On Lancer

In the most recent podcast, I mentioned Lancer, a sci-fi mech RPG that’s currently on Kickstarter. I feel like I didn’t entirely do it justice, so here’s a bit of a longer explanation on what it is, and why I think it’s great.

The Premise

Lancer is a Mech-based Tabletop RPG using a custom d20 system. (A d20 is used for resolution, but the “standard stats” and levels and various other things that are in a normal d20 system are not here.) It’s set in a sort of future version of our galaxy with some hand-waves in the form of “sufficiently advanced technology” (think Mass Effect or Infinity) but very little in the way of aliens. As a result humans have spread across the galaxy, multiple factions are trying to advance their own agendas and the players are mech pilots who Got Involved. How exactly that works is left pretty open.

On Lancer

The System

One of the more creative things about Lancer is that it’s basically two games stapled together. There’s a very open narrative system for pilot interactions while you’re not in a giant robot, then also has tactical combat built in for when you need to get into fights. In this way it avoids the tendency of other narrative systems to break down when negotiations do (I know this is a complaint my usual GM has about World of Darkness-based systems) but also supports doing more than just fighting (which is the generally largest complaint about systems like D&D 4e). Interestingly Kodra proposed something like this on the podcast for playing 4e, so it’s interesting to see it in a more realized form.

On Lancer

The Mechanics

Part of the fun of Gundam Breaker 3 to me is the very high amount of customization you can do on any given robot. Lancer uses the concept of Licenses to add their own spin on this, and getting more licenses means you have more options to choose from when designing a mech. Each license has one associated frame, and then an assortment of 6 associated weapons and systems that go with that frame thematically. Once you have enough license levels you can mix and match these as you choose (within certain limits) until you have a mech that does what you want it to.

There’s also a little bit of vertical progression associated with license levels, as your pilot skills increase and can result in your mech having more ammo, more HP, faster movement, etc. Pilots also have talents for further customization, plus a set of things they can do while not in their mech.

On Lancer

The Fluff

This is actually complicated enough that I think it deserves its own post. Until next time!

AggroChat #250 – Planeswalkers for Days

Featuring:  Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra and Tamrielo

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Tonight we are down a Grace and a Thalen but have picked up a special guest.  Ammo is the official unofficial AggroChat Artist given that she has done most of the artwork that you have seen over the last few years associated with both AggroChat and the Aggronaut blog.  First up we talk about when breaking the rules of a game makes for a better experience. From there Bel talks about Marvel Heroes notalgia and quelling it with the Mobile game Marvel Future Fight.  From there Bel talks about his new Mayflash f500 fight stick and some discussion about Mortal Kombat 11. We talk a bit about the release of War of the Spark on Magic the Gathering Arena. Ash talks about the Lancer pen and paper RPG system, and finally some discussion about Persona 5 Royal.

Topics Discussed

  • Breaking Rules for a Better Experience
    • House Rules
    • Cheating to Remove Frustrations
  • Marvel Future Fight
    • Marvel Heroes Nostalgia
    • Very Free to Play
  • Fight Sticks
    • Mayflash F500
    • Square vs Octagonal Gates
    • Mortal Kombat 11
  • War of the Spark
    • Sealed Gameplay
  • Lancer
    • Pen and Paper RPG System
    • Kickstarter
  • Persona 5 Royal
    • 5.5
    • Hoping for Switch Release

AggroChat #235 – Kickstarts and Kickstops

Featuring:  Ashgar, Belghast, Kodra, Tamrielo and Thalen

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There is an auditory warning, but we figured we would throw one out here as well.  During about the last 15 minutes of the podcast something went wrong with Bel’s audio where the last bit of every statement got clipped.  So you essentially lost the last word he was saying. This weeks show starts with a discussion about Kickstarter projects, which leads into talk of some of the things we have backed and how Bel is that guy that fails to fill out surveys.  From there we jump into a discussion about Far Cry 5 and how it is a game where the forced story gets in the way of everything else. This leads into a discussion about Destiny 2, the Bungie divorce from Activision, and even to some discussions about how important publishers actually are now.  This also includes a bit about the bidding war for Gamestop between the folks behind Hot Topic and the folks behind Redbox.

Topics Discussed

  • Kickstarter Projects
    • Reliability of Boardgames
    • Questionable Nature of Software Projects
    • Bel fails at filling out Surveys
  • Far Cry 5
    • Fun Gameplay
    • Forced Story Mode Abductions
    • Weirdness of Religious Cult Theme
  • Destiny 2
    • Returning Player Experience
    • Expectations of Knowing Lore
    • Bungie and Activision Divorce
  • Importance of Publishers
    • Bidding War over Gamestop
    • Digital Only Standouts
    • UbiSoft Abandoning Steam

AggroChat #112 – The Chroma Squad Show

Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tam and Thalen talk Chroma Squad the June AggroChat Game Club Game

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Tonight we talk about the only game legally obligated to say that it is inspired by Saban’s Power Rangers…  Chroma Squad!  This was the June 2016 AggroChat Game of the Month and Thalen’s latest Game Club pick.  At some point we got completely out of order on the whole round robin rotation and we are now just going with it.  Do you have a fond memory of the Power Rangers and other Sentai shows from the 90s?  Do you hate the Power Rangers and have a love of Tactical Combat games that make fun of them?  In both cases this might be a game for you, so tune in as we talk about the finer points of this game and film season after season of cardboard mech suit combat!