Definition / Justifcation: A module is defined as 1/4th of a melee or 3.75 seconds. A module is essentially treated as a miniature melee round. This was devised because I felt that the Palladium system placed too little emphasis on the initiative roll. The module was designed to find a middle ground between the Palladium system and allowing a combatant to make all of their attacks in order of initiative roll (our previous system).

Usage: The number of attacks per melee that a character possesses is divided evenly into each of the four modules, which make up a melee. Any remaining attacks are randomly distributed to a module with a 1d4 roll. Each module is a self-contained combat round. The initiative is rolled at the first module and re-rolled at the beginning of each melee round.  Combat during each module begins with the character with the highest initiative. The character may then use any or all of their attacks for that module. Combat proceeds according to initiative. Any unused attacks for that module are used at the end of the module in order of initiative.

Definition / Justifcation:  Contrary to Palladium’s rules, I find it unbelievable that a vehicle with the ability to auto dodge could do so indefinitely without penalty. The following rules are implemented to correct this fallacy.

Usage: For units that have an autododge, the following rules apply.

1. Autododges occur at the same time as an automatic parry. Therefore the character must decide whether or not he would like to use an autododge or an automatic parry.
2. For every autododge attempted after the first, a cumulative -2 penalty to dodge is applied until the autododge "resets".
3. The autododge "resets" at the beginning of two randomly determined modules in a melee round. The modules in which the autododge "resets" are determined by two 1d4 rolls. Identical rolls are, of course, not allowed and should be re-rolled. The first melee round is an exception to this rule because the autododge is automatically "reset" in the first module, and so only one 1d4 roll should be made.

Example: A Cyclone enters into combat with three Invid Armored Scouts. After determining initiative and         during which modules he gets his extra attacks (if any), he rolls to see when his autododge "resets". The player then rolls one 1d4 roll (this is the first melee round of combat) and this roll results in a 4. This means that the Cyclone’s can autododge, but each dodge will incur penalties until the start of the 4^th module (when his autododge "resets"). Let’s say that the cyclone has used his autododge 4 times when the 3^rd module is finally at an end, and used it once in the fourth. This means that his first dodge had no penalties, the second was at a penalty of –2, the third at –4, and the fourth at –6. The cyclone’s single autododge in the 4^th module was again at no penalty because his autododge "reset".

Description / Justification:   Tilt dodges are described in more detail in the skills description of all Robotech RPG books, but  simply put, a tilt dodge allows the character to dodge without using an attack by making a piloting skill check. Rules are laid out in the Palladium books, but they are inadequate. The most glaring concept is that there are no modifiers to this maneuver due to the attack roll being dodged. The rules that follow further expand upon Palladium’s.

Usage:

Definition / Justification:   Invid inorganics are able to provide an incredible amount of armor protection for their relatively small frames. I feel that Inorganics armor values could not be so high without having some sort of penalty/weakness.

Usage: Invid Inorganic armor tends to be brittle when attacked with armor piercing weapons. This means that any strike roll with a natural 18,19, or 20 will do three times the amount of damage (including missiles)

(I.e. Extended Paired Weapon Usage; Applies to mecha combat only)

Definition / Justification:   In our early roleplaying years, we assumed paired weapons allowed someone to use any type of weapons in a paired fashion. I have decided to continue to use this as a rule, and allow characters to shoot two weapons simultaneously using only one attack. Please note that some mecha-mounted weapons may automatically be fired simultaneously with no penalty. For the rules that follow here, these type of "pre-paired" weapons are considered as one weapon.

Usage: Any player may fire two (or more) weapons at a single target using only one attack. The rules are different for players who have paired weapons and those that do not. These rules apply to beam and projectile weapons, not to missile pods and the like.

Characters with Paired Weapons: Two weapons may be fired together with no penalty. Both these weapons will strike the same location from point blank to short range, and will hit random locations beyond short range.

Firing additional weapons along with the first two:

1. A separate strike roll is made for each additional weapon fired.
2. A cumulative -4 penalty to strike is applied for each weapon.
3. The target is allowed a single autododge that applies to all paired attacks beyond the first two.

Characters without Paired Weapons: Any hits besides the first are applied to random locations.

