Domestic
Play Musical Instrument: The individual has learned to play a particular musical instrument with a fair amount of skill. The sound is generally pleasent (except when a bad roll is made). Note that each specific instrument requires the selection of this skill. For exampe: a character who can play the guitar, violin, and harmomica must select the play musical instrument skill three different times. Base Skill: 35%+5% per level of experience. The characters play ability is nice, but not of professional quality, unless two skills are sepnt. Add 20% bonus if this is done. Hey Minmei needs a new band!
Spelunking: The art and practice of exploring caves. Unskilled characters wandering about in a large series of natural caverns have about the same chance of survival as unskilled climbers attempting to scale a major mountain without guidance. Base Skill: 55%+5% per level of experience.
Electrical
No new skills
Espionage
Hojo-Jutsu: This is the Art of Binding, Japanese style. Tying someone up with Hojo-Jutsu makes it far more difficult ot escape. (-15% to an opponents escape skill roll). Base Skill: 45%+5% per level of experience.
Mechanical
No new skills
Medical
Field Surgery: This skill reflects training in emergency life-saving surgical procedures that can be performed in the field to keep critically wounded patients alive. Given the proper tools, the surgeon character can perform amputations, suture torn arteries, check internal bleeding, cauterize wounds, give blood transfusions, etc. (The character can also try to improvise the supplies he/she needs, but in this case receives a -10% penalty to the skill roll.) Field expedient surgery is a dangerous proposition that too often results in the death of the patient. Because of the risk involved, field surgery is attempted only when it is the only chance the wounded person has for survival. If the operation is successful, the patient lives and can be evacuated to a base or hospital, but a failed roll results in the immediate death of the patient. Base Skill: 16%+4% per level of experience.
Optional Guidelines for Fatal Injury Treatment: In the violent world of the Invid Wars, unarmored humans are at an extreme disadvantage. Once a person's mecha and body armor are destroyed, a single M.D. blast will usually obliterate him/her. These guidelines are provided to give characters a chance, however slight, to survive a blast that would normally evaporate the character. If the GM agrees, the character can survive a mega-damage intensity wound if a trained medic makes a successful field surgery skill roll.
Physical
Athletics: Training in, and enjoyment of, vigorous exertion for competitive sports, exercises, and contests of strength, endurance, and agility. Provides the following bonuses:
Running: A routine of running and exercise to build up speed and endurance. Provides the following:
Pilot Skills
Air-to-Air Combat: Practice and theory of aerial combat. The big advantage of this skill is that there is no limit on how high a character can advance. In every other skill there is a 98% maximum proficiency. With Air-to-Air Combat there is no limit and characters may have percentiles over 100%. Use for Aerial Combat rolls only. Can be used with one or more other Pilot skills. A bonus of 10%+2% per level is added to the regular pilot skill. (This skill can only be selected by REF & RDF Veritech Pilots at level 3 [i.e. on order to take this skill at level 3 the pilot must save one skill slot at level 1], ASC Civil Defense Flying Corp at level 4, and Zentraedi Officers with the ability to pilot the Fighter Pod; costs two skills).
Power Armours/Suits: This pilot is able to pilot mechanical exoskeletons. This skill is akin to Piloting a Cyclone, but piloting Cyclone is a dual skill of motorcycle and power armour. Those with this skill can pilot a Cyclone at -10%. Training focuses on piloting, not combat; thus mecha combat is a seperate and distinct skill. (see Mecha Combat skills). Base Skill: 55%+5% per level of experience
Mecha Combat Elite: Just a name change really, see Sentinels RPG pg. 41 'Mecha Combat'.
Pilot Tanks & APCs: Military vehicles often have unconventional controls and handle differently than conventional vehicles, especially the many ton, armored combat vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers (APC). Thus, special training is required to pilot them. Base Skill: 40%+5% per level of experience
Pilot Related Skills
Weapon Systems (Revised): This is a complete understanding of weapon units and system incorporated into vehicles and mecha. It includes machineguns, grenade launchers, cannons, and other heavy weapons systems. Special Bonus: Gains a strike bonus equal to the skill percentage divided by 20, rounded down. (i.e. a character with 45% in Weapon System would have +2 to strike, and a character with 60% would have +3 to strike, at 98% the bonus is +5). This does not include hand-held weapons, which require individual W.P. training. Note: Characters without weapon systems will be able to operate them only if skilled in piloting that vehicle, but has no bonus to strike and never has the initiative.
