![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Game Planning: The Magnificent LANCERs
Hashimoto - technically Hashimoto-3, but it's the only inhabited planet around its star, so it gets to have the same name - is nowhere. Almost a year of realtime away from a blink gate, with scattered mining and farming communities that barely formed a semblance of civilization between its original settlement and re-opened contact with Union's ThirdComm government, it's a backwater with a handful of souls and no economic or strategic value.
And nonetheless, they need help. The detritus of forgotten wars has drifted there, a defunct company of soldiers from the end of Union's fascistic SecComm preying on the locals for what little they have rather than facing the broader galaxy. Before these bandits arrived, the people of Hashimoto had little. Now they have almost nothing, which is what they can offer those who would, hypothetically, fight on their behalf.
That's where you come in.
You're a LANCER, a mercenary of means in the complex web of war and peace in the year 5016u. Maybe you're a rookie, just starting out. Maybe you're a jaded veteran who lost it all in an unfortunate battle. Maybe you somehow got on the wrong side of the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company, or the Karrakin Trade Baronies, or the normally very accommodating Union itself. Maybe you're just an idiot with a bleeding heart. Either way, when the folks of Hashimoto come to you, hat in hand, and offer you a job fighting vicious madmen lost in time and space for a fistful of manna plus room and board, despite all sense and reason, the offer is tempting...
Details
The Magnificent LANCERs is a short LANCER campaign in three acts made up by myself in loving homage to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven. I'm looking for 4-6 players (probably closer to 4 but we'll see what interest looks like) interested in a low-License Level short campaign about protecting the innocent from the violent and desperate. I expect it to run as about three "missions" charting the course of a conflict between the people of a backwater world and a gang of ex-SecComm soldiers-turned-absurdly-well-equipped-bandits.
The Game System: LANCER, by Miguel Lopez and Tom Parkinson-Morgan of Massif Press, is its own bespoke system about piloting a giant combat robot in the distant, interstellar future. It's available on itch.io and other fine online marketplaces, or I or several other people can help you out. You don't need to know the system or the setting to join; I or one of my very educated friends can explain the system, and the setting is...large.
The Game Master: Me, Nerdorama, going by Rama for short right now. I have played in one LANCER campaign and GMed none, but I like to think I'm pretty experienced with tabletop generally and want to get my feet a bit more wet with this system. Also I know one LANCER GM and he deserves a break.
The Setting: LANCER is an enormous sprawling space opera with a backstory spanning millennia and a setting spanning thousands of solar systems and a couple of nifty extra dimensions. For this short campaign, though, we're going to be dealing mainly with a single settlement on a single planet, so like, imagine a thousand square miles of Arizona, but in space.
The Player Characters: LANCERs are elite mecha-piloting mercenaries who are often deciding factors in the conflicts of the 51st century of Union. The book has dozens of examples and even more suggestions of the type of person who becomes that, but the conceit of this campaign means your player character should be at something of a low point in their career, if they have an established one at all. My plan (and I'm willing to take feedback on this) is to start characters at the default License Level 0, but fairly quickly increase in LL to reach LL3 by the end of the minicampaign. I'd like a name and some suggestion of a backstory for characters, but nothing too terribly serious.
The Medium: This game will be played on roll20 via text only. I will also have a Discord set up for out-of-character chat and discussion, and I highly recommend the use of the automated character builder at https://compcon.app.
The Schedule: I'm available to run a game in the evenings US central time any day but Saturday, currently, and can work out a flexible schedule with whoever wants to join. I expect this campaign to run at least three and no more than six sessions, which I'd like to do on a weekly basis starting some time in January.
The Plan: Fill out the form below in a comment to this post so I can figure out how this thing is going to work.
And nonetheless, they need help. The detritus of forgotten wars has drifted there, a defunct company of soldiers from the end of Union's fascistic SecComm preying on the locals for what little they have rather than facing the broader galaxy. Before these bandits arrived, the people of Hashimoto had little. Now they have almost nothing, which is what they can offer those who would, hypothetically, fight on their behalf.
That's where you come in.
You're a LANCER, a mercenary of means in the complex web of war and peace in the year 5016u. Maybe you're a rookie, just starting out. Maybe you're a jaded veteran who lost it all in an unfortunate battle. Maybe you somehow got on the wrong side of the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company, or the Karrakin Trade Baronies, or the normally very accommodating Union itself. Maybe you're just an idiot with a bleeding heart. Either way, when the folks of Hashimoto come to you, hat in hand, and offer you a job fighting vicious madmen lost in time and space for a fistful of manna plus room and board, despite all sense and reason, the offer is tempting...
The Magnificent LANCERs is a short LANCER campaign in three acts made up by myself in loving homage to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven. I'm looking for 4-6 players (probably closer to 4 but we'll see what interest looks like) interested in a low-License Level short campaign about protecting the innocent from the violent and desperate. I expect it to run as about three "missions" charting the course of a conflict between the people of a backwater world and a gang of ex-SecComm soldiers-turned-absurdly-well-equipped-bandits.
The Game System: LANCER, by Miguel Lopez and Tom Parkinson-Morgan of Massif Press, is its own bespoke system about piloting a giant combat robot in the distant, interstellar future. It's available on itch.io and other fine online marketplaces, or I or several other people can help you out. You don't need to know the system or the setting to join; I or one of my very educated friends can explain the system, and the setting is...large.
