This is something (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210163/RobotechR-RPG-1986-Edition) I never thought I'd see.
I used to have some of those books in the later '80s...can't see buying them again.
Neat; if they put that on Print-on-Demand I'd snap it up. Lost mine years ago.
I should pick that one up. The first RPG I ever played was either this or Mech Warrior. Would like to find out which one it was.
I remember picking it up at the comic store around the corner when it first came out. Other than the Robotech info, it was one of the worst games I ever bought.
Quote from: brettmb;958773I remember picking it up at the comic store around the corner when it first came out. Other than the Robotech info, it was one of the worst games I ever bought.
Oh it is a terrible
terrible game; all Palladium system games are. However, as a font of great Macross artwork and 'mech data (the one time I came close to running a Macross campaign, I was going to use Mekton II, so the books were invaluable to me), it is
fantastic.
This was my absolute favorite Mech RPG, despite very limited experience to the shows it was based off of. Nothing else has ever felt the same to me.
I found a paper copy dirt cheap in a used bookstore 2 years ago. This is still good to have a backup copy and possibly even more sourcebooks.
Quote from: thedungeondelver;958778Oh it is a terrible terrible game; all Palladium system games are. However, as a font of great Macross artwork and 'mech data (the one time I came close to running a Macross campaign, I was going to use Mekton II, so the books were invaluable to me), it is fantastic.
These might be good alternatives:
http://www.mahq.net/mecha/macross/macross.htm
http://www.macross2.net/m3/m3.html
http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Category:Mecha
or if you're more Robotech-oriented:
https://ptn.home.xs4all.nl/ReferenceGuide.html
http://www.oocities.org/timessquare/realm/7194/antikevs.htm
Quote from: thedungeondelver;958778Oh it is a terrible terrible game; all Palladium system games are. However, as a font of great Macross artwork and 'mech data (the one time I came close to running a Macross campaign, I was going to use Mekton II, so the books were invaluable to me), it is fantastic.
Terrible? Not really. That's a wild exaggeration that makes me wonder how much experience you have with it. Perhaps you had a crummy GM; that can make any game seem lousy. Or perhaps you were the crummy GM? Palladium's system is not much different from D&D. So it's not great but neither is it terrible. It's just poorly organized. Much like D&D again. But with better alignments and classes, if you like such things in your RPGs.
Yeah, I haven't played it but when I had a gander at Palladium 1e (aka Palladium Fantasy 1e), I thought it was fine. In the Robotech form, though, I really couldn't see how it would capture the feel of mech battles or specifically the action in the cartoons. Seems to me it would need either a good map-based system with facing and maneuvers (at minimum something like Richthofen's War or the aerial combat rules from OD&D), or something that would abstractly capture the dynamics of combat like the Down in Flames series. Does Robotech Tactics add the needed elements while staying compatible with the RPG?
Quote from: Dumarest;958922Terrible? Not really. That's a wild exaggeration that makes me wonder how much experience you have with it. Perhaps you had a crummy GM; that can make any game seem lousy. Or perhaps you were the crummy GM? Palladium's system is not much different from D&D. So it's not great but neither is it terrible. It's just poorly organized. Much like D&D again. But with better alignments and classes, if you like such things in your RPGs.
I ran a really successful campaign of Robotech: The Sentinels with stuff I liberally took from other sourcebooks, like the Southern Cross book. I always felt like mega-damage worked really well in Robotech, but never worked for me in RIFTS.
Quote from: Future Villain Band;959020I ran a really successful campaign of Robotech: The Sentinels with stuff I liberally took from other sourcebooks, like the Southern Cross book. I always felt like mega-damage worked really well in Robotech, but never worked for me in RIFTS.
I never got to play it as much as I would have liked at the time. I really enjoyed the cartoon way back when. Unfortunately I had a Venn diagram where the people who'd play RPGs didn't care about Robotech and the people who liked Robotech didn't care about RPGs. The few games I recall were set post-big battle when some Zentraedi were integrating and others were still fighting. I'm trying to remember what our squadron was called. I know it was cooler than Vermilion Squadron but not as cool as Skull Squadron. I kind of wish I still had my books, but PDFs don't do it for me. If they ever put this out print-on-demand at a decent price I might be interested. Maybe I'll pester you to run it.
