Mech Rider - Solo Lancer (OEF) (2022-07-18) [PDF]

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CREDITS Designed & Written by Peter Rudin-Burgess Mech Rider is not an official Lancer product; it is a third



party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. Mech Rider is published via the Lancer Third Party License. Lancer is copyright Massif Press. Thanks and acknowledgment to Massif Press for use of the Lancer setting and system. Mech



Rider



is



copyright



2022



Parts



Per



Million,



International House, 12 Constance Street, London E16 2DQ.



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CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................ 3 Questions.................................................................................... 6 Closed Questions .................................................................. 7 I. Formulating your question ............................................ 7 II. Imagine What Both Positive and negative answers look like. .............................................................................. 8 III. Decide how likely the answer is to be yes or no..... 8 IV. Roll the Dice ................................................................. 9 V. Interpret THE Result .................................................... 9 NPCs ..................................................................................11 Plot Twists ........................................................................11 Open Questions ...................................................................13 Mashing Prompts ............................................................16 Downtime .................................................................................19 Mech Missions.........................................................................20 Deployment ..........................................................................20 General Solo Advice ................................................................22



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INTRODUCTION So this is a solo roleplaying supplement for Lancer. Solo roleplaying is, to many people, a strange niche within our hobby. I see people deride it as just writing a story or daydreaming. It is, of course, neither. Solo roleplaying predates what we recognize as tabletop roleplaying games by at least a decade. Solo rules are a commonplace part of tabletop wargames and always have been. When solo wargames hung on the actions of a single unit, the solo wargamer would often write a set of dispatches from the point of view of the officer in charge. Today we would call this a journaling solo game. Wargaming often works on the cycle of writing orders and then executing those orders. The solo wargamer could add an amount of uncertainty into battles by imagining what happened to their dispatch riders or aide de camp. It was quite common to use a deck of cards. Number cards signified how many turns the orders would take to arrive, and specific outcomes were attached to picture cards. For example, the Ace of Spades would often leave your dispatch rider dead in a ditch, and the Queen of Hearts would have them seduced into sharing the orders with the enemy.



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In this kind of setup, the dispatch riders cease to be just units on the map if they are represented at all but become individuals with their own adventures. When the granddaddy of all roleplaying games came along, that had already taken heroic figures from tabletop battles and made them individuals, but it also introduced the idea of rolling a dice to decide what the next room in a dungeon would be. This moved us away from a fixed map and random events to random events on a random map. Another solo wargaming technique was to roll a dice to decide the aggression of the opposing general or officer. For example, a 1 would have an officer that would decline battle and try and flee to safety. A 6 would be an aggressive officer throwing their troops into the fight. The dice were rolled when the unit was first engaged and not before. Another method was to place all the enemy units in matchboxes and then jumble them up. You then lay out the enemy forces by placing the closed matchboxes on the map. You only open the matchbox when you have a spotter set eyes on the unit. When you first mention solo wargaming and running battles, people often think you are looking at a table and playing both generals, much like playing both sides of a game of chess. But with everything I have just described, the solo wargamer had no idea what would happen. So they literally played to find out what happened. That has remained the central tenet of solo roleplaying ever since. 4



All of those examples involved using dice or cards to introduce random elements. This isn’t different from rolling to find your character’s background or rolling for a mission goal. Or rolling for the adventure hook. Lancer was built with many of the traditional elements of a solo wargame already in place. This rule supplement adds a few more tools to complete a basic toolbox for solo playing and tips and advice on getting started.



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QUESTIONS Questions are one of the cornerstones of solo play. The fourth GM Principle in the GM’s Toolkit reads: IV. SAY YES



As the GM, try to say “no” as little as possible. So, of course, I am going to break that principle. In a regular group game, the GM will know the situation during the briefing and where you are starting when boots hit the ground. In a solo game, this doesn’t have to be the case at all. We can use a question and answer tool to define features. If you are still in narrative play, asking if there is a back exit from the restaurant where you are meeting your Yakusa contact is a perfectly valid question. You could assume yes, but it can be more fun if sometimes there is no easy escape. There are two types of questions. The most common is the closed question. These are typically answered with a yes or no answer. The example of the back exit is a closed question. The backdoor either exists, or it doesn’t. An open question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, such as where does the back exit lead? We will deal with the closed questions first.



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CLOSED QUESTIONS This is the process of asking a closed question. I.



Formulate your question so that it can be answered with a yes-no answer.



II.



Imagine what both a positive and negative answer could look like.



III.



Decide how likely the answer is to be yes or no.



IV.



Roll the dice.



V.



