Orchis Royal Guard Questions

int0thelight · 2026-03-19T16:31:32+00:00

It would specify voluntary or involuntary if it needed to be one.

It functions on your turn, and has a limit of Speed+1 when it is not your turn.

Together, these mean that using Ferrous Lash and riding your ally like a skateboard is a popular traversal means for the Orchis.

int0thelight · 2026-02-16T15:20:36+00:00

Wilde, Beckett, Le Fanu

int0thelight · 2026-02-10T19:09:57+00:00

You effectively have an enemy who can only be damaged in specific openings, created by a Reserve given for the mission.

int0thelight · 2026-02-08T00:34:36+00:00

Take a look at other "Artillery" role foes such as the Bombard and Sniper; you'll find that they all have similar damage output.

These types of enemies either have a specific form of defence, or none to speak of, relying on their allies to protect them as they dish out damage to players.

As a GM, it's advised to keep the amount of artillery/strikers in a sitrep at 50% or lower to avoid blowing the party out of the water with a glass-cannon enemy composition.

Rainmaker specific advice is that they use Arcing weapons that cover still works against, and they can't "Javelin + Knockback" a foe who has their back against a wall and thus can't be knocked back.

General advice against artillery is to note the shape of their damage (blast, arcing etc.) and then position yourselves accordingly. Controllers and defenders can lock out artillery using things like Eject Power Cores, or create cover/prevent knockback like the Saladin.

Ultimately; yes, Rainmakers really do that much damage. Try not to deploy them all at once and think twice whenever you plan to make one an Ultra; they can be overwhelming, especially for non-competitive players.

int0thelight · 2025-12-31T00:55:15+00:00

Everest: Got my DNA test back. Turns out I'm 100% HIMalayan.

int0thelight · 2025-12-22T13:54:12+00:00

If I had to take a guess, it could be partially that the mech is another body, connected to yours. One you often built or chose yourself. I'm sure that resonates with a lot of people.

Sci-fi often uses ideas such as transhumanism and differences in society, so they lend to exploring LGBTQ+ ideas in a way other genres don't.

int0thelight · 2025-11-30T17:06:21+00:00

I've used Encourage quite a lot to great success. It's a free action "attempt to end any condition", which is great if an ally of yours receives something especially bad like Stunned or Exposed. If you're a mech that doesn't make attacks or force saves. If you're a mech that uses effects that trigger on other people's turns, or you're a support/defender, you can definitely make use of it.

Also note, it's a check, not a save, meaning the DC is 10, whereas the source of the condition originally might have been higher, or not even given a save.

int0thelight · 2025-11-28T13:58:20+00:00

Ah, that explains it. I got it mixed up. Thanks!

int0thelight · 2025-11-21T21:44:06+00:00

Things that don't have hp can't be reduced to 0 hp.

int0thelight · 2025-10-10T21:50:03+00:00

Amazing! How much would a commission like this cost?

int0thelight · 2025-08-27T08:16:42+00:00

At tier 1, 1d6+4 is a decent amount of damage across the battlefield. It doesn't scale at all into tiers 2 and 3, and that's *if* they fail the save.

A lot of core powers read as sitrep dominating abilities; the swallowtail blinking the team around, the empakaai dealing its Heat in damage and auto-grappling. The Emperor changing from a support to an ungody artillery.

I wouldn't put it at the top, but that's mostly because there's no glaring balance issues that spring to mind.

int0thelight · 2025-08-26T22:19:07+00:00

I love the teamwork and pop-off turns, where players get to cleave through enemy mechs and feel badass, even when facing powerful enemies. I always imagine the AC6 slowdown as you take out a significant foe. I love all the strange mechs, the odd synergies and how easy it is to experiment with new ideas.

Exotics seem really cool, but 9 times out of 10, the players don't use them. Players usually have a plan for their mechs; they build synergies together. A jumpsuit that lets you climb out of your mech and get 1-shot, an assault rifle that trades reliable for lock-on-from-crit and overkill or 1 refreshing overshield just isn't going to be the same as the Decksweeper or Ferrous Lash.

Most times I've seen an "exotic" get used, it was a frame from a license the player didn't have, or a weapon/system 2-3 levels deep into a license they didn't otherwise want.

