I was scrolling through some artwork and this one really speaks to me as the kind of mech I would want so what frame matches this the best?

Hello.

New player, and I'd like to make sure I understand correctly.

The book says that any character that survives a mission gains a license level, explicitly.

So, if someone dies mid-mission and gets cloned, they are permanently behind one LL compared to the rest of the group? Is that how this is normally played and handled?

Thanks.

My friend pitched to me Strike Gundam as their mech, but i don't know what the frame for that will be. And I've been thinking about the others: Zeta, Psycho Gundam, etc. How would that work?

The Amber Phantom is an interesting mech and is the variant of the Metalmark, meaning that it gets all of MM's systems, but the amber phantom is really flexible to build around with the exceptions of heavy weapons since it has 3 mounts and no heavy mount, so you cannot wield superheavies with this mech period. Though I would still probably go metalmark 3 consistently on builds with this mech for the active camo, invisibility on demand is real nice and this mech isnt exactly the most durable striker, even the metalmark has at least 1 armor. And once again, dont get hacked, you dont have the best reactor and your E-defense is terrible, but at least you have an evasion of 12 so its harder to get hit by regular attacks.

This mechs gimmick is seeing into the future, just pull a "AND YOUR NEXT LINE IS" on the enemy to deal a bonus 1d6 damage purely off the psychological trauma of pulling a JoJo reference on their ass. Basically at the top of the round you can say "I predict I will go first this round" and if you go first you get 1d6 bonus damage when you attack that turn, if you go second you can still have the bonus damage but will gain 1d6 heat for it. So this mech works well with forethought and strategy, as with just a bit of it you should be able to determine a good turn order and stick with it, but if you arent too good at that just go either first or last in the turn order each time.

For the traits the Amber Phantom has +1 accuracy on all saves and attacks are made with +1 difficulty until the Amber Phantom takes their turn. This gives you a lot of use in going last in the turn order and is ineffectual when you are going first in the turn order. And its second trait lets you pull an enemy that misses you 2 spaces in any direction once per round, which pairs well with the previous trait.

The Core Power however is just crazy, why is this an efficient core power? This should not be efficient, this is too good an ability to be able to be used each scene. Essentially at the start of your turn you can choose an ally who has not taken their turn to either immediately take their turn right now or immediately after your turn. This core power is of course unusable if you go last in a round, it doesnt grant your teammate an extra turn, it just lets them take their turn now. This is fantastic at bursting down a big enemy or a group of enemies as their is no enemy turn inbetween player turns to do anything. Seriously the potential applications of this power can be huge, this core power should absolutely not be efficient.

Overall though I like this mech, it has a easy way to constantly get bonus damage and it gets the most use out of its traits when it goes later in the turn order, but the most of its core power when it goes first. It has a plethora of mounts, but no heavy, and it is very malleable in how you can build it since it doesnt really have a set playstyle, so build variety is great on this mech. Onto the build I came up with:

» Amber Phantom // AMBER PHANTOM «

LL6

[ TALENTS ]

Hunter 3, Skirmisher 2,

Nuclear Cavalier 2, Duelist 2

[ LICENSES ]

SSC Metalmark 3, IPS-N Vlad 3

[ CORE BONUSES ]

Reinforced Frame, Overpower Caliber

[ MECH ]

« AMBER PHANTOM »

SSC Amber Phantom

H:3 A:0 S:0 E:5 SIZE:1

STRUCTURE:4 HP:22 ARMOR:0

STRESS:4 HEAT:10 REPAIR:5

ATK BONUS:3 TECH ATK:0 LTD BONUS:2

SPD:5 EVA:12 EDEF:6 SENS:10 SAVE:13

[ WEAPONS ]

Flex Mount: Shock Knife / Tactical Knife

Main Mount: Rail Rifle

Main/Aux Mount: Impact Lance (Shock Wreath) / Shock Knife // Overpower Caliber

[ SYSTEMS ]

Active Camouflage, Caltrop Launcher,

Charged Stake

Now I know the 3/5 Hull/Engineering split is hideous, but I am not having an odd heatcap when running Nuc Cav, and a heatcap of 8 seems a bit low considering I am going to want to make use of Active Camo to be real hard to hit. That's one thing that sucks with all mechs with a odd heatcap, you just have to suffer an odd Engineering HASE and suck it up if you want to use Nuc Cav.

For my main weapon I went with the Impact Lance, it has a great threat and is a main melee so I have access to the amazing Blademaster Reactions which can grant me resistance to damage and can auto-disengage from an enemy, and this mech doesnt really want to be engaged. Shock Wreath gets me even more damage on top of blinding if I manage to hit with a shock knife, Hunter 3 grants me 2 chances to hit before I attack with the lance. And I use a tactical knife instead of 2 shock knives so that I can make use of Hunter 3 and choose to not gain heat, might as well slow down how fast I cook my reactor.

Now it was a tough choice between the rail rifle and the Impaler Nailgun, but I went with the rail rifle here since it has more range and its aoe, so I can hit multiple enemies with it, but the nailgun is probably better for the immobliziation, and I would probably swap out Skirmisher for Vanguard if I were to focus on the nailgun. The thing is with all the heat im gaining its safer to just overwatch with the impact lance instead, same threat and no heat cost, but nailgun remains a viable weapon choice.

The Systems are pretty simple, Active Camo gives me invisibility for better survival and to get my heatcap to half fast, and with it I can easily get to the DZ in a single turn if necessary (camo > barrage with flex mount and rail rifle > Hunter 3 with shock knife on main/aux). Now I really can only exist in the Danger Zone a short time safely so its best used to burst down an enemy.

The Charged Stake is just a great full action system, now my save target isnt high but the enemies you typically use this system on the most dont have the highest Hulls, being able to give a big middle finger to agile and invisible enemies and watch them slowly die is alot of fun. And Caltrop Launcher is a really good 1SP area denial tool, Im going Vlad I might as well. And that sweet Reinforced Frame Core Bonus gives this mech a decent amount of HP at least. And Overpower lets my main melee attack do up to 5d6 damage (1d6 of which is burn), stacking bonus damage is nice and lets me focus down certain enemies who need to die effectively.

The Giant Shrimp is a tech support platform that will make any allies who want to do any tech attacks at all love you, this is because when you perform a tech action or use a system on an ally they get to use your sensors and your line of site thanks to its trait Relay Coupling! This is great for any player with Beckon, just teleport your slow manticore or tortuga halfway across the map with up to 15 extra spaces thanks to your shrimp friend. Goblins can safely hack from halfway across the map and can drop metahook entirely, as Relay Coupling is just a better metahook, with the downside that it has be refreshed every turn.

Taraxacum can also hover and fly at will, but takes heat up equal to 1 + the total Size of objects and characters it is carrying at the end of its turn, but that does let you take MULE Harness and fly your teammates to across the map. Taraxacum like the Lancaster has a massive speed of 6 and it has a better heat cap, but it loses out on the massive repair cap, after all the Taraxacum isnt an on field repair man, it is tech support. Its core bonus is also nice preventing enemies from benefiting from invisible or cover when scanned, and scanned isnt an attack so you can just turn invisibility off for an enemy and let your team screw that guy over.

The Taraxacum also has an efficient core power which can be used once per scene, at it is kinda like a mini Athena, giving you a burst 4 area that automatically locks on to all characters, applying that much lock on is just awesome. This power is best used at the start of the fight since lock on sticks until the enemy stabilizes or it gets used, either way the enemy wastes a full action or your ally gets bonus accuracy. Now it doesnt auto scan like Athena but thats why I called it a "mini" Athena, its not as good as the real deal of course.

This all makes the Taraxacum a good tech support, throw on beneficial systems to support your team or mix in a bit of hacking as well, Sysop is a good talent choice here considering you are going to want to give teammates your sensors at all times bolster is a very safe and consistent buff to put on your team. Here's the Build I made for the Flying Shrimp:

» Taraxacum // TARAXACUM «

LL6

[ TALENTS ]

Ace 3, Grease Monkey 3,

Sysop 3

[ LICENSES ]

IPS-N Lancaster 2, SSC Emperor 2,

IPS-N Kidd 2

[ CORE BONUSES ]

Fomorian Frame, Overpower Caliber

[ MECH ]

« TARAXACUM »

IPS-N Taraxacum

H:4 A:0 S:2 E:2 SIZE:3

STRUCTURE:4 HP:19 ARMOR:1

STRESS:4 HEAT:10 REPAIR:6

ATK BONUS:3 TECH ATK:3 LTD BONUS:1

SPD:6 EVA:10 EDEF:10 SENS:15 SAVE:13

[ WEAPONS ]

Main/Aux Mount: Bolt Nexus / Nexus (Light) // Overpower Caliber

[ SYSTEMS ]

MULE Harness, Shahnameh,

Personalizations, Field-Approved, Brass Ignorant Modifications,

PEBCAC, Dominion's Breadth

Now of course I took on Fomorian Frame for peak flying battle bus, upping my flight capacity, but im still unsure if kidd 1 was a good choice or if I should have stuck with Lancaster 3 for ACESO. What made me pick PEBCAC over ACESO was simply that I already had a GRIT+4 Overshield System and ACESO requires me to be within Range 5, and as a Taraxacum Im not sure if I will always be nearby allies to make full use of ACESO. But with Kidd 2 I could grab FABIM to give an ally's attack that hits armor and resistance piercing which is just so good.

Dominions Breath essentially just grants +1 bonus damage on an enemy and +2 damage to any enemies within burst 2 which is nice, or can be put on an ally to make attacking them less appealing, Dominions Breath could be replaced with The Imperial Eye too, Imperial Eye is a save but it inflicts shredded and prone which is awesome, but an enemy has to move into an ally or an ally into an enemy to trigger, but I feel like Dominions Breath is a bit simpler and easier to use idk.

