#castigate the enemies of the godhead

[saul-tortellini]

[vexwerewolf]

[rhynerd]

Hello! Time and personal investment once again calls for another episode of Vex's Mechs and Memes. If I did the scheduling right you should be seeing this around the time I'll be trying to enjoy a different tabletop game that can also have mechs (but largely the sort that are size 1/2 or 1 in comparison to Lancer). Specifically, Infinity. But let's get beyond that subject and onto our mech. Arguably the best mech for achieving death and glory at the same time, it is the Manticore:

I would like to thank @vexwerewolf for making this meme, and in this case a meme upon memes considering the reputation of CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD. Also thanks to LoadingReadyRun for creating the character of Dave's Spokesman.

I hope you enjoy! If not, there are 25 other options in existence at time of writing and only like 2 or 3 of them are just as likely to blow you up (in theory).

[thorough-honey]

The HORUS manticore. Castigating the enemies of the godhead

[rainbowgod666]

Luz: ok but serioulsly, i saw you as Belos' brother, how did you pull that off? Also what was that gunshot-

Alex: oh its simple. I dug up caleb's corpse, "added" myself to it so I was LITERALLY him, aaaaand then shot myself after going "well I wanted to see my brother one last time, OH WELL!" And then you know the rest

(Everyone is still for 5 L O N G seconds)(everyone is spitting out their drink)

Luz: WHAT THE FUCK DUDE?!?!?!???

Amity: W O W (insert fast clapping meme)

Hunter ;w; wtf man...

Willow: oh thats FOUL, like- wh- WHY? WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT? WHAT WAS THE THOUGHT PROCESS BEHIND THAT?

Vee: (fucking faints)

Masha: (a single tear) aaaaand there goes my innocence TwT

Collie: (pulls out CollectorPhone) (yeah he has one of those) ok, THIS is going in the "eldritch frens" group chat... should've listened to gabriel honestly, his ass wasnt lying this shit aint worth the risk fr fr

King: whY dID YoU dEsEcr a TE a COR P SE ???¿ (confused crying titan noises) (looks at collie) wHY THE FUCK DID ALEX- (looks back at me) WHY DID YOU DO THAAAAAT AAAAAA (is now basically a smexual sound effect because of the pain)

Gus: well, now im gonna feel scared of what I could pull off with my powers forever

Camila: (the thousand yard stare from Cyberpunk Edgerunners)

(By now everyone is either crying while smiling to avoid total ego death, fainted in the Family Guy Death Pose, doing a thousand year stare, OR screaming at me. Well, so much for being the good guy)

[horus-unofficial]

Hello, is this Horus tech support? I'm an IPS-N Blackbeard pilot and my Sekhmet nhp is talking about "castigating the enemies of the godhead", my bud told me to talk to you about fixing it, cause I think it's not supposed to do that.

why would we fix that tho, your SEKHMET is based + its probably your fault for putting manticore tech on a blackbeard

[draculancer-flow]

They keep telling me I'm entering the Danger Zone, they must have forgot I'm Him. I was born in the Danger Zone, fully formed holding a pack of Newports and a Core Battery. The Enemies of the Godhead self-Castigate when they see me, out of respect. I took a DNA test and it came back 12 Heat, 0 Stress. This shit ain't nothin to me man.

.

[ttrpgbrackets]

Propaganda Below

Survivor Final Ability

With 20 bullets on your person: if you bury your bullets in a place of adequate size, your old community comes back to you in full, provided you never touch another bullet. This only works once.

What makes it cool?

i adore this as a conclusion to the Survivor's arc. you watch your community be destroyed, you venture out into the cruel world that did it, you fight and bleed and barely survive, and only by collecting an unimaginable treasure trove of violence can you win back what was lost forever. most players will not gather 20 bullets. 10 is already a tall ask for a desolate apocalypse, not to mention that the more you have the bigger a target is painted on your back. you'll die in the dust, and as you're bleeding out you'll look down at that spot on your character sheet, taunting you. you could have saved them. you could have gotten it all back. alas.

Castigate the Enemies of the Godhead

When you rest or perform a Full Repair, you can push the Manticore into an unstable Castigation State (or bring it out of one). In this state, the Manticore explodes immediately when destroyed due to damage or reactor meltdown, vaporizing it and instantly killing you and any other passengers. Characters within burst 2 must succeed on an Agility save or take 8d6 explosive. On a success, they take half damage. This only takes place if you are physically present in the Manticore.

What makes it cool?

First off, you should understand that most mechs in Lancer have fairly mundane technological abilities. Stuff like Assault Cannon, Deck-sweeper Automatic Shotgun, and LB/OC Cloaking Field. Generally utilitarian gadgets that sound like they could exist. So, all the weirdness I'm about to describe is happening against a backdrop of otherwise fairly grounded military sci fi.

CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD sounds nothing like a normal sci-fi gadget.

The Manticore, the mech, with the castigate ability is basically an unstable nuclear reactor that is also an unstable religious fanatic. It is covered in a field of radioactive lightning and/or the barely contained wrath of an ancient god. It is constantly on the verge of exploding both literally and figuratively.

