6thVoice

[sixthvoice]

The Sixth Voice

The Sixth Voice by //Bela//

Lancer Homebrew Supplement

Hidden away in a facility deep within the bowels of Cradle was another machine mind, untouched for centuries. Now after its theft, HORUS has begun putting it to work once more, dredging up possibilities, thoughts, and ideas yet unknown and broadcasting them out for the world to hear. It didn't take long for the corporate giants to notice however, and now, from these broadcasts comes new and strange technology turned to the service of war.

[sixthvoice]

SSC LOVERS KNOT

One of the latest additions to SSC’s LUX-Exotic line, the Lovers Knot represents Smith-Shimano's dedication to the relentless pursuit of perfection. The Deaths Head is an iconic piece of gear, a principled and sleek tool of conflict resolution that excels within its role. The Lovers Knot as its sister frame expands upon its capabilities with new discoveries tirelessly perfected by Exotic Materials. Within the Broadcasts, SSC found the fabrication files for a special type of glass, perfectly reflective and almost entirely indestructible. Originally meant for optical arrays, highlight points, and cockpit coating it proved overly difficult to shape but displayed some rather interesting additional properties. All projectiles deflected off the surface seemed to have a mind of their own, seeking targets with statistically impossible accuracy and no significant loss in kinetic force. Leaping at this discovery, Exotic Materials was able to adjust this ricochet utilizing directed operator brainwaves and a small companion drone to create a mobile surface for reliable redirections. Thus was the Lovers Knot born, a reflection of the hard work and peerless ingenuity of its creators. A beautiful, terrible thing, unmatched in its twined pursuits of defying the laws of physical reality and violence.

I said i wouldn't make more, i lied. oops. well i actually love this one and its an all time personal favorite due to its themes (big fucking railgun) and its design (pishly my goat). Its a deaths head alt which means it has to contend with a slightly strange license. Its main ability is its ability to reflect shots, allowing you to draw remaining line or range to another character when making attacks. It allows you to hit 2 or more characters while only making ONE attack roll and thus working with core siphon and double dipping bonus damage. All targets hit take half damage no matter what so setting up lines to hit more than 2 is heavily rewarded. At the very least you can do some funny things with tachyon lance or kraul rifle (or spread some debuffs with concussion missiles). Its core power allows more reflections and with good positioning you can end up hitting pretty much every character. Ordnance is still an issue but struggling to get any value out of the line is now a lot easier overall. Lovers Knot basically acts as an AOE artillery that trades off sheer single target damage for hitting a bunch of people at once and can get around troublesome terrain. Its also sick as hell You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io (this one only available in pilotnet sixth voice thread for now) or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io, seriously go glaze him mech shibari was mandatory (lovers knots after all) more soon. maybe

[dragonkid11]

Sixth Voice, by Bela, is yet another Lancer third party supplement that adds multiple new licenses and alt-frames for the big four.

[dragonkid11]

A big enough cannon for big enough problems

[sixthvoice]

I LIED, VERSION 2

The Sixth Voice by //Bela//

Lancer Homebrew Supplement

ITS HERE! Version 2 of the sixth voice is now live on itch.io with a ton of new changes, balance adjustments, and the four new frames that have composed my last couple posts. All the support this project has gotten means a lot to me and I have a couple new things planned for the future. In the meantime, ill finish posting out the last couple mechs i havent covered here and maybe figure out what the hell else to do with this blog.

Love you all

[sixthvoice]

HA KOREMASA

Developed in several blacksites on Ras Shamra and various diasporan worlds, the Koremasa was Harrison Armories main foray into Broadcast technology. Meant to stand up to other manufactures reconnaissance, espionage, and dueling frames it eschews convention to push the boundaries of system/reactor targeting. The Koremasa blends industry standard signal disruption with Harrison Armory exploitation sequences, to rapidly focus down problematic targets and evade oncoming fire. Its small size and relatively high mobility even allow it to be used outside of mechanized combat and it has become standard for many discrete operatives. So standardized in fact, that it has begun to double as ceremonial attire, with many pilots using it as a symbol of status and prestige. As an additional utility for the more experienced pilots, the Koremasa comes with powerful magnetic grip adjustment and protocols for clambering up hostile mechs. While Harrison Armory does not condone the regular use of such systems, their inclusion remains as an option for the desperate, foolhardy, or courageous pilots who value results over continued survival.

