So you're playing LANCER. You've read through the rule book, and you think you've got things down. But there's a lot to keep in mind - more than you could reasonably expect to remember. How do I make a HULL save? Can I jump across this ravine? How does flying work again? There are no enemies in range, what actions can I take? Nice, natural 20! That's double damage right? (Wrong.)This reference guide was made so you can quickly answer those questions and the myriad more that come up during play.
If you find an issue with the site, please let me know using the Report Issue form. This site is maintained by one person (Karidyas on the PilotNET Discord) so there's very easily things that could have slipped notice!To make things more quickly accessible, information has been reordered based on how often it comes up, flavour text has been removed and some parts rewritten for brevity or clarity. Text in italics represents information not in the book such as errata, Rules As Intended clarifications, common community practice or personal additions.Special thanks to the creators of LANCER Tom Bloom and Miguel Lopez, and to Warsmith55 on Cheatography for providing the seed. You can download the player version of the Core book for free at Massif Press, as well as other official materials.
Useful resource: Heliotrope printable cheat sheet
Turn Order ↓
Mech Turn Actions
A list of all in-combat actions available with a short description. Links to longer explanations are on each entry as well as each category. If you dismount and your mech is autonomous, you share an action pool with it.
Quick Actions
Boost - Move your Speed.
Skirmish - Attack with 1 mount. Attached Aux doesn't deal bonus damage. No Superheavy.
Quick Tech - May be done more than once a turn, but different actions from the following list must be taken. (To do one twice, see Full Tech).
Invade: Roll Tech Attack. On success, +2 Heat (unless willing target) and choose Invade option. Fragment Signal: Slow & Impair, +Others from systems and frames.
Lock On: consume on attack for 1[+]
Bolster: give ally 2[+] on checks and saves
Scan: acquire information
(+ more from systems and talents.)
Ram - Melee attack to Prone and optionally knock back.
Grapple - Melee attack to move a character when you move and prevent Reactions.
Hide - become untargetable.
Search - find HIDDEN enemies.
Activate Systems (Quick) - Use Systems that need a Quick Action.
Prepare - Defer a Quick Action to go off on a certain trigger as a Reaction. Can't move or act until it does. Can drop if necessary.
Eject - Fly 6 spaces out of your mech (1-time use, Impairs mech).
Self-Destruct - Set your mech to explode as in Reactor Meltdown.
Shut Down - Turn off your mech.
Full Actions
Barrage - Attack with 2 mounts, or a Superheavy. Attached Auxes don't deal bonus damage.
Stabilise - Use 1 Repair to regain HP, OR clear heat. ALSO one of: reload, clear burn, clear a condition, clear ally's condition.
Full Tech - 1 Full Tech, or 2 Quick Tech (can be the same).
Disengage - Move without triggering reactions.
Improvised Attack - Melee for 1d6.
Activate Systems (Full) - Use a System that needs a Full Action.
Boot Up - Start up your SHUT DOWN mech.
Mount/Dismount - Get into or out of your mech.
Skill Check - HASE or other check to perform a difficult action.
Free Actions
Overcharge - 1/round, make an extra Quick Action as a Free Action and take [1 > 1d3 > 1d6 > 1d6+4] Heat.
+ Any from systems, Traits, Talents, Core Power etc.
Reactions
Brace - Halve damage/heat of an attack (inc. tech attack) and incur 1[-] on further attacks against you. No more Reactions until end of next turn, and only 1 Quick Action next turn.
Overwatch - Skirmish with a weapon against an enemy that starts moving within its Threat (not enters it).
[Prepared Action] - A Quick Action you deferred with Prepare.
+ Any from systems, Frame Traits, Talents, Core Power etc.
💫 Statuses and Conditions
🔫 Weapon Tags
💫Statuses and Conditions (Summarised)
Short descriptions only, see the full page for more verbose rules.
Statuses
⚔ Engaged - If move adjacent to a hostile character, both become ENGAGED. Ranged attacks made with 1[-]. Stop moving and lose any unused movement if become ENGAGED with hostile bigger or equal SIZE.🙈 Hidden - Can't be targeted by hostile actions, don't cause engagement. Lost if seen, or if you make a hostile action, Boost or use a Reaction - after it resolves.🌈 Invisible - All attacks inc. tech have a 50% chance to miss. Can Hide in plain sight (but not while engaged). Doesn't protect against non-attacks, like Saves or Lock On.🛌 Prone - SLOWED and need 2x movement to move. All attacks against you inc. tech gain 1[+]. Can use all of Standard Movement to stand, unless IMMOBILISED. (Doesn't provoke Reactions).👻Intangible - Enter a parallel dimension. Can move through objects, characters, terrain, but not end in their spaces. Can only affect other INTANGIBLE things and Tangible things can't affect you. You don't count for objectives. Pilots are INTANGIBLE while their mech is.🥵 Danger Zone - Filled half or more of Heatcap.🥓 Exposed - Take double Kinetic, Explosive, or Energy damage. Clear with Stabilise or Shut Down.😴 Shut Down - Clear all Heat, remove EXPOSED, cascading NHPs return to normal, end all statuses caused by tech actions. Immune to all tech actions while shut down, and STUNNED until no longer SHUT DOWN by doing a Boot Up.
Conditions
🛑 Immobilized - Cannot make voluntary movements.🥴 Impaired - Receive 1[-] on all attacks, saves, and skill checks.❌Jammed - Can't make attacks other than Improvised Attack, Grapple, and Ram. Can't take Reactions, make or benefit from tech actions. Can't talk to others.🎯 Lock On - Hostile characters can choose to consume Lock On to gain 1[+] on their next attack roll.💔 Shredded - No longer benefit from ARMOR or RESISTANCE.🐌 Slowed - Can only move with Standard Move and on your own turn - no Boost or special movement from Talents, Systems, or weapons.💫 Stunned - Can't Overcharge, move, or take any actions. Pilots can still Mount, Dismount, or Eject, and can take actions normally. Have max. 5 EVASION and auto fail HULL and AGILITY checks and saves.
Quick Rules
Rolls
Always round up.
Accuracy/Difficulty [+]/[-] - HIGHEST RESULT of d6. Cancel out 1:1.
Check/Save - Roll d20 + H/A/S/E stat (e.g. HULL). Check is vs 10, Save is vs attacker's SAVE stat.
Ranged Attack - Target within LoS (Line of Sight) and Range. Check cover. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +GRIT, vs EVASION. Engaged adds 1[-]. Melee Attack - Target within LoS and Threat. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +GRIT. Ignores cover. Tech Attack - Target within LoS & Sensors. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +TECH ATTACK stat, vs E-DEFENCE. Ignore cover.
Crit - On 20+ roll 2x damage dice and take HIGHEST RESULT(S). E.g. 2d6 -> 4d6, 2 highest.
AoE - roll an attack for each affected target, roll damage once. Bonus damage is halved if affecting multiple targets. For Blast attacks, cover is worked out from the centre of the blast.
Cover and Line of Sight
LoS - Seen if any part of actor can see any part of target (edge to edge). Blocked by hard cover 1 SIZE or more larger than target.
Even if it doesn't say, every action needs line of sight unless specified otherwise due to Valid Target rules, including actions on allies.
Check Cover - Line from centre of 1 occupied space to centre of 1 space occupied by target.
Soft cover - completely obscured within a zone, or line obstructed by soft or hard cover = 1[-] vs Ranged. Hard cover - adjacent to solid cover your SIZE or larger = 2[-] vs Ranged.
Invisible - 50% chance to miss, rolled before attack. Melee, Ranged, AoE and Tech Attacks all count, Saves don't.
Movement
You can split movement with actions but they must fully resolve. You cannot split actions with movement.
Engagement - If you become ENGAGED with a larger or same SIZE character, lose all remaining movement in that movement action.
Difficult Terrain - need 2x movement to move into. Dangerous Terrain - Succeed ENGINEERING Save or take 5(k/e/x) damage when starting turn in or entering for first time in a round.
Jump - Use all of standard move to either Vertical: go up SIZE spaces and over 1; or Horizonal: go 1/2 SPEED in straight line and travel over ground-level obstacles like pits.
Climb - 1/2 SPEED vertical and 1 horizontal.
Lift/Drag - Can drag 2x SIZE, but SLOWED. Can lift =SIZE, but IMMOBILISED.
Falling - Fall 10 spaces/round. if would land on character, land on free adjacent space instead.
Fall damage - if fall 3+ spaces, take 3(k)AP per 3 spaces fallen, max. 9(k)AP (in normal gravity).
Weaponised falling/jumping is not intended and is mechanically discouraged. This ain't Mario 5064.
Flight - Ignore obstructions! Only straight line in one direction. Must fly 1+ spaces or fall. Stunned/Immobilised = fall. Structure/Stress = Agility save or fall. Immune to Prone. Can't fly carrying anything bigger than SIZE 1/2.
Hover Flight - Ignores minimum movement and straight line limits.
Teleportation - ignores obstructions, does not require line of sight, ignores engagement, and does not provoke reactions; however, is still affected by conditions e.g. IMMOBILIZED, and half speed movement for difficult terrain and PRONE.
Unfamiliar Mech
If somehow you end up piloting a mech that isn't yours, your unfamiliarity with it makes it IMPAIRED and SLOWED. Also applies if someone else pilots your mech e.g. a passenger in the Expanded Compartment.
Harm
Heat - doesn't count as damage so ignores armour, though can have Resistance to Heat. DANGER ZONE = half or more heatcap full. Exceeding heatcap (not reaching) = Overheat, roll on Stress Table (below).
Armour reduces damage taken by its number.
Resistance - halves damage of type resistant to (round damage up).
Burn - AP persistent damage. Take damage when applied, then mark Burn. Make ENGINEERING check at end of turn to clear. Take Burn as AP damage again if failed. Burn stacks. Bolster can help.
Bonus Damage - Halved for AoE. Doesn't apply to secondary Aux weapon's attacks.
Damage check order - 1. Roll. Apply attacker's reductions + increases e.g. for EXPOSED or Heavy Gunner. - 2. Minus ARMOR - 3. Defender's RESISTANCE and other reductions from their systems, talents, Reactions. Damage halving effects don't stack. - 4. Subtract outcome damage number from target HP.
Handing control to AI
As a Protocol, you can give or take back control of your mech to a system with the AI tag. This gives your mech its own set of actions - but you can't pilot it yourself until you take back control. If you give control over, you can't take it back until the start of your next turn. You may still use Pilot Actions however.
Turn Order
Unless specified otherwise, PCs always go first in the 1st round of combat. Player turns and hostile turns then alternate until every character on one side has taken one, then all remaining characters take their turns in any order. The player who went previously nominates who goes next.Since turns alternate between sides, when an NPC goes last in a round a player goes first in the next one, and NPCs start rounds if a PC had the last turn in the previous round.
Structure and Stress
CASCADE: If you have an NHP and are rolling Structure or Stress, roll 1d20. On a 1, they enter Cascade - the GM takes control of your mech. They act strangely, may be hostile, helpful or unhelpful depending on the NHP's personality while cascading. Shut Down to settle. Comp/Cons cannot cascade.
Structure Table 🦾
When your mech reaches 0 HP, reset to full and roll on this Structure table - Roll 1d6 per structure damage taken (including the one that just happened) and take lowest (worst) result. Then it takes any remaining damage. Also make d20 Cascade roll if carrying an NHP.
Stress Table ☢
When your mech exceeds its Heatcap, reset to 0 and roll on this Stress table - Roll 1d6 per reactor stress taken (including the one that just happened) and take lowest (worst) result. Then mark any remaining Heat. Also make d20 Cascade roll if carrying an NHP.
Reactor meltdown - any pilot inside is immediately killed and the mech vaporised in a catastrophic eruption with a BURST 2 area, so make sure you Eject before the end of your turn! The wreck is annihilated and all characters within the affected area must succeed on an AGILITY save or take 4d6 Explosive damage. On a success, they take half damage.
Repair Costs 🛠
Below is a list of all in-combat actions available with a short description. Links to longer explanations are on each entry as well as each category.
Reload - Reload a Pilot Weapon with Loading.
Fight - Attack with a Pilot weapon.
Jockey - Contested GRIT/other pilot skill (GM discretion) vs HULL to climb on enemy mech to mess with it. Distract: Impaired + Slowed, Shred: +2 Heat, Damage: 4 Kinetic.
Talking? (Talents are only usable in-mech - including Leader etc.)
Overwatch - Skirmish with a weapon against an enemy that started moving within its Threat (not enters it).
[Prepared Action] - A Quick Action you deferred with the Prepare action.
Pilot Stats
HP: 6 + GRIT Evasion: 10 E-Defense: 10 Size: 1/2 Speed: 4 Armor: 0Adjust for pilot gear.
Pilot Death 💀
When a pilot reaches 0 HP, roll a d6. 6: Close call. return to 1HP. 2-5: become Down and Out, or voluntarily die. 1: Die immediately.This table may be adjusted according to group preference.
Down and Out (Pilot-Only Condition) - You are knocked unconscious and STUNNED. Any more damage suffered kills the pilot. You wake and recover half HP on Rest. Full HP recovery needs a 10h+ Full Repair.
