Addendum: Revisiting Solstice Rain’s Fights

Earlier in the Solstice Rain Remix, I presented my own take on how to structure the module’s combat encounters. In this Remix Addendum, I am revisiting Solstice Rain’s fights through a different lens. While my initial lineup attempted to adhere to the module’s original goal of presenting all of Lancer’s standard NPC types, I now want to create a scaled-back lineup that purposefully reuses a handful of NPC types: a “faction roster.”

Pros & Cons of the “Full Gallery”

The “full gallery” approach I took earlier in the remix carries both benefits and drawbacks. By presenting every NPC mech in core Lancer, the “full gallery” ensures that players will fight new NPC types in each battle. Furthermore, the GM gets a taste of running every NPC mech. Unfortunately, this means that both players and GMs never get a chance to gain mastery of fighting with and against the NPCs. There simply aren’t enough opportunities to explore a given NPC in different contexts. Before the players and GM learn a given NPC’s strengths and weaknesses, the next NPC type takes their place.

Moreover, the “full gallery” approach can give the GM too many “assets” for what the VSAF faction can accomplish. If the VSAF has both Assassins and Specters, which do they use for a stealth operation? If they need to hold ground, do they use Archers? Barricades? Pyros? If the VSAF could field potentially anything, the GM could struggle to quickly pick a tool to indicate how the faction would respond to a strategic need within the fiction of the setting. Without clear strategies and assets, the VSAF may also fail to establish a coherent identity.

So Why Use a Faction Roster?

With the above in mind, I want to take the ideas discussed in my RATS analysis of the Vestan Sovereignty and the context I developed for my point crawl to inform a new faction roster for the VSAF. To compare to my original combat lineup, I want this roster to target the following goals:

1. Limit the unique NPC classes per combat to 5 at maximum. These would be drawn from a curated “pool” of 10-15 mech classes picked to best represent the narrative aspects of the VSAF. This will root the enemy forces within the narrative of Solstice Rain and make them feel like a consistent and coherent faction.
2. Showcase the “officer” units from Solstice Rain (i.e., those with templates and extra structure) by making them stand out in type and appearance. These characters can provide spice and variety among the familiar faces of the rest of the faction roster and can be signaled ahead of time via clues.
3. Utilize NPCs that clearly signal their abilities and present players with options for counterplay. This means favoring enemies who “mark” their targets, like the Scourer’s “Focus Down” and Archer’s “Suppress.” Simultaneously, I aim to avoid enemies with no obvious signal for their gameplan, like the on-hit effect of Demolisher’s “Demolition Hammer” or Hornet’s “Impale Systems.” I feel the former group will be more welcoming to new Lancer players than the latter.

The Benefits of a Faction Roster

Once created, this faction roster will confer the following benefits:

• Scans gain lasting value. Once the PCs scan a standard enemy, they can reference that enemy’s statistics for all future engagements. Naturally, this adds value to the Scan quick action and encourages the PCs to learn their enemies.
• Familiarity breeds mastery. When fighting a certain enemy type in a variety of contexts, PCs can learn where those enemies shine the most. Even more importantly, they can learn how to exploit their foes’ weaknesses. This also applies to GMs! With more practice using the same NPC types, a GM learns how to use those NPCs to challenge their players.
• The scenario gains coherence. A faction roster is a list of assets — specifically, personnel. Once the GM and players know a faction’s assets, they can leverage (GM) and predict (players) the faction’s capabilities in-fiction. For example, if a faction has a large proportion of amphibious units, players may be more cautious around waterways. Conversely, the GM may spring those amphibious units as a consequence for a failed skill check! The roster thus provides the GM with an improv tool and arms players to expect certain kinds of threats.

Creating the Vestan Faction Roster

In my opinion, a coherent faction roster requires a combination of top-down (fiction-first) and bottom-up (game-first) design. The top-down approach anchors the roster in the narrative of the setting. For example, if a faction is a hacker collective, they are more likely to field mechs inclined towards tech and hacking. In contrast, the bottom-up approach ensures the roster feels synergistic within the game context. It makes sure that the hacker collective has a bodyguard with a shotgun to protect any frail hackers.

Without top-down design, the faction roster may feel generic and uninspiring; the enemies might have great combat synergy but lack a clear identity. Without bottom-up design, the roster may be anti-synergistic or possess gaping weaknesses (to the point of trivializing fights with the faction). By ensuring both types of design are in conversation with each other, one can produce a much more satisfying selection of foes.

