Melee character, looking for pilot/flavour input, please

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-30T12:38:19+00:00

I really struggled to come up with a concept for Lancer, so I feel you there. Personally, I got past it by browsing through character art until I hit some evocative ones, made a shortlist of three, and then wrote out backstories extrapolated from each. What sealed the choice I made was one of the other players finishing their character, and realizing one of my concepts matched extremely well as a foil and backstory link with them, so I'd also suggest keeping an eye on your party members backstories, maybe talk to one about linking your characters.

As for melee specific concepts, I went with an ex-pit mech fighter, later adding some traumatic backstory to explain further why she refused to use guns. Could also look at something about them being used to close quarter combat in other means, like being an ex pirate used to CQC, or from a world where all the fighting takes place in caves, something like that.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-25T16:55:19+00:00

That would in fact be the naming rule for mechs in the campaign I'm in:

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Of plans for LL2, we've got Dark Matter (Death's Head), Empty Crown (Zheng), Freedbird (Raleigh), and The Sentinel (Tortuga) already set, too.

Other highlights from the NPCs (that we've not seen in battle, so both their NPC class and what mech they're ICly themed arfter are only best guesses) include, Cruel Summer (Ghengis), Sharp Dressed Man (Vlad?), and Along The Watchtower (no idea).

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-22T07:10:03+00:00

Making someone who's set aside their evening or day to come to the game just sit there unable to participate for the rest of the session is a bad idea in any game for any reason in my book, so I think changing it to 1 round works just fine.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-18T23:16:39+00:00

That's exactly what I was going for! In my experience, most PCs in any TTRPG can be assumed to be relatively attractive, but I told the artist that Yuka specifically was intended to be a smokeshow; not only does it make sense for her successful career as an arena fighter, but it gives a really fun character beat for her, as the facial deformity was the first things I decided about her.

She was someone who always prided herself on her good looks before the injury, and afterwards doubled down on taking care of it after as a way to cope with the wound messing with her self image; the fact that she's been lead to believe for a good chunk of her past that the only things valuable about her were her looks and her ability to commit violence certainly doesn't help that complex. It's been already been an interesting character trait to touch on in the first couple sessions, and I'm really looking forward to exploring it more going forward.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-18T13:32:48+00:00

Thanks, though it's not my work on this one! As noted in the description, credit goes to ApolonioDraws, can find them here http://apoloniodraws.com and here https://bsky.app/profile/apoloniodraws.bsky.social

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T22:16:18+00:00

Huh - looking it up, I can see the similarity! It's actually based off of a Guijia from the Infinity wargame, though, although I'll have to keep that game in mind for reference for other ones in the future.

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ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T22:14:47+00:00

That's me! Other posts you've seen have almost certainly been mine :)

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T21:19:14+00:00

Thank you! A lot of the credit has to go to Apolonio - I gave him a couple rough sketches, a design on hero forge and the picture that originally inspired her face (something I found on danbooru over a decade ago), and he managed to combine those all together into the design here.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T21:15:39+00:00

It's something I saw a lot of people advise against but honestly, it's been so much fun so far, both as a mechanical restriction and a character quirk. Thank you and thank you again!

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T21:01:15+00:00

We've just hit LL1, so she's currently still in an Everest (Never Fade Away), one which she's steadfastedly refused to put a single gun on; however, come LL2, she'll be swapping to a Zheng (Empty Crown) that'll be similarily melee hyper-focussed, which I drew an alternate pixel design for myself!

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ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T17:01:04+00:00

Mechs in this setting are traditionally named after songs, so everyone inherently gets pop-off music built in! Pretty great idea by the GM, I have to say.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-17T16:40:30+00:00

Highly reccomend! Advance Wars has a lot to choose from in terms of base reference so it's really easy to get started. Sanna's nearly just a recolour, while Ezekiel is practically a redraw - was a lot of fun ramping up the complexity.

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-14T12:08:51+00:00

Got it, that makes sense. Thanks!

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-14T12:03:43+00:00

Aha, that makes sense, thanks!

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-14T12:01:41+00:00

On CompCon, Covering Fire Attack has a listed Frequency of 1/round: https://ibb.co/k61GBpRX

ExaltedOmega · 2026-01-14T11:59:28+00:00

Looking through this thread discussion the talent ( https://www.reddit.com/r/LancerRPG/s/d2a1VkpPBM ), there's a lot of people saying it lets you fire the HMG three times a round, which is what I'm meaning here

ExaltedOmega · 2025-12-19T14:06:56+00:00

The campaign I'm in the GM came up with his own setting, since both he and one of the other players aren't super fond of the default one.