Pilot Rules
Pilots in mech combat share their mech's action pool (the same Standard Move + [2 Quick OR 1 Full]). So if for example the mech Skirmishes then the pilot Ejects, they have no more actions to use since that's 2 Quick Actions - and pilots can't Overcharge or use mech systems, so no way to get more. The exception is if you have a system with the AI tag like an NHP or Comp/Con and hand over control as a Protocol, then it gets its own set of actions that you control.When piloting a mech, nothing can draw line of sight to you so you can't be directly targeted - unless it gets destroyed, then it only counts as hard cover. (Structurally compromised so doesn't provide the same protection.)If somehow you end up piloting a mech that isn't yours, your unfamiliarity with it makes it IMPAIRED and SLOWED.Unmounted Pilots in mech combat use GRIT for attack rolls, checks and saves, not Pilot Triggers (e.g. Blow Something Up.)Unmounted characters have the BIOLOGICAL tag - they have IMMUNITY to all tech actions (even beneficial ones) except LOCK ON and SCAN, although they can be targeted by electronic systems such as drones and smart weapons. If a BIOLOGICAL character would take heat, they instead take an equivalent amount of Energy damage.Unmounted characters can’t aid mechs, benefit from talents, or give or receive any bonuses that apply to mech-scale weapons.Pilots don’t cause mechs to become ENGAGED and don’t count as obstructions to a mech, no matter its SIZE.
Other Pilot-Relevant Rules
Check/Save - For Pilots, Roll d20 + GRIT. Check is vs 10, Save is vs attacker's SAVE stat.
Ranged Attack - Target within LoS (Line of Sight) and Range. Check cover. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +GRIT, vs EVASION. Engaged adds 1[-]. Melee Attack - Target within LoS and Threat. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +GRIT. Ignores cover. Tech Attack - Pilots may not Tech Attack.
Crit - On 20+, roll 2x damage dice and take HIGHEST RESULT(S). E.g. 2d6 > 4d6, 2 highest.
LoS - Seen if any part of actor can see any part of target. Since a pilot is SIZE 1/2, LoS is blocked by any cover unless at an edge.
Lift/Drag - Use common sense for Pilots.
Weaponised falling/jumping is not mechanically supported. This ain't Mario 5064.
Flight - Ignore obstructions! Only one direction in straight line. Must fly 1+ spaces or fall. Stunned/Immobilised = fall. Structure/Stress = Agility save or fall. Immune to Prone. Can't fly carrying anything bigger than SIZE 1/2.
If somehow you end up piloting a mech that isn't yours, your unfamiliarity with it makes it IMPAIRED and SLOWED.
Heat - Characters without heatcaps like drones, Pilots and other biological entities take Heat as Energy Damage.
Burn - AP persistent damage. Take damage when applied, then mark Burn. As a Pilot make GRIT check at end of turn to clear. Take Burn damage again if failed. Burn stacks.
Bonus Damage - Halved for AoE.
Damage check order - 1. Roll. Apply attacker's reductions + increases e.g. for EXPOSED or Heavy Gunner. - 2. Minus ARMOR - 3. Defender's RESISTANCE and other reductions. Damage halving effects don't stack. - 4. Subtract outcome damage number from target HP.
NPC Specific Rules
NPCs deal fixed damage to reduce GM overhead.
NPCs can't normally crit, though some specific things do have special effects on crit, like a Ronin's blade. Some tougher templates can crit the same as PCs.
By default, NPCs can't Overcharge, Brace, Bolster or Self-Destruct, though templates and systems might let them do so (or something similar).
NPCs' Stabilise does't heal, or clear Burn or Conditions - it only clears Heat and EXPOSED, and reloads.
NPCs don't have a TECH ATTACK stat. Instead they use their SYSTEMS score.
NPC Tech Attacks/Invades do not deal heat by default. They are simplified compared to PC's and only do what's written on them.
NPC Fragment Signal Invade doesn't SLOW, only gives IMPAIRED and +2 Heat.
NPCs cannot perform repeats of the same Quick Tech option with the Full Tech action, unlike players. No double Tear Downs, thank goodness.
Grapple, Ram and Improvised Attack are made with a +1/2/3 flat bonus based on Tier.
Grunts are destroyed when they take Heat from anything other than their own weapons and systems.
Wrecks become difficult terrain and hard cover but do not block LoS. (Full of holes?) Both of these also apply to the pilot inside. (This is the same for PCs but NPCs make wrecks more often.)
NPC Actions
Skirmish - Attack with 1 non-Superheavy weapon.
Quick Tech - May be done more than once per turn, but different options must be chosen from the following list (NPCs can't double up with Full Tech):
Invade: Roll Tech Attack (+NPC SYSTEMS). On success, choose Invade option. Frag. Signal: +2 Heat & Impair only, no slow. +Others from NPC systems.
Lock On: consume on attack for [+]
Ram - Melee attack (+1/2/3) to Prone and optionally knock back.
Grapple - Melee attack (+1/2/3) to move a character when you move and prevent Reactions.
Eject - Fly 6 spaces out of your mech (1-time use).
Barrage - Attack with 2 weapons or a Superheavy.
Stabilise - NPCs clear all Heat & EXPOSED and reload. No heal.
Full Tech - 1 Full Tech, or 2 Quick Tech (NPC's must be different)
Improvised Attack (NPC) - Melee attack, +1/2/3 to hit for 3/4/6(k) damage depending on tier.
Boot Up - Start up a SHUT DOWN mech.
Mount/Dismount - Get into or out of a mech.
Any from systems, Traits etc.
[Prepared Action] - A Quick Action you deferred with Prepare action.
💥 Stress and Structure Tables
Other Rules
Rolls and Attacks
Ranged Attack - Target within LoS (Line of Sight) and Range. Check cover. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +NPC's Weapon's attack bonus or +player GRIT, vs EVASION. Engaged adds 1[-]. Melee Attack - Target within LoS and Threat. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] +NPC's Weapon's attack bonus, or +1/2/3 for Grapple, Ram and Improvised Attack per Tier, or +player GRIT, vs EVASION. Ignores cover. Tech Attack - Target within LoS & Sensors. Roll d20 + [+]/[-] + Player TECH ATTACK stat or NPC's SYSTEMS, vs target's E-DEFENCE. Ignore cover.
Crit - Crits do nothing for NPCs unless they have a specific weapon or trait. For players, on 20+ roll 2x damage dice and take HIGHEST RESULT(S). E.g. 2d6 > 4d6, 2 highest.
AoE - roll attacks for each affected target, roll damage once. Bonus damage is halved if affecting multiple targets. For Blast attacks, cover is worked out from the centre.
LoS - seen if any part of actor can see any part of target. Blocked by hard cover 1 SIZE or more larger than target. If can see, can be seen.
Soft cover - completely obscured within a zone, or line is obstructed by soft or hard cover = 1[-] vs Ranged. Hard cover - adjacent to solid cover your SIZE or larger = 2[-] vs Ranged. Non-adjacent but still obstructed = soft cover.
You can split movement with actions but they must fully resolve.
Engagement - If you become ENGAGED (adjacent) with a larger or same SIZE character, lose all remaining movement in that movement action.
Flight - Ignore obstructions! Must move in straight line. Must fly 1+ spaces or fall. Stunned/Immobilised = fall. Structure/Stress = Agility save or fall. Immune to Prone. Can't fly carrying anything bigger than SIZE 1/2.
Burn - Burn is AP. Take damage when applied, then make ENGINEERING check at end of turn to clear. Take Burn damage again if failed. Burn stacks. Bolster can help.
Damage check order - 1. Roll. Apply attacker's reductions + increases e.g. for EXPOSED or Heavy Gunner. - 2. Minus ARMOR - 3. Defender's RESISTANCE and other reductions from systems, talents, Reactions. - 4. Subtract outcome damage number from target HP.
⚔ Engaged - If move adjacent to a hostile character, both become ENGAGED. Ranged attacks made with 1[-]. Stop moving and lose any unused movement if become ENGAGED with hostile bigger or equal SIZE.🙈 Hidden - Can't be targeted by hostile actions, don't cause engagement. Lost if seen, or if you make a hostile action, Boost or use a Reaction - after it resolves.🌈 Invisible - All attacks inc. tech have a 50% chance to miss. Can Hide in plain sight (but not while engaged). Doesn't protect against non-attacks, like Saves or Lock On.🛌 Prone - SLOWED and need 2x movement to move. All attacks against you inc. tech gain 1[+]. Can use all of Standard Movement to stand, unless IMMOBILISED. (Doesn't provoke Reactions).👻 Intangible - Enter a parallel dimension. Can move through objects, characters, terrain, but not end in their spaces. Can only affect other INTANGIBLE things and Tangible things can't affect you. You don't count for objectives. Pilots are INTANGIBLE while their mech is.🥵 Danger Zone - Filled half or more of Heatcap.🥓 Exposed - Take double Kinetic, Explosive, or Energy damage. Clear with Stabilise or Shut Down.😴 Shut Down - Clear all Heat, remove EXPOSED, cascading NHPs return to normal, end all statuses caused by tech actions. Immune to all tech actions while shut down, and STUNNED until no longer SHUT DOWN by doing a Boot Up.
Cascading NHP Suggestions
This is original unofficial content, but may be useful to GMs wondering what to do when Cascading comes up.
This section outlines the mechanics of LANCER's narrative play portion. While relatively light compared to the combat, this can be seen as a good contrast, with much more freedom to simply Do Things without needing mechanic support. The mechanics that are present are outlined here, including extras introduced in Wallflower and the KTB Field Guide.
Backgrounds
Your character had a life before they became a mech pilot, however short like childhood or the training they undertook after being decanted from their vat. They may be proud of it, secretive, or reject it entirely. There is a list of 20 backgrounds in the Core Book to give a starting point to flesh out a character backstory, or you could write something entirely original. Regardless, it's good to establish the road from their past to where they are now. Why does this character pilot a giant robot?
Invoking BackgroundsOutside of combat, a player or the GM may invoke a character's Background to give 1[+] (Accuracy) or 1[-] (Difficulty) on any skill check where it is relevant. For example, a Hacker might invoke their background to gain [+] on a skill check to reprogram a door control panel, or a Penal Colonist might receive [-] when trying to convince station guards who have seen their file.If there is disagreement about a background's effects, the rest of the group excluding the player affected and the GM arbitrate. If they can't reach a consensus, the person who invoked the background decides.
Triggers
Triggers represent a pilot's exceptional ability in various types of impactful action. They give a flat bonus of +2 to +6 to applicable narrative skill checks, depending on the levels invested in the Trigger.Using Triggers LANCER does not use skill-specific checks - the GM does not decide for example "this is a Get Somewhere Quick roll". Instead, a challenging situation is presented and the player is free to decide their approach. If you have an appropriate Trigger, you can apply it as a bonus to a narrative skill check.Only one Trigger bonus can be applied to a roll at a time.Triggers are fairly open-ended, allowing you to apply them in creative ways. That said, the GM is responsible for arbitrating outlandish claims. Be prepared to justify how your Blow Something Up trigger helps you hack a high tech security network. Trying to force an approach to use a certain Trigger, but is less plausible to succeed, may increase the difficulty of the roll - see skill checks.Triggers apply to pilots only. They don't affect the way mechs behave, and so are almost exclusively applicable in narrative play. They are never for mech attack rolls, saves etc. If making a skill check while piloting, use your Mech Skills instead (Hull, Agility etc.)Likewise, GRIT is never used for narrative rolls and is mostly used for dismounted pilots in mech combat. +2 Triggers would become pointless from LL3+ if you could use GRIT instead, or if you could stack it would make rolls trivially easy.You only need to track Triggers you have. You can absolutely make actions a Trigger doesn't apply to, you just won't get a flat bonus on the roll. Accuracy from Background or other characters' assistance still comes into play.Creating Triggers With GM approval, you can make up your own Triggers. These can be more specific than the ones in the book, but not less. E.g. Kill in Cold Blood would be fine but Do Harm or Endure would not.
Skill Checks
In narrative play, skill checks are used to determine the outcome of complicated situations and actions. They are only required in tense narrative situations and when making a roll will move the story forward. Your pilot will generally always succeed in mundane tasks, especially if it relates to their background. You don’t need to make a skill check to open a door, cook a meal, or talk to a superior officer – unless there’s something complicating your attempt, the outcome might further a situation or relationship in an interesting way, or it might answer a question.
Rolling a Skill Check
Name your goal.
The GM decides the consequences of failure (e.g., losing time, alerting the guards, getting shot, etc). If there are no consequences, then you automatically succeed.
Determine which triggers activate, if any, and whether you or the GM are invoking your pilot’s background (either for 1[+] or 1[-] depending on situation).
Roll 1d20 and add any relevant modifiers from triggers, ACCURACY [+], or DIFFICULTY [-]. On a 9 or less, you fail to accomplish your goal and suffer the established consequences. On a 10+, you accomplish your goal.
Only roll once to achieve your goal, and stick with the result (except when you want to push it; see below).
You can modify the difficulties of rolls.Normal: 1-9 fails with consequence. 10+ succeeds. Difficult: adds 1[-] (Difficulty) to the roll. Risky: 1-9 fails with consequence. 10-19 succeeds with consequence. 20+ succeeds with no consequence. Heroic: only succeeds on a 20+.
