Customer Reviews

Southern Cross (Robotech Rpg, Book IV)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the core rulebooks in Palladium's Robotech series this book is the most flawed. There is a lot of inaccurate information and some downright fabrications in this book. For example, the E.B.S.I.S is a complete fiction invented by Siembieda, and is rather amusing now that the old Soviet empire has gone the way of the do-do.

The information on core equipment like the Logan, AJACs, and Spartan (ie hovertank) is rather solid, however the book falls way short in identifying the various battliods used by the Southern Cross. Armored suits are classified as battloids while real battloids are called battle armor. Worse still the book fails to have a single picture or drawing of any of the Southern Cross' warships, and it has no stats at all on any of the Robotech Master's warships beyond the mothership and the dropship. At lot of really good stuff was just left out.

Once you get over that though then you have a fairly decent sourcebook. Yes, the section on the Masters is rather thin. However the book does a decent job with the Southern Cross in general and the nessary game materials are decently organized. There is some repetition (especally the redundant skill and combat sections) from the core Macross rulebook, but it is useful stuff that keeps you from having to flip through another book. I do wish that stuff was left out and the pages devoted to the Masters and the various spacecraft that were left out.

All in all, the book is so-so. If you're looking for Southern Cross materials then this book is a bust. However if you're looking to complete your Palladium RPG collection then it is a must! Unlike Invid Invasion and Macross, most of the OCCs and equipment are only printed in this book. So if you want a complete set of core rules then you have to have this book. You also need the anti-kevs for this book to make it more functional.

Still... not too bad.

This is probably the worst scource book (excluding the campaign idea books) that Kevin Siemieda wrote. The artwork is horrible compared to the other books and most of the book is wasted explaining mechs that no gamemaster would use. The lack of information on the Robotech Masters is abhoring, considering there were a mere 12 pages dedicated to them, while there was 10 pages of character sheets alone, all the same save the pictures. The 'Masters are what makes the story so unique in the show and the books, but are shunned in this book. This is surprising because almost all of Siembieda's scourcebooks are of the highest quality. If your looking for more information on the Army of the Southern Cross (ASC) robots, mechs, and fighters than you ever thought possible, this is the book for you. If; however, you are looking for a great informational guide on the 'Masters, it isn't and you should be looking elsewhere for that book.

This is one of my favorite source books. While it is true that this book does contain alot of info on mech's no one would use (mostly from the "ebsis -Robotech's 'soviet union'"), it has tons of info on all braches of the armies of the southern cross. In my opinion, there is plenty of info on the Masters as well (all the bioroids, invid fighters, etc from the show). I got this book when i was a kid, and i still enjoy browsing through it from time to time.

This book is not designed to function as a complete self contained role-playing game. Unless you already know your way around palladium's heroes unlimited roleplaying system, this book will be missing critical info you need, so I suggest that before you buy this book, get the robotech macross roleplaying manual. Once you have that, adding this will allow you to expand your game to include the time frame covered in the second season of the cartoon this was based on.

This Vol. of the Robotech RPG by Palladium books details the second part of the Robotech series, the Robotech Masters. While information is given about the Masters and their various war machines, as well as some detailed information about the Southern Cross, the story of the Second Robotech War was pretty much told in the animated series. Aside from replaying the events of the show (perhaps from different perspectives), there isn't much that the book can be used for except as a technical guide to the equipment in the show with one big exception. The book details a separate government on Earth called the E.B.S.I.S. I had tons of fun running games dealing with the Southern Cross/EBSIS politics and disputes.

As with most of Palladium's Robotech work of the time, some of the mecha stats are inaccurate due to misinterpretation but you can hardly blame them for what they had to work with for source material. It's true that Palladium is now revamping their Robotech RPGs and this book is slated to get a refresh and hopefully correct some of the errors. Having said that, you may still want this addition for some of the artwork as it is doubtful all of it will make it to the new version.