Character Creation Discussion

This will be the thread for discussing your character creation, if you would like to come up with a cohesive idea as a whole together. Please be aware you will be License Level 1, so after creating your character, you can gain 1 License Level in a frame of your choice. You won't get the new frame with that level, but it'll at least give you a cool new gun or system to help you lean into the role you want.

If anybody wants more direct help with the character creation process, anywhere from "I don't understand what I should be looking for" to "If I tell you the thing I want to do, will you tell me what Frame to pick?" I'm available. You can post here(and maybe get help from your fellow players), private message me, or even ask for my discord info if you want a more rapid back-and-forth.

In regards to allowed frames: You can take license levels from any frame in the corebook or Long Rim. If you are interested in homebrew mechs, they are welcome on a case by case basis. There are several 3rd party Mech Companies I'm aware of as being generally fairly balanced, so if you want, one, ask.

That said, I have 3 rules when it comes to builds, that I include in every game.

1: The "This doesn't work like I thought it did rule." On a case-by-case basis, I'm willing to let you retrain things that you normally couldn't. This is usually a result of things like "I took this because it looked like the tanky option, but it turns out it's built for skirmishers," and other such build "mistakes."

2: The "Siege Perilous Rule." Once per campaign per player, if you just do not like your character anymore, I will allow a full retcon. This is to help prevent burnout when you get to the point where playing a character is no longer fun for you. This is not a method to bypass bad situations, like playing a "good early game" build and then switching to a "takes some setup" build. The fantasy equivalent is playing a fighter for five levels and then deciding you want to be a wizard with fireball now that you won't have 5 HP. That's not the purpose. If this rule is invoked, I will do my best to retcon things in such a way that your character has always been like this.

3: The "GMs Headache Rule." If you are using a rule in a way that is obviously overpowered in a way that makes the game unfun, I'll ask you to make some changes. I might ask for you to just pull back in the frequency, to not trivialize other players. I might ask that you work with me to come up with an acceptable nerf to the ability(s) involved. Or I might ask you to go back and pick a different ability. This isn't me trying to keep the players weak or anything, I'm a generally generous GM. It's mostly just a failsafe for "I made myself the main character at the expense of everyone else's fun" type stuff. Nobody likes it when the Paladin/Warlock/Bard Multiclass solos the dungeon.

I have a question about the GMS Personalizations system. What counts as a numerical bonus? For example, Death Head's High Stress Mag Clamps system isn't a numerical bonus in the strict sense.

I'm planning on making a mech that uses mostly auxiliary weapons, with the Gunslinger talent. If it works out like I think it should, it would be good at taking out a large number of grunts, but suffer against armored opponents. I'll be going for the Swallowtail frame, since it has an auxiliary weapon with decent range, and good systems for ranged combat.

Disclaimer: I literally read the LANCER rulebook for the first time this week.

My understanding of the Personalizations systems is that it's an excuse to change something about your mech that's mostly narrative flair but might give you a little bonus if the GM agrees it makes sense. For instance, you might use it to declare that your mech has a flexible tail, and then later describe it helping you climb a cliff. If the GM likes that idea, they might give you +1 accuracy on the skill check.

I've been toying with some kind of tech-focused mech. If saevikas is aiming for the Swallowtail, I might go for the Goblin or something similar.

Exactly this. It's meant to be something small, and not always relevant. Not usually combat useful, but flavorful, and providing roleplay effects and an occasional boost to a skill roll or the like.

Alright, after playing around with COMP/CON a bit, here's what I've got so far for my pilot:And a mech design:This is all "first draft" type stuff, so I might make revisions, and I'm open to changing things if there's a conflict with another character.

Hi guys, glad to be here.

I'm still working through the rule book so I may end up with more questions but for now, just one.

It sounds like we are starting at LL1 and can go ahead and build our custom mech if we want but for the first bit everybody has the Everest + a cool gun or something. Am I getting that right?

Yup! License Level 1 doesn't give you access to any new Frames, it just gives you access to a weapon or system or 2, depending on the license you're taking. You'll reach License Level 2 at an appropriate point to the story to get cool custom frames. For now, you've all got pretty standard loadouts, with a few special things to make you stand out.

