Field Guide to the Auric Range

[wind sedge]

The Auric Range.

The Sister Worlds of Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho vye against each other in the great game of empire. The space stations and work-habs of Ladon's Corpse chafe under colonial rule. Furthest West rages with brushfire conflict, the hot war of the Sisters exported far afield. This supposed Eden teeters on a knife-edge, conflict is inevitable, and it will destroy what exists now. 

What comes next, for better or worse, lays in your hands Pilot. Cast the die. Cross the rubicon. Enter the Range and carve your legend here.

I really hope you make it.

The Field Guide to the Auric Range is a project I've been working at here and there over the years and hope to bring to folks as a proper Suldan-style Field Guide when I can. As of right now, the player-facing mechanics are located on itch.io and in a document I'll link at the end of this post. The intention of the Auric Range is to serve as a cyberpunk counter to the milscifi of the corebook- drawing heavily from the works of Gibson and Kishiro.

Any feedback on the mechs as they stand now would be greatly appreciated, I hope to add a few more and get the Core Bonuses rewritten, hopefully by then I'll have figured out how to get the NPCs up in C/C as well!

https://nightmareworks.itch.io/field-guide-auric-range-player-mechanics
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nT3f8zoSqV7t5PI6-mhEwZV9fi7sNipLH2wwoDrCJBM/edit#heading=h.cgsxw5sv3v0e

[ivory pebble]

Yooo

[wind sedge]

Yah!!

please enjoy the Them, i'm hoping to add the SSC Goldwing and IPS-N Bonney to the lineup if I can make them work slash think of a good extra set of HORUS and HA mechs to add to the book

And also like, actually get all my notes organized and start putting out the setting Gazette

[ivory pebble]

Bonneys the old merc mech right

[wind sedge]

Yeah, meant to fill the player fantasy of "The Solo"

Striker/Support rifles and cqb

[kindred sparrow]

the Auric Range is So Good and everyone should read it

even if the mechs weren’t good (and they’re very good) Delilah’s writing is something everyone should experience and learn from, she brings so much creativity and power to the world of the Sisters and all that lies within their paradise.

[ivory pebble]

Oh yeah

Its so good

[wind sedge]

thank you....

[hollow berry]

Ye I love auric range

[quasi blaze]

Yeah!!!!!!!! Ya love to see it! Lilah's an incredibly skilled writer, and the auric range is an utterly phenomenal work. She's got such an incredible ability to tell hard-hitting stories, even in unconventional ways - the fluff text in her mechs and their licenses is an utter delight to read, and always follows a really satisfying story. I still think about this part from one of the Blue Doctor's systems:

They’re burning, they’re always burning, and you know what? I’ll let them out and let them and keep myself going. Anything to survive. Anything to make it back to you. Back to sunlight and smiles and a body that isn’t made of the past’s sins.

The complex and multifaceted world of the sisters literally just sparks more questions as you read it. The range is a dense and vast world, eager for people to explore its deepest corners.

[wind sedge]

once again, thank you so much for your kind words!!!

please test My Mechs Thank You

i want people to have fun with them!

and i want to get that gazette finished

[old token]

I think I found the theme song for the setting maybe

https://youtu.be/_LxD6VncCpY

[wind sedge]

Hey here's the two mechs I'm lookin at working in
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VZLTn7kE9XUk9PEXdKL0IJoZn2uk4ZSOcs_RlaPP5-g/edit?usp=drivesdk

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11jBbM1yuVQsszJObv-Rq_MYFIkB00_WbUBbtsZd9J70/edit?usp=drivesdk

A telekinetic killer and a soldier of fortune

[spare warren]

okay im just looking at orbital insertion and laughing at the idea of a sekhmat blacckbeard just suddenly in the enemy lines

[dreamy shoal]

Goldwing looks very exciting

[hollow berry]

[wind sedge]

drop the hammer on them

[wind sedge]

thank you! its a gross thing

[topaz wigeon]

For someone who wants to run a campaign in Auruc Range, any advice?

[wind sedge]

Pick a planet then have a conspiracy pileup in between mech fights among the megastructures

Generally the vibes are cyberpunk, yeah? Blood and neon, instead of mud and lasers. The Sisters are the sleek and crumbling metropoles of Imperial Ambition. Ladons Corpse and Furthest West are the colonies, the out-of-sight-out-of-mind sources of wealth that fuels the ambitious Sister that owns them. Ladons Corpse and it's stations are like little city states, sometimes trapped in their relationship with a Sister, Ketheres and Tipharese essentially their own minor powers in the area. Furthest West is the Planet of The Forever War, the quagmire of Imperial Ambitions clashing and destroying a future in service of the Sisters own stagnant status quo- with only the Bannermen and their allied towns trying to build a future free of the yoke.

@topaz wigeon I hope this helps, it's nice to properly get everything out of Just Vibes.

I forget how much of this is me restating things I implied in lore

Oh yeah bc cyberpunk is really weird all the time there's the recurring plot point of ||Human psionic potential|| and how SSC is Fucking Around

[topaz wigeon]

Is there a more expanded lore peice because I haven't seen it in the pdf, then again that one's player data mostly

This helps a lot and I think Farthest West might be a good place to start the players off

[wind sedge]

Furthest West is the easiest place to play cause it's very Lancer Place

[topaz wigeon]

Start simple, then watch the players realize the rest of the system, while not in a constant brush fire war, is worse

[wind sedge]

And then you go to the Pharmaecopia of Clotho and fight next to neoclassical pillars in an undercity bunker against the private security force of a mystery cult

Doing a rainbow 6 in mechs is what the sisters are for

[topaz wigeon]

And I love it

Is there anything I need to know about the sisters and the other places in terms of culture and such in particular?

[wind sedge]

Clotho is a Pharmaecopia, a government of doctors attending the health of their society, they make Medical Printers and generally have a classical space Greek theme in my head- hence the problem with mystery cults that have control of major wings of the governing boards. Generally a theme of arrogance, "burden of the mighty to the uncivilized" vibes as the failure of their culture and a dedication to the other as their virtues.

The Autocracy of Aatropos is a crony-state, formerly a mostly agrarian society with an extensive cradle-to-grave welfare system instead of a state that was sold out and then rapidly prolentarianized as they were turned into a Fortress World by ISP-N with plans to sell it to whichever side of the SecCom Civil War got to the Range first. (the war never showed up, you know that?) Now chafing under an oppressive militarized police force, the megacities of Atropos have a brutalist theme and kind of Olmec visual vibe. In terms of cyberpunk its Detroit Cicra Robocop Down There mostly due to the low-grade insurgency of the citizenry against their own police forces. feel like the problems and solutions here are rather obvious.

They make guns, and mechs, and everything you would need to fight an intergalactic war- and fucking nowhere to ship all that shit

The Empire of Lachesis is democracy in which every person whose lived on the planet for at least ten years gets to elect their local Shah, who in turn elect a Shahanshah who rules the weirdo market economy trapped inside a socialist state ruled mostly by the decree of its riotous population. They're themed after the roman republic with the visuals of a cyberpunk golden age persia- this is where Combat Idols are from. When someone goes bust in the market, they can escape any debt by pledging years of service to the state- mostly this involves public services of rebuilding after the local Demes get in a low-grade block war over their favorite idols and racers and teams or the unions decided to also have a riot because a strike is too slow. Its a chaotic place that mostly ignores the fact it rules the largest colonial empire of the Sisters while rapaciously extracting from said colonies with an army of essentially debt-enslaved bureaucrats and soldiers.

(most politics in lachesis translates into some level of street violence so there's always something that needs repairing which means there's always plenty of jobs unless you get Too Poor in which case its time to do a Tour In The Colonies!)

[topaz wigeon]

I'm loving this so far, thank you so much

Quick question, can NHPs become Combat Idols?

[wind sedge]

There's probably a couple, but Lachesis prefer someone who they can rally physically behind in case a judge makes a... mistake....

[topaz wigeon]

I just really want my players to fight a V-Tuber who is possibly trying to warp space

[wind sedge]

Free Ketherese Commune is an anarchist commune ruling a space station in much the same way a dog who catches the bumper of a car is still technically chasing it. They had a successful revolution and are in the process of securing this beachhead of revolution in time for Union to recognize them so Aatropos can't reconquer them. As the "Gateway To the Corpse", Aatropos would really like to reconquer them and do so as a "police action" to "prevent loss of life". Also they turned a bunch of loyal mech pilots and Albatross pilots into telepathic supersoldiers.