One can still buy the Robotech rpg. The PDFs are of a older version of the rpg.
Quote from: thedungeondelver;958778Oh it is a terrible terrible game; all Palladium system games are. However, as a font of great Macross artwork and 'mech data (the one time I came close to running a Macross campaign, I was going to use Mekton II, so the books were invaluable to me), it is fantastic.
The Palladium system is great. I'm sorry that you cannot play a game that is a fork of AD&D. Here is a ball, perhaps you'd like to bounce it.
Quote from: Dumarest;959044I never got to play it as much as I would have liked at the time. I really enjoyed the cartoon way back when. Unfortunately I had a Venn diagram where the people who'd play RPGs didn't care about Robotech and the people who liked Robotech didn't care about RPGs. The few games I recall were set post-big battle when some Zentraedi were integrating and others were still fighting. I'm trying to remember what our squadron was called. I know it was cooler than Vermilion Squadron but not as cool as Skull Squadron. I kind of wish I still had my books, but PDFs don't do it for me. If they ever put this out print-on-demand at a decent price I might be interested. Maybe I'll pester you to run it.
I'd be up for that. Given how long they were in print and how popular they were, I can't imagine it's hard to find the original books for a decent price, but maybe I'm underestimating the second-hand RPG market.
Man, I remember seeing the ad for that one in a comic book, and actually mailing away for it. Think it was $9 plus postage? Anyway, we had a ton of fun with that game.
Quote from: Future Villain Band;959166I'd be up for that.
Well, I enjoyed you in the Sgt. Pepper movie, so how bad could it be? At least George Burns won't be singing.
Quote from: Dumarest;959302Well, I enjoyed you in the Sgt. Pepper movie, so how bad could it be? At least George Burns won't be singing.
I also got to sing the best song in the movie!
Quote from: Future Villain Band;959020I ran a really successful campaign of Robotech: The Sentinels with stuff I liberally took from other sourcebooks, like the Southern Cross book. I always felt like mega-damage worked really well in Robotech, but never worked for me in RIFTS.
It's surprising how quickly MDC went from an impressive new mechanic in this game to a blight on the entire Palladium line.
I'd probably never run this again, but we had some good times with it back in the day. I still have a few of the books simply for the flavor and fond memories of the days when I would get up extra early to watch 6 a.m. reruns of Robotech before middle school. It's cool to see its available again.
I think Robotech was the first game I ran as a GM, back in the early 90s. Played it for years. It was a lot of fun, and MDC actually made sense in Robotech. I still have all of the pre-Shadow Chronicles books except for Lancer's Rockers and Zentraedi Breakout (which I used to have but lost long ago). Someday I will have all of them. However, it is unlikely I will play it again, simply because I've moved on to other games.
Quote from: Arminius;959019Yeah, I haven't played it but when I had a gander at Palladium 1e (aka Palladium Fantasy 1e), I thought it was fine. In the Robotech form, though, I really couldn't see how it would capture the feel of mech battles or specifically the action in the cartoons. Seems to me it would need either a good map-based system with facing and maneuvers (at minimum something like Richthofen's War or the aerial combat rules from OD&D), or something that would abstractly capture the dynamics of combat like the Down in Flames series. Does Robotech Tactics add the needed elements while staying compatible with the RPG?
Well Ive never played it but i have read the rules some and as a fan of both macross and southern cross i can tell you that the rules don't reflect those very well now robotech might be different I;m not that smart on robotech tbh.
Some one sold all their 80's RPG collection to my local gaming pub, and I have been snapping up the Robotech and Rifts books. :D
Ah, Palladium. You goofy system, you.
MDC sorta works in Robotech when mechs and people rarely interact. (excepting piloting, that's mech on mech, I'm talking about mech on person) And when they do, it's usually splat.
