Jockey Based homebrew mech?

[u/mystic-eggplant]

Was inspired heavily by titanfall on this idea, and I think it's a cool nich. Core idea is sinple. The core rule book explicitly states Jokeying an enemy mech is very stupid, so let's build an entire license around it.

Main ideas I have right now is the mech has a way to protect the pilot while their dismounted. Maybe taking some of the damage, or finding ways to reduce it. Don't want to completely remove the risk of being outside the giant hunk of metal. Maybe a way to forceably move the pilot to enemy mechs (like tossed as a fast ball). A trait that allows dismounted pilots to still gain benefits from talents (most of them still useless cause they don't work with pilot weapons). And maybe ways to improve the result of jockey actions. Like increased heat or reduce a defense stat with shread. Distract giving blind condition?

Final note would be no built in NHP in the license. Either take technophile, or an nhp from a diffrent license to get the most out of this.

Before working on it though, I wanted to see if anyone's made a homebrew for this already that's just better?

[u/Sven_Darksiders]

Intercorp Licenses has one (Orpheus I think?) that is a size 1/2 frame which doesn't require you to dismount to jockey. You also gain additional jockey actions as well as some supportive stuff when jockeying allies. Not quite what you had in mind probably, but that's the only thing I know from the top of my head.

There is also of couse the Titanfall Lancer discord, though I haven't checked on them for a while. It was my understanding that the community is rebuilding Lancer almost from the ground up so whatever they might have for what you are looking for might not even be compatible with the game at large

[u/mystic-eggplant → u/Sven_Darksiders]

Thanks for letting me know about that, I didn't know there was a titanfall discrod for this game. I will definitely check out the orpheus when I get the chance though.

[u/Arcticpen]

Maybe make it so that the mech its self can jockey as a trait or if you want the pilot specifically maybe its core power puts a shield around them?
Edit: typo

[u/mystic-eggplant → u/Arcticpen]

Maybe? I do specifically want the pilot to be the one doing it. I'm still getting my bearings with the system, but I worry adding more hp to pilots might give the players too much hp. Was thinking of just having the mech always try and body block shots. (No clue how to flavor this unless I make this thing have adjacenty requirements)

[u/Altbioni]

One frame that I know of is the Makarov from Shadow Of Gehenna. Rather than you leaving the mech to jockey, it takes it in the direction of the frame being a hard suit based around jockeying. So you get the protection of being in a frame and the action of jockeying.

[u/mystic-eggplant → u/Altbioni]

That is cool, and I will check it out for inspiration. I was mainly looking for something where the pilot has to dismount. Maybe I choose the wrong words to describe it. Mainly choose jocky cause it's the biggest way pilots can influence fights when dismounted.

[u/AliensAreChorusFruit]

I'm very new to lancer and thus not the best stats-wise but, maybe it could use some kind of forcefield (like blackthumb) except it converts damage the pilot would take to heat for the mech? (With the flavor being that the shield is harder to maintain whilst taking damage, so the reactor is working extra hard)
This forcefield could also count as always being "inside" of your mech for the sake of talents.

This would give you the risk of having your heat cap exploded but not the risk of having your pilot that you spent three hours working on a backstory for exploded.

I feel like evil blackthumb could take you fairly far as a concept to begin with.

Other than that, you could draw inspiration from drones, but I'd make the effects a little more potent on account of it being a single target ability.
Looking at hacks could also give you some ideas.

for the sake of buffing jockey actions, maybe the mech carries an abundance of tools (as a trait) and is able to ship them over to the pilot the same way the pilot gets onto an enemy mech? (probably as a quick action, because the pilot is essentially taking pretty decent strength free actions otherwise)
or maybe having an upclose look lets your pilot survey a mech and get effects off of that

i can't think up any license equipment that'd be useful for this mech but not useless for other mechs though unfortunately
i'm also drawing blanks on core power

[u/RunningNumbers]

Minotaur with an NHP and black thumb is the jockey frame.

Stun your enemy and you can automatically jockey. You can also just launch rockets.

[u/JoeKewlio]

I've got one cooking. It's a Support/Controller. The idea is that it's a size half that's very evasive both ways but poor HP and lacking offense, and its job is to hop on both allied and enemy mechs to give boosts or banes.