House rules?

[MilkManX]

Any really good house rules for the 2nd edition rpg?

[rabidscrossfan]

Well, this is a work in progress version combining the 1st and 2nd Edition RPG into something that is bit more coherent. Its still very rough and very incomplete (haven't had time to work on it much in the last 8 months). Some stuff I will have to revise since the Tactics game is coming out (presumably we will get RPG stats for things like the VF-4, VF-1 Orguss Armor etc). I decided that the best way to combine these was in a modified Robotech II: The Sentinels campaign (since you can realistically include all 3 generations of mecha up to and including the MOSPEADA Armo-Soldiers)....just shy of the Shadow Fighters & Drones.

Robotech II: The Sentinels 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded

[MilkManX]

That is pretty ambitious and cool!

I am mostly looking for a way to fix/speed up mecha combat..

[rabidscrossfan]

Aug 16, 2013 16:36:11 GMT -5 MilkManX said:

That is pretty ambitious and cool!

Thanks! Its daunting, but there are fun and neat little bits you can suss (like the maybe powered armor suits used during the construction of the SDF-03 Pioneer in The Sentinels video).

I am mostly looking for a way to fix/speed up mecha combat..

Yea, I can understand that. I think the main problem with the current Robotech RPG is somehow they gave the Invid stats that only Hero mecha should get (Player Characters) when really common bad guys should be able to be mowed down with a blast or two from a mecha scale weapon. Only the Villains (main or reoccurring bad guys) should have MDC mecha equal to Player Characters.

Another idea is to add up all the Dodge bonuses and add them to 10 for a base target number (no more active dodge except where you have Leap/Auto-Dodge). Should cut down a bit on combat time.

[MilkManX]

I also play Swords and Wizardry complete. It is based on the original 1974 D&D + Supplement rules. The combat is fast but that is because you only have 1 attack per round unless you are a fighter and battling 1 hit dice creatures. Even then it is still much faster than the Palladium system.

I might trim it down to something like 3 actions/attacks per hero characters and 2 per villain(unless a Major Character..)

Might have to test that out to see how it works.

[MilkManX]

Still thinking about how to make the combat less time consuming. Shortening the turns per round and upping the damage maybe?

[basara]

I've never understood the perception that the game's any slower than D&D, other than the false comparison of D&D's 6-second rounds with 1-3 attacks to Palladium's 15-second rounds with 2-8 attacks.

The only real difference is an extra roll or two for each attack, and a player ought to have dice in hand for parry/dodge/roll/saves, and easy access to the target numbers beforehand, every bit as much as a AD&D, D20 or Pathfinder player should be ready for a save or CMD check. In fact, to me the 3.5/Pathfinder DR and MR mechanics make it go slower on an attack by attack basis.

[MilkManX]

Well I am comparing Basic/AD&D1 vs Robotech 2nd gen. The characters/enemies with 5-6 actions per melee drag the big combat to a crawl.

[basara]

Well, round for round is the problem, as I mentioned. IF you compare attack to attack, the time difference isn't all that much.

BasicD&D/AD&D used 1 minute melee rounds where all non-warriors were stuck with ONE action per minute - because that one action was supposed to be an abstract, representing the one good hit/major action among all the parries, dodges, ripostes, etc. that were supposed to go unsaid. If you actually dig into the RPG books, you'll find this discussed.

It makes comparisons to most other systems (including its own descendants) difficult at best (And, truthfully, the Robotech RPG, as a Palladium game, is a derivative of Basic D&D via the original Palladium Fantasy RPG campaign that started out as a Basic D&D variant).

Palladium having shorter rounds, and more actions, is a direct result of KS (like 99% of the other RPG writers of the last 40 years) thinking that the 1 minute abstract with 1 action that actually mattered, was silly. Every game after D&D either radically shortened time between round, allowed multiple actions per round, or both.

D&D 3.0 and later (including spinoffs like Pathfinder) went to 6-second rounds (what were segments in AD&D/Basic), thereby making those actions more immediate.

When you get down to it, a Palladium round is 15 seconds - the equivalent of 2.5 D20/Pathfinder rounds. OR, to look at it this way, a combination of 5 standard move or combat actions, plus a number of swift actions. Which, actually translates almost 1 for 1 (4-5 actions per Palladium Rounds), before counting additional attacks from leveling or mecha/RPA use.

[MilkManX]

Yeah I understand that but what it comes down to is still time rolling,damage and players and GM writing it all down. Compared to our D&D games combat in Robotech seems to take a lot longer.

[rabidscrossfan]

Managed to upload a more complete version of my revised & expanded. Lemme know what ya think.

Robotech II: The Sentinels 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded