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P.B.

CORNYLIUS
HORUS
THY HUBRIS MANIFEST
HORUS:
THY HUBRIS MANIFEST
By
Porter “Cornylius” Botterud

Edited by
Malcolm Cooke

Art by
@SinfullSaint

Template used
Lancer RPG Template by Michael Prijatelj, used under CC BY 4.0

Playtesting by
BigMacH, buttstrong, PrendarTheThief

Special Thanks to
Massif Press for the Lancer setting’s vast well of inspiration, Pilot.net for feedback, to SinfullSaint for allowing me
to use their incredible art, to those on discord who made their own versions of these frames,
and to my homies for supporting and encouraging me at every step.

HORUS: Thy Hubris Manifest is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with
Massif Press. HORUS: Thy Hubris Manifest is published via the Lancer Third Party License.

HORUS: Thy Hubris Manifest © 2021 by Porter Botterud


Itch.io
@CornyliusB
Blog

Lancer is copyright Massif Press.

[2]
INTRODUCTION
DEMON: “We wouldn’t be here without you. This is VARIANT FRAMES
all your fault, isn’t it?” These FRAME can be granted to players as EXOTIC
PRIEST: “She was a Witch!” GEAR during play or openly allowed as alternatives to
their original FRAME when a pilot reaches rank II in
DEMON: “Lies? In your house of God? No wonder the license for that mech.
He has abandoned you.”
– Castlevania, 2017
Choosing a variant FRAME is mutually exclusive to a
license’s standard FRAME (meaning that choosing the
As humanity spreads across the vast worlds of the DRAUGR means you cannot use the BALOR). All other
Orion arm, so too does its great shadow. In the dark gear for the license remains the same.
corners of a million worlds, there festers twisted
reflections of forgotten cruelties. From the
resplendent Baronies to the dignified Armory, from While all four frames provided are HORUS frames,
the repentant Union to the sacred Ascendancy, the some are variants of frames from other
ghosts of their pasts take form, reaching out anew manufacturers. When you choose one of these
with sins made manifest. alternate frames at rank II, treat all your levels in that
license as HORUS levels for the purpose of Core
Bonus access. For example, if you chose the
RESOURCES KRAKEN frame at LL2 of the WHITE WITCH, you would
This supplement requires a copy of the Lancer: Core treat your License Levels in the WHITE WITCH as
Rulebook. It also references the SSC WHITE WITCH HORUS levels.
mech, Intangible status, and rules for alternate
FRAMES from Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade New variant FRAMES:
Baronies (p. 130 and p. 138). • HORUS BANSHEE (SSC DEATH’S HEAD)
• HORUS DRAUGR (HORUS BALOR)
CONTENT AND THEMES • HORUS KRAKEN (SSC WHITE WITCH)
• HORUS NUCKELAVEE (IPS-N NELSON)
The content of this supplement includes several
horror themes such as death, undeath, unreality,
darkness, corruption, and body horror. It also includes
societal themes of oppression, pollution, extremism,
and religion.

ADDITIONAL RULES DESIGN INTENTIONS


STATUS: BLIND HORUS: Thy Hubris Manifest is intended to
Blind characters can only draw line of sight to provide a series of frames that players and GMs
adjacent spaces. can use as narrative tools or rewards like the
HA Genghis Mk 1 or Ranger Swallowtail from
DAMAGE: INFECTION No Room for a Wallflower.
Infection works similarly to Burn, but applies Heat
While these frames are classified as HORUS for
instead of damage.
gameplay purposes, all of them are poorly
When characters take Infection, they immediately understood paracausal creations that, outside
take an equal amount of Heat, and mark down how of direct encounters, remain largely unknown.
much Infection they received. If a character already Whether found abandoned, scanned mid-
has Infection, additional Infection is added on top of combat, or granted in a dream, pilots don’t
what they already had. At the end of their turn, choose these frames, they find them.
Infected characters must roll a Systems check. On a
Of course, the decision is up to you and your
success, they clear all Infection; otherwise, they take
GM. If anyone’s going to rip a whole pattern and
Heat equal to the amount of Infection currently
sell it wholesale as their own, it’s HORUS.
marked.
A character can clear Infection instead of clearing
Burn during a Stabilize action.
HORUS
BANSHEE Artillery
Death’s Head Variant – All levels in the
Death’s Head are treated as HORUS levels.

