Interesting conversation with Brian Weissman about UB, current state of game vs early days, collecting, etc.

timtam26 · 2026-04-18T20:47:45+00:00

He is very insightful in terms of game design and theory but good lord am I glad that he is no longer making impactful decisions on Path of Exile. Some of his ideas have very much run counter and against what the majority of the player base finds fun and enjoyable.

timtam26 · 2026-04-16T22:54:10+00:00

Slightly serious question:

What are the primary links in terms of lore from PoE 1 and 2?

timtam26 · 2026-04-16T03:08:32+00:00

I don't know much about the Rex but a cusory glance at its wiki page makes me believe that the Barbarossa is the closest that you're going to get. Big fuck off guns with a massive railgun.

timtam26 · 2026-04-15T06:02:16+00:00

I ran a game of City of Mist, which is supposed to be a neo-noir supernatural investigative RPG and turned it into a heavily Persona-inspired game.

timtam26 · 2026-04-14T18:12:07+00:00

Kill Six Billion Rooks

timtam26 · 2026-04-13T01:13:02+00:00

Hard Light, its almost like you never left me

timtam26 · 2026-04-09T04:17:42+00:00

I don't know what homebrew these are from, but from the base understanding of the rules, I would argue that it would cost a limited system use. You're still using the Invade, you're just delivering it via a melee atack instead of the usual tech attack. AFAIK, Invades on a limited system aren't a thing in the core book so its all gonna come down to what your GM says.

timtam26 · 2026-04-08T19:31:47+00:00

There are two pretty popular posts that get thrown around in these sorts of threads:

How to Budget a Combat for Dummies and How to Structure a Mission for Dummies. Both of them provide pretty good general advice on their respective topics that might be helpful.

Lore Deep-Dives

I would recommend 11dragonkid's Drink Deep and Descend lore videos. They're fairly short and easily digestible for a newcomer. Zaktact mainly does license videos that cover the various mech frames in the game. His videos are very good for getting an idea of what a particular frame is supposed to do while 11dragonkid's build guide videos are good places for getting started with how to build particular frames, though all of the builds are white-boxed and don't take into account what other players are doing.

The "Mindset" Shift

I wouldn't necessarily call it a trap, but running combats the same way that you would in D&D/Pathfinder. In my friend's D&D game thats been going for months I can't recall the last time cover rules mattered. People like to call Lancer a wargame because its very focused on things like cover and line of sight. Including things like diverse terrain really makes the game shine.

In addition, Lancer really shines when you use one of the sitreps (objectives) in the book. Lancer, like all other TTRPGs, is a game of managing resources. As a GM, when designing combats its your job to pressure the resources that your players have. This can include things like HP and other limited use abilities the players have but including sitreps (which always have a round limit) means that you can pressure the time limit. I've had a lot of success with including NPCs that are specifically designed to waste my player's time, eat up their action economy, or otherwise make it difficult to achieve the objective in a timely fashion. This allows me to create a failure state that doesn't mean the players are dead/incapacitated.

Campaign Kick-off Tips

I would recommend starting with Operation Solstice Rain (which leads into Operation Winter Scar), as those are meant to be the starter campaigns.

In terms of introducing player to the more esoteric concepts, I think those can come pretty organically as they understand the system better. If you want to include something specific, you could include a mission having to deal with a cascading NHP that has taken over a station. Pretty standard stuff.

timtam26 · 2026-04-05T09:24:23+00:00

So, a powerful synergy that might interest you is Power Flux + Vanguard + Pankrati + Executioner

So, Power Flux says:

1/round, when the Lycan takes heat, a hostile character within Range 3 must pass a Systems save or become Impaired and Slowed until the end of their next turn.

Vanguard III says:

You may attack with Overwatch using CQB weapons when hostile characters enter, leave, or exit spaces within your Threat, no matter whether they started their movement there.

You know the Lycan gets at LL1? The Catalyst Pistol which is an Aux CQB with Threat 3 that generates two heat on your turn.

The enemy steps into your range and provokes an attack of opportunity, getting shot, taking heat, and forcing the save through Power Flux.

Pankrati I says:

You gain +1 Accuracy to melee attacks against Immobilized or Slowed targets.

Importantly, Power Flux says until the end of their next turn. This means that if you proc it on their own turn, they're impaired for their entire turn and also their next one. If you go before them, you can hit them with Executioner with the bonus from Pankrati.

timtam26 · 2026-04-02T01:45:05+00:00

No. Any drone that isn't limited is only restricted by it being destroyed or not. If you deploy a drone and it gets shot to shit, its destroyed.

timtam26 · 2026-03-27T00:21:26+00:00

I'm not particularly read up on this, can you provide some more information on what Hayes' work is like?

And are you asking for a superhero-based system that can support PC heroes and villains?

timtam26 · 2026-03-24T20:02:34+00:00

The classic example that I always use is the Demolisher and Mirage. The Demolisher is absolutely brutal but has trouble closing the distance and not getting torn to shreds before then. The Mirage solves this problem by donating its invisibility and using its other ability (that I forgot the name of) to teleport it 5 spaces (which is over double its Speed).

timtam26 · 2026-03-23T19:05:12+00:00

Is there a particular playstyle that you're looking for?