Interpret the result



I. FORMULATING YOUR QUESTION Not everything you can ask is a valid solo question. If the question is better resolved using a skill test, use a skill test. Can I knock the guards unconscious is a good example of this. You should use your Apply Fist to Face or similar Trigger and a skill test. If you are successful, the guards will be lying at your feet. Some questions are not direct skill tests but do interact with skills. For example, are there any tracks in the sand? This is dependent on two things. Firstly, are there any tracks to be found, and secondly, can you find them? In this situation, you use your skill test and applicable Triggers first. If you fail the skill, it doesn’t matter if there are any tracks as you didn’t find them.



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If the skill was successful, now you can ask the question, “Are there any tracks?” The answer, in this case, is creating the reality for your pilot on the ground.



II. IMAGINE WHAT BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ANSWERS LOOK LIKE. The logic behind this is twofold. First, if you cannot imagine both possibilities, this is not a valid question. The answer you can see is the only possible outcome. So skip the rest of the process and just carry on playing. The second is that if you already know what the outcomes could be, and you are simply choosing between them, it speeds your game along. When the dice stop rolling, you can check the result and carry straight along. If you have to stop and consider what that result means, it can bog your game down.



III. DECIDE HOW LIKELY THE ANSWER IS TO BE YES OR NO. Not all questions are a simple coin flip. Sure, most restaurants have a fire exit, but what if this one was bricked over to stop flaky clients from running out on their Yakusa benefactors?



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If you have no preconception about the outcome, you will roll a single d20. But for each factor that makes a positive outcome more likely, you add one accuracy die



.



For each factor that makes the positive oucome less likely you add a difficulty die



.



When you consider every factor, you cancel out the dice until you either have no added dice or just positive or negative ones.



IV. ROLL THE DICE By this stage you will have either a d20 or a d20 with one or more accuracy or difficulty dice attached. You roll the dice and compare the result to this table. Roll



Result



1-9



Unfortunately



10-19



Fortunately



20+



Exceptional



V. INTERPRET THE RESULT You may have noticed that yes and no answers do not appear on the results table. This is because flat yes-no answers can be a block to our imagination. 9



UNFORTUNATELY This is the negative answer, the equivalent of your no. In our example, unfortunately, there isn’t a back exit, would be a valid answer. Unfortunately, it could almost be written with a ellipsis immediately after it, unfortunately… as it just begs to have the reason attached and draws more out of your imagination. FORTUNATELY This is the yes answer. Just like the negative above, it is intended to draw more out of your imagination. Fortunately… there is a fire escape that opens onto a back alley. EXCEPTIONAL The exceptional answer is the best possible answer to that question. In improvisational theatre, we often talk about yes, and… where you accept an idea and build upon it. Not only is there a fire escape, but it opens onto a busy street where it would be easy to lose yourself in the throng of people. These three answers can cope with much of your narrative play. The formula is set up to work just like a Downtime challenge. You do not get to apply Triggers. If Triggers apply, you should probably use a skill test rather than a question. 10



NPCS These questions can be used to control NPCs. When you are interacting with someone, you will have an expectation of how you would want them to react. For example, if you order your wingman to cover your flank, the expected response is an affirmation and your wingman to move their mech to cover your flank. But, you could ask, “Do they do as ordered?” If you have a good relationship and have led them to success in the past, they should follow orders. There is a very good chance that they will move into position. But what if you have nearly gotten them killed the last three times? Now you are stacking up the negative/Difficulty dice. They may hang back, but not because they are covering your flank! If you turn up to that meeting with the Yakusa, are they pleased to see you? Roll the dice. Unfortunately… they look most displeased. What do you think they have heard on the street? Using questions with NPCs’ behavior can emphasize the roleplaying is solo roleplaying.



PLOT TWISTS Lancer is played in scenes. At the start of each scene, you can ask a question such as “Is everything as I expected?”.



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You need to make a subjective call. Is your character ahead of the curve? Are they moving faster than the bad news of your attack? Is the enemy on the back foot? If any of these apply, you can give yourself an



.



If, on the other hand, you are being reactive, you are on the back foot, and the bad guys have the upper hand, give yourself a



.