1. Each weapon fired requires a separate strike roll.
2. The first weapon fired receives a –2 penalty to strike, the second weapon receives a –4 penalty.
3. A cumulative –4 penalty to strike applies to all weapons fired after the first two.
4. The target is allowed a "free" autododge, which applies to all paired weapons fired beyond the first.

Example: A character piloting a VF series veritech in fighter mode decides he would like to fire his GU-11, nose, and head lasers at a pesky Tactical Battle Pod. He will fire his GU-11 "first", followed by his nose and then head lasers. We will use this example in two instances.

Instance 1: Let us assume that this pilot has paired weapons. His attack with the GU-11 and nose lasers will occur in one strike roll. Assuming the strike roll is successful, both these weapons will strike the same location (provided he is within short range). A separate strike roll must be made for the head lasers. This roll receives a –4 strike penalty, and the battle pod may make an autododge against it with no penalties. If the strike succeeds, the head lasers will do damage to a random location. If this pilot had fired one additional weapon (say a wing mounted GU-11), the strike penalty would be –8.

Definition / Justification: I have been unhappy with the way that sprays are defined in Palladium’s system, especially for mecha. Sprays from mecha-mounted weapons are not very specific, and seem to vary from mecha to mecha. There are also percentage chances of hitting innocent bystanders that I feel should be just as high as if you had shot the spray intending to hit them. Here I present rules to replace the Palladium spray rules for "Spraying an area" when in mecha.

Usage:

Example: The pilot of an Alpha fighter decides to fire a medium burst as a spray against 3 Invid Armored Scouts which are rather close to each other. , unfortunately a fellow Cyclone rider in also in close combat with the same Invid foes. The Alpha pilot callously decides that the Cyclone rider can take the damage, and shoots anyway. The Alpha pilot decides that Armored scout #1 will be his "Primary Target", and rolls a strike roll of 10, not too good, but a hit nevertheless. Next, the pilot rolls for damage (1D4x10) and gets a 4 for a total of 40 points of mega-damage. There were a total of 4 targets (don’t forget to include the Cyclone Rider), so each target will receive 10 points of mega-damage if they are hit. The primary target (Armored Scout #1) decides to take the damage and will not attempt a dodge (he would have to use an attack). The first secondary target is randomly determined to be Invid Armored Scout #2 followed by the Cyclone rider, and lastly Invid Armored Scout #3. A penalty of –2 is applied to the strike roll against the first secondary target, making the modified strike roll a total of 8. Armored Scout #2 makes his free autododge but fails, and therefore takes 10 MD. A penalty of –4 is applied to the strike roll against the second secondary target (the Cyclone), making the modified strike roll a total of 6. The cyclone makes his free autododge and succeeds, taking no damage. A penalty of –6 is applied to the strike roll against the third secondary target (Armored Scout #3), making the strike roll a total of 4. This means that this target is missed, and if there were any more targets of the spray, they would have been missed also.

 Definition / Justification:   Missile attacks are a large part of combat in the Robotech universe, but there are some problems with the Palladium missile statistics. The main problem is that there is virtually no reason to take certain types of missiles over others, and so I have devised the following revised missile table.

Usage:

Note: A Ragnarok Medium range missile is only available to Ajax mecha. These are special multi-warhead guided missiles that release eight guided plasma submunitions at a specified proximity to target. These submunitions do 5D6 mega-damage each. For simplicity, for every two submunitions that strikes the target, 1D6*10 MD is done. One strike roll is made for all submunitions, but they must be jammed individually (presuming jamming rules are used). Every group of two submunitions strikes a random location on the target.

Definition / Justication: I feel that Palladium’s rules for dodging missiles are both incorrect and incomplete. I do not see how a mecha can dodge one, two or three missiles with no penalties, but once a volley of four is fired it is impossible to dodge. This seems very unrealistic, and if you watch the T.V. series, you can see volleys of four or more missiles being dodged all the time. You can attribute some of those "dodges" to enemy misses, but it occurs much too often. Another item that Palladium does not specifically address is dodging unguided mini-missiles. What follows are rules to replace and enhance what Palladium presents in their rulebooks.