There are no easy rolls as rolls are only required for consequential actions.
Aid: A player may aid another in an action, in which case they add 1[+] to the roll. However they also share in the consequences.
Pushing it: Reroll the dice to try a given skill check again, at the cost of increasing the consequences. A normal roll becomes Risky and a Risky roll becomes Heroic for the chance to try again. Heroic rolls may not be Pushed further.
Consequences
Rolling under a 10 (or under 20 for Risky) and incurring consequences on a check is the main way the GM has to respond to player action, since NPCs don't act themselves. Before a roll, the GM must outline the consequences of failure, and can only inflict consequences outlined this way. The specific consequence is situational, like failing hacking into a door might mean you have to use a skeleton key much earlier than anticipated, or struggling over a weapon might have it go off and damage you.Here's a list of example complications or consequences:
Harm: Damage, injury or bodily harm. Plenty of opportunities for this given lancers' lifestyles. Usually, harm results in 1-2 damage (if significant enough to cause it), but heftier sources might do 3-5 and truly lethal damage may do 6+.
Time: the action takes longer than usual. Not so bad when you have it, but when under pressure, it can really get the stress up.
Resources: Something must be used up, lost or exhausted.
Collateral: Someone other than you or your intended target is harmed or put in danger.
Position: You end up precariously near a cliff, fire, in the baroness's bad books, or under a spotlight.
Effect: The action is less effective than intended. If you mean to kill, you merely injure. If you try to open a door, it's only open for a short time or gets stuck halfway.
Skill Challenges
When a group of players try and accomplish something together, a group skill challenge can be a good way to resolve it.Every player involved makes a Skill Check. If the majority are successful, the challenge is passed; if not, it fails with consequence. If the result is a draw, flip a coin to decide.E.g. Bluffing past an armed checkpoint. All players roll Skill Checks with appropriate modifiers. If they succeed, they pass unharmed; if they fail, the guards deny them passage and they must find another route.Extended Challenge This is like a Clock without a tracker. If a plan or action has several steps, an Extended Challenge can be used. This is a group or series of Skill Challenges where a majority of them must be passed in order to succeed in the overall goal.Examples: A series of events chasing a target across a city; Successfully acquiring an item, plant it at a scene and escape to reveal a Baron's covered up crimes.
Player Initiative and NPC actions
In narrative play, players always have the opportunity to act first. The world reacts to them, it doesn't act alone. This means a GM can't ask for a roll unless prompted by player action. To initiate a skill check, a player states their goal and the GM decides whether it will be regular, Difficult, Risky or Heroic, and states the consequences of failure. After the roll and the following occurrences from success or failure, the player then has the opportunity to act again, probably with the prompt "What do you do?". This lets players decide the course of action and gives them a lot of agency, and things feel fairer when everything is laid out on the table.If the players fail to take action, stall or look to the GM for what happens next, they are effectively passing initiative over to the GM to continue the flow of the story. If players are discussing for too long, maybe have courses of action suggested or likely outcomes weighed in on by an NPC. Speaking of:NPCs do not act or roll themselves, their actions are the result of player rolls. For example a PC might try to persuade a local barkeep to give up some info. If they succeed, she is persuaded; if they fail, she keeps silent. She does not make a contesting roll herself to see how effective the persuasion is on her. If the GM decides she'd be particularly tight lipped, they can make the roll Difficult or Risky, or both.
Clocks
A mechanic from Blades in the Dark and Apocalypse World, Clocks were introduced to Lancer in the No Room for a Wallflower book and expanded on in Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies (KTB) to add a bit more structure to narrative play. They are a flexible tool with many uses, that can clarify and significantly speed up narrative play by providing a clear mechanical framework to track things past a single skill check.A clock is a visual tracker with multiple segments - usually an even number of 4, 8 or 12 depending on the complexity or difficulty. It's named to indicate what it's tracking, like "Facility break-in". They can look like a segmented pie circle, a series of checkboxes, or whatever is easiest for you.The clock types here are not categorised or named the same as in the KTB book but I find it a useful way of thinking of them.
Action clocks When you have a clear short- to mid-term goal or specific challenge, set out and name a clock. When a player wants to take an action towards completing that goal, they describe what they want to attempt and the GM decides its effectiveness (see below). When the player wants to proceed, they roll a skill check. Triggers, Background etc may be applied same as any other skill check.You don't have to create a clock for every goal. If it's straightforward enough to achieve in one roll, no need to track it; just do an ordinary skill check.By default, the results of a skill check to progress a clock would be: <10: failure. There is No Effect (fill no segments) or Little Effect (fill one segment) and some consequence. 10-19: success The action is Effective (fill 2 segments on the clock). 20+: critical success the action is Very Effective (fill 3 segments on the clock).To keep things moving it is recommended to fill one segment even on a failure, but it isn't required. When a clock is filled, the goal is successful, challenge overcome, or the event it's counting down occurs.
Adjusting Effect The GM may adjust the Effect of an action up or down depending on the situation - pilot background, using pilot equipment, Reserves used, the character's approach, the environmental conditions etc. Increasing Effect usually requires using a finite resource or specialist equipment, usually Reserves, a Bond Power or Pilot Gear. Perhaps having a Subjectivity-Enhancement Suite allows greater Effect for hacking security systems, or building a fire would have less Effect in extreme cold.A GM may decide an action has No Effect, no matter the dice result, like sweet-talking a rock into rolling out of the way.Be aware of the difference between giving a result less Effect and making a roll Difficult or Risky. Making the roll harder affects the likelihood of success, while changing the Effect adjusts the quality of what happens after success. You did what you wanted, but it wasn't very effective. Ask yourself - would it work if the plan succeeds, however unlikely?
Clock Sequences Clocks can be layered or sequenced- maybe this break-in consists of smaller steps with their own clocks like "Circumvent security", "Locate Target" and "Crack the Safe". Avoid getting too granular, however, as the point of using clocks is to smooth out and speed up narrative scenarios by abstracting things into something trackable, not to arbitrarily split events up into multiple rolls and bog down play with too many spinning plates.Tracking Clocks Clocks can track off-screen events or other progress. In the above Facility Break-in scenario, you could have a clock representing detection that fills 2 segments on a skill roll failure when trying to complete a task, and 1 on success, with the facility going on high alert if filled. Racing 2 simultaneous clocks, one positive and one negative, is a great way to build tension.Tracking clocks can also be used long term, such as tracking the facility faction's relationship to the PCs and lose two segments if the players are discovered, while another tracks their secondary goal over many missions of acquiring their own ship.
Tracking Clocks can be visible or invisible to the players. Having them visible but unnamed can give more tension and mystery than having them revealed out of nowhere (though using them as a private GM tool is also valid). This technique is used in Wallflower to track the power of an unknown enemy, with what it represents revealed at the same time the nature of the threat is.The Bonds system from KTB is designed to extend and enhance working with clocks as they give players ways to enhance Effect, and abstracts health and Bond XP into their own clocks. However clocks are a very useful tool in any game, with or without Bonds.
Play Structure
Play sessions are usually structured around missions - a situation with a clear goal for the players to achieve. They are needed, usually urgently.Each mission starts with these steps:
Briefing: The situation is outlined, goal established by the GM or players and the GM establishes the stakes - what will happen if the goal is not achieved.
Preparation: Players make adjustments to their mechs, pick pilot gear and make any other preparations.
Reserves: Players choose the Reserves they are bringing on this mission.
Boots on the Ground: The players arrive on the scene.
When you've got boots on the ground, you're on a mission. You can adjust your group's goals or abandon them entirely as the situation changes. The specific structure is up to the GM (though if you anticipate making large tonal shifts, giving players a heads up will stop them feeling misled later on.)Missions can last for one session, or spread over several. (For beginner players, either 1 medium-long narrative session or 1/2 to 1 combat is expected. This is very variable depending on session length, general tabletop familiarity, how much time players and the GM spend deliberating over their combat turns, and how many mistakes require re-doing parts. Mistakes are expected as this is a complex system!)At the end of a mission, whether it was successful or not, the pilots debrief, level up, and go on downtime.
Downtime
Downtime is the narrative space between missions, where characters can get some R&R, run errands, undertake projects, progress narrative either alone or in groups, and prepare for the next mission. Either as a part of or in addition to this, they can take Downtime Actions to acquire Reserves.
Reserves
Reserves are specific resources that may give players an edge in their mission, like extra gear, reinforcements, support, information etc. They are game objects and are tracked on a character sheet. They are a way of formalising the resources available to a player that may be used for a significant effect. Usually acquired during downtime, though may also be granted in the field. Establishing reserves before starting a mission is important as it prevents unnecessary fetch quests and arguments over who has what.
Downtime Actions
Downtime Actions are used to acquire Reserves, with both mechanical and narrative benefits. A downtime typically contains 1-2 Downtime Actions depending on length, and players may play out narrative scenes with no limit other than common sense.This list of actions is not prescriptive - it is up to GM discretion what will be available according to the situation, and they may add in more as well. The available Reserves are equally fluid. These are just a good place to start.All require a roll to check success with varying consequences for failure. If a pilot has an applicable Trigger this can be added to the result. You can use any as long as it makes narrative sense. E.g. a character might use their Charm +2 for Gather Information to befriend a guard and get them to let slip some vital intel, while another in the same situation might choose to stealth in and steal documents so they can add their Act Unseen or Unheard +4.
What's the difference between Downtime Actions and roleplay done during downtime? Downtime Actions are the only way to get Reserves that have a material, mechanical benefit in missions. Calling your mentor for advice could just be a nice role-playing moment, but if you want that to provide a tangible benefit in-mission, like Accuracy on a roll or intel on the enemy, that'd require a Get Connected action and roll to determine the outcome.As such it might help to have players choose a reserve they want then work out an Action to get it, as freeform "what do you want to do in your Downtime" often results in role-play scenes without clear reserve benefits. Those are fine and good gameplay, but may result in missing out on an actual Reserve if taken as their Action.The lines start to blur when it comes to information acquired through role-play vs Reserves, as Reserves are supposed to be taken and used in a mission but information is often acquired immediately. But hey, you'll figure it out.
Downtime Action Reference
These can serve as a reference guide when wondering what to do and needing to make a quick decision. For the full wording, reference the Core Book p53 or Comp/Con Active Mode (click the moon & city icon in the bottom right before Mission Start to bring up the Downtime Actions list).
Power at a Cost - Acquire something guaranteed, for a price. GM chooses 1-2 significant consequences: time, risk, sacrifice, insufficiency, poor quality etc. Unlike others, this action is usable in-mission.
Buy Some Time - Put something off, extend or make an opportunity. Give breathing room or survive longer. After success, trying to buy more time for the same thing makes the roll target much harder.
Gather Information - Investigating or researching to gather info on a specific subject. Get the resulting info as Reserves. Risk of discovery or needing to cover your tracks on a 1-19.
Get a Damn Drink - A night out with potential negative and/or positive consequences. Lose and gain friends, reputation or on <10 all your clothes and wallet.
Get Creative - Slower and less flexible than Power at a Cost but with few downsides. Tinker, invent or craft, physical item or software. Get the result as Reserves for next mission or this one on 20+. Project doesn't have to be from gear list but usually can't be as impactful as mech gear.
Get Focused - Practice, train or learn a specific skill. Get a new +2 trigger for that skill, e.g. Playing Chess. (Should be a specific, non-martial skill and personal to character.) Not used for improving general Triggers as is implied in Comp/Con.
Get Organised - Start, run or improve an organisation like a business, charity, gang or cult. Must have a goal and a sector focus. An Organisation has Efficiency and Influence stats, which you can add as bonuses to checks where the Org assist. Add Efficiency to rolls related to its Focus when it 's involved; add Influence when trying acquisition, making opportunities or swaying public opinion. Requires rolls each downtime to maintain (free after 1st) if founded or headed.
Get Connected - Make a new connection or contact an old one, group or individual, for assistance. Need to be able to communicate with them somehow. Get their resources or aid as a Reserve. Must do a favour or make good on promise either before or after helping. Free on 20+ means you must do a favour next time.
Scrounge or Barter - Dig around for a material asset - better pilot gear, a vehicle, etc. Must be something physical but doesn't need to be on a gear list. If acquired can take on next coming mission only as reserves. You get what you want but it's faulty, stolen (<10) or you pay in time, dignity etc (10-19).
[Campaign-specific]
A campaign may make up its own downtime actions that provide bonuses more specific to its setting. For example, the No Room for a Wallflower campaign includes some actions centred around the main settlement of Evergreen, improving relations with its people or scavenging the surrounding area for materials with specific rewards.
Narrative Combat (Core)
The KTB Bonds system replaces pilot HP and harm in narrative play with a much more flexible and compelling system similar to Blades in the Dark. It's way better in my opinion, even if the Bonds themselves aren't your cup of tea thematically.
When pilots get into fights, it may be resolved with skill checks and use of Clocks. No need to track turn order or positioning or enemy HP. This lets fights play out more cinematically, and may be resolved with only a few rolls and some colourful description. Use your imagination, channel your favourite action movies - players and GM.Like other skill checks, actions can't be reattempted until the circumstances change, such as by repositioning, changing tactics or getting help.Don't worry about tracking NPC health. If a player is trying to take out a gangster and they succeed the check, they do so. If an NPC is tougher, better equipped or better trained, you can make rolls intending to kill them Risky or Difficult, or ask for a different approach that is more likely to work against them - e.g. fighting head on vs setting an ambush. For an especially tough enemy, representing their threat with a clock might work. It is getting dangerously close to a health bar, though it works off a different system to weapon damage and character HP so may be fine for exceptional encounters.If you want more detail, you could ask for successive skill checks for different parts of a fight, like approaching under fire, taking out a watch tower, then destroying a gun emplacement. If you're looking for a more mechanically involved combat experience though, perhaps it's time to bring the mechs into play.
HP, damage and Injury
Using the core book rules, Harm is an obvious consequence to give for failed skill checks in combat, though certainly not the only one. When pilots do get hurt, they will lose HP.At LL0, PCs have 6 HP. This goes up with GRIT and can increase depending on the pilot's hardsuit. HP represents not just a pilot's physical health, but their distance from death in abstract. They may lose HP for pushing their luck, agility or stamina to the brink, but they can't do it forever - the clock ticks down. However they don't take damage for minor scrapes and bruises, it has to be significant enough to cause serious harm.
Minor damage: 1-2 damage. Shot by small arms, stabbed, punched, hit by small to medium object at speed.
Major damage: 3-5. toxic gas, long falls, heavy or assault weapons, or short exposure to vaccuum.
Lethal damage: 6+. Catastrophic. A boulder falls on them, they take a hit from a mech weapon or underfoot grenade.
Pilots can have armour on their hardsuit that reduce the damage taken by its number, unless the weapon is AP (armour piercing) or it is caused by an especially dramatic force like falling in lava or off a cliff.
When a pilot reaches 0 HP, roll a d6. On 6: Close call. return to 1HP. On 2-5: become Down and Out, or voluntarily die. Down and Out: You are knocked unconscious and STUNNED. Any more damage suffered at this point kills the pilot. You wake and recover half HP on a 1+ hour Rest. Full HP recovery needs a 10+ hour rest and a Full Repair, implying the presence of facilities needed for recovery. On 1: Die immediately. This may not be the end, there are options for dead characters to get better; however all carry lasting consequences and none are strictly legal.This table may be adjusted according to group preference.
Bonds
The Bond system introduced in the Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies significantly extends narrative play. A player chooses a Bond archetype at LL1, which gives them a power to use and different ways of gaining XP to acquire more powers through role-playing. How you do so depends which you pick, e.g. the Wolf gets XP from "addressing challenges with precision, coldness, or intimidation" as its Major Ideal (+ a Minor Ideal you can change up each session). Bonds also completely replace the HP system in narrative play with a more flexible 8-part Stress bar, that can represent a much wider range of afflictions than just physical damage.There are a number of other complimentary systems that I really like, but as they are part of a paid book I won't be outlining exactly how they work here. They are based on Blades in the Dark rules which might give you some idea.
Bonds clarifications
There are some things that are worded a bit confusingly in the KTB book that are worth clarifying.
Veteran Power Clarifications
Veteran Power is the name for the power you get from another Bond. It's not the Boon that you get for free if you do so, that's just an extra treat.If you have 2 or more Powers from your own Bond, for your third and up you may take a Veteran Power from another Bond. If you do, you also gain the Boon of your own Bond. E.g. at your third Titan level you could take Masquerade from the Harlequin, and doing so will get you the Boon of Iron too. You may take a third Titan power instead, but you do not gain the Boon.You may do this up to twice. The prerequisite is only 2+ powers in your own Bond, not every 3rd level. So, as this same Titan you could take your fourth power from the Wolf Bond. That would count as a second Veteran Power, meaning you can take no more from now on as you have reached the limit of 2. (There is the option to respec on LL increase though.)
Master Power Clarifications
Master Powers are not given to you in addition to your fifth Power in a Bond, it just becomes available as an option.Veteran Powers count towards the requirement for the Master Power. As the Titan from the previous example with 2 Titan Powers, a Veteran Power from Harlequin and another from Wolf, you may take the Master Power "Unbreakable" as your fifth.Why doesn't it just say "at level 5"? A) they seem to be avoiding use of the word Level to not confuse with mech levelling, and B) by swapping your Bond and keeping a Power from it, it's possible to have a Power from outside your Bond that is not a Veteran Power. I imagine wording Master Powers like this discourages switching, since that remaining Power wouldn't count towards it.
Other Clarifications
Despite what CompCon does, you shouldn't get free extra Powers when reaching certain LLs. That was just a way of giving the recommended Powers for starting a campaign at certain LLs.
You may only have 1 Bond at a time, though you can pick Bond Powers from other Bonds through the Veteran Powers.
If you switch Bonds, you lose all your current powers, except one of your choice which you retain. It does not count for things that say "Powers from this Bond", mainly Veteran and Master Power requirements.
Switching Bonds is mainly useful if you want to change your Ideals to better fit a character or playstyle. The cost of having to get rid of all but one of your Powers is very high, so it's better to do early. That said, a later loss and switch could make for some cool narrative moments.
It's possible to get a decent amount of XP per session: 3 from major ideals and 1 from your chosen minor ideal for the session, + 1 from invoking a Burden. There are also a number of Bond Powers and Boons that grant XP to other players. However, as you only get a new Bond Power on increase in LL, you will sit on the max of 8 XP until the mission ends. This means you have few opportunities to get new Powers, and if you miss the XP amount you don't get another one for quite a while.
You Break when you go over your Stress limit, not reach it.
Bonds do not replace Pilot Gear completely. Your pilot still has armour, weapons and 3 pieces of equipment, they are just not used for health or skill checks in narrative play. They are only used for changing Effect on rolls, e.g. trying to take out a distant sniper when you only brought a Light Signature will probably have Little or No Effect. Likewise trying to punch through a wall, unless you have Heavy Hardsuit which is self-powered. (KTB p86/87.) You're also going to need your equipment in Mech Combat where the health system is back in use.
You can only use bond powers in Narrative Play. Call it not being able to focus while piloting or something.
You can flavour the source of bond powers however you like - advanced technology, specialised training, extraordinary natural abilities, or freaky paracausal mind powers. Just be aware of the tone of your particular game.
Rules for LANCER's combat, ordered by when you encounter them.
Dice Rolls
Lancer uses d20's and d6's. Sometimes a d3 will be called for, which is a d6 halved and rounded up.
General rolling rules:
"Meets it beats it" - equalling the target number succeeds.
Only one source of flat bonus per roll.
These are overridden by specific exceptions but are true in almost all cases.
GRIT
Half a character's LL (Licence Level) rounded up. It represents a pilot's veterancy, deep resolve and will to live. GRIT is used in the following:
Added to both mech and pilot HP, save target (SAVE) and attack rolls.
Added to available mech System Points.
As an unmounted pilot in mech combat, it's used as a flat bonus to attacks (same as mechs) and save rolls. This is instead of H/A/S/E as a pilot does not have a hull etc, or pilot triggers - mech-scale combat is very different to a fistfight.
GRIT is NOT used in narrative play at all, unless piloting a mech. If used in addition to trigger bonuses it would make rolls very easy, and if you could pick one following the "1 flat bonus only" rule, rank 1 triggers would be redundant at LL3 as you'd get a +2 to everything. Then all triggers would be redundant with +6 to everything at LL12.
Accuracy and Difficulty
Take the highest result, not the total.
Roll a number of d6s equal to the number of Accuracy or Difficulty, and take the highest result. This means the highest dice result possible is 26 and the lowest -5, and no roll can get more than either +6 or -6 from Accuracy and Difficulty.Accuracy and Difficulty dice cancel each other out 1:1, so a roll with 1 [+] and 1 [-] wouldn't roll any d6.Example: For a roll with 3 [+] and 1 [-], one [-] cancels one [+], so roll 1d20 and 2d6. On results of 17 (d20), 5 and 3 (2d6): 17+5 = 22. The 3 is ignored as it's lower than the 5.
Crits (Critical Hits)
A Critical Hit is any Ranged or Melee Attack Roll with a final result of 20 or above (including Accuracy/Difficulty). Natural 20s don't matter, just the final dice result (except in the Brutal talent where it gives you max damage). If you crit, roll twice the number of required damage dice and take the HIGHEST results. This includes bonus damage. For example, a crit on a 2d6 weapon +1d6 bonus damage would roll 6d6 and take the highest 3 results.
Skill checks and Saves
Some things like grenades, moving through dangerous terrain or certain tech systems require a Check or Save to determine its effectiveness. A Check is usually against something passive or indirect, and succeeds if the result is above a 10. A Save is forced by a hostile action and must roll equal or higher than the aggressing character's SAVE stat to succeed.For something hostile but indirect like a mine, needing to roll vs a hostile character's SAVE instead of a check's 10 might represent their skill in using it, such as placing, hiding or creating with intent to harm or disrupt.In both cases, you roll [1d20 + accuracy/difficulty + the relevant mech Skill stat], e.g. HULL for a HULL save.While in a mech, a check or save roll only uses its skill as a bonus, and does not use GRIT as an addition or replacement. E.g. on a HULL Save you may only add your mech's HULL, even with 0 HULL and 2 GRIT.TLDR: - Check/Save both roll 1d20 + [+]/[-] + H/A/S/E. - Successful Check is >= 10. - Successful Save is >= aggressor's SAVE stat.Pilots in mech combat making a Check or Save add GRIT instead of the relevant mech Skill.Checks may be used by the GM in mech combat to represent difficult tasks - see the Skill Check full action.Narrative checks use pilot Triggers, and have their own success rules.
Contested Checks
A contested check represents a challenge between two parties. Both participants make skill checks and add any bonuses, and whoever has the highest result wins. If the result is a tie, the attacker – the one who initiated the contest – wins. You might make contested checks in both narrative play and mech combat.
Choosing to fail
You may always choose to fail a skill check or save. You might do this if an ally is making an action that requires a failed save in order to work, or even if you think failing would create a more interesting story.
General Action Rules
An action must fully resolve before another action may be taken, including movement. The exception is Reactions which occur in response to a trigger. See Reactions for more details.
You may only perform any action once each per turn, unless it's part of a Free Action or Reaction (inc. Overcharge).
Movement may be split. You may use some, perform an action, then use the rest. However each instance counts as starting movement for the purposes of Overwatch etc.
What this means:
If you are Barraging or have 2 weapons on a Skirmished mount, you must finish firing before moving.
If you want to attack twice, you must Barrage with 2 weapon mounts rather than Skirmishing twice (unless you Overcharge).
If you want to Invade, Lock On etc. twice, you must use the Full Tech action rather than the same Quick Tech twice.
Since Overcharge grants a Quick Action as a Free Action, you may use it to duplicate an already-performed action.
You can't Overcharge twice to get 4 Quick Actions in a turn. (Despite being used to duplicate Quick Actions, the 1/turn restriction still applies to it.)
You may perform one Reaction per turn, even other players' and NPCs, but may not perform that Reaction again until your next turn (unless it states multiple uses). See Reactions for more details.
Turns and Rounds
Lancer uses a free turn order, sometimes called "popcorn initiative" or "zipper initiative", where each side alternates turns but is free to choose which character on their side acts, rather than there being a static order. This allows for more interesting tactical play, at the cost of complexity and planning time.When combat starts, a player (or allied NPC) always goes first. They may decide who, but if they can't agree then the GM decides.The player who went previously decides the player who goes next. They may discuss with the team but the decision is ultimately up to that person. Being decisive here helps game speed a lot. After the first player takes their turn, it is a hostile NPC turn, then a player, and so on. When there are no more characters left to go on one side, then the remaining characters take their turns. When all characters have taken all their turns, that round ends and the next begins.The turn order still alternates, so if one side took the last turn in the previous round, the other side starts the new round. This can result in hostile NPCs acting first in a new round, if there are more players than NPCs.
Turns and Action Limits
Some systems, traits etc have the limit of once per turn or once per round (1/turn, 1/round), or if especially powerful, 1/scene or 1/mission. If a player uses an action with a 1/round limit, they may not use it again until the start of their turn in a new round, not when the round resets.The difference between 1/round and 1/turn is most relevant for Reactions, as they may be used on other people's turns. Spotter 3 also allows a player to take a Quick Action off-turn.For GMs - some NPC templates take multiple turns in a round, so actions with 1/round limits become more important to track.
Start of Turn, End of Turn and End of Next Turn
Start of turn is pretty intuitive - as soon as a turn starts, these actions or effects occur before anything else does. It is not a technical game phase but it may be thought of one, like a Magic: the Gathering "upkeep", if that helps.Effects that trigger at the end of turn occur after a character has performed all their desired actions for the current turn, including Free Actions and Reactions, but before the next character's turn (enemy or ally).Effects that last until the end of next turn persist until that character has started and ended another turn - even if it is currently their turn when they receive it.
