Lancer - Hullbreaker

[pale slate]

"Until the House of Stone lends its ear to our demands, that being the diversion of blockade-bound resources to our shipyards, and the dissolution of the intensive work quotas that remain in spite of deficiencies in materiel, We, the people of the Jovian Shipyards, will lay no hand on any Baronic Ship within the reaches of Khayradin."

Lancer - Hullbreaker (Working Title) is a third-party campaign module for Lancer that centers itself around the region of Khayradin, the seat of the House of Stone's power, and several orbiting shipyards known collectively as the Jovian Shipyards that have refused all services to the Noble Houses of the Baronies.

It is a 5 mission campaign inspired by the likes of the official Shadow of the Wolf and No Room For A Wallflower campaign modules, telling the tale a group of Kavalieres dispatched by Baronic Unified Command in response to a possible Ungrateful uprising on the House of Stone's territory.

The campaign demands force and finesse in equal measure - fight in low gravity fields against microfactions of the Jovian Ungratefuls that would see the Shipyards engage in full blown armed combat against the House of Stone, bring senior names to the table to ensure peaceful resolution between Ungrateful and Noble House, and discover a conspiracy that threatens to set the realm of Khayradin ablaze with the fires of war.

Alongside this, Hullbreaker currently presents the following:

• An extensive guide to the Jovian Shipyards, a collection of stations and workyards that have gone on strike in protest of the nearby Khayradin’s lack of support towards their work.
• A diverse cast of characters to grow attached to.
• New pieces of exotic gear to equip your mechs with.
• Two new Lancer frames to take action with:

The HA Keitel, a highly mobile alternative frame for the Sherman that makes use of its excess heat to teleport short distances.
The IPS-N Coram, a supportive IPS-N frame that blinds enemies with jamming technology, enabling its allies to close in.

As of now, it is currently being worked on, with a prospective release date of August 30.

Below is the link to the draft document. The name is subject to change as it is expanded.

CURRENT IMPLEMENTATIONS
(V) = Finished
(I) = In Progress
(X) = Incomplete

• Overview (V)

• The Jovian Shipyards (V)

A more comprehensive overview of the Jovian Shipyards, a collection of workyards and shipbuilding lanes that have seen fit to halt production until they receive support.

• Hullbreaker (X)

The titular campaign of Hullbreaker. It is made up of 5 missions, including narrative and combat scenes, along with some guidance for tying them together into a cohesive story.

• Appendices

New player options for use in your games of Lancer. This includes new character backgrounds, pilot gear, variant Frames and new Licenses. There are plans for new bonds.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uxssI29stg-ExJ06qtHiXZKaJzxcAX-ONnVdIPEveDw/edit?usp=sharing

[pale slate]

Change Note

• Removed 'setting basics' section and edited intro to avoid too much similarity to Shadow of the Wolf. Fine line between inspiration and rip off.

[storm marsh]

Interesting approach to have you be playing as what would be the villains in every other Lancer module

why this approach specifically?

[pale slate]

I'm generally intrigued by way the KTB go about things.

Although Union is definitely a good faction to play as (Hey, who doesn't want to be working for utopia?)

I find that they can be a little one-note, and their aversion to throwing their military weight around in favor of negotiation makes it difficult for me, personally, to write modules and stories with them that aren't some variation of Solstice Rain or Winter Scar.

In contrast, the KTB are a little more loose with their might, yet they aren't trigger happy either. I feel this gives me more flexibility in the writing for both player and GM - Yes, you are doing strike breaking, that's an inherently unethical action, but that doesn't mean I have to go drop the hammer on them as hard as i can. There's a bit of room to wriggle about

I won't deny that its a difficult approach to write any 'good guy' story with, though.

[pale slate]

Progress today, working on the lore for the JOvian Shipyards.

As of now the Shipyards have an undefined amount of stations split into three types.

• Creches, which serve as nearby hab-blocks and living quarters for workers and their families. As of now, their naming scheme is that of major cities within the Concern with a prefix of Duo-. I.E. Duo-Cosimo.
• Workyards, tubular structures where the keels of various ships are laid. Naming scheme is that of families, genera, and species of flowers (I.E. Calendula Yard)
• Salvage Rings, large hexagonal stations with multiple yards for breaking down ships. Dangerous, but highly lucrative for an ignoble. They follow the same naming scheme as the Workyards (I.E. Taraxacum Ring)

[terse marsh]

Just looked at this, Other then some grammar this looks very promising!