Dodging unguided missiles: The mini-missile has no active guidance, and therefore is totally dependent on the user to aim and fire it, therefore the following rules will govern mini-missiles:

  Dodging guided missiles: The following rules apply to dodging guided missiles

1. Any ground-based vehicle/mecha can only dodge a maximum of 3 missiles per dodge, as it is confine to a two-dimensional plane.
2. Any air-based vehicle/mecha, or vehicles/mecha with jumping capability, can attempt to dodge any amount of guided missiles shot at it. It may attempt to dodge a volley of up to three missiles without any penalty. If it attempts to dodge over three missiles, each additional missile will incur a –2 penalty to dodge the volley because each missile makes the volley more difficult to dodge. In addition, if the pilot wishes to dodge more than three missiles, he may not use an autododge; he MUST use an attack.
3. A pilot of either a ground-based or an air-based vehicle may attempt to dodge up to three missiles out of a volley of any size without penalty, allowing the remainder of the volley to strike.

Definition / Justification:   I feel that Palladium's rules for shooting missiles down are both incomplete and unrealistic. I do not think that the chance of destroying a volley of missiles should be the same for all types of missiles. I also think that the amount of counter missiles fired should make a difference in the amount of incoming missiles destroyed. This is justified by watching the T.V. series; One sees in the show numerous times where the heroes shoot a plethora of missiles to destroy a volley of missiles aimed at them, e.g. Scott Bernard in 'Symphony of Light'.

Usage: I introduce a new type of missile called simply a "counter" that releases hundreds of tiny bomblets used to fratricide the missiles on contact. These type of missiles are best seen in the 'Macross Plus' series. These missiles do no combat damage, but are the most effective type of counter to incoming missiles. The following table is used to determine the number of missiles destroyed per counter missile fired (Table 2). The type of counter missile used (Table 1) and the difference in the two strike rolls also affects the results (Table 2).

Table 1

Table 2

Notes:

• MAR = Modified Attack Roll of the assailing missile volley. (i.e. roll +3 for normal guided missiles)
• MDR = Modified attack Roll of the Defending missile volley. (i.e. roll +3 for normal guided missiles)
• Assailing volley is composed of mini missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted one row down, i.e. subtract 2 from the MAR.
• Defending volley is composed of mini missiles: Shifts final results one row up, i.e. subtract 2 from the MDR.
• Assailing volley is composed of medium missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted one row up, i.e. add 2 to the MAR.
• Defending volley is composed of medium missiles: Shifts final results one row down, i.e. add 2 to the MDR
• Assailing volley is composed of long missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted two rows up, i.e. add 4 to the MAR.
• Defending volley is composed of long missiles: Shifts final two rows down, i.e. add 4 to the MDR.
• A natural 20 rolled for the assailing volley can only be destroyed with another natural 20 rolled by the defending volley; otherwise all missiles in the assailing volley hit. If a natural 20 is rolled for the defending volley, consult the 0+ chart for Type A counter missiles to determine how many missiles are destroyed (missile types do not matter in this case)

Definition /  Justication:  I don’t think that Palladium's system for shooting missiles down with guns is entirely realistic.  Here I devise rules which take into account the type of weapon used and the skill of the defender in the results of the defense. The rules I have devised are somewhat similar to the rules for shooting missiles down with missiles, and appear below.

Usage: The rules for shooting missiles down with guns vary depending on whether the defender uses a burst weapon or a single shot weapon. Whether using a burst weapon or a single shot weapon, the attack must still destroy at least one missile in order to use these rules. All fractional results are rounded down from .5 and below.

Notes:

• MAR = Modified Attack Roll of the assailing missile volley. (i.e. roll +3 for normal guided missiles)
• MDR = Modified attack Roll of the Defending burst. (i.e. roll + strike bonus of pilot)
• Assailing volley is composed of mini missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted one row down, i.e. subtract 2 from the MAR.
• Assailing volley is composed of medium missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted one row up, i.e. add 2 to the MAR.
• Assailing volley is composed of long missiles: All results from the defender's volley are shifted two rows up, i.e. add 4 to the MAR.
• A natural 20 rolled for the assailing volley can only be destroyed with another natural 20 rolled by the defending burst; otherwise all missiles in the assailing volley hit. If the defender rolls a natural 20, the assailing volley is destroyed.

Definition / Justication: I have never been completely satisfied with Palladium's strike roll system. There is a reference to a strike bonus for point-blank range, but no other modifications for range seem to exist. Apparently Palladium thinks that a shot just beyond point-blank range is just as likely to strike the target as a shot at extreme range. I don't believe that this is correct, so I have implemented the following range rules to make these situations more realistic.