(a bunch of the anarchists are concerned that they did in fact make super soldiers and the moral implications of that)

(the supersoldiers are all pretty cool guys mostly)

(players can be one, that's the Minutemen)

[topaz wigeon]

I love the Minutemen Program and I am ready to let my players use their mind powers

[wind sedge]

The Suzrenity of Tipharese is the "Gate to Furthest West", a clean and proper space station that also happens to have a large recreation battlefield inside it so mercenaries and colonial troopers can sharpen themselves before deploying into the Brushfire war. Its a place where they're trying very hard to make war seem clean and distant. Its ruled by Lachesis, but with the motherland ever more distant and sporadic in contact a lot of people are starting to wonder if they have to like. Keep doing this.

There's a bunch of other "Fill-in-your-spot" stations inbetween those two

But Ketherese and Tipharese are the two local powers in the corpse, controlling the flow of ships in and out

[topaz wigeon]

I don't really know much about the corpse to the honest

[wind sedge]

The Corpse is mostly extractive colonies built around useful asteroids to get as much wealth out of them as possible to keep your station's lights on long enough to make it to the next payday. Its where the material wealth is extracted and funneled back to the Sisters. They're colonies, even if they get run by corporations or private enterprise collectives, the nature of the entire exchange is extractive.

[topaz wigeon]

Again, thank you so much for this

There is much writing to be done!

[wind sedge]

Ofc!! i always "write" better when explaining to someone so this was really helpful to me too!!

Oh right if you're running, could I ask you to test the Range's NPCs?

[topaz wigeon]

I'd love to!

You may not hear back in a good while since I might not be doing this campaign for a while

I can probably slide them into some one-shots and repot back fairly soon

[wind sedge]

Ofc!

[topaz wigeon]

Just out of curiosity how many NPCs will I be testing?

[wind sedge]

Oh, just use whatever you like

They basically all need actual roadwork

[topaz wigeon]

Alright, and where shall I find these NPCs?

[wind sedge]

I've sent them to you :3

[topaz wigeon]

Ah thank you, I didn't see them at first!

So I'm looking at the Post-Human and what im getting is that this is a BIG guy

[wind sedge]

Nyohoho

[topaz wigeon]

And with Cyberpsycho I can make the Posthuman into Adam Smasher.

oh yeah, it's all coming together

[hollow berry]

ITS THEM

[raw yew]

@wind sedge if you're looking for people to test NPCs, I'm always happy to try out new OpFor against my players

[ivory pebble]

The worlds worst catgirl(positive)(i love them)

[wind sedge]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-57Sxno2K41ndYES-EMTryYAaQ03pTBz5Txw7ujpAwc/edit i should just be less stingy with these but yaknow i can't actually make them in c/c yet so uuuh

that's sorta the biggest hump in using them

also some mech

Striker/Support
A great many ships move through the Auric Range, trade flowing up through the Sierra Madre Line and out through the Santanna Blinkgate. Thus, an increased presence of Trunk Security and its subfirms. Of these subfirms the Boudreaux & Thibodeaux Concern handles design and production for mechanized chassis in what are termed “High-Threat Corporate Entanglements”.  This is all preamble of course, to introduce what many in the Range consider IPS-N’s finest security force multiplier- The Bonney. 
The Bonney is what IPS-N terms a “High Kinetic Fire Support Platform” created by the hyperkinesis module integrated into the “nervous system” of the mech’s frame and the pilot’s spinal uplink. Doses of the synthetic nano-adrenaline released in microbursts throughout combat allow both mech and pilot to move faster and shoot better than anyone else on the battlefield. And to the mercenary forces of Ladon’s Corpse and Furthest West there simply isn’t better than an experienced Bonney pilot to turn any mission around.

Hyperkinesis Module 
In the Auric Range, medical science perhaps understands the human nervous system better than anywhere else in Union-space; leading to a proliferation of cybernetic enhancements- in turn leading to a proliferation of militarized applications in service to the cold War between the sisters. Thus what Bonney pilots call “Chronos”, a nanite-based adrenaline capable of effecting both the human brain and the electronic “nervous system” of the Bonney. Under its influence, time seems to slow as reaction speed and mechanical dexterity reach human peak- and the sturdy engineering of the Bonney is fully capable of keeping up with sudden spikes, routing core power through the Hyperkinesis Module to produce further Chronos-nanites. Pilots describe the sensation as playing out a dozen times before they make the perfect move. Like seeing the future.
Active (requires 1 Core Power): Divine Intervention```

finally getting fluff proper

[old token]

yessssss

I hope it's ok if I ask it here - I've been reading the Dustgrave release and noticed the new "Industrial" NPC template, and I immediately thought of the Auric's Calico. Would it make sense to re-classify the Calico as a Pattern Group, like what HORUS has? Still IPS-N affiliated but categorized to account for the narrative variability of its possible forms?

[raw yew]

Oh great, I can just type these into foundry, I'll let you know when I get a chance to test some

[wind sedge]

I mean feel free

its lancer and its lore

I can't actually stop you from doing whatever you want once I pass you the lore

[old token]

Sure! Just a thought since the terms seemed comparable. Thank you!

[wind sedge]

Abusing my powers

[tawdry latch]

this seems like a completely reasonable use of your power tbh

[raw yew]

@wind sedge oh, npc feedback, took a week longer than I thought but I ran a LL3 combat of a Drake, a Genghis, a Kidd, and a Goblin against a Veteran Ship Warlock, a Combat Idol Veteran Ringmaster, a Veteran Bastion, and two untemplated Ronin. Had the Ronin jump out of the ship after the Ringmaster got structure. Main feedback comment I got on both is that Trait/System isn't clearly marked on these. That was relevant for the Kidd trying to figure out what was a tech action and system damage when structuring

[wind sedge]

Oh, very good, thank you!

[raw yew]

Balancewise, it probably wouldn't hurt to bring the Warlock up to 20 range. And the Ringmaster got very blocked by fighting 2 different 3 armor mechs. But I can see it doing great against low armor targets. And also my players were happy to get use out of their armor after the previous fight that fielded 4 scout grunts.

That or give the Warlock +1 accuracy to compensate for the sub-sniper range. It had some trouble finding shots on a map with some high cover

I'll let you know if I manage to slip any of the others into missions. Always looking for novel Controllers and Defenders to spice things up

[wind sedge]

Thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of stuff I need!

[crimson pewter]

@wind sedge

[wind sedge]

; w; thank you for this

[crimson pewter]

You're welcome. I'm giddily awaiting the day I can terrorize my GM with some custom tokens for the drones...

[crimson pewter]

How about this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJdw4IuMr4M

[old token]

see that one is great just because I am a sucker for new synthwave but it's not as goddamn sad as Zenith. Powerglove could play while you cruise downtown in your future cyberpunk hovercar - Zenith is what you hear when your Circuit Detective is drinking his neo-scotch while looking at the simulacrain hit the windowpane

[wind sedge]

ahaha, cyberpunk is always rock-n-roll to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6uBrek6Kd4

I need to resort the Auric Range playlist

[old token]

that would be truer to the punk part, absolutely. I suppose I am just A Youth, enthralled by the faux-nostalgia of the neon eighties

but neon is so cool is the thing

[wind sedge]

Oh don't worry, I am utterly poisoned by my a pseudonostalgia for new york in the 70s

hence the guitars

Before you get neon, you have to get grit, that's how you get cyberpunk

[old token]

oh man, I'm guessing you're familiar with Willy Spiller's amazing photobook of 70s and 80s New York subway, Hell on Wheels?

https://www.bkmag.com/2023/06/26/hell-on-wheels-photographing-the-mta-at-the-dawn-of-the-1980s/

because that is Aesthetics right there

[wind sedge]

Oh yes

I saw these trains in the 90s, yah? They were different then, hadn't gotta quite as hollowed out

[old token]

incredibly jealous

[wind sedge]

fuck guilliani and fuck his cops, is all i'm sayin

[crimson pewter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPiN6eCdxlo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abETp8Q6H8U

[crimson pewter]

Last one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ1oyOazhEk

[wind sedge]

Oh yah

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/19TnA3CHnxb5qDOveDNiEU?si=Kexe26miRQymmOxL3kIn_g

Here’s the playlist again

Also BONNEY is done and I’m trying to retool Belisarius and bring her in too

And maybe A Mindflayer

[crimson pewter]

Ooh, the anticipation...