>//DATALOG RECOVERY: BB-CM1/FINAL


>//PLAYBACK:
CM1: “-ucopian war hero apparently, all I know is he’s our-”
CM3: “Did you hear that?”
CM2: “What?”
CM1: “Midnight-3 what are you hearing?”
CM3: “That whistle, like wind maybe? It’s getting louder.”
CM5: “I think Midnight-3’s losing it. (Laughter.)”
CM3: “I know what I’m hearing, jackass.”
CM2: “Could it be radio static? A leak maybe?”
CM3: “I triple checked, there’s nothing
in or on sensors to indicate-”
CM5: “Hey 4 can you- 4? C’mon, we’re
supposed to stay moving.”
CM1: “Midnight-4, no sightseeing.”
CM3: “What? Fuck, it’s too loud-”
CM1: “Midnight-4, fall in. Now.”
CM2: “Is his mech shut down?”
CM1: “Go get Midnight-4.”
CM3: “Please! Stop! My
head! I need to get out!”
CM1: “Midnight-3 turn off
your boosters! What the
hell are you-”
CM3: “It won’t stop!”
CM1: “Midnight-5, get 3
back here! Midnight-2,
status on Midnight-4!”
CM1: “Son of a bitch, Midnights
report in!” [CM1 Burner ignition].
CM1: “Report! Anyone! Repor-”
[CM1 HULL BREACH. LIFESIGN NULL.]
CM3: “(Heavy breathing. Laughter.)
It stopped sir, oh Ancestors it
stopped. I’m on my way back. I’m sorry, I don’t
know what came over me. That howling was just-”
CM3: “Sir?”
>//PLAYBACK END

[4]
CORE STATS CORE SYSTEM
Size: 1 Save Target: 10 THE KEENING
Armor: 0 Sensors: 20 Described as a lament for the dead,
HULL SYSTEMS “keening” is a wailing call of mourning
HP: 4 E-Defense: 10 practiced by various cultures around Union
Repair Cap: 2 Tech Attack: +1 space. The Banshee, though never seen, is
AGILITY SP: 6 always associated with a loud, droning
Evasion: 8 ENGINEERING sound, most frequently described as harsh
Speed: 4 Heat Cap: 5 wind or constant scream.

TRAITS Note: What purpose could this warning


have? Intimidation? By-product?
TO PIERCE SPACE
While Intangible, you can attack tangible Though never recorded, some survivor
characters, though treat weapon range, sensor accounts describe words being heard behind
range, and area attacks that originate from you (such the howl. These included the names of
as lines or cones) as halved. You also treat targets present pilots, notable actions taken by
as Invisible. present pilots, and the names of family
Any time the Banshee attacks this way, it creates a members. The earliest report possibly
void tear in a free space anywhere along a line attributable to the Banshee is from 5010u,
between itself and its target. Void tears are size ½ after Fansipan, when a local rumor of “dead
objects, and are Immune to all effects. Characters Ofanim*” circulated online.
adjacent to a tear become Shredded, and your Note: Though its validity is vague,
attack draws line of sight from the tear. details are consistent with confirmed
Tangible characters can attack Intangible encounters.
characters as long as both the character and a void *(Details can be found in UIB documents
tear are within range, and the void tear is a valid on Aunic Military assets.)
target. The attacker treats the target as Invisible. If
the attacker succeeds the Invisibility check, the tear Those who survive these encounters always
closes after the action is resolved. note hearing the call, though other
evidence implies that typically, at least
TO PIERCE REALITY one combatant doesn’t hear it.
The Banshee may reroll Invisibility checks. Note: My assistant questioned if the
Banshee leaves survivors on purpose. A
WHISPERING
question for another day, I think.
As a Protocol, the Banshee can become Intangible
until the start of its next turn. The next successful – Dr. Lichen, UIB Paracausal Division
attack against the Banshee deals +1d6 bonus
damage Wailing
Active (1CP), Full Action
For the rest of the scene, while Intangible:
MOUNTS • Automatically succeed any Invisibility
MAIN HEAVY checks you make.
MOUNT MOUNT • 1/Round you may reroll a ranged attack,
and may choose which result to use.
• On a Crit, your target cannot draw Line of
Sight to void tears until the end of their next
turn.