The “Style” of the VSAF: The Top-Down Approach

To recap, I know the Vestan Sovereignty are from a planet that developed their mechs largely independent of the current administration of Union. For the most part, they’ll feel utilitarian and grounded, closer to a tank than a Gundam. The primary exceptions to this rule are mechs that excel at sabotage and a smattering of high-tech foes that use bleeding edge blinkspace tech (think teleportation and impenetrable forcefields). The pre-existing “officer” units demonstrate these tendencies: The sentinel and rainmaker from Combat 3 are no-frills, straightforward mechs, while the Mirage from Combat 4 and Kiros himself exemplify how the VSAF uses their bleeding-edge tech to obscure their operations and strike from unexpected positions.

The “Goals” of Solstice Rain: The Bottom-Up Approach

This fact should not be forgotten: Operation Solstice Rain is an introductory module. It is intended to onboard new players and GMs to Lancer, who are unfamiliar with both the rules of the game and the abilities of all NPCs in the core book. Scans can help players with this proactively, but not reactively. Therefore, to facilitate reactive learning about new NPCs, I want to choose NPCs who clearly signal their capabilities. This includes features that “mark” foes (like Assassin’s Mark) or “activate” an ability (like Razor Swarms and Eye of Midnight). The GM can present the players with the rules for those effects as soon as they are primed. That way, the players can react to the effects and play around them.

In addition to signaled effects, I want to avoid effects that force players to lose their turns (like Stun Mines) or completely negate baseline actions of the game (e.g., Marker Rifle negating Brace, Sight negating Hidden). The former dampens enthusiasm for playing a new game (“If I’m easily prevented from taking my turn, why keep playing?”). The latter can make players feel like dupes for trying to use the tools they just learned about (“If the Scout is just going to Shred my damage resistance when I need it most, why bother trying to Brace?”). In my personal opinion, there’s absolutely a proper time and a place for such effects! However, they feel deeply dissatisfying when encountered while still getting a grip on the game.

With both my top-down “style” and bottom-up “goals” in mind, I can construct my Vestan Faction Roster.

Main Force

Enemies in the main force feel primarily utilitarian, with some “sabotage”-oriented abilities. Most of the time, they’ll feel like “guys with a gun,” which will help sell the low-tech feel of the VSAF while contrasting against its high-tech officers:

Role	Class
Artillery	Bombard
Defender	Bastion
Defender	Sentinel
Controller	Archer
Controller	Hive
Striker	Assassin
Striker	Breacher
Striker	Scourer
Support	Aegis
Support	Support

Since the main force is composed of basic NPCs with no optional features, a GM can simply refer to the NPCs’ “Tactics” sections in the core book for runtime advice. In order to elevate this roster further, I also recommend playing these NPCs with the following behaviors:

• Obedient. The VSAF regulars generally prefer committing to combat objectives and following officers’ orders over chasing personal vendettas.
• Jingoistic. VSAF regulars are loyal to their cause to a fault. They can be entreated, goaded, or deceived by PCs exploiting this loyalty.
• Ignorant. In general, VSAF regulars don’t know the PCs’ capabilities. Worse yet, while the comms jammer is up, they likely can only learn about the PCs through direct combat or personal scouts. As a result, the regulars may blunder into situations favored by the PCs. However, once they observe what a given PC can do, they’ll adapt accordingly.

Common NPC Pairings

I envision a few NPC pairings from this main force with specific tactics. These pairings may naturally emerge during combat, stand as easy reinforcement groups, or serve as a quick reference for narrative mech encounters:

• Sentinel + Hive: Zone control pairing. Hive deploys Razor Swarm to a zone and Sentinel hides in it.
• Bastion + Archer: Walking two-person gun emplacement. Bastion establishes a defensive line, Archer positions behind Bastion to shoot. Bastion grapples and knocks away foes engaging the Archer in melee.
• Support + Bombard: Artillery with longevity. Support heals Bombard and mires approaching foes with Sealant Gun, Grapple, and Rams. Bombard shells from safety.

With the rank and file standing at attention, it’s time to give them some commanding officers.

Officers

The VSAF officers are NPCs that always have a structure-granting template, regardless of player count. They tend to have a unique NPC class, experimental blinkspace technology, or both. In addition, I include basic behaviors that the officers may exhibit inside or outside of battle. Names generated using the Vestan Name Generator.

