Mech Combat

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.

💫Statuses and Conditions (Summarised)

Short descriptions only, see the full page for more verbose rules.

Quick Rules

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.

Repair Costs 🛠

Pilots in Mech Combat

Useful resource: Heliotrope printable cheat sheet

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.

Other Pilot-Relevant Rules

NPC Actions

NPC Specific Rules

NPC Actions

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.

Other Rules

💫Statuses and Conditions (Summarised)

Short descriptions only, see the full page for more verbose rules.

Cascading NHP Suggestions

This is original unofficial content, but may be useful to GMs wondering what to do when Cascading comes up.

Narrative Play

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

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: If you roll once for a situation, you may not try the same thing again unless the situation changes. The exception is if you Push It, which takes a Normal roll to Risky and a Risky roll to 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:

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:

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).

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 imo, 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 is probably fine.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.

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. Though this may not be the end, there are options for dead characters to get better.This table may be adjusted according to group preference.

Bonds

Bonds are part of the Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies that adds a series of systems to 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 playing to character. 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 (+ there are other Minor ones you can change up each session). It also completely replaces the health 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

Combat Rules Compendium

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:

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:

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. Remember: "To add is bad!"

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 above 20 (including Accuracy/Difficulty). There are no native rules for natural 20s (except in the Brutal talent where one 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 higher than the aggressing character's SAVE stat to succeed. Even for something indirect like a mine, the difficulty from rolling vs a hostile's SAVE instead of a 10 might represent a their skill in placing, hiding or creating it 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.A check or save may only use its appropriate stat as a bonus. E.g. if asked for a HULL Save you may only add your HULL even if it is 0 and your GRIT is 2.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 that must make 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 doing an action that requires a failed save in order to work (such as the Goblin's H0R_OS-I system's forced movement) or even because you think failing would create a more interesting story.

General Action Rules

What this means:

Turns and Rounds

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 but the decision is ultimately up to them. After the first player goes, it is a hostile NPC turn. Each side then alternates until 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.
1/round and 1/turn are often similar as players only get 1 turn per round. However, 1/turn means once per any turn, not just yours - 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 allow multiple turns a round, so a 1/round limit may become relevant during such a character's turn.

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:

Quick Actions

Boost
Move 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 mount. If it's a combo X/Aux mount, that second Aux weapon doesn't deal bonus damage. Superheavy weapons must use a Barrage to fire.

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.

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 it usually does, so for example you cannot Prepare to Skirmish a weapon mount you already used, 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.

Full Actions

Barrage
Attack a hostile character with 2 weapon mounts or 1 Superheavy weapon. Each attack may be targeted separately. For combo X/Aux mounts, that second Aux weapon in the mount doesn't deal bonus damage. Superheavy weapons must use a whole Barrage to fire.

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.

Free Actions

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

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

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.

Weapon Tags

Weapon Stats

Other Weapon Tags

System tags

This list is not exhaustive, just ones that require longer explanations.

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 (and Hacks).Heat vs Burn
Heat is accrued by internal mech components getting hot from exertion, and leads to Reactor Stress checks if exceeding Heat capacity. Burn is recurring damage over time that must be cleared with an ENGINEERING check.
To remember: Heat In, Burn Out. 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.

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 supported 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.

Hex and Sqaure Size Visualisation

Movement

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 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 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.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(K) AP. So a character that falls 2 spaces will take no damage, but one that falls 5 will take 3(k) AP and one that somehow falls 20 spaces will take 2 turns to reach the ground and still only take 9(k) 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).

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, and 6 spaces up. 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:

Attacks, cover and line of sight

Attack Types

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.

Harm

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

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.

Structure Table 🦾

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.

Stress Table ☢

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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.