Forums of the Megaverse®

Sorry for the recent skill questions, but I've been reviewing the skill lists from 1st Edition & Shadow Chronicles for adaptation to the Macross II setting for my own use (as well as possibly incorporating other applicable skills from other settings like Rifts or BTS), & had a question regarding zero-G movement/combat skills.

The original skills (as found in the After the Bomb/Rifts supplement Mutants in Orbit) had a basic Movement: Zero-G skill as well as what were essentially separate HTH training specifically designed for Zero-G combat -- they were called Combat (Zero-G): Basic and Advanced and Combat (Gravity): Basic and Advanced, Zero-G meaning training specifically for zero-G situations & Gravity meaning standard training for gravity environments, with the actual combat bonuses corresponding to the regular HTH: Basic and HTH: Expert skills. Additional bonuses or penalties would apply in certain situations (i.e. someone with Zero-G combat training trying to use it in a gravity situation had penalties; conversely, someone with Zero-G training was fighting in Zero-G against someone without a Zero-G combat skill, they had additional bonuses). However, in some ways they were superfluous because of the Movement: Zero-G skill (automatic for the orbital residents & anyone else born in a zero-G or low-G environment, but could be learned by other characters), as the skill allowed the character to move & fight in zero-G without penalties, but listed specific movement & combat penalties for untrained characters in a zero-G environment (although looking back it doesn't make a lot of sense for the skill to also have a base percentage -- sure, having it based on PP somewhat makes sense, but if the skill allows the character to perform their normal actions without penalties, why even have a skill percentage? An untrained character gets a -15% penalty on their skill rolls, but only needs to make 1 roll; a trained character has no penalty, but has to make two separate skill rolls -- one for the zero-G movement, one for the actual skill).

The Phase World supplement for Rifts reused the Movement: Zero-G skill from MiO with no changes. The Aliens Unlimited: Galaxy Guide supplement for HU2 changed the Combat skills to where, instead of a progression of bonuses, they had fixed bonuses on top of their existing HTH combat training, with 2 versions (Zero Gravity Combat: Basic and Elite). Interestingly enough, the Zero Gravity Combat skill from TSC is almost 100% identical to Zero Gravity Combat: Elite from AU:GG, just with the additional information of the penalties for those without the training (although it only mentions the combat penalties).

The main limitation, however, is that the Zero Gravity Combat skill in TSC is in the MIlitary category, and is not available as a Secondary skill. That's fine for the UEDF/UEEF/ASC characters, as many of them get it automatically in their MOS skill lists or can select it as normal. But especially in the ASC & UEEF/Sentinels settings, I would imagine that there would be more civilians that should theoretically have access to this skill...but actually don't get to select it. I thought about simply adding back in a Movement: Zero Gravity skill to the Physical category, but then Civilians would still lose access to the potential for zero-G combat bonuses (especially since HTH: Basic is available as a Secondary skill).

What I was wondering is if it might be feasible to rename the TSC skill to be Zero Gravity Combat: Elite (making it identical to the AU:GG skill), & then adding a Zero Gravity Combat: Basic skill (again, identical to the AU:GG skill), but also add it to the list of available MIlitary skills on the Secondary Skills list, & also add that those without either training also suffer a -15% penalty to their skill rolls in a zero-G environment? And should there also be a Movement: Zero-G skill for the Physical category, for those that don't have any kind of HTH training?

green.nova343 wrote:Sorry for the recent skill questions, but I've been reviewing the skill lists from 1st Edition & Shadow Chronicles for adaptation to the Macross II setting for my own use (as well as possibly incorporating other applicable skills from other settings like Rifts or BTS), & had a question regarding zero-G movement/combat skills.
[...]
The main limitation, however, is that the Zero Gravity Combat skill in TSC is in the MIlitary category, and is not available as a Secondary skill. That's fine for the UEDF/UEEF/ASC characters, as many of them get it automatically in their MOS skill lists or can select it as normal. But especially in the ASC & UEEF/Sentinels settings, I would imagine that there would be more civilians that should theoretically have access to this skill...but actually don't get to select it. I thought about simply adding back in a Movement: Zero Gravity skill to the Physical category, but then Civilians would still lose access to the potential for zero-G combat bonuses (especially since HTH: Basic is available as a Secondary skill).

With respect to Macross II or Macross in general, I would say go ahead and add back in the Movement: Zero Gravity skill as-is.

Most civilians and even military personnel will almost never have to deal with microgravity or zero gravity conditions due to the sheer ubiquity and flexibility of gravity control technology. Even the crew working outside on a ship's outer hull or a carrier deck like that of the Prometheus are still inside of an artificial gravity field created by the ship's gravity control systems.[sup]1[/sup] The only way a soldier or civilian is likely to encounter zero-G short of the total failure of a ship's power grid is if they're aboard a small craft like a shuttle or a fighter which doesn't have a gravity control system, and under those circumstances they're generally going to be strapped in. Civilians living planetside aren't likely to have any training in zero-G movement and those who are accustomed to life in space on a emigrant ship or space station are likely to have only a basic grasp of zero-G movement skills because gravity control is so ubiquitous and reliable that it's akin to knowing to stop, drop and roll if you're on fire or to get under something like a table in an earthquake. Just getting around in zero-G is going to be a "oh damn, how do I do this again?" sort of moment, and fighting is likely right out. It'd be nearly as foreign to them as it would be to you or I.

Only someone whose job routinely takes them into a zero-G environment - like a SNN war correspondent - would need a proficiency in zero-G movement.


1. The "space flattop" style of aircraft carriers like the Prometheus, ARMD, Uraga, Macross Quarter, etc. use this to recover aircraft in space. The aircraft fly into a gravity field thrown up over the carrier deck by the gravity control system and are pulled down onto the deck where they can use existing arresting gear. It's indicated that this field is typically about 0.5G.

That is because the Zero G skills stack on top of the h2h skills.