Dead Branches

In the dying days of Union's Second Committee, a chosen few saw the writing on the wall.

Amid a rising tide of rebellion across Union space, a cabal of scientists, generals and politicians plotted to ensure the continuity of the Anthrochauvinist mission after the revolution's inevitable success.

The fruit of their efforts was Bardo Station; a Special Projects space station in the shadow of a nameless gas giant, built to outlast the usurpers of the Third Committee. Held in its databanks were the genomes and neural engrams of the cabal's leadership, ready to be resurrected into a more favourable future.

The station was recently rediscovered by Union, and a Far-Field Team was dispatched to evaluate and destroy any remaining Second Committee weapons. The station's onboard Comp/Con, recognising the threat of the approaching vessel, decanted the clones held in its cold storage, preparing its sleeping masters for war.

One issue it couldn't have foreseen - the subjectivity override procedure didn't take. The people emerging naked, shivering, and sick from the station's cryo-tanks aren't the finest scholars, statesmen and warriors of a dead fascist empire.

They're you.

———

Dead Branches is a single LL2 extended mission for Lancer, following a group of flash-clones meant to be reborn as scions of Union’s Second Committee. A flaw in the subjectivity override process left the player characters with their own personalities, but burdened by the thoughts and memories of their intended identities. They must find a way to destroy the station and escape with their lives before a sinister SecComm contingency awakens to threaten the galaxy again.

This module contains:

• One extended mission, consisting of between five and eight combats (including map layouts), with opportunities to recover Repairs and other resources mid-mission.
• A point-crawl structure across Bardo Station, which lets players affect the circumstances and modifiers in subsequent combats and encounters.
• A special character creation mechanic and clock which represents the psychological alienation and inherited memories of their past lives.
• Three new NPC Classes with bespoke Veteran and Ultra optionals:
  • The Chrysalid, a fragile, venomous ambusher that can spawn clones of itself from wounded enemies.
  • The Overlord , a massive, ponderous dropship that excels at getting its allies into the fight and controlling areas.
  • The Beholder, an insidious short-ranged tech attacker that can force enemies to move across the map, disrupt their targeting, and punish them with powerful heat effects.

Dead Branches is intended to be run for 3-5 players at LL2. Due to the narrative premise of the module, it is not suitable to insert into an existing campaign, although it does include some suggestions on how the story can develop further after its conclusion.

NOTE: While the narrative and map sections of the project are complete, I intend to run some additional rounds of playtesting, particularly for the new NPCs and their Veteran/Ultra traits. There may potentially be some balancing changes to some of the combats in the future as well.

———

This module was created for Suji's LANCER Jam 2. 

Credits:

Disinteger (Maps, writing, art, design)

Alexandra Stronach (writing, editing, design)

———

Background image: Illustration for Dante's Purgatorio 09 by Gustav Doré

This module uses material from the official Massif Press releases No Room for a Wallflower: Act 1, Operation Winter Scar, and Dustgrave. It also uses content from the third-party modules Field Guide to Suldan and Prototype Pattern Groups. Alternatives from the Lancer Core Rulebook are suggested for any supplementary paid content.

Dead Branches is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. Dead Branches is published via the Lancer Third Party License.

Lancer is copyright Massif Press.

No generative AI was used in the creation of this module.