Action and Effect Resolution Order
Effects caused by other characters have priority and always resolve first during a character’s turn. For example, if a character starts their turn in a zone created by another character that causes them to take damage, then this damage resolves before any other effects take place.Otherwise, characters can always choose the order of their own actions or effects during their turn. For example if using two protocols at the start of their turn, they can choose which resolve first. If there’s any additional clarity needed, the GM adjudicates.
Action List:
Boost Move 1+ spaces up to your SPEED. You may break this up with other actions, same as your regular movement.
Skirmish Attack a valid target within Range/Threat with 1 non-Superheavy weapon. If it's an X/Aux mount, you may also attack with the attached Aux weapon at the same or a different target, but it doesn't deal bonus damage. You may order the mount's attacks as you like according to the FAQ, though the Aux still doesn't deal bonus damage if it's attack is first. Superheavy weapons must use the Barrage full action to fire.(With being able to order them as you please, the differences between picking a weapon to fire and having any attached auxes fire too, vs attacking with all weapons on a mount, are so minimal it's easier to think of attacking on a per-mount basis.)
Quick Tech Choose an option from the Quick Tech list (see below). Unlike other Quick Actions, Quick Tech can be taken more than once per turn, but different options from the Quick Tech list must be chosen - so you may Invade and Lock On, but not Invade twice. (This is bypassed by the Full Tech action, the tech equivalent of a Barrage).Invade: Make a Tech Attack against a target within Sensors and line of sight. On success, the target takes 2 Heat and you may choose an Invade option. All characters may use Fragment Signal, and more may be acquired through Talents or Systems. Fragment Signal: target becomes IMPAIRED and SLOWED until end of their next turn. You always deal 2 Heat on a successful Invade, no matter which option you pick. This is not true for NPCs whose Invade options only do what it says on the can, but their Frag. Signal stlll has 2 Heat attached. You may also Invade willing allies for certain useful effects e.g. the Goblin's Puppet Systems. If the target is willing, you automatically succeed and they don't take Heat.The rest of these are not Tech Attacks, just Quick Tech actions, so don't count as attacks.Lock On: A character within line of sight and Sensors gains the LOCK ON condition. This may be consumed to gain 1 [+] on an attack against the locked-on character. No rolling required, it just happens. You may Lock On to INVISIBLE characters, but not HIDDEN as it's a targeted action.Bolster: A character within Sensors gains 2 [+] on their next check or save between now and the end of their next turn. Bolsters don't stack.Scan: Choose a character or object within Sensors and line of sight. No roll is required. The GM must tell you one of the following:• Your target’s weapons, systems, and full statistics (HP, SPEED, EVASION, ARMOR, Mech Skills (H/A/S/E), and so on). • One piece of hidden information about the target, such as confidential cargo or data, current mission, the identity of the pilot, and so on. • Generic or public information about the target that can be pulled from an info bank or records, such as the model number of a mech.Information does not get updated if it changes e.g. the target loses health.
Ram Make a melee attack against an adjacent character the same SIZE or smaller than you. On a success, your target is knocked PRONE and you may also choose to knock them back by one space, directly away from you.
Grapple Make a melee attack against an adjacent character. On hit:• Both characters are ENGAGED. • Neither character can Boost or take Reactions. This is different to being SLOWED and means they can still take movement actions that aren't Boost, if not prevented by the next clause. • The smaller character becomes IMMOBILISED but mirrors movement of larger. If both are the same SIZE, a contested HULL check at start of each grappled character's turn decides who counts as larger until the next of this check.A Grapple ends when: • Either character breaks adjacency, e.g. from a forced movement system or knockback from a Ram. • Attacker chooses to end the Grapple as a Free Action. • Defender breaks free as a Quick Action contested HULL check.
Hide A character may Hide to become HIDDEN if they are BOTH not engaged AND any of: out of line of sight, obscured by cover or invisible. You must be completely within a zone of soft cover to Hide within it. For soft cover, you may only Hide within zones on the map (such as dense foliage or Smoke Grenades). Effects that grant soft cover but aren't physically present on the map don't obscure you enough to Hide in. (Skirmisher 1's Chaff Launchers, being next to a character with Combined Arms 1 etc. don't count.)When HIDDEN, a character may not be directly targeted, but their general location is still known and they may be affected by AoE or abilities that don't target. Also, other characters who move adjacent don't become engaged with them (they're trying to be sneaky after all).A character loses HIDDEN when they are seen (for example by moving around the thing they're hiding behind or losing Invisibility), or attack (ranged/melee/tech), make a hostile action (like use a system that targets a hostile character, force a save, Lock On or Scan), Boost or take a Reaction. Losing HIDDEN happens after the action that triggered it resolves.A HIDDEN character may also be revealed with a successful Search action.
Search Make a character within SENSORS lose HIDDEN with a contested check, your SYSTEMS vs their AGILITY.
Activate Use Systems that take a Quick Action to activate. Different systems count as different actions for the general 1/turn limit, meaning duplicates of non-unique systems count as different actions.
Prepare As a Quick Action, you may Prepare any other Quick Action and specify a valid trigger. Until the start of your next turn, when it is triggered, you can take this action as a Reaction.The trigger must be worded as "When X then Y", where X is an ally or enemy Action, Reaction or Move and Y is the Quick Action you wish to prepare, e.g. "when an enemy moves into line of sight I will Skirmish".The prepared Quick Action has all the same limitations as that action usually does, so for example you cannot Prepare to Skirmish a weapon mount you already used this turn, or use it to fire an Ordnance weapon.While holding a Prepared Action, you may not move, or perform any other actions or Reactions so make sure you're done with your turn. You may drop a Prepared action as a Free Action to use something else. Free actions can only be made on your turn though.It is obvious to NPCs when you are Preparing something.
Eject [Single Use] Hit the quick eject and fly 6 spaces in the direction of your choice. However this leaves your mech IMPAIRED and you cannot Eject again until your next Full Repair.
Self-Destruct As a Quick Action, you may initiate a reactor meltdown. Choose one of your following 3 turns. At the end of it, your mech is annihilated, killing anyone inside and dealing 4d6 Explosive Damage in a Burst 2 radius. Characters caught in the explosion that succeed on an AGILITY save take half of this damage.
Shut Down Your mech gains the SHUT DOWN status, with the following effects: • Clear all Heat and EXPOSED. • Cascading NHPs return to their normal state. • Statuses and Conditions caused by Tech Actions immediately end. • The mech is immune to Tech Attacks, including from allied characters. • The mech is STUNNED indefinitely. Nothing can prevent this and it remains until the mech ceases to be SHUT DOWN.The only way to clear the SHUT DOWN condition is to use the Boot Up full action.
Barrage Attack a hostile character with 2 weapons, or 1 Superheavy weapon. Each weapon may be targeted separately. If attacking with a weapon on an X/Aux mount, you may also attack with the attached Aux weapon at the same or a different target, but it doesn't deal bonus damage. You may order the mount's attacks as you like according to the FAQ, though the Aux still doesn't deal bonus damage if it's attack is first. Superheavy weapons can only be fired with a Barrage.(With being able to order them as you please, the differences between picking a weapon to fire and having any attached auxes fire too, vs attacking with all weapons on a mount, are so minimal it's easier to think of attacking on a per-mount basis.)
Stabilise When stabilising you may clear all Heat and EXPOSED, OR use one Repair to restore all HP. You may ALSO choose one of: • Reload all Loading weapons. • Clear Burn. • Clear a Condition that wasn't self-inflicted by systems, talents etc. • Clear one of an adjacent ally's non-self-inflicted Conditions.
Full Tech Choose two Quick Tech options or something that requires a Full Tech to use. If you do two Quick Techs, you can choose the same option multiple times.
Disengage Until end of turn, you ignore Engagement and movement does not provoke Reactions.
Improvised Attack Make a melee attack with a rifle butt, fist or some other improvised weapon against an adjacent target for 1d6 Kinetic damage.
Activate Use systems that require a Full Action to activate.
Boot Up Clear the SHUT DOWN status by powering up your mech.
Mount/ Dismount You must be adjacent to your mech to Mount it. Likewise when you Dismount you are put in an adjacent space. If there are none, you can't Dismount. You may also Mount and Dismount willing allied mechs or vehicles; when Mounted, you move into their space and move with them.
Skill Check Do a thing not covered by any other action. Must have a clear goal. Parameters and outcomes are set by the GM but the action must be involved enough to require a Full Action. For example, a Skill Check using GRIT to open a locked door on foot (or with manipulators) that may benefit from Hack or Fix instead if available; jump a chasm wider than normally allowable with an AGILITY check; or a HULL check to lift a very heavy boulder to clear the way.
You may take as many Free Actions as you like during your turn, but only once each unless specified otherwise.Protocols Some mech systems have the Protocol tag. This means the system can be activated as a Free Action, but only at the start of the user’s turn (before all other non-Protocol actions, movement etc). Another action might be needed to deactivate it.Overcharge Overcharging is not itself a Free Action, or an action of any kind. However it's here as it grants you a Free Action.You may Overcharge to make another Quick Action as a Free Action. This may be the same as a Quick Action you've already made, for example you could Skirmish with a weapon mount you have already Skirmished with. You may not "hold" the action you Overcharged for, it must be done at the time.Each time you Overcharge you take heat, taking more each time, incrementing in this order: 1 > 1d3, > 1d6 > 1d6+4. Overcharges after the 4th are always at 1d6+4. This heat is always taken immediately. This counter is reset only on a Full Repair.If your heat cap is high enough, you can abuse Overcharge to both Skirmish and reload in one turn, know as OC Looping. [Overcharge Skirmish] > [Stabilise] to clear Heat and reload. Or [Stabilise] > [Overcharge Skirmish] if you want to retain the heat, perhaps to stay in Danger Zone.
Reactions are special actions that can be taken on any turn, including allies' and enemies', in response to certain triggers, such as attacks or movement.With some exceptions that will specify, each Reaction is limited to 1/round. Uses refresh when your next turn begins (rather than on round start).By default you may take one of any available Reaction per turn. When you do, its uses (usually 1) decrease and once depleted, may not be taken again until replenished at the start of your turn. The next character's turn, you may use any one of your remaining reactions if triggered, and so on.A good way to think of this is a deck of cards. Your available reactions are cards in your hand, and if you use one it is discarded. If you have multiple copies of a reaction, for example from multiple turret drones, those are like multiple copies of the same card in hand. You may only play one card per turn (unless allowed by something like Gorgon's frame trait). You refill your hand at the start of your turn.Unless specified, reactions resolve after the action that triggers them. Exceptions are usually indicated by the word "immediately", e.g. Overwatch states it triggers a Skirmish "immediately", and the action happens "before they move" even though the trigger is a movement.By default, players get the Brace and Overwatch Reactions, and may get more through Talents and Licence equipment.
Reaction examples
Overwatch and Brace in the same turn. (Only 1 Reaction/turn.)
Use multiple Turret Drone reactions in response to the same allied attack. (Each turret gives a copy of the same reaction, but the 1 Reaction/turn rule still applies.)
Brace one turn then Overwatch the next. (After Bracing you cannot take reactions until the end of your next turn.)
Prepare a Ram to knock an enemy Prone as soon as they start moving. (You may do this, but they will still be able to complete their movement first before the Ram's effects are resolved and potentially falling Prone.)
Overwatch one turn then Brace the next.
Use a turret drone reaction on one ally's hit, then use a different turret drone's reaction on the next ally's turn.
Attack with a Vorpal Gun and use Overwatch in the same turn as a Gorgon. (It's frame trait allows 2 Reactions to be taken per turn.)
Consume Lock On on Overwatch to proc Stormbringer 1 talent on successful hit, knocking them Prone at the start of their movement. (Overwatch's resulting Skirmish happens before the target moves.)
Brace (1/round) When you are hit by an attack and you know the damage, you may Brace to count as having RESISTANCE to the damage, Burn and Heat from the triggering attack (take half rounded up). All other attacks against you gain 1 [-] until the end of your next turn. You cannot take Reactions until the end of your next turn and on it, you may only take one Quick Action - no Overcharge, normal Movement, Protocols, Free Actions etc.
Overwatch (1/round) Overwatch in Lancer is not at all like X-Com's action of the same name, it's more like a DnD attack of opportunity. When a hostile character starts movement within one of your weapons' Threat (weapons have Threat 1 unless stated otherwise), you may immediately use that weapon to Skirmish against them.
Pilot-only Actions
(Full Action) Fight - use a Pilot weapon against a valid target within Range/Threat and Line of Sight.
(Full Action) Jockey You must be adjacent to a mech to Jockey it. Make a contested skill check, their HULL vs your GRIT (or other pilot trigger at GM discretion.) The mech can try to shake you off with another contested check as a Full Action, or you may jump off as a part of your Movement next turn.On a successful Jockey, choose one of the following: • Distract - the mech is IMPAIRED and SLOWED until the end of its next turn. • Shred - Does not give shredded, but deals 2 Heat by shredding exposed systems and such. • Damage - Deal 4 Kinetic damage by attacking weak points on the exterior.On each of your next turns while Jockeying, you may choose another option as a Full Action as long as you're still on the mech.
(Quick Action) Reload - Reload a Pilot weapon with the Loading tag.
