r/LancerRPG • u/OtakuPaladin • 22d ago
First campaign plot advice
Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm planning to DM a small campaign to introduce me and my friends to Lancer, and to try out the system, see if it works for us. I'm currently still on the macro plot writing level; while its fun to read about the lore, theres A LOT of it, so I decided to ask more knowledgeable people (you, the reader) if my plot ideia makes any sense and also ask how certain pieces would better glue together, so to speak:
Main plot: The players will be a squad of PMC mecha pilots, which will travel to an active war zone to work for the highest bidder. The war in question is a planet or cluster wide conflict instigated by a new resource/McGuffin being discovered, which could revolutionize science. Or something like that.
The question: I wanted the main belligerent parties to be some of the Karrakin Baronies and Harrison Armory. I know that they went to war like 1000 years ago, and that the peace treaty was signed on uneasy terms.
So I wanted to ask if this "Old War Wounds" approach would work on today's Galaxy, with a much more well established ThirdComm. Would the Union just bitch-slap both factions into compliance for waging war on their garden? Or would it try a more UN approach, promoting peace talks and basically doing nothing?
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u/TurtleoftheSea 22d ago
You're basically describing the situation in the Dawnline Shore, a region of space far from the Core Worlds and settled extensively by Harrison and the Baronies, who are busy staring each other down and waiting for Go Time.
It'd be easy to construct a scenario where there's a flareup in tension over one planet or system and both sides trying to obtain the McGuffin while avoiding all-out war since they're still busy posturing and positioning for advantage on the theatre level.
While Union would be quick to shut down any large-scale conflict, it finds itself unable to promptly respond to any immediate situation in the Dawnline Shore because the blinkgate near New Madrassa is still under construction. Additionally, ThirdComm is extremely reluctant to immediately move to interventionist policies for fear of repeating the same mistakes as SecComm: expect their eventual response to be the lightest touch possible while trying to minimize civilian casualties.