The Lancer RPG generally doesn't have systems for exploration. The following was my attempt to homebrew such systems for my Kalliope Jazz campaign setting. It's got a few base assumptions:
- It's a bit gritty. Mechs don't have infinite power. They work kind of like Evangelion mechs, with a power gauge ticking downward. Mechs are scrappy little death machines cobbled together with old ship parts and prayers.
- Food is one of the most valuable commodities.
- PCs start the campaign indebted. Credits are the main currency.
- Taking your enemies prisoner is generally more lucrative than killing them.
- Cloning is very expensive and highly regulated.
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| Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute |
KALLIOPE JAZZ HOMEBREW RULES SECTION
For use with the Lancer RPG for Exploration and Adventure
UPKEEP COSTS
There are 4 Seasons per Year.
MECH COSTS AND BONUSES.
Players will begin the Kalliope Jazz campaign with 1000 Credits of debt to the Orleans Company.
The purchasing of Orleans Company (GMS) equipment requires a GMS License.
A GMS License costs 50 Credits per Year. This gives you access to all of the standard GMS weaponry, systems, and mechs. Licenses must be renewed every Year.
Mech Licenses cost 500 Credits to purchase.
Talents cost 250 Credits to purchase.
Mech Skills cost 150 Credits to purchase.
Grit increases to 1 after spending 1000 Credits, and every 2000 Credits after that. Credits acquired by taking out loans do not contribute towards Grit. Credits spent on Repairs do count towards Grit.
After acquiring 3 Licenses in a particular Mech, receive a Core Bonus from that Manufacturer.
Mech Licenses can be Rented for One Year.
100 Credits for the 1st Rank
300 Credits for the 1st and 2nd Ranks
500 Credits for All 3 Ranks
SALVAGE
When a mech is destroyed, roll 1d6 for each Weapon Mount or System. It is destroyed if rolled under excess damage dealt to mech, up to a maximum of 5. If excess damage exceeds 10 or the pilot self-destructs, the mech is utterly obliterated.
(So if 4 excess damage destroys a mech, then each System and Weapon Mount is salvagable upon a 5-6 on a 1d6 roll.)
Disabled or destroyed mechs can have their Systems and weapons salvaged and sold off or converted into Repairs. Systems and weapons can be retrofitted onto Player mechs at a Garage/Stables at a cost equal to their Salvage value.
Auxiliary Weapons = 1 Repair = 5 Credits Salvage
Main Weapons = 2 Repairs = 10 Credits Salvage
Heavy Weapons = 4 Repairs = 20 Credits Salvage
Superheavy Weapons = 8 Repairs = 40 Credits Salvage
Systems = 1 Repair per SP = 5 Credits Salvage per SP
Prying all of the weapons and systems off of a mech takes 1 Hour. Salvage obtained in this way takes up 1 Carry Capacity for every 4 Repairs, or it can be bundled up as an Object of Size 1 for every 8 Repairs harvested.
You can try and quickly amputate a fallen mech’s equipment in a single round with a successful applicable Skill Check (GM’s discretion as to what applies). Particularly difficult systems or weapons to extract (such as Integrated Mounts) will require a Difficult Skill Check. Whether successful or not, equipment obtained by amputation has half normal value as soon as an amputation is attempted.
REPAIRS + LIMITED ITEMS
Every Repair costs 10 Credits. You begin the campaign with all your Repairs. These may be purchased and loaded up when doing a Full Repair.
Doing a Full Repair when in Nova New Orleans does not cost you anything, although replenishing your Repairs, up to your max repairs, does.
REPUTATION BONUSES/PENALTIES
Orleans Company = GMS
The Colonists = ISP-N
House of Coals = SSC
The Oracles = Horus
Imperial Remnants = HA
Reputation with each group exists on a -10 to 10 scale. -10 indicates that this group will attempt to destroy you utterly to ensure you’ll never come back. 10 means that you are allied and considered deeply trustworthy.
Reputation with a group or particular person means that their items are cheaper.
Items purchased from Faction Vendors will cost 100% - (5% x Reputation). To a maximum of 50% for Allied, and 150% for enemies. Vendors will stop selling to you once you reach -5 or lower. At that point you must purchase such items and licenses from the Black Market.
HONOR AND RANSOM
On Kalliope, it is often more enriching to take enemies captive rather than killing them. Lancers with connections who are slain will simply be downloaded into new bodies via the Omninet. But Lancer held captive will not reincarnate unless certain anti-cloning protocols are breached. (If that happens, the original “Illegitimate” is typically disinherited, and slated for elimination by cloning authorities.)
The Orleans Company provides arbitration and safe transfer services for ransoms at a fee of 15%. They also provide consultations for reasonable ransom rates. Transactions and prisoner swaps are performed honorably under company auspices, rather than relying on hazardous in-person transfers.
Typical ransoms are as follows. Ransoms will often take 1d4 Seasons to finalize, due to the negotiation and logistical processes.