Officer	Behaviors	Baseline Class & Templates
Colonel Sorvan Kiros	Reckless, Ruthless, Gloating	Operator Ultra
Executor Mlada Jacquinot	Boastful, Cowardly, Self-Important	Rainmaker Veteran
Commandant Radomia Trifonov	Conniving, Petty	Mirage Veteran
Commandant Slawomir Balmont	Stoic, Unflappable	Aegis Commander

Solstice Rain’s Revisited Fights

With main force and officers taken together, I can revise my combat lineup. As with my old lineup, the baseline fights are balanced for three players. Terms in [square brackets] indicate changes for four players, and terms in {curly brackets} indicate changes for five players.

Combat #	Initial Opfor	Reinforcements	Quick Notes
1	– Bastion – Hive – Scourer – Support – [+1 Scourer]	Following NPC combos: – Bombard + Support – Scourer + Bastion or Hive No more NPCs than 3x player count	– Drive PCs off the point.
2	– Aegis – Archer – Breacher – Scourer – [+1 Archer] – {+1 Aegis}	2-NPC combos of the following: – Archer – Bastion – Breacher – Scourer No more NPCs than 3x player count	– Aegis fortifies central deployment for Archers & Scourers. – Bastions & Breachers directly engage objective.
3	– Executor Mlada Jacquinot – Rainmaker Veteran {Elite} (Veteran: Veterancy +Agility, Lightning Reflexes; {Elite: Hades Missiles}) – Sentinel Elite [Commander] (Elite: Punisher Ammunition, [Commander: Quick March]) – Hive – Assassin – [Support]	None	– All NPCs play defense for Rainmaker. – Rainmaker cares primarily for themselves.
4	– Commandant Radomia Trifonov – Mirage Veteran (Veteran: Veterancy +Hull, Viper’s Speed) – Assassin {Elite} ({Elite: Spinning Kick}) – Breacher – Hive – Sentinel [Elite] ([Elite: Punisher Ammunition])	None	– Sentinel & Hive hold down NPC-side zones. – Assassin & Breacher assault PC-side zones. – Mirage harasses PCs and reactively repositions NPCs.
5	– Commandant Slawomir Balmont – Aegis Commander (Aegis: HA Blackwall System; Commander: Quick March) – Bombard [Elite] ([Elite: High-Impact Shells]) – Archer – {+1 Archer}	One-time deployment: – Bastion {Veteran} ({Veteran: Veterancy +Hull, Self-Repair}) – Scourer – [+1 Scourer]	– Aegis fortifies submarine, Blackwalls off one ramp. – Bombard pushes PCs back, Archers slow them down. – Bastion & Scourer(s) run interference.
6	– Colonel Sorvan Kiros – Operator Ultra {Commander} (Operator: Telefrag; Ultra: Short-Cycle Lance; {Commander: Quick March}) – Bastion {Veteran} (Bastion: Fearless Defender; {Veteran: Veterancy +Hull, Acrobat}) – Hive [Elite] ([Elite: Driving Swarm])	Two deployments of: – Scourer Grunt + Sentinel Grunt	– Operator plays hit-and-run, uses SCL often. – Bastion sticks close to NPCs to use Fearless Defender. – Hive knocks PCs out of cover.

Combat 5’s Aegis and Combat 6’s Bastion are exceptions to my usual rule of “no NPC optionals without an appropriate template.” I want those two NPCs to feel special and distinct from their earlier iterations. This warrants special equipment to distinguish them from their rank-and-file counterparts.

Conclusion

Altogether, I feel this exercise has left me with a VSAF faction roster with a distinct identity, an intuitive game plan, and a clear collection of assets. Moreover, through the use of different Lancer’s sitreps, I can stretch the longevity of this roster by portraying its members in different circumstances with different goals. Most importantly, I feel both players and GMs can get more comfortable with both the basic rules of Lancer and this familiar cast of foes.

If you happen to use this revised roster, I welcome feedback on how to make it more approachable to players and GMs alike! In the meantime, I look forward to testing this roster in my own games. Good luck, and good gaming!

Solstice Rain Remix

• Introduction
• The Combat Lineup
• The Vestan Sovereignty as Villains
• Nonlinear Solstice Rain: A Bird’s Eye View
• Solstice Rain Nodes & Clues
• Nov Elysia Point Crawl
• Setup, Buildup, Boom: Introducing Players to Solstice Rain
• Taking the Reins in Nov Elysia
• Completing the Operation: Finding the VIPs
• Epilogue: After the Solstice Rain
• Addendum: Revisiting Solstice Rain’s Fights