Sample file An alien menace descends upon the SDF-1 in droves. You, your friends, and the might of Robotechnology are the only things that stand between them and seventy thousand innocent civilians. Do not expect to make it home. Do not expect to see your friends again. Do whatever it takes to ensure humanity’s future. Welcome to Robotech. Sample file Robotech: The Macross Saga The Roleplaying Game 1st Edition - Version1.0 Game Design: Jeff Mechlinski Scenario Writing: Bryan Young Illustrations: Francisco Etchart Copy Editor: Keith Garrett Lore Editor / Contributing Writing: Martin Hanze Narrative Rules: Oscar Simmons ASC Logo: Dave Killingsworth Special Thanks: Ryan Call, Chris Czerniak, Darius Hambleton, Jeff Lyons, Mike Hamilton, Alex Rothbaum, Nathan Shaw, Mike Lent, Aaron Bryant, Jeff Rossiter, Leigh George Kade, Mark Middlemas,Sergio Garcia Troyano, Ian Gray, Henry Walters, Alexander Miller, Robert Jeppesen, Thomas Walters, Justin Grulke, Jeff Farrar, Paul Bachleda, Juan Francisco Torres & The Ancient Papichulos, Deanna Buhlman, Jessica Frost, Blake Sheets Our Gen Con 2019 Players. Special Acknowledgement: Carl Macek, Tommy Yune, Noboru Ishiguro, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, Shoji Kawamori, and Haruhiko Mikimoto. ROBOTECH © 1985, 2019 Harmony Gold USA, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ROBOTECH®, MACROSS®, and all associated names, characters and related indicia are trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ISBN Digital 13: 978-1-988943-79-4 ISBN Physical 13: 978-1-988943-80-0 SampleStrange Machine Games, LLC; 2019 file www. strange machine games .com Table of Introduction 7 Skills & Talents 57 United Earth Defense What is Robotech 8 Challenges 58 Forces 91 Your First Steps 8 Challenge Types 58 Robotech Vessels 92 Designer Note 8 Failure 58 Vessel Basics 92 Rolling Dice 9 Timeframe 59 General Naval Loadouts 92 Learn to Play Fast 9 Special Challenge Options 60 General Mecha Loadouts 93 Robotech Universe Basics 9 Challenge Difficulties 60 UEDF Vessels 94 Game Basics 10 Heroic Moves 61 SDF-1 94 Game Design 10 Being Heroic 61 UEDF Naval Vessels 97 Key Terms 10 Skills 62 UEDF Space Veritechs 98 Robotechnology 12 Using Skills 62 Prototype Veritech Fighter 98 Creating a Hero 14 Skill Quick List 64 First Generation Veritechs 99 Understanding Your Hero 14 Skill List 66 Veritech Upgrades 102 Build Sequence 16 Talents 76 Second Generation Veritechs 106 Race 17 Using Talents 76 UEDF Destroids 108 Careers 18 Leadership 76 UEDF Space Vehicles 114 Archetype Suggestions 25 Piloting 78 UEDF Ground Veritech 116 Nature 26 Social 79 UEDF Vehicles 117 Rank & Fame 27 Tactical 81 UEDF Gear 121 Hero Progression 30 Technical 82 Basic Light Gear 121 Stress 33 Engagements & Encounters 83 Mecha Upgrades 123 Drama 33 Gear & Kits 84 Companions 125 FatigueSample34 Environments 86 file Burnout 34 Use the World 86 Mental Break 35 Officer Stations 86 Recovery 35 Entertainment Venues 88 Iconic Characters 36 Terrain Tactics 89 4 Contents The Zentraedi 127 Conflicts 153 Scenarios 187 Zentraedi Vessels 128 Game Rounds 154 Discovery 189 Way of Life 128 0. Conflict Description 154 Timeline 190 Zentraedi Naval Vessels 129 1. Communication Phase 154 Scenario 0 194 Zentraedi Base Ship 134 2. Getting the Drop 155 The Cauldron 194 Zentraedi Pods 138 3. Take Action 155 Scenario 1 198 Zentraedi Power Armor 143 4. Slowed 157 Genesis 198 Zentraedi Utility Craft 144 Initiative 157 Scenario 2 208 Malcontent Stingers 146 Actions 158 Battle Cry 208 Zentraedi Gear 148 Combat 160 Scenario 3 222 Weapons 148 Weapons & Damage 160 Homecoming 222 Armor 149 Structure 161 Scenario 4 226 Mecha Upgrades 150 Wounds 163 Battle Hymn 226 Zentraedi Stress & Fame 151 Combat Rules 164 Scenario 5 230 Zentraedi Stress 151 Ranges and Speed 166 Wedding Bells & Force of 230 Zentraedi Fame & Wealth 151 Commanding Subordinates 167 Arms High Lethality Mode 168 Scenario 6 Conflicts 169 Reconstruction & 238 Swarms 169 Doomsday Bosses 170 Scenario 7 250 Naval Vessels 171 Malcontent Uprising 250 Social 172 Alternate Scenario Ideas 254 SampleEnvironmental 173 Character Sheetfile256 Game Play 175 Conflict Cards 258 Narrative Rules 179 GM Track Sheet 259 Simulation Rules 181 Index 260 Example of Play 182 5 Sample file 6 Introduction First Time I’ll be honest, I wasn’t impressed the first time I saw a Veritech. It was back at the Launch Day • What is Robotech: 8 event my big brother had invited me to. I didn’t even want to go. Why would I? It was just a big • Game Basics: 10 parade for the war we’d be fighting all over again if my guesses were correct. Being from the circus, • Robotechnology: 12 I thought I’d upstage those clowns with a simple booster climb in my