[wind sedge]

So a merc, a combat idol, and a psychic walk into a combat…

Striker/Controller
His Majesty has but one command- excellence in all things. This includes mechanized chassis combat sports- from the glittering Combat Charts of Lachesis to the Grand Prix of Suldan, the Armory will be second to none. And so she was built with a universalist approach. None shall surpass the might of the  Armory as one. Her frame was built by Cruz-Perfect, a sportskonzern subsidiary of the Armory. Her weapons were, in turn, designed by Legion R&D. Her neurobridge systems are the most cutting edge human-mech subjectivity bridge the THINK TANK has yet conceived of. Her name was chosen by the People who built her prototypes, each man from factory-baron to line-assembler was given the right to christen her: the most beautiful weapon ever deployed onto the racing circuit.

Belisarius. The All-Conqueror. The Legion’s Tyrant. The Emperor’s mailed fist. She has yet to see true deployment in any races or circuits not at least part-owned by the Armory. Her many critics claim she is an unabashed hagiography to anthrochauvinist design. The various racing conglomerates worry she’s simply too much a beast of the battlefield to have any appeal with the fans. All that can be said so far is this- once her engine’s warmed up and roaring, there’s nothing that can stop her.

But, for Beli, an Armory Idol

[naive dagger]

A wondrous chariot

[crimson pewter]

Armory shipgirls: 'Finally, a worthy opponent!'

[naive dagger]

Also hey lilah I was wondering, is there like, any common looks to Combat Idols other than like, very distinct? How do you usually picture them? i forget if this was already written somewhere @wind sedge

[wind sedge]

I did an NPC chassis that had “sponsorships” as a mechanic

So lemme find that list

I think it did most of them

Sponsorship
Trait
At creation, the Combat Idol picks one of the following traits

IPS-Northstar/Infantry Idol: The Combat Idol and Adjacent Allies are immune to Shredded

Smith-Shimano Corpo/Combat Biker: Allies starting their turn adjacent to the Combat Idol or moving there for the first time on their turn can immediately Slide 3.

Harrison Armory/Command Idol:The Combat Idol and Adjacent allies may Overcharge, always costing 1d6 Heat.

Baronic Houses/Show Duelist: The Combat Idol and Adjacent Allies are immune to damage and effects from missed attacks.

HORUS/Underground Idol: The Combat Idol and Adjacent Allies are treated as Invisible by Tech Attacks. This effect does not stack with Invisibility.

Aunic/Missionary: At the start of the Combat Idol’s turn, all adjacent allies gain 3/4/5 Overshield

@naive dagger so this is the basic list

[naive dagger]

Right, like aesthetically speaking

[wind sedge]

Aaah

I remember having different “styles” of idols in my notes?

[naive dagger]

Have to wonder what like, "stage uniforms" are, like you mentioned somewhere AKB-47, which is an idol group with ak-47s as i remember

[wind sedge]

Aatropian Idols tended to be racers, the Most Punk
Lachesian Idols are the most “showy”, stylish and focused on duels
Clothonine Idols tended to be “refined”, and focused on large scale wargames/strategy

[wind sedge]

I am unfortunately not a terribly visual thinker a lot of the time aha

[naive dagger]

Oh no worries, just trying to imagine how like, idols of the demes present themselves. i have to imagine that while each has their own ring gimmick, theres some commonality in style based on which one they're in. and also wondering who the hell is a combat idol for the grays

[wind sedge]

Oh, pennants

Banners and pennants, adorned with the symbols of the Deme

And colored to match

As an example, Lana’s pennant is always gold, bearing the SSC symbol

Plus the symbols of her championships, like honor marks

A lesser idol in Shimano Gold would have a golden pennant and the symbols of whomever backs her, probably a local hospital or workshop Syndicate’s seal

[naive dagger]

Aha, so outfits are variable

[wind sedge]

Yee, unless it’s part of the ring theme

Like the team idols probably all have uniforms that go together

Also @naive dagger the idols for Gray tend to be Auxes and Albatross on leave in the Range

[naive dagger]

Aha

"Dress however, as long as it leaves an impression"

[wind sedge]

If Blue doesn’t snatch a knight, they’ll go to the Gray, yah?

[naive dagger]

ya

[tawdry latch]

ooooh more Auric Range stuff?

[wind sedge]

Yeah some extra mechs

[old token]

by the by, is Auric Range 1.0 supposed to be something like G&S, or more like In Golden Flame? Because I would adore a full campaign in the setting

also, clarification about Stratego - its second level states "after all characters have been deployed but before any turns are taken"; but what about its synergy with the 3rd level which lets you deploy your own mech on your first turn? does that mean the stratego second level bonuses can only be applied after your own mech is on the field, even if it comes in 3rd, 4th or 5th in the turn order?

[wind sedge]

I'm trying to shape it up more like a setting Gazette you'd get for old AD&D settings. I am just going to lay out a region of space for you, and fill it with hooks

[wind sedge]

As for Stratego, the intent is, you are "Deployed" to "Low Orbit", so you're still deployed you're just not on the field yet

So you can use 2 before you slam home with 3

at least if the wording shakes out the way i remember doing it

[old token]

ah! yes, it does say "deploy to orbital insertion"

thanks!

[wind sedge]

No worries! The wording for both is borrowed from Warhammer, so its a little awkward to parse if you aren't used to wargame rules

Mostly relies on implication of what the rules do with their statements? idk "Deploy" is a term that isn't well defined in my internal Lancer Rulebook so that gives me room to fuck around with stuff like this

[naive dagger]

@wind sedge i've been rotating combat idol culture and demes and such in my head, is there any draft of setting writing out in the wild because if there is i seem to have lost it

[wind sedge]

there isn't, but i can collate a few things

[naive dagger]

the prompt of how your OCs would fit into the demes got me thinking. also recent thought is that, if you haven't already, iconic combat idol NPCs for each of the demes

[wind sedge]

I did Combat Idol as an NPC template but I should futz with it

[naive dagger]

oh yeah mechanically, i mean for like, field guide writing when you get around to that

[wind sedge]

Yeah!!

Very good idea and going in the pocket

[naive dagger]

yep, i was going through a actual play recording of an exalted campaign and went "oh iconic NPCs, thats a thing to set tone and examples, thats good for things and factions"

[old token]

and there's good synergy between that and the Influencer bond from In Golden Flame

what would a Circuit Detective bond be? Investigator? Quester?

[old token]

oh god, it's probably Problem Sleuth isn't it

[wind sedge]

hey free ketherse commune, how's it doing

"AN APPEAL TO THE COLLECTIVIST SOUL"
Pamphlet, Unknown Author, Outlining general Hyperoptimist perspective

We stand on the precipice of the GREAT AWAKENING as outlined in the works of our revolutionary ancestors! Our revolution has unleashed from Pandora's Box the greatest hope of a new revolutionary human being! The advent of telepathy can only improve the ability of the Revolution to dismantle the old order, calcified first by beaurucracy then from its rotten body sprung reaction, and in this final stage- the old order is beset by revolutionary compromise!

ALL POWER TO THE COMMUNE AND THE SYNDICATALYSTS! LET US EMBRACE A NEW STAGE OF MANKIND!

With the opening of the mind and soul, we can do away with compromise, with half-measures, with the corpro-state and the very institutions of state! Freed from the treachery of language, we shed the bondage of Cradle and her parochialism! Freed from the chains of societal impulse and awoken with resonant souls, we shed the last vestiges of mankind's long childhood!

THE SPACENOID AND THE TELEPATH ARE THE NEXT STEP OF HUMAN EVOLUTION!

WE AWAIT THE NEW REVOLUTIONARY HUMAN BEING!```

that's great!

[old token]

https://youtu.be/dExgepZYd3g

[naive dagger]

@wind sedge quick question while i rotate things in my head during work, how are combat idol matches usually organized? are there like, ongoing bookings, all one big bracket? What's the arena usually like, and, I assume there's announcers for it as well right?

[wind sedge]

Its ongoing bookings, week to week, with everything reported to the central authority of the Combat Charts

The Charts take match performance, appearances on behalf of the demes, omninet presence, and capital creation, and focus that down into a Rank

[naive dagger]

Oho

So, for first time debuts, who are they booked against usually?

