Putting the “Object” Back into “Objective”

Lancer Objectives are weird. When the goal is to Escort or Extract an Objective from the battlefield, the Objective is neither a “Character” (like a piloted mech or bus) nor an “Object” (like a wagon full of rocks), but a “secret third thing” that is treated as neither. Nominally, this is because Lancer has a plethora of mechanics that can force the movement of Characters and Objects. Therefore, treating the Objective as neither means that players can’t “cheat” the Objective across the map in an anticlimactic fashion.

I understand the intent of this rule, but I carry two grievances against it:

• The “Secret Third Thing” follows arbitrary rules inexplicably different from other items in the game world. New players often struggle to intuit those rules.
• In the case of Objects, I’m not convinced that Lancer actually requires this special designation. (Characters are a completely different bag of cats, mostly due to issues like allied grapples and mechs that end in “-unzi”.)

To dig into this, I want to start by comparing how Lancer handles interacting with unsecured Objects to how it handles Escort Objectives. By the end of this article, I hope to have a working model of how to use Lancer’s Lifting and Dragging rules for moving Object-like Objectives with minimal houserules to smooth any gaps.

Objectives & Objects

From Lancer’s rules for Escort & Extraction Objectives:

An object or person of SIZE 1/2–2. The Objective has 10 HP per level of SIZE, EVASION 10, E-DEFENSE 10, and no ARMOR. Enemy forces want the Objective and will not willingly damage it. When a character starts their turn adjacent to the Objective, it moves with them when they make their standard move. If the Objective is ever adjacent to two characters of opposing sides, it stops moving and can’t move until it is only adjacent to characters from one side. The Objective doesn’t move on its own.

Lancer, pp. 269 & 270, or for free through the Encounter Builder for COMP/CON.

To boil this down, the following are most important for keeping the Objective “fair”:

1. The Objective is something that a mech can move. It can’t fit easily fit in a mech, but isn’t so big as to be impossible for most folks to push around.
2. The Objective should generally only move during a character’s standard movement, not any bonus movement they might have.
3. The Objective can be contested by an opposing character.

Now, to compare Lancer’s Lifting and Dragging rules:

Mechs can drag characters or objects up to twice their SIZE but are SLOWED while doing so. They can also lift characters or objects of equal or lesser SIZE overhead but are IMMOBILIZED while doing so. While dragging or lifting, characters can’t take reactions. The same rules apply to pilots and other characters on foot, but they can’t drag or lift anything above SIZE 1/2.

Lancer, p. 62.

Conveniently, this handles points 1 and 2 for “Fair Objectives”:

1. Size 1 mechs (the most common size) can handle objects up to Size 2; Size 1/2 mechs can handle up to Size 1. This generally fits the Size 1/2 to 2 window that Objectives adhere to.
2. Dragging Slows a mech. It can’t use any bonus movement to move an object, only its standard movement. This fits the “standard movement only” requirement of Objectives.

This is a strong start! I believe that the Lifting and Dragging rules could actually enforce the rules for Objectives with a little homebrewed assistance to fill the gaps.

Filling in the Gaps

At the moment, the gaps to address include:

• What action must a character take to initiate a lift or drag on an Object?
• How does a character contest the movement of a dragged Object?
• What happens if the dragging character possesses special ways to use their standard movement (like flight or teleportation)?

My answers may not be definitive, but hopefully they’ll present a reasonable prototype.

Initiating a Lift or Drag

I am of two schools of thought when it comes to initiating a lift or drag:

• Grapples against another character (even a friendly one!) require a Quick Action and successful attack roll. Therefore, initiating a drag should be a Quick Action.
• Objectives automatically move with another character that starts adjacent to them. Therefore, initiating a drag should be a Protocol (if the GM enforces the start-of-turn requirement) or a Free Action (if they aren’t).

On one hand, starting a drag with a Quick Action encourages commitment to the Objective. On the other, using a Protocol or Free Action hews closer to the original intent (especially so if it’s possible to use the Free Action to drag on other characters’ turns). I can see the merits of both approaches, so I want to test them out before committing to one or another. I might write this rule like:

“As an [action], a character may start to handle an adjacent object or willing character by lifting or dragging them. A character may choose to stop handling an object as a free action.”

Consolidating “lifting and dragging” into “handling” should be an easier keyword to work with. I would then put this entry after the second sentence of the Lifting and Dragging paragraph above.

Contesting a Lift or Drag

So, what actually happens when two opposing characters attempt to lift and/or drag the same object? Put simply: It doesn’t move. There could be an argument that this could work like Grappling and all characters “connected” to the drag move together! However, I would much prefer sticking to the original “Objective Contesting” rules for this house rule, for simplicity’s sake.

This is how I might write out this rule:

“If a character starts to handle an object handled by a opposing character, the object does not move until it is only handled by characters allied with each other.

If a character handling an object is involuntarily moved such that they are no longer adjacent to the object, they cease to handle the object.”

This should cover most cases of contesting an Objective. The only oddity is that contesting can only occur once an opposing character uses an action to handle the object, meaning that walking an Objective past an enemy won’t automatically begin a contest. However, Lancer’s typical rules for Engagement (which causes a character’s movement to stop when moving adjacent to a hostile character) may be adequate to handle this “stickiness”! If not, there’s always the option to rule that handling requires no action to initiate.

