It's been a while since I've done a good theorycraft post, hasn't it?
Well - for folks who don't know about me - whenever I'm left to my own devices with TTRPG reference material, I very frequently will just start putting together character ideas and build concepts that catch my fancy. Even if I may never use them. Sometimes I'll look up ideas other people have used to make sure the concept is viable enough, but every now and then I put together something wholly on my own - to varying degrees of success.
This is one of the latter. As my weekly stream posts have mentioned, I'm in a Lancer game currently. And I have a suit in that which I am very fond of and will only get more interesting as our License Levels go up.
But sometimes a brainworm settles in and I decide to poke around in the online character creator system for it - COMP/CON - and see what else is out there. I've made a Gorgon based on a lot of generally available information, I made an IPS-N Pharos that's built around applying - and using - Lock-Ons.
And then I discovered the PI-OF Peppercorn from the Castor & Pollox LCPS. A suit which has an the info block that straight up says that - while the main mech itself is a monowheel (which makes me think of the Einerads from Victory Gundam) - variations of the mech have been adjusted to look like motorcycles.
And so I wondered: how rad of a bike could I make?
And the result, I think, is very rad. To me at least.
The Redline
The Resources
- Castor & Pollox
- Field Guide to Suldan
- Grimm & Sons
The Build
[ TALENTS ]
Gunslinger 3, Skirmisher 3,
Grease Monkey 3, SCROUNGER 3,
Vanguard 2, BLADE DANCER 1
[ LICENSES ]
PI-OF PEPPERCORN 3, C&H CHARIOTEER 2,
G&S JACK 1, SSC DUSK WING 2,
SSC METALMARK 1, G&S ORLANDO 2,
C&H SHEPHERD 1
[ CORE BONUSES ]
LILLIPUTIAN MODIFICATIONS, ENHANCED SYSTEMS UPGRADE,
HYPERTUNED INTERFACE, Kai Bioplating
[ MECH ]
« PI-OF PEPPERCORN »
H:0 A:4 S:6 E:4 SIZE:1
STRUCTURE:4/4 HP:14/14 ARMOR:0
STRESS:4/4 HEAT:0/10 REPAIR:3/3
ATK BONUS:6 TECH ATK:4 LTD BONUS:2
SPD:10 EVA:16 EDEF:12 SENS:5 SAVE:16
[ WEAPONS ]
AUX/AUX MOUNT: PLASMA PISTOL / PLASMA PISTOL
MAIN/AUX MOUNT: Remote Targeting Relay / Tactical Webbing
-- TACTICAL WEBBING Contents: Flash Charges x4 / Grease Charges x5
[ SYSTEMS ]
'BE NIMBLE!' REFLEX MODULE', Flicker Field Projector,
Bomblet Dispenser, Glide Rollers,
PLASMATIC TREADS, MERCURY-CLASS NHP,
Reactive Weave, ASCALON ENGINES,
Expanded Compartment, Personalizations
The Breakdown
The original idea for this was honestly to see how far I could far I could get the Peppercorn to go with one turn of movement. So this included having an Agility of 6 for a base speed of 11 and the SSC's Integrated Nerveweave Core Bonus for 2 more movement during boost. And the numbers got kinda... silly.
« THE MAFF »
Standard Move (11) + Ascalon Engines (6) = 17
Boost Move (11) + Integrated Nerveweave (2) + Glide Rollers (11) = 24
Lockbreaker Skirmish (2)
So... yeah. That's 43 squares of movement even before considering however many extra squares you get with the Mercury-class NHP's bonus movement on top of it all. Granted, the first 17 have to be in a straight line so you have to have the space to do that, but the rest is basically free movement. If you Overcharge for another Boost, that's another 13 squares (you can only use Glide Rollers once a round). And you'll probably be near meltdown, since that's 6 heat from the Ascalon plus another 2 from the Glide rollers (½ Size mech + 1).
Or actually hitting a stress if you're doing what makes this very fun to me and also using Peppercorn's own Plasmatic Treads at the cost of two more heat:
While this protocol is active, every space you cross while moving becomes filled with burning flames until the start of your next turn. Any character other than you that starts their turn in these spaces or enters them for the first time on their turn must pass an Engineering save or take 2 Burn. Additionally you ignore difficult and dangerous terrain and do not trigger mines while this effect is active.
So you get to leave a literal trail of fire behind you. Just do donuts around enemy units and entrap them in a ring of fire. Seems pretty rad to me. Especially since the Charioteer's Bomblet Dispenser lets you make some squares extra spicy.
That said, since it already has insane mobility, I decided to actually dial it back to make it more entertaining. Two points of Agility moved into Engineering for a higher Heat Cap and an extra Limited Bonus for the Charge Systems and the "Supercharges" for the pair of Plasma Pistols taken from the G&S Jack. And swapping the Integrated Nerveweave for Kai Bioplating also drops the boost movement but has the added benefit of letting you drive up walls, over/through water, and do mad jumps. Which seems like a good trade-off to me.
The rest is mostly just stuff to let it do some decent damage with the little collection of CQB weapons it has (Gunslinger, Vanguard, Be Nimble module), make it even harder to pin down (Skirmisher and Blade Dancer talents, Lilliputian and Hypertuned core bonuses, and Flicker Field and Reactive Weave systems), or things to be able to fit all the crazy things I wanted to slap onto this bike (Tactical Webbing, Enhanced System Upgrade).
And the Expanded Compartment is a sidecar, so you can give your buddy a ride across the map in style. The Personalizations are probably underglow/ground effects lighting.
I have no idea how good the Redline build would work, honestly? Even with multiple ways to get AP (Gunslinger, Hypertuned Interface, Plasma Pistol Supercharges), its plinking away for d3's of damage. But it could all add up, along with the burn damage caused by Plasmatic Treads and setting fire to the Grease Charges. Not to mention it providing assistance via map intel, Lock-Ons via the Remote Targeting Relay, and harassing enemy units with the aforementioned walls of fire and Flash Charges.
And, if nothing else, it feels like it'd be a fun way to deal with a lot of Grunts. Plus, if you need to get someone from Point A to Point B on a map? I think the Redline has you covered.