[wind sedge]

Its a bit like starting a band, but for gladitorial combat

You kind of go talk to a venue and hope you can make something work

[naive dagger]

I see

[wind sedge]

And if you've gotten a mech, its a little easier, Mechs are more popular than Infantry Idols and Combat Bikers these days

But there's always a show on at the Circuses

And people with training are always welcome

[naive dagger]

Can see a HORUS Indigo making an unannounced ring appearance, maybe

[wind sedge]

Oh absolutely

Sometimes an Idol just gets a Chart Ranking from showing up to riots

That counts as an appearance on behalf of the deme

[old token]

Today I found the IPSN Midway

https://twitter.com/ESPER995/status/1697119104593703347?s=20

𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗥 (@ESPER995)

Exosuit | Shinku Kim | @siku199
https://t.co/JnudF4jWmw

Likes

271

Twitter · Aug 31, 2023, 5:28 AM

Just gotta give it the ol' IPSN green/brown/maroon colors

by the way, regarding the Solomon's Seraph: does the Knockback counter reset whenever it is applied to an enemy or does it remain until the end of the encounter? Or indeed, does it carry on between encounters until the end of the mission?

[wind sedge]

Each time you attack with it your knockback changes

The knockback is always X!

[old token]

so the counter never resets?? it always goes up, forever??

[wind sedge]

No?

The knockback is X

when you trigger overheat on an attack, that number of triggers is how much knockback you get for the attack

i reroll 2 dice, i get 2 knockback

then it becomes X again

Because Im not triggering knocback on hit

Yeah?

[old token]

oh

oh

reading comprehension has failed me, my apologies

[wind sedge]

mkay!

[eternal carbon]

Crackpot theory: The psionic thing is the same thing as Witness, based on the fluff of the Empath talent describing it as something not inherent to the egs.

That and the leaders in psionic tech being SSC, who tortured an ||Overmind|| to death in order to obtain the secret to Witness. (emperor fluff)

[wind sedge]

You belong to the great masses that labor in the colonies of Ladon's Corpse. You have never known Gravity, and maybe even never set foot upon solid ground in your entire life. Hell, your family might be one of the old lines who still have dirt carried up the well and onto a station. Was it Ketherese? Tipharese? Or one of the nameless thousand stations that dot the Corpse? How'd you get out? The Sisters do not treat their colonial possessions kindly- but what master does? Spacenoid culture and spacenoid ways are seen as lesser, inviting adventurism and fantasy that will not mesh with the "real world."

Are you gonna prove them wrong, or right? Does your soul long for Gravity? Or are you a "true" spacenoid, who discarded such a concept for the freedom beyond?

New Trigger- Weightlessness
Move and act unburdened by Gravity. Ungainly yet graceful, move through physical and social spaces without attachment.

Spacenoids have a certain way about them. Do not speak unless it is artful. Do not move unless it is beautiful. There is so little among the stars, and you've learned to make do with less. When you speak, you use poem and rhyme to make your point. When you move, you slide between the crowd. You take angles unexpected and unconsidered by those who do not know that Gravity is negotiable.```

Working on things

[wind sedge]

Close, but the leaders in Telepathy are all involved in the Spacenoid Movement. SSC is doing telekinesis :3c

And berserker cells but

Two different projects

ASTRONOMY vs Gran Megiddo Alta

[eternal carbon]

Thus what Bonney pilots call “Chronos”, a nanite-based adrenaline capable of effecting both the human brain and the electronic “nervous system” of the Bonney.
Hearing you talk about Loverboy, the implications, and the implications of the implications, are unsettling

[wind sedge]

Haha I’m having fun :3

Wee! Yippee!

[wind sedge]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lrmqP2XdbnTuaJh6W7S_lYKoPVXfeouQ1FL5SLWz9Og/edit?usp=sharing

hihi folks i have been

grinding

[tawdry latch]

final for realsies

Also wowza that's 5 pages

[wind sedge]

It’s only the sisters

I still have to do Ketherese, Tipharese, The Corpse, and Furthest West

[hushed swift]

A rules question came up in todays game that I'd like some assistance with if someone has time. The characters involved are an Emperor, a Forget-Me-Not, and an NPC Phantom

The Emperor and Forget-Me-Not are adjacent to eachother. The Emperor is targeted with Distortion Pulse, which succeeds the tech attack roll. The pulse creates a burst 1 AOE around the Emperor of difficult terrain. The Forget-Me-Not then wants to activate Biomachina Heart stating that, because the tech attack creates a Burst 1 area, and in the lancer rulebook BURST targets all targets within a defined area (Gear Rules pg 104), they should force the tech attack to be rerolled. The concern is, does this reroll apply as the tech attack targets the Emperor, or is it rerolled since the AOE burst would also target the Forget-Me-Not

Distortion Pulse: This ability can only be used while the Phantom is Intangible. The Phantom creates a Blast 1 area of spatial distortion within Sensors that counts as difficult terrain for both Intangible and tangible characters other than itself. When the Phantom deactivates its Phase Generator as a protocol, this distortion violently implodes and all other characters within the area, Intangible and tangible, must pass a Systems save or take 2 heat and be knocked Prone. Only one of these distortions can be active at a time, and if another is created then the old one collapses harmlessly.

Biomachina Heart: All tech actions that target the Forget-Me-Not must roll a successful tech attack, even if they would not normally require a tech attack. Additionally, all tech attacks targeting the Forget-Me-Not must roll twice and keep the worst result. The Forget-Me-Not has Resistance to all Damage, Heat, and Burn from Tech Actions

[wind sedge]

I don’t know what a Phantom is?

But the intention of Biomachina Heart is to let it fuck with invades, I don’t think it’d apply anything other than its Resistance

Oh wait I see

Just do a second roll for the FMN being in the AOE, in no way would it apply to the Emperor @hushed swift

[hushed swift]

With the same mechs in mind, would the Biomachina heart also stop quick tech buffs from allies?

[wind sedge]

It’d force them to roll twice, yes

That’s the intentional drawback

[cosmic sequoia]

I'm working on a Circuit Detective OC and I have Many Lore Questions™️. I hope these questions aren't too many or too fine-grained 😅

• Would it be possible for something (a malfunction in the tech, improper training, a lapse in mental fortitude, etc.) to cause a Necromancer-class Smart Circuit to become a two-way street? What I mean by that is, the Circuit Detectives sift through the Gestalt Intelligence and experience the memories of the dead as archived by their implants, right? But that's a one-way flow of information, from the Gestalt and the dead memories to the Detective. Would it make sense for something to go wrong and have memories from a living Circuit Detective become detached and absorbed by the Intelligence, and/or for memories that belonged to someone else to get lodged in the Detective's own memory?
• On a related note, the description for the Profile skill trigger mentions that a resistance to dysmorphia is vital for doing what Circuit Detectives do. If someone attempted to do this work and didn't have enough resistance to such phenomena, what would the risks be? How would it affect them if a Circuit Detective were to become less resilient over time, whether due to burnout or just not being cut out for this work or something else?
• Is the Gestalt Intelligence monitored or regulated in any way? Say, since Clotho produces the Smart Circuits, would the Pharmaecopia oversee the management of the Gestalt Intelligence (and perhaps redact things from its memory that they don't want to get out, if such a thing is possible)? Or is no one in control of it?
• How distinct are the Necromancer-class Smart Circuits from the Telepathy Implants used by the Minutemen, and would it be possible for someone to be implanted with both or to use one for the purpose of the other? The Minuteman background mentions "your brain was modified" to make the Minuteman stuff possible, is that in reference to the Telepathy Implants or are there more alterations that must be made?

[wind sedge]

Would it be possible for something (a malfunction in the tech, improper training, a lapse in mental fortitude, etc.) to cause a Necromancer-class Smart Circuit to become a two-way street?
Yes, absolutely! The idea is direct neural and subjective link, its totally possible to get stuck or lost talking to a Gestalt Intelligence and searching through their weird dream logic.
the description for the Profile skill trigger mentions that a resistance to dysmorphia is vital for doing what Circuit Detectives do. If someone attempted to do this work and didn't have enough resistance to such phenomena, what would the risks be?
So the idea with that is part of the two-way street thing, the dsymorphia is in relation to, you know, experiencing the dreams of dead men's implants. It's about that noir detective stoicism to me, or about finding ways to cope (or fail to), yeah?
Is the Gestalt Intelligence monitored or regulated in any way? Say, since Clotho produces the Smart Circuits, would the Pharmaecopia oversee the management of the Gestalt Intelligence (and perhaps redact things from its memory that they don't want to get out, if such a thing is possible)? Or is no one in control of it?
So yeah, no one controls Gestalt Intelligences, they're a side-effect of the ubiquity of Smart-Circuits and subjectivity bridging as a method of cybernetic augmentation. Calling them "Intelligences" is a kindness- its a dreamworld that's slowly winding down as the long-life batteries of the augs wind down. The longer all the augs have been talking to themselves and the subjectivity they're bridged to, the "deeper" and "longer" the Intelligence is.