If it helps to picture in your head, remember that you're basically "the only people in the colony that knew how to fly."

I'm guessing is also valid for build correction/change over time?

I'm interested in a NHP specialist teacher type that want to protect this new entity he helped shape from abuse and destruction.
My first choice would be the Balor frame, but a few others could be fun also if we gonna go for some team approach/combo

Balor looks like a fun frame, and in terms of team combos, my Goblin licenses will at least give me tech attacks that can help get/keep enemies in your death zones.

I'm good for playing almost anything. I've played a lock-on support and a hacking support lately, so I might like trying striker or artillery to do something different (though I wouldn't mind rebuilding that lock-on support.)

I currently have a preference for the Raleigh Frame, and go for a Gunslinger, (Tactician or Vanguard) and Walking Armory.

Once we start getting new frames I think I want to go with an IPS and focus on melee.

Do we want to try to recreate some of the old Knights of the Round Table or just make new dudes who fit the knightly theme? At least I think a knightly theme is what we're going for.

Right now I'm aiming more at just fitting in with the knightly theme as opposed to emulating a specific Knight of the Round Table. That said, Martyn is a bit more underhanded in tactics than one might expect from a "knight."

I was thinking 'heart of gold' old western gunslinger character. Strong morals, but not necessarily law abiding.

How small is the colony? And how well are we gonna know each other at start?

Here's what I've got so far.As the game goes on I think I want to stick with using the pike but I'll likely later try to use the Tortuga frame. That'll be a few levels in. I also am willing to swap things around if there is too much overlap with one of you guys.

I don't think I'll worry about being a reincarnation of a Knight but I did name this guy after Percival.

After looking at the preview that spoiler looks kinda weird. This is my first game on gamersplane so I'll probably have some growing pains.

Hey, sorry for the delay in response, folx! I'll try to address some of your questions and concerns.

@TheVagrant: Correct, that can be used for slow retraining your skills. The Siege Perilous idea is more of a "wow actually I hate my character concept" panic button. I don't see it used often.

@Eggillis, you're not expected to try and play a reincarnation of a specific knight or anything like that. More of a "We're the next Knights" type situation. When it comes to the original Knights, well...I've got a plan for that.

@TheVagrant again, no a large colony. Think a small moon, with likely a decent sized port-city, and then a few small settlements dotted around for specific purposes, like around mines, or food production, or people who just didn't want to live "in the city." If you've played Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel at all, Elpis is a good touchstone.


In addition, if it affects anybody's build, you'll likely all be gaining access to small NHPs as the story progresses. Nothing too fancy, just a dummy plug with a little extra. But if that's something you want to factor into your thoughts of how to build, there it is.

This is the character I am looking at right now, though I think there are some tweaks to still be done.

» INDIGO «
Yuen Trueman
PENAL COLONIST, LL0
GRIT:0 // H:2 A:0 S:0 E:0
[ SKILL TRIGGERS ]
CHARM (+2), READ A SITUATION (+2)
TAKE CONTROL (+2), SURVIVE (+2)
[ TALENTS ]
GUNSLINGER 1, VANGUARD 1
TACTICIAN 1
[ GEAR ]
MOBILITY HARDSUIT, LIGHT SIGNATURE
MEDIUM A/C, FLEXSUIT
PERSONAL DRONE, PATCH

----------
« LOSS OF CONTROL »
[ GMS STANDARD PATTERN I EVEREST ]
STRUCTURE:4/4 HP:14/14 ARMOR:0
STRESS:4/4 HEAT:0/6 REPAIR:6/6
ATK BONUS:0 TECH ATK:0 LTD BONUS:0
SPD:4 EVA:8 EDEF:8 SENS:10 SAVE:10
[ WEAPONS ]
Main Mount: MISSILE RACK
Flex Mount: PISTOL / PISTOL
Heavy Mount: HEAVY MACHINE GUN
[ SYSTEMS ]
STABLE STRUCTURE, RAPID BURST JUMP JET SYSTEM
TURRET DRONES

Since I don't have access to any good auxiliary ranged weapons yet, I'll use auxiliary melee weapons instead, and I'll change the talent from Hunter to Gunslinger the next LL.

