"Any self-respecting fighter pilot doesn't want to get into a dog fight. They want to shoot their missiles (at range) first and then run away bravely." - unknown British Airforce pilot.
INDEX
General Modifications
Combat Range:
(Not applicable to mecha/vehicle combat)
- 0 to 20 m: 4 or higher to strike
- 20 m and beyond: 8 or higher to strike.
Effective Range to Maximum Range:
- Max range = effective range x 1.5
- -3 to strike
Speed differential dodge bonus:
- +1 (low/med or med/high)
- +3 (low/high)
Tilt / Auto-Dodge
There are
no tilt or auto-dodges in my games. They have been replaced by:
- Half Actions: all movement and defensive actions are free. You still need to indicate what movement changes (including transformation) your PC is doing as well as any specific defensive actions you wish to undertake. Standard way I do combat.
- Macho Man: you forgo all free moves (E.g. if you want to dodge (or the GM has your character dodge the enemies gazillion missile volley), it costs an action), but you get FULL actions. Invariably, you're going to soak up a bunch of damage. Probably best saved for hand to hand combat with the guy who is only bringing a knife.
Top
G-Factor
Combat bonuses are derived from the character's attribute and skill levels, + the G-load capability of the pilot—which can be increased beyond the limits of human endurance by such things as
Flightsuits and Other Anti-G (or G reduction) Systems up to the maximum G-load level of the vehicle.
The goal of this rule is to better reflect pilot and vehicle ability in the combat bonus. If you find that the bonus is still too large, divide it by 2 (in the example below, it would become 2 (Palladium) or 17 (Max 10) for both parties).
There are other roleplaying ways to reduce the bonus number as well: is the pilot fatigued or injured? Is the pilot suit or Anti-G system broken or malfunctioning?
Palladium system:
1D20 + (skill % + attribute + G-Load)/20 [round down]) vs. target number or opponents roll.
E.g.: 1D20 + 4 (skill 75% + PP 12 + VF-1 7) vs. 1D20 + 4 (skill 63% + PP 15 + VF-17 15)
Max 10 system:
Dice + attribute + skill + G-load vs. target number or opponents roll.
E.g.: 1D20 + 33 (REF 10 + skill 8 + VF-19 15) vs. 1D20 + 34 (REF 2 + skill 5 + VF-25 27).
Notes:
Missiles: for convenience, use the same combat bonus as the pilot.
Following chart saved for future replacement system.
| VF (Vehicle) Base Ability Chart |
| 8 |
Zentraadi Soldier (outside of mecha); tank |
| 10 |
Rigaado |
| 12 |
Air Combat Pod, Guraaji, Nousjadel-Ger |
| 13 |
Variable Gluag |
| 14 |
Queadlunn-Rau, Pheyos Valkyrie |
Top
über-Simple Palladium
Top
Game Thread Prefixes
What do the prefixes in front of the game threads mean?
M = Mission
I = Intermission/Intermediate Stage
|
P = Pre-mission/Stage/ /Preamble
Ss = Side Story
|
|
Top
Money in the Game
Macross is made in Japan and I live in Japan. Therefore, if and when money appears in the game, it will be referred to as ¥ (Yen). For a rough guide, ¥100 JPY is about $1.00 USD.
Prices do differ by country, but we aren't going to worry too much about Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in the game. For more information, see the Big Mac Index to get a better idea of how prices compare, but ignore the Eurocentricism that invariable crops up in these kinds of comparisons that are produced in the English language).
Top
Purging of Wing Ordinance when a Variable Craft transforms
In most cases, no, it is not purged when a Variable Craft transforms from Fighter to Battroid. However, it WILL be purged on such Variable Craft as the VA-3, VF-9 and VF-19 which cannot realistically have ordinance on the wings after transforming. With these VFs, the wing ordinance may or may not be purged when the Variable Craft transforms to GERWALK.
If you are uncertain, ask the GM in the OOC thread or via PM before posting.
Top
| POSTING and PLAYING RULES |
GM's Advice
- Take notes: a simple set of notes updated once a week would've saved numerous players the embarrassment of forgetting what they wanted to do when they made their post the week before. Short-term memory is not very reliable for long term action plans. For example: it's very easy to forget the prime objective of a mission when it takes 3 or 5 months of real life from briefing to arrival at the mission objective site.