How distinct are the Necromancer-class Smart Circuits from the Telepathy Implants used by the Minutemen, and would it be possible for someone to be implanted with both or to use one for the purpose of the other?
They're different technologies that share the same root- the basic Smart Circuit invented by SSC Constellars in the Auric Range waaaay back at the start of colonization and pre-FCA. First steps to transhumanism, making the body a plaything of the mind, one of many such projects. After the FCA and the ratcheting down on the digital immortality thing, Smart Circuits just kept developing as a niche thing in the Range. The Necromancer-Class is an approved variant for work in investigation and intelligence fields. The Telepathy Implant is a Smart Circuit that a bunch of deep space anarchists have figured out how to "broadcast" instead of "link", in simple terms, creating something akin to Telepathy as they conceive of it. Both would probably be totally possible? Unsure about using one for the other because as much technological sense as that would make, it feels too much like mixing the flavors in a way that undermines them both ||But you know, you don't actually need the implant to be a Telepath- just free your soul from the Gravity of Language.||
The Minuteman background mentions "your brain was modified" to make the Minuteman stuff possible, is that in reference to the Telepathy Implants or are there more alterations that must be made?
Nah that's just the Implant, plus maybe some nerve splicing and replacement as requested, since the HORUS Cell that invented the implant was gonna be in there anyway.

[cosmic sequoia]

Thank you so much for your responses! This helps me hammer out a lot of details 😄 If I come up with more questions I’ll drop ‘em here, but take your time, and thank you again!

[cosmic sequoia]

Actually, one more question--do the Gestalt Intelligences consist solely of dead people's dreaming implants, or do the living also make up part of that whole?

[wind sedge]

Gestalts are made from the lingering lack of human subjectivity, the living are present. Dead haunt.

[cosmic sequoia]

Gotcha, thank you!

[wind sedge]

Striker/Support
In the depths of Ladon’s Corpse, a HORUS cell has deployed the first recorded mechs of a new P-G recognized by UIB agents placed within the staff of Union Administrators present on-station during the Ketherese Revolt. The HYPEROPTIMISTS are a cell of deep-space anarchists espousing a post-space colonization liberation theory and, by UIB psychohistorical investigation into the larger Spacenoid movement, have long served as an ideological bedrock for liberation movements throughout Ladon’s Corpse. It is to the UIB’s concern that such a cell was only properly discovered when it deployed its first hand-developed weaponry, rather than following traditional HORUS development patterns of incremental design influence expressed through smaller corpro-holdings in relevant technological fields. The technology within observed MINDFLAYER P-G units in recovered flight and combat data from the Imperial Lachesian Gendarmes is obviously derived from modern mechanized frame design. It is not truly alien, in the manner of many more esoteric P-Gs observed in modern flashpoints. It does, however, stand just beyond the bleeding edge of modern scientific understanding.

Core to the Minuteman Units’ great success in the closing days of the Revolt that created the Free Ketherese Commune, the Mindflayer P-G has slowly spread from there, following the lines of influence of the Spacenoid movement and the revolutionary wave spreading from the once imperial colony. Designed for use as a squad-support unit, the P-G is defined by the implementation of a Scalar Interneural Manipulation Field, a blackbox technology poorly understood from collated witness interviews and combat survivors from the Gendarmes. Its effects are distinctly paracausal in ways that fail to register on the Kishiro scale, and will remain as such until UIB is capable of procuring and investigating a working unit.```

[dreamy shoal]

lov spacenoid mechs

[old token]

[silent cradle]

hrm

hrmmm

hrrrrmmmm

[naive dagger]

auric range...

[silent cradle]

auric range....

[naive dagger]

we got UFOs, and flaming telepaths here

[tawdry latch]

And the most terrifying thing of all.

Cops.

[wind sedge]

auric range~!

[cosmic sequoia]

Auntie Lilah's Cyberpunk Juice 😌

[wind sedge]

I read too much and it’ll all be your problems

[tawdry latch]

Problem? This is a solution, we believe.

[silent cradle]

also asked a very important question on the patreon

[silent cradle]

it looooks like

it's either gonna be SSC or Horus

but i'm personally leaning towards SSC first

[old token]

biomecha
biomecha
biomecha
BIOMECHA

[silent cradle]

https://www.patreon.com/posts/ips-n-midway-wip-93381645

hahahahahaha

[silent cradle]

i'm so tempted to just

put this up now

but i will finish it first

THEN it's going up for y'all to see

[silent cradle]

hahahahahahhahahaha

[naive dagger]

YEAH

[zenith wind]

yeah. YEAH

[silent cradle]

next up

BONNEY

then after that

CALICO

[old token]

Huh! I never thought of the Midway as a quadruped, since it's a "police" mech. But it works! The non anthropomorphic shape helps make it seem less human, which fits as a tool for authoritarian oppression

[silent cradle]

four feet makes it better to stomp with.

four boots on four human faces

[old token]

btw I gotta say I really love the role reversal in the lore, with IPSN being the iron boot and HA perceived as the popular liberators

still itching for that SSC goodness though

[wind sedge]

moid talked about the idea while designing it, of the Midway using its legs as barricades and keeping the upper torso free to swing the shield and weapons

It’s good shit

[old token]

that sounds awesome! I'll be honest and say the dynamic pose kinda doesn't convey it as a concept, but it does look pretty freakin' cool

[silent cradle]

the best way to do this would be to have an actual tank.

like at the end of the day this is still art that's meant to make the mech look enticing and fun to play :U

[old token]

I like the dynamic pose! I think it's cool! Conveying the barricade idea would probably require a crowd shot to show how it works and that's way too much work

I think it's absolutely fine as is

[silent cradle]

gotta save that ambition for other pieces 😤

[eternal kite]

decided to check this project out, already liking the Lhotse bcz huggable morale mechs are the best.

[silent cradle]

https://www.patreon.com/posts/93635729

[silent cradle]

hrggghhh

i gotta draw art of atropos as a whole at some point

[thorn yacht]

hello @wind sedge i am rotating (with my very limited imagination) my blorbo from the Auric Range and i am curious about fashion stylings for Clotho's Pharmaecopia. im aware that, according to the fluff piece, Clotho is the "'cleanest' and 'most utopian' of the Sisters" and the Pharmaecopia has very strong ties to SSC, so what do you think some good visual touchstones for their fashion would be? high fashion corporate professional/healthcare professional?

also just for Vibes Based rotation the Goldwing's fluff mentions Baroque and neo-Babylonian printing, are we talkin like. fine metallic filigrees and lots of draping fabrics?

thanks in advance im loving the setting material so far 🙏

[wind sedge]

So Clotho is the most Battle Angel Alita of the settings in my head? I don't... have much in terms of visuals, just kind of a pile of influences at the moment

[thorn yacht]

gotcha gotcha!

i will take this into consideration, thanks for the answer!

[wind sedge]

Specifically LAST ORDER and the sections set in LADDER

[thorn yacht]

tyvm! i will do some Research

[crimson pewter]

GTMC - Grand Theft Mechanized Chassis

[old token]

When mechs are outlawed, only outlaws have mechs

[tawdry latch]

gamer spotted

[errant moth]

Is there a collection on the lore and whatnot of the Auric Range yet?

[wind sedge]

Yes!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lrmqP2XdbnTuaJh6W7S_lYKoPVXfeouQ1FL5SLWz9Og/edit

[errant moth]

danke

[errant moth]

So how heavily is this based on GUNNM?

