SMG’s system allows for more creative thinking when it comes to the outcomes of most rolls. We came from the Palladium system, so it is a bit of a learning curve to play with this new one. That is not a bad thing in any way!

Character creation is straight forward though we did need a little clarification on skills and fatigue.

Skills are much more versatile allowing for players to use them in physical, social, or technical situations depending on the scene. Two skills can even be used together to increase the dice pool.

Fatigue is a brilliant way to give a little bit of consequence to your actions without killing a character.

And Drama…oh how I normally hate drama, but it wouldn’t be Robotech without it. I love that it’s a noted part of the character. So much so, it’s even got a place on the character sheet.

With SMG’s system, there is so much room to flesh out your character during the game. The trauma or heartbreak the character experiences becomes their drama. It develops their flaws and quirks through a natural progression of the narrative.

The outcome of a game really comes down to storytelling, not just from the GM but the players as well. There is more role playing as opposed to dice rolling. Even a bad roll can be turned into a good outcome if you’re able to articulate the events in a clever way. For example; The player fails his roll and the missiles sail wide of the target. All is not lost! He suggests that since he missed, the missiles strike the ground near the soldiers firing at his VF-1. This will cause the unstable ground to buckle under their feet. The GM loves that he paid attention to the details about the surrounding land and allows it. The soldiers fall to their demise while our hero is able to limp away in his almost destroyed Veritech. <-- True gaming story.

Side note: My husband and I recently purchased the physical book from Strange Machine Games. Our copy came with the PDF that we redeemed here. It was good to have the PDF straight away. However, the book is very well done. The cover is beautiful. The packing for it was perfect: sturdy box, bubble wrap around the cover, and protective packaging around the corners. I do not like picking up a hardcover and seeing the tip of the corner bent. No worries with SMG. If you’re on the fence about buying even the PDF, don’t be. Once you have the pdf, think about getting the physical copy as well. We do not regret our purchase.