Usage: Use the following chart for applying strike bonuses or penalties due to range. Consult this table only for non-missile weapons and for unguided missiles. These bonuses also apply to the number at which the target is missed. This means that if a +1 bonus is applied here, an attack hits on a 4-20, but if a -1 penalty is applied, attacks only strike on 6-20.

Definition / Justication: I think that the rules needed to "call a shot" on a specific location needs some improvement. In addition to the range argument laid down above, almost no consideration is taken for the size of the location that the attacker is attempting to strike. The rules that follow address these issues.

Usage: For making called shots against any mecha-sized target, use the following tables. The target must be within short range for a called shot to be made. Please note that if the target is in point-black range, a +1 bonus to strike is applied, and this modifies the threshold numbers required to strike (see range rules above). There are also some terms used in the tables which need to be defined:

• Servo: Main Body, arms, and legs
• Location: Head, hands, upper/lower legs, feet, pilot's compartment (fighter, guardian), and gun pods
• Instrument: Sensor Eyes, fingers, and other small items

In addition, the required strike rolls listed below are for natural and modified rolls. This means that the lower of the two numbers is used when consulting the table below.

Definition / Justication: The use of nuclear weapons in Robotech has always been problematic. Nuclear weapons Justification: were most likely used during the Robotech wars, however, the use of atomics can be extremely unbalancing. I have calculated what I believe is realistic mega-damage for nuclear weapons, and the formulae are listed below.

Usage: The damage done by nuclear weapons to both mecha and spacecraft is listed below.  Where kilotonnes is the yield of the weapon and r is the radius from the center in meters.

Mecha:

• MDC in space = (kilotonnes*10^4)/(r^2)*(1d4*100) MDC
• MDC in atmosphere =  (kilotonnes*10^4)/(r^2)*Exp(-r/750)*(1d4*100) MDC

Spacecraft:

• MDC in space = (kilotonnes*10^4)/(r^2)*(1d4*10) MDC/m^2
• MDC in atmosphere =  (kilotonnes*10^4)/(r^2)*Exp(-r/750)*(1d4*10) MDC/m^2

Please note that r is the radius, in meters, from the center of the blast. Also note that the above formulae listed for spacecraft calculates mega-damage in MD per square meter.

The exponential component in the atmosphere is added to provide a rough estimate for the attenuation of the blast in the atmosphere.  For mecha, total the damage and then divide it into 50 MD increments. Roll random location locations for all 50 MD "packets". Any mecha caught in the blast are also allowed to attempt a roll with the punch. Furthermore all nuclear missile attacks the players make should be done in secret to add to the suspense.

Example: A 100 kilotonne nuclear device explodes in a city, and catches an Alpha veritech in the blast. Assuming the veritech was 500 meters away from the center of the blast when it was struck, and that it failed to roll with the punch, the damage to the veritech is…

1,000,000/500^2*[e(-500/750)]*(1D4*100 MD) = (4)*(.51342)*(1D4*100 MD) = 1D4*205 MD.

Definition / Justication:   When our group initially began to play the Robotech RPG, there was a bit of confusion as to how rolling with punches was performed. Did rolling require an attack or not? We initially decided that rolling with a blow did not require an attack, but over time (and by reading subsequent RPG's released by Palladium) we have come to realize that Palladium intended for rolling to require an attack, except under special circumstances. I have decided to stand the middle ground between our initial interpretation, and the actual intent; After all, if rolling with a blow requires an attack, the character might as well dodge it.

Usage: A player, in mecha or not, receives two "free" rolls every melee round, one during the first two modules and one during the last two. A player may use these "free" rolls at any time he chooses, but will be made aware that any subsequent rolls until either the 3^rd module or the beginning of the next melee round will require an attack to perform. In addition, rolls may be declared after a dodge has failed, if the player has the attacks or the "free" roll available.

Definition / Justication:   I think that the damage given in the Palladium books for physical attacks from mecha is  ridiculous. I find it hard to believe that a normal punch from a cyclone does 1D4 MD, but a punch from a Vindicator only does 1D6. To correct these errors, I have devised a set of rules that will handle physical combat between mecha with a little more realism.

