Mech Rider - Solo Lancer (OEF) (2022-07-18)
Mech Rider - Solo Lancer (OEF) (2022-07-18)
Mech Rider - Solo Lancer (OEF) (2022-07-18)
1
CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................ 3
Questions.................................................................................... 6
NPCs ..................................................................................11
Downtime .................................................................................19
Mech Missions.........................................................................20
Deployment ..........................................................................20
2
INTRODUCTION
So this is a solo roleplaying supplement for Lancer. Solo
roleplaying is, to many people, a strange niche within our
hobby. I see people deride it as just writing a story or
daydreaming. It is, of course, neither.
3
In this kind of setup, the dispatch riders cease to be just
units on the map if they are represented at all but become
individuals with their own adventures.
4
All of those examples involved using dice or cards to
introduce random elements. This isn’t different from rolling
to find your character’s background or rolling for a mission
goal. Or rolling for the adventure hook.
5
QUESTIONS
Questions are one of the cornerstones of solo play. The
fourth GM Principle in the GM’s Toolkit reads:
6
CLOSED QUESTIONS
This is the process of asking a closed question.
7
If the skill was successful, now you can ask the question,
“Are there any tracks?”
The answer, in this case, is creating the reality for your pilot
on the ground.
8
If you have no preconception about the outcome, you will
roll a single d20. But for each factor that makes a positive
outcome more likely, you add one accuracy die .
For each factor that makes the positive oucome less likely
you add a difficulty die .
When you consider every factor, you cancel out the dice
until you either have no added dice or just positive or
negative ones.
By this stage you will have either a d20 or a d20 with one
or more accuracy or difficulty dice attached. You roll the
dice and compare the result to this table.
Roll Result
1-9 Unfortunately
10-19 Fortunately
20+ Exceptional
9
UNFORTUNATELY
FORTUNATELY
This is the yes answer. Just like the negative above, it is intended
to draw more out of your imagination. Fortunately… there is a fire
escape that opens onto a back alley.
EXCEPTIONAL
10
NPCS
But what if you have nearly gotten them killed the last three
times? Now you are stacking up the negative/Difficulty
dice. They may hang back, but not because they are
covering your flank!
PLOT TWISTS
11
You need to make a subjective call. Is your character ahead
of the curve? Are they moving faster than the bad news of
your attack? Is the enemy on the back foot? If any of these
apply, you can give yourself an .
If, on the other hand, you are being reactive, you are on the
back foot, and the bad guys have the upper hand, give
yourself a .
Now ask the question before the next scene starts, “Is
everything as I expected?” and apply your positive or
negative dice.
12
OPEN QUESTIONS
Open Questions are harder to answer in so much as no dice
roll can know your exact situation or cover every possible
answer.
Roll once on each table and select the two words. This is
your basic imagination prompt.
13
D20 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20
14
D20 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20
15
It can take some practice to get used to interpreting these
prompts. Once you get the hang of it, these tables can be
used for any situation.
MASHING PROMPTS
GOALS
16
The second method uses the Hooks from the GM’s Toolkit.
Roll once on the table. This will point you to a paragraph
expanding on the prompt. Take the first sentence of that
prompt. Then move on to the next prompt and take the
second sentence from the next, the third sentence from the
next, and so on. If you reach Dungeon, the last hook, wrap-
around, and carry on from Long Ride Down (the first
prompt. Carry on until you reach the last sentence of a
hook.
Now you have the hook, make any changes needed to make
it coherent.
These mixed-up goals and hooks can form the core of your
briefing. You can solo play this scene. An officer or
17
politician explains the situation. You can ask questions and
use the question tools to get answers. When you can
imagine what the boots on the ground scene will be, end
your briefing and move to the first scene.
18
DOWNTIME
Downtime is perfectly suited to being solo played. Decide
what you want to achieve, and play, using the question
tools to fix the scenes, up to the crucial moment. The point
at which things could go either way.
That is the moment you roll for the Downtime Action. Once
you know the result, then you play out the rest of the scene.
19
MECH MISSIONS
At some point, you will want to run a mech combat. The
SITREPs in the core rules will give you simple templates to
set up your combat scenes.
DEPLOYMENT
It is worth spending some time creating stock mechs to use
as villains. You can number or code these stock mechs.
When you set up the battle, write the code for each kind of
mech on a slip of paper, and fold them over so you cannot
see what is written on each slip. Now you can put these
slips of paper on the map. You do not reveal what is written
on the slip until you can see or detect the mech. This will
force you to operate under incomplete information. This
can change your tactical choices.
20
D6 Aggressive Action Defensive Action
21
GENERAL SOLO ADVICE
What follows is a collection of solo playing tips that will
make getting started with Lancer a little easier.
GOOD ENOUGH
START SMALL
22
further, and so on. The game can turn into a game of 20
questions. That is not the intention. I suggest visualizing
what answers look like before rolling to avoid this situation.
EXTREMES
23