Now ask the question before the next scene starts, “Is everything as I expected?” and apply your positive or negative dice. Unfortunate answers could have you walking into an ambush or discovering your basecamp has been hit by an airstrike. Maybe the leader of the evacuees you have been sent to rescue has been killed, and their replacement blames you? Getting an unfortunate result on a scene question should cause you a complication that it will require you to solve. Fortunate answers mean you get what you expect, which may mean that you are prepared for the next scene. Exceptional answers mean that you gain some kind of boon from the scene. Maybe you arrive before the enemy has organized their ambush? Do you get a heads up about an incoming airstrike and can prepare air defenses? Not only are they evacuees ready, but they have found some spares that add to your reserves. 12



OPEN QUESTIONS Open Questions are harder to answer in so much as no dice roll can know your exact situation or cover every possible answer. The way to address this is to use generic answers, You need to take into account everything that has gone before, the current scene and the question. Then apply that context to the answer. These tables require you to roll 2d20. One to chose the column and the other to choose the row. There are two tables. Each is derived from common interpretations of Tarot Cards. The first table is for the card in its correct orientation and the second is when the card in inverted. Roll once on each table and select the two words. This is your basic imagination prompt. For example, the context is that my pilot is talking to the new leader of the evacuees. They are refusing to leave under my protection. I want to know why they will not go. I roll 19/4 and 8/11. These give me Union + Smugness. The new leader has forged the evacuees into a coherent body, and they know I am under orders to get them out. The leader refuses to leave until they get assurances about where they will be taken, how they will be treated, and the conditions for setting them up for building new lives.



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D20 1-5



6-10



11-15



16-20



1



Fulfillment



Reflection



Success



Illusions



2



Hope



Broken



Materialism



Patience



3



Change



Sacrifice



Truth



Change



4



Search



Bravery



Control



Union



5



Tradition



Authority



Nature



Unconscious



6



Creation



Innocence



Defensive



Community



7



Inspiration



Burden



Resilience



Movement



8



Success



Conflict



Expansion



Leaving



9



Excitement



Determination



Overcoming



Action



10



Compassion



Comfort



Idealist



Surprise



11



Dreams



Satisfaction



Disillusionment



Choices



12



Healing



Loss



Contemplation



Friendship



13



Partnership



Spirituality



Discipline



Action



14



Complexity



Curiosity



Failure



Trauma



15



Entrapment



Deception



Leaving



Ambition



16



Suffering



Restoration



Indecision



Clarity



17



Security



Comforts



Efficiency



Desire



18



Legacy



Rewards



Passion



Diligence



19



Sharing



Poverty



Security



Building



20



Decisions



Prosperity



Enlarge



Revolution



14



D20



1-5



6-10



11-15



16-20



1



Incompletion



Doubt



Sadness



Confusion



2



Insecurity



Suffering



Freedom



Excess



3



Decay



Stalling



Dishonesty



Control



4



Isolation



Weakness



Aggression



Disharmony



5



Rebellion



Tyranny



Emptiness



Repressed



6



Trickery



Recklessness



Destroyed



Conflicts



7



Boredom



Inability



Fatigue



Panic



8



Punishment



Differences



Obstacles



Fear



9



Procrastination



Jealousy



Impulsive



Anger



10



Coldness



Insecurity



Disappointment



Insecurity



11



Domestic



Smugness



Avoidance



Confusion



12



Independence



Acceptance



Awareness



Isolation



13



Tension



Emptiness



Cruel



Disregard



14



Bitterness



Inevitable



Deception



Despair



15



Acceptance



Clean



Transition



Resentment



16



Forgiveness



Stress



Lesser



Brutality



17



Greed



Jealousy



Reward



Laziness



18



Success



Reckless



Uninspired



Distractions



19



Domination



Recovery



Greediness



Disorganized



20



Overwhelmed



Chance



Shrink



Revolt



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It can take some practice to get used to interpreting these prompts. Once you get the hang of it, these tables can be used for any situation.



MASHING PROMPTS There are two other techniques that are useful in Lancer. The first is for creating goals. The second is for creating unique hooks. GOALS The Lancer core rules provide 20 example goals. Roll twice on this table and note down both goals. For example, I roll 13/2 and get:



13. Be the first on the ground on a world hostile to human life; create a beachhead. 2. Respond to an SOS from an unknown source with a location noted in the message. What you can now do is mash these two prompts up to create a single new prompt. Such as:



Be the first to respond to an SOS from a world hostile to human life. The SOS gives the location. This kind of mashup is easier to use when creating new Briefings, compared to just using the prompt words above.



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The second method uses the Hooks from the GM’s Toolkit. Roll once on the table. This will point you to a paragraph expanding on the prompt. Take the first sentence of that prompt. Then move on to the next prompt and take the second sentence from the next, the third sentence from the next, and so on. If you reach Dungeon, the last hook, wraparound, and carry on from Long Ride Down (the first prompt. Carry on until you reach the last sentence of a hook. For example, I rolled 18 Masks. I take the first sentence from masks, the second sentence from Holy War, the third sentence from Dungeon, fourth sentence from Long Ride Down.