Cause reading everything I do see some references

Not to be the "wow this reminds me of X" guy, I just notice some pretty heavy references

[wind sedge]

I poured a lot of the vibes into it, in my head the Range is the bastard son of a hundred maniacs of GUNNM and Cyberpunk 2020

[errant moth]

Yeah fair. I can definitely see it

Regardless I love it, especially the Dragon and Blue Doctor

[wind sedge]

Thank you

[wind sedge]

A lot of the ranges writing is me pointing a gun at the audience (you) and saying “read the classics”

so gunnm, sprawl, and 2020 make up a lot of its bones

With Appleseed and Bubblegum and Big O handling some influence

[old token]

I know all corpostates are bad is just, a hard truth of the LANCER setting in general - but I always liked the seeming twist of IPSN being "cast" as the default bad guys in the Range while HA are perceived in a genuinely positive light

Will this be overturned as the Range gets elaborated on or is this just the way things shook out in this side of the galaxy

[wind sedge]

Nah, its just the angle I wanted to take

I wanted to highlight that, you know, like. Union still lets the Corpro States exists which in my mind has to justify them to the utopian mission

HA is not 100% of the time going to be doing their best hardline tankie impression and rolling over everyone they meet

Just as IPS-N is not 100% of the time going to be "The helpful almost-space pirates"

Its a big galaxy and there's a lotta things to do, HA is backing a colonial resistance movement because it aligns with their political goals

IPS-N is churning out cops to try and protect and investment

SSC is doing Mad Science

Part of making HA like, on the right side of things here, is also how hands-off I want to keep them in the Range as a setting

Because there strikes me as a temptation in folks hearts to just use them as an Easy Badguy, and that's boring if the easy badguy is the same every time and is also supplying you 1/4th of your potential gear

Fuck it they're just assholes they're not Permanently The Faction Of Doing Evil

They're Authoritarian Tankies mixed together with the american dream and civic religion, contrast Super Amazon The Space East India Company and SSC's Mad Science

Yeah?

[eternal kite]

I like this approach

cuz I feel like everyone tends to forget that HA doesn't just make murder machines like Genghis, they also made Saladin, a mech so good at defending people it got picked up by the DoJ/HR.

HA is a lot of things, and not all of them involve being the absolute worst. glares at SSC

This is partly why I like IGF so much

[delicate spoke]

👀👀👀👀

[naive dagger]

Reading over the setting draft again, is the City on Atropos by the coast? Imagining it like a mess of concrete and endless seige fortification designed street planning and buildings

Like, you walk down a street and there's solid buildings on either side with concrete gun slots on the walls and empty anti-air gun platforms on the roof, and through the entryway of the building on your right is like, a McDonalds thats set over top of a barebones concrete military bunker interior

[kind island]

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED FOR AN LCP.
Real talk please tell me there is either a Google doc or a LCP cause God I love it

[thorn yacht]

https://nightmareworks.itch.io/field-guide-auric-range-player-mechanics

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lrmqP2XdbnTuaJh6W7S_lYKoPVXfeouQ1FL5SLWz9Og/edit
WIP setting fluff

[naive dagger]

oh another atropos thought, because almost every inch of the city is converted to act as a fortress, with bunkers and tunnels and such, this means guerillas have a lot of room to lay low and exploit, because it is Too Damn Big for the Autocracy to fully man by their military at anything short of total populace mobilization right

so you just get a bunch of those half life 2 guys that live in the sewers

[kindred sparrow]

parisian catacomb cinema but it’s Point Defense Bunker 27K-ß

[naive dagger]

Exactly

in the office of the Autocrat of Atropos, i can only imagine there is a lavish ten foot tall oil painting of Enver Hoxha hanging on the wall behind their desk

[thorn yacht]

[old token]

I love it that through this very circuitous route we've somehow found ourselves in Warhammer 40k again

[wind sedge]

Correct vibes, though the Reverse is on water and the City is on land

[naive dagger]

Ah, no ports or rivers in the City?

[wind sedge]

I think probably canals

Huge megaproject canals

like those storm drains in LA they film movies in

In general the art notes I handed to moid for Atropos were Northern Mexico/Sierra Madres + Brutalist Megastructures

[half pilot]

Ah, the car chase funnels

[naive dagger]

did they create man-made rivers for the city they built near no source of surface water

[wind sedge]

Olmec heads as the foundation to a block that towers out of view, step-pyramid that reaches in defiance to the heavens, cradling a cannon at its peak

[wind sedge]

yeah! probably just pumped it up

part of the idea is that the City and Reverse are on opposite sides of the planet to act as anchor-points for a ring

each is meant to serve as the foundation to a space elevator which only recently got finished

[naive dagger]

so, Hoxhaist Maya Revival architecture for City

[wind sedge]

yes

For the Reverse too, mostly

Outside of those places, that's where the Geoists have taken over bunkerfarms and defanged a bunch of Autoweapons and are busy Being Space Zapatistas

[wind sedge]

@mint sandal hiiii all the auric range stuff is in here

[mint sandal]

Thank you!!

[naive dagger]

wait is the pdf version updated to the latest changes on the gdoc

[wind sedge]

It is not yet but i can Fix That as soon as i take another small hammer to the Heaven's Grace

[naive dagger]

ya

[wind sedge]

and also another set of slightly larger hammers to Goldwing

Bc it needs a Better License

[naive dagger]

goldwing needs better techs

[thorn yacht]

👀

[wind sedge]

yeah the weapons all work the way i want but the techs are still too fiddly and not conveying the fantasy right

telekinesis is hard to impliment, actually

[naive dagger]

and honestly, while the grenades seem useful, i don't really see a distinct use of them? But i am a known anti-grenade theorist so take my opinion with a grain of salt

[wind sedge]

they're mostly there to serve the class fantasy of "I am a Telekinetic"

and yoinking people out of the sky seemed too funny to not include

and the nice little quick action pull on a limsys felt like the right way to give it a less niche but still thematic way of using it

[mint sandal]

I absolutely love how the Blue-Doctor and Forget-Me-Not are parallels in body horror

Blue Doctor especially gives me vibes of Outlast's Wallrider in a way

Whereas Forget-Me-Not reads much more as the G-Virus or The Thing

[wind sedge]

They're both heaaaaavilly based on the Berserker Bodies from Battle Angel Alita!

Plus maybe some warframey aesthetics to complete the biomechanical horror look

[mint sandal]

So to look at them (speaking generally) would there be any obvious differences? Besides the Forget-Me-Not being a shapeshifting meat horror, of course c:

[wind sedge]

Oh, FMG isn't quite shapeshifting? Hrmn

[mint sandal]

I might be mixing up the descriptions tbh!

[wind sedge]

Blue Doctor is a body it looks human at first glance. It is a Berserker's Body, a body designed to constantly self-evolve into a better weapon- with a human brain inside to focus the evolutionary potential of the Body.

[mint sandal]

Oh that's horrifying

[wind sedge]

Forget-Me-Not is a biomachina, the final product of SSC's controled evolution of the cells into a weapon meant for mass-production (as mass as SSC produces, you know yeah?) chained by a human subjectivity and its own lack of proper subjectivity. It's a full scale mech made out of biomechanics- metal and meat blended

[mint sandal]

That's ALSO horrifying LOL

I love them so much

I'm sure I read one of your little ficlets too where FMN was the doc going "oh, I can do better than FMN" and then we got... that

[wind sedge]

oh yes~ D Nohva prefers his Blue Doctors to the FMN

[eternal kite]

Just read Blue Doctor. That thing feels like a walking FCA Violation and I fear using it in case RA gets uppity.

[wind sedge]

Its not~!

[tawdry latch]

Pretty sure the Blue Doctor isn't decorp in a way that violates the First Contact Accords.

[eternal kite]

It just feels like it

[tawdry latch]

and also RA isn't omniscient, it can't stop you until it finds out

[wind sedge]

There's still a brain in it, there's no transition of subjectivity

Just the usage of human subjecivity as a chain for one of the Five Fiendish Weapons Of Old Mankind

[eternal kite]

Redwash nanites do be fucked up

aight here's another question: since you have to put your brain inside the Blue Doctor, does that mean you can't eject or use Black Thumb since you lack a body other than Blue Doctor?

[wind sedge]

talk to your GM about using blackthumb but i'm pretty sure i explicitly laid out you can't eject

[eternal kite]

ok ya did, I just misread it

you did specify "the pilot may only dismount during full rests or repairs"

If I were running a campaign, I'd say no blackthumb for this frame personally, but that's just my ruling

also just got to Beholder, I dig this

the whole thing reads as a mental breakdown given form as a chassis that exists to destroy and that's wicked.

and y'know

unsubtle criticism of idol culture

is based

[old token]

Considering the brutalism + latin American indigenous cultures art influences,

Jorge González Camarena (1908 – 1980), mexican muralist
biiig HA vibes off of that for me personally

[silent cradle]

yeah there's a reason i'm doing SSC after I draw the Calico next week.

it's gonna be some fucking freaky shit

[wind sedge]

ADVANCED BODIES BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP FOR VIOLENCE

[thorn yacht]

[eternal kite]

FLESH AUTOMATON POWERED BY NEUROTRANSMITTORS.

