Robotech Genesis Pits Sourcebook: A Review

[Colonel Wolfe]

Well, It finally came, I had never gottne around to ordering the book, until last week when Amazon showed me they had copies available with free-shipping..
I've had it for about 4 hours, and Flipping through, I'm decently impressed with some of the Content, and much of it is very adaptable to my personal setting for Robotech, (even if some of it looks like the author read the forums and got ideas from some of us....)
Inorganics are nice, even thou they look to be just a cut-and-paste of the Sentinels versions, their inclusion in the new rpg is somethign I've been waiting for.
Janus: I like the ideas here, and thou some of the fluff text is silly, its an interesting way to portray a planet that is being fubar'd by the experiments gone awry...
Gura Invid: Reminds me alot of the 2007 re-designs of the invid by the mospeda creator, but I like the Inclusion of a 3rd sect of invid, definatly being added to my universe and expanded apon.
I haven't been completely through the book, but its looking to be very nice.

The inclusion of the Shimikaza and Liberator also is a big help.
on a side not, the bayonet vibro-knife is listed on the wrong gun... the Image is of the SAL-9, not the FAL-9...

[MilkManX]

Yeah I am having a blast using it in my New Gen campaign.

If you are running a New Gen era game than this book is a great addition. If you care not for Invid Experiments or Inorganics then you can skip it.

[cawest]

i just wish it had more frankenmechs

[Seto Kaiba]

I've had my copy of the Genesis Pits sourcebook for a while now, and I'm pretty indifferent to the whole thing. My habit has always been to replicate the setting of the series as closely as possible, so this sort of thing isn't really my bag. I might use the creature generator if I ever run a session of Dark Heresy, and need to make an assortment of Death World creatures though... a lot of body horror potential there.

Only one part of the book struck me as disappointing. Namely, that they didn't come up with some art for the VFH-RAU "Frankenmech". Since I'm more a fan of the original shows than the Robotech version, it would really have been fascinating for me to how Robotech handled the notion of combining the variable fighter and Zentradi battle suit technology. Kazumi Fujita and Koichi Ohata were the first to show us their take on a VF-Battle Suit hybrid with Macross II's VF-XX Zentradi Valkyrie and VF-2SS Valkyrie II, which combined traits and tech from the Nosjadeul family, VF-1, and VF-4. Shoji Kawamori and Studio Nue took that and ran with it, giving us their first go in Macross Plus and Macross 7... the YF-21/VF-22, a hybrid of their Queadluun-Rau and VFs. Kawamori and co. did a couple more later, like the VA-110 Variable Glaug (which is based off VF-4 tech), the Feios Valkyrie (a Q-Rau/VF hybrid), and most recently the Queadluun-Alma (a new hybrid of the Q-Rau with the already hybrid Feios Valkyrie). They also toyed with going the other way, and applying VF tech to battle suits (like the Queadluun-Rea from Macross Frontier).

It would really have been interesting to see Palladium's take on it, but the VFH-RAU doesn't have any art in that book... which really was disappointing. It would've been nice to see a third party's interpretation of a VF/Battle Suit hybrid.

[Colonel Wolfe]

VFH-RAU doesn't have any art in that book

Glitter Boy 2098 designed a IMU in the Franken mecha thread that fits the "Fury"'s description...

Personally, I'm glad the IMU's only had 1 entry... I never liked the silly idea.

[glitterboy2098]

VFH-RAU doesn't have any art in that book

Glitter Boy 2098 designed a IMU in the Franken mecha thread that fits the "Fury"'s description...

not quite.. mine was a battloid VF-1 with a FPA's backpack thrusters and launchers.

the VFH-RAU is a guardian mode VF-1 with the backpack, legs, and arms of a FPA.
my attempts to create an image for that mix have hit a wall, since there aren't any guardian mode VF images i can cut up to match my FPA images.

[Colonel Wolfe]

VFH-RAU doesn't have any art in that book

Glitter Boy 2098 designed a IMU in the Franken mecha thread that fits the "Fury"'s description...

not quite.. mine was a battloid VF-1 with a FPA's backpack thrusters and launchers.

the VFH-RAU is a guardian mode VF-1 with the backpack, legs, and arms of a FPA.
my attempts to create an image for that mix have hit a wall, since there aren't any guardian mode VF images i can cut up to match my FPA images.

wow, I'm kinda glad I haven't read that much into it... that Is a dumber design than I had thought the writer could have made... guess I should have remembered the "Ares" I was giving him to much credit.

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

I got a short peak at it the other day and the Gura Invid do seem like the Kakinuma 2007 Re-Imagined MOSPEADA Inbit.

[jaymz]

The book was ok. I can use some of it. Some of it not so much.....

[Protoculture]

Well, since the book is not distributed in Asia, its very hard for me to judge the book. What got me intrigued is the new Gura Invid. So I manage to get a screen capture of a YT video review of RT: Genesis Pits with 2 linearts of Gura Invid .... the Iiga Scout & Gurab Shock Trooper mutant variants.

Then I compared it to Hideki Kakinuma's re-imagined 'organic' Invids ..... Then I realised, both Gura designs from Genesis Pits & Hideki Kakinuma's neo-organic Invids can be lumped together as some sort of a new faction for Invid.

The what ifs abounds .... what if Gura Invid evolutionary approach is the last evolutionary insurance for Invid should they no longer have viable FoL stocks. Tapped & locked into subterranean Genesis Pits with artificial eco-systems mimicked the host planet, non dependent on FoL, this strain of mutant Invid are slowly degenerate and become a new feral and wild, Invid subspecies. Of course, these feral Invids will ensure the continuation of the Invid species should the entire race got wiped out in the epic struggle against RT Masters over protoculture wars.

We know from official sources (primary & secondary resources) that Earth, Praxis and Optera itself housed a number of Genesis Pits. Stands to reasons that another worlds either in Local Groups or those subjugated by Regess (before she & her Children packed up to Earth) would accommodate Genesis Pits as well.

Regess is concerned with the evolutionary & continuation of her species. While getting FoL & PC is paramount, she would've come up with myriad backup plans should the Invid deprived the FoL, the species would not died out.

Then Gura Invid came into being, an Invid subspecies, radically different from the DNA pool it crawled from, non dependent on FoL and PC, readily & very adaptable to many environs on foreign worlds.

Damn, did I just described a Gura Invid infestation of Earth & Local Group?

[Colonel Wolfe]

Sadly.... no. Lol they just live in the old grand cannon and their queen is a copy of Lisa Hayes. ..