⚔ Engaged - If a character moves adjacent to a hostile character, they both gain the ENGAGED status for as long as they remain adjacent to one another. Ranged attacks made by an ENGAGED character gain 1 [-]. Additionally, characters that become ENGAGED by targets of equal or greater SIZE during the course of a movement stop moving immediately and lose any unused movement.🙈Hidden - Cannot be targeted by hostile actions, don't cause engagement, and enemies only know their approximate location. Lose HIDDEN if seen (enter enemy LoS without hard cover, area of soft cover or Invisibility to obscure you). If you attack, make a hostile action, force saves, Boost or use a Reaction you lose HIDDEN after it resolves. See the Hide action on how to become HIDDEN.🌈 Invisible - All attacks against you have a 50% chance to miss, including tech attacks. You may always Hide, even in plain sight (but not while engaged). Doesn't protect against Saves or automatic effects like Lock On.🛌 Prone - You are SLOWED and count as moving in difficult terrain (2 movement per space). All attacks against you gain 1 [+], including tech attacks. A PRONE character can stand up to clear the condition using all of their Standard Movement, unless IMMOBILISED. Doing this doesn't provoke Reactions.👻Intangible - Best thought of as a being in a parallel dimension that can't interact with the main one. Can move through obstructions like characters or terrain, but not end your turn in them. Actions or effects you own or control can only affect other INTANGIBLE characters and objects.Tangible and intangible characters cannot be ENGAGED with each other. Tangible characters can move through INTANGIBLE characters and objects but not end their turns on spaces they occupy.Effects already affecting you remain, but effects that require ongoing interaction between characters or objects (like traps or force fields or Hunter Logic Suite) end.INTANGIBLE characters do not count towards controlling Control Zones or other objectives and don't count as Adjacent to anything Tangible. Pilots of INTANGIBLE mechs are also INTANGIBLE for the duration of the effect.🥵 Danger Zone - [Mech Only]. When a mech has half or more of its total Heat, they are in the DANGER ZONE which is required for certain actions and effects.🥓 Exposed - [Mech Only]. Take double Kinetic, Explosive, or Energy damage before reductions like Armor. Clear with Stabilise, or Shut Down in a dire situation.💤 Shut Down - [Mech Only]. Clear all Heat, remove EXPOSED, cascading NHPs return to normal, and statuses caused by tech actions immediately end. Characters gain immunity to all tech actions while shut down, and the mech is STUNNED until it ceases to be SHUT DOWN by making the Boot Up Full Action.😵Down and Out - [Pilot Only]. You are unconscious and STUNNED. On mid-mission Rest you wake and recover half HP. Full HP recovery needs a 10h+ Full Repair.
🛑Immobilized - Cannot make voluntary movements.🥴Impaired - Receive 1 [-] on all attacks, saves, and skill checks.❌Jammed - Can't talk to others, can't make attacks other than Improvised Attack, Grapple, and Ram. Can't take Reactions, and can't make or benefit from tech actions.🎯Lock On - Hostile characters can choose to consume Lock On to gain 1 [+] on their next attack roll. Required for some Talents or Systems.💔Shredded - No longer benefit from ARMOR or RESISTANCE.🐌Slowed - Can only move with your Standard Move and on your own turn. Can't Boost or make any special movement from Talents, Systems, weapons etc.💫Stunned - STUNNED mechs cannot Overcharge, move, or take any actions – including free actions and reactions. Pilots can still Mount, Dismount, or Eject from STUNNED mechs, and can take actions normally. STUNNED mechs have a maximum of 5 EVASION, and automatically fail all HULL and AGILITY checks and saves.
Weapon Tags
Weapon Stats
Weapon Size (Aux, Main, Heavy, Superheavy} - Affects what mount a weapon needs, and some Talents.
Weapon Type (Melee, CQB, Rifle, Launcher, Cannon, Nexus} - Melee weapons make Melee Attacks and all others make Ranged Attacks. Beyond that these are only mechanically relevant for Talents.
Range X - how many spaces away a ranged weapon may target.
Threat X - Both Overwatch range and a melee weapon's attack range. Weapons without a Threat stat have Threat 1.
Pattern (Line X, Cone X, Blast X, Burst X) - Spaces affected by attack. Blast is a ranged AoE attack, Burst is centred on the attacking character. See Weapon Ranges.
Damage Type (Kinetic, Energy, Explosive, Burn, + Heat} - affects whether reduced by resistances. Heat is not damage but some weapons apply it. Burn is special - see Harm section.
Other Weapon Tags
Arcing - May be fired over obstacles. Can attack without Line of Sight, as long as it's possible to trace a path to the target, but they still benefit from cover as normal. (Otherwise it would be Seeking). Since many weapons with Arcing are also Burst, you can target a space behind cover and bypass it. However this distinction is important to remember for when this isn't the case, like when a weapon is given Arcing with Walking Armory.
Armour Piercing (AP) - attacks ignore Armour.
Accurate - Attacks with this weapon receive 1 [+].
Inaccurate - Attacks with this weapon receive 1 [-].
Heat X - after firing this weapon (or activating this system) you take X Heat.
Knockback X - May choose to knock the target back X spaces in a straight line from the attack's origin. Knockback stacks, so a weapon with Knockback 1 + a talent that gives Knockback 1 = 2 spaces of Knockback. You may either choose to knock back or not, the distance isn't variable.
Loading - Once fired, this weapon must be reloaded before firing again. You can reload with a Stabilise, or some systems and traits.
Ordnance - This weapon must be fired before you move or take any other actions except Protocols, can't be used against targets you're Engaged with, or be used for Overwatch. (Multiple Ordnance weapons can be Barraged together as that's the same action.)
Overkill - If you roll a 1 on the damage roll of an Overkill weapon, you take 1 heat and reroll it. Additional 1's trigger this effect too.
Reliable X - does a minimum of X damage, even on a miss or if you roll lower damage. The damage inherits other tags like AP and the damage type, but doesn't apply things that require a hit like Knockback.
Seeking - This weapon ignores cover and doesn't require Line of Sight. As long as it's possible to reach the target, i.e. it is not fully enclosed, Seeking weapons can attack them.
Smart - Attack rolls are made against E-DEFENCE instead of AGILITY. Targets without an E-DEFENCE stat count as having 8.
Thrown X - This weapon can make a melee attack at range X, though the target does benefit from cover. The weapon comes to rest in an adjacent space to the target, and must be picked up as a free action while in that space before it can be used again.
System tags
This list is not exhaustive, just ones that require longer explanations.
AI - A mech can only have one system with the AI tag installed at a time. Some AI systems also grant the AI tag to the mech, which let it act somewhat autonomously. You can hand over or take back control as a Protocol. Your mech gains its own set of actions and reactions when controlled by an AI, but as you are no longer piloting it, the mech still only has its own Actions pool to work with - no double-ups. You can still act as a pilot, like Dismounting or Ejecting and running around from there. If control is given over, it can't be taken back until the start of your next turn. AIs can’t benefit from talents (unless specified), and if it's an NHP, have a 1/20 chance of cascading when the mech take Structure or Stress damage. When it cascades, the GM takes control of your mech until it's Shut Down. (See note above the Structure and Stress tables for info on cascading. GMs: See Cascading NHP personality and behaviour suggestions for ideas how to play them).
Deployable - An Object that must be deployed to a free and valid space, usually adjacent to you and as a Quick Action. By default they have 5 EVASION, and 10 HP per SIZE.
Drone - Unless otherwise specified, Drones are SIZE 1/2 characters that are allied to the user and have 10 EVASION, 5 HP, and 0 ARMOR. They must be deployed to a free, valid space within SENSORS and line of sight. Once deployed, they can be recalled with the same type of action used to deploy them. By default, DRONES can’t take actions or move. If they do have actions or movement, they act on their user’s turn. They benefit from cover and other defences as usual, and make all mech skill checks and saves at +0. If a DRONE reaches 0 HP, it is destroyed and must be repaired before it can be used again – like any system. As long as a DRONE hasn’t been destroyed, it is restored to full HP when the user Rests or performs a FULL REPAIR. Deployed Drones persist for the rest of the scene, until destroyed, or until otherwise specified.
Protocol - This system may be activated as a Free Action, but only at the start of the user's turn (before any non-protocol actions, including movement).
Mine - Mines can be deployed as a Quick Action to an adjacent, free and valid space on any surface, but not adjacent to any other mines. It arms at the end of the deploying character’s turn and, unless otherwise specified, is triggered when any character enters an adjacent space. Characters leaving an adjacent space will not trigger a mine. When triggered, a mine creates a Burst attack starting from the space it was placed in. Mines are HIDDEN and can't be targeted. However they are still visible to players on the board, like HIDDEN characters. If a mine is within a character’s SENSORS, it can be detected by making a successful SYSTEMS check as a Quick Action. A character can attempt to disarm a Detected mine from adjacent spaces, by making a successful SYSTEMS check as a quick action. This takes place before the mine detonates, but on a failure, the mine detonates as normal.
Mod - This modification system can be applied to a weapon. Each weapon can only have one Mod, and can't have more than one of the same Mod. Mods are applied when the user builds their mech or during a Full Repair.
Definitions
Common Mix-ups
"Attack" "Attack" means all attacks: Melee, Ranged and Tech attacks. Things that only count for one type will specify, Attack is general. This can have some slightly unintuitive interactions like being Prone making you easier to hack, Nuclear Cavalier making your hacks deal +2 heat etc, but Tech Attacks are attacks too. To remember: Attacks include Hacks.Heat vs Burn Heat is made by internal mech components getting hot from exertion, and leads to Reactor Stress if exceeding Heat capacity. Burn is recurring damage over time from like fire or acid that must be cleared with an ENGINEERING check. To remember: Burn Out so Heat In. Heat is internal like from overheating components, and Burn is external like being covered in fire.Core Power vs Core Bonus A Core Power is a powerful ability unique to each frame, usable (usually) only 1/mission. A Core Bonus is an extra passive perk, available every 3 LLs with a different list from each major manufacturer. To remember: Power = powerful, Bonus = added extra.Blast vs Burst Blast is centred on a point at range, Burst is centred on a character. To Remember: Blast sounds more explosive, like a grenade. Burst sounds more like an electrical discharge, like Manticore's Lightning Generator.Arcing and Seeking Arcing ignores Line of Sight requirements but respects cover. This is important to remember when using Arcing non-AoE weapons, for example using a Walking Armory charge on an Assault Rifle. Seeking also doesn't need LoS but ignores cover - the missiles or bullets just go around it. To Remember: You can take cover from a grenade launcher arcing down from above, but not a missile seeking your back.
Character vs Object
Characters are anything capable of taking independent actions. This includes player characters (PCs), non-player characters (NPCs, controlled by the GM), drones and automated turrets.Characters count as Hostile or Allied depending on their attitude towards you (not the other way around). You never count as an allied character to yourself.Objects are anything that isn’t a character and that isn’t held, worn, or otherwise part of a character. This includes terrain features like walls, boulders and trees, and pieces of gear that have been placed down or deployed like shield generators and landmines.
Spaces and Size Reference
Things on the map are measured in Spaces. These maps are usually laid out in grids of hexagons or squares, though freeform gridless play using inches works well also.Fun Fact: LANCER was originally tested mostly on squares, but the diagrams in the book use hexes, as they're more unusual and so benefit more from visual examples. The community consequently uses mostly hexes. It allows for more interesting movement outdoors and has a cool sci-fi aesthetic. The game works well with any option though, with squares better for indoors or tight environments and easier to find existing maps for, and gridless as a freefrom organic option familiar to wargame players. Use what works for you.Spaces are not of a fixed scale and can be malleable depending on the scenario being represented, but as a baseline you may think of them as around 10ft / 3m for the edge of a square, point to point diameter for a hex - about a medium-sized room in area, or a building storey high.
Mech SIZE Similar to the scale of a Space, the SIZE of a mech represents their area of influence rather than a strict real-world height, and are grouped into categories for ease of play. For example, most SIZE 1 mechs are taller in "reality" than the 10 ft / 3m of a typical Space (which explains how they can shoot over buildings using them for cover). In official material, player and NPC mechs are generally SIZE 1/2 to SIZE 2, with one SIZE 3 each in official content (Barbarossa and Goliath respectively). SIZE 4 is reserved for the Ship NPC template and Squad special enemy.
Spaces, SIZE and Height Spaces are also 1 Space high, which is important for things like flight and climbing. For terrain, SIZE seems to indicate footprint area rather than total volume, though by default cover or terrain is assumed to also be it's SIZE number of spaces high. It is possible to make exceptions, like making a SIZE 1 (area) pillar 6 spaces high. These usually need to be pointed out by the GM as they are not very common.
SIZE 1/2 Rules
When measuring spaces for the purposes of terrain and ranges, round up to 1. A SIZE 1/2 character occupies 1 space the same as a SIZE 1 character, and their ranges are measured the same - though it is only 1/2 a space high for the purposes of Line of Sight. There's no SIZE 1/2 cover in the core rules. This means when ruling that Line of Sight to a character is broken by objects higher than their SIZE, SIZE 1/2 characters break LoS behind all hard cover that fully obscures them (including edges). They also can't attack over the top of SIZE 1 cover since they're too short to see over, though edges are still OK as they can peek around. It may help to think of their effective area as squat hexagonal plates to visualise this.