Shahnameh is just a great Grit+4 Overshield and gives Witches a middle finger, buff your poor reactor melee boys with this and lock onto the bastards, and even if there are no witched grit+4 overshield gives your friend a bit of extra tankiness. This Taraxacum is built for one thing only and thats throwing buffs around for all its team to enjoy, and if someone needs a lift to the front lines it can help out. Apply Lock on, scan, buff damage, give overshield, this is pure support.

The literal only reason I have overpower caliber on my weapon mount is because I couldnt think of any other core power to take, and I might as well give my mech some ability to defend itself if I get put into a bad position. Honestly I could have just put on GMS Assault rifle but I decided to live a little and use a weapon I have literally never put on a mech before.

Though even if I just spammed support options on this build that is NOT indicative of this mechs capability, it can work as an effective hacker too dont forget, you could do a more drone focused build to, just make sure to utilize your sensors and maybe have one or two support systems so you can give your allies Your LOS and your sensors and give them a nice buff when needed. The Taraxacum is a fine tech support platform overall, and is very different from the Lancaster who is physical, structural integrity support, I like it when frame variants have completely different playstyles.

Hi there! Recently got back into the game and instantly got smacked by a niche rules interaction lol

Specifically, I’m wondering because I what to use the Mourning Cloak’s Fade Cloak on a Hydra, and I want to know what happens if I deploy a Drone and then go intangible. If its for example a turret drone, could I use the reaction to deal damage? Drones that don’t use reactions like the Hydra’s Tempest Drone should in theory work normally regardless, but I am unsure how far the “you” in “You cannot interact with any other object or character” goes.

I mention mines and other deployables because intuitively they should work normally regardless of the status of the mech since “You” aren’t interacting with anything at any point.

I guess I’m unsure because Hidden (which I originally considered for my build instead) does break when “you” make a reaction or force a save through your drones.

Looking at some different NPC Classes to play around with and i found the Avenger Class on CompCon but it does not show in Foundry even though everything is updated? can anyone else find it? I'm using V13 of Foundry

```« LOST CHILD » -- HORUS Minotaur @ LL9 --

[ LICENSES ]

HORUS Minotaur 3, IPS-N Drake 2, SSC White Witch 2, IPS-N Tortuga 1, HA Sunzi 1

[ CORE BONUSES ]

Fomorian Frame, Improved Armament, The Lesson of Thinking-Tomorrow’s-Thought

[ TALENTS ]

Combined Arms 3, House Guard 3, Pankrati 3, Duelist 2, Vanguard 1

[ STATS ]

HULL:5 AGI:0 SYS:6 ENGI:0

STRUCTURE:4 HP:29 ARMOR:0

STRESS:4 HEATCAP:5 REPAIR:6

TECH ATK:+7 LIMITED:+0

SPD:4 EVA:8 EDEF:16 SENSE:8 SAVE:16

[ WEAPONS ]

Flex Mount: Ferrofluid Lance

Main/Aux Mount: Deck-Sweeper Automatic Shotgun / Pistol

[ SYSTEMS ]

Viral Logic Suite, Metafold Carver, Aggressive System Sync, Interdiction Field, Camus’s Razor, Accelerate, Aegis Shield Generator x1, Personalizations```

Does having the unstable nhp + 1 other make you twice as likely to cascade or does it work like the lesson of shaping?

Hi there y'all, I've been wanting to play Lancer for a long while, and I'm wondering what the general consensus is on places to find games/where GMs tend to advertise themselves.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I haven't played Lancer yet, I will probably be GMing before end of the year. I like theorcrafting and analysing tools on hand and I would love explanation what am I missing.

Modules and weapons in Tokugawa are really disjointed. On one hand You have middling weapons that are really close range and cost alot of heat, on the other hand You can have +10/+15 range on every ranged weapon from Limit Break, External Battery and/or Core Power. You have powerful damage buff when You are exposed and middling defences. You can deal idiotic amounts of burn in danger zone or using Lucifer.

All that tells me that it isn't middle range mech, it is by far best long range missile platform, to the point of being better at being Monarch than Monarch, and almost as good at being Barbarossa as Barbarossa - less tanky, but more manouverable and able to hide.

I am thinking something like this: Shatterhead Missiles from Sal and/or Burst Launchers from Duskwing, one of them probably with Overpower Caliber. External Batteries, Lucifer NHP for systems. Nuclear Cavalier to manage heat, maybe walking armory/stormbringer for utility. For the rest I am still undecided. It should give idiotic damage on 25 range, which you can turn up to 30 with core power. You have arcing, so You can just hide somewhere and clear everything. You can go last on one turn and then first on the next to minimise being exposed, which pretty much takes care of your flimsines. One problem I still see is reliable way to get into danger zone, but tactical application of overcharge should take care of that.

You should win duels with snipers/bombards. You clear everything that isn't super tanky pretty much instantly. Even things that should be able to charge and bully such glass cannon (Assassins, Aces, Berserkers and Cataphracts), will probably just die in the process.

There must be scenarios where such Tokugawa will struggle or not work, I just don't see them. And I wish to be disabused of my notions.