Setup, Buildup, Boom: Introducing Players to Solstice Rain

With clues and point crawl in hand, I am ready to introduce my players to my remixed Operation: Solstice Rain. To accomplish this, I use a Setup, a Buildup, and a Boom: First, I lay out a low-stakes Session Zero to introduce players to their characters and NPCs on the Rio Grande. Next, I build tension with the adjusted mission briefing — the proverbial “milk run.” This sets up a strong start to Session One with the players thrust into a combat encounter. In the aftermath, I turn the players loose upon the rest of Nov Elysia.

Setup: You are the Cavalry

First and foremost, start with a Session Zero. Cover the basics of the Lancer setting, with a focus on Cressidium in Solstice Rain. Confirm that all players are comfortable with the topics and tools mentioned in “A Note on Player Safety” (Solstice Rain, p. 7). Help players make characters to fit the pitch of the module: The PCs are elite mech pilots called Lancers, providing security services as part of the Union military. In particular, they are the most experienced and capable mech pilots on the UNS-CV Rio Grande. Encourage the players to think about how their characters know each other, such as through the Personal History table from the Lancer Core Book (p. 41). (Update: If your players are uncomfortable making their own characters, try offering them some premade options, such as Stormtalus’s Premade Characters.)

Once the players have established their characters, introduce them to the crew of the Rio Grande (Solstice Rain, pp.10-12). Give them a chance to get into their characters and interact with both the other PCs and the Rio Grande’s NPCs, again drawing from the Personal History table if it helps spark ideas on character relationships. Beyond the presented cast of NPCs, I want to introduce a bespoke NPC named Kayla “Glamdring” Rowley, who pilots the mech dropship the players will ride at the proper start of the mission. Glamdring is friendly and self-assured, and always happy to make small talk over poker and a drink (though her poker face is miserable). Glamdring’s introduction serves as an opportunity for the PCs to meet a potential subordinate or peer that they’ll be working with as the mission goes south.

Buildup: The Briefing

When approaching the end of Session Zero, present the briefing for the first mission: The PCs and all named NPCs are present for it. Unlike the original version, no crisis is currently underway. Instead, most personnel of the Rio Grande anticipate that the upcoming mission will be a milk run. Present the following context to the players:

Negotiations between the Leandric States Alliance and Vestan Sovereignty have reached a deadlock during the height of the summer solstice.
Union intel suggests unrest amongst the Vestan Sovereignty causing souring relations with the LSA, though Ambassador Bannerjee has confidence that the situation will recover.
Captain Farris is wary of aggression from the Vestan Sovereignty, so she assigns the PCs to serve as Bannerjee’s honor guard.
1st Lieutenant Kim advises the PCs to expect a lot of standing around, but prepare their combat loadouts should the worst happen. Staff Sergeant Omari Garcia and his forces will join them on the ground via a separate transport.
As in the original briefing, one PC should bring an Omnihook, as part of standard operating procedure.

This “downscaling” of the stakes reframes the mission parameters in the following way:

Mission Objective: Rendezvous ‘in uniform’ (read: in mech) with Captain Farris and Ambassador Bannerjee at FOB Saber. (FOB Saber right now is simply the industrial area where Union delegates have set up a printer for demonstrative purposes, as per the original text of Solstice Rain).
Mission Parameters: Peacetime security. Do not fire unless fired upon.
Stakes: Deter hostilities, but maintain proper decorum. The negotiations must remain stable.
Reward: Commendations for a License Level increase.
Reserves: None.

Naturally, these parameters will change once the PCs make first contact with the enemy. For now, Captain Farris dismisses the PCs to rest up for their dropship at dawn. Conclude the Session Zero and prepare for the mission to begin in earnest.

Boom: Splashdown in Kirmani Plaza

Opening

The next session begins at dawn (6AM) with the PCs in their mechs, riding in a dropship piloted by Glamdring. She casually muses about the worsening negotations, and mentions that the Vestan Sovereignty representatives are running late to the morning negotiations. The situation is tense — and that’s when the proverbial shit hits the fan:

Suddenly, a jamming signal scrambles communications to FOB Saber. Glamdring begins to tense.
Next, a destructive beam of light tears through the hull of the dropship, clipping one of its wings. Glamdring calls to brace for impact.
The dropship crashes into a statue in the middle of Kirmani Plaza. The PCs and their mechs are unharmed, but Glamdring is injured and trapped in the cockpit.
The PCs have no time to prepare as enemy mechs in VSAF livery begin to march upon them.

Notably, the PCs no longer have a moment to get their bearings — adrenaline is high from the crash and combat is upon them. The stakes of this fight now include being able to safely extract their dropship pilot.

Combat 1 – Feet First Into Hell

The VSAF units in this fight want to keep the PCs on the back foot and prevent them from safely taking control of Kirmani Plaza. They know they’re outclassed and outgunned, but hope to slow the PCs down as the rest of the operation commences. The Victory and Defeat stay mostly the same except for the following:

Victory

The PCs save Glamdring, and she joins the group to assist how she can. Mechanically, she can help a PC make a skill check (using the Teamwork rules from Lancer, p. 45). However, she is vulnerable while not inside a mech (e.g., via Expanded Compartment).

Defeat

The PCs must leave Glamdring behind to an uncertain fate.
PCs must spend one hour retreating to safety.

The Real Briefing

Once the PCs take a rest, Rio hails them via the Omnihook (it’s finicky and only functions during rests or full repairs). She patches the PCs over to 1st Lieutenant Kim, who requests a status report before providing them with the following information:

Captain Farris and Ambassador Bannerjee are MIA. The PCs’ new mission objective is finding these VIPs and bringing them home safe to the Rio Grande. If hostile forces capture either VIP, they will have significant leverage over the Rio Grande.
Vestan Sovereignty forces have launched an attack on Nov Elysia. Typically, Union is supposed to stay neutral in the conflicts of non-member states, but this attack has created a humanitarian crisis. Kim authorizes the PCs to assist civilians and LSA militia at their discretion.
A hostile signal jams conventional communications outside of mech sensor ranges. The Rio Grande is relying upon orbital flyover imagery for their intel. At the moment, the only viable long-range communication is through clunky omnihooks that only function during rests or full repairs.
The PCs can get repairs and upgrades at FOB Saber. If the PCs can address some of the developing situations on the ground, FOB Saber will have more leeway to prepare additional experimental, exotic gear.

Kim can provide the following intel:

From last contact, Omari Garcia‘s dropship went down near Nov Elysia’s Downtown. If aided, Garcia will be able to mobilize forces to clear Vestan forces from sections of the city.
Missile fire originating from a Train Depot shot down a cargo dropship from the Rio Grande. Dropship support is cutoff while those anti-air batteries remain active.
A jamming signal is blocking essential communications on the ground. It’s unclear where the signal originates from, but it has to be somewhere in the city. Stopping the signal will enable Union and LSA forces to rally and coordinate.

Handing off the Reins

Provide the players with a map of Nov Elysia with only nodes 1, 2, 3, and U and their connections visible, as well as the point crawl procedure. Once the PCs are ready, Kim signs off, saying: