Created by a cruel taskmaster to be lorded over, designed to survive cruelly inhuman environments, and bred to destroy. The ZENTRAEDI. They were the tool by which Tirol founded their empire. Masterpieces of the Genegineers art, they are the ultimate warrior, harbingers of doom on a galactic scale. Devoid of weakness, filled with the Imperative, fueled by rage and tempered by skill. These are the warriors who fought the Invid to a standstill. Never have they lost a battle, until on a small M class planet orbiting a G class star in the Arm of Orion in the Milky Way galaxy, the impossible happened.
How did this happen? Unlike all of the Zentraedi detractors, I do not go along with the "song of Minmei" crap. You're telling me that some 19 year old chintzy pop-singer filled the greatest killers in the Local Cluster with emotions, for the first time. They then became so struck with emotion (grief?) that they became ineffectual in combat?
Reality check. First of all, that's making an assumption that the Zentraedi emotional spectrum includes grief, love, caring, etc. It doesn't. If it did, some Zentraedi would, over millenia of combat, begin to exhibit signs of these emotions. Having one's comrade's vaporized, exploded, killed and maimed as a matter of course will remove all of those emotional states very quickly. Knowing nothing else, they would not even realize these emotions exist, because they could not experience them. Moreover, after a certain period of time, those traits would cease to be included in the gene pool. They are INCAPABLE of these feelings.
So why did Earth win, much less survive? Well, first I'll ask some questions. Did the Masters know of Earth and why ZOR sent the SDF-1 here? Why did the Masters not have any intelligence assets assigned to this mission? We know the Masters were fully capable of full interrogations and mind control, such as the "Zylonic mind probe". So, according to commonly accepted thought, the following things occur. 1) Zor flips out, gathers up some "flower power" Zentraedi to crew his ship, and then sends them to Earth during a nice Invid sneak attack. I'm not even going to get into this garbage about defoiating Optera. These are the ROBOTECH MASTERS for cryin' out loud. Generally, you don't get to be a "master" of anything if you've got the intelligence of a dirt clod!! Unless you're in ROBOTECH. 2) The Masters are angry because Zor sent the "Protoculture Matrix" (a total crock. What is this supposed to be? A perpetual energy machine? Some crap out of Star Trek, maybe?) to Earth on his stupid ship. 3) the Masters, supposedly some real smart dudes, send Dolza a message "find our ship". Dolza says "Okey dokey", while secretly planning a betrayal of the Masters, using the Mystery Machine, er.. Protocrapper Whatsitdo as a ... something important. Dolza is also Supreme Commander of the Zentraedi, and commands the Imperial Fleet (4.75 million odd ships). He might not be the smartest creature in the Galaxy, but you can bet he IS NOT STUPID. 4)Dolza sends Breetai and Exedore after the ship. No problemo, Breetai's on the job. Or is he. A seasoned field commander, he gets his whole mission as "find the ship". That's it. No intel, no clues, no leads, no nothing. What's worse is he doesn't even ask. To give you a clue as to how stupid that line of logic is, imagine having to find a person based solely on a picture with a solid background and being told, "he's somewhere on Earth...". To make things more interesting, you lose the picture. Doh!! No name, no landmarks on the picture, no clue how old the picture is, no idea of residence. Good luck, hope you got a good memory. I guess Breetai's just cool like that!! 5) Somehow the Zentraedi find us and get taken to town by us, because they are scared of damaging the Protocrapper Whatsitdo! OK, sure. How about this...sent in a recon team. No not 2 spaceships (whatever the hell that was), but a real recon team. 3-4 "micronized" zentraedi grunts (like maybe Grel, Khyron Kravshera, maybe even Exedore), not those fools Rico, Bron, and Konda. 6) Yeah, the Zentraedi drop the ball and the SDF-1 takes a little detour to Pluto. Time for plan two. Instead of getting some decent gunners and shooting out vital systems, or mount a FULL SCALE assault with all ships and mecha and take that stupid ship, no Commander (?) Breetai thinks it cool to do these silly half-ass raids. 7) Somewhere stuff is happenening and Minmei the annoying twit who nearly ruins everything good in this series gets a cult of Zentraedi or some crap like that!! Blah, blah, blah.
One more thing, ever notice how battlepods explode more often that Ford Pintos. Or how they are apparantly built out of wet paper bags and run on hamster power. How 'bout those awesome 3d6 MD "impact cannons" or those 4d10 heavy PBC's, whoa! Or maybe those ridiculously undergunned fighter pods, or the "oh so scary" artillery battlepods?
And all of you are going "we'll duh, the Zentraedi suck". But that's the whole point of this rant, they don't. I think that individually the Zentraedi should be stupidly powerful, even micronized, compared to the average human. I have personally become very disenchanted with Palladium Books crappy rules system, the final straw was the abysmally bad RIFTS. Anyway, I am now a die hard White Wolf fan. You're all smart people, I'm not going to give you rules for conversion, but all my stats are going to be in WW standard. Anyway here is MY "REVISED HISTORY OF ROBOTECH" followed by some cool Zentraedi info on their weapons, phyisology, and some stuff to "pump them up" from the sad little girly aliens they are in the RPG. The way that I will do these templates is give the number of points available for construction, then the beginning values before any points are added. The standard human pattern is a 1 in all attributes and 6/4/3 to spend. 7/5/3 is the standard for a more experienced/powerful being (supernatural or very experienced mortal). Check your core campaign book for rules regarding point spreads for mortals and other creatures. Scroll further down and I'll stick up Super Powered Invid, and other highly lethal life forms that will kill RDF PC's and their little tinker-toy mechs.
Let's examine what the Zentraedi are supposed to be and who made them. They are to be the ultimate warriors created by one of the most technologically adept races known. They are broken down into subspecies for differing specializations. The Zentran are males who are bred for combat in a gravity free environment, the Meltran are females who are bred for piloting aircraft and powered armor in all environments. The Zentraedi are males who are bred for combat in a gravity well.
These specializations are imperative to who does what. The Meltran are the "air force" of the "T'siendrati" race, while the Zentran and Zendraedi are the "navy" and "army" respectively. Each is different from the others in the type of bio-engineering required to perform their missions.
These are males who are specialized in gravity free combat; generally starship combat, boarding actions and EVA operations. They may be considered to be the navy and marines of the race. With quick reflexes and strong bodies, these warrior are quite capable of destroying planets with their miles long ships, suppressing piracy and gaining control of enemy spacecraft through the use of ECCM, hacking into core systems, disabling the ship with well placed shots, and finally a 30-second boarding action.Attributes= 11 points
Attribute Maximums:
These are females who have been designed to pilot aerospace craft in both vaccum and atmosphere. They should be regarded as some of the best pilots in the galaxy, easily scoring 10-20 kills per engagement.
Attributes= 9 points
Attribute Maximums:
The true grunts of the race. The Masters faced a difficult dillema with the creation of these combat monsters. Should they make them instruments of terror, striking fear into other races with the appearance of a lone individual. Or, should they create a mindless hoarde of killing machines devoid of feelings and ready to absorb stupid casualties in the pursuit of their goals. The Masters felt that making them too powerful was dangerous, lest they turn on them, but the other choice would simply be a waste of precious resources. Thus the creation of the Imperative. What is the Imperative? With the first two species the Imperative is manifest as a code of honor based on combat. The other two races are dependent on the Masters for the tools of their trade, but the Zentraedi are not. Who needs an assault weapon when a fist able to shred steel will do. Thus was the Imperative created. Think of it as an insanity written in on the genetic level. The Zentraedi Imperative manifests itself as a blindingly loyal obedience to the Masters, regardless of cost, regardless of consequences (think Blood Bond, with decades of Domination), but it does not stifle creativity or imagination. Theoretically, if not engaged in a mission for the Masters, the Imperative would not be manifest, but seeing as how Zentraedi are kept in stasis when not in combat operations, this is only a theory. In game terms Imperative is the same as the willpower pool. In order to resist the Imperative you have to spend willpower, and when you do, all special abilities are lost for as long as you choose to resist. A truly pathetic existence, what the Master's give, the Master's taketh away.
Attributes= 5 points
attribute maximums:
As it is repeatedly stated in the RPG and fan fics, the Zentraedi have only ONE name, typically 2 syllables for males and 3 syllables for females. In the comic series and the novels the Zentraedi certainly seem to have two names. As a hedge, or a brigde between the one name, two name argument, I offer the following.
Zentraedi have only one name, the "second name" is the indication of rank. Using this we have the following rank structure:
Perhaps this will clear up some the problems of the last name vs. one name only debate.
The Zentraedi have two types of personal Body Armor. They differ only in the amount of protection that they provide, and in some minor sytlistic changes. The armor is generally painted to mimic the terrain of the Area of Operations if the Soldier is Zentraedi, but if the soldier is a Meltran or Zentran, the armor is generally a light blue or mauve color. The armor has the sigil of the Zentraedi race painted over the left side of the chest.The armor is a light (approximately 150 lbs or 200 pounds depending on the version)
weight (reducing REF by 0 for the light or by 1 for the heavy version) polycarbonate mesh with passive stealthing technologies incorporated directly into the armor (giving attackers a -2 to hit them) .
The lightweight version of the armor provides a stopping power of 150 and has 150 VD, while the heavy version of the armor has a stopping power of 250 and 250 VD. Both versions are equipped with an integral life support system that has 8 hours of oxygen, air filtration system, heating and cooling capabilites (suitable for space opertions), is heat and radiation shielded plus carries enough nutrient paste and water to sustain the soldier for 3 days of constant combat operations.
The helmet system is tinted and reactive to light and glare and comes equipped with a 25 channel, secure (freq hopping and encrypted) tactical radio net with a range of 15 miles. There is also a faceplate augmentation system that appears to be two-eyed face sheild with horns. This system provides the user with thermal, IR, and UV active and passive visual systems (with a range of approximately 2000m) and extends the range of the radio suite to 40 miles.
This armor is not powered and is not to be confused with the Nusajaduel-Ger or the Queadlunn-Rau Powered Suits.
Zentraedi, while generally thought of as being mechanized troops, do have some personal weapons. The Assault Rifle is generally issued to non-Mechanized Infantry while the Energy Pistol is issued to EVRYONE, including mecha pilots and ship crews.
The Assault Rifle is a 35mm Autocannon with integral recoil compensation and a helical magazine allowing a large round count. The weapon's damage potential is 1d4 MD per round, as the projectiles are not explosive but rather a Frangible Armor Piericing Sabot design with an incredibly high velocity and a very flat trajectory.
The Zentraedi Energy Pistol is a standard design laser weapon with limited range, but with an unlimited round count due to the use of highly radioactive isotopes (Californium and/or Unilquadium) providing the "energy". Note, if this weapon is ever destroyed (containment seal broken), the release of radiation will kill any unprotected human within 36 hours. The All Zentraedi subspecies (Zentraedi, Zentran and Meltran) are all immune to radiation and thus it poses no problem or risk to them.
Tactical Battlepod
The Zentraedi Tactical Battle Pod is a miracle of technology. It is the most common of the
Zentraedi Mecha and for very good reasons. This mech is fast, light, manueverable,
heavily armed, cheap to build, and dependable. In fact the basic
design of the Regult has changed little in over 4,000 years.
The Battle Pod is made from high tensile strength polymers and chitinous resins which results in it's minimal weight. The TBP also has a minimal radar signature as well, as does all Zentraedi equipment. The TBP is able to operate with no loss of capability in space, land,
and underwater without any modification. The TBP is versatile and deadly
and should not be underestimated, as any weaknesses inherent in the design
are more than compensated by in the pilots skill and experience. Light Artillery Battle Pod
There are four different versions of the Battlepod, each identical
to the others except in
weapons fit. These additional models are more rare than the standard but are all organic to a Zentraedi Mechanized Strike Company. A Mechanized Strike Company is composed of 100 Tactical Battlepods, 10 Light Artillery Battlepods (typically armed with HEAT or Frag missiles), 5 Heavy Artillery Battlepods (with multi-warhead or Nuclear warheads), 2 Recon Scout Pods (accompanied by an additional 2 Tactical battlepods each for fire support) and one Officers Battle Pod (the commander's). The total number of pods in a MSB is 122. This is the standard unit for Zentraedi ground forces.
