The Garden Fable | Mech Combat in the reaches of the Frontier

Creating your character

Make a license level 0 pilot in Comp/Con, and be prepared to send me its Share Code. Level 0 pilots can select from a number of General Massive Systems mechs and weapons, and this setup will serve as the framework for the first mission. After that, there will likely be a level skip up to LL3, depending on group proficiency and how the first session goes. You can change any licenses and equipment every level, so don't worry about being married to a particular frame. For content in Comp/Con, the players can download .LCP files from Massif Press's websites, as well as additional third-party LCPs from content creators. For this intro session, we will be using only the LCPs that introduce new GMS mechs: - Lancer Core Rule Book - Operation Solstice Rain Data - GMS Crisis Catalog - Field Guide to Suldan - Lancer Wallflower data I will provide these LCP files if players can't find them themselves. There are also more 3rd party content packs that I am vetting to be made available to the players. If you are a total beginner to the Lancer system, I highly recommend booking one of my Intro To Lancer oneshots. I run brand new players through a quick breakdown of the rules, help them create a character, and run a brief combat. There is a lot of information to digest by reading the books, and character creation can get complicated.

Preparing for the session

Make a License Level 0 character on Comp/Con (https://compcon.app/#/) and be prepared to send me its Share Code Accounts: Discord: for the chat server (free) Tabletop Simulator: for maps and virtual tabletop (purchase required) Steam: for Tabletop Simulator (free) --note: in the future, I will be able to run Lancer games on Foundry VTT, which is free. If you don't have Tabletop Simulator, I will make these postings soon, though I highly recommend TTS for games like this.--

What A Fistful Of D20s brings to the table

Lancer, by nature, features intense, tactical, team-oriented combat. Such tactical combat necessitates a certain adherence to the Rules As Written, but every TTRPG involves a large amount of imagination to make the scenarios come to life. For this, I embrace the Rule of Cool as much as possible while staying (mostly) within the rules. Lancer is full of high-octane mech combat broken up into turn-based gameplay, and as such a cinematic imagination is extremely powerful. I like to describe each turn as it happens while piloting the cast of NPCs myself, to immerse the players in the experience of fighting pitched battles. Yes, combat could be broken down into a series of dice rolls on a piece of graph paper, but it is so much more fun to imagine a mech climbing aboard an enemy ship and ripping through its hull with a D/D-288 Superheavy Armor-Breaching system, or a cloaked mech initiating its cyberwarfare systems against a group of unsuspecting grunts before engaging in lightning-fast CQB combat.

Homebrew rules

I have altered the Lancer DM rules for constructing enemy mechs and vehicles to provide a more immersive and fair combat scenario, but otherwise I play by the rules as written. All player dice rolls are public, and most GM rolls are rolled in front of the "GM Screen" for the players to see as well.

How A Fistful Of D20s creates a safe table

First, I use an RPG Consent checklist during Session Zero with each player to determine their general sense of boundaries and any specific barriers. Second, players are completely welcome to talk to me privately about any issues they have, and I will change my approach if something doesn't work. Before, during, or after the game are all good times to talk about it. Third, I encourage the use of the simple Red-Yellow-Green party callout if anything is getting close to uncomfortable. Periodically, especially during tense moments or during the discussion of uncomfortable subjects, I ask the table for a mood-check, and while nobody is required to answer any specific way, they have the opportunity.