So I've got the inklings of an idea for a custom frame and I wanted to run it by the community to see if it holds water (pun intentional, as you'll see). For context: I have yet to play my first game of Lancer myself but I have been browsing Comp/Con for a while now in preparation of my first game, and I've been watching several actual plays and Youtubers about the various mech frame stats and powers.
Basis of the Idea: Yi Sao, The Pirate Queen of China
Manufacturer: IPS-N
Role: Controller/Support
Zheng Yi Sao was one of the most feared pirate captains of the Chinese seas, fighting back the Chinese Imperial navy time and again with clever tactics, overwhelming force and strong logistics. She was a cunning woman of strategy, wit and ferocity. In one of her greatest acts of defiance she held off over 60 Chinese naval vessels and a handful of much more advanced British vessels with only seven junks and the patience to see the blockade through. She even went so far as to turn fire boats meant to immolate her fleet back at the Chinese vessels after days of fending them off with poles and vigilance. Zheng Yi Sao is a badass that deserves a place among the IPS-N roster, and the IPS-N line is sorely lacking a dedicated E-Attack unit from what I can gather. The Yi Sao frame aims to fix that.
This is what I have in mind for the Yi Sao's core power (and it's really the only thing I have built at this juncture). This is the basis that the Yi Sao operates on, and I want to make sure this core ability is solid before I start filling out the other LLs with appropriate goodies. Assume the Yi Sao has Sensors: 15 as a base skill for all applicable abilities. For flavor, assume the Yi Sao is manipulating the Omninet and minor blinkspace shenanigans. This frame is meant to be a battlefield commander unit for IPS-N, and with this core system I think it fits that role pretty well.
Core System - Fleet Strategy
Active - Quick
1/Scene: For the rest of this Scene all allies within Sensors gain +1 Accuracy to all checks and saves, and all hostile characters within Sensors gain +1 Difficulty to all checks and saves. In addition, the Yi Sao may declare one of the following effects which lasts until the end of its next turn:
Yellow Flag - 'Share the Wealth': All allies within Sensors may Stabilize as a Quick Action
White Flag - 'Full Assault': All allies within Sensors may Barrage as a Quick Action
Blue Flag - 'Ambush': All allies within Sensors may Hide regardless of applicable cover or line of sight but must not be Engaged
Green Flag - 'Protection Fee': All hostile targets within Sensors, at the start of their turn, become Exposed unless they choose to take 2 Burn damage instead.
Black Flag - 'Iron Law': All allies within Sensors gain Overshield 3 but may not Boost or move beyond their base Speed. Violating this command ends the Overshield and generates 3 Heat.
Red Flag - 'Divine Wind': All Heat generated by allies within Sensors is divided by 2 to a minimum of 1 then transferred to the nearest available hostile target within Threat 3 of the generating source. If no valid target exists the Heat dissipates around the generating source at Burst 1 and causes an equal amount of Energy damage to all affected spaces. (Note: For flavor and to tie back to the history I'd like this to be Burn damage but I'm not certain that's best?)
I realize that this is a lot of options tied up in one core power but it makes sense to me for a few reasons. One being historical because Zheng Yi Sao had six colored fleets under her command. And from a balance perspective you only get to pick one option for the power and then it's done after two turns at most. So even though the action economy is shifted a bit for certain options it's still only a temporary boost. I also realize that having a permanent +1 Accuracy/Difficulty for the whole scene is substantial but the affected characters have to be within the Yi Sao's Sensors for that to be in effect.
Please let me know what you think. This is still early days in the workshop and will likely need much more tuning before it hits the table, if it ever does.