Second draft of Martyn, made some tweaks to his talents and skill triggers after thinking about things some more and seeing what other people were picking for their characters. Mech is still the same as before.In terms of backstory, I've got this idea that Martyn's settlement held a tournament to decide what pilot they should send to join the scouting mission referenced in the game description. Martyn was ineligible to compete owing to a lack of status and resources, so he first drugged one of the competitors so that he could take his place, and then proceeded to make a farce of the tournament by employing every dirty trick and clever move he had.

That looks very good Kaigen, Saevikas. ToDream, I'm not seeing any problems, but you can take one more license level, I noticed you're still LL0. Eggellis, I don't see any problems with the build at first glance.

Well, looking at the other characters I don't see much overlap. If you don't see any issues RSW I think that's gonna be my character.

Hey guys. Glad to be here. sorry to come so late, I applied to the wrong game. I actually already have a lancer character/mech from a previous game that fell through. I made it sort of an artillery specialist. and by sort of i mean, i gave him a howitzer. Original character backstory was a refugee/survivor of a colony militia from a devestated fringe world. I think that kind of applies here but I'd be happy to workshop his back story with y'all. I need to update him to liscense level one, as he started at 0. @gm, I originally used the GMS Personalizations system to give my mech a bonus to his artillery rolls. It was a bracing system that helped stabilize him for long ranged bombardment. Is this kosher GM?

Here's a character draft:

Optimum, that definitely seems like the kind of backstory we can work into this. As for the personalizations, I'd rather not have that. I usually lean towards "it shouldn't be something commonly applicable to attacks" unless it's a very specific situation. Bonus to Artillery is just a little too broad for my tastes unfortunately.

Kensperanza, I might be blind, but I'm not seeing what your first License Level was spent on?

Edited, added IPS-N DRAKE License.

For my personalization, I'm thinking of an array of hidden compartments stuffed with a variety of goods.

Would that work?

As for my character's background story, I was thinking something like an over the top revenge thing. Bruno's mother was hit by a vehicle one day, and had to get an expensive and risky surgery in order to survive. Bruno's father took out a large loan from an influential couple named Brian and Ferra in order to pay for the surgery. The surgery failed, and Bruno's father fell ill from the stress. Bruno worked as a smuggler for Brian and Ferra in order to pay off his father's debt.

Once his father died, he discovered that Brian and Ferra orchestrated his mother's death and took advantage of his father's illness. With nothing holding him back, he decided to ignore the debt and terrorize Brian and Ferra for their sins.

He learned how to pilot a mech from when he had to smuggle one for a job. He joined the colony's meager mech forces in order to improve his strength through allies, financial backing, and technological support, all to hunt down Brian and Ferra, and also to inflict the same fate on others like them.

Okay, what would you lean towards?

For backstory I think I'll go with something very simple. Percy got tired of seeing the colony constantly being pirated. He tried to join the militia at a young age but they wouldn't let him be a pilot. He was allowed to help the mechanics a bit however. Not too long before the scouting mission he had a birthday and was finally allowed to sit in the cockpit.

Optimum, when it comes to Personalizations, I usually look at it as a Primarily-noncombat bonus. It might have an occasional use in combat, but that shouldn't be the primary purpose/bonus.

Submitted character in a custom sheet.

How detailed do you want the backstory to be?

What will we be using our mechs for out of combat?

My understanding is that Personalizations bonus is +2HP for 1 SP and the GM can reward good description with the occasional accuracy on unique situations. For example, extra stabiliser giving an accuracy to counter the effect of an earthquake.

A straight accuracy on main attack is something that requires a core bonus or specialized talents, it would be to much for only 1 SP.

This. The primary purpose is the +2 HP, the extra is a small bonus. It's not meant to be a core part of your attack setup or anything like that.

Backstories don't need to be too detailed, as long as your character is willing to work in a team.

Jacques "Master" Bartha was working on a new NHP project when it was destroyed by a raid from unknown assaillants. Nobody knows if it was pirates or corporate sabotage, but the NHP was believed destroyed and the corporate branch on the colony abandoned.