[pale slate]

oo yey!

Ye, i noticed you around, thanks for the suggestions, I'll implement them

[pale slate]

I just wanted to post this paragraph because i think its funny, and we could use a bit of humor in our 'horrible worker conditions' supplement.

the humor, of course, being greedy overseers overstepping their boundaries and getting sacked when they ended up hemorrhaging workers.

[pale slate]

Brainstorming better names than hullbreaker

• Bannerbreaker
• No Gods, No Masters
• New Dawn Fades
• Rain Over Hell
• Solidarity Then, Solidarity Now
• The Taxmen Sent Running

[pale slate]

• In Chains No More

[pale slate]

Began working on the plot beats.

There are 5 missions

---

Mission 1: Industrial Action

Mission 2: Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get?

Mission 3: Which Side Are You On?

Mission 4: We Shall Not Be Moved

Mission 5: Solidarity Forever

---

Fun fact, each mission, save for the Mission One, is named after an American work song.

• Mission 2 is from Sixteen Tons
• Mission 3 is from Which Side Are You On?
• Mission 4 is from We Shall Not Be Moved
• Mission 5 is from Solidarity Forever

[terse marsh]

Nice work!

[pale slate]

Reworking the flow of Missions.

• Industrial Action is being reworked for small time combat operations and narrative scenes to emphasize 'Force and Finesse in equal measure' that is prevalent through the mission

• Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get? Now has the original introductory mission of stopping Ungrateful Cells from hijacking a Karrakin corvette

building Rosters for the relevant factions

[pale slate]

Current objective is
Figure out how to involve “finesse”…

[pale slate]

Rest day, no work today

[pale slate]

Progress goals for the week

• write the combat beats for mission 1

• Finalize mission 5’s summary plot

[pale slate]

Slowly putting in the stuff for the peeps.

Roster made for base enemies and elites.

[pale slate]

More characters have been added to NPCs as I fles out the GM section.

important NPCs split between Jovian ungratefuls and Magus Triad admin

[pale slate]

classes and work taking a sledgehammer to my head as i do this.
Smol hiatus this week

if i can make stuff, i'll make stuff

[pale slate]

Focus work will return soon
Tomorrow’s goals are to get the first beat’s contents done.

And by that
I mean go beyond summary

Oh, and details for Crèche Duo-Dellamar

[pale slate]

Finally, Summary complete
onto writing beat contents

[pale slate]

Magus Triad description complete.

Secion 1 shoul dbe donezo

[pale slate]

More musing over possible better names

• Defiant Sons
• Stonefall
• Our Future In Smoke
• To Draw Blood From A Stone

[pale slate]

Finally
FINALLY trying to push through to the beats.

ehh, i still have a few months
like
3 months to go

[pale slate]

whoopsy, guess who forgot that he had to fill in the clock sections.
I'll need to finish that.

after that, HTEN its the beats

writing's a lot of work

[pale slate]

Small updates - I'm still alive, but crunching finals
work will recommence nextweek. Hopefully I'll be able to do playtests soon

[pale slate]

Hey friends,
To catch people up, work on the actual meat of the module is finally commencing, and I'll be able to try and playtest in a few weeks.

In light of these delays, i'm bumping the prospective release date of Hullbreaker to August 30

[pale slate]

Beat 1: The Mage's Tower, First Draft
Status: Complete!

Have a peek at the related scene here. If there any comments to be made or suggestions, feel free to list them.

The plan is for Beat 1 to be an introductory beat for PCs to be introduced to one another and for the major administration personnel, namely Lord Animos, to be introduced.

Beat 2: The Groundwork is intended to be a short pre-briefing, so players can get a detail of the situation as it is before being given their first mission in Mission 1: Industrial Action

[pale slate]

Lancer - Hullbreaker

Officated Hullbreaker as the new name.

And I continue to write.

Beat 2 is... proving difficult, but with any luck i can get it done soon and move onto mission 1.

[sterile epoch]

Out of curiosity, are you planning on this being the kind of campaign that has a branching path where you realize maybe these Ungratefuls might have a point? Or planning to play it as a pretty straight evil campaign as written?

I'm just very curious either way. Don't see too many villain protags in Lancer.

[pale slate]

The actual idea IS for the players to end up needing to work for the Ungratefuls.

I’m not skilled enough for a branching path and
I’ll be honest
This module wouldn’t be very popular if it was strictly villainous.