Basically, between battles, you can decide that you're about to go out in a blaze of glory. and then, when you die, you explode with enough power to vaporize any enemy in the core book twice over, as well as any party members standing too close. There's no way to cheat it, either. You have to be in that cockpit, and blow up along with your mech. It makes you a suicide bomber.

Lancer consistently blurs the line between mundane advanced technology and genuinely divine blessings. Is this a walking bomb spewing fragments of old data, or is it a righteous weapon of God's fury? In a sense, Ra is the sun, and the sun is a sustained fusion reaction, so maybe a fusion reactor really is literally a small piece of God.

[deusvervewrites]

Heart of Steel x Stray Cat x Others: Izuku, anytime he self destructs with the goal of seriously hurting his enemies: "CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD!!!!"

Could be worse. It could be Execration of the Name of the Unworthy Dead

[magichroma]

Y'all I saw some enemies of the godhead and I damn near castigated on the spot

[fenrir-wolf-of-gotham]

“Steph. I urge you to rethink this course of action.”

“What part of ‘CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD’ do you not understand?”

“Cass is right next to you. She is the only character who will take damage.”

“Did I stutter? This is what she gets for making our characters have a slow burn romance instead of just being married.”

The wives' first game of lancer is going “great”.

[vexwerewolf]

Hi Vex,

I had a mech idea/concept that I really want to flesh out but I'm not exactly sure how to best build it. The idea came from a conversation I had with my group about the Mecha genre vs the Sailor Moon/Magical Girl genre. And I thought, 'what if they kissed worked together?' So I decided to try and build a Magical Girl themed Mech.

So far, I am considering using Manticore as a base frame because I am really tempted to call it Sailor RA and do the whole "In the name of RA, I will CASTIGATE you!" thing. Other than that I'm thinking about maybe a Controller type build and/or maybe focusing on the really weird/paracausal abilities? Do you have any ideas for this kind of build?

Thank you!!!

Since we're doing Sailor Moon Magical Girl stuff, have you considered that instead of using the Manticore, you could use the Lycan, a Manticore altframe from the upcoming Operation Winter Scar module?

-- HORUS Lycan @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] HORUS Manticore 2, IPS-N Nelson 2, IPS-N Blackbeard 2 [ CORE BONUSES ] Overpower Caliber, Gyges Frame [ TALENTS ] Executioner 3, Nuclear Cavalier 3, Walking Armory 3 [ STATS ] HULL:4 AGI:2 SYS:0 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:21 ARMOR:2 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:8 REPAIR:5 TECH ATK:+1 LIMITED:+1 SPD:4 EVA:8 EDEF:10 SENSE:8 SAVE:13 [ WEAPONS ] Integrated: Shock Claws Integrated: Fuel Rod Gun FLEX MOUNT: Thermal Rifle HEAVY MOUNT: Nanocarbon Sword (Thermal Charge) // Overpower Caliber [ SYSTEMS ] Personalizations, Beckoner, Smite, Armament Redundancy

I call this one ECLIPSING BINARY SUPERGIANT PRISM POWER MAKEUP.

So the Lycan's basic conceit is that it's a two state system. You start combat with your normal stats as listed above, and a dormant superheavy weapon called the Shock Claws that cannot be used.

It has Slag Carapace just like the Manticore, giving it resistance to Energy and Burn damage. However, it replaces the Manticore's Unstable System, Charged Exoskeleton and CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD traits with two new ones. Interference Field causes nearby enemies to take Difficulty on attacks that don't target the Lycan, and Power Flux, which causes enemies to potentially become Impaired and Slowed if you take heat.

Your mech plays mostly like a normal Manticore for the first part of the fight. However, at any time, you may activate your core power, GO LOUD, which as a full action causes your mech to violently shed its outer plating. You lose Slag Carapace and Interference Field, your base Armor becomes 0 and your base speed becomes 6. You may then immediately move your speed and attack an enemy with your Shock Claws.

That's not all, however: you can charge up your Shock Claws by watching your allies get hurt.

If your friends take Structure damage before you GO LOUD, it charges up your Shock Claws. They initially deal 3d6+6 AP Energy damage (Overkill) in Threat 1 (although Gyges Frame already bumps that up to Threat 2) and cause another nearby enemy to take 1d6 AP Energy damage. If you see an ally take Structure damage, that goes up to Threat 2 (Threat 3 with Gyges). If you see an ally take Structure damage a second time, the damage increases to 4d6+6 AP Energy (Overkill) and the number of enemies who get struck by secondary damage increases to 2.

If an ally is destroyed in your line of sight before you GO LOUD, your Shock Claws instantly charge to full power, no matter what state they were in before.

This is a little bit more Super Saiyan than Sailor Moon, but you do get to go through a whole transformation/power up sequence and smite your enemies because they were mean to your friends.

[sir-buh]

She destroy on my temple of the enemies of Ra till i castigate my godhead

[scythesalad]

who up castigating they enemies of the godhead

[noodlegirl-draws]

Castigate the enemies of the godhead

Me when i

[superdaisypowerhour]

she overkill on my combat drill until i castigate all over the enemies of her godhead