That was the house rule adopted on another site I'm on - just an across the board doubling of MDC. Another GM here on RPOL we both know just re does the whole stat line. So you'd be in good company to do so.

Seems reasonable. Though my character would be in the unfortunate circumstance of having neither the "I'm never hit, ever" capabilities of a cyclone, nor the "I'm big, so I do lots of damage" (and, presumably, can take it as well). I guess what I'm saying is it would turn Silverback into the suck.

   The over all idea behind this is to keep combat rounds short and more in tune with what we see in the show.

   It does have its risk, as Cerise pointed out. Which is why im asking you guys for your opinion.

I'm for keeping things as is - rather keep the show & game separate...

Wouldn't it be easier to lower the damage on the smaller mecha? In Robotech there are lots of large mecha. Stuff like the Bikes are the minority. So it seems to me that less change would be needed if one works with the lesser number.

In reply to Thirteen (msg # 8):

Not really, as that would make them weaker compared to infantry with handheld weapons.

Adjusting the bigger mecha up ensures a wider damage spread on anything that isn't an outright battleship cannon without messing up the balance on a smaller scale.

   I am not saying no to leaving it the same. But it will keep combat slow.


   As for the cyclones and smaller mecha, the cyclone are basically carrying Infantry weapons. Yes the on 50 series does have a railgun. I would allow it to be placed in a tripod and used in that manor if a PC really wanted to.


  I'd start with missiles and the big guns of the mecha being utilized at this point. But i would do lots of copy paste for things like Alphas and Battle pods.

Well if it's the difference between fast paced and slow combat then make the change.   Realistically handle combat as you see fit.   If it doesn't make sense or we get bogged down for some reason then make stuff happen and move on.   To many times I watched games die to rules lawyers and combat dragging on unnecessarily.  Do what you got to do to progress the story and if someone doesn't like it then tough shit.  They can run their own game.

well I will be getting a ton of advise from High command as he has been helping me since I first started this game. three times back. :) yes i have no intention of losing this game to bogged down combat. I think we have a great group here and i want to keep you guys moving. However that said it will not happen during this mission coming up as i want to get the stuff done across the board first. And I will have it all posted. I am also working on stuff for the Genetically altered kids stuff as well.

I have a rule change comment I'd like to share.  now this was taken from an old macross rpg site but I've personally used in my in person games.

For every four missiles fired at you in a single volley, make a -1 dodge modifier. So 4-7 missiles would have a -1 dodge modifier, 8-11 would have a -2 dodge modifier and so on.

as opposed to palladiums rules where you can not dodge more than four missiles.  i have felt this is not intrinsic to the what is reflected in robotech.  seeing the mecha fly around dodging and side slipping then shooting down missiles just to turn around an reengage the enemy is a staple of robotech/macross series.  well thats my opinion and up to LT G.

in terms of increasing damage I've only done that to Mecha of similar size and only to Hand to Hand combat.  the ranged weapons I kept the same only to give PC a chance to live.  a 50ft mecha stomping on a an object should do more than 4D4 damage and Invid Claws should do more damage as we see them tearing into mecha and ship hulls.

also that being said the hand to hand damage from a full size zentraedi should also be increased to allow a foot soldier to go hand to hand with an invid enforcer if needed.

or let or let an amazingly awesome Zentraedi Commander beat the living tar out of a VF.  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:54, Sat 08 Oct 2016.

I have an idea for getting players to want to play more brainy characters.

a player with an IQ of 17 gets an additional secondary skill,
a player with an IQ of 18 gets two additional secondary skills and one OCC related.
a player with an IQ of 19 gets two additional secondary skills and two OCC related.
a player with an IQ of 20 gets two additional secondary skills and two OCC related and a second MOS.

I know that Palladium added rules for skills which would Increase a players IQ way back in a Rifter, but the one thing i have noticed is that players will try to max themselves out in physical attributes because they see the lack of need for IQ beyond basic requirements for an occ they wish to play.



  I also removed the 24 attribute cap of 24.

I'm fine with playing high IQ characters, but the fact of the matter is that there are very few ways to actually increase IQ beyond the rolls, whereas there's a plethora of things that will increase physical stats, mostly Strength. It kind of guides you in the buff and brawny direction by design.

i would add the optional rules from the Rifters for certain skills giving IQ bonuses much like the physical skills. this way characters can choose to increase their IQ's.


a player with an IQ of 17 gets an additional secondary skill,
a player with an IQ of 18 gets two additional secondary skills
a player with an IQ of 19 gets two additional secondary skills and one OCC related.
a player with an IQ of 20 gets two additional secondary skills and two OCC related or a second MOS.

a player with an IQ of 20 gets a second MOS
a player with an IQ of 21 gets an additional secondary skills
a player with an IQ of 22 gets two additional secondary skills
a player with an IQ of 23 gets two additional secondary skills and one OCC related
a player with an IQ of 24 gets two additional secondary skills and two OCC related or a third MOS

Well if there are ways to increase IQ, odds are i'd be drawn to them as i tend to favor stats over pretty much everything else. So i'm in favor, but consider my vote biased.

honestly, if you're wanting to tie IQ to number of skills (and note I'm not suggesting you should), then why not do similar to what DST has done and take half your IQ (rounded up) in Other Skills and Half (rounded down) in Secondary skills.

Also, if you allow for time to train, you can allow players to just gain secondary MOS packages at certain levels/after certain periods of time.

Also, you can move to giving one skill at every level instead of the very few Palladium normally offers.

Personally I would just leave it alone. Unless you do this sort of work up front, it's a PITA to fix things midstream.