This is a fast (100 mph combat speed, average), heavily armed force. The MSB has long range weapons and sensors, airborne capability (organic re-entry pods on call), orbital fire support, nuclear weapons capability and massive shortrange firepower (under 3 miles). If it runs into opposition that is too strong, Zentraedi doctrine dictates use of nuclear weapons (carried by the HABP) and then overrunning the confused defenders with lightning speed. The MSB is transported to the surface of a planet in three organic Reentry Pods, with the Officers Battle Pod always using the Officers Pod Armored Vehicle for re-entry and usually using the Re-entry pods for egress. Reconnaisance Scout Battle Pod
Vehicle Name: Tactical Battle Pod
Varients of Note: Light Artillery Battlepod, Heavy Artillery Battlepod, and the Recon Scout Pod.
Crew: 1 Pilot
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Range: Virtually unlimited. Power cell lasts from 7 to 20 years depending on usage.
Height: 17.4m , LABP 18.67m, HABP 20.3m, RSP 18.2m
Width: 8m, LABP 9.86m, HABP 8.3m, RSP 12.6m
Length: 8.1m, LABP 8.2m, HABP are also 8.3m, RSP 7.2m
Weight: 37 tons (standard), 39.6 tons for the LABP, 41 tons for the HABP, and 39.8 tons for the Recon Scout Pod
Main Engine: Nuclear reactor type, Output rated at 1.3 GGV for all models
Weapons Systems
Standard Equipment for all Battle Pods:
Combat Bonuses:
Varients of Note: None known
Crew: 1 Pilot
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Range: Virtually unlimited. Power cell lasts from 7 to 20 years depending on usage.
Height: 16.55m
Width: 8m,
Length: 8.3m
Weight: 41.2 tons
Main Engine: Nuclear reactor type, Output rated at 3.9 GGV
Weapons Systems
Standard Equipment for Officer's Battle Pod:
Combat Bonuses:
Note: The OBP typically (90%) uses a booster sled (official RDF Designation is the Officer's Pod Armored Vehicle) which gives additional speed, weapons and capabilities to the OBP.
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Weapons Systems:
Varients of Note: None known
Crew: 4 (Pilot, Co-pilot, two equipment operators)
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Range: Virtually unlimited. Power cell lasts from 7 to 20 years depending on usage.
Height: 60m from the ground to the bottom of the Pod
Width: 33m
Length: 120m (from barrels of PBCs to the tips of the legs, flying configuration)
Weight: 340 tons
Weight of the Escape Capsule: 68 tons
Main Engine: Nuclear reactor type
Weapons Systems:
Combat Bonuses:
Combat Bonuses for the Escape Pod: the Escape Pod is unarmed.
Varients of Note: None known
Crew: 1 or 2
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Range: Virtually unlimited. Power cell lasts from 7 to 20 years depending on usage.
Height: 30.5m from the ground to the bottom of the Pod
Width: 27m
Length: 27.4m
Weight: 126 tons
Lenth of Arm Reach: 50 Feet (15.2m)
Main Engine: Nuclear reactor type
Weapons Systems: Unarmed, can only fight hand to hand.
Standard Equipment:
Combat Bonuses:
Varients: None known
Crew: 3 (pilot, Co-pilot, Loadmaster)
SP and MD by Location:
Speed:
Range: Virtually unlimited. Power cell lasts from 7 to 20 years depending on usage.
Height: 100m
Width: 230m
Length: 230m
Weight: 1400 tons unloaded, can carry up to 1000 additional tons of equipment.
Main Engine: Nuclear reactor type
Weapon Systems: Unarmed
Cargo Capacity: 80 Infantry or 40 Battle Pods Standard, although up to 54 BP's (or 108 Infantry) can be carried in emergencies ("heavy drop", reduce speed and manueverablity accordingly).
Standard Equipment:
Combat Bonuses:
Zentraedi Battle Pod Design Specs
Speed over Armor
Special Equipment for the Recon Scout Pod:
Special Equipment: Note that the Escape pod has all of these systems as well, but the ranges and capabilities are only 60% of their listed values.