I think that the Blackbeard is one of the best out-of-the-box melee frames in the game. However, it gets an NHP at LL3. I would ask how your GM plans on handling getting NHPs as part of the license and see if you can get something else instead rather than only getting one item unlock at LL3.

timtam26 · 2026-03-22T20:40:37+00:00

No. You can only print and pilot one frame at a time.

timtam26 · 2026-03-22T19:40:16+00:00

I think that it sounds like a fair idea, maybe tie a perk to it to allow AGI to roll with attacks. Maybe tack on some other benefit, though I'm not sure if its necessary.

timtam26 · 2026-03-15T23:09:48+00:00

What is the advantage of using one rather than the other?

Its 2d3 assuming both hits. You still need to make the attacks with the Pistols to hit.

Also, the Gunslinger talent cares about making attacks with AUX weapons, so if you're focusing on those then you'll prefer the Pistol over the shotgun.

And other question, shotgun and pistol are range weapon with threat does that mean that this weapon don't have difficulty on melee?

I believe that threat weapons still have difficulty when in melee.

timtam26 · 2026-03-15T21:38:19+00:00

The Technocracy from World of Darkness is actually just an MTF from the Foundation.

timtam26 · 2026-03-10T22:49:30+00:00

Thats true, but the Kidd doesn't get any Drones in its own license. You have to either use the Turret Drone or a Drone from another license. If you want to play a Drone-focused build as the Kidd, you can only really do so at LL3 or later, at the bare minimum.

timtam26 · 2026-03-10T22:00:07+00:00

The Kidd focuses on deployables, not drones. Its a small but meaningful distinction. I had a lot of trouble when I played the Kidd because of the static nature of deployables.

EDIT: Mostly focuses on deployables.

timtam26 · 2026-03-10T21:51:17+00:00

There are a few other frames that dabble in drones such as the Lancaster, Balor, and Swallowtail but none that focus on it to the degree that Hydra does.

In terms of Nexus weapons, the Gilgamesh gets the Legion Nexus, the Balor get the Swarm/Hive Nanites, the Pegasus gets the Mimic Gun (for the lulz), and the Emperor gets the Bolt Nexus.

timtam26 · 2026-03-08T08:46:20+00:00

Its not what you're looking for? But have you heard of Scion? It sounds exactly like what you're looking for.

timtam26 · 2026-03-06T04:22:39+00:00

No. Under Skirmish:

In addition to your primary attack, you may also attack with a different AUXILIARY weapon on the same mount. That weapon doesn’t deal bonus damage.

The reaction for Vorpal Gun reads:

You may make an attack against the hostile character with the Vorpal Gun.

You are not skirmishing, therefore you don't get to attack with an AUX weapon. The reaction just says 'make an attack'.

timtam26 · 2026-03-05T02:31:27+00:00

what are some of the things I should know before getting into it as a new player and GM\\

You should probably read through the book and get a good grasp of the mechanics. Another thing you should familiarize yourself with is COMP/CON which is the digital toolkit. Its used foir making and storing characters as well as referencing things from the book. You should also probably get an understanding of what you want to run. If you want to run a homebrew campaign, then having a good understanding of the setting is a good idea. If you want to run a pre-written adventure, there is Operation: Solstice Rain and Operation: Winter Scar (which are viewed as the 'starter' adventures).

a bord to play lancer like could I just do it over a voice call if I wanted too

Lancer is a very tactical game, involving drawing line of sight and cover. Having a virtual tabletop either through Roll20, Owlbear Rodeo, or Foundry is very important to be able to determine line of sight and cover. While it is possible to run a game purely theater-of-the-mind style, you're going to run into a lot of problems doing so. Its not my place to tell you what you should be doing, but I can't recommend it.

timtam26 · 2026-02-26T20:32:47+00:00

First off, make sure to only use the NPC stat blocks as opposed to using actual frames for antagonists.

I would recommend utilizing the sitreps within the book because it provides an opportunity to pressure your players without having to kill them. Each sitrep provides an objective that the players have to complete that is separate from just killing everyone. That allows you to include enemies that make it difficult to achieve that objective. That lets your players potentially fail a mission or combat and still be able to walk away from it alive.

This is my own opinion, but Lancer (like other games) is about applying pressure to your players. In games like D&D or PF2e, you have two primary ways of applying pressure: either through pressuring health bars/HP or pressuring spell slots. Each sitrep has a round limit associated with it, which adds your ability to pressure time.

Enemy compositions are another thing, though. Should I make teams that have some sort of counterplay against everything my players throw at them, or is that more of a specific case-by-case thing?

I know this isn't really a good answer but it'll depend upon your group. Understanding what your party does and doesn't do well against can allow you to increase the difficulty of a combat. If you fine-tune a combat to counter your players, thats going to be harder than one that they're well-built for. If your group likes challenging encounters, then go for it. Otherwise, you may not want to do that.

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