Palladium system is old school

I was flipping through stars with out numbers and it got me thinking. With so many new nostalgia and retro clones games being written and played based on older edition of D&D and AD&D. This is an excellent time for palladium books to make a resurgence. After all it started as a set of house rules to expand and customize 1e AD&D.

Despite all the internet rumblings about Palladium books, they really have put out a lot of really fun products in the last few years. System failure, Chaos earth, and Splicers, just to name a few.

Despite being known for power gaming paradise the whole character creation processes really is story driven. With a lot of work going into characters background and info.

Palladium system has been in print in one form or another since '83. Very few old school games have gone so long and still using the same system. While some don't like that fact and feel it needs to be updated. Personally I think its great that I just picked up 11 palladium books and as I started flipping through them I'm looking at the exact game I used to run near 15 years ago.  Does it get more nostalgia than that.

It also seems that Palladium books made a recovery from almost going under back in 2005 and was only saved because of its fans. Which is a testament in and of its self as to its fan base. Palladium was at Gen Con this year, first time in a long time. Palladium books is back on track reprinting a lot of its older books and bringing out not just new products but also its in house magazine "The Rifter". Seems Palladium is making its way back on to the gaming market. Maybe its not as big as it once was, But to its fans its a company worth sticking with and fighting for.

Balence of classes in Rifts.

I think one of the big complaints in Rifts is that the OCCs/RCCs are not balanced to each other. While I don't see this as a huge problem myself I guess I can understand how some people look at it. As the GM I usually let the players know what kind of game I'm about to run. I don't feel bad one bit restricting an OOC or RCC if I feel its not with in the power level of the game I want to run. You dont have to allow it just because its in the book.

As a matter of a fact I've been thinking about running a street level game set in chi town. With all street level characters. Imagine a group of bounty hunters ducking coalition patrols. Taking on clandestine missions for one group or another.

I recently picked up chaos earth. Its basically the prequel to Rifts. Set at the beginning of the end of the world. While a lot of the same tech is available the power level of the whole game is a lot lower. Its really a great way to run lower powered games. A lot of OOCs from bionics source book and other books that are considered underpowered for Rifts would be great for Chaos earth. I think a fun game would be to start players as SDC only characters. Sure military gear is out there...but you don't get to just start with it.

ICONS: Agents of Eagle. Part 2.

In my last post here. I posted about this setting I was working on. I thought I would start with character creation. Since I don't want to pigeon hold anyone into playing a cookie cutter character I thought I would just spell out basic archetypes and gear used by agents. And let the players use it as a loose guide.

Agents of Eagle

Eagle is clandestine government agency that deals with things that go bump in the night. The true men in black. The agency has no history, Since it does not exist on paper at all there is no history passed on to new agents. All that is know is that the agency has been around since the 30s. A lot of older cases have influence over work currently being done.

Types of agents.
Command: These agents are leaders. Often experienced (older) agents with well rounded arsenal of skills. Command agents need to have some charisma and social skills. Need to excel in leadership and have at some skills in combat, Tech, and athletics.
Techi: These agents are either computer wizards or grease monkeys. Some are a little of both. Usually young and a bit less experienced than other agents. While the socially awkward nerd is a terrible stereotype. Its also more often than not true.
Field Agents: These agents are the go to guys. They are the most common type of agent in any unit. Often excelling in one area or another, they are more often than not very versatile agents. From high charisma face man to experienced wheel-man. These agents are usually recruited from law enforcement, private investigation, and corporate security outfits.
Tactical: These agents are the hitters. Recruited from elite law enforcement and elite military forces like Swat and navy seals. These agents are always experienced with all kinds of weapons. From hand to hand combat,
firearms, and even melee weapons.

Weapons of the trade:
Agents of eagle are issued a 9mm pistol of their choosing. The most common is the Beretta 92. This weapon is an agents standard sidearm. It is for dealing with mundane threats.

Beretta 92 Pistol (Blast 3)

All agents are also issued a small specialized revolver. This revolver resembles a .38 special. The ammo issued for it are very specialized. From silver bullets to rune ammo. After a lot of experimenting it was found that specialized ammo is way more reliable out of these modified revolvers than auto-loads. Also most agents like to mix types of ammo in speed loaders. This allows the agent to quickly spin the cylinder and choose his ammo in seconds.