[5]
HORUS
DRAUGR Striker/Defender
Balor Variant
“To you below,” the Soldiers called, “Do you see the taint you spread?
Driven beyond death by greed, you fight in machines that poison the land
and shatter the mind. It is your stained claws that pollute the wealth of
the earth. You are no righteous revolutionaries! You are monsters,
creatures born of dirt, and you shall be cast back to your place below!”
“To you above,” the Rabble replied, “do you see the aches of our people? We
yearn to breathe fresh air, unchained and unbound. We claw out from the mud
beneath your boot, fighting for each gasp above the suffocating dredge you
choose not to see. Will now you see it? We are drowned in the poisons you
have us make, choked on the gasses that boil our air. You understand, then,
that the rot we bring is your own, hidden once in our lungs, now exhaled.”

CORE STATS CORE SYSTEM


Size: 1 Save Target: 11 CUPIDITAS VITAE
Armor: 1 Sensors: 5
HULL SYSTEMS It’s a hot topic in certain forums
HP: 3 E-Defense: 10 to debate whether the Draugr
Repair Cap: 3 Tech Attack: +1 predates the Balor, as both appeared at
AGILITY SP: 5 nearly the same time late into the Sanjak
Evasion: 6 ENGINEERING revolution. Some claim the Draugr was
Speed: 4 Heat Cap: 5 originally a corrupted Balor print, while
others claim it first appeared when a dead
TRAITS pilot’s impulses warped a mining rig beyond
recognition.
THE LIFE UNLIVED
The Draugr begins each scene with a number of In either case, one certainty is known: For
Resilience Charges equal to 4 + 1/4 its maximum better or worse, the burden of this frame
HP. After applying damage reduction and is never chosen, only earned.
Overshield, if the Draugr would lose HP, it instead
loses 1 Resilience. If an attack deals bonus RELENTLESS DEATH
damage, the Draugr instead loses 2 Resilience. Passive, 1/Turn
When a character within your Sensors is destroyed,
If the Draugr would be reduced below 1 Resilience, regain 1 Resilience.
it loses a structure and refreshes Resilience.
Plague-Vent Dispersal
If the Draugr chooses to repair when it Stabilizes, it Active (1CP), Quick Action
instead regains Resilience equal to 1/2 its The Draugr floods a Burst 3 Area with sickly fog
maximum. until the end of its next turn. As long as the Draugr
THE SPREADING STAIN is inside the fog, it is Invisible and Relentless
1/Round after the Draugr hits with an attack, it can Death restores 2 Resilience.
deal 1 Infection to its target. If the target already has Characters that start their turn inside the area take
Infection, the Draugr instead deals 2 AP Energy, 1 Infection. Any characters that already have
and deals 1 Infection to a character adjacent to its Infection instead take 3 + [The Draugr’s Missing
target. Structure] AP Energy.
Characters must then make a Systems save or
become Blind and Shredded until they remove
MOUNTS Infection.
MAIN HEAVY
MOUNT MOUNT

[6]
[7]
HORUS
KRAKEN
Defender/Controller
White Witch variant – All levels in the White Witch
are treated as HORUS levels.

The Church of the Deeptide, or just The Deeptide, is a decentralized, clandestine


group of sympathetic Aun who argue for the liberation of Aun’Yaa, the lunar prison
home to almost all Apollonians. For most, the name is a tongue-in-cheek title to
reflect the group’s contrarian nature toward the established truths of the Ascendancy.
Apollonians, however, view it differently. Their ancestral mythos of angels and demons
has long spawned many sects and myths, and one such story, the Rite of Deeprise, tells
of a demon pulled up to firmament, from which it touched realspace.
The Kraken pattern is poorly understood, and has never been successfully printed.
Rumored to have been seen on the surface on Aun’Yaa, it is said a powerful Mind not
yet cultivated by the Ascendancy assembled a simple machine and, in lieu of Realspace
computers, reached into the Firmament, or perhaps beyond, for an alternative.
Storytellers claim that as the half-machine took form, black tendrils of liquid shadow
stretched and pulled at steel like sinew on bone. When manquellers were sent, they
bore witness to an ink-dark creation of man and metal: Ofanim’Ist, the Kraken. For
days it scoured the moon’s surface of Aun, and for every manqueller sent after it,
they would only return insane, cursed to darkness, if they returned at all.
It is unclear how the Kraken was defeated. Some say it was banished by Os themself, a
proud triumph and proof of the danger unchecked Apollonians could pose. Others claim
it became a shadow in the Firmament, waiting to pull unsuspecting souls into the Deep.
In either case, the Kraken, and the secrets it held, vanished from the prison moon.