- Never assume: the GM has posted information on what is East of the base camp, not West. Alexander is in a coma but Lecavalier only has a nose bleed. Specific details on HP, SDC, etc. are posted in the game threads and sometimes also in a load-out and status thread. (How many GMs are providing your players with this information? It's also a handy GMing tool.) If you can't find the information, post a question FIRST in the OOC (or PM the GM), before the character post.
Top
Posting Expectations
A post is what a player INTENDS to do with their character. The GM provides the ACTUAL events that occurred during a turn in the game. Generally posts are composed of two parts:
- a prose description
- an action summary
The prose description is where one gets to show their imagination and creativity. GMs aren't expecting you to be on par with J.K. Rowling, Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy. What is expected is the simplest statement to summarize the intended actions for one's character; even if they are vaguely worded yet describing the intended action quite well. Generally, GM's are fairly relaxed, but things that don't follow common sense and/or are written unclearly will cause unexpected things to occur.
The more effort put into the plan behind one's character's actions, the more likely they are going to succeed. This means using the tools that the character has and the terrain that the character is in to creatively overcome the obstacles that crop up in a game. Sometimes well thought out text has an automatic success.
Of course, action plans are governed by a) anime logic, b) common sense and c) the abilities of the character. For example: a pilot fresh from the academy with minimal hand to hand combat training is NOT going to be able to successfully do a spinning leap kick in their VF-19 to knock the gun pod out of their opponent's hands. However, the same character could kick dust on the ground over the enemy's visual sensors and cause enough confusion and distraction to roll to one side and then shoot his opponent.
Examples:
- Perform routine check and start-up procedures of the VF.
- Type destination xxx,yyy,zzz into the auto-pilot and prepare for reentry.
- Walks around VF doing routine pre-flight check.
- Looks at information displayed on the MFDs of the cockpit.
- Search orders database.
The action summary should be as concise a summation of the prose description as possible. The action summary isn't always needed. However, when used, one must keep in mind the amount of time it takes to do a task.
Example:
- Dodge
- Search orders database
- active auto-pilot
- prepare for reentry
- pray
When in doubt about missing key info to make one's post, ask in the OOC thread. Do not "post first, ask questions later." The GM should have an answer within 24 hours. If there isn't an answer before the next scheduled GM update, the character will be skipped. This is the one (of two times) that the character will be safe from harm and keep up with the group. (The other time is when the player has a preannounced leave of absence.)
Unless otherwise stated, characters will continue moving as the player last indicated. At the speeds that VFs fly at, this may mean that the opponents may be in the range of a VF's weapons for only a fraction of a melee round. Of course, characters will not fly into something UNLESS if the GM gave advance warning that the player(s) must post a change of direction. In all other cases, the direction will be changed to one that avoids the object, BUT the character's vehicle will be out in the open, NOT ducking around behind cover.
Top
Character Death
Death is a fact of life and it does happen in RPGs. After all, the GM is actively trying to kill the player characters! If a player puts in their best effort, GMs will do their best to keep the player alive. Though death will happen under the following conditions:
- it's part of the story
- the character does something stupid
- the risks of an action were known before undertaking them
- the player stops posting for an extended period of time (especially during combat) without alerting the GM to the abscence beforehand
When character death happens, the player has the options of using the "I'm Back" drama points option, or creating a new character for the game. An effort will be made to incorporate the newly created character into the game as soon as possible, but a wait may be required until a suitable time in the story crops up.
Top
Common Sense Combat Posting Tips
To make your GM's life easier and for the other players to understand your actions follow these tips (which are a modification of combat posting tips originally created by Jet Jockey):
- Any maneuver other than flying straight ahead in combat is an action. In other words: "Max follows after the escaping Regult. He turns up his boosters to the maximum to pass the Regult. He spins around so he is now facing the Regult" would count as 2 to 3 actions for the multiple maneuvers alone. It would not be a free action. Please do this for combat or stunts only. If you're leaving the hangar bay or other mundane task don't bother.
- Remember the mode you are in.