Usage: All mecha will be classified by size, giving us a general idea of the power of a physical attack. Some mecha, such as the Gladiator series of mecha, will be classified as "power" mecha and given a larger amount of damage than its size would indicate. There will also be other combat bonuses and penalties due to combat with mecha not of equal size. First, I will define a few terms that are essential to this rule.

Table 1:  Mecha Size

"Power Mecha": The following mecha are considered to be one size larger than they are for the purposes of calculating damage only: RDF Gladiator, REF Gladiator, Beta Fighter, Hovertank, Zentraedi Male Power Armor.

Table 2:  Physical Combat Damage

Physical Combat Damage (all values are multiplied by 3) All bladed weapons do the damage specified in Palladium’s rules multiplied by three.

Columns denote the size of the attacking mecha, rows denote the defending mecha

Table 5a:  Damage from physical attacks

Table 5b:  Damage from bladed weapons

MAR is the total attack roll after all bonuses are added; MDR is the total parry roll after same

Notes: A strike roll of a natural twenty means that the target will be hit unless the target mecha also rolls a natural twenty. If the target mecha rolls a natural twenty on a parry, it takes no damage whatsoever, no matter what the strike roll of the attacking mecha happens to be or whether the attacking mecha is using a bladed weapon or not.

Definition / Justication:  I have come to think that personal combat, at least with projectile and energy weapons has become  a bit too deadly. This is especially so with the release of the 2^nd and 3^rd generation equipment which can do a substantial amount of mega-damage for personal weapons. Although this is somewhat acceptable in instances when personnel are assaulting mecha, it is very, very deadly when the combat becomes person to person. To combat this problem, I am allowing personnel to have an autododge.

Usage: All human sized, unpowered units receive an autodoge that functions in almost all respects as an autododge from a mecha. There are two differences.

1. There is a penalty of -4 to dodge for the first attempt to autododge, and a cumulative -4 penalty to dodge for every attempt thereafter until the autododge "resets".
2. The autododge for personnel "resets" at the beginning of every module.

Definition / Justication:   Palladium has not seriously addressed partial cover in its rules for robotech, so here I create my own.

Usage: If a player has partial cover (i.e. Partially hiding behind some obstacle) and the random hit locations indicate that the attack hit in an area that is covered, then the bullet will first strike the material behind which the player is hiding. Note this does not necessarily mean that the player takes no damage. This rule also may apply to mecha combat, particularly ground-based units, but is most applicable here.

Definition / Justication: I have never liked the rules Palladium presents for burst fire weapons. According to their rules, a certain percentage of the clip is fired, and a fixed amount of damage is done. I have never liked this because this means that for a weapon with a 10 round clip, 2 shots are fired for each short burst doing 2x damage for one round; In other words, all rounds fired always hit. Conversely, for a weapon with a 100 round clip 20 rounds are fired in a short burst, doing the same damage as a burst of two rounds. This means that only 10% of the total rounds fired strike the target, with the only potential difference being the size of the clip used. I find this unrealistic and unacceptable, and so follows our new rule. These rules can be applied to mecha sized weapons as well, and will be used if there is any doubt, however most mecha sized burst weapons already state the amount of rounds fired and the total damage for many of the weapons.

Usage:

• Short Burst x2 damage, fires 3 rounds
• Long Burst x5 damage, fires 10 rounds
• Full melee burst round x (rounds in magazine/2.5), fires entire magazine

If a weapon does not have the ammunition in its clip to fire the number of rounds listed, it may not be used to fire that type of burst. If there is a conflict between any two burst types, use the most damaging of the two.

Definition / Justication:  In an effort to make personal combat slightly less deadly and a bit more realistic, I have devisedspecial rules for dodging bursts. When a single shot is fired at a target, the target either dodges the shot or he fails to dodge it. When a burst is fired at a target, I think that there is a range of effectiveness, that is the dodge may succeed against a few rounds of the burst, but a few rounds will still strike the target as well. There are no rules in the Palladium system to account for this phenomenon, so I have created them. Please note that these rules may be applied to mecha combat as well, but I feel that they are most needed in personal combat.

Usage: If a player attempts to dodge a burst, and the dodge roll is equal to or greater than the strike roll, he still dodges the entire burst. If his dodge roll fails, damage is calculated as follows.

Burst damage * (strike roll-dodge roll)*10% = total burst damage inflicted on the target.

Please note that if a target does not dodge, full burst damage is inflicted it the target is struck.