Quote from: Dumarest;960622You guys are costing me money. I just ordered Robotech: The Macross Saga for $9.99. It's really only the first series I was into...the other two with the tanks and motorbikes seemed a little off to me.

It's supposed to arrive on May 5th...now if I can only find time to watch it. I've never seen the whole series from beginning to end.  It was broadcast on TV here in the mid-1980s and I only discovered it after it was already a couple of episodes in. When I get to see it, it will be my first time in a way and the first Robotech I've seen in over 30 years.

As much as I love Robotech, it hasn't aged well. Or maybe my patience for english dubs that havecharactersconstantlytalkingaboutinnaneshitinordertomakethelipsynchingworkout is much less.

So I bid on a copy of the Palladium Robotech RPG on eBay. If it doesn't go over my maximum and I win it, what other books are useful? I used to have 4 or 5 different books, or between us in our group we did, and I seem to recall some sort of "RDF Manual" but don't remember what was in it.

What I'd be interested in is material covering the first of the three series, the one with the SDF-1 and the Veritech fighters. I'm not super interested in Southern Cross or the Next Generation (is that what the motorcycle one was called?). Are there any books aside from the main RPG book that you think are essential, or if not essential (what is?) would be handy to have?

Quote from: Dumarest;960719So I bid on a copy of the Palladium Robotech RPG on eBay. If it doesn't go over my maximum and I win it, what other books are useful? I used to have 4 or 5 different books, or between us in our group we did, and I seem to recall some sort of "RDF Manual" but don't remember what was in it.

What I'd be interested in is material covering the first of the three series, the one with the SDF-1 and the Veritech fighters. I'm not super interested in Southern Cross or the Next Generation (is that what the motorcycle one was called?). Are there any books aside from the main RPG book that you think are essential, or if not essential (what is?) would be handy to have?

I like the Zentraedi sourcebook. It's got stats and illustrations for a few things left out of the main RPG, like the big scout craft. Oh, and the Zentraedi capital ships.
RDF Manual and the adventures like Ghost Ship, eh. I can live without them.

What is the "plot," as it were, of "Ghost Ship"? Is that the only adventure module?

Quote from: Dumarest;960738What is the "plot," as it were, of "Ghost Ship"? Is that the only adventure module?

It's been so long, I could only give you the boilerplate from the back of the book. The other adventure I remember is Lancer's Rockers. Which is kind of amusing in that it has rules for using instruments as sonic weapons with mecha. I don't think we ever played them, which is why I put them in the "meh" category.

I'll take the boilerplate. At least it will give me an inkling. The cover tells me nothing except maybe it's in space and I'm guessing the PCs come across an abandoned or seemingly abandoned ship.

Quote from: Dumarest;960767I'll take the boilerplate. At least it will give me an inkling. The cover tells me nothing except maybe it's in space and I'm guessing the PCs come across an abandoned or seemingly abandoned ship.

I actually flipped through the used copy at my local shop last night, to refresh my memory. It's mostly a space dungeon set in a Zentraedi scout ship, post-final battle with Dolza's fleet. So it's full of loyal Zentraedi trying to fix up their ship, and the PCs investigate, because the Z's are making raids in the area for supplies.. Lots of small details about the ship's systems that the PCs might play around with, and the deck plans for reference. I didn't have time to find out what the "plot" was, beyond that.
You know, it could be the nucleus for a good campaign if the GM is willing to flesh out and expand the material.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;960843I actually flipped through the used copy at my local shop last night, to refresh my memory. It's mostly a space dungeon set in a Zentraedi scout ship, post-final battle with Dolza's fleet. So it's full of loyal Zentraedi trying to fix up their ship, and the PCs investigate, because the Z's are making raids in the area for supplies.. Lots of small details about the ship's systems that the PCs might play around with, and the deck plans for reference. I didn't have time to find out what the "plot" was, beyond that.
You know, it could be the nucleus for a good campaign if the GM is willing to flesh out and expand the material.

Hey, that actually sounds like a pretty cool starting point.

Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?

Quote from: Dumarest;960864Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?

Some adventures that are structured around a novice Veritech Pilot's first missions, including an actual training SIM mission or two IIRC. It wasn't fantastic or necessary. I think I have it somewhere in the basement, along with the rest of my Robotech books I purchased in the early 90s. I will never, ever play that system, but those books are pure nostalgia for me.

Quote from: Coffee Zombie;960944Some adventures that are structured around a novice Veritech Pilot's first missions, including an actual training SIM mission or two IIRC. It wasn't fantastic or necessary. I think I have it somewhere in the basement, along with the rest of my Robotech books I purchased in the early 90s. I will never, ever play that system, but those books are pure nostalgia for me.

Or you could sell your nostalgia books. I'd be interested.

 I didn't know they were still making them into the '90s!

RDF accelerated training programming was the title I think. Just like Robotech I will probably never fun Rifts yet they make for decent reading imo.

Quote from: Dumarest;960579What sort of things did the PCs do? Were they all military and flying transforming jets? Were there any Lynn Minmay types or was that an NPC job? I'd like to know because our games never got far past the rogue Zentraedi post-big-battle era on earth. Which was pretty cool.

They were all RDF, some were destroid pilots, some veritech, one or two were other. They gradually rose up the ranks so that they were important officers in the Sentinels expedition, then big-time guys for the liberation of Earth from the Invid.

Quote from: RPGPundit;961559They were all RDF, some were destroid pilots, some veritech, one or two were other. They gradually rose up the ranks so that they were important officers in the Sentinels expedition, then big-time guys for the liberation of Earth from the Invid.

I guess that makes sense over ten years.  

What kind of death rate did you have?

Quote from: Dumarest;960864Does anyone know what's in the "RDF Accelerated Training Program" book?

It's a series of connected tests and trials to train new mecha pilots. It can also be used as a Top Gun type thing.  The scenarios range from computer simulator combat in order to become more acquanted with the various weaponry of your mecha, to live-fire adventures.  I played through it and also ran it way back in the day. It's pretty good.

I'd say the Zentraedi sourcebook and the RDF Manual are really the only "essential" sourcebooks, if you're just looking at the Macross Saga. Zentraedi Breakout is interesting for world info and adventure plots. Strike Force has an interesting adventure but the new mecha are pretty lame. New World Order takes place in Africa and is essentially an adventure module, with lots of conspiracy investigation and role playing outside of mecha. As someone else already said, Ghost Ship is basically a dungeon crawl inside a Zentraedi ship.

Palladium didn't do anything that I recall to support Southern Cross in the way of source books.

Everything else (Invid Invasion, Return of the Masters, Lancer's Rockers) is for the third series, other than Sentinels which had a cool premise but also got no support other than a crappy art book.