*Peasants are typically not even worth the cost of feeding them, and are usually executed or mutilated and set free.
**Knights and more senior nobility are typically Lancers, and are hence immortal.
Wards, Prisoners, and Ransoms have a cost to hold them equivalent to x2 whatever Food/Entertainment costs you would prefer to keep them in as per the above Table. (Prison costs on top of food/entertainment.) Generally, the better you treat your prisoners, the more amiable they and their faction will be to you if ever the favor should be returned.
DEATH AND TAXES
Dying is expensive. This is why most noble houses prefer ransom over regrowing clones. Regrowing a Clone and building a brand new mech costs 1000 Credits by default. This amount automatically goes towards your debt, which accumulates debt-interest at a rate of 20% per Year. At the start of the campaign the Orleans Company holds this debt, although it’s possible that other entities can purchase this if they feel the need.
The Orleans Company is not fond of supporting horses that keep losing. If your debt exceeds 3000 Credits due to cloning expenses, they will implant your new clone with cybernetic protocols to “safeguard their investment”.
If your debt exceeds 5000 Credits due to repeated death, your Cloning Contract becomes null and void with the Orleans Company. They will not bring you back, and will attempt to confiscate whatever remains of your estates if you die again. Or they might bring you back and sell you into debt slavery.
Orleans Protocols and Cloning Contracts may be removed or renewed if you can reduce your debt. Typically to below 1000 Credits.
The Orleans Company offers personal and business loans to Lancers at the above 20% per Year rate, up to 1000 Credits. This Credit Limit can be extended by gaining Reputation with this faction.
REPLACING LOST MECHS
Sometimes your mechs may be irreparably destroyed or captured. When this happens you’ll need to replace the entire unit. The cost for replacing an mech is 40 Credits (or 4 Scrap) for an Everest, and 80 Credits (or 8 Scrap) for any other mech frame. If you have the Licenses to produce mech frames other than the Everest, and you decide to rebuild your mech using the Everest template, you must use the Everest frame for at least one season prior to switching frames.
EXPLORATION PROCEDURES
TIMEKEEPING
There are 6 Watches in a Day.
Each Watch is 4 Hours.
Days alternate between Night and Day (Night is 24 Hours long, as is Day)
TRAVEL
A mech travels underwater at a velocity of Speed x 3 Knots
An Everest with 4 Speed travels at 12 Knots (About 12 mph)
Hexes are 24 miles across. (Takes 2 hours, 1/2 Watch, to travel
EXPLORATION PROCEDURE
TRAVELING
Searching or Traveling?
PCs determine underwater travel elevation (Surface, Floating, or Floor)
Determine Weather Effects or Travel Events
Determine direction of travel and formation.
(If Underwater) GM determines Lost Status and potential Veer
PCs engage Movement / Searching
If Active Sonar is engaged, record terrain features and moving objects.
Resolve Encounters, if any
Record resources expended
ELEVATION
When traveling underwater, for our purposes there will generally be three important elevations: Surface, Floating, and Floor.
When traveling on the Surface, mechs have full view of the sky. They are visible from the air and can spot things on the surface up to 3 miles. Active Sonar will grant the greatest amount of information. It is the least stealthy option.
When Floating, mechs do not have view of the sky, nor do they have a visual of the sea floor. It typically grants no visual information. Active Sonar will reveal a moderate amount of information. It is slightly more stealthy than Surface. There are different degrees of Floating, depending on the maximum depth of the area. All water areas will have a Depth rating from 1-6, which corresponds to potential degrees of Floating. In these instances, Depth 1 = Surface. Max Depth = Ocean Floor. (e.g. in an area of max Depth 4, a Depth of 1 is the surface. Depth 4 is the Ocean Floor. The party may travel at Floating depths 2 and 3.) The deeper you Float, the less information Sonar grants and the less detectable you are.
When traversing the Sea Floor, mechs have a visual of the floor of the ocean and are susceptible to any terrain movement penalties, and any visual features they can see (up to Sensors distance). Active Sonar will reveal the least amount of information, especially if located in a valley or contained within other obstructing landscape. It is the stealthiest option. Traveling along the sea floor gives the greatest chance that one will avoid enemy active and passive sonar.
Weather Effects and Floor Terrain Features
Certain weather effects may affect Travel Speed, Getting Lost chances, or Veer.
WEATHER
All Saves are DC 10 unless otherwise noted.
TERRAIN
* Indicates which elevation this affects.
**Minefields may be active or inactive at any level.
GETTING LOST
Only applicable when at Floating or Floor elevations, or during weather effects that prevent visibility conditions on the Surface.
When it is determined that the party has gotten Lost, the GM secretly rolls a degree of Veer and distance movement penalty. When Lost, the party has no bearings and cannot accurately determine direction and course. To regain bearings, one of the following must occur:
Gain sight of a familiar landmark (such as an island, a wreck, or natural feature), or area that has been previously scanned by the party.