The Koremasa is a heatgunner frame that seeks to be one of the more tech savvy HA offerings. It incentives mixing tech attacks in with melee strikes to maximize heat gain while dodging around the battlefield. Its license comes with ricocheting plasma shurikens, an energy katana slash, teleporting smoke bombs, magnetic caltrops and more! It seeks to fill the power fantasy of juking your foes while whipping out crazy anime bullshit till their reactor stresses. Once you've got an exposed opponent, the Koremasa's core passive allows you to double down on them and go for a kill. The core loop of heating enemies and taking them down is a sort of empty design space as many of the mechs that have an easy time heating up foes, often rely on their allies to finish the job. Plus, the Koremasa lets you jockey larger enemies for guaranteed crits and unmatched swagger. You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io (test version for this one) or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

HORUS NAGA

The Broadcasts started small, a couple frequencies spewing numbers, sites on the omninet that spit out poems, half written books, or puzzles. As they ramped up and actual pieces of technology came through, most of the initial output was abandoned, cast by the wayside, and forgotten. But not everyone forgot. A small group of devotees unearthed a complicated chain of puzzles, buried deep in the labyrinthine depths of forgotten chatrooms, articles, and servers. For years they toiled away, spending their lives in pursuit of whatever ultimate secret that was just beyond reach. At first they were almost all disappointed. At the end of it all was just another piece of hardware, just the fabrication for another machine of war. However, in the years since, they discovered something rather curious, every single person that had worked on that final puzzle, no matter how small a contribution, had all ceased to age. Almost immediately, Union jumped to put as many as they could through an extensive battery of tests to find the cause of this newfound longevity. What they found were nanites, smaller than before, each one replicated from natural detritus and repurposed to support their charge. Unfortunately, their creation remained to be a secret that remained within whatever fabrications had been unearthed. Thus was the Naga pattern group born, harnessing the power of these new nanites, it has established itself as a versatile option for those who want to protect their allies and wreak havoc upon those who think they can get away. The Naga is a funky little frame acting as a frontline skirmisher/support with a major focus around Lock-On. Lock on is a very underutilized mechanic in my opinion and the Naga serves to provide another option for pilots that prefer to be a little more active than something like the swallowtail. While being a size 2, it has a little extra mobility through Wire Slither, which acts like skirmisher but for tech actions. It also has smart weapon support to fit in with its license. The Naga has 3 weapons on its license, each one coming with thrown, to extend its operational range (also thrown seeking is a funny interaction) while still being solidly melee. Due to all the lock on support it has, many of its payoffs revolve around critical hits or consuming lock on for damage, the critical hit subtheme also allows it to make great use of centimane if properly built into. Overall, its a slightly more flexible frame than most others that can fit smoothly into most roles with a little bit of coordination. Also, it looks crazy as hell.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io (test version for this one too) or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

SSC PRIMROSE

The Primrose is the flagship model of SSC's LIM-AMOK line, and the culmination of SSC's experimentations with Broadcast tech. Built to be a close range combatant, with significant evasive and diversion options, it excels with elegant melee combat while offering variable engagement distance options. It marks SSC's first foray into large scale hand-to-hand options with rapid limb extension and magnetic attachment points allowing massive weapons to be hefted around with ease. Its ability to quickly close the distance, control a wide area around it, and evade any retaliation, has made it a popular option for many pilots who prefer direct and efficient solutions, immaculately done. The first of the V2 Mechs im posting here, no particular reason to the order (still havent done all the V1's oops). Anyway, the Primrose is an SSC superheavy melee frame that focuses on dodging and having high threat range. Every time an attack fails to hit the Primrose, it gets a little more evasion resetting after 3. This allows it to be a little more reliable with its dodges without putting it into the zone of absurd dodge stat (atlas im looking at you)(and hornets i guess). Its core active provides two options, one to boost its dodge and survivability and one to give it more flexibility with its weapons. The license itself has a big ol hammer for those who want to focus on pure damage, a sword for utility (and shooting people), and a tiny little axe to help soften up your targets. It also has systems that allow it to preform combat moves, the fact that lancer didnt have a proper spin move is nuts. Overall, it ends up being a mobile, versatile, superheavy master for those of you who just wanna hit things with a big fucking hammer You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io (test version for this one) or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

IPS-N GLOIRE

The Gloire is IPS-N's alternative to the classic Tortuga. While still boasting the impressive durability and heft of the original, the Gloire embraces some of the Broadcast's new tech. The primary feature of the model is the high powered hydraulic arm and its tie-in Rushdown Systems that it uses to close the gap and keep its targets locked down. While it may not be able to punch mechs quite as far as the Zheng, its zone control adds a level of unrivaled utility without sacrificing the reliability of the Tortuga. It excels at quickly identifying threats, running them down, and stomping them flat. Its amplification systems turn it into a solid mass of angry steel and god help anyone trying to run away.

