Lancer vs Star Wars Saga Edition
Compare Lancer and Star Wars Saga Edition side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Lancer | Star Wars Saga Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Tags | Tactical, Mecha, Character Building, Heroic, Crunchy | Licensed IP, Space Opera, Heroic, Cinematic, Character Building, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll d20 + modifiers against a target number or opposed defense score. Three static defense values (Reflex, Fortitude, Will) replace saving throws. Trained skills grant a flat +5 bonus. A five-step Condition Track applies cumulative penalties as characters take damage, replacing hit-point attrition with escalating impairment. Force Points and Destiny Points provide narrative and mechanical resources for critical moments. |
| Dice | d20 + d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | Very Low |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | Lancer Third Party License | Star Wars license (Wizards of the Coast, expired 2010) |
| Cost | Free (PDF) / $$ | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Massif Press | Wizards of the Coast |
| Year | 2019 | 2007 |
| Best For | 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. | Star Wars fans who want a d20-based system with deep character customization through talent trees, covering all film eras from the Old Republic through the New Jedi Order. |
| Highlights | 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 | Talent trees let two characters of the same class play differently based on branch selection, Condition Track creates escalating combat tension without binary alive-or-dead states, covers all major Star Wars eras with era-specific content in supplements, streamlined skill list consolidates the d20 System's skill bloat |
| Considerations | 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 | The game has been out of print since 2010 with no official digital release, so acquiring a copy means the secondary market. Force-using characters reach powers that can outpace non-Force party members at higher levels. Characters track a condition track alongside hit points and talent-tree choices, adding per-character bookkeeping over the d20 baseline it derives from. |