Robotech - Tales of the RDF - Mechanics

One rule that I want to incorporate is the ability to aim a single missile at a target other than the Main Body of a mecha. To do this, you first need to use your mecha's laser designator to 'paint' the spot you want to hit (using an attack action), the fire the missile (using a second, separate attack). This will let you aim for a specific target, such as the leg or an arm.


Another rule that has been in the Palladium system for a long time is that you can dodge up to 3 missiles at once, but 4 or more you cannot dodge them. The only option is to hope your Chaff/Flares distract the missiles, shoot them down, or just take the hit. This House Rule will allow you to dodge a number of missiles equal to your level with a minimum of 3. So, when you hit level 4, 5, 6, etc. you can dodge that many missiles, too. This also works for the enemy, so if you launch a volley of 8 missiles and you see your target dodge, you know your opponent is at least 8th level.


 
The Defender Destroid, when using the airburst rounds of the autocannon, will have a 75% chance of wiping out a volley of incoming missiles compared to a normal direct fire weapon with a sliding scale of success. Normally, if you are able to take out a single missile of a volley with that particle beam or autocannon, you now have a 1-30% to hit only 1d4 other missiles, 31-60% half the missiles are taken out, and 61-100% will eliminate the entire swarm. Missile vs. missile is a much better 75% chance to cause a cascade explosion to drop the whole volley.


 
Here is a quick rundown of how combat works in the Palladium system for those that are new to the game.


Everyone has a number of attacks on their character sheet. Everyone has started out with 5. When you are in side your mecha, depending on what level you are, you will add to your number of attacks as shown in the MECT write up for that vehicle.


To start a fight, you roll a d20 for Initiative, and add any bonuses from your character sheet and mecha training. Highest number goes first, ties are possible. The order of battle will then be posted, and it will look like this:


18 - Bob <====


14 - Tom


8 - Matt


7 - Stanley


The arrow next to the name shows who's turn it is. We start off with attack number one, starting off with Bob. He declares his attack, and once more rolls a d20. A natural 1-4 is an automatic miss, no matter what your bonuses may bring it up to. A natural 20 is double damage.


18 - Bob [1]


14 - Tom [1]


8 - Matt <====


7 - Stanley


As each person makes their first attack, I mark off their action in brackets. When you are shot at with a direct fire weapon such as a laser or rail gun round, you have three options. First, take the hit. Never a good idea, but sometimes unavoidable. Second is to dodge. Unless your vehicle SPECIFICALLY says so, a dodge uses up one of your actions for the round. You then roll a d20 and add in your bonuses. If you roll higher than the strike roll of your enemy, you dodge. The way that looks on the Order of Battle is as follows:


18 - Bob [1]


14 - Tom [1]


8 - Matt [2]


7 - Stanley <====


This shows that Matt has been shot at, has dodged, and then gets his action for that round.


The third option you can try is a parry. The parry does not use up a melee action, and in a fistfight, will completely negate the damage. It will cause all the damage to be inflicted upon your arms, however. This might be worth it to save your main body.


Missiles are a little different. When someone shoots a volley of multiple missiles at you, you can try to dodge as long as you have less than 4 missiles flying at you. A volley of 4 or more cannot be dodged, but you have a different option available to you. You can try to shoot down the volley. If you are using a laser or other direct fire weapon, you declare your action, roll to hit (which uses up one of your actions, just like a dodge), and if you do enough damage to destroy the missile you may be lucky enough to wipe out the whole volley. With lasers or bullets, you have a 45% chance of having the explosion taking out the entire salvo. If you choose to fire a missile at a missile volley, the added explosive power raises the chances of taking out the whole shebang to 75%.


When firing missiles, you must declare how many missiles you are shooting. A missile will always be aimed at the target's main body. Only direct fire weapons can be aimed at a specific spot on a target.


After everyone has used up their attacks, that melee round is over and a new round begins.


 
The Differences between Hit Points/SDC and MDC


In the Palladium Universe, there is two different standards for armor and damage. People have both a Hit Point rating and SDC (Structural Damage Capacity). Basically, the SDC is less critical damage to the player than the Hit Points are.


Normal objects also have SDC. Tables, chairs, stucco walls, all operate on this level of damage. So when you pull out a sub-machine gun and spray a car, you riddle it with bullet holes.


MDC (Mega Damage Capacity) is a much larger level. One MDC point is roughly equal to 100 SDC points. The difference also means that SDC weapons do not do any damage at all to a MDC structure, even if you are talking about an attack that does hundreds of SDC. That car you shot at earlier with the sub-machine gun? At this level, it explodes in a burning wreck from that MDC weapon you used.


Generally, if a person gets hit by a MDC weapon, it’s time for a new character.
 
Here's another rule for you that @Dannigan requested:


When you are out of your mecha and wish to use two ranged weapons at once (one in each hand), first, you have to use a weapon small enough to be usable one handed; no dual-wielding a pair of assault rifles, please. Next, whichever is your primary hand will be at a -2 to your roll, while your secondary hand will be at a -4.
 
I've been getting into arguments in regards to this, so I'll clear it with The Sherwood. Here is the issue I've been having with other people using the palladium damage system, if a PC say has 1999 SDC and get's hit by one MDC he loses 199 SDC so ends up with 1800 SDC, if I recall we all used the, "Even if you have 1999 SDC you get hit by 1 MDC your chunky salsa", is that how it REALLY works by palladium rules?
 
Even if a person has 2,000 SDC, taking a single MDC point doing effectively 100 SDC is a massive injury to take at one time. I may allow a person in such a situation to still be alive, but you'd have to make some system shock rolls to survive having that much damage done to you in one hit.
 
New House Rule. With any vehicle you have a Pilot and MECT skill in, you get training in Weapon Systems and Sensory Equipment with that particular vehicle for free. However, if you do also purchase the skill, you will get an additional +10% to your roll with that one mecha.
 
Sherwood said:
Even if a person has 2,000 SDC, taking a single MDC point doing effectively 100 SDC is a massive injury to take at one time. I may allow a person in such a situation to still be alive, but you'd have to make some system shock rolls to survive having that much damage done to you in one hit.
Click to expand...
Got it. So now days if you have enough SDC you can survive a hit from a tiny amount of MDC, cooooool... I remember the days I drove ya nuts by walking through a SDC minefield while in an MDC suit... (OUO)
 
New house rule. I am taking a page from Pathfinder and giving you a stat bonus every four levels you go up. Since Robotech has eight stats instead of just six like in Pathfinder, I'll give you two points that you can either split between two attributes or put on a single one. The only maximum is you cannot increase a attribute past 30 with this.
 
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