Impulse Drive vs Lancer
Compare Impulse Drive and Lancer side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Impulse Drive | Lancer | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Tags | Space Opera, Ship-Based, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Mission-Based, Strong GM Support, Improvisation, Hackable, CC-Licensed Rules | Tactical, Mecha, Character Building, Heroic, Crunchy |
| Core Mechanic | When a Move tells you to roll, roll 2d6 and add the modifier it names, usually one of five Approaches (Volatile, Calculating, Slick, Stalwart, Alien) rated from -3 to +3. A 10+ is a full success, a 7–9 is usually a success with a cost or fewer choices, and a 6 or lower marks XP while the Space Master makes a Call. Advantage means rolling 3d6 and keeping the two highest dice, and Disadvantage keeps the two lowest. The two cancel each other out and never stack. | Narrative scenes use d20 roll-over (10+ succeeds), with backgrounds granting advantage and triggers adding flat bonuses. Mech combat is grid-based and tactical: no initiative, players and NPCs alternate turns. Pilots progress through License Levels (LL0–LL12), unlocking new chassis, weapons, and systems across five manufacturers with 30+ mech frames. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d20 + d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International | Lancer Third Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Adrian Thoen | Massif Press |
| Year | 2019 | 2019 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want an episodic, TV-style space opera about a broke crew taking contracts aboard a ship they build together, where each character's flaws drive both trouble and advancement. | Groups who want deep tactical mech combat with meaningful customization layered on top of accessible narrative play: giant robot enthusiasts seeking a modern alternative to BattleTech. |
| Highlights | Applying a Hook when it complicates a scene gives Disadvantage, so playing to a character's flaws drives advancement. Money is never tracked literally: completing a Contract triggers the ship's Payment Move, and a standard result lets the crew pick only two spends such as maintenance or an upgrade. Harm can always be converted into Stress, and a full Stress track forces a permanent Calamity that changes the character for good. | Free core PDF, extensive mech customization with 30+ frames, clean split between rules-light narrative and crunchy tactical combat, alternating activations remove initiative so both sides stay engaged |
| Considerations | There is no setting chapter, so the galaxy and its factions are invented by the group during character creation, ship creation and the first session. Money is abstracted and the crew is deliberately kept broke, so groups who enjoy tracking prices and trade margins get tiered gear lists and cargo categories instead. There is no separate ship-combat resolution engine: crews apply the personal Universal Moves through the ship at ship-scale ranges, dealing Damage instead of Harm. | Mech combat dominates: narrative half feels thin by comparison, steep learning curve from sheer volume of mech options, genre-locked to sci-fi mech fiction, requires grid/VTT for combat |