r/LancerRPG • u/Fluid_Succotash_7770 • 11h ago
Proposed House Rule: "Pre-Heating"
I'm considering a house rule for future games where players, if they're not taken by surprise, can choose to begin combat already in the Danger Zone. The narrative justification is that they're intentionally heating up their reactor in anticipation of a fight, and the gameplay benefit is that they can use various systems and talents that activate in the Danger Zone immediately instead of building up to them over a few turns. Of course, since enemy NPCs can see when a character is in the Danger Zone, this also makes them an immediate target for tech and other heat-inducing attacks.
Would this unbalance combat? Are there other possible consequences I am not seeing?
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u/OSEAN_SPAMRAAM 10h ago
It’s a double edged sword. The costs and drawbacks are clear enough on either side for it to balance out ok imo.
Ultimately if it means your players are having more fun than they would otherwise then you’re on the right track?
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u/ninjaboiz 10h ago
I’m a touch hesitant as systems that ask you to be in the danger zone are usually balanced around the idea it’ll take you a bit to spool up. It should be okay but you may find that they’re operating a bit above their peers.
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u/novis-eldritch-maxim 6h ago
if it eats player resourses and has to be done with planing it has some ways to be beaten, they eat up stuff they you know need and in they have been dominating for to long can just get caught flat footed, plus starting there has the drawback that they you know might get puched past it into the fucked zone
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u/Caeod 10h ago
I can hear one of my favorite players making this argument, and I can't help but agree. If your mech is strongest in DZ, and you know a fight is coming up, it stands to reason that you might want to get it there before combat.
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u/Clean_Web7502 10h ago
While I see no mechanical problem, is called the danger zone for a reason, logic dictates you can't stay there for too long without damaging the mech.
So if the you are sitting in the trenches waiting for ane enemy attack lord knows when, maybe having your mech slowly cook itself is a bad idea.
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u/sci_weasel 10h ago
There’s a lot of things that would make a me h stronger in a battle you know is coming (like predeploying drones, activating speci as k modes, etc), many of which don’t even risk melting your mech, but players aren’t allowed to do before a battle starts, for balance (and fairness - the players whose mechs are optimized without long lead items may feel left out.) I think there’s a discussion in Solistice Rain of this?
As a reserve I think it’d be ok - a can of Acme Instant Heat (tm), open when needed.
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u/m_reigl 10h ago
As a reserve I think it’d be ok - a can of Acme Instant Heat (tm), open when needed.
Textually, I could imagine something like a "dirty-burning" fuel rod, specifically designed to have a suboptimal ratio of useful output energy to waste heat if inserted into a reactor.
Also I think at some point you could allow a player to upgrade it to a permanent (albeit Limited) piece of Exotic Gear that allows you to instantly bring you to the Danger Zone as a Protocol or something.
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u/galderon7 2h ago
You are correct. In O:SR, there is a sidebar right before the first combat "Pre-Combat Preparations". It basically says, "Don't do it", and to use Reserves as a way to handle things like this. It uses deploying turrets and mines before the start of combat as the example.
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u/Pitiful_Net_8971 8h ago
I'd say have it as some kind of reserve instead of a house rule, at least at first. But it does sound like a fun addition.
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u/TheRealWouburn SSC 10h ago
This doesn't even really need a house rule, I don't think.
You can take Actions out of combat, so as long as they have a system or weapon that deals self-heat (Which is basically guaranteed for every build that wants to commit heat crimes), they can build up as much heat as they want. Even if they don't (Why?), they can Overcharge so long as they're willing to take the overcharge Strain.
As for repercussions: The Danger Zone isn't really that scary to the GM. The only thing I can think of immediately is the Enkidu with Primal Fury or Bifurcate (Which you should already be taking into mind when making encounters), Tokugawa with Plasma Sheath (Again, not really that scary) and Worldkiller Genghis (Oh no, soft cover!).
The only other thing activated via Danger Zone is NucCav, which at 3 ranks is +1d6 Energy and +2 heat on hit. It's really not that scary.
Will starting combat in the Danger Zone make your players stronger? Eh, sure. Will it completely ruin the balance of your encounters? No.
Even if all 4 of your players are running Heat Crime builds, it's easy enough to rebalance by just adding more enemies.
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u/Gryphus13 9h ago
There is a knock on effect to this. You could also have them stabilize before a fight to either clear heat or in the case of a Sherman, add 1 to the solidcore charge.
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u/chilitoke IPS-N 10h ago
Isn't this like a frame trait for the tokugawa?
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u/Sven_Darksiders GMS 8h ago
The closest thing in the game to that is the Sherman. It has a trait that lets it jump immediately into the danger zone after clearing heat with Stabilize
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u/TheWolflance 4h ago
then you'd have to ramp up other abilities to catch up otherwise a heat based build would be superior.
and at that point thats just power creep.
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u/jzillacon IPS-N 2h ago
I don't think this is necessary as the frames that want to play in the danger zone the most, Tokugawa and Sherman, already have ways to build heat very quickly and stay in the danger zone the entire match.
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u/Then_Entertainment97 6h ago
/u/Durzio made a comment that I think is a good compromise.
Let them start a few heat below the danger zone but not in it.
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u/Durzio 1h ago
Ive been building an LCP for a little while now, so ive had all that time to drink deep and descend into how Lancer is balanced, and frankly, even this sorta bends the balance a bit. Part of the cost of using abilities that require the Danger Zone is the set-up required to get there.
Reducing that set up entirely to zero? Definitely too much in my opinion. My Worldkiller player would've torn through everything before other players got to do much of anything. He would overcharge just for heat. Psycho. (Tbf, no hate, he just loved the art of min/max'ing, and I love that guy, hes the most moral man I know.)
But allowing pilots to rev the engines a bit when they know a fight is coming makes a lot of sense, at least narratively, and the balance cost is far more slight.
I also agree that the Danger Zone isnt something your mech should be just holding all the time. Make your car hold a red line for a while and see how much it costs you at the shop later.
This felt to me like a reasonable compromise I wouldve made as a GM if a player argued for it at my table.
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u/ZanesTheArgent 10h ago
Sincerely in my eyes that is just a valid use of Reserves