The Game Master: Me, Nerdorama, going by Rama for short right now. I have played in one LANCER campaign and GMed none, but I like to think I'm pretty experienced with tabletop generally and want to get my feet a bit more wet with this system. Also I know one LANCER GM and he deserves a break.
The Setting: LANCER is an enormous sprawling space opera with a backstory spanning millennia and a setting spanning thousands of solar systems and a couple of nifty extra dimensions. For this short campaign, though, we're going to be dealing mainly with a single settlement on a single planet, so like, imagine a thousand square miles of Arizona, but in space.
The Player Characters: LANCERs are elite mecha-piloting mercenaries who are often deciding factors in the conflicts of the 51st century of Union. The book has dozens of examples and even more suggestions of the type of person who becomes that, but the conceit of this campaign means your player character should be at something of a low point in their career, if they have an established one at all. My plan (and I'm willing to take feedback on this) is to start characters at the default License Level 0, but fairly quickly increase in LL to reach LL3 by the end of the minicampaign. I'd like a name and some suggestion of a backstory for characters, but nothing too terribly serious.
The Medium: This game will be played on roll20 via text only. I will also have a Discord set up for out-of-character chat and discussion, and I highly recommend the use of the automated character builder at https://compcon.app.
The Schedule: I'm available to run a game in the evenings US central time any day but Saturday, currently, and can work out a flexible schedule with whoever wants to join. I expect this campaign to run at least three and no more than six sessions, which I'd like to do on a weekly basis starting some time in January.
The Plan: Fill out the form below in a comment to this post so I can figure out how this thing is going to work.
no subject
Character Concept: I mean obviously I'm gonna play a ridiculous bleeding heart who is here because they want to HELP people. Maybe a wannabe albatross kid. Maybe
Mecha Concept: I want to be a frontline bruiser. Maybe a Caliban with speakers blasting "THE ONLY THING THEY FEAR IS YOU" at maximum volume while running after guys with a shotgun. Maybe a Zheng punching guys through walls while screaming like Bruce Lee.
Scheduling: God that's the hard one isn't it? My dance card is PRETTY FUCKING FULL right now and the only possible time I could do it is Saturday night. Even signing up for this is probably a mistake but...fuck it. LANCER, man! And this doesn't sound like a long term commitment.
Questions: So if you're planning on making it 3 missions that means we'll only get 1 mission in a non-everest huh?
Favorite Western or Samurai Film: 310 to Yuma
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Character Concept: Tired old leader lancer
Mecha Concept: I'm starting you at LL0, but LANCERs specialize very quickly, so tell me what you want to do with your robot. Heavy gunner or siege gunner most likely.
Scheduling: When are you available to play? Best nights for me at this point are basically any, since it's online and I can always hop in and build my night around it.
Questions: Would you be shocked to know my long-term game I run IRL is named the 7 Lancers?
Favorite Western or Samurai Film: The GOod, the bad, and the ugly.
no subject
Character Concept: I played a jaded fuck strung up from Mirrorsmoke the last time I played a Lancer character, so this time I think I'm gonna play a Union lad. Practical and stuffy almost to a fault, but that doesn't mean he doesn't believe in the power of the Utopian Pillars. He's not a bigshot by any means in Union's response teams - in fact he's kind of doing this off the clock as he was supposed to be taking some mandated vacation after the last conflict he handled went tits up. Nevertheless, he can't exactly call himself a Union boy if he lets something like this pass him by...
Mecha Concept: Melee specialist. Not sure if I want to go sneaky backstab infiltration route or frontline dipshit route but I know I want to play an Atlas and do the dumb sword-only build.
Scheduling: Saturdays are a no-go and Sundays are a bit sketch in the evenings. Fridays may or may not be complicated depending on when this starts, ask me when you've got a timeframe penceilled in.
Questions: I do not care if we start at LL0 but I do have to ask what you expect the endgame to be run at. LL3? LL4?
Favorite Western or Samurai Film: Quigley Down Under.
no subject
no subject
Followup question: Pilot Gear, the Bonds System, or "out-of-mech scenes are not going to factor enough to matter"?
no subject
no subject
Character Concept: Older, world-weary professional who desperately needs to retire but doesn't know how--or better yet, owes somebody a debt. Torn between nihilism and guilt about fighting, half-expecting to die at any minute and doesn't seem to be able to care. I like to think I bring a very cheerful energy to Lancer games--no actually maybe they do have a kind of jolly facade about it. Something to think about.
Mecha Concept: If this is about samurai, my first instinct is to be the token ninja. I can go infiltrator melee if Sven doesn't, or look into sniping. Quite likely to be SSC-focused in any case.
Scheduling: Monday through Wednesday are my Normal Person Hours days, aside from hosting a stream Monday nights and watching one Tuesday evenings. Saturday might also work if this is short term.
Questions: complains about starting at LL0
Favorite Western or Samurai Film: Back to the Future Part 3
no subject
alternate character concept
post-campaign Rid--
no subject
cobalt / @delphicxix
(Anonymous) 2023-12-28 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)Character Concept: Mad scientist exiled for wanting to turn their body into an NHP casket and on the run because they took important technology w/them
Mecha Concept: Calendula/"Spooky Dave" w/maximum possible HORUS bullshit, specifically specced w/Iconoclast and Technophile w/a melee loadout
Scheduling: Also available every day except Saturday
Questions: as long as we don't spend too long at ll0 i won't complain
Favorite Western or Samurai Film: I need to watch some of these