The Gloire is a Tortuga alt that leans heavily into the zoning control of its predecessor while sacrificing some raw defensive utility to become a ramming machine. Boasting extended range for both its rams and cqb weapons, the Gloire can leverage good positioning to control enemy movements and knock attackers around. Its core passive consists of a self heating bodyslam that temporarily increases its armor, while its active grants all its weapons the ability to use a line 5 profile and pull enemies in. With its core active it can turn enemies into bouncy balls and almost entirely control the positioning of hostiles who get too close. Its rather hard to beat a huge block of metal.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

SSC Maiden's Blush

The Mourning Cloak was a triumph of design, a masterpiece of ideas folded and sculpted together into a perfect gestalt. But even perfection can be improved at Smith-Shimano. Every piece can be broken down and improved, each moving part can become its own triumph. And when these parts are put together, you can get something even stranger and more beautiful than before. Or you could get the Maidens Blush, a bastardized, overly designed, paracausal patchwork of ideas. This is of course not to say that it is not an effective frame, or even a bad one, merely that it stands against the typical design philosophies of SSC. It reached licensing to push the boundaries of what SSC can make possible. It does not build upon the Firmament-manipulation groundwork laid by its predecessor, it eschewed years of work to rely upon strange technology. All to prove that even the strangest ideas can be made manifest. It stands as a reminder that there is no such thing as more perfect, it is all just different facets of the same idea, and one day, that SSC will see the whole for what it truly may be. The Mourning Cloak is one of my favorite frames in Lancer, it fills a very cool little niche, works around critical hits (which i am a sucker for) and is a dodge MACHINE. I thought Lancer lacked a space to fill a debuff front liner, and an alt frame for the Mourning Cloak was the perfect space to fit such a frame. Instead of offering damage, the Maidens Blush immobilizes and impairs on its first critical hit each round, working as a striker/controller frontline hybrid. Additionally, it leans into invisibility and is able to forgo teleportation to turn invisible, sacrificing movement to later turn that invisibility into an attack reroll, just to enable hitting those crits a little easier. Lastly, just for fun, its core power also implements just a bit of randomness, not quite as potentially devastating as the Mourning Cloaks but still offering the chances for some real shenanigans.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

SSC Purple Thorn

Smith-Shimano were slow to integrate the Broadcasts into their lines, preferring to extensively test and measure each aspect of the new technology before releasing it. The first several blinkform tests ended in abject failure and subsequent tests were canceled in favor of more promising technology. However, a small group of dedicated artisans kept working on prototypes as pure passion projects. Due to this the Purple Thorn incorporated a hodgepodge of many different leftover projects that clarified into very promising system package. Eventually, higher ups caught wind of the potential and gave the go-ahead to restart official development. Built upon legacy integration of the slipstream modules and nonexplosive Monarch test launchers, the Purple Thorn ended up having the strangest movement suite SSC has ever greenlit. By appending trackers and engaging short bursts of focused slipstream, the Purple Thorn is able to rapidly reposition in ways that few other mechs can. While its unconventional nature made it difficult to allow its inclusion in any of the iconic lines, it was soft launched under its own unique TIAX-UYL line to moderate success. The flavor text for this one is a little boring, but you gotta get a bit of worldbuilding in there somehow. The Purple Thorn is a very interesting frame because it has a low movement speed for SSC mechs, instead supplementing its movement with short teleports after dealing damage (2/round). This gives it the unique advantage of being able to reposition mid attacks without needing to take skirmisher (although you certainly still can). Its other main function is its ability to slightly boost the damage of auxiliary weapons. With a 1/round +3 bonus damage on aux hits (although it is important to remember the second aux hit cannot benefit from this) it is able to keep the good talents but not sacrifice too much firepower. Finally, it is able to do some occasional off turn attacks which can allow for repositioning in response to enemy actions. The license itself is built around rewarding positioning, repositioning tools, short range seeking aux weapons and some mild damage boosters. While some of the pieces may sound mildly disjointed on paper they end up forming a very cohesive license that increases play options to play with movement and mid range, mobile artillery. You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