CORE STATS CORE SYSTEM


Size: 2 Save Target: 11 INKSHADE
Armor: 2 Sensors: 8 You shall know the bonds you bind me in.
HULL SYSTEMS You shall know the dark you drown me in.
HP: 7 E-Defense: 10 You shall know the fear you raise me in.
Repair Cap: 4 Tech Attack: +1
AGILITY SP: 7 “Bound like a Soul, I am your Shadow. You
Evasion: 7 ENGINEERING have kept me from the light, and you shall
Speed: 4 Heat Cap: 4 keep it from me no longer.”

TRAITS Swallowing Black


Passive, Protocol
SUFFOCATING TENDRILS
1/round A character you have Immobilized must
When the Kraken immobilizes a character within
make an Engineering save or take 1 Infection and
Range 3, that character cannot take reactions.
become Blind until it removes Infection.
VISIONS IN THE DARK
Blind characters can still draw line of sight to the Omnigrasp
Kraken, and the Kraken gains resistance to damage Active (1CP), Quick Action
dealt by characters it has Blinded or Immobilized. Make a melee attack against all enemies of your
choice within Range 3. On a hit, they become
STALWART Immobilized and take the effects of Swallowing
The Kraken gains +1 Armor for each character it has Black. Your targets remain Immobilized last until
Immobilized to a maximum of 5 Armor. you move, or your targets succeed a Hull save as a
GUARDIAN quick action. Characters Immobilized by this ability
Adjacent allies can use the Kraken as hard cover always treat you as within range for melee attacks.
MOUNTS For the rest of the scene, Stalwart grants +2
FLEX HEAVY Armor to a maximum of 10 Armor.
MOUNT MOUNT

[8]
[9]
HORUS
NUCKELAVEE Striker
Nelson Variant – All levels in the Nelson are treated as HORUS levels.

“For hundreds of years, the Armory and the Baronies have whispered to the cultures
of the Dawnline Shore. Local wars, lit by the fires of ancient feuds, were ignited
by weapons supplied by distant greedy gods.”
“From this was born the Nuckelavee, a machine that destroys the very land it fights
over. First seen in a skirmish between two planetside societies after diplomacy
fell apart, the fighting persisted for months without break. The battle raged and
raged, no side surrendered, no side faltered. When their guns emptied, they drew
their blades. When their blades dulled, they threw their fists. And when fists
failed, they turned to teeth. The earth beneath their homes was burned sterile,
stained by the blood and oil that leaked from the rotting carcass of war. Finally,
as the dust settled, only one soldier stood, hunched and haggard, limbs long and
bones broken. None could tell who, or what, was left.”
“Now, it lurks and stalks at the edge of every battleground, its lumbering steps
burning the ground beneath as acid drips from its toothy maw. With its cause long
lost to time, it now seeks a new purpose. Half flesh and half metal, tainted beyond
recognition, yet as human as you or I.”
“4/10. Kinda preachy. Put another log on the fire, my story’s way better.”
“Come on, man!”

CORE STATS CORE SYSTEM


Size: 1 Save Target: 11 EARTHBLIGHT
Armor: 0 Sensors: 5
HULL SYSTEMS “Hate you? No, we do not hate you! Without
HP: 8 E-Defense: 10 you, without your touch, we would not
Repair Cap: 3 Tech Attack: +1 exist. No, we love you. We love you as a
AGILITY SP: 6 child loves a father, as a pastor loves a
Evasion: 7 ENGINEERING god. Please, allow us to show you our
Speed: 5 Heat Cap: 6 DEVOTION.”
TRAITS
ACIDIC SPILL Blighted Step
1/round After moving 4 spaces, the Nuckelavee’s Protocol, Heat 1 (Self)
next attack deals 1 Infection for every 4 spaces it Until the beginning of your next turn, characters
moved, to a maximum of 2. If the target is already who enter or start their turn in Difficult Terrain you
Infected, your attack instead deals +1 bonus create take 1 Burn.
damage for every 2 spaces moved, to a maximum
of 4. Barren Breath
SLUGGISH DISEASE Active (1CP), Protocol
The Nuckelavee’s movement does not provoke In a Cone 5 Area, all characters must make an
reactions from targets with Infection. Engineering save or take 4 Burn and 2 Infection,
POISONED EARTH or half of each on a success, and the area becomes
When the Nuckelavee Boosts, the spaces it passes Difficult Terrain.
through become Difficult Terrain until the start of its For the rest of the scene, when you Boost, the
next turn. spaces adjacent to tiles you move through become
Difficult Terrain as well.
Blighted Step no longer inflicts Heat 1 (Self).
MOUNTS
FLEX MAIN/AUX
MOUNT MOUNT

[10]
[11]

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