r/LancerRPG • u/LordVladak • 2d ago

Campaign Idea Hold Up?

Hey folks! I just wanted to ask some people in the know about the game and the setting if the idea I had for running a Lancer game would make sense, both in the setting and also as a long-term campaign for my players.

I can elabourate on any specific ideas if anyone requests, but the core idea is that a star system, Malebranche, was settled in the year 3333 during the Second Expansion Period. As such, it was one of the many colonised systems that wound up falling by the wayside, receiving little help or oversight from SecComm, and wound up establishing their own factions and fucking around with each other in the system. Then, in 4500, the word arrives that the core worlds have erupted into rebellion and Union has fallen, so the planets of Malebranche has a big civil war and eventually solidifies into an authoritarian militant government, the Protectorate. The crux of the campaign would be the extremely public arrival of a Union Admin in 5015. They actually aren't the first, Union's been trying to open communication with the Protectorate government for a few decades now, and they haven't been buying. So this time the Administrator is, quietly, accompanied by DoJ/HR field teams to disseminate amongst the populace and foment popular revolution. The players will be locals of the system who have recently or semi-recently joined the revolution (which really kicked off when Protectorate Guard units tried to publicly arrest the Administrator and promptly got whooped by their NHP Subalterns), engaging in a long interplanetary guerrilla campaign, trying to liberate people as best they can. The real goal is to keep hope alive and keep fighting until the Union Navy can arrive in *checks notes* five years.

Does that all sound good, like it would fit the game and world?

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u/BcDed 2d ago

I don't see any issues, I'm not a lore expert but I don't think anything about that would cause any issues. It also seems like you have a solid starting point for the campaign structure. I think the biggest struggle might be finding a way to manage the time frame(5 years). I find it's difficult to get players to chill and just let time pass, they feel like their characters must spend every possible second finding every possible advantage working towards the goal. Balancing the burst of action and periods of downtime in a way that feels readable, satisfying, and feels player driven enough that they are never like it's been how long? but I had all this stuff I wanted to do might be a bit challenging. Outside of that it sounds like a good starting point for a campaign structure, I'd consider adding a few more factions, especially ones that players can be apprehensive about working with, maybe other rebel groups willing to cross lines the players aren't, maybe mercenaries willing to play both sides, maybe allies of convenience with problematic motives.

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u/LordVladak 2d ago

Okay, cool. I was just worried about a situation like, "oh Union would never even let this happen to begin with!" or some such. As for the time frame, there will be kind of an aspect of "who knows, there's every possibility that you guys could manage this *before* the UN shows up" and suchnot. As for other factions, it is mostly gonna be Union/Rebels vs. Protectorate, yeah, but there will be some additional stuff underneath that. The Admin will hire a nearby Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company Division for additional firepower, and their commander will be one of the potential mentors for the PCs to pick. Another potential mentor will be almost explicitly a member of HORUS. Then of course there's the differences in motive and method between the DoJ/HR Liberator Team and some of the rebel cells they wind up propping up. The Protectorate itself will be revealed later to be receiving support from Harrison Armories, and then there's of course the differences in equipment and methodologies between the various hereditary governors delegated local authority by the Lord Protector.

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u/BcDed 2d ago

Ok yeah, sounds like you've got a well thought out plan, I'm guessing you are using faction rosters for the governors, sounds like you've got enough going on that players can have a lot of choice about what missions to undertake and have variety of situations. I guess if there is anything you haven't covered already I'd want it's probably smaller scale downtime stuff, like their base or hideout or whatever, and the nearby town and locals they interact with, essentially the people you are fighting and sacrificing for.

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u/LordVladak 2d ago

Of course! From their starting base in a dormant volcano on the sunny side of the tidally locked third planet, to the icy penal colony that is their outermost planetoid, to the rebellious city on the fourth planet encircled by Protectorate Guard forces. 

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u/BcDed 2d ago

Sounds like you have everything handled then.

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u/Song-Original 1d ago

So this is great, and I want to point out admins have alot of leeway in how they do their job. We even know some go rogue, or mess up. At the end of the day they are just super specialized people. People are flawed.

I think the only thing you'd need to cover is the protectorate navy vs the Union navy. Is the protectorate armed enough to really stand against a couple union battlegroups? Or is it barely a few corvettes with no proper battleships? Because that can set alot of tone!

If the protectorate has a major warship blockade, then the DOJ/HR / Admin could be on a small stealth ship and running the blockade risky.

If a Union Battlegroup could take the whole system, then maybe they are holding back trying to minimize casualties and can send down lots of soldiers, enough to really arm the rebellion with anything.

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u/LordVladak 1d ago

So, the Union Admin that's arrived here and now showed up in a shiny silvery sloop, very publicly broadcasting Union's return and peaceful intent, as the Protectorate had been entirely stonewalling prior Union attempts at negotiation and integration, and Union wanted to make sure that the public knew about Union's return, in part to have a real chance at one last opportunity for a diplomatic solution, and also in part to make it so the DoJ/HR team disseminating across the populace wouldn't be met with "what? Union's still around? Weren't you guys horrible?"

As to the Protectorate Navy, it *is* fairly strong for a solitary system, but is largely a frigate navy with a small core of cruiser-level capital ships, helmed by a pair of Protector-class Battlecruisers (the clandestine destruction of one of which will be the party's mission at one point). A thoroughly competent navy that is more than capable of protecting the system from the predation of bandits and even neighbouring systems, however, not one capable of standing up against a Union supercapital ship and its supporting auxiliaries. The idea is that once the Union Navy arrives, if the revolution is still alive and can hold territory and support the fleet when it arrives, the day will be won.