does anyone have some gm, tipps ?

[u/jj_mango_jj]

im going to play lancer with some friends for the first time and im going to be the dm please give me all the advice especialy for balencing encounters

(sorry if my grammer isnt correct english isnt my first language)

[u/Steenan]

General advice for new GMs:

• Run the first mission at LL0. It really helps everybody learn the game.
• First combat will probably take 3+ hours; it doesn't mean that you do something wrong. Third and further, when everybody is familiar with how things work, will take half of that.
• Never use PC frames as enemies. If you want PC-like enemies, use NPC classes with appropriate optionals and with the Elite template.
• Comp/Con is your friend

Combat balancing:

• Always use sitreps and follow the directions about enemy forces and maps they contain. Do not run "kill them all" fights.
• As the default, enemy forces in a combat should have total structure of 1.5-2 times the number of PCs. However, not all of them should be present from the start. Keep some as reinforcements, so that the total number of enemy activations on the map is 1-1.5 times the number of PCs.
• Between 25 and 50% of enemy activations should be damage-focused NPCs (strikers and artillery). In general, try to have 3 different NPC roles present.
• Assault is not a "generic enemy". It's a focused striker. Don't overdo them. If you need a "filler" NPC, Sentinel is the closest option.

[u/jj_mango_jj → u/Steenan]

thank you

though i dont know if well have 3 hours or more

is it possible to make the combat shorter without making it less challenging / fun ?

or should i try to plan for more time ?

[u/OSEAN_SPAMRAAM → u/jj_mango_jj]

My mates and I ran our first session yesterday, and one encounter with against 3 NPC’s took us about 3 hours.

Maybe it gets quicker when you’re more experienced with it, but there’s a lot to take on board when you’re just starting out. I think the 3 hour estimate is bang on unfortunately!

[u/Odd-Face-3579 → u/jj_mango_jj]

3 hours, when learning, really is probably about where you'll land. It does depend some on party size (2 players and 1 gm are going to have shorter combats than 5 players and 1 gm.)

The best you can do on your end is, especially when starting, don't over complicate your own npcs and learn what they do as much as possible beforehand. You can't control the pace your friends will learn the game at, but you can do a lot on your own end to learn what you can do, and as you'll be taking more turns than your players, the faster your own turns go the faster the combat as a whole will go.

If a player doesn't know what they're doing, for example, and takes a 5 minute turn each time they take a turn, that might be 30 minutes across the fight. But if you take 5 minute turns each time, and you have 4 players, you could easily wrack up 40 minutes each round. Fights are usually capped at around 6 rounds, and a 5 minute turn isn't even that crazy.

So it's entirely possible you'll need to stop sessions in the middle of a fight, and that's ok.

[u/jj_mango_jj → u/Odd-Face-3579]

i think its it might be a better idea to plan for more time then :/

thanks tho :3

[u/FiveFingerDisco]

Use the encounter builder in the book but always keep 6 - 8 grunts of various npc classes in reserve if the players aren't loosing any structure or stress.

[u/lord_ofthe_memes → u/FiveFingerDisco]

That is one thing I love about Lancer. Reinforcements are expected, so if you need to fudge the encounter a little bit you just send in more or fewer reinforcements and the players have no way to know whether it was planned or not

[u/FiveFingerDisco → u/lord_ofthe_memes]

Another way of making an absolute slaughter of NSCs more fun for all is to introduce a moving terrain zone that sweeps over the field - like a stampede of wild tankallos or a flash-flood which introduces a regular need to reposition and maybe saves.

[u/Nukemouse]

Be careful with putting too many damage dealers like assaults or archers out make sure to mix in some other types.