HORUS-MYCONID

Horus pattern groups have always been a contentious subject, the lines between one group and another can be blurry and heated debates about them are a common sight on the omninet. Originally, the Myconid was thought to be an offshoot of the Balor, its form comprised of thousands of tiny nanites shifting and rippling like water. However, after the official designation of greenwash, the Myconid began to be more clearly differentiated due to its more benevolent properties. Unlike other types of nanites, greenwash is incapable of tearing apart material and can not replicate itself, working only to surround and protect its designated targets. These less aggressive properties have led many to misunderstand the Myconid, thinking it a kindness compared to its siblings. They could not be more wrong. It is myriad, a shambling mound of churning wash, an angel emitting halos of shimmering nanite spores, a machine of propagation and rot. To those who endanger the network, it is nightmare made material. The Myconid This thing looks freaky af, it may be my single favorite artistic decision for the Sixth Voice. The muscle? the exposed bones? the waves of greenwash? Fuck. Anyway mechanics. Well, this thing is a gorgon alt frame and as such it has some [size 2] shoes to fill. The gorgon is reactions by volume and has some nice defendery traits to supplement that as its main feature. The Myconid flips this on its head, by giving an extra use of one reaction each round. This means that while you will have less actions per turn, you will be able to have more uses of your best reactions. This generally keeps gorgon gameplay a little less bureaucratic feeling (though it can still be built in such a way). It also dips a little bit into overshield but its main feature comes with its intigrated weapon. The PFP// \"PSYCHOPOMP\" Fold Pike is the bastard child of the latch drone, forge-2 subaltern squad, and the marathon arc bow. It can only be used as a reaction, and only against allied characters within threat (which is EIGHT). You get to overwatch allies and give them temporary armor until the start of their next turn. While tooled out to be a defender, it is still very capable of cramming real weapons and becoming a death machine through the more traditional methods. and again, holy fuck this thing looks crazy. i personally believe it would taste a little like raspberry. You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io go check out pishly, do it

[sixthvoice]

IPS-N Fitzgerald

"Some manufactures ask stupid questions such as "how much heat can this frame take before permanent damage to the structural integrity of the chassis?" or "how do we make the invasive code properly avoid the countermeasures of a witch class mech?". Well fuck them because we ask the real questions, like "how many guns can we put on one guy?" and "how heavy of a tungsten ball can we shoot at high enough velocity to kill 10 men in a row?". Then we take those answers, turn them into cannons, slap em' on a prototype and BAM! good to GO. Fuck you Harrison eat shit this is real science."

- recovered log from fired IPS-N R&D worker

The Fitzgerald is not named for some daring brigand, terror of the high seas, or fearless rebel fighting against impossible odds. It is named after a tragedy, because for the longest time, that's all the Fitzgerald ever was. Originally a casualty of corporate reorganization and mismanagement, it bounced between team after team, each one being disbanded for one reason or another. Eventually, it was relegated to the lowest tier of development. Being sent to work on it was almost synonymous for being fired. And yet, after decades of rotting away as IPS-N's reject pile, the unthinkable happened. It was complete. To this day it stands as a testament to hard work, persevering and toiling away at thankless labor for the slightest chance at glory. Those who choose to pilot the Fitzgerald embody this, because it doesn't matter how many times you've been knocked down, how often you get turned into a heap of slag, or exploded into shrapnel. What matters is that you have a cannon nearly as big as you are, and there is nowhere for them to hide. The Fitzgerald was designed as IPS-N's idea of artillery. While it isn't very long ranged, its ability to ignore walls grants it a similar feel to traditional artillery while retaining IPS-N's brick mentality. Its focus on line weapons incentivizes clever positioning and leads to an overall more mobile mech. Its main feature however is its built in Bizarre Cannon, a heavy cannon that damages the uses and pushes them back with its sheer force. While it is a potent weapon, its overuse can turn an already squishy frame into a downright fragile one, dis-incentivizing constant heavy weapon spam. Its core power increases its power a great deal, allowing for the cannon itself to be used as a repositioning tool while increasing both its self damage but also its killing power. Its a high risk high reward, glass cannon of a frame that rewards those who are willing to think through their turns and work with their teammates.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