He found a surviving copy of the NHP and took it upon himself to restore and teach it. It took years to do with the limited ressources at hand. As the NHP grew, Jacques knew that he would do anything to protect this amazing entity. Going to the core systems would mean to have it shackled into slavery and the precarious situation in the colony meant it could be destroyed at any time by pirate or warlords. The only solution was learning how to fight to protect themselves.

Having access to his own NHP made Jacques an obvious candidate for the limited defense forces of the colony despite his lack of combat experience and being already in his thirties. He was quickly given the nickname of Master to make fun of his background as a teacher.

Yuen "Indigo" Trueman is a former vidscreen star specializing in a long running survival show, showing surviving in the wild on multiple terrian types both with and without a frame. She never achieved true fame, despite having run for a couple of 'seasons' and eventually her limited sponsorship dried up.

Left at lose ends, Yuen joined the defense force, mostly to put her skills to use where they might be most needed.

Any idea of when we are gonna start?

Within the next week. I want to know what frames everybody is using before I finalize the first encounter, since I don't want to do something like "10 snipers when you're all close range."

I think I remember reading somewhere that we may or may not know each other. Does anyone want to have any background ties?

Jacques would have joined the militia pretty late, so he defenitely would have needed someone to show him the ropes, might be a PC.

I'm always up for background ties. It sounds like Percy and Martyn are both at the young end of the spectrum, so maybe we could tie them together as being childhood friends? And/or there be a bit of rivalry/tension from Martyn cheating his way into being a mech pilot ahead of Percy who went about it the "right way."

Anyone from the lost and ravaged colony would likely know Hank (might change his name). He was part of the resitence against raiders.

Not many are likely to know of Yuen, but I suspect some of you might have heard of her, at least had one of her videoes as a 'Youtube" suggestion.

Percy is kind of a late addition as well, but has also been around the militia for a while. He could have been the one to show you the ropes while also being a fellow trainee.

@Kaigen
I would say that depends on why Martyn wanted to jump to the front of the line. Percy wants to help people. If Martyn is the same then Percy wouldn't begrudge him cheating. Too much. If it was for glory I suspect it would cause tension. I like the idea of them being friends/former friends that grew up together if they are about the same age.

@Eggellis
Martyn's heart is in the right place, but he has a tendency to be headstrong and act like he has something to prove, even when no one's really challenging him. So it's a bit of both; he wants to help people, but he also wants that recognition.

That would be great
Jacques could have been an helpful comrade for Martyn. Giving some praise when needed, reining him in when he's going to far and speaking for him if necessary with superior.

I like that idea. If Percy and Martyn are friends, then Martyn might have also been involved in showing Jacques the ropes in a sort of "I'll show you how it's done" sense.

I would like to apologize to everyone here. You all have such cool characters, and your excitement is great. But as I'm sure most of you are aware, there's a lot going on in the world right now. Unfortunately, my career is being pretty heavily impacted by some of those goings on, and while I might have time to play a game or two, the changes in my schedule are making it impossible to run a game right now.

I'm so sorry to get everything started like this and then cancel. If anybody would like to take over the concept, feel free. I can set you as a GM. Otherwise, I don't think this game is going to take off. Again, I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to run the game. If nothing else, thinking about this game has me more intrigued about the system than I had been before, so I'll be looking around for another chance to play! Hopefully things get less hectic in your own schedule soon.

Happens all the time. don't worry about it.

Agreed, don't worry about it.

I'll stick around for a couple of days. if anyone is interested in taking over, post.

Maybe we could look in the game tavern for a GM? :P

No worries, yea we let's look for a GM at game tavern.

I'm down with that. Who's going to post looking for a GM?

I posted on Game tavern.

Here: https://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/17624/?p=792198#p792198

Thanks! :)

Hey all. I am reading through here and working on making my character. Hopefully it wont take long

Most recent draft of my character

This is my first look at this guy. With a Tech based Mech (using Minotaur)

Ok so I think this is how I am going to go. Basically a Tech attack guy, The Minotaur frame wont give great sensor range but I am thinking I might end up with a different frame long term while the Minotaur LL1 gets some good Tech options to start.

