Dante Direct: November

Hello :3

Bet you’ve wondered where I’ve been

To find the peace and love within

Anyway. Welcome to the November Dante Direct! Definitely not the second time writing this today after Itch just ate the first one. 

So! A few updates and a new LCP are here! 

Life Updates! Playtesting and Me

First and foremost! We have started the first playtest known as Break & Enter! This one focuses on the OPVS/C and a bit of the station as well as Limban Asteroid Belt! The playtest has been going quite well, albeit a tad bit slow. The reason why is everyone has lives and time constraints so it’s a bit slower than I originally planned it to be. 

This brings us to the Updated LCP. The LCP was changed mid october as seeing my party build and use and theory craft and discuss, as well as getting actual feedback, helped me to realize I needed to diversify alot of things in it. This is why for those curious We went from 1.3 to 1.5 in the span of a month. Most likely by end of december, I’ll have the 2.0, but no promises. 

In addition, I don’t have any major updates for traveler’s guide or the field guide as a whole The reason why is I started to take a different approach to my world writing. Where instead of trying to define everything for myself and my players, I instead am letting everything come together as it matters in the context of the sessions and missions and one shots I am running. It’s quite fun exploring a world as you make it, and I already have plenty of ideas for what I want to do 

The second reason is also my life! I am busy! I work now and I’m saving for an actual PC that’s not a 4 year old laptop. As a result I am focusing more on my session prep and day to day living than I am on defining everything. 

With that being said, let’s get into the LCP changes

LCP Changes. The Update

So. As I mentioned above. Everything has changed. What this means is many frames had their traits reworked, many had cost differences, some items don’t exist anymore. The reason for this is 2 fold

1. Talking to my players made me realize I was designing this for people more like myself: go fast go hard. Not everyone wants to play like that. So I need to add in more support, defensive, and weird options
2. My main goal is to make sure I don’t make “Core+”. What this means is Dante stuff is compatible with Core, but doesn’t outshine Core frames or systems. That when someone says “let’s use dante stuff”, it doesn’t break the game completely or cause your gm to wince. 

So many things had changed before the playtest. So here we go starting with talents

Talents

Warped No longer is a Talent Massacre:

• Reap the masses is a quick action attack that if you structure or execute, the weapon gains more damage

These are the only two major changes talents. 

With Warped, I truly kept struggling to make it work. I decided ultimately that it may be better served as an Exoc. System that I use for later for reasons. 

With Massacre, While I do love the flavor and ideas behind it, I needed to change and tune it to be less wordy, confusing, and to make it easier to keep track of. 

OPVS/C We start with the Core Bonuses. 

Like I mentioned above, almost all the core bonuses were changed. Linked munitions is no more, as well as one other

So. Rapid fire: 

Void Sea Suite: Gain speed in danger zone, take less heat

Open Suite: clear 4 heat? Make soft cover Black Box Gamble: Take structure? Accuracy on your stuff for a turn Power Siphon: Clear ally heat, take half of their heat Ghost munitions: make a save? Make em reroll it

A main note I want to bring up is alot of the changes I have made are once again to make sure I am not making “Core Plus”

I think this balance works well in these core bonuses, and I can see each of them getting use depending on your situation. 

Mechs

Kaali

• Tailwind Rigging: mods equipped to its weapons cost 1 less SP. Replaced Haines’ inversion
• Core passive: meteor test: Kaali can equip a mod to Isopleth
• Core active: mimic trigger: Now that mod applies to all your relevant weapons. Efficient

• Machete replaced with macheterang: it returns to you automatically, no more sticky nade
• Data Driver gives different perks
• Anemoi class now works on 1 range. 

Nordlinger

• New Core Active: Rouse Hunger. 
  • Allows one to Force Saprophage into Devour for more damage and better perks, but slowed and reduction to speed. This can be turned on and off

• Spore sapper weapon: Overshield on Crit
• Update to wordings and workings for Basdiomycota mines and other systems

Vredefort

• Traits and NHP system now work with Blasts and Bursts

• New trait: Earth Sculptor. Ignore difficult terrain
• Apsediasl Charges: You launch a solar flare flash bang

Tswaing 

• New Traits
  • Shred Matrices: A 1/R invade that shreds until end of current turn. 
  • Virokinic: Danger zone gives Forgery accurate
• Core changes
  • Core passive: proxy loop
    • This is a quick action to activate the effect
    • Effect is toned down
• Serial recombiner is double scan
• Reduced damage on viroplexic
• Wording changes to LL3 systems

Chicxulub

• New LL1 and 2 weapons
  • Tesla sluggun: CQB of 3 range, 3 threat, 2 energy, 2 burn, 2 heat self
  • Thundersquash rotary cannon: Heavy, 1 SP, burn is hard to clear now and deals a bit more damage
• New LL1 and 2 systems
  • Lighting Rod pylons: ⅙ chance of deflecting a shot, or making it hit harder
  • Flashover Turrets: Strike something randomly, make it worse for every one of these you deploy

Why these changes to OPVS/C mechs? With Tswaing, Chix, and Kaali, i needed to give them more wiggle room, while keeping with the original identity I intended with the frames. Tswaing I am happier with, but I need to probably change out an LL2 and 3 system for some more tech support options as a controller. With Kaali, I am happier with where it is, same with Chix. 

With big Vreddy however, Big Vrede (as well as GWA Mechs) need another closer look, I will probably be removing the big gun come december as while I do like what Vrede does, the big gun just is not worth it. 

Onto GWA

GWA

We start with the Core Bonuses. 

Survie Gear Train: ignore terrain, consequence for dangerous terrain if you really want to schmove Hoepe Armor: Gain armor but lose speed. When you structure, the armor is the thing that breaks and you gain speed

Rainbow bracketing: A mount gains reliable and overkill

White Reactors: Engage=Evasion

Black Scavenged: Activate Core System, choose something until next turn

Honora Heel Spikes: Stop yourself from getting knocked down

I think these cover a decent range of what I want GWA core bonuses to do in terms of doing things differently. I think I do need to tune some numbers a bit but otherwise I am happier with these. 

Mechs

Tae Kwon

• Trait changes
  • Barre Form: Take heat when you take a reaction, Skirmish for half damage with main or aux weapon
  • Limber Form: 2 reactions while engaged
• Double Time Crescendo: Your reactions cannot be reacted to. 
• Polyrhythm Hijack: You react, ally gets to react. Enemy reacts, you can steal it. 

Paw

• Trait changes
  • Boxer’s Gamble. Depending on your stance, you either get to remove accuracy from melee attacks to deal more damage, or get to reduce damage
  • Final Night: When your mech is destroyed, you have a 10 count to do as much as you can before you truely go down. 
• Core passive: 
  • Switch your stance. Higher speed + All or nothing, or higher evasion + Bob and Weave
• Core active: 
  • Augments your stances further
  • Makes Boxer’s Gamble an even greater gamble
• New Weapon: Regulation Gloves
  • Barrage with it for extra attacks
• New System: Knuckle Forge Bracing
  • Improvised attacks are better

Shao

• Trait changes
  • All around weaker.
• Drainage sweep Spear: Sweeps around you now
• Directed Flow: Stores charges, use them for various effects
• Riptide: No more restriction on barrage, but difficulty on the extra attacks

Magra

• Wording changes
• EMP Grenades and David Class change

Why these changes? 

Same reason for the OPVS/C ones. Especially Paw and Magra, I needed to separate them out a bit more in general. 

In general I am happy with these changes, and I will probably continue doing LCP updates in December. 

See y’all then