Usually. Things start to get muddy around Southern Cross and Mospeda (Invid Invasion) when people are toting around MDC body armor, and MD weapons, just like in Rifts!
Wade through a hail of SDC gunfire, no problemo, whip out your MD laser pistol and vaporize a building! Wheee!
The system is still clunky as hell. Adding HTH attacks to your robot combat skill when piloting a mech means not only that Protoculture makes the interface better than piloting a conventional vehicle, but it means you have superhuman combat abilities period, compared to anything. This kinda sorta actually tracks to the cartoon, when one of the heroes does all these fancy acrobatics in their mech, and then gets out and is a normal person. But still, doing it the Palladium fashion means dealing with tracking HTH combat attacks and all that jazz. Attack, parry, dodge or roll with impact, repeat. Gets damn monotonous.
So, not the worst system, but it's a contender! :D
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;958770I should pick that one up. The first RPG I ever played was either this or Mech Warrior. Would like to find out which one it was.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/MechWarrior_1st_edition_1986.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/56/RobotechRPG-1986.jpg/220px-RobotechRPG-1986.jpg)
?
Robotech RPG is the one with the big robots! Wait, Mechwarrior is the one where the characters pilot mecha. Hmmm, this isn't working well.
Strongly disagree with the notion that Robotech was a bad RPG. It was awesome. I ran it for 10 years.
Quote from: RPGPundit;960450Strongly disagree with the notion that Robotech was a bad RPG. It was awesome. I ran it for 10 years.
I ran a 4th edition Dark Sun campaign for a solid year. I still agree with most of the critiques of the system.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;960531I ran a 4th edition Dark Sun campaign for a solid year. I still agree with most of the critiques of the system.
I think you skipped the part of your post that explain what this has to do with Robotech...?
Quote from: RPGPundit;960450Strongly disagree with the notion that Robotech was a bad RPG. It was awesome. I ran it for 10 years.
What sort of things did the PCs do? Were they all military and flying transforming jets? Were there any Lynn Minmay types or was that an NPC job? I'd like to know because our games never got far past the rogue Zentraedi post-big-battle era on earth. Which was pretty cool.
We were all Veritech pilots; I wish I could remember our squadron name! Nothing as cool as Skull Squadron but lots better than Vermilion! We were young boys (ages 12-15, tops) and immature so there were just about no girl characters and it was mostly just fighting a lot.
Did they ever put that show on DVD?
Yep. It's available to stream on Amazon Prime Video if you subscribe to Amazon Prime.
My bro got the Protoculture collection.
https://www.amazon.com/Robotech-Protoculture-Collection-Robert-Axelrod/dp/B000B5IOY8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_74_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QYKMDZG07WVRXEP0NMQH
It's all the epidoes including Sentinels but not Shadow Chronicles. And all the episodes are uncut. Unlike the FHE Macross VHS collection I once had.
You guys are costing me money. I just ordered Robotech: The Macross Saga for $9.99. It's really only the first series I was into...the other two with the tanks and motorbikes seemed a little off to me.
It's supposed to arrive on May 5th...now if I can only find time to watch it. I've never seen the whole series from beginning to end. It was broadcast on TV here in the mid-1980s and I only discovered it after it was already a couple of episodes in. When I get to see it, it will be my first time in a way and the first Robotech I've seen in over 30 years.
Quote from: Dumarest;960622You guys are costing me money. I just ordered Robotech: The Macross Saga for $9.99. It's really only the first series I was into...the other two with the tanks and motorbikes seemed a little off to me.
It's supposed to arrive on May 5th...now if I can only find time to watch it. I've never seen the whole series from beginning to end. It was broadcast on TV here in the mid-1980s and I only discovered it after it was already a couple of episodes in. When I get to see it, it will be my first time in a way and the first Robotech I've seen in over 30 years.
As much as I love Robotech, it hasn't aged well. Or maybe my patience for english dubs that havecharactersconstantlytalkingaboutinnaneshitinordertomakethelipsynchingworkout is much less.