[wind sedge]

Beautiful bodies, grown from Berserker Cells, chained with the karmatronic dynamism of the human brain

And also Goldwing

[eternal kite]

oh god I just realized that Blue Doctor literally turns you into the Cruelty Squad protag.

[wind sedge]

Naaah

Zapan and Alita :3

[eternal kite]

true

[wind sedge]

(The two characters I stole the ideas from lmao)

[thorn yacht]

can't wait for Goldwing art 😭
if Goldwing has 1,000,000 fans I'm one of them
if Goldwing has 5 fans I'm one of them
if Goldwing has 1 fan that fan is me
if the entire world is against Goldwing I'm against the entire world
til my last breath I support Goldwing

[silent cradle]

alright guys i got goldwing ready to go

[eternal kite]

https://tenor.com/view/byuntear-incrives-meme-meme-react-gif-25029710

[thorn yacht]

https://tenor.com/view/thanos-snap-emoji-crying-gif-22298553

[wind sedge]

please understand

that is canon

[thorn yacht]

I feel I have been duped—but I stand by my convictions.

Goldwing my beloved

[naive dagger]

doing funny tech crits to build up a judgement cut

[thorn yacht]

it's so fucking cool RAHHHHH

[naive dagger]

very cool! i've liked playing it so it can get refined more

i've also found The Gun That Cannot Kill Grunts on the beholder to be very funny

in that i've only managed to hit a single grunt with it

across both playtests ive used it, just down to pure luck

[thorn yacht]

I need to play the Goldwing sometime

Goldwing is my comfort character

[old token]

btw has any playtesting been done wrt the Stratego talent? I absolutely love it to be clear, I think being able to interface directly with a GM's ability to predict terrain and deployment of reinforcements or player characters is a phenomenal concept, but because it is so novel a way to mechanically empower players in LANCER I want to be sure it hasn't acutely overturned the balance of the game

[wind sedge]

its been Annoying But Fine and therefore pretty fun in the tests i've been running

i'd definitely want some other gms to experience how it goes

[old token]

great! and hard boiled? when I initially looked over the Range mechanics I thought it was very cool but I've GMed a few more games since then and I can definitely see how powerful Dive and Roll can be

[wind sedge]

Hard Boiled hasn't been tested out yet!

[old token]

Good to know - maybe I can do a one-shot as a player and pitch incorporating it into my build

if I get greenlit I'll definitely report back

[fading lion]

After making an entire MSMC battalion based off of the two SSC berserker licenses, I have realized that the Armory probably would have attempted to track down D. Nohva for their super soldier project which ended spectacularly messily for the armory but I imagine Nohva was unimaginably proud of his creations!

[wind sedge]

Well i have plans for him as a villain!

[fading lion]

OOO

[thorn yacht]

👁️

[cosmic sequoia]

👀

[kind island]

God I had a player who did both blue doctor and the forget me not. That man was a damn menace let me tell you.

Duelist, Vanguard, and Gunslinger paired with those licenses was a menace

Also god the lore on it and the FMN leave it ripe for story.

[fading lion]

:)

Why do you think I made an entire MSMC battalion based off them

[delicate spoke]

i dont think the original post is pinned, just the npcs, could we get these pinned when you have the chance?

also again, stuff in here so cool

[delicate spoke]

TY!!!!

[silent cradle]

posting this here too.

https://gofund.me/57bb0da1

because the best way to help make art and layout progress happen is to help give me stable ground, either by helping me pay off my luxury bones or by assisting with the patreon.

either goes a LONG way towards helping me out

[eternal kite]

Currently on the Patreon, but I might be able to float some money towards this, will check in the mornin

[round adder]

Does the free scan from Automatic Bounty Feed interact with the Orator 1 talent?

[wind sedge]

The what now

I’ve never seen Orator as a talent, and Bounty Feed has been reworked into its own talent?

[dreamy shoal]

Orator is a talent from the Siren's Song module

#bot-stuff message

[wind sedge]

Right, cool! I have no idea.

Guess we’ll see if anything breaks lmao

[dreamy shoal]

We have some precedent with the Chomolungma's free action Scan not activating Orator

[wind sedge]

I’d imagine with this precedent and how Orator seems to be written that the free scan Bounty 3 gives out won’t really apply, cause the scan is a component of declaring a Bounty, not a Scan Action it’s using to represent gundam style chatter

[round adder]

Huh, the version my GM shared still lists it as a core power.

[wind sedge]

Lemme see if I can’t update you when im back on my computer

[round adder]

They got it from the itch.io page. The LCP there also seems to have a different version of the core power than then PDF

[wind sedge]

Damn things, I’ll see what I can manage

This should have up to date with the PDF

[wind sedge]

@round adder

[round adder]

Thank you.

[kind island]

Thank you so much! Got a player who's play testing the bonnie paired with blue doctor and forget-me-not and it's weird. Like it works fine and all but a Bonnie with bio mechanical parts is frankly terrifying lol

[wind sedge]

Hehehehhe yaaay

[stiff field]

Quick clarification on the IPS-N Calico: The use of the word "brace" in the Mag-Rail Delivery Trait does not indicate it's activating the Brace Reaction, correct?

[stiff field]

Also, what type of save does the Horus Dragon's Venosapience Trait force? Or is it an untyped, "naked" d20 roll?

I do greatly appreciate the Nier Automata references in the Solomon, I wasn't expecting that one

[wind sedge]

It’s descriptive, not the action

It’s digging in

[wind sedge]

i keep forgetting to decide

i figure it’ll eventually settle on engineering

[wind sedge]

is there now bc i was blasting potempkins theme the entire time

[stiff field]

Thank you! Really like what you put out, told my players last night they can use it

[stiff field]

I just latched onto the "become as gods" and "glory to all mankind" bits

[fading lion]

@wind sedge question: is the integrated weapon on the Blue doctor restricted to ONLY being used in the core power or can i just skirmish with it

[wind sedge]

Only with the core

[kind island]

Yeah my group kinda came to that conclusion too with how it's worded. Buuuuut the Gm thought it would be funny to have it as a kinda super mode where it's available only when you activate the core power and then for the rest of the scene you get the reaction and can use the weapons but only the claws and the spitters. Actually balanced pretty well. Figured I would pass it on. Works good either way though. Great peek-a-boo I KILL YOU button when normal.

Used it to horrify a bunch of Assault grunts into surrendering when I basically did a lol bifurcate to their commanding officer.

[wind sedge]

Basically the reason its not a scenelong is because scenelong buffs sort of encourage you to Just Pop It At The Start

and i preferred the "Okay I'm gonna counterhit this attack"

[kind island]

I can dig it. Honestly it's a great jump scare for some NPCs.

[fringe inlet]

What's the Idea with the dragon's licensed pressurewasher? It seems really low output for a heavy? Is reliable that valuable?

Jsut one of those weapons I struggle to understand, lmao

[wind sedge]

AoE Reliable, Burn, where you're allowed to drop a Line 3 anywhere within 5 of your mech

I figured it was a lot of consistent damage

And a lot of consistent AP Damage on an AoE, which is rather rare

[fringe inlet]

... wait Burn?

Isn't it Kinetic?

[wind sedge]

2 Reliable, 2 Kinetic + 3 Burn?

you're getting like 4.5 AP damage off the burn when you hit, and getting to do that to multiple people felt like a good little tool

[wind sedge]

where the fuck is the burn i put on it.

[fringe inlet]

That explains why it was deeply confusing to me cause I don't have no burn.

[wind sedge]

sorry, four burn

the reliable is literally just there for funsies its mostly a Burn Delivery Mechanism

as is much of the Dragon's License

[fringe inlet]

That's why it looked so intensely out of place.

[wind sedge]

also, i hate!! making LCPs!! fuck!!

[fringe inlet]

Just a little plinkin heavy.