I agree with the PITA to change this sort of thing mid-stream. It, essentially, would require semi-rebuilds of characters, especially ones who are more mentally focused.

Honestly, WRT attributes, I think Palladium is terminally broken, especially in games where you're in mecha. The only attributes that matter in combat are PP (only if you manage to get it to 17 or higher) and IQ (in only a minor way, and, only if 17 or higher). Out of combat ME, MA, and PB can make a difference too (but still, only if you manage to get them to 17 or higher), but PS and PE pretty much serve no role at all for most characters.

In order to fix things, you'd really need to use bonuses/penalties that are more similar to d20's setup where no matter what score you had you almost always have something, and you'd have to find ways for some of the attributes to matter again. Mechas could make natural PS "mechanical" (thus doing megadamage), and, depending on the mech, give a bonus. For PE it could replace PP in giving a bonus to roll with impact, and maybe parry? Not really sure, since this is the first I've thought about this whole situation. ;)

these are good points. and thank you for the feed back.

Or switch to a rules set like Savage Worlds or Fuzion. Fuzion is actually quite good at dealing with Mecha, since it is based on Mekton. Its problem is its very steep learning curve and overly technical combat stats (SOO many abbreviations). Once you know them, it's second nature, but learning them is like learning a new language and new math all at once.

I've seen some recent D20 conversions and like the ones I came up with a decade ago, I found them lacking. D20 works okay for personal fights, but it really breaks down at almost any other scale. It's also not really any faster than Palladium and arguably allows for PCs to do less in the same amount of time.

Yeah, I agree with your assessment of Fuzion. I have never tried Savage Worlds. Part of the appeal of Palladium is that it is all boxed up and ready to go. If you have to house rule it a lot, getting an alternative system may end up being the same work, but with a better result. Using a non level based system (like Fuzion) usually makes for a better experience for mixed experience groups (like ours) as well. But, then, half the fun of a game like this is just rolling with the quirks and making the best of what comes up.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:15, Mon 24 Oct 2016.

While i was reviewing and revising some of the rules, i realized the 24 cap was a hold over from my days at eu. When we lacked dice rollers. And the only reason i kept it was to try to motivate players to round out thier characters and not just play a tank. But this gose against my own play style of making each of your characters fun for you. I want the players to have fun.

   So yea ill allow players to study some and if they roll play it right ill allow them to learn some secondary skill while killing time in deep space. Ill brain storm with high command with some thoughts.

I like the IQ idea - let's the brainiacs compete with the muscle.

Didn't know you were on eu - was there for a few years but it was too confining for me. Also me and Lloyd butted heads a bit - easier to take my pail & shovel and move on to another sandbox.

Yea i took the mabg robotech game from zor about two months after he started it. And then after about a year, we had the highest consistent game post, with 4.5 post a day. Then loydd and i clashed and he banned me.

That happened a lot more in the past than it does these days. But then most people figured out if you don't poke the ogre, you don't hear the ogre. I've run under him for about 4 or 5 years now (maybe more actually, I'd have to go look), played in other games on the site, and I also run the CS game there for at least the last 2 or 3. I've been on the site almost 8 years. As long as you abide by the site rules (which are clearly posted and cited, no questions there) and follow the Wheaton Rule, it tends to be a fun thing. There are a few people who I think SHOULD be banned who aren't, but the simple fact is even most of them abide by the very straightforward rules given.

Also we shy away from extremely high post rates except for short periods (a week or two) because it burns people out. 1-2 a week is fine. Plenty of room for play and still maintain good continuity. It also ensures that folks stick with the game longer.

Don't get me wrong. Lloyd is an asshole. He'll tell you that straight himself. He's also a consistent asshole. And he will give people another chance as long as they are willing to follow the site rules. Grammar and spelling count. Post formatting and sheet formatting are a thing done so everyone knows precisely what they are looking at. GMs have to keep extensive records in a semi-organized manner so someone else can step in for them either temporarily (cause they have shit going on) or permanently (too much shit going on, I'm out - that's how I got the CS GM job). XP is given out three times a year, minimum. GMs are regularly rated by their players. There are helper GMs called Assistant GMs who handle wrangling players to post and figure up XP.

Within those admittedly stringent rules however, you're free as a GM to do whatever you want (no rune swords unless the group earns them). But the consistency of characters means that a character can go from one group to another and aside from a new group dynamic and a posting rhythm, nothing changes. It also means that characters from one group can interact temporarily with characters from another group. Before I took over as CS GM, my character helped facilitate the same of a Kittani Serpent PA to the CS group. Which then had an adventure dealing with that immediately.

It is a very vibrant environment. But Lloyd is probably our biggest detraction and a lot of people won't give the site the time of day because of it. I can tell you despite his rather strong opinions he's not a bad guy. But I can also tell you I've had some strong, though respectful, conversations with him where I agreed that he was going to do whatever wrong thing he chose to do, whether I agreed with it or not. But I also acknowledged that living with that was the price of playing. I'm speaking generally because whatever it was, it blew over almost immediately and I've since forgotten the issue. *snerk*

I'm not saying Sev or Garg are wrong at all. But I am saying there is nuance to the issue.

  Well, to be fair, I have told Tiree and High Command if they chose to run a Robotech game there I would return to play in it.

  But that said, I like it here better. That game ran great, the players were awesome and when we moved from EU to MM (a site we set up) we continued. Sadly real life interfered.


   But luckily this game pays a ton of homage to that game. For Example the Marcus Antonius Tokugawa, is the flagship from that game. Commander Rockatansky was my character from that game. Korvan is also from the Game. And a Handful of the NPCs are characters from the game as well. The Gambit was one of the Escort ships, though it was just a Garfish then.