HORUS Rakshasa

The Rakshasa was the first identifiable Horus pattern embedded within the 6th voice broadcasts. While still available under the Goblin pattern group it offers a more defensive version of its predecessor. The frame comes with integrated neuro-link systems allowing for the redirection of control in the case of insurmountable countermeasures. More interestingly included is the Rakshasa's unique "Mask" functions which serve to augment, rather than replace, the offensive capabilities of the base License. The Mask Code itself is a potent disrupter that is constantly changing in a way that has been described as "pretty freaky". Even stranger still are the short-wave disrupter fields that allow for direct interference with not just scanners and sensors, but the very brainwaves of enemy pilots. Surely nothing bad could come of this. //MOLD ME// BREAK THY WILL UPON THE ROCKS// WEAR MY FACE AND BRING DOOM TO THE DOUBTERS OF THE WORLD//CAST DOWN THY EGO AND UNHOLY FORM// BE MINE//BE MINE//BE MINE//BE MINE//BE MINE//BE MINE//BE MI Alrighty, time for a certified HORUS classic, a goblin alt named rakshasa. The Rakshasa does not focus on tech attacks like the Goblin does and instead focuses a little more heavily on saves, pushing those who fail them with heat. Its core features however is its Mask of Many Faces, a modular modifier for the Rakshasa's tech abilities. While not as focused in on tech attacks it has a much greater array of options to work with and incentives a heavily interactive playstyle. You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io REAL QUICK PISHLY GLAZE You may be looking at this art and think, wow, this guy is a real pro. Its worse than you thought however, the vast majority of all of his art pieces were done with a mouse, in what im pretty sure was microsoft paint. Certified freak.

[sixthvoice]

HA Vauban

The earth was made to be shattered, metal was made to be heated and broken and battered. The world was made to be destroyed piece by piece. The Vauban stands as the Harrison's testament to dominion, each piece bent towards the singular point of progress and control. With the vast amount of data being spewed out of the Broadcasts it was only a matter of time until something truly devastating was unleashed that really ought to have stayed unknown. The Vauban was built upon that something. Gravity control is a tough nut to crack, and even now its secrets are not yet all teased out of its potential, but HA found enough to work with, and work with it they did. By leveraging hyper localized gravity pulses, the Vauban can rend the ground, turning it into a mass of dangerous shards that can rend and drag down unwary opponents. No one can beat gravity forever. Okay, so I gotta give out a disclaimer really quick. I have never played warframe, this frame is not based off of warframe, the artist just really likes it and added a little reference. The Vauban is an Iskander alt frame that focuses on difficult terrain, movement control, and slowing. Difficult terrain is not a very fleshed out mechanic in Lancer and the Vauban turns it into a weapon as well as a way to hamper enemy movement. While primarily geared for a controller playstyle it is equally viable as a striker, who deals damage from failed saves or a defender who can protect their allies within difficult terrain.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

SSC Black Mountain

The Emperor speaks of progress, of solutions to doors and breaking down the world atom by atom. The Black Mountain is the secondary approach, the soft key, the twisting of the locks and teasing apart of secrets. The Broadcasts provided the perfect set of doors for Smith Shimano to pick, and behind them lay secrets long left hidden. Here! In this code, is the key to that which is truly immortal, the door whom has plagued all mankind for so long. This is no fair task. The Emperor stood as the peak of accomplishment, an unimpeded leviathan of the sum total of all the greatest works. One can not reinvent the bow, it is the apex of its own form. And yet, there is always another peak to climb, another height to reach, another life to live, and another story to tell.

Here! Take up your arms, brace your spirit, take heart oh implement of violence, climb that Black Mountain, and write your name in fire across the sky! The Black Mountain is an Emperor alt frame and as such has the monumental task of being a viable side grade to one of the strongest frames in the whole of Lancer. The concept for its design was an increased focus on offense and damage while still working with and utilizing Overshield. The Black Mountain has the ability to boost the damage of allies that are currently benefiting from Overshield and can snowball heavily by granting a small amount of Overshield on kill. As a size 1/2 it is still squishy but does not have the amount of overshield stacking as the Emperor and incentivizes teamplay and coordination rather than weapon spam. The Black Mountain serves to be the glue that can bind a disparate team together and can be useful in every sort of scenario. You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io

[sixthvoice]

HA Subutai

The Barbarossa has always operated on a simple principle: you kill it and get swarmed by its friends, or you don't kill it and you get the business end of a ship-class spool weapon. With the start of the broadcast, Harrison Armory decided to take this principle to the next level; why even let them have the choice? The Subutai is the next step, armed with the experimental diversion rail, it locks down the battlefield leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Now sure, you can't annihilate a bunker from a ridge over, but it's the price you pay for unparalleled defensive artillery. At the end of the day, you are still a solid block of metal, and ain't nothing gonna stand in your way. The Subutai was created to fill the artillery defender niche, one that is not really explored within Lancer. While its integrated diversion rail acts as a weaponized version of crush targeting the license also leans very heavily into immobilized. Its second major feature allows it to supplement its movement while immobilized but requires teamwork and forethought to be used properly. Its also got probably my favorite core description so its occupies a very special place in my heart.

You can find the Sixth Voice on itch.io or pinned on my blog. Art by my amazing friend Pishly who you can also find on itch.io