Receive directions from a local.
MECHS
Your Mech Bonuses affect certain areas of exploration.
Hull increases your Carry Capacity.
Agility modifies your Speed, which affects Travel Times.
Systems amplifies the chance of discovering something hidden when Searching. It also amplifies the scouting radius of active sonar and surveillance drones.
Engineering modifies energy consumption and recovery, which can be used to overdrive your mech to high speeds or sustain oneself in areas of energy drain.
Carry Capacity = (3+Hull) x Size
1 Unit for Carry Capacity = , a Treasure Chest, Extra Ammo, a spare Energy Core, etc.
Search Success Chance = 5% + 5% per point of Systems
Multiple people may initiate searches simultaneously. All Search rolls are done in secret.
Energy Production = 1% per point of Engineering.
RESOURCES
There are two resources which will be important to exploration: Energy and Repairs.
Repairs work independently of the travel mechanics. Resting requires 1 Watch (4 Hours) instead of the normal one Hour. Full Repairs require the use of a Garage/Stables/Dry Dock Port.
Energy is the primary resource for exploration, the equivalent of torches and rations ticking down. Every mech has a reactor that supplies energy which under resting conditions is self-sustainable but under strenuous conditions drains. Energy begins at 100% and drains at a rate proportional to the hazard faced, modified by factors such as Mech Size and Engineering Save.
Under normal conditions, a mech uses up 5% of its Energy every Watch and every Combat Round. Every Watch, a mech produces Energy according to its Engineering mech skill. (Yes, with 6 Engineering you can in fact gain Energy during exploration.)
Energy Expended = 5% - Engineering
During Exploration, a mech pilot may Overdrive the Mech. Doing so increases your exploration Speed. For every 1 Speed, an additional 2% Energy is used every Watch. You cannot Overdrive your mech in combat, only in Exploration.
If Overdriving your mech by a Speed of 3 higher than normal, you must pass an Engineering check every Watch (DC 10) or suffer 1 Stress.
During Combat, Combat Energy Drain may be reduced to 2% per Round default at the expense of your mech being Slowed and Impaired. This can be initiated as a Protocol, which persists until the Protocol is disabled.
If your Energy reaches 0%, your mech is effectively Stunned until it either rests or acquires Energy from some source.
Energy returns while Resting at a rate of (5+Engineering)% per Watch. Resting may occur within areas of Energy Drain, though in some areas of potent Energy Drain this will be a losing battle.
Returning back home to base after a season requires no Energy and happens automatically.
SPECIAL SYSTEMS
HUGINN TRANSDUCER
1 SP, Unique
Once per Watch while underwater, your mech emits a mighty caw of active sonar that determines general topographical data and major structures within 24 nautical miles (one hex) plus an additional 8 miles per 2 points of Systems. It will identify moving objects of size 1 within the same hex (within 15 miles), and moving objects of size 2 or greater in adjacent hexes.
During combat, the Huginn Transducer may be activated as a Protocol - All Invisible beings within Sensors only have a 33% chance to be missed, instead of 50%.
Beware, though, for there are terrible things in the deeps. And they’re surely listening.
MUNINN DRONE
1 SP, 1 Carry Capacity
Once per Watch, you may send your drone up into the sky to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. Depending on the weather, it may acquire surface topography up to 96 miles.
UNIVERSAL POWER CABLES
Pilot Item, 1 Carry Capacity
You may connect two mechs together with this cable, allowing them to donate/receive Energy from one another. Mechs connected this way may not move 2 Spaces from each other. In combat, this takes a Full Action to attach, or a Free Action to unattach.
EXTRA BATTERIES
1 Carry Capacity
An easily-acquirable reserve. Each battery can instantly give your mech an additional 20% Energy for a Size 1 or ½ mech, 15% for a Size 2 mech, or 10% for a Size 3 mech.
PORTS
Are divided into three categories: Docks, Dry Dock, and Hostile.
At Docks, your mechs can be bunkered up for the rest of the season, but they don’t have the facilities to do a Full Repair. Sometimes special Downtime Activities will be present, depending on the Port.
At Dry Dock Ports, Full Repairs may be initiated. Dry Dock Ports are often bigger and more impressive than Wet Dock Ports. The cost of purchasing Repairs will vary from port to port.
At Hostile Ports, Full Repairs may not be initiated, and Downtime Activities may not happen without some kind of subterfuge. The Port Guards may also attack and attempt to impound your mechs and/or arrest or kill you.
MISCELLANEOUS
MULE Harness (Lancaster II) has the added benefit of having all riding mechs match the Lancaster’s speed when traveling.
Transfusion Cables. Pilot Gear. Allows the sharing of Energy between mechs. Any connected mechs may donate any amount of Energy to any other connected mechs. Requires 1 Watch to complete.