So I bid on a copy of the Palladium Robotech RPG on eBay. If it doesn't go over my maximum and I win it, what other books are useful? I used to have 4 or 5 different books, or between us in our group we did, and I seem to recall some sort of "RDF Manual" but don't remember what was in it.
What I'd be interested in is material covering the first of the three series, the one with the SDF-1 and the Veritech fighters. I'm not super interested in Southern Cross or the Next Generation (is that what the motorcycle one was called?). Are there any books aside from the main RPG book that you think are essential, or if not essential (what is?) would be handy to have?
Quote from: Dumarest;960719So I bid on a copy of the Palladium Robotech RPG on eBay. If it doesn't go over my maximum and I win it, what other books are useful? I used to have 4 or 5 different books, or between us in our group we did, and I seem to recall some sort of "RDF Manual" but don't remember what was in it.
What I'd be interested in is material covering the first of the three series, the one with the SDF-1 and the Veritech fighters. I'm not super interested in Southern Cross or the Next Generation (is that what the motorcycle one was called?). Are there any books aside from the main RPG book that you think are essential, or if not essential (what is?) would be handy to have?
I like the Zentraedi sourcebook. It's got stats and illustrations for a few things left out of the main RPG, like the big scout craft. Oh, and the Zentraedi capital ships.
RDF Manual and the adventures like Ghost Ship, eh. I can live without them.
What is the "plot," as it were, of "Ghost Ship"? Is that the only adventure module?
Quote from: Dumarest;960738What is the "plot," as it were, of "Ghost Ship"? Is that the only adventure module?
It's been so long, I could only give you the boilerplate from the back of the book. The other adventure I remember is Lancer's Rockers. Which is kind of amusing in that it has rules for using instruments as sonic weapons with mecha. I don't think we ever played them, which is why I put them in the "meh" category.
I'll take the boilerplate. At least it will give me an inkling. The cover tells me nothing except maybe it's in space and I'm guessing the PCs come across an abandoned or seemingly abandoned ship.
Quote from: Dumarest;960767I'll take the boilerplate. At least it will give me an inkling. The cover tells me nothing except maybe it's in space and I'm guessing the PCs come across an abandoned or seemingly abandoned ship.
I actually flipped through the used copy at my local shop last night, to refresh my memory. It's mostly a space dungeon set in a Zentraedi scout ship, post-final battle with Dolza's fleet. So it's full of loyal Zentraedi trying to fix up their ship, and the PCs investigate, because the Z's are making raids in the area for supplies.. Lots of small details about the ship's systems that the PCs might play around with, and the deck plans for reference. I didn't have time to find out what the "plot" was, beyond that.
You know, it could be the nucleus for a good campaign if the GM is willing to flesh out and expand the material.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;960843I actually flipped through the used copy at my local shop last night, to refresh my memory. It's mostly a space dungeon set in a Zentraedi scout ship, post-final battle with Dolza's fleet. So it's full of loyal Zentraedi trying to fix up their ship, and the PCs investigate, because the Z's are making raids in the area for supplies.. Lots of small details about the ship's systems that the PCs might play around with, and the deck plans for reference. I didn't have time to find out what the "plot" was, beyond that.
You know, it could be the nucleus for a good campaign if the GM is willing to flesh out and expand the material.
Hey, that actually sounds like a pretty cool starting point.
Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?
Quote from: Dumarest;960864Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?
Some adventures that are structured around a novice Veritech Pilot's first missions, including an actual training SIM mission or two IIRC. It wasn't fantastic or necessary. I think I have it somewhere in the basement, along with the rest of my Robotech books I purchased in the early 90s. I will never, ever play that system, but those books are pure nostalgia for me.
Quote from: Coffee Zombie;960944Some adventures that are structured around a novice Veritech Pilot's first missions, including an actual training SIM mission or two IIRC. It wasn't fantastic or necessary. I think I have it somewhere in the basement, along with the rest of my Robotech books I purchased in the early 90s. I will never, ever play that system, but those books are pure nostalgia for me.
Or you could sell your nostalgia books. I'd be interested.
I didn't know they were still making them into the '90s!