Splitting movement You may split up any kind of movement with actions, but they must fully resolve. For example a character with Speed 4 may move 2 spaces, Barrage 2 weapons, then move 2 more - but they may not move in between firing weapons.If you move adjacent to a hostile character, you become ENGAGED and if they are the same SIZE or larger than you, you stop and lose all remaining movement in that action.
Adjacency You are adjacent to a character if you are within 1 space of them. This counts in all directions, including diagonally and above and below - and above and below diagonally!
Obstruction Your movement is blocked by things that prevent passage, such as terrain and hostile characters. Characters can move freely through spaces occupied by allied characters, or obstructions (including hostile characters) smaller SIZE than them, but cannot end their turn in spaces occupied by them.
Engagement Adjacent hostile characters are Engaged for as long as they remain adjacent. If you become Engaged by a character of equal or greater SIZE during the course of a movement, you stop immediately and lose any movement remaining in that action. You may begin another movement and moving into another adjacent space doesn't stop you again, however it will likely trigger their Overwatch. Engaged characters' Ranged attacks are made with 1[-].
Involuntary Movement When characters are moved by means other than their own actions, such as Knockback, being moved while Grappled, or tech actions that force movement. These must be done in a straight line in a specified direction, and do not provoke engagement or reactions unless stated otherwise. Obstruction applies as normal.Immunity to involuntary movement does not mean immunity to gravity, you still fall.
Legal Movement and Valid Spaces All movement, voluntary and involuntary, may only be into spaces that character could normally go. For example you couldn't force a character to move into the air when it can't fly. The same goes for teleporting - it must be onto a valid surface. (Core book p.106 red box)
Difficult and Dangerous terrain Difficult terrain could be things like dense brush, uneven rocks, swamp, scree or ice. All movement into difficult terrain is made at half speed - you use twice as much movement to move into it, so moving into one space of difficult terrain would take 2 movement. This is not rounded up, so if you have 3 movement you would only be able to move into one space of difficult terrain.Teleporting into a difficult terrain space takes double movement, since the character is counted as moving one space and it is into difficult terrain.Dangerous terrain might be patches of intense radiation, hot gas, lava or falling rocks. When a character either ends their turn on dangerous terrain or move into it for the first time in a round, they make an ENGINEERING check and on a failure, take 5 Kinetic, Energy, Explosive or Burn damage depending on the terrain. A character only needs to make 1 of these checks per round.Terrain may be both difficult and dangerous.
Lifting and Dragging Mechs can drag characters or objects up to twice their SIZE but are SLOWED while doing so. They can also lift characters or objects of equal or lesser SIZE overhead, but are IMMOBILIZED while doing so. While dragging or lifting, characters can’t take Reactions. The same rules apply to pilots and other characters on foot, but they can’t drag or lift anything above SIZE 1/2.
Jumping Characters with legs (or mechanisms that make it possible) may jump instead of their standard move. - Horizontal jump: move half their speed in a straight line and ignore obstructions at ground level they might jump over, like pits or gaps. - Vertical jump: Move one space adjacent and up spaces equivalent to SIZE. E.g. a SIZE 1 mech may move 1 space over and 1 up, while a SIZE 2 can move 1 space ofer and 2 up.Characters that jump and end their movement midair fall as normal at the end of the move (see below.)
Climbing Like moving through difficult terrain, characters climb at half SPEED, so climbing up a piece of terrain 2 spaces high would take 5 movement - 4 vertical +1 horizontal. For especially difficult surfaces, a HULL or AGILITY check might be required to not fall. You don't have to end your movement on a horizontal surface - you may end your turn mid-climb. However effects like PRONE or Knockback would cause you to fall.
Falling Characters take damage when they fall 3 or more spaces and cannot recover before hitting the ground. Characters fall 10 spaces per round in normal gravity, but can't fall in zero-G or very low-G environments. Falling speeds may differ in other locations.Unless specified otherwise, characters start to fall at the end of the current turn, and fall at the end of each of their turns thereafter. They take 3 Kinetic AP (armour piercing) damage for every three spaces fallen, to a maximum of 9 Kinetic AP. So a character that falls 2 spaces will take no damage, but one that falls 5 will take 3 Kinetic AP and one that somehow falls 20 spaces will take 2 turns to reach the ground and still only take 9 Kinetic AP without special situational ruling.Falling is a type of involuntary movement (but things that make you immune to involuntary movement don't make you hover in the air, that's silly).
Gravity Mechs operating underwater, in zero-g, or in space are SLOWED unless they have a propulsion or flight system. However, they can’t fall and can fly when moving regardless of whether they have a flight system.
Flight
Some character can fly for all or part of their movement. Flying character can move both horizontally and vertically up to their SPEED. For example, a mech with 6 SPEED may end its movement anywhere within an area 6 spaces away from its starting position, as well as 6 spaces up or down from it. When flying, characters ignore obstructions as long as it is physically possible for them to do so – for example it you couldn't fly through a gap smaller than your mech. Flying characters also have Immunity to PRONE.While flying, vertical movement does not count against your movement limit - you may change your elevation as you like, as long as you don't exceed the ceiling limit of your SPEED. This simplifies tracking significantly as your height only matters when moving next to a character or object (to check range for Engaged, Threat for Overwatch or things like for mine triggers or drone areas), and how high up you end your turn.Flight movement must follow a straight line, however different move actions may be in different directions - a character may fly forward with a Standard Move then right with a Boost for example. Split movement when flying must follow its original direction.Flying has some risks: • While flying, you must move one space or begin falling. • You also fall if you become IMMOBILISED or STUNNED, or otherwise can't move. • If you take a Structure or Stress, you must succeed an AGILITY save or begin falling.Characters flying higher than 10 spaces above a surface (e.g. 10 spaces above the ground, or 10 spaces above a height 5 building for a total of 15 spaces up) are limited in their actions. Above this height, they may only Move and Boost, and can't take Reactions until they start their turn below this ceiling. You also can't move above this height if you have taken any other actions this turn. This restriction does not apply in zero-G or out of mech combat.Carrying objects while flying - Except in zero-G, you can't carry characters or objects with a total size above SIZE 1/2 while flying. Thrusters aren't rated for that much weight!Hover Flight - Some very advanced mechs can hover (so far in first party material, Dusk Wing for PCs and Hornet for NPCs). Hovering characters do not need to move in straight lines or move 1 space to stay airborne, though the other risks and limitations still apply. You also do not need a flight system - it's included in the frame, and you can hover whenever you move.
Teleportation
Some characters can teleport, instantly moving to any free space within a specified range. They must start and end the teleport in valid spaces for their character.By default, teleportation ignores obstructions, does not require line of sight, ignores engagement (isn't stopped when passing a same size or larger character), and does not provoke reactions; however, it still counts as movement and so is affected by conditions like IMMOBILIZED, and is still affected by needing double the movement to enter a space of difficult terrain or move while PRONE. A teleporting character counts as moving 1 space, no matter how far they travel.Characters can attempt to teleport to spaces they can’t see, but if a space is already occupied, the teleport fails.Moving vertically diagonally still counts as one space, which means distance is counted as the longer of either vertical or horizontal distance from the origin. So if teleporting onto a building 5 spaces high and 2 spaces away, that would cost 5 movement.What this means:
By default, you can teleport through walls and on top of objects. This may be overridden by line of sight requirements attached to the trait or system allowing the teleport.
Teleporting within Threat doesn't trigger Overwatch reactions.
You may not teleport if you are on the losing end of a Grapple, since you are IMMOBILISED.
You may teleport while controlling a Grapple, and just like regular movement anyone Grappled with you mirrors your movement. However, they must also end the movement on a space they may occupy due to legal movement rules - no hanging them off buildings because you want to stand on the edge (unless they can fly).
Attacks, cover and line of sight
Attack Types
Melee - Attack a target within a weapon's Threat and Line of Sight. Roll 1d20 +GRIT and Accuracy/Difficulty. Hit if the result is equal to or greater than the target's EVASION.Melee attacks ignore cover.
Ranged - Attack a target within a weapon's Range and Line of Sight. Roll 1d20 +GRIT and Accuracy/Difficulty. Hit if the result is equal to or greater than the target's EVASION.Adjacent (engaged) characters get 1 [-] on ranged attacks.
Tech Attack - Choose a target within SENSORS and Line of Sight. Roll 1d20 +TECH ATTACK (no GRIT) and Accuracy/Difficulty. Hit if the result is equal to or greater than the target's E-DEFENCE.Tech attacks ignore cover. As attacks, they may also benefit from Lock On and are affected by things that simply say "attacks" without specifying Ranged or Melee only.
Weapon Ranges and Patterns
Range is measured from the edge of an attacking character unless specified otherwise. The target must occupy at least one space within this range to be targeted by a ranged attack.For height and ranges, distance from a character is taken as the larger of either height or distance. E.g. a character flying 5 spaces up and 3 spaces away counts as being at Range 5.Some weapons hit with AoE (Area of Effect) patterns that affect all characters within its attack's area (including allies unless specified otherwise). Line X - affects characters within a straight line of length X. E.g. Laser beam. Cone X - affects characters in a conical area X spaces long, beginning at 1 space wide and ending X spaces wide at its furthest point. E.g. Flame thrower. Blast X - affects characters within a radius of X spaces, drawn from a point within Range and Line of Sight. Cover is based on a line from this point to the target rather than from the attacker. E.g. Mortar, RPG, grenade. Burst X - Affects a radius of X spaces around a character or object, including the one it occupies. If this is an attack, this origin character is not affected unless specified otherwise. For ongoing effects, the affected spaces change when the source moves. E.g. Lighting generator, blast vents, missile swarm.Some area attacks list a Range as well. In that case the AoE pattern uses a space within that Range as its origin point. E.g. a Blast 2, Range 10 weapon could target any space within Line of Sight and Range 10, and that space would be the centre of an area that radiates 2 spaces out from it. (Diagram needed - pattern examples)For attacks that can hit multiple targets at once, an attack roll is made for each affected character but damage is rolled once, applying to all characters hit.Extending Range does not extend the affected area of Line, Cone, Blast or Burst weapons. It still extends the Range a Blast weapon can centre their attack on though.
Patterns at Height and Angle In core rules, cones expand up and down at the same rate as they expand horizontally, and can be aimed at any angle. This can get funky when trying to work out what spaces it affects, but you may measure the initial centre portion as an angled line then work out affected spaces from there. One fun implication of this system is while flying, cone attacks become more like angled bursts and if fired straight down, look like circles - a Cone 7 fired downwards at 7 height affects an area like a Blast 3 (7 wide). The distance is important, otherwise it doesn't have the room to expand out to its full width.Blast and burst are easier to manage, They end up looking like "cylinders", since the spaces affected are counted diagonally as well. A Blast 2 area contains spaces 2 away horizontally, vertically and diagonally from the origin space, and so ends up looking like a prism 3 spaces high rather than a dome, if imagined in 3D space.
Threat Threat is important for melee weapons and the Overwatch Reaction. For melee weapons it's their effective range - a Threat 2 melee weapon may attack a target 2 spaces from the attacker. Like Range this is measured from the attacker's edge so larger characters cover slightly more area. All weapons have Threat 1 unless specified, so you can Overwatch a character that starts a move next to you with an Assault Rifle, though still with 1 [-] from adjacency on a ranged weapon since it happens at the start of the move. Threat can be increased with some Talents, frame traits and a Core Bonus.
Valid targets You may target any of the following with attacks and effects: • Other characters; • Objects that aren't held or worn, and aren't part of a mech; • Spaces in the environment or on the ground. This is important for Blast weapons as you can place the target on the ground behind cover, as long as you can see the space or the weapon has Arcing. And yes, this means you can stab the ground dramatically for some on-hit or on-attack weapon effects.To attack or take an action against a target, by default the target must be within RANGE, SENSORS, or THREAT (as appropriate for the type of attack) and within the attacker’s line of sight.Unless specified otherwise, characters can't target themselves (so no funny "well technically I am an ally to myself" business.)
Line of Sight
Characters can generally only take actions on characters they can at least partially see. If you can't draw a line between some part of you and some part of a target, perhaps because they are completely blocked by cover or terrain, they are not within Line of Sight (LoS). This is measured edge to edge - if a part of you can see part of them, they are seen.You may also draw line of sight by peeking around the sides of cover, for example the edge of a wall, even if it were too high to see over. However as a general rule, if you can target you may be targeted; if you can draw line of sight, you are within line of sight to your target (and potentially others) as well.Many abilities' descriptions read "within [Range/Sensors] and Line of Sight" but there are some instances where it doesn't. In those cases, Line of Sight is still an implied requirement unless explicitly stated otherwise due to the Valid Target rules. The gameplay intention is characters can only act on things they can see - so no, Witches don't have wallhacks for their techs.Allied and enemy characters do not block LoS.
Line of Sight and Elevation Can a character be seen on top of a high building while away from the edge? Since it would be a bit much to ask people to do trigonometry equations in combat, it's recommended to use your imagination to picture the scene and gut feeling to determine this. Collaborate with your players to see what makes sense.
