What makes Palladium Palladium?

[Marrowlight]

100% the setting; and to be fair, 100% the raw material of the setting that I then bastardize into my own. I genuinely could not care less about the rules, and I tend to rewrite a ton of them.

[Natasha]

Pretty much the setting. The rules that I like are the ones integrated into the setting; the other rules don't really attract or repel me.

[Probitas]

EVERYTHING! ING ING ING ING ing ing ing ing ng ng g g ...

Most games have preset antagonists that are always NPC, you are the other side of the conflict, so no room for much growth and exploration of the conflict.

Other games are structured where everyone gets along with everyone else, except the monsters of course, who must be vanquished in every increasing numbers. No one knows where they come from, how they manage to reproduce in such vast numbers even while suffering under a pogrom, or how it is that you can develop into a better fighter by slaying your 1 millionth critter. Like after chopping down a million trees it's going to get any easier.

Some games are so formulaic that there is too much similarity between players (online games have this in SPADES).

This game has a large area to play in, has some rich background, but none of it is set in stone, except perhaps the Damned Lands, and even then, things can change, as there are some interesting statements made in those books. The GLUT of character races that can be played, as well as the immense size of careers such characters can follow, almost ensure that no twenty characters of the same class are exactly alike. And the cornucopia of magic spells available is almost the largest out there now, GURPS perhaps being the largest.

But the nicest thing is that this game is easily adjusted to accomodate almost anything into itself. You can shoehorn anything you want into the world, even B movie monsters and blockbuster story lines. Try a wolfen William Wallace vs the Western Empires Bloody purge. Or use the Blob. Even the movie Outbreak can be very fun in a fantasy setting, with everyone looking for the Kobold equivalent to Typhoid Mary while the priests all shake their heads wondering why they can't find a cure, leaving it to the Diabolist to design a circle that uses the Kobold as a sacrifice. Shades of Alien with everyone stuck in a collapsed mine, having a critter that is almost unstoppable picking players off one by one thanks to some ingenious natural abilities, that also uses bipeds as hosts for more progeny, without the chest bursting, but as magical reformatting into a new creature, similar to a curse but requiring just the right cure to free them, and a limited amount of time with which to do so. Run properly, most players won't even make the connection, they are still seeing fantasy even when the script is almost the same.

My only regret is that with the onset of married life and a child, it's hard as hell to find the time to game. <sniff>

[t0m]

i like the setting a lot...and i like the fact that in general palladium books encourages you to change or make rules as you see fit. the way i play, the combat is crunchy and always life threatening. the setting is tasty and full of flavour...cant get much better imo.

also, the community is awesome

[Natasha]

i like the setting a lot...and i like the fact that in general palladium books encourages you to change or make rules as you see fit. the way i play, the combat is crunchy and always life threatening. the setting is tasty and full of flavour...cant get much better imo.

also, the community is awesome

That's really well said, t0m.

And I completely agree!

[t0m]

i like the setting a lot...and i like the fact that in general palladium books encourages you to change or make rules as you see fit. the way i play, the combat is crunchy and always life threatening. the setting is tasty and full of flavour...cant get much better imo.

also, the community is awesome

That's really well said, t0m.

And I completely agree!

[OldGeek]

I enjoy the ideas presented, but I'm not so big on the implementation. This is true for both the rules and the setting, both of which I heavily customize.

[Vidynn]

defenitely the setting, the rules are so so - Ive played a lot of "better" systems, but I still love the whole Palladium world and feel!

[Northern Ranger]

I can pretty much answer this question the same way I do the one where people ask me why play this system over others? How do I answer? Like this.

You know in those OTHER systems, where you get to play the race that fights the dragon or the demon? Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to play the dragon or the demon? Well... welcome to Palladium Fantasy, the only system I know of that allows that!

[OldGeek]

It's not the only system that allows it though...

I'm not knocking Palladium with that, just noting that it's a mistake to believe this is the only system that allows one to play demons or dragons, or anything else. One of the first to really open those types of doors? yes... but far from being the only one today that does it.

[Northern Ranger]

Didn't say it was the only one. Just that it was the only one I knew of! But I get your point. Still, it's a valid sell when trying to convert people to this system.

[OldGeek]

Honestly, most of my old games in both this setting and the rifts setting were centered around non-humans. We rarely went as far as demons/dragons though, usually just orc, goblin, troll etc..

How fun is it? That varies by GM and player I imagine, but we had a blast. My current online players were rather meh with the standard races... wolfen and changeling were what caught their interest.

That's where Palladiums system is strongest though. There are other games that allow you to play outside the normal box, but Palladium allows you to play a 5 foot 6 inch human and a team her up with a 14 foot tall troll without feeling too much balance bite (though the story may have to get creative in explaining why they're together... that's half the fun though).

If I run Palladium using either of my two favourite systems it's easy enough to create anything that exists in the game, but that 14 foot tall troll would largely eat humans in one average damage shot. Here he can certainly take a kicking, and hit a lot harder by comparison, but the sdc (unrealistic as it is) lessens the "oh dear" factor.

Personally my favourite element of this game is the magic system. There are other systems that use magic points, but the PPE, ley lines and such creates a unique flavour.