General background:

Ector has never been one of many words. Preferring to bunker down and do his job to help his teammates out. He is willing to do just about anything to help but knows where his strength lies which is with computers/hacking. Although he doesn't socialize much, he feels a strong bond with his teammates and will do anything for them, despite not vocalizing it much. He has lived in the colony his whole life and feels a strong need to help everyone in it.

Hello again! So if I got it right, we start at LL1, don't we? Are you using COMP/CON for building your PCs?

Nope that is incorrect you start at AL0 (or LL0)

Check the "Character Creation Parameters" Thread

I would also review the "House Rules (please read)" thread which is mostly just gnomenclature ;) changes

Ok, roger that. I'll make sure to check the gnomenclatures. ^_^

Hey guys I see all the mechanics associated with the Lancer but not much in relation to the pilot -- can you put together a bit of a description outline who the pilot is and why they have chosen to design the mecha they way they are.

In a nutshell -- you are giving a basic frame and basic weapons and you are creating a design based on your character's views on what they envision would be the best mecha that they can conceive thus far -- basically a little insight into who the pilot is that you plan to play

He chose a long ranged evasive mech to strike fear into his targets, taking shots at them from places they can't see. These capabilities also evolve from his background as a smuggler, preferring to be quick and out of the reach of hostiles. Overall, his choices reflect his over the top vengeful vigilante nature stemming from his background.

How over the top he is about the whole thing depends on how the overall tone of the game is. I'm willing to tone it down or up.

Hi

I am thinking about building a pilot with a hacker background, and his mech would be some kind of "infiltrator" with good mobility and probably attacks that affect the Systems Electronics of enemies. :) Would that fit into the party?

Yes gnomius I can work that into the group and the game and yes that is an eventual aspect of one of the lines of Lancer types if I recall

Thanks saevikas that gives me something to ponder and meld into the world view that I am using. Does it fit as it stands -- well actually no -- BUT I am pretty good at taking a 2D character concept and injecting that 3rd-Dimension which requires the GMs input but I find rarely happens

A hacker build sounds like it'll be great, Gnomius!

Dejoker, what changes should I make to my character so that it fits better?

Nothing saevikas I will be taking the background you outlined and melding into the world dynamics -- this will change your story specifics but not its general concept.

For an example let us say someone says there character was born in city A but they did not know that city A was destroyed further due to their background story it would best fit into city Q a city that the player was not even aware existed. So in adding that 3rd dimension, that ties the character firmly into the world being run, the GM tweaks the character changing their origin from city A to city Q along with any other tweaks that might incur.

For instance part of the change that I will be implementing is having the character join the Program that makes them into a Lancer pilot which if you check the Character Creation notes for flavor you would see that means you survived the grueling and painful process to become what you are today. Of course I have to think about it a bit so as to not lose much or none of the flavor you created and still implement that part of the story that takes your character from where they were to where they are now.

I am guessing you have never had a GM help tie you tightly into the world they are running but since you were the first to submit your background you will be the first to see the results -- WHICH BTW -- will not be written in stone until you the player say -- Yes I like that -- as while I am pretty good at it I am not a mind reader nor profess to be -- but that is where we work out that 3rd-Dimension together

Okay within the Guidelines on page 116 they define the 5 basic types associated with the advanced Frames and these basic designations are what you will eventually be building your Mech upon assuming you choose to no longer use the GMS-SP1 Frame which is the only Mech that does not come with such a designation and as such can be tailored to conform to anyone of of these 5 basic types.

Artillery Mech : These usually stay back from the front line, dealing damage or providing support. They tend to sport long range weapons and systems.

Striker Mech : These usually are resilient mechs that thrive when targets are kept close.

Controller Mech : These are usually equipped to inflict statuses, force or prevent movement, or over heat their targets.

Support Mech : These generally specialize in increasing the combat capabilities of their allies – moving them around, clearing conditions, healing, or protecting them from incoming fire.

Defender Mech : These are exceptionally durable and resilient mechs, designed to control space or shield allies from harm.

For instance I would guess the Sniper Mech would be considered an Artillery Mech while the Electronics Infiltrator Mech would most likely be a Controller Mech

I'm going to bow out of the game. Hope you can find players to fill the gaps.

Hi there,

So here you have the concept/background and the stats. Let me know what you think!