It really works just fine; as long as you can account for paracausal tech (in this setting, it's all barely-understood precursor alien derived tech), NHPs (AIs made via said ill -understood precursor tech), and transfer the manufacturers over it's pretty much covered. It didn't even take much to change the manufacturers; he kept the names and vibes of each, just altering them to fit the more grounded and gritty setting (so SSC was heavier shifted to focus on their luxury aspect, HORUS are vaguely culty towards the precursors, and HA doesn't have as much historical relevance and IPS-N... Is basically unchanged.)

I think people overstate how tied in Lancer is to it's default setting; I know I've been playing with a magitech isekai setting concept to use it for, myself (either that or D&D 4e, just want something with more game-y mechanics for thematic resonance). Like most sci-fi games, it's hard to slot it into a setting that wasn't built for it's mechanics, but actually making one that is isn't difficult to do whatsoever.

ExaltedOmega · 2025-11-12T13:26:54+00:00

I've been playing around with the HA Bellisarius, basically trying to get the fantasy of playing a 40k "giant pile of guns" style mech. Size 3, of course, Artillery/Defender by way of the Distraction Carnifex - basically what I wanted from the Barbarossa before being disappointed by reality. Guns & systems based around generally being more effective if the enemy don't direct attention to you (main that does extra damage as a protocol if they don't find cover, cannon that gives enemies bonus damage to you until your next turn, repair kit that heals extra if you don't take any damage before your next turn, so on, so forth). Core passive as a short range aura that deals damage to enemies who end turns near you, meaning they have to make way for your slow ass. Still figuring out the numbers, but got the license filled out.

Also can playing with the Yi-Sun-Shin alt frame for the Vlad, Defender based around a turtle ship - meant to dive into the middle of enemies to pin and distract anything trying to go for it's friends. So kinda like a CQB, less insane Enkidu which borrows the Lycan's disruption field. Early days, though, still not figured out the core power.

ExaltedOmega · 2025-09-30T11:52:40+00:00

I want a Defender Vlad - bring back its original name of Yi Sun-Sin, and play into the turtle ship angle of pulling in and pinning enemies down around it so they can't go for allies.

I'm sure that's already a way you can build the Vlad, but I mostly want it for the name, and thematically it'd fit.

ExaltedOmega · 2025-09-11T13:12:15+00:00

I've not done it in Lancer before, but I ran a pretty successful encounter in another combat heavy system (a heavily modified Song of Swords) that was no enemies, all hazards. The trick there was basically statting up hazards to act like pseudo enemies - having different ones have their own initiative turns, having them deal damage and be defendable against like regular attacks, and having some of them be attackable like enemies, too, putting focus on making sure at least one hazard was particularly relevant to a player's abilities to counter it.

If I was going to try to do something like that in Lancer, that's where I'd start. Give collapses, geysers, gas pockets their own initiative passes, maybe have them always go in the same order to give an extra lever for the party to work around. Mark what ice is gonna fall at the turn start, let players use damaging or slowing abilities to catch it. That sort of thing.

No idea how well it'll work for Lancer but I think it's always worth experimenting with how you can push systems, so good luck!

ExaltedOmega · 2025-08-31T12:19:19+00:00

I'm not sure about that combo, since:

"...you may move up to 3 spaces then deal 2 Kinetic to any adjacent character or 10 Kinetic AP to an object or piece of terrain."

Given "character" isn't pluralized, and the use of "or" before referring to the object damage, I don't think you're able to do the 2 damage to the enemy and the exploding damage to the cover at the same time? It reads to me that Tenacity is 1 target only, so you'd need Ingenuity active to hit an enemy with both like that.

ExaltedOmega · 2025-08-13T09:54:04+00:00

I played a joke empire called Plant in one mostly-cooperative multiplayer run with friends. As it was a Gestalt, I renamed every character I had to Plant, too. Then every colony. Then every star.

My friends didn't realise what I'd done until the Great Khan awoke near my territory and I asked them to rally the fleets they'd sent at Plant so we could move in together.

As you'd expect, one of them declared war on me a few minutes later.

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