My first thought was if it was AP it would maybe fit in into Pegasus :p

[wind sedge]

nah it doesn't benefit enough from peggy's talentsuite

peggy actually wants things that roll for damage so that it can just take the Flat Average instead

a consistent 4(3.5) instead of a random d6

its funny that way - w-

[fringe inlet]

Yeah, but most things in Pegasus's license seems not to want to roll, hence the joke.

[delicate spoke]

I FEEL THIS

[finite torrent]

I think I found a bug

I was messing around with builds and paired Blue Doctor's Cell Blade with Gyges Frame

Why does it say it has 11 Threat?

Should be 2 no?

[fringe inlet]

Compcoooon

I think there is a typo in the Forget-Me-Nots core power reaction? Unless it is meant to be He'lls?

[fringe inlet]

May I inquire about the intended playstyle of the Blue Doctor? It seems like a "Weapon platform"

And does Ripper swarm only work on weapons that innately have charges?

also the effects of "Guilt" in Blue doctor's Contrition Memetics don't have an end clause

[broken ridge]

That kinds of stuff happens with the lcp editor sometimes (though I think the bug may be fixed?), where it writes numbers as strings instead of values. So it'd be a threat value of "1", which means that bonus threat gets glued onto that, instead of just 1, where it would add properly.

Fun with code, right? :L

[fringe inlet]

🥺

[wind sedge]

Ripper swarm should, have charges on it? It’s a mod with charges

Also the play style is I UNNO

I kinda threw a bunch of fun ideas together and let it rock

If it works for Metalmark

[fringe inlet]

I will check.

[wind sedge]

Use the doc

The doc is what I trust more than the lcp that just breaks on me ; 3;

[fringe inlet]

It does in the LCP too!

I just got confused. :p

[wind sedge]

hi i'm here to help you all understand my mind palace for the auric range real quick

[thorn yacht]

YOOOOO

[minor gyro]

i just want you to know that im checking out the fg to auric range and its so so good lovin this

[wind sedge]

yaaaaay

[stiff field]

Does anyone have experience with the Blue Doctor's Biomachina Heart or Forget-Me-Not's Monstrosity Traits in play? As GM, I currently see three possible ways to handle it:

1. Just don't include situations where Player Characters need to disembark in a combat zone.
2. Include those situations, pilots of those mecha get to just kind of stew, this isn't an unexpected outcome (though it does feel like a rude one).
3. Allow pilots of those mecha to use a remote-operated subaltern, like what Legionnaire describes for NHP pilots.

[kind island]

So I played as a blue doctor before . Something to keep in mind is it's a size 1/2 mech so it can get into a lot of places bigger mechs can't. It's honestly kinda terrifying if you think about it. And as for the whole you down if the mech is down thing I find that as a suitable trade off for what it gives. I don't really have any experience with the forget-me-not outside of a battle buddy of mine using it with a couple other things making it so it could be downsized to 1/2 as well so we kinda were in the same boat there.

[wind sedge]

3 is what i imply with the blue Doctor “growing” a civvie body and FMN letting you out in downtime

[stiff field]

Sorry for the lack of clarity, I did read the text that during Long Rests or Downtime the pilots get ways to go on foot.
I meant specifically how folks have handled story beats or Narrative segments that require disembarking. Like, maybe immediately after the first Tactical Combat of a Mission, the Player Characters need to chase an enemy VIP into a sewer or elsewhere that doesn't allow mecha.

My thought with the subalterns in 3 was that if the player doesn't have a Full Repair (I used the wrong term above) or longer, they'd have an opportunity to still participate in hoofing it but with a small penalty.

[delicate spoke]

another idea i had for a blue doctor pilot was someone who was made into an android/near-decorped into a mechanical body, that the blue doctor then grew around

it was my idea on how someone could also switch to piloting other mechs they have

they simply. shed their skin.

[stiff field]

In that case, their human-scale body was basically the core (or seed crystal I guess?) for the Blue Doctor? That's neat, I don't think I've seen that with actual mecha before.

[tawdry latch]

A answer, though not The answer is that they simply do it anyways, at least in a Blue Doctor, given that's their Body, y'know?

[delicate spoke]

A lot of the stuff in my mind that goes on with the blue doctor is like

Things inspired by venom, chainsaw man, and parasyte

The character concept I had, their blue doctor "skin" just looked like a person

[tawdry latch]

yeah those are good vibes for it we think

[wind sedge]

oh ic!!

yeah usually i just let people walk around in their BD, describing them as extra tall and having civvies shy away from someone who is obviously in a milgrade body

For the FMN it'd be just unhooking the brainjacks that keep the beast under control while its heart is a thrumming

[delicate spoke]

In my brain they also kind of looked like Larry from pokemon

Something extremely inconspicuous, almost too much so

[delicate spoke]

hey idk if this is still worked on but could we get it pinned or put in the og post?

itd be cool to find/see

[delicate spoke]

Looking through all of this with the software engineer/playtesting wife

Taking notes
May provide those notes at some point, If they're too long I may put them into Google doc

[old token]

I'd like to second the question about if this FG might still get worked on

I know there are a bunch of projects for the designers already and real life considerations that of course come first, but an update on current status would be appreciated. Thanks!

[autumn relic]

Was going back over the Auric Range mechs again today and getting some really fun ideas for builds and character tweaks with 'em for a couple of my pilots not in super heavy play lately. Great stuff.

The Blue Doctor and Forget-me-not are neat

[wind sedge]

Thank you hiii

I’m trying to bang it with hammers again

[autumn relic]

Got a question regaring the core system/integrated weapon(s) on the Blue Doctor @wind sedge: are the Plasma Spitters/Rippers always usable within normal action econ (i.e., to Skirmish as a quick) akin to stuff like the Emperor's Marathon Arc, or are the exclusively only able to be attacked with when popping core as part of a Brace?

[wind sedge]

The intent was the latter?

But if that ends up no good i might just let her do it

[autumn relic]

was unsure, thanks for clarifying!

[stiff field]

Is the Blue Doctor's Guilt Invade option meant to be an "Until the end of their next turn," ability? I've been treating it as such but it doesn't hurt to check

[wind sedge]

Yes! I am a silly creature who often assumes that “statuses” automatically fall off sidfhj

[stiff field]

Thank you! I use the same general rule, I guess the exceptions normally explicitly say that they're exceptions? Or are Structure/Stress results.

[round adder]

Hey, I just found out that installing the this lcp adds four skill triggers to comp/con even while it's disabled. Is that just how skill triggers in lcps work for some reason?

Apparently this is a known bug with comp/con

[wind sedge]

I... have no idea. lcps are hard and i barely know how to get them running.

[round adder]

Yeah, I don't think you did anything wrong, I think this is on comp/con's end.

[autumn relic]

noticing a bug in the current publically-available LCP for the pack, at least when used in Foundry VTT on Foundry v10:

Haven't checked on other frames yet, but the Blue Doctor shows up like this in the mech sheet

@wind sedge (apologies for ping)

[wind sedge]

its cool!

i have. no idea how to do LCP stuff, much less how it works with VTTs?

[autumn relic]

Fair enough

Would you be alright with me seeing if I can get it working at all? Can't promise success but would be bummed out if I couldn't use the great Auric content in Foundry properly

[wind sedge]

absolutely, go ham

i do not know how to program

[tawdry latch]

We think some of these might have been coded in as strings instead of numbers

But that's a sheer guess

[autumn relic]

Probably yeah

will take a look tonight or tomorrow, see if I can fix 'em

[autumn relic]

I'm not entirely sure why it wasn't playing nice with Foundry VTT (beyond the likely aspect of something maybe mistakenly being a string instead of a number or variable entry? Foundry wouldn't like that much with all the automation-scripting the LANCER system for it does), but I did take a look at it and re-export and test in a Foundry instance so I think this shouldn't be bugged out any more now

Made no changes at all beyond making sure it works right in-VTT; should be identical to the prior version in every other way

[bold hawk]

Hello, loving the Solomon, but I had a few questions about its Core

• Is "Raise Up the Temple" the only way to deploy Shield Pillars, or can the Solomon deploy one as a Quick Action whenever?
• Does "Energized Pulse" require the Core to have been activated, or can it be used whenever?

[wind sedge]

It must use core to deploy the pillars, the pulse requires the core to be active

[wind sedge]

There’s been things that are much easier to word outside of comp/con that implementing them into it has futz’d with- the wording in my google doc is always what I point to as the “definitive” text

[bold hawk]

Gotcha, thanks