Invisibility
Invisible characters can still be detected, they are just very difficult to shoot. This is represented by needing to make a 50/50 check whether an attack targeting an invisible character is successful, before even making an attack roll (roll a die or flip a coin). This counts for Melee, AoE and Tech attacks as well.Invisible characters may also Hide within Line of Sight.To get around this, try systems that force Saves instead of making attack rolls, like grenades. There are also systems like the Swallowtail's Lotus Projector that disable Invisibility.As it also affects Tech Attacks and AoE, it can be helpful to imagine Invisibility as a suite of visual, electronic and perhaps even paracausal scrambling to help it "make sense".
Cover
Cover is battlefield terrain and other obstructions that can get in the way of Ranged Attacks. LANCER distinguishes between soft cover and hard cover.Soft cover includes smoke, foliage, trees, blinding light, dust, low hills and low walls. Not solid enough to reliably block bullets, but make aiming harder. If a character is obscured or obstructed somehow, they are in soft cover and ranged attacks against them get 1 [-].Hard cover includes buildings, tall walls, bulkheads, and destroyed mechs and vehicles. Solid enough to block shots and hide behind. Ranged attacks against characters in hard cover get 2 [-]. Characters only benefit from hard cover if they are both adjacent and are the same SIZE as it or smaller. If a character is obscured by hard cover but not adjacent, they get soft cover.Cover doesn't stack, so a character in smoke and behind a wall would count as being in hard cover only. A character both in trees and fog is still only in soft cover and incurs 1 [-] to hit.Characters do not grant any cover unless specified, like with the Hail of Blades talent or the Guardian frame trait.
Checking for cover
You have Line of Sight to a target and want to make a Ranged attack. To check cover, draw a line centre to centre between a space you occupy, and a space the target occupies. (Important for larger characters.)🌳 They have soft cover and gain 1 [-] to hit if: - the targeting line is sufficiently obstructed by areas of smoke, trees or other things that would grant soft cover. - There is hard cover in the way of the line, but they are not adjacent to it.🗿 They have hard cover and gain 2 [-] to hit if: - They are adjacent to a piece of hard cover of sufficient SIZE which significantly obstructs the targeting line.If a character in hard cover could shoot over, through, or around the source of their cover, it does not block their line of sight or obscure their attacks. Characters can shoot over cover and objects the same or lower SIZE as them without issue. This means a) characters don't gain soft cover just because your targeting line goes through hard cover you're adjacent to, and b) if there are two characters on opposite sides of the same piece of hard cover, neither of them benefits from it when targeted by the other.Flanking - For gridless play, you may get around hard cover by Flanking. Draw a straight line perpendicular to the point where your target is adjacent to cover. By positioning your mech touching or past that line, you negate the cover. (The core book has a good illustration which is often confused as applying to grid play.) Flanking using a grid is just moving around the cover so your targeting line is no longer meaningfully obstructed by it.
Objects and Damage
Unless specified otherwise, all objects (including terrain, cover, buildings, and deployable items) have 5 EVASION and 10 HP/SIZE. This means that a SIZE 4 object has 40 HP. If an object is more usefully thought of as a group of multiple sections (like a wall), each SIZE 1 section is independently destructible and has 10 HP.If an object is especially tough or hardy, like solid rock, it might have 1–2 ARMOR. If it’s heavily fortified, like a bulkhead, bunker, or starship hull, it might even have 3–4 ARMOR.The GM way waive these rules outside of mech combat, or when it applies to objects not created by characters (such as parts of the environment). E.g. If players want to bust through a wall before or even during combat to surprise enemies, the GM may decide that would just need a HULL check.
Damage
Damage reduces HP. There are four types of damage - Kinetic, Energy, Explosive and Burn. Everything but Burn really only matters if something has resistance to a certain damage type.
Armour and Resistance
Armour reduces the amount of damage an instance of damage does by its amount (1-4). So if two pistol shots did 2 and 3 damage respectively against a target with 2 ARMOR, the first attack would be completely blocked and the second would do 1 damage.Burn and damage from a source with the Armour Piercing (AP) tag ignore armour.Resistance halves damage (rounding up). Multiple instances of resistance for a certain damage types don't stack - the damage instance is either halved or not. Resistance is often to a certain damage type. For example, a Manticore character with Resistance to Energy damage is dealt 21 Energy damage. They Brace, which gives them Resistance to all damage from that attack. However they already had Resistance and it doesn't stack, so they still take 11 damage (and can only take a Quick Action next turn for no benefit).Some things like Paracausal Mod make it so damage from those sources cannot be reduced, meaning they ignore Resistance as well as Armour.
Damage Calculation Order
Roll, attacker modifiers - The attacker rolls damage, and applies any relevant reductions or increases (such as the doubling from the Exposed status or the halving from Heavy Gunner).
ARMOR - The target’s ARMOR is subtracted from the total.
Defender reductions - Any other deductions from the defender are subtracted from the remaining damage. This includes reductions from RESISTANCE, and any relevant systems, talents, or reactions.
Result - Remaining damage is subtracted from the target’s HP.
Example 1: A player with 2 ARMOR and 15HP is hit by a 12 Kinetic damage attack.12 - 2 (ARMOR) = 10 damage. 15HP - 10 = 5 HP remaining (!)If they had Braced, this would give them RESISTANCE to that attack after the ARMOR calculation, halving it to 5 damage and leaving them with 10HP - but with the associated Brace downsides.
Example 2: An EXPOSED NPC with 20 HP, 2 ARMOR and RESISTANCE to Energy is hit by a 5 Energy damage attack.5x2 (EXPOSED) = 10 10-2 (ARMOR) = 8 8 x 1/2 (RESISTANCE) = 4 damage. 20HP - 4 = 16HP remaining.If the attack had the AP tag the result would have ignored ARMOR but then still halved, resulting in 5 damage. If it ignored reductions e.g. with Paracausal Mod, the attack would have ignored both and dealt the full 10.
Burn
Burn is a damage over time effect and represents things like acid, nanite corrosion or yes, flames. When dealt Burn damage, you take it immediately (ignoring ARMOR, Burn is AP) same as getting shot - but also, mark down the amount of Burn applied. At the end of your turn, succeed an ENGINEERING check to extinguish it or take that Burn damage again.This number stacks, so if dealt 3 Burn then 2 Burn you would take 5 Burn damage on a failed check, totalling 10 damage - 5 combined from the initial attacks and 5 from the failed check. Burn carries over between turns if not cleared. Yes this is nasty, which is why Burn damage numbers are lower than other types and you can't deal Burn as bonus damage. You may Stabilise to clear Burn if necessary, and there are systems and talents that can help too. Or just be a Genghis (IMMUNE to Burn).
Heat
Heat doesn't count as damage and ignores ARMOR, though there are some rare instances of RESISTANCE to Heat. Heat adds to your Heatcap rather than affecting HP. Exceeding your Heatcap (e.g. taking your 9th Heat on a mech with 8 Heatcap) makes your mech Overheat, taking a Stress and rolling on the Stress table. Excess Heat rolls over, so if a mech with 7/8 Heat took 3 Heat, it would Stress then be left with 2. The DANGER ZONE status is applied when a mech is at half or more of its Heatcap. Characters without a Heatcap, like those with the BIOLOGICAL tag or Drones, take Heat as Energy damage instead.
Bonus Damage
Some systems, talents etc can add bonus damage. Only melee and ranged attacks deal bonus damage (not tech attacks) and it can only be Kinetic, Energy or Explosive (not Heat or Burn). If there isn't a type specified, it defaults to Kinetic, or the attacker may choose one ofthe same types as those of the weapon dealing it.Bonus damage is halved on any attack that targets multiple objects/characters at once.
Immunity
Some characters and objects have IMMUNITY and can't be affected by damage, attacks or effects from the thing it's immune to in any way - the same as if those things never happened. Examples:A character with IMMMUNITY to Burn not only takes no damage from it, their Burn number doesn't go up and they don't count as having taken Burn for any effects that might trigger on it.A character with IMMUNITY to damage takes no damage, including 0 damage (important sometimes), and isn't affected by effects like Knockback that successful attacks would normally apply.A character with IMMUNITY to tech attacks cannot be affected by any tech attacks, even those from allies.
NHP Cascade: When rolling Structure, also make a d20 Cascade roll if carrying an NHP. On a 1, the NHP (GM) takes control of your mech. It acts strangely, may be hostile, helpful or unhelpful depending on the NHP's personality while cascading. Pilots may Shut Down to return them to their base state, which is the only action a pilot can do when in a mech under Cascade control. Comp/Cons cannot cascade. GMs: See Cascading NHP personality and behaviour suggestions for ideas how to play them.
Some groups find the Stun a little harsh, especially with larger groups - it could be multiple hours before a Stunned player gets to act depending on the timing. A common house rule is to instead use the penalties of Brace - no Reactions and only one Quick Action allowed until the end their next turn. This does mean that it cannot be cleared by a friendly Stabilise, since it isn't a Condition. That could also be circumvented with a house rule, just be careful to stipulate it only works when inflicted by Structure damage.
Repairs and Rest
REPAIR CAP represents the mechs’ resilience and store of avaiable repair equipment. It indicates the maximum number of Repairs a pilot has available to spend on their mech – in combat via Stabilise or out of combat during a Rest – before returning to base and performing a FULL REPAIR.To Rest, pilots require at least an hour of uninterrupted downtime or light activity (e.g., making camp or performing routine maintenance). After resting, characters may do all of the following:
clear all heat
clear any statuses and conditions affecting their mech
restore half of their pilot’s HP and clear DOWN AND OUT.
They may also spend REPAIRS to repair mechs ready for the next combat.
For mounts with 2 weapons, each must be repaired individually, though one or both may be left unrepaired if desired.
Destroyed Mechs
Destroyed mechs become wreckage - objects that can be dragged around, act as hard cover that doesn't block line of sight and is difficult terrain (2x movement to move through).
If mech wreckage is still intact (a Reactor Meltdown vaporises it, making it unsalvageable) it can be restored while Resting for 4 Repairs. Uniquely, other players can contribute their own Repairs to aid in this effort. A mech repaired from wreckage this way has 1 Structure, 1 Stress and full HP, no matter its state before. Any previously destroyed weapons or systems remain unusable, unless the damaged mech spends their Repairs to fix them as normal.
Full Repair
When a character spends at least 10 hours relatively uninterrupted in a secure location, they can perform a Full Repair. This allows them to do all of the following:
Restore all pilot HP and clear DOWN AND OUT;
Restore a mech to full HP, STRESS, and STRUCTURE, as long as it’s intact or the wreckage is accessible.
clear all statuses and conditions.
Repair any destroyed weapons or systems
Recover CP, if used.
regain all REPAIRS and uses of LIMITED weapons.
Print a new mech and equipment, with the proper facilities.
Printing
If a pilot has access to the proper facilities, they can also use a Full Repair to rebuild a mech – or build an entirely new one. Printers are ubiquitous on most occupied worlds. A printer and assembler can perfectly recreate any mech or gear for which a pilot is licensed.Pilots are only licensed to print one mech at a time. If they print a new one, any others immediately cease to function.
Levelling up
You generally gain one Licence Level (LL) for every completed mission, failure or no. This represents characters' improved reputation, currency or connections allowing them to get their hands on new manufacturer licences and improve their skills. Ultimately this is up to the table - longer missions may give more, or perhaps the group prefers higher stakes and receive no reward for failure.When you gain a level, you gain all of the following:
One level in a mech Licence of your choice
+1 HASE point
+1 Talent rank - upgrading a held talent or acquiring a new one
+2 to one Pilot Trigger
GRIT (not really gained by itself, but since it = 1/2 a player's LL rounded up, it passively increases with LL).
Core Bonuses You also gain a Core Bonus every 3 levels - at LL3, 6, 9 and 12. Each manufacturer (IPSN, SSC, HORUS and HA) has their own list of Core Bonuses, which you must have at least 3 licences with that manufacturer to pick from. GMS also has a list of Core Bonuses with no such restriction - they simply require any 3 licenses.These are not to be confused with a Core Power: Core Powers are powerful 1/mission frame abilities, a Core Bonus is an extra passive perk.Some examples:
There's nothing wrong with GMS core bonuses, in fact they are some of the most popular due to their flexibility. +1 Accuracy on a weapon mount from Auto-stabilising Hardpoints is always good as long as you use a weapon, while IPSN's Titanomachy Mesh extra Ram and +1 knockback is a lot more specific.
Respeccing
Builds in LANCER are complex. Luckily, there are some accommodations for adjustment. Whenever you gain a licence level, you may rearrange some of your build (within limits), commonly knowns as respeccing. On level up, you may choose one of:
Reallocate all points from one Talent into another.
Reallocate your Licence Levels.
Change one Core Bonus for another.
There are no standard rules for respeccing H/A/S/E points, so discuss with your GM if you wish to rearrange these. Pilot triggers are a bit trickier to explain in-universe as far as losing skills, but again work with your GM to find an acceptable solution.
Narratively this may be explained in any number of ways, or not at all if you don't wish to. Have fun with it.
If you have discovered an inaccuracy or issue with the site, please let me know! This site is written and maintained by one person so things can slip through the cracks, you'd be doing me a favour by pointing it out.