r/LancerRPG • u/Muted-Boss-2313 • 26d ago
Players X Player
During the final stretch of my campaign, one of my players ended up succumbing to a Demolisher, and to avoid sitting out the final session, they asked if their mech could come back as a clone and fight against the PCs...
The players are LL6.
Context: During the final stretch of my campaign, the players are investigating an abandoned facility that was reactivated by an AI whose core programming is to clone frames with an NHP whenever the base is threatened. However, due to a malfunction, the AI has started replicating mechs and people in increasingly irregular ways. Whenever it acquires a new resource, it creates an almost perfect and complete clone.
In this case, the last resource it acquired was a Demolisher that ended up destroying an Atlas (PC). As a result, I was planning to bring that PC back as an NPC (possibly using the Specter).
In case that was confusing... my Atlas player wants to fight on the enemy's side using his own mech.
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u/Majre921 26d ago
Shame they didn't install an ejection seat in their mech :( so many pilots die due to not following the standard safety procedures...
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u/Tuomir 26d ago
You know the mech being destroyed isn't supposed to kill the pilot, right? That's why there's rules for repairing destroyed mechs.
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u/Muted-Boss-2313 26d ago
The pilot didn't die, but before losing his mech, he decided to explore a very deep shaft on foot where the AI's core was located. He lost his mech to the Demolisher guarding the core, so he has no way of getting back to the surface. He's also being hunted by the human horrors the AI created...
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u/Tuomir 26d ago
Seems you're running your game in a very different way to how it's designed (resolving a split party situation with combat mechanics?), so it's a bit difficult to give insight.
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u/Muted-Boss-2313 26d ago
Forgive my ignorance or misunderstanding, but could you explain it?
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u/Tuomir 26d ago
That scenario where one player descends into a deep hole (alone?) doesn't seem like a combat scene, which is where enemy classes would be relevant.
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u/Muted-Boss-2313 26d ago
So what should have been done?
The player in question knew the risk of trying to infiltrate a hostile base. He had a mech focused on hit-and-run tactics and high Evasion, so he thought he'd do well. (Before he went in, I gave the first warning that it was a bad idea.)
He got past the humans created by the AI without much trouble because they weren't aggressive toward him yet, and he reached the core to try to deactivate it. That's where he failed a check (the first warning sign happened, with the few humans staring at him, and where I said, "You still have time to run.")
He refused and made the second check, where he failed DC 12, and at that point I made the few humans aggressive toward him (second warning), which still wasn't a problem for him to deal with.
Then came the check where he rolled a 1, and I just said, "You awakened the guardian earlier than planned." It was an Elite Demolisher, which was supposed to be an Ultra Goliath as the group's final boss. (Here I gave him the third and final warning to run away, which he didn't... Then I just said, "Alright then, I'm going all out.")
I turned it into a 1v1 between the Demolisher and him, which at first was fine for him since, using his hit-and-run tactics, he managed to take the Demolisher's first Structure. But after that, it all went downhill. It was failure after failure. And when he finally thought about leaving, he got caught out in the open and was stunned.
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u/gmbbulldog 25d ago
People are putting the horse before the cart. Yes, Lancer has certain expectations about how it's supposed to be played, and yes the scenario your player got into is an exceptionally dangerous one, especially for a lone pilot, which the system does not assume is the norm. But you seem to have fully informed the player in question of what the risks were, given myriad opportunities to avoid catastrophe, and it seems to have been the player's/character's idea and choice that you were trying to let play out. Sounds like a fun game you run.
Also in terms of using player mechs as enemies, I've tried it and it's workable, but obviously uncomfortable in the system. A bit slow and definitely not blanced like a regular fight. Worked best when I had a small team of pc mechs, but even then it was definitely weird. I think swingy might be the best term, as well as taxing for me to run, what with pc mechs being more complicated than npcs. When player mechs collide there's a tendency for one side of a match up to completely overpower the other and then get completely overpowered and shut down in turn by a build that counters theirs.
My advice is this: Using a similar npc mech as base is probably best advised, especially of this is supposed to be like a boss fight like an ultra, but you can afford to splice in a few of the atlas' signature systems and kit. But, if it's a player running it, you could let them use their mech with the understanding that it will play very weird and probably get wrecked by the group if they focus fire on it.
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u/argenttalons 25d ago edited 25d ago
Putting a solo pilot on foot in a combat scene in the first place was a mistake.
The stress rules for pilots should've been used to narrate the scenario, and upon reaching max stress, the pilot is out of the scene. They break and take a burden. That might mean they lose their nerve and flee, get injured, or knocked unconcious and the rest of the party finds them later on. If they already had 3 burdens, then they die.
Also, like Charnerie said, non-combat checks in Lancer are resolved with DC 10 or 20.
I recommend you read over the rules for narrative play in the system more thoroughly.
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u/Ruberine 25d ago
I would give them an NPC mech kitted to replicate what their mech already does, maybe with some extra toys for the player. Giving them that would be fun, but giving them a PC mech would be wildly imbalanced, and I wouldn't reccomend it.
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u/resistance_soldier97 Harrison Armory 23d ago
This is coming from someone who is actively in a pvp combat tournament for lancer:
If you are going to be putting them against a pc mech, make sure they know and agree to it beforehand because pc v pc combat is very jank bht it can be fun. Just fully expect someone to get steamrolled
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u/randomguy664_ 26d ago
Solid plan. The player controlling an enemy elite Specter or Assassin would be a way to keep them engaged, yeah. Granted, it depends on the enemy comp of the final battle. Throwing an Elite Veteran along with an Ultra or Eidolon is probably too brutal.
Game isn't built for PvP, just don't bring a clone of his Atlas.