fanjet. I did, but that wasn’t the • Creating a Hero: 14 point. When Roy decided to show me the inside of one of those Veritechs, I knew that it was a lot more • Careers: 18 complicated than I realized. When the Zentraedi attack happened, I was scared stiff. I still give Lisa hell for sending me into battle • Nature: 26 that day, but I had a new respect for Robotechnology and what it could do, even if I didn’t quite realize it • Rank & Fame: 27 right then. It’s been years and years, but every time I mention Launch Day, Lisa is still mortified. It’s the • Hero Progression: 30 best way to tease her. Since that fateful day when Breetai’s force • Stress: 33 arrived, I’ve learned what an awesome force it is... awe-inspiring. You can’t look at a Robotech ship and • Iconic Characters: 36 not have your breath taken away. And really, it was Robotech that saved humanity. It’s the only thing that kept us alive through the dark years, on the run from the Zentraedi and fighting them as Malcontents. What I tell new pilots under my command is to learn what makes Robotechnology tick. Gain a respect for it. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be a sitting duck. And who knows what waits for us as we embark on our journey to Tirol; we need to be readySample for anything. file Taken from the journals of Admiral Rick Hunter 7 What is Robotech? Your First Steps For those of you taking your first step into the world of Designer Note Robotech, welcome. For the rest of you: welcome back, old friends. Robotech is a hugely popular animated television Thank you for supporting the Robotech: Macross Saga show from the 1980s that brought a love of mecha combat to Roleplaying Game. We hope you enjoy your stay. Robotech the United States. It ran for three seasons and was rewritten was ahead of its time. It was the first real anime brought to and reformatted by Carl Macek and Harmony Gold from three the US market that had a deep story, gritty action, and a focus pre-existing and unrelated animated series from Japan. on interpersonal relationships. We watched in amazement as we saw the characters in the series grow, flourish, change, and even die. As kids, this type of show was what we’d been waiting for. Now, the series has returned and is widely available so younger generations are now learning what Robotech is, and learning to love it. The show’s story and animation still hold up, even though it originally aired in the mid-1980s. There’s no other explanation for why it’s still a cultural phenomenon. It tells the story of the survivors of a war-torn Earth after an alien spaceship crash lands on the planet. All the countries of the world spend a decade putting aside their differences and devoting their resources to repairing the ship and reverse engineering all of its strange technology. But they knew that an alien invasion was imminent. The ship, referred to by the people of Earth as the SDF-1 – Super Dimensional Fortress 1 – had been involved in a battle and it had been chased to Earth. It would only be a matter of time before the alien aggressors returned. It took ten years for the Zentraedi to catch up to the SDF-1. On a day that was supposed to be a celebration, when human scientists had chosen to launch the SDF-1 back into space, the Zentraedi arrived and the lives of those on Earth and those aboard the ship would never be the same again. Robotech is about more than this dramatic tale of survival and action, though. It’s about people, too, and how they cope with these extraordinary situations, how they find love and It has been a dream of ours to bring our vision of Robotech deal with death and loss. It’s also about how culture and love to a tabletop roleplaying game. We didn’t want to make a and understanding can be a valid pathway to ending a war. book that was just a book, but something that was worthy of The Robotech Roleplaying Game aims to give players of all such an amazing show. We made a game that encompasses levels of interest to tell whatever sorts of stories they want everything Robotech. Here you can pilot any Mecha that was inside the world of Robotech during the Macross Saga. Future in the Macross series, be an officer on the SDF-1’s bridge, or editions and supplements will give you everything you need play an entertainer who emboldens the crew. Pick up and play to play in the other eras of Robotech. your favorite heroes from the show, or make your own. You can even play a Zentraedi villain or an UEDF defector. You’ll be able to play as any of the classic heroes from the Macross Saga, from Rick Hunter, Roy Fokker, and Claudia As much as the show is fun and dynamic, we’ve worked to Grant to Azonia, Khyron, and anyone else you can think of.