Re: your favorite palladium setting
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 8:45 pm
Man, this is such a simple question, and I'm going to give a ridiculously long answer.
My favorite setting is my own, Robotech: Mauve Squadron, which mixes Macross-setting Robotech with Paranoia, a non-Palladium game, and adds Morlocks. I got into Palladium because I was a kid in love with Robotech, and it has a place deep in my heart. That said, I need to make fun of it, because it's totally ridiculous.
I think Ninjas and Superspies brought Palladium's clunky rules into something beyond a D&D clone, and whenever I've looked at any other game's combat, I've always compared it to N&S's baseline. They never come close.
Rifts could have taken that beautiful combat system and my love of Robotech, and created the ultimate techno-horror rpg masterpiece. I think, unfortunately, that Rifts is now too messy to play - or even explain. You can have too much of a good thing.
Heroes Unlimited, despite its ironic limitations, works beautifully with N&S's advanced combat system. I played a lot of superhero games, and HU always worked best, perhaps because it so limited characters initially that you had to emphasize thinking and character.
Palladium Fantasy, 1st E. is the only fantasy game that's peaked my curiosity. It's raw medieval approach combined with the no-SDC rule made it dirty and deadly. The more I read about the world, unfortunately, the less interested I got. My players liked moving our campaign over to PF rules from D&D 4e, but struggled to understand Palladium's very different mindset, and I think (unfairly) felt handicapped, because their all-too-cool combat moves suddenly disappeared and they had to think their way through encounters.
My favorite setting is my own, Robotech: Mauve Squadron, which mixes Macross-setting Robotech with Paranoia, a non-Palladium game, and adds Morlocks. I got into Palladium because I was a kid in love with Robotech, and it has a place deep in my heart. That said, I need to make fun of it, because it's totally ridiculous.
I think Ninjas and Superspies brought Palladium's clunky rules into something beyond a D&D clone, and whenever I've looked at any other game's combat, I've always compared it to N&S's baseline. They never come close.
Rifts could have taken that beautiful combat system and my love of Robotech, and created the ultimate techno-horror rpg masterpiece. I think, unfortunately, that Rifts is now too messy to play - or even explain. You can have too much of a good thing.
Heroes Unlimited, despite its ironic limitations, works beautifully with N&S's advanced combat system. I played a lot of superhero games, and HU always worked best, perhaps because it so limited characters initially that you had to emphasize thinking and character.
Palladium Fantasy, 1st E. is the only fantasy game that's peaked my curiosity. It's raw medieval approach combined with the no-SDC rule made it dirty and deadly. The more I read about the world, unfortunately, the less interested I got. My players liked moving our campaign over to PF rules from D&D 4e, but struggled to understand Palladium's very different mindset, and I think (unfairly) felt handicapped, because their all-too-cool combat moves suddenly disappeared and they had to think their way through encounters.