The parliamentary delegation from a capital world is in transit to a watershed interstellar conference, the culmination of a generations-long diplomatic process that will – at long last – create peace in a cluster of previously warring systems. But this all changed when a strange silver ship arrived from beyond the pale blue sky, streaming lines of vapor behind. Your wingmates are secure in the lander on your flanks. You’ve transited a few times before – your families live down the ‘lift – but this time is different: something terrible caused those storms, and you’re heading right into the thick of it... Now you have the hook, make any changes needed to make it coherent. These mixed-up goals and hooks can form the core of your briefing. You can solo play this scene. An officer or 17



politician explains the situation. You can ask questions and use the question tools to get answers. When you can imagine what the boots on the ground scene will be, end your briefing and move to the first scene.



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DOWNTIME Downtime is perfectly suited to being solo played. Decide what you want to achieve, and play, using the question tools to fix the scenes, up to the crucial moment. The point at which things could go either way. That is the moment you roll for the Downtime Action. Once you know the result, then you play out the rest of the scene. The Downtime Actions have their own 0-9/10-19/20+ tables. By playing the scenes that lead up to the roll you will know much more than the core rules surmise and you can build out the action roll into a tense scene. Many Downtime Actions can be daisy-chained together. The complication from a 0-9 roll on one action becomes the cause of the next. For example, a ‘failed’ Get a Damned Drink can lead to a lost valuable item. Attempting to get that back can feed into a Get Connected. The information you get from that points you to a Scrounge And Barter. Eventually, you get your prized possession back, and in the process, you will have explored much more of the world you are stationed on.



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MECH MISSIONS At some point, you will want to run a mech combat. The SITREPs in the core rules will give you simple templates to set up your combat scenes. Much of this will seem familiar if you read the introduction to this booklet.



DEPLOYMENT It is worth spending some time creating stock mechs to use as villains. You can number or code these stock mechs. When you set up the battle, write the code for each kind of mech on a slip of paper, and fold them over so you cannot see what is written on each slip. Now you can put these slips of paper on the map. You do not reveal what is written on the slip until you can see or detect the mech. This will force you to operate under incomplete information. This can change your tactical choices. You can also use a d6 to set the aggression of the mech pilot. You can use this value when choosing what the opposing pilots will do. For example, if you ask, “Do they attack?” or “Do they charge?” give the most aggressive pilots



on the question roll. When asked if they will flee,



the same mech pilot may well get



on the roll.



When you roll the d6 check this table. 20



D6



Aggressive Action



Defensive Action



1 2 3 4 5 6 Another option is to introduce other variables. For example, you could give each enemy mech a d6 value for Recklessness. A foe with a very low recklessness but high aggression could be a stone-cold killer. Remember that positive and negative dice cancel out if more than one applies. The goal is to emulate enough influences to your choices that the enemy is not just cardboard cutouts waiting for you to knock them down. In the questions chapter, I talked about NPCs and questions. Do they do as ordered or as expected? Using this in combat will add another level of fog of war into your battles. Apply it to your own side and the foes.



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GENERAL SOLO ADVICE What follows is a collection of solo playing tips that will make getting started with Lancer a little easier. GOOD ENOUGH During your game, you may not remember every rule or every stat for every mech. If you are into the flow of your game, just make a ruling and check the rules afterward. Good enough really is good enough. No rules lawyer is going to pick you up on an error. START SMALL Starting in solo can be daunting. There is often no one to ask if you are doing it right. But, if you are having fun, then you are definitely doing it right. Starting with small missions lets you go through the processes and learn the rules of Lancer and how the solo tools work. Running through small adventures or missions is much less daunting than a linked mission campaign. As a side benefit, you will gain LLs faster playing small missions. DRILLING FOR DETAILS Sometimes you can be tempted to try and ask many questions on the same topic. Each answer will eliminate some options but may not zero in on a precise answer. Then you are tempted to ask a second question to zero a bit 22



further, and so on. The game can turn into a game of 20 questions. That is not the intention. I suggest visualizing what answers look like before rolling to avoid this situation. DONE HOARD REWARDS Lancer is not a game where assets are limited. Reserves are there to be used if you need them. If a special piece of gear comes your way through a Downtime Action or from narrative play during a mission. There is no need to hoard them. You are also the GM. You can control the ebb and flow of asses and rewards. EXTREMES When you imagine possible answers to questions, sometimes the more extreme the answer, the more wild and whacky your game can get. This has its time and place. FILL IN THE BLANKS Try and imagine each scene without asking any questions. Only after you have a mental picture fill in any blanks with questions. SKIP THE BORING BITS What is boring is your decision. But, there is no need to play through stages of the game that you don’t enjoy. Lancer is built with this in mind, which is why you typically jump from Briefing to Boots on the Ground. It is a common solo play mantra, it is your game, play it your way. 23