I published a Lancer adventure called War In The Toybox based on the 2006 LEGO theme Exo-Force!
This project has been in development for a few months as part of the 2025 Summer LEGO RPG Jam by diyanddragons. The jam ran from June 2nd to August 29th and the goal was to write a ttrpg something based on a LEGO set. “Something” includes everything from a class to a setting to an adventure — the latter being ultimately where I ended up. In this post I want to talk about my development process and the decisions involved and the lessons I learned while making WitT.
The project started out simple enough. I wanted to make something based on the Grand Titan, because I had that set as a kid. I actually had one other set (the Golden Guardian) but I felt like it was easier to write for Exo-Force’s first wave than explain the context around the Golden City. The Titan also has a stronger identity and “gimmick” than the Guardian, which is essentially just a Gundam.
I should also mention that I considered writing something Bionicle-related, but decided against it because I’d build an entire game system which is both less in-spirit with the jam’s identity and also probably out of scope for a three month timeline. One day I’ll make a serious attempt at something Bionicle, but until that day, I entrust my hopes to Vorpal Coil.
Anyway, back to Exo-Force: once I knew what set my submission was going to be about, I think I immediately jumped to Lancer without considering any alternatives. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is Lancer’s incredible third-party license, which I have been informed is extremely permissive compared to many other games. Notably: you can write stuff in the Lancer setting and publish it. This was the first third party license I ever read, so I didn’t know that this is an uncommon practice. I adore Lancer’s worldbuilding, and the setting is a large part of the reason I enjoy the game.
The second reason I picked Lancer is because it has an iconic house style for its layout. I’m currently trying to learn Affinity Publisher, and I always learn better by doing. Giving myself a project that forced me to learn how to use the software was just what I needed.
This was… ambitious. For my first “real” Affinity project.
I spent days just trying to figure out all of the character and paragraph options. Tracking, leading, and kerning still confuse the hell out of me and the biggest problem is that I was trying to make a document that looks like something instead of building it from the ground up. That means that everything I did, I was either referencing Valkyrion’s Lancer template (for Google Docs) or eyeballing it from the book. Because of this, I neglected a lot of the features that make publishing software efficient, like the ability to apply pre-set styles to groups of text. I was essentially hand-tweaking everything as I worked on it.
I’m really glad I did it though. For all the brute-forcing and struggle, I feel like I have a much better feel for Affinity and some idea of how I would begin to put together my own project. After doing everything by hand, I know which sorts of layout design will be used the most and I think I can be more efficient in future games.
writing for lancer
It was harder than I thought.
The first hurdle is the fact that I wanted to create a brand new frame for the Grand Titan, but Lancer’s published roster of frames is so extensive that there aren’t a lot of niches left to fill unless you start getting weird with mechanics. In particular, the main thing about the Grand Titan is that it’s got a big fuckoff claw like a crab — so obviously the mech had to be some type of grappler. Unfortunately for me, there are a bunch of frames with similar profiles like the Blackbeard for grappling or the Zheng for brawling. Even if I wasn’t worried about stepping on toes, I needed to be conscious of the interactions between the licenses — players can mix and match systems and it’s easy to accidentally create something unbalanced.
I avoided part of that conflict by making the claw part of the Grand Titan’s core traits as an integrated weapon. Players can use other frames’ systems with the Titan, but they can’t take the Titan’s claw and use it on other mechs. The other thing I did was lean heavily into the Grand Titan’s role as a frontline defender and the fact that Exo-Force is all about fighting robot enemies. Of the first wave of Exo-Force sets, the Titan is clearly the “tank” of the group with big shoulder pauldrons and a squat silhouette. I gave it a reaction to take hits for the team and made its missiles better against RPV (robotic) enemies.
Making this map was my second nightmare. Whenever I GM for Lancer I make maps using a tool called Dungeondraft, which is great at building out organic encounter-level maps. I use a lot of free asset packs to make things appropriately sci-fi, and I imagine it’s even easier to create fantasy maps. The problem is that while Dungeondraft has a very permissive license for publishing and re-selling maps, the free asset packs are not licensed for commercial use, so I could use any of the terrain or set dressing I was used to decorating with.
I came up with a double-edged solution.
In 2003, LEGO published a CAD software called LEGO Digital Designer where you could build digitally and then buy your creation. This is now abandonware, discontinued in 2019, but you can still find copies available online. I grew up using LDD and felt comfortable enough building models that I thought I would try and decorate my map using LEGO creations. There were a few flaws in this approach:
- Dungeondraft (and most maps) operate from a strict top-down perspective.
The flat lighting and 3D rendering of LDD creations make it really difficult to tell what something is from above. In comparison, the assets I normally use are more stylized and have shading to give a sense of depth.
- It’s nearly impossible to match the perspective angle when capturing two different models.
Exporting an image from LDD is just taking a screenshot (which helpfully makes the background completely transparent), but unlike other 3D software, there is no way to align the camera perspective in the exact same location. The best you can do is eyeball it, but subtle differences in angle make the terrain look weird when placed next to each other.
- Building models takes a long time and I didn’t start on the map until a few days before submission.
This one is mostly my own fault. However, it’s also true that spending 15 minutes per asset has diminishing returns after you build the major pieces of terrain.
The other major difficulty when doing map design is that the iconic Sentai Fortress defense is essentially a fight in the middle of an empty bridge. It’s really not lore-accurate to have any sort of tactical cover, so most of what I have is improvised debris coupled with some cargo containers. I added the diagonal bridge overhead as a last-minute change because there was just too much empty space without it, and it gives the players some options if they do want to try and flank.
more lessons
Lancer has a very specific layout that demands a lot of flavor text in places I normally wouldn’t write any. Every weapon and system has a small description, and it’s difficult to write something both lore-accurate to Exo-Force and consistent with Lancer worldbuilding while also having the appropriate tone. I found myself struggling to embellish and add details just to “fill out pages” because Lancer would have more text in a certain area. For my own projects, I have a much better picture for the style and tone of writing I want to use, though I also imagine it’s much easier to write when you’re not trying to satisfy a crossover between two pre-existing worlds.
The last major thing I learned was a better understanding of how much scope I can handle within a given timeframe. When I was first ideating on the project, I envisioned three combats and a full adventure. I can put that together for the Lancer games I GM in under a month, much less the three I had available to me. Even without the process of learning Affinity and the struggles with LDD, I think it takes much more time to do layout and make something that’s ready for publishing than it does to prepare that same amount of content for a home game. There was almost a time when I was going to publish the Grand Titan as a standalone submission for the jam, but I ultimately felt like it needed at least one combat to tie everything together.
I had a great time participating in the jam, and I really encourage anyone with a fondness towards LEGO to check out the other jam entries. Diyanddragons will be publishing a roundup post with all of them sometime soon, but you can also look at them directly in the comment section of the original jam posting.
Until next time, play well!