Lancer
1st EditionBest For
Groups who want deep tactical mech combat and build customization, with lighter narrative play and downtime between missions.
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.
The pilot layer is light: roll a d20 plus one trigger against a target of 10. The depth lives in mech construction, where license choices must fit each frame's limited mounts and system points. In combat, heat and structure damage interlock with positioning on a grid. The GM also learns separate, streamlined NPC rules, where templates and extra systems are customization rather than requirements.
- Free to tryQuickstartA free starter you can actually play
- Get it nowSold newIn print or as a legal PDF
- ✓IndexFind any rule by page number
- ✓GM guidanceA chapter on how to run the game
- ✓Examples of playRules shown in action at the table
- ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
- ✓Cross-referencesRules point to each other by page
5 of 5 book tools found in the core book
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.
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.
Third-Party Publishing
Mechanics from any Lancer product may be used as the base of a new game, and setting locations, concepts, characters, events, factions, and equipment may appear in works sold or given away. Massif Press art, text, and logos are excluded unless explicitly permitted. Works must include a Powered by Lancer badge, an acknowledgement of Massif Press, the required non-affiliation statement, and "Lancer is copyright Massif Press". Content directing hate at protected groups is not permitted.
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