[The Dark Elf]

I like the setting, love the simplicity of the combat and skills. I have all the books and so far my imagination hasnt come up with anything I cannot incorporate into my game without ease.

when you add the megaverse to that (being able to break from a campaign for one night of superheroes without have to read or remember an entire new system) it sells it.

Oh yeh - also when I create a charcter I connect to that toon at lvl 1. He's not just a basic stormtrooper with minimal skills he is well moulded and I immediately care about him/her. Thats Palladiums style and OCC selection. GJ WD!

[Hendrik]

i like the setting a lot...and i like the fact that in general palladium books encourages you to change or make rules as you see fit. the way i play, the combat is crunchy and always life threatening. the setting is tasty and full of flavour...cant get much better imo.

also, the community is awesome

That's really well said, t0m.

And I completely agree!

Seconding that, completely.

What makes Palladium Palladium? It is a rough diamond of scintillating beauty. In detail, my 2 cents:

The setting caught my interest and makes me read the books more like "real" books rather than "just" game books. That alone is just great. And, the quality of the material is marvelous, increasingly so when compared to other stuff in the market (but for the maps which as a rule, there are exceptions, suck, especially city maps), even though the style sometimes is ... "rough" ... maybe not really literature, more write as you talk, but positively contagious. Bottom line - FANTASTIC FLAVOUR, GREAT READABILITY AND USABILITY - 'nuff reason to come back again and again for this.

Palladium says you can alter the system. And sometimes it seems you really should, sometimes you must, always you can. Encourages to toy with it, tweak it whichever way you want. I like that. It is not for those who do not think, I find it gets better when you work your way through the books and think the game, Palladium pays off the effort to read the rules squared. I mean you can play it in any case, as is or tweaked, thinking rules or just firing away. That alone is one of its beauties.

The game system is simplistic only on first glance. It has multiple layers of complexity. I'd say: easy to learn, long fun to master. In any case, it is about GREAT PLAYABILITY & VERISIMILITUDE.

The best yet is that essentially, at least since 2nd ed PFRPG, there is a true universal (megaversial) approach. In essence you can be and play whatever you want to be (GM agreement provided, that is, naturally) and you can combine everything. It works. Palladium is the only system IMVHO that allows to play REALLY ANYTHING - a God, a superhero, a dwarf, a mech, etc. etc. etc. pp. That may not be necessary but it gives a SWEEEEEET angle to the game. ALL IS WITHIN GRASP AND TO THE SAME SCALE (forgetting about the odd rare off-shot or "stutter") AND WORKS.

ARTWORK is charming.

THE RIFTER: there is no better mag out there.

The 2 Palladium podcasts are cool. Great idea, fans feel more in touch. I do.

The community: is unbelievable, helpful, friendly, and there a lots of good fan sites out there, too.

Even if the maps are ... err ... sub-optimal (very) and product is usually (always?) late: product is hyped today for next months and comes out 5 years late - if you are lucky - ...

... what can I say ... ... Palladium is great and even being 39 I am afraid I am a fanboy.

Cheers
Hendrik

[KillWatch]

The setting isn't what I long for. I don't pine for slaying giants on Mt Nimro. I like the stat and combat system.

I've added and altered them for my own liking, but it is hte system that makes the most sense to me

[t0m]

...snip... In detail, my 2 cents ...snip...

Cheers
Hendrik

this is what my post would have said if there were more words in it

i feel a group hug coming on...

[runebeo]

For me Palladium Books just has so much detail for character creation and unlike nearly every other games out there where everything is so balanced out Palladium lets you play everything from ordinary man to a powerful Mega-Hero. This system really lets your GM set the power limit as high or low as he thinks the players can handle. The new ready made character system in Robotech & Dead Reign sure cut the time consuming part out of rolling up disposable NPCs and picking attributes sets give a players a better outline what kind character then had envisioned. I tried a few other games like D&D, Shadowrun and Warhammer, but I keep coming back because they all felt shallow compared to Palladium.

[Vidynn]

Warhammer, but I keep coming back because they all felt shallow compared to Palladium.

WFRP 2nd Ed? cause 1st Ed. is one of the best RPGs ever created.

[Library Ogre]

Palladium is one of the few continuously published old-school games. It has an expansive feel and an adaptable rule-set. Because of the Megaverse, there are a huge number of available resources, either as direct plug-ins or as benchmarks for other creations.

[drewkitty ~..~]

This might be a question more for people who venture off and play other games, but I'm wondering when you come back to play Palladium Fantasy is it more setting or rule set?

What makes the game? Setting (people, history, geography, the pending Wolfen war, etc.) or rules (strike roll over opponent's AR, opposed parry roll, spend PPE to cast, etc.)?


Thanks

Yes

[sasha]

This might be a question more for people who venture off and play other games, but I'm wondering when you come back to play Palladium Fantasy is it more setting or rule set?

What makes the game? Setting (people, history, geography, the pending Wolfen war, etc.) or rules (strike roll over opponent's AR, opposed parry roll, spend PPE to cast, etc.)?


Thanks

I love the setting. The Palladin was my favourite O.C.C.

I liked the rules. The First Edition had the Vancian magic thing going but it did have I.S.P. for psionics, which I thought were really cool (and powerful).

Primarily the setting sold me though.

[KillWatch]

It's been so long I completely forgot that Palladium was the first, as far as i know, to do a point system for spells that was awesome