Flight & Teleportation (Or, How to Stop the Sunzi)

We are all thinking it. What happens if the character handling an object flies or teleports as part of their standard move? By default, Lancer’s flying rules forbid carrying characters or objects larger than Size 1/2. To keep the Dusk Wing from moving the Objective 10 spaces upward out of contesting range, I’d consider either completely disallowing carrying objects during flight, or applying an “altitude limit” (i.e., flight can occur, but it must be no higher than 0-1 spaces above the ground). This preserves the ability to ignore difficult terrain without demanding that opposing characters pack their own flight systems to stop a flying objective. (I would also use this rule for Jumping with an Object, most relevant for mechs with Kai Bioplating.)

Teleportation, on the other hand, has no such size restrictions. Teleportation must end in a valid space (typically on the ground), but the real issue is the Sunzi frame’s “Safe Harbor” trait:

When allied characters within Range 50 of the Sunzi teleport or are teleported, free spaces adjacent to the Sunzi are always valid end destinations.

Lancer – The Long Rim, p. 59.

Translated, this means “If you teleport with your standard move while handling an object, you can cross the entire map.” No bueno. Therefore, I take the nuclear option and add the following rule to Teleportation:

“If a character teleports, they cease to grapple or handle any characters or objects prior to teleporting.”

For the most part, this will only affect the Mourning Cloak (since it’s currently the only official frame that can teleport with its standard move), but this should head off any player-side Sunzi shenanigans at the pass. It does mean that some characters (mostly NPCs, like a certain Operator) can no longer “kidnap” a grappled target by teleporting. However, if a GM wishes to maintain that functionality, they can choose to make exceptions for certain abilities (or even just Grapples and not Object Handling).

With these rules in place, it will be worthwhile to investigate any other tack-on effects from using Lifting and Dragging rules for Objectives.

Special Cases

I’ll go over a few common concerns regarding treating an Objective as an Object below.

Forced Movement

The Goliath in the room. Thankfully, most forced movement effects in Lancer explicitly target Characters instead of Objects, so as long as the Objective is an Object. Goblin’s Puppet Systems? Can’t hack an Object. Black Witch’s Ferrous Lash? Only targets Characters! Sunzi’s Accelerate or Zheng’s Total Strength Suite I? … Okay, you got me, but I have a workaround. Add the following sentence somewhere appropriate to any ability that can forcibly move objects in a direction parallel to the ground:

“If an object with HP is moved in this way, it takes 1 AP Kinetic Damage for each space moved.”

The amount of damage is negotiable. For most Objects, this damage won’t matter; they’ll take the 1-5 damage from Accelerate and move on with their existence. For Object-like Objectives, however, that HP becomes a resource for risk and reward: Do the players play it safe, or do push their luck by throwing the Objective across the room? This way, the GM can still reward players for clever use of their abilities without letting them bypass an entire encounter.

Starting the Turn Adjacent to the Objective

As written, normally a character must start their turn adjacent to an Objective in order to move it on their turn. However, this is a rule that many GMs frequently disregard for the sake of fluidity during Escort sitreps. While I am similarly content to discard this clause, an easy way to include it would be to assign the same restriction to the action used to initiate a lift or drag.

Boosted Servos (Immunity to Slowed)

If a character handling an Object-like Objective is Immune to Slowed, they can deftly maneuver the Objective with all kinds of special movement. The Boosted Servos reserve (Lancer, p. 51) is the primary offender here, as it grants a mech Immunity to the Slowed condition. Regarding this topic, there have been frequent discussions on Pilot NET of intent for Immunity to conditions and statuses, and the usual consensus is “Immunity to a condition or status doesn’t apply to self-inflicted conditions or statuses.” While I personally don’t feel comfortable applying such a ruling to all cases of Immunity, Boosted Servos seems like a reasonable application of this rule. Thus, if I consider the Slowed condition caused by dragging an Object as self-inflicted, I can safely sidestep the issue presented by Boosted Servos.

Jäger Kunst I

Atlas’s Jäger Kunst I lets the user bounce off of an Object larger than themselves, once per Object. All this means is that a Jäger Kunst I user could use an Object-Like Objective to setup a sick parkour combo, which I think is a cool side effect.

Cable Winch

If you thought that this entire article is secretly an excuse to let Lancaster’s Cable Winch drag Objectives, you’d be right (though my other reasons still stand). Basically, all this means is that Cable Winch can initiate, maintain, and contest a drag from up to 5 spaces away, as if the user is adjacent to the object. Dragging the Object-like Objective still slows the winch-user, so they aren’t cheating out extra movement. Finally, if something involuntarily moves the winch-user more than 5 spaces away from the object, the drag (and cable) breaks as normal.

Bonus Update: SCYLLA-Class NHP

By codifying “handling” an Object-like Objective as an interaction with said Objective, users of Gorgon’s SCYLLA-Class NHP can deter opponents from contesting the Objective. This provides an extra niche use for the system, which I personally find satisfying.

Conclusion

With a few discreet house rules, it’s possible to apply Lancer’s dragging rules to Object-like Objectives. Along the way, the existing rules for movement while Lifting & Dragging gain helpful definition for general use. Players may now consider using abilities that forcibly move objects to riskily move Objectives. GMs may now allow any in-fiction Object to be an Objective without arbitrarily granting it special properties. Most importantly, both the Lifting & Dragging rules and Cable Winch get their time in the sun.

I leave Character-like Objectives as an exercise to the reader. Good luck.