the skills your character's trained in, ignore the dumb categories (one Radio skill, one Computer skill, one Lore skill, one Medical skill, etc.) and maybe allow for a "highly trained" level that doubles the fixed bonus (think WFRP 2e's +10% and +20% levels of skill training). Or perhaps handle it as specialization.

Yeah, it's obvious Kev thought that a percentile skill-system is cool, so he just added it to his houseruled D&D game.

What you are proposing is basically what I did, but keeping most of the skill/proficiency picks intact, rounding out the percentages to fit the d20 scale and for ease of skill-improvement.

The Pundit's 'skill categories as skills' I would use in this case anyway, so sub-skills become further proficiencies that give you additional bonuses.

Lastly, using roll over instead of roll under seems a better fit for RIFTS' front-loaded gameplay.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;794815I would say that with this sort of streamlining, using the 'Pundit model of skill categories'© is a given. One now adds additional bonuses to the roll, if the character has a proficiency in the skill category.

The little copyright symbol now makes my skill more Palladium (tm) than ever.

Also, I'm probably about to be sued.

I don't know Palladium well enough to know how well it'd integrate, but I really liked Unknown Armies' percentile system:

Roll under skill%ile, roll = degree of success.

So, the more skill you have, the more often you succeed AND the higher degree of potential success, all in one quick roll.

Damage was then divided into minor weapons/melee (add the dice together for damage) and major weapons/guns (use the die roll straight).

It's a weird, quirky idea, but it runs VERY fast and easy -- is your roll less than skill? Is your roll higher than the other guy?

Quote from: Will;795212I don't know Palladium well enough to know how well it'd integrate, but I really liked Unknown Armies' percentile system:

Roll under skill%ile, roll = degree of success.

So, the more skill you have, the more often you succeed AND the higher degree of potential success, all in one quick roll.

BRP-style percentiles (the way the Megaversal System uses them) have degrees of success built into them -- one just has to consider the granularity of the 0-100 scale.

Played right, BRP percentiles aren't used for the mundane, but when they come into play, you can tell a lot from that one roll. It's also an easy way to detect a true RQ veteran.

I've been posting ways to simplify the palladium system (particularly skills), while keeping it completely compatible with all of the hundreds of classes and whatnot in 25 years of books, on my blog at the below link.

Right now I'm working on a Macross rpg house system based off the original Robotech rpg and the old Steelfalcon web page, but I haven't decided on using a d20 (roll-under) system or keeping the percentile system. Not that it matters since it's easy to flip it either way.