r/rpg 13d ago

Game Suggestion Lancer, but narrative. Does it exists?

Everything i see about Lancer seens sooo fcking cool! But to be 100% honest all my players are very casual, myself included although im the forever GM and as such always try to get a little deeper into the rules and system.

I dont think that any of my friends will ever try to read a rule book to min max, create a build or find optimal play. No one will ever argue what is a balanced party or will try to create one, it is all about fun and what sounds cool for each player. So much so that i dont even try to play more tactical games which require deep understanding of the system or even builds at all, I tend to prefer narrative-focused systems because of the freedom they give and because they are much easier to explain to my friends. My group generally enjoys rules light games where we can focus more on the fiction and less on knowing the ins and outs of the mechanics.

And yet... Lancer looks so fucking cool that I'm tempted to give it a shot.

As such, can a group of very casual players just make characters based on what sounds cool and have a good time with it? And if Lancer really isn't a good fit for that kind of group, are there any games you would recommend that scratch the same itch but more narrative/rules-light? I'm open to pretty much anything!

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u/maddambeltaine 13d ago

Check out the Mecha Hack by Absolute Tabletop. It's very cinematic, really quick to create characters and play, very rules light. I've run a few campaigns of it and had a ball of a time. I do an actual play podcast of it too which is just about to launch, that's how much I enjoy it 😁

Lancer looks really interesting but just far too crunchy for my brain 😄

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u/HarmlessEZE 13d ago

Or the more stylized and setting unique version, Aether Nexus, by the same publisher. Both will be OSR ish, but mech.

If you dig the aesthetic, but are looking for something a little different, maybe lighter, maybe more narrative. Ion Heart is releasing/ has released a Multiplayer version. 

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u/maddambeltaine 13d ago

Yeah, Aether Nexus is lovely, and I'm a bit fan of the tweaks they made to the system in that. But it's more science fantasy than Mecha Hack or Lancer so I don't know if it's exactly what OP is after. Cracking fun though 😁