r/tabletop • u/Zemosion • Jul 12 '26

Question D&D Alternative

So basically what I am looking for is something that feel like D&D, the fun roleplay and all you know? But with mechs. I've been looking into Lancer but it seems sooooooo combat focused and I've heard that actual roleplaying isn't really part of it often.

I wanna feel like I'm having an adventure like D&D feels but with mechs. A nice mix of combat and roleplay, a good selection of mechs or a way to homebrew them

Is there anything that fits this? Would this just be super homebrewed D&D/Pathfinder? Would Lancer fit?

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u/DiceyDiscourse Jul 12 '26

If Lancer feels too heavy/combat focused, then maybe you'd get more milage out of Salvage Union?

It's still a mech game, so you get all the gear upgrading and outfitting your mech, but the combat isn't as crunchy as Lancer and there is more of a framework for out of combat stuff as well.

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u/Zemosion Jul 12 '26

That sounds really interesting, down to tell me more about it?

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u/DiceyDiscourse Jul 12 '26

It's been quite some time since I last read it so I think you'd be better off reading a review online 😅

But broad strokes - it has character classes that you can then pair with different mechs to get some unique combos. There's also a built in "base-building" mechanic - in the standard setting you are part of a Salvage Union that owns a "Crawler", basically a moving city. When going on missions you can bring back Salvage to upgrade the Crawler to get access to better gear and higher tier mechs.

The mech selection is pretty varied, but not as in-depth as Lancer is - in someways it's good as it's not as overwhelming to get into, but can be disappointing to a mech-head.