RDF accelerated training programming was the title I think. Just like Robotech I will probably never fun Rifts yet they make for decent reading imo.
Quote from: Dumarest;960579What sort of things did the PCs do? Were they all military and flying transforming jets? Were there any Lynn Minmay types or was that an NPC job? I'd like to know because our games never got far past the rogue Zentraedi post-big-battle era on earth. Which was pretty cool.
They were all RDF, some were destroid pilots, some veritech, one or two were other. They gradually rose up the ranks so that they were important officers in the Sentinels expedition, then big-time guys for the liberation of Earth from the Invid.
Quote from: RPGPundit;961559They were all RDF, some were destroid pilots, some veritech, one or two were other. They gradually rose up the ranks so that they were important officers in the Sentinels expedition, then big-time guys for the liberation of Earth from the Invid.
I guess that makes sense over ten years.
What kind of death rate did you have?
Quote from: Dumarest;960864Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?
It's a series of connected tests and trials to train new mecha pilots. It can also be used as a Top Gun type thing. The scenarios range from computer simulator combat in order to become more acquanted with the various weaponry of your mecha, to live-fire adventures. I played through it and also ran it way back in the day. It's pretty good.
I'd say the Zentraedi sourcebook and the RDF Manual are really the only "essential" sourcebooks, if you're just looking at the Macross Saga. Zentraedi Breakout is interesting for world info and adventure plots. Strike Force has an interesting adventure but the new mecha are pretty lame. New World Order takes place in Africa and is essentially an adventure module, with lots of conspiracy investigation and role playing outside of mecha. As someone else already said, Ghost Ship is basically a dungeon crawl inside a Zentraedi ship.
Palladium didn't do anything that I recall to support Southern Cross in the way of source books.
Everything else (Invid Invasion, Return of the Masters, Lancer's Rockers) is for the third series, other than Sentinels which had a cool premise but also got no support other than a crappy art book.
Quote from: everloss;961744It's a series of connected tests and trials to train new mecha pilots. It can also be used as a Top Gun type thing. The scenarios range from computer simulator combat in order to become more acquanted with the various weaponry of your mecha, to live-fire adventures. I played through it and also ran it way back in the day. It's pretty good.
I'd say the Zentraedi sourcebook and the RDF Manual are really the only "essential" sourcebooks, if you're just looking at the Macross Saga. Zentraedi Breakout is interesting for world info and adventure plots. Strike Force has an interesting adventure but the new mecha are pretty lame. New World Order takes place in Africa and is essentially an adventure module, with lots of conspiracy investigation and role playing outside of mecha. As someone else already said, Ghost Ship is basically a dungeon crawl inside a Zentraedi ship.
Palladium didn't do anything that I recall to support Southern Cross in the way of source books.
Everything else (Invid Invasion, Return of the Masters, Lancer's Rockers) is for the third series, other than Sentinels which had a cool premise but also got no support other than a crappy art book.
I snagged the RPG and RDF Manual off eBay for a low price. They are kind of beat up but not bad. I think I'd like to find the Zentraedi sourcebook and maybe Zentraedi Breakout if I can find it reasonably priced as if I get to run or play Robotech again I'd probably want to set it in the aftermath of the first show, maybe with the RDF in South America or something with Zentraedi malcontents.
Thanks for the details!
Quote from: Dumarest;961755I snagged the RPG and RDF Manual off eBay for a low price. They are kind of beat up but not bad. I think I'd like to find the Zentraedi sourcebook and maybe Zentraedi Breakout if I can find it reasonably priced as if I get to run or play Robotech again I'd probably want to set it in the aftermath of the first show, maybe with the RDF in South America or something with Zentraedi malcontents.
Thanks for the details!
Zentraedi Breakout, set in the Malcontent Uprisings in south america, was one of the best adventure/source-books of the old edition.
Quote from: Dumarest;961663I guess that makes sense over ten years.
What kind of death rate did you have?
Rather low, from what I recall. I mean, over the years there were deaths, just not very many. At least two players ended up playing the same characters all the way through. That number could have been higher were it not for player turnover.