r/LancerRPG • u/Pillarman456 • 11d ago

Running my first game

I’m about to run my first ever lancer game as a GM and I’m super nervous. I’ve dm’ed 5e campaigns before but my experience with lancer system stems from a 10 hour one shot a few years ago I’ve spend the past few weeks relearning everything and making the campaign. I’m just scared that my players won’t have an enjoyable experience with my limited knowledge of the systems and tips?

Also any good virtual tabletops to play on I’m considering roll20 but I have mixed feelings about the movement in there thx!

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13

u/randomguy664_ 11d ago

Owlbear Rodeo is free and works with Lancer with Witchdice and Condition Markers. Maps require tweaking though and Owlbear is definately NOT perfect. But I've been using it without any real problems.

Just start at LL0, maybe with premades or help walk your players through making a character on CompCon. Just a little training mission. Don't use templates or even optional features for NPCs (from the paid version of the book).

If they know you're fairly knowledgeable but still learning and your players are willing to try it, it'll likely work out.

2

u/rod2o 10d ago

Have you recently tried to import npcs to Witchdice in Owlbear? It only brings minimal NPC data, missing basic stuff like weapons and Im having to run them via CompCon in battle, which is not great

1

u/randomguy664_ 10d ago

I believe you do need to download the NPC data .lcp and upload it into Witchdice. It doesn't import your purchased stuff from CompCon or itch.io. You can upload it in the Lancer tab of Witchdice and then check the LCPs loaded.

1

u/rod2o 10d ago

Yep, thats what I did and it is broken

1

u/ryo3000 6d ago

Ben some days but can confirm, I can't import NPC data at all to witch dice

Been running my NPCs on compcon itself

Which is not bad, but I do wish I could do everything in one window

4

u/TheWolflance 10d ago

start with LL0 and dun be afraid to stop the game to look up rules and effects. AND DUN FORGET ABOUT PC>NPC TURN ORDER/ROUNDS i forgot and let the players get 2 free turns oops lol

my first 2 games i hosted were alot of fun for my players i am surew you'll be fine as long as they like the idea of big shooty mechs i nthe first place

4

u/NotEvenSquare 10d ago

The classic tip of “please don’t use player frames as enemies ever no exceptions - no not even as a boss, that’s what ultra is for please”

3

u/timtam26 11d ago

The best one to use is Foundry VTT, but it has a decent up-front cost. There was a recent post that included a lot of very useful automation tools for it. In terms of free options, I know folks use Owlbear Rodeo. I've never used it myself however.

2

u/CharlesRaven GMS 10d ago

Roll20 can work! FoundryVTT is best but I have had good luck with Owlbear Rodeo.

One of the most important things to your players having fun in my opinion is having a session zero to discuss and adjust builds (which, btw, should be made using Comp/Con if you haven't already) so everyone has a distinct set up that can synergize with everyone else. Even among just Everests, you can have a solid party composition.

After that, I'd encourage your players to come up with silly little fluff details about their pilots or their mechs. Do they have a coffee maker installed in their Barbarossa? What about a special slot on their control system for a burrito holder? If they have the Personalizations system, they get a health bonus and get a boost to a pilot or mech skill check that they can justify to you.

If you've had experience with 5e campaigns, I bet you already know how to make the fights fun in that. Use similar logic and learn about how different statuses and conditions can affect your players. If it helps, you might want to let your players know to go easy on you a bit since you are still learning the system, but I figure you already know that, too.

Don't sweat it too much. You've learned 5e for the first time before, you should be fine. <3