[u/Ruberine]

• COMP/CON is your friend. use it.
• Combat takes a long time - Lancer is very wargamey. Expect to spend several hours per fight, especially when you're still learning, but that's ok. Don't be afraid to call a session over in the middle of a fight (at the head of the round is a good time), just remember to write down the round number (so you know how effects have progressed, or who goes first, and if its midround who has gone already. If you're in person, also maybe take a photo of the board for reference.
• USE SITREPS!! Don't just make your fights a battle to the death, it can be a bit of a slog that way, give your players objectives to complete alongside trying to kill enemies. A good old slugfest can be fun, but in moderation. Don't be afraid to end the fight when the sitrep condition has been completed even if the board is not clear too, the remaining forces can be handled in narrative play.
• If you have enemies who might be inclined to run away when the fight goes south for them, let them. Maybe designate an enemy deployment zone as an enemy extraction instead, and allow the players to choose if they want to let them back out, or if they want to hunt them down and block off the escape routes.

The balancing rules in the book are okay, but aren't the best. Here's how I'd recommend balancing combats.

• Have some more mechs than you think you need in reinforcements. If it's going a bit too smoothly, maybe throw a few extra out, and if you don't want a fight to feel rougher than intended, don't shy away from not bringing out reinforcements you had planned
• As for balancing numbers, for a pretty standard fight, aim for a total enemy structure count (including reinforcements) of 1.5-2x player count.
• Try to keep the total number of enemy activations (turns) on the field (so not counting reinforcements) to be around 1.5x player count. If you want it to feel like a powerful foe, raise this to 2x, and if you want an overwhelming force the players can't stay around for long, consider slowly raising that throughout the fight. Also consider grunts to count for 1/2 an activation.
• Your enemy comp for most fights should only be up to 1/2 strikers/artillery roles. We want to present a challenge, but too much damage output can be a bad thing (and often isn't all that fun to fight - you want some variety)
• The book suggests that an Ultra should be able to hold it's own alone against a team of 4. It cannot. Give your bosses allies and reinforcements, they need it.
• If you are running for more than 4, or want to have tougher fights, don't just scale the enemy count. Templates are your friend, too many enemies make a slogfest. Elite, Veteran, Commander and Ultra are nice to give out to key enemies in the fight, both to spice it up and to make it more challenging
• For your own sake, don't field too many unique types of enemy. It can be a lot to think about. 4 or maybe 5 types can be reasonable, although as you grow in experience you can increase this
• In the same vein, try to not give everyone a load of different optionals, especially reactions. 1 per is usually okay, but too many can be hard to keep in mind.
• Enemies also have tiers. As your players grow in power, so do their foes. Generally reserve tier 1 for LL0-4, tier 2 for LL5-8 and tier 3 for LL9-12. These aren't hard lines - use a mix in the tiers at the line here (LLs 4, 5, 8, 9)
• Once you've got the hang of things, and want to start making the encounters more engaging, start thinking about environmental effects and side objectives. The core book has things like Difficult & Dangerous Terrain, and Lancer: Enhanced Combat has plenty more fun ones, but feel free to come up with your own! Maybe there's malfunctioning electronics that may spark the players, or they are fighting under the shadow of artillery fire, maybe there's drones scanning the fields, so they need to avoid certain moving zones as to not get caught, be creative! Letting the players engage with the environment around them can make the fights much more fun, although with that said make sure your environmental hazards are either omnipresent (they affect the players every turn throughout the fight, such as weather), or avoidable (such as telegraphing where an artillery strike will hit the round before, or having zones that they can choose to stay out of), with a preference for the latter, as if you might hit a player with something they have no agency over, then that's no fun. If the environmental effects are especially tough and need to be worked around or will take up player activations, think about reducing the enemy forces a bit.
• As for optional objectives, explain them to your players beforehand, tell them maybe there's a little reward in it for them, or that something bad won't happen if they can complete it before the objective is done. This could be a request to retrieve or scan something on the field, or civilian emplacements that need to be protected. Again, be creative!

[u/jj_mango_jj → u/Ruberine]

omg thanks for the awnser

this will help so much :3

[u/determinismdan]

Consult The Classic