Tactical Agents are often issued a The Steyr TMP (Tactical Machine Pistol) in the place of their side arm. This weapon has the same stats as any other 9mm pistol. But is capable of burst and full auto fire.

Command Agents are allowed to trade out their side arm for a custom sawn-off shotgun.

 Custom sawn-off shotgun (Blast 4, up close)

(Blast 3, Medium range, up to 3 close targets.)

(blast 2 for targets up to long range)

All agents are issued and encouraged to wear light body armor under their suits. This armor is designed to be as comfortable as possible. Its even fitted with packs of ICE cooling gel system that keep the agent cool. The right shoulder of the armor has a built in palm sized computer. The comp runs to a button cam on suit. This video feed is fed to command HQs and to the agents glasses giving the agents night vision and protection against blinding flashes. The mini comp also acts as a communicator between agents and a cell phone.

Combat Armor (Armor 3; Communicator; Night Vision, and Flash protection)

And of course all agents are issued a fitted black suit.

Post 3 coming soon.

ICONS: Agents of Eagle.

I'm working on a setting for ICONS Rpg. Its a setting that revolves around a shadowy government agency That stands between us and the darkness. Reading about SIGILS (ICONS RPG swords and sorcery) really got me thinking about using ICONS in other settings other than supers. More to come.

RIFTS skill system.

While I have made it clear I don't see the RIFTS system as broken, I do see them ripe for house ruling. One things I don't like is percentile skill systems. I really would like to make it an attribute roll system. Giving attributes a bigger role in the system. I would love going to a 3d6 roll under attribute system for skills. Until then though I think I got a quick fix.

I'm simply going to convert the percentile system into a d20 system. Every 5% is equal to 1 in 20 on a d20. Simply divide the total skill by 5 and round down.

So if a character has a total value in a skill of 45% then he would have a 9 in that skill. A d20 roll is made trying to roll under the skill just like with the percentile system.

My other Idea I'm still toying with is to tun it around and make it a positive modifier and rolling against a target difficulty set by the GM. This one I need to put some more thought and go over the numbers a few times.

ICONS (SIGILS)

I have been thinking about adapting ICONS to settings other than super heroes. Looks like some one already did a fantasy adaption. Called SIGILS. I'm looking it over now. Really got my wheels turning now.

RIFTS ~Giving it a closer look~

On the surface it seems kind of silly after all this time getting back into Palladium games. Mainly because I have gone to mostly rules lite systems. And Palladium games have a reputation for being complex. But tell you the truth I just reread the rules in Rifts, Chaos earth, Nightbane, System failure and Palladium Fantasy. And I actually find the system rather elegant. And not complex in the slightest.

Here is the basics to combat. Any roll (if you have the weapon proficiency) over 4 is a hit.

Defenders can roll to parry, Dodge or roll with punch/blast.

If its a maga-damage (This is very high tech armor) world, damage is removed from available Maga-damage then strutural damage capacity and next hit points.

If damage is against SDC (structural damage capacity) armor, This is anything from a bullet proof vest to plate mail. It has an armor rating (AR). A roll over 4 but under the AR number the damage goes to armor. If its above the AR number the wearer take the damage.

If the damage is against Natural SDC Like a turtle shell or dragon scale. Rolls below AR do not penetrate the armor. Rolls above AR penetrate and do damage to the armor first. Then to the targets hit points.

I really like this. I like that I can have more than one type of armor. Fighting a dragon with a sword is not the same as firing on a hover tank with a laser rifle. And I know how to resolve a hover tank firing on a dragon.

I'm really digging the fantasy magic systems too. Great to see different flavors of magic.

And yes its a class and level based system. But its doesn't feel like one. There is no real bloat from level to level. Sure you get a few more hit points, Get some hand to hand combat bonuses and your skills get better. But a level one juicer is not really weak compared to a level 10 juicer.

Besides my Unisystem Dresden game I'm really looking forward to some palladium gaming.