Drake
The Drake, IPS-N’s first foray into military-grade mech design, is the backbone of any proactive trade-security or anti-piracy force. Its massive, simian frame is built around a single-cast bulkhead, sloped and reinforced to handle sustained fire and the vagaries of vessel-proximal hardvac travel. The Drake is an imposing chassis, its frame evoking the might of ancient armored infantry from a time when greater numbers guaranteed victory.
The standard fleet license for the IPS-N Drake outfits each chassis with IPS-N’s high-velocity, high–projectile fragment assault cannon for suppressing and overwhelming targets, and a heavy kinetic–ablative shield for defense. Advanced models feature upgraded weapons and armor including the formidable Leviathan Heavy Assault Cannon, a high-rpm anti-materiel weapon.[1]
Core System
FORTRESS
Fortress Protocol
Active (1CP)
You deploy heavy stabilizers and your mech becomes more like a fortified emplacement than a vehicle. When activated, two sections of hard cover (line 2, Size 1) unfold from your mech, drawn in any direction. These cover sections have Immunity to all damage.
Additionally, the following effects apply while active:
- You become Immobilized.
- You benefit from hard cover, even in the open, and gain Immunity to Knockback, Prone, and all involuntary movement.
- When you Brace, you may take a full action on your next turn instead of just a quick action.
- Any character that gains hard cover from you or your cover sections gains Immunity to Knockback, Prone, and all involuntary movement, and gains the benefits of Blast Plating.
This system can be deactivated as a protocol. Otherwise, it lasts until the end of the current scene.
Licenses
License I
Assault Cannon
Standard: Main Cannon, Overkill, Heat 1 (Self), Quick Action, [Range 8] [1d6+2 Kinetic Damage] You can spin up this weapon’s barrels as a quick action.
Spin Up Assault Cannon (quick action): Spin up the barrels of the Assault Cannon, Slowing your mech and allowing use of its "Spin-Up Mode" profile.
Spin-Up Mode: Main Cannon, Overkill, Heat 1 (Self), Protocol, [Range 8] [1D6+2 Kinetic Damage] While spinning, this weapon gains Reliable 3, but you become Slowed. You can end this effect as a protocol.
Cease Spin-Up: End the Assault Cannon's "Spin-Up Mode", ending the Slowed condition and allowing the Assault Cannon to be used with its "Standard" profile.
IPS-N’s assault cannon of choice is a deep-cooled autocannon, fieldable as a mounted weapon or manipulator-operated platform. The cannon, simple in its functionality, can be fed by either box magazine or belt and is a standard inclusion in almost any among IPS-N fleet orders. In micro and zero-gravity environments, Drake pilots commonly employ the assault cannon as an additional propulsion system.
Argonaut Shield
2 SP, Unique, Quick Action
Activate Argonaut Shield (Quick Action): You use the heavy overarm Argonaut Shield to provide cover for an adjacent character as a quick action, giving them Resistance to all damage; however, you take half of the damage your target would take before calculating Armor and Resistance. This effect lasts until your target breaks adjacency, at which point this effect ceases until you repeat this action.
In space, simplicity in form and function guarantees reliability and promotes trust. The Argonaut is one of IPS-N’s oldest designs, hailing from the pre-merger days of Northstar’s Deep Black security teams. It’s a simple slab of metal carried in hand or mounted on a chassis’ brachial superstructure; the only option a pilot has for customizing this shield is a choice of size.
License II
Concussion Missiles
Main Launcher, Knockback 2, [Range 5] [1D3 Explosive] The target must succeed on a Hull save or become Impaired until the end of their next turn.
This weapon ignores ranged penalties from Engaged, and deals 3 Kinetic damage to Grappled or Biological targets, instead of 1.
Concussion missiles are fitted with overpressure-generating charges with low shatter and low incandescence – they’re meant to stun, deter, push back, and disorient, usually in tandem with a larger, more lethal attack.
Aegis Shield Generator
2 SP, Unique, Limited 1, Deployable, Quick Action, Expend a charge to deploy a Size 1 shield generator in a free, adjacent space, where it creates a burst 1 shield.
Deploy Aegis Shield Generator (Quick Action)
Aegis Shield Generator Stats: [Size 1] [HP 10] [Evasion 5]
Set out three d6s to represent the generator’s remaining power. As a reaction when any character or object of your choice at least partly in the area takes damage, you may roll one of the d6s to reduce the damage by the amount rolled. This effect lasts for the rest of the scene, until all dice have been rolled and the generator loses power, or the generator is destroyed.
The Aegis is a portable electromagnetic shield generator: a powerful and reliable method – if crude by modern standards – for establishing kinetic and coherent-particle deterrence over a wide area.
License III
Leviathan Heavy Assault Cannon
Standard: Superheavy Cannon, Quick Action, [Range 8] [1D6 Kinetic], Unlike other Superheavy weapons, the Leviathan can be used with Skirmish. You can spin up this weapon’s barrels as a quick action.
Spin Up Leviathan (Quick Action): Spin up the barrels of the Leviathan Heavy Assault Cannon, Slowing your mech and allowing use of its "Spin-Up Mode" profile.
Spin-Up Mode: Superheavy Cannon, Reliable 5, Heat 2 (Self), Protocol, [Range 8] [4D6+4 Kinetic], While spinning, you are Slowed and can no longer use the Leviathan with Skirmish. You can cease this effect as a protocol.
Cease Spin Up: End the Leviathan Heavy Assault Cannon's "Spin-Up Mode", ending the Slowed condition and allowing the Leviathan to be used with its "Standard" profile.
The Leviathan Heavy Assault Cannon (HAC) is a massive, multi-barrel rotary cannon fed by an external reservoir, usually dorsally mounted on the chassis carrying it. Unmodified, the Leviathan should only be fired within the recommended burst timing specifications to prevent percussive trauma to joints and pilots.
In partnership with Harrison Armory’s Think Tank, IPS-N is currently investigating remote solutions for the cannon’s ammunition consumption demands.
Portable Bunker
2SP, Limited 1, Unique, Deployable, Quick Action, Expend a charge to deploy a portable bunker to a free, adjacent area 4 by 4 area. At the start of your next turn, it unfolds into a fortified emplacement.
Deploy Portable Bunker (Quick Action)
Aegis Shield Generator Stats: [Size 4] [HP 4] [Evasion 5]
All characters completely within the bunker's 4x4 area gain hard cover against all attacks from outside the bunker from all directions and Resistance to damage from Blast, Line, Burst, and Cone attacks that originate outside the bunker. The bunker is open topped, and characters may enter or exit at will. It can’t be moved or deactivated once deployed.
IPS-N’s “Portable Bunker” is actually a series of single-use expanding printer sheets: flat-pack pouches of inert non-Newtonian fluid that, when deployed, become a rigid structure capable of withstanding incredible force.
- ↑ Lopez, M. & Parkinson Morgan, T. (2019) LANCER Core Rulebook. Massif Press. p. 132.