Rogue Skills
Computer Hacking: This is a computer skill similiar to computer programming; however the emphasis of this skill is breaking computer access codes to gain illegal access to other computer systems and steal or sabotage its data. The character is an expert in tracing computer data, bypassing defense systems, and breaking ("hacking") codes; add a one time bonus of +5% to cryptography, surveillance, and locksmith (electronic and computer controlled locks only) skills if the character is a hacker. Base Skill: 15%+5% per level of experience. Requires: The ability to read and write, computer operation, computer programming, and at least basic mathematics.
Science
Physics: Astrophysics, but no plain physics? Now that's just silly ;). Physics is the studies of the workings of life, looking at how things react on the atomic level, gravity, inertia, entropy, thermodynamics, and the like. Note: Basic and Advanced Mathematics are required before taking Physics, if Chemistry is taken, a one time bonus of +5% is added. Base Skill: 40%+5% per level of experience.
Genetics: I've never seen a skill for this anywhere in Palladium. Of course instead of simply making a skill for this, it would be better to explain what a person must know in order to have a good understanding of genetics. The person must have Biology, Analytical Chemistry, and Physics. However, unless the person is a Field Scientist, they still have no where near the skill to tinker with the building blocks of life. Field Scientists with the required skills all at level 4 proficiency, are actually able to clone Humans or Zentraedi, splice genes, or even build a human/Zentraedi from scratch! However they require proper facilities. Human cloning facilities are unheard of and considered objects of evil in the scientific community. The only KNOWN Zentraedi cloning facilities are on the SDF-3. Of course there are facilities believed to still exist on Tirol and Fantoma, and the many other mining/slave planets of the Robotech Masters crumbling empire. Now, for some information about Genetics & Cloning in the world of the First Invid War, and after.
Technical
Art: The ability to draw or paint or sculpt or do craft-work. Base Skill 35%+5% per level of experience. The characters artistic skills are nice, but not of professional quality, unless two skills are spent. Add a +15% bonus if this is done.
Language: Characters with a language skill can understand and speak in language other than their own native tongue. Language is one of the few skills that can be selected repeadtly in order to select several different languages. Each selection gives the character knowledge of a different language and costs one skill selection each time. Base Skill: 50%+5% per level of experience.
Literacy: Like the language skill the literacy skill allows the character to read other languages aside from their own native tongue. Each selection gives the character knowledge of a different written languages and costs one skill selection each time. Base Skill: 50%+5% per level of experience.
Lore: Zentraedi: This is the study of Zentraedi people, history, customs, philosophy, habits, apperance, weaknesses, stengths, powers, and abilities. It also includes basic information about the Robotech Masters. Base Skill: 30%+5% per level of experience.
Lore: Invid: This is a study of the Invid race. A very rare skill, only REF Field Scientists can acquire it, and they either learn it from Cabel & Exedore (as much as they might know) or through their encounters with the Hive Menace. Cannot be selected until level 3. Base Skill: 15%+5% per level of experience.
Weapon Proficiencies
W.P. Blunt (Revised): Training with all types of blunt weapons, including maces, hammers, cludgels, pipes, staves, and clubs. Bonuses: +1 to strike & parry at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. +1 to strike when thrown at levels 5, 10, and 15; not designed for throwing.
W.P. Chain (Revised): Training with all types of chain weapons, including ordinary lengths of chain, the flail, ball or mach & chain, nunchaku, and similiar weapons. Bonuses: +1 to strike at levels 1, 3, 7, 10, and 13. +1 to parry at levels 4, 8, and 12. This weapon cannot be used to entangle and cannot be thrown with any accuracy!
W.P. Knife (Revised): Training with all types of knives. Bonuses: +1 to strike at levels 2, 4, 7, 10, and 13. +1 to parry at levesl 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. +1 to strike when thrown at levels 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 13.
W.P. Polearm: Training with all types of large, bladed spear-like waepons, including the glaive, saber halberd, runka, scythe and voulge, among others. Bonuses: +2 damage at levels two & eight! +1 to strike & parry at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. +1 to strike when thrown at levesl 3, 7, and 12; not designed for throwning.
W.P. Battle Axe: Training with all types of large axe weapons, including single blade and double bladed head axes & picks. Bonuses: +1d6 to damage at level two! +1 to strike at levels 1, 3, 5, 8, 12 and 15. +1 to strike when thrown at levels 2, 4, 8, and 12; not design for throwing.
W.P. Shield: Combat skills with large and small shields used primarily for parrying & self defense. Bonuses: +1 to parry at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. A shield can be used in one hand and a weapon in the other.
MORE COMING SOON!
