original vs revised rules: who likes what?

[paulvdaley]

I don't know why, but when the original Robotech PDFs came out on DTRPG, I started collating the rules together in a document that would put everything I would need to run a game (specifically combat) all on a couple pages, in an order that made sense to me.

Then, for another unknown reason, I started to add in the revisions from the Shadow Chronicles. Several changes are minor, but there are a couple major ones. I want to see how people out there are actually playing.

For instance:
In the original, ranged combat follows the same rules as hand to hand pretty much (1-4 miss, 5-20 hit).
In the revised edition, ranged combat got much harder. (1-7 miss, 8-20 hit)

Similarly, the original book states that guided missiles are +3 to strike (+5 for reflex) and it kind of makes it sound like most missiles are guided. In TSC, it states in italics that most missiles are NOT guided, and that guided missiles are rare. Say what?

Does anyone out there double-dip? Steal some rules from one edition, then use rules from the current one too? Or am I getting something wrong?

[drewkitty ~..~]

The missies part sounds like PB copy and pasted from RUE, even though In RT the inverse should be true. That unguided missiles should be rare.

Of course I for one have the VP that ""missiles"" are always guided (even if self guided) and if they are unguided they are not missiles but are ""rockets"".

[ilexgarodan]

Mix and match to your heart's content, and throw the OSM to the wind, if you want to! It's YOUR game! Besides, since they're both Megaverse games, borrowing elements from different games (or editions of the same game) is expected!

[paulvdaley]

Maybe the 80s were just a simpler time, but... those older rules look like they play faster and easier than the newer ones - based on nothing other than there being fewer of them. In -some- cases the new rules are clarifications or fill in the blanks for something left completely undescribed before, but in others (like I mentioned above) they're almost re-written!

[ilexgarodan]

Well, yeah. That's to be expected. The '80s were a different time, in regards to gaming. RPGs weren't generally bogged down with rules bloat; that came later, during the mid-to-late '90s.

[drewkitty ~..~]

snip... the newer ones - …snip

Are the RUE rules repackaged.

[paulvdaley]

alright. Thanks guys.

[ShadowLogan]

Maybe the 80s were just a simpler time, but... those older rules look like they play faster and easier than the newer ones - based on nothing other than there being fewer of them. In -some- cases the new rules are clarifications or fill in the blanks for something left completely undescribed before, but in others (like I mentioned above) they're almost re-written!

They do play faster, but that is in part because 1E RT tended to have the (in general) expected targets for the PCs with lower MDC, so no need for a slug fest like it would be today. All the modern WP used the same progression table in 1E, unlike in 2E.

The Rules really aren't much different, mechanically speaking between the two editions. Things still work the same pretty much as they always did. Specific values and such might have changed (and in bulk).

[paulvdaley]

Shadow - are you saying the rules evolved to make combat a little harder than it had been?

[ShadowLogan]

While the rules mechanics themselves haven't contributed to making combat a little bit harder between Editions as they are functionally the same, with minor tweaks (which in some cases might help move it along faster IMHO, I like the single size burst vs s/l/f bursts from 1E for ex so player/gm don't have to decide on a burst size with a weapon, ex GU-11).

What has contributed to the evolution to make combat harder IMHO is that overall the PC weapon damages haven't really improved much at all (there are a few exceptions, but in general this is the case, and in a few cases have gotten worse), but the MDC protection offered is much higher than in 1E generally speaking (Regults get 150% more main body in 2E vs 1E for example). The result though is that combat will take longer because you are doing similar damages as 1E (generally) but you are hitting something that is more "durable" so you need to hit more often (in general).

[paulvdaley]

Since I was looking at the mechanics parts for my cheat sheet, I skipped over the relative stats for MDC and weapon damage. That's a great point.

Your example about the bursts is a good one for speeding up play... I made a table of all the various burst combos in 1E. It takes up 3/4 of a page. Crunch-tastic!

If you have any other examples you can think of (no research), let me know! I'm gearing up to play this thing and want to make it as easy on myself as possible.

[Axelmania]

I for one have the VP that ""missiles"" are always guided (even if self guided) and if they are unguided they are not missiles but are ""rockets"".

I like this interpretation, what is VP though?