- Name your targets and weapons used. "Fires at a pods" could mean anything to the GM. Did you fire at the pod attacking you or the one in the back? Was it your gun pod or missiles? Does fire mean all your bullets or just one? If you leave it vague, the GM's may do something that you don't want. Please state the specifics, such as "fires a long Gu-15 burst at the 3rd Regult".
- Describe and list your actions/battle plan in your character's post. The list is for the ease of the GM. The plan is how your describing what you are doing. The plan is more important than the list but both are needed.
- Know your characters limits. You are not a super hero. If you jump at 20 foes, then stand on your hands and kick them all with your feet, chances are you will fail. Try too many stunts at once the GM will make you fall on your face. As your character becomes more experienced, more crazy stunts are possible.
- Have a general sense of where you are in relation to everyone else. If your squadron is in combat, your CO is in front of you and he is fighting a Guraaji that is in front of the CO. Think before you fire. An evil GM could say you shot your CO. Post that you move in closer or take careful aim. Likewise if you're in battroid at the rear and your pal is in fighter at the front, you may have to travel to him or use a weapon with a range better then a micromissile or gun pod.
- Know your number of actions and use all of them. If you got 8, why post for only 4? Post the remaining 4 to dodge. Don't waste them.
- Don't forget to post your dodges or parries. The GM can assume your just being macho. If you don't post them the GM won't do them. Even if it is a free action you must post it. Of course, they will be a much harder dodge to perform.
See the Death Angels Survival Guide for more information.
Top
Metric
Japan is metric. Space is metric. Only Burma, Liberia and the USA are not (what are you waiting for???) Ergo, all of my games are in metric. If you post in anything else, I'll probably not understand your intentions.
www.google.com is a convient resource for conversions to metric. For example: 5 ft 7 in in cm.
Top
Rate of Posting & Rate of GM reply
The GM will endevour to have a reply at least once a week. Due to the nature of PBP (play by post) RPGing, a lack of posting by players, without notice, can stop the entire story. To discourage this here are the required posting guidelines:
You will be required to post in character at least once a week, or you will be skipped and your character may be written off and/or die.
During Combat there will be no more than a 7-day gap in posts.
If there is such a gap, the GM will post results and the rest will be skipped; the results will probably include the death of your character.
Enforcement: These guidelines will be really enforced when the story really needs to move. If you are going to be gone more than a week, tell someone. Otherwise we are all waiting for you. A simple PM or OOC post could save everyone a lot of time and trouble.
Top
Spelling
This is VERY important. Not just in the game, but on all message boards on the internet you participate in. Many members are non-native English speakers, and it helps them, as well as everyone else, for posts to be as free of spelling errors as possible. All anyone here has to go on is your written word. So, if there are multiple errors, people can easily misunderstand you.
A simple spell checker can help a great deal. The MRG even has one built in!
Top
What's A Melee Action?
The basic rule of thumb is divide 15 seconds by the number of actions your character has. (E.g.: 7 actions = approximately 2 seconds per action.) What can be done in that length of time should constitute an action. However, the exact time a given action takes is rather nebulous. One could say that the action of firing a gun actually is the following actions: thinking about shooting the target, aiming at the target, firing at the target and recoiling from the gun shot.
Therefore, some actions may be lumped together. For example: activating the PPB, Active Stealth, or radio while moving, or changing (or aligning) the radio frequency and transmitting a short spoken message while moving. The general rule of thumb is if the main action doesn't occupy the character's complete focus and attention, another secondary action can be lumped together with it with no additional action cost.
Top
REFERENCES
|
Palladium Books Core Rules
Macross Compendium
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. Dir. Noboru Ishiguro. MBS and Bandai Visual, 1982-1983. Television.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?. Dir. Noboru Ishiguro and Shoji Kawamori. MBS, Bandai Visual and TOHO, 1984. Film.
|
Macross 7. Dir. Tetsuro Amino. MBS, 1994-1995. Television.
Macross Plus. Dir. Shinichiro Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori. Bandai Visual, 1994-1995. VHS.
Macross Zero. Dir. Shoji Kawamori. Bandai Visual, 2002-2004. DVD.
Macross Frontier. Dir. Yasuhito Kikuchi. MBS, 2008. Television.
The members of the MRG and MRC
|
© Aaron Sketchley
MAIN INDEX