Robotech: The Role-Playing Game

The Robotech RPG #1

by Kevin Siembieda, Alex Marciniszyn (Editor)

ROBOTECH-THE ROLE PLAYING GAME THIS BOOK IS IN GOOD CONDITION SEE DETAILS

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Science Fiction, Games, Reference, Military Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Kevin Siembieda (born April 2, 1956) is an American artist, writer, designer, and publisher of role-playing games, as well as being the founder and president of Palladium Books.

Palladium Books, founded in southeast Michigan, claims to be the first to implement a role-playing system intended to work for all genres and to introduce the perfect-bound trade paperback format to the RPG industry.

Some of the role-playing games Siembieda helped produce include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (1985), Robotech RPG (1986), After The Bomb (1986), and Rifts (1990).

Siembieda is also an artist, best known for occasionally illustrating Palladium Books' products. In 1978, he started the now-defunct Megaton Publications in Detroit, publishing a digest style title called A+ Plus and several other titles. He also contributed art and cartography to several early Judges Guild products (for both their Traveller and Dungeons & Dragons lines).

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever wanted to play giant robots slugging it out here is the game for ya to do it. Very nice illustrations and write ups. Recommended

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was, perhaps, my first real introduction to role-playing games back when I was the tender young lad, aged 13. At this point in my life, I was already enamored with the cartoon series, and was overly delighted when I discovered the Jack McKinney novels. When I both discovered that not only could I enter the world of tabletop role-playing, but could do it through the lens of Robotech, I was rendered speechless. I have read this book far more times than I can recount. The pages of my personal copy are lovingly worn, the illustrations forever etched into the recesses of my mind.

I find it uniquely strange that modern-day role-players describe the rules-system carried herein to be arcane, clunky, and overly detailed, whereas I find it to be rather simplistic and in need of more detail, statistics, options, and the ability to be translated into miniatures on the table. But, I'm a glutton for overly-complicated tables, charts, spreadsheets, and rules, it would seem.

I have again and again attempted to rope other players into returning to the realm of Robotech with me - which is in my favorite category of science fiction with dates that are now in our actual past. But, alas, no one seems willing to return to 2014 with me to blow up aliens on a devastated Earth.

I remember my first impression as a wide-eyed youth was being star-struck by the Destroids. They were such a small part of the cartoon, only glimpsed in passing, and never really discussed, and here we have them in all their glory. I say Pshaw to those who want to fly Veritechs. The real heroes are the grunts, metal-shod-knee-deep in the mud, battling it out toe-to-toe with the Zentraedi foe. I must admit that my own enlistment into the military was in no small part inspired by my desire to pilot an Excaliber/Tomahawk.

I still thumb through this book to this day, it's sitting on my desk right now, open to the random encounter Adventure Scenarios section as I both pen my own fan fiction, based on a campaign I will forever desire to run, and probably never have the chance and/or players. I can't lie that I often dream of living in the post-Rain Earth, rebuilding society with loyal Zentraedi allies at my side.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun and enjoyment have I derived from these pages. My friends and I gamed Robotech a lot back in high school. VF-111 Sundowners all the way! =)

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I view this as a time machine -- a step back into a gaming system from the 80's, archaic typesetting, a a wealth of statistics and Robotech source information.

Spent some nice time building a character, who leaped into his Veritch Fighter, and was immediately brought down by a volley of 12 missiles from Zentraedi Female power armor. So it goes.

[Larry Kenney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first pen and paper role playing game I ever got really into. The old Palladium rules system was a little overly complicated, but that wasn't out of the ordinary at the time.

Combined with my love of Robotech, I spent many many hours playing this with my friends.

[John Blackmoore · Rating 3 out of 5]

great setting, but the game system is a morbid combination of calculus, probability studies, and actuary charts.

[Tim Bisaillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent setting, though the game mechanics were clunky but fixable with house rules. Many a night dice were rolled and mechs were destroyed!

[Jeremy Blum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually my very first exposure to roleplaying games. My brother, a hardcore Robotech fan, picked it up without really understanding what it was. He brought it home, and the two of us pored over its evocative black and white illustrations and painfully crunchy 1980s ruleset. We didn't exactly understand what we were reading, but it didn't matter - we could tell that contained within were rules to play a very sophisticated game of make-believe, and both of us wished we actually had someone who knew how to run one of these damn things to bring us into that world.

Flash forward about twenty years and I actually do understand much of what's contained within. I wouldn't ever be able to run this - Kevin Siembieda's crunch is just too much for me - but I'm giving Robotech: The Roleplaying Game four stars for kicking off a grand beginning to my RPG career, even if it was only by captivating the imagination of my brother and me for a brief period!

[Frank H. Tano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in its heyday, I would have given this 5-Stars. Of course now, I’d give it a three. The information they had to work with was sparse and the book has some big swings for stats. The 2nd edition of Robotech from Palladium I’d still give 5-Stars to this day for its better depth, even with some of the debated choices for the mecha.

[Michael Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic! I was familiar with Robotech but this game took it to a whole new level.