Lancer vs Salvage Union

Compare Lancer and Salvage Union side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Lancer	Salvage Union
Genre	Sci-Fi	Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic
Tags	Mecha, Tactical, Grid-Based, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Character Building, Mission-Based, Strong GM Support, Lore-Heavy, Heroic	Mecha, Resource Management, Base-Building, Character Building, Exploration, Sandbox, Tactical, Survival, Narrative, Strong GM Support
Core Mechanic	Skill checks, attacks, and saves roll a d20 plus at most one stat bonus, such as a pilot trigger, a mech skill, or GRIT. Skill checks normally succeed on 10 or more, while attacks must meet the target's defense and saves must meet the attacker's save target. Accuracy and Difficulty cancel one for one. Each remaining point rolls a d6, and only the highest die is added or subtracted.	For a pilot's risky action, roll an unmodified d20: 20 succeeds with a bonus, 11–19 succeeds, 6–10 presents a Tough Choice, 2–5 fails with a setback, and 1 brings a severe consequence. The Mediator frames costs and consequences from the situation.
Dice	d20 + d6	d20
Complexity	High	High
Availability	Free quickstart	Free quickstart
Runnability	5 of 5 book tools	5 of 5 book tools
License	Lancer Third Party License	Salvage Union Open Game Licence 1.0b
Third-Party Publishing	Commercial publishing allowed — Publisher third-party license	Commercial publishing allowed — Open license
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Publisher	Massif Press	Leyline Press
Year	2019	2023
Languages	English, Italian, Portuguese	English, Italian
Best For	Groups who want deep tactical mech combat and build customization, with lighter narrative play and downtime between missions.	Groups who enjoy building custom mechs, scavenging parts, and managing a shared stockpile of scrap to maintain and improve their equipment and mobile settlement.
Highlights	Licenses unlock gear from five manufacturers, and unlocked weapons and systems can be mixed onto any licensed frame within its mounts and system points. Combat during narrative play resolves through ordinary skill checks, so a fight without mechs can end in a few rolls without a battle map. Player mechs degrade in stages: each lost point of structure or stress triggers an increasingly dangerous structure or overheating check.	Recovered scrap funds mech construction and crawler upkeep, linking equipment choices to the community's survival. Swappable mech components let players build for jobs such as hauling or hacking. Players choose setbacks when NPC actions fail, giving the table authority over consequences beyond its own characters.
Considerations	Build choices are dense, since licenses, talents, and core bonuses interact across 29 frames. Narrative play outside combat is a lean layer of skill checks and downtime actions next to the mech combat rules. Mech combat is slow enough that the book expects one or two fights per session, usually just one.	Players track separate pilot and mech resources, including Ability Points and Heat. Unpaid crawler upkeep normally prompts a deterioration roll, making regular salvage income an ongoing pressure. Encounters follow the world's circumstances rather than guaranteed balance, making reconnaissance and retreat consequential choices.