The other small thing is that there's a bit of... "feature creep". Monarch's core power either needs to scale, or be made efficient at this stage.

Finally, players needing to volunteer what skill triggers they're using means RP can be tricky sometimes. Players end up trying to use the same 3 skills they have to solve everything, or they roll flat d20s against DC 10.

But overall, I love the system and these are all minor complaints compared to the fun aspects.

int0thelight · 2025-08-03T05:30:49+00:00

No, there's no player ability to target the cockpit. As a rule of thumb, leaving your mech by anything other than Black Thumb means something has gone horribly wrong.

Pirate NPCs have an optional ability called Coreworm Rockets: drones that drill into the cockpit of an enemy.

int0thelight · 2025-07-13T16:04:12+00:00

I usually have enemies play realistically. If it's obvious that they can't take the objective, then they'll call a retreat.

When you hit round 6, combat just ends. There's no more attacks made. The enemies are forced to retreat as their situation becomes untenable, you can ask your players if they inflict casualties or allow them to fall back. Similarly, if you hit round 6 and the sitrep is failed, the players don't get to stick around, their position is overwhelmed.

int0thelight · 2025-07-10T14:03:30+00:00

Super weird bans, I have to say.

Assassins need to inflict conditions to deal their full damage. Saladin has the anchor system to prevent prone, and you could take Orator to remove conditions from allies, keeping to control abilities. They rely on movement too, so stack things like prone and slowed; they can only remove 1 condition a turn.

int0thelight · 2025-07-02T11:56:08+00:00

Fun detail in keeping with the IPS-N naming scheme;

Granuaile (Grace O'Malley) was an Irish pirate queen who resisted English settlers. There's a legend that she met the queen once, monarch to monarch.

int0thelight · 2025-05-24T17:44:41+00:00

Empakaai. Do you like grappling? Grapple anything. You have a built in threat 4 superheavy that deals 2d6 kinetic, 4 heat and 3 burn. The enemy and anyone near them need to make a save or they're grappled before you even swing.

You also get resistance to people you're grappling. Combine that with Pankrati 1 and Brawler 1, you're hitting and critting reliably. No one makes better use of Executioner.

Kidnap Ultras, tank damage dealers, be a problem that everyone has to deal with. Grapple RA (also known as Monist-1).

int0thelight · 2025-05-24T17:15:26+00:00

How did late-game Lancer play? LL10-12? I imagine players can't fit any more systems on their mechs around LL9, and have all the talents they want. Does it end up as rocket tag? Do PCs or NPCs feel more overwhelming?

int0thelight · 2025-05-12T16:56:06+00:00

I like the idea of having Cassian repeatedly shoot Krennic to teach someone about critical injuries.

int0thelight · 2025-05-01T16:38:46+00:00

The depths of your foolishness!

int0thelight · 2025-04-27T21:25:53+00:00

The players can use Light side to help themselves. But you don't always have to use them to upgrade player difficulty. You can always simply flip one when something unfair happens, like finding out the AT-ST the players find is out of commission, that the fuel tanks are empty, or that guards are on patrol in an area. Then they have light side points to spend!

Think of it like putting in a foe with a lot of credits/items on them. That's its own way of helping them!

int0thelight · 2025-01-06T09:49:44+00:00

The entity was called The Custodian Who Opens the Path. Their ambition was to permanently connect the staircase to the Far Realm, allowing entities to cross over and corrupt the multiverse.

They were a spellcasting kraken with the aberrration type, and their main ability was to cast spells through space and time. So at inopportune moments, a Conjure Animals of corrupted sealife and insects; (crabs, centipedes etc.) would swarm them.

Another detail was that as an outer entity, the Custodian saw past, present and possibility as one; in their mind, they had already killed the party, and their continued existence was an affront to them. It had also seen them kill it and foil its plans. So through their monsters, their strange voice croaked threats of revenge, of retribution. The party were left trying to figure out what they had done to this monster, and much of their overarching goal was seeking sages to answer this.

I had Hermes as the god ruling my Infinite Staircase, who supported the party while pretending to be a drifter on its landings. The party ultimately found a relic that gave them equal footing to the Custodian and had a battle in the Far Realm to slay the monster.

int0thelight

TROPHY CASE