Last entry I complained about the Robotech Shadow Chronicles RPG. The entry was about glaringly missed opportunities. It was about the sort of problems which the author, Kevin Siembieda, could have avoided if he ever listened to the fans or played RPGs. This entry shifts gears slightly to how things could be improved, but still has a strong "How to cure gross incompetence" feel to it.
A big deal has been made about the "Quick Character Creation" in the book. The truth is that this new process does nothing for the speed of character generation other than slowing things down. The primary problem is that it adds non-standard rolls for attributes where the player must cross reference a chart for rolling different attribute values. The secondary problem, which is a long standing and well known Palladium character generation issue, is the standard Palladium complaint of tons of skills with seemingly random base percentage values and advancement rates.
The attribute problem is easy to address. In the Palladium system, attributes are largely worthless and meaningless numbers unless they are 16 or above. The Quick Character Creation method provides a random method where one or two of the character's attribute scores will be in this exceptional range while the rest are in the average range. The whole thing could be greatly simplified by merely stating one attribute is exceptional and the rest are some average number like 12 as opposed to rolling different dice and adding different bonuses to all. It really doesn't matter what the average attributes are, because they will seldom, if ever, have any game effect.
The skill problem is also easy to address, even without trimming down Palladium's overburdened and minutiae dominated skill system. Instead of making the player flip to a chart or skill description to get the skill percentage, put the percentage directly next to the skill. Sure, the player would still have to cross reference combat and WP skills, but at least wouldn't have to hunt through the book for 20-25 other seemingly random percentile progressions.
The skill problem could also be helped by arranging the skills in alphabetical order. Sure, I've played Palladium games for over 20 years now. I know generally which categories skills are sorted under, but I remember how hard it was to find certain skills when I was a newbie.
Moving outside of character creation, I'll start with something also related to skills which might be purely personal preference. Are overly nit picky and narrow skills like Recycling, Forced March, Physical Labor, Mathematics: Basic, Mathematics: Advanced and others really that necessary and constructive to a space opera game? In 20 years of playing and GMing Palladium, there has never been a time where a Mathematics skill check would have been beneficial to the conduct of the game. What really is the difference between First Aid and Paramedic (or why should a character pick First Aid over Paramedic)? And come on, Recycle? I'd cut down on the skill list, eliminating all the ones which any character should know or at least eliminating the needless percentages. I'd also standardize a lot of skills. Why does each domestic skill need it's own separate skill and percentage? Just put them under a single catch all skill which can be taken multiple times for different specialties and give it a single percentage.
Back to things which are a bit more universal among fans, I'd address the mecha. Namely, all the mecha have too much MDC and not enough damage potential. The values for MDC on the original mecha should have been halved or more, not increased. Either that or weapons needed to do more damage. However, since a VF-1 already had more hit points than needed to completely vaporize the entirety USS Nimitz, I think the best course of action would have been to reduce the MDC values.
Decreasing the mecha MDC values would also speed combat, another thing which takes an unacceptably long time. It would help in genre emulation.
If we're truly worried about PC survival (which, from my previous rant, I conclude is not the reason for the MDC increases in the game), then some sort of Ace Pilot mechanic could be included. It could be one of those genre emulation mechanics which Palladiumbooks seems to loathe so much. The book claims the S.D.C. which all characters get is "Hero Factor." What if character SDC could be used to dodge, parry, or roll with incoming mecha attacks? It's just an idea, but I think it's more elegant to let heroic PCs deal with incoming attacks more effectively than just increasing hit points across the board.
Tags: Palladiumbooks Palladium Robotech
