I really don't like the Palladium system, but I have the original Robotech, Ninjas and Superspies, and Mystic China. I'll eventually get the new Robotech stuff. I really like the Eric Wujcik stuff.

So my question is... what are the best books produced by Palladium? What's good and worthwhile?

TMNT and other strangeness, After the Bomb, Heros Unlimited, and Rifts.

What makes Heroes Unlimited any good? How does it compare to TSR's Marvel game or M&M?

Palladium Fantasy 1st Edition, Mystic China, and the Mechanoids.

Let me rephrase the question. What's good and why?

Quote from: brettmb;262095Let me rephrase the question. What's good and why?

I view the Palladium core system as D20 for combat, percentile for skills and everything else is hand-wavium.  Its a bit of adjustment to say "balance doesn't matter" and keep playing, but once you do, their games are a lot of fun.  My favs are Mechanoids, Nightbane, Rifts and Splicers.    

Mechanoids was Kevin's first RPG and the rules are very simple, about the same difficulty as Star Frontiers.   The Mechanoids are great villains and the game has a strong sense of high drama.

Nightbane is WoD with double the action, half the angst.  

Rifts is the ultimate kitchen sink RPG.   Many of the worldbooks have tremendous flavor and just scream out for adventures.   I suggest flipping through Wormwood, Atlantis and Madhaven.

Splicers is BioGuyver + Terminator + Dune.   You are augmented humans wearing living powered armor battling against an overwhelming army of killer robots while dodging the political issues within your Great House.   Easily more creative scifi setting I have seen since Fading Suns.

If you want more info on any of these four games, ask away.  I am very clear on the ups and downs of Palladium games.   Their strength is their setting, not their system.  My strong support of them is based on how much fun I have running their games for full tables at conventions where everyone had a laugh out loud good time.

TMNT&OS/AtB is their best game. New Robotech is their best rulebook (and a pretty decent RPG itself).

TMNT is awesome for it 's quick, varied and highly entertaining character creation system. It also holds the distinction of being Level based but not class based.

Robotech is the best rulebook because it finally presents the Palladium system in a way it can be understood your first time reading it. Finally, Palladiums only weakness (in my opinion), has been patched.

On the whole, I like that you can mix and match bits and peices from every game book. The combat is fast and furious. Every book and setting is vibrant and full of adventure!

Palladium fantasy is held in pretty high esteem by others. I don't like it, but I think it has more to do with the genre then anything else (I'm mostly put off by fantasy in general, save for the Hobbit, Terry Pratchett and Amber).

Heroes unlimited I think is awesome fr the same reason's TMNT is: Entertaining varied and easy character creation. You can have a whole group ready to go in an hour. Not the same in Mutants and Masterminds. Also, you can't die or lose in Mutant's and Masterminds, so there's no real threat of danger.

TMNT & Other Strangeness is their best game, though it really benefits from also having Ninjas & Superspies and Beyond the Supernatural handy to pull encounters from.

Heroes Unlimited is pretty crappy, but useful for supplementing TMNT.  If you're actually looking for a supers system, and HU seems appealing, I would check out Villains & Vigilantes instead.

TMNT is probably Palladium's best game.  The goofiness of the genre covers up a lot of the goofiness of the system.  Palladium Fantasy is also very good for a D&D alternative.  Robotech is great because it gives you information to play in the Robotech universe.  After playing or at least being familiar with a number of Palladium games, Heroes Unlimited is great because it gives you a pretty decent tool kit to customize your other Palladium games.  A number of people say the same about Ninjas and Superspies and Mystic China.  Rifts is a great setting but amps the benefits and the problems of the system to 11 for trying to incorporate so many genre specific rules with the universal core rules into one game.  

Palladium's genre specific books are fairly good footnotes and outlines for creating a campaign within the genre.  Heroes Unlimited gives you the tools to fine tune the game to you and your gaming group's preference.  I probably wouldn't suggest Heroes Unlimited over Marvel or other superhero games, but it is one of the few Palladium products I haven't been able to give up for it's potential to supplement other products I like better like Robotech or TMNT.

Quote from: brettmb;262093What makes Heroes Unlimited any good? How does it compare to TSR's Marvel game or M&M?

In a straight super hero game. M&M 2nd ed, is better. I think it handles the genre better. But HU can be a be a very fun game. I think it captures the feel of a hero game very well. Not to mention Heros Unlimited is pretty much the only book you need to run any kind of game using the Pally system. Besides supers games, I've used it run Mecha games, Supernatural Hunters, and sorts of stuff.

Although I disagree with KrakJak about ease of character creation. Its not hard mind you it just takes a little time. My experience has been opposite, with M&M being quick, and pally taking a while.

For me, TMNTaOS is one of the five top games ever made. The character generation is a total blast - Bio-E is brilliant, and the sheer in-your-face-exuberance and joy of the game shines through on every page. This is what Palladium does best, BTW - attitude! After the Bomb is basically TMNT without the IP issues and is also awesome, though not quite as much as TMNTaOS!

The other games I use as filler for TMNT games.

-clash

Systems Failure was a hoot - the Y2k bug turned out to be extra-dimensional bug-shaped aliens that can convert into energy.  10 years later, humanity is a hunted slave race ready for rebellion.

Is there anything at all good in Pallladium Fantasy? Is the system pretty much the same in all books?

It's not horrible, but like any game you'll take some stuff, and leave some stuff. Since you're not really sold on the system, and who can blame you, it comes down to whether anything in the setting catches your attention. TMNT has a great eighties feel, and is fun in a over the top sort of way. (Same goes for Ninjas&Superspies, and Rifts.) I don't the Palladium Fantasy game is the worst game out there, but I certainly wouldn't use it full time.

Quote from: brettmb;262299Is there anything at all good in Pallladium Fantasy? Is the system pretty much the same in all books?

I could see Palladium fantasy being an awesome alternative to AD&D. At least at the time. A bunch of crazy Monster races, a re-tooled Alignment system (which is the same alignment system in all Palladium games). Different magic system. The best Armor mechanic in a RPG ever. However, I didn't read Palladium fantasy till 2007 and it didn't do much better than anything that hadn't come since.

As for your second question, yes the rulesets are basically the same across all of the books. There are two different flavors of rules, Mega-Damage (Rifts, Robotech) and SDC (Standard Damage Capacity - TMNT&OS, Palladium Fantasy). Some games have their own genre specific rules.

RIFTS has it all the genre specific rules mashed together.