This guide is a work-in-progress, and is not yet complete

This guide serves as an overview of the features within COMP/CON, and how to use COMP/CON to play and run the LANCER tabletop RPG. It is intended to be useful to both players and GMs.

This guide covers the web-based version of COMP/CON, located at https://compcon.app/. There may be differences in the desktop version that are not noted in this guide.

Guide Sections

• Overview and Getting Started <== You are Here
• Compendium
• Pilot Roster
  • Creating a Pilot
  • Creating a Mech
  • Pilot View
• Encounter Toolkit (TBC)
  • Creating NPCs (TBC)
  • Creating Encounters (TBC)
  • Running Missions (TBC)
• Content Manager

Conventions in this Guide

All buttons will be indicated using the [Button] nomenclature.

All link words will be indicated using the "link name" nomenclature.

NOTE will indicate something that you may want to take note of related to the feature or task being described.

IMPORTANT will indicate something that you should or must pay attention to, or else the feature or task may not work correctly, or you may lose data if the instructions are not closely followed.

Overview and Getting Started - Table of Contents

• What is COMP/CON
• The home page of COMP/CON
• Navigating around COMP/CON
• User Accounts
  • Creating an Account
  • Account Options

What is COMP/CON

COMP/CON is a web-based tool for players and GMs of the table top role playing game LANCER. It enables you to quickly and easily create and manage characters, mechs, NPCs, missions, combat, and other content. It also acts as a resource guide for the various in and outs of LANCER, with easy-to-look-up information on the various frames available, skills, weapons, and so forth.

Why the name COMP/CON?

In the universe of LANCER, there are artificial intelligence that are commonly available to help people with a variety of different tasks. These are known as companion/concierge assistant units, or COMP/CON units. More can be learned on pages 107, 120, and 379-380 of the LANCER core rulebook.

Why should I use COMP/CON?

It is completely possible to play LANCER using only pencil and paper, and without ever using the COMP/CON application. However, you will find that with COMP/CON, you can:

• quickly look up and cross-reference information about the game and the various skills and abilities
• create and share mechs and pilots between players and GM
• create and run encounters more easily as the GM
• create templates for NPCs that can easily be re-used
• monitor story progress and player progression

Where can I access COMP/CON?

You can access COMP/CON at https://compcon.app/, or by downloading the standalone application from https://massif-press.itch.io/compcon

Do I need the LANCER core rules to use COMP/CON?

A free version of the core rules, minus GM content and information about the setting of the game, is available at https://massif-press.itch.io/corebook-pdf-free. It is recommended to have on hand as it contains more thorough information on how the game is played that is not available within COMP/CON. A full version of the rulebook including NPC creation, how to run the game, and world building info for GMs is available at https://massif-press.itch.io/corebook-pdf. This too will include information helpful to GMs that is not available in COMP/CON.

The Home Page of COMP/CON

First, head over to https://compcon.app/ in a separate browser tab or window.

The home page of COMP/CON looks something like this:

In the upper left you can see the version number of COMP/CON that is running. In the screenshot, it is Version: 2.3.10. You may need to reference this version number if you encounter any issues or have questions while using COMP/CON.

In the upper right are two buttons:

• [Check for Updates] - This will query the server and tell COMP/CON to download any updates. Be sure to read instructions thoroughly, as it may tell you that you need to undergo extra steps.
• [View Changelog] - Shows you a list of the recent changes made to COMP/CON

On the left side are listed the following sections:

• [Compendium] - A database of the LANCER frames, equipment, and rules.
• [Pilot Roster] - Create and manage pilots and their mechs, print character sheets, and enable active play mode.
• [Encounter Toolkit] - Build and manage NPCs and encounters, and run missions with NPCs and pilots.
• [Content Manager] - Manage and create COMP/CON expansion data; this is where you upload any .lcp files you may have.

And finally, along the bottom are the following options:

• [Log In] - Allows you to log in or create an account for COMP/CON. This is recommended, as it allows you to save your content to the cloud and access it elsewhere.
• [Create Data Backup] - Exports all data that you have created in COMP/CON such as pilots, mechs, encounters, NPCs, and so forth to your computer. Saves as a .compcon file.
• [Load Data Backup] - Allows you to load a previously created .compcon backup.
• "Options" - Allows you to change and update various options in COMP/CON.
• "About" - About the COMP/CON application.
• "Credits" - People who created LANCER, COMP/CON, and lists of other contributors or Patreon members
• "Help" - A list of resources with regards to COMP/CON, including this wiki.
• "Support this Project" - A link to the Patreon page where you can offer financial support to the COMP/CON project.

Navigating around COMP/CON

When you enter any of the three major sections of COMP/CON (Compendium, Pilot Roster, and Encounter Toolkit), the main screen will change and the top menu bar will have a different navigation available.

In the upper left corner will be the following options:

• Backward - Navigates back in your browsing history. Will eventually return you to the Home Page.
• Forward - Navigates forward in your browsing history until you reach the most recently visited page.
• Home - Returns you to the Home Page of COMP/CON.
• Bookmark - Takes you to the home page of the section you are currently in.

User Accounts

An account on COMP/CON is recommended order to save all of your created characters, mechs, and especially for GMs, encounters and missions. You can log in from anywhere and utilize your saved data!

Creating an Account

To create an account, click on the [Log In] button in the lower left hand corner of the start screen. In the modal window that appears, click [Create Account].

Once there, fill out an email address and password, then click the [Create Account] button. Enter a valid email address and password of your choosing, then click [Submit].

A new modal window will appear; enter the code sent to the email address used to create your account into the Verification Code box, then click [Confirm Verification Code]. This will confirm and create your account, after which you may log in.

If you close the modal window and still have your verification code and need to enter it, click on [Log In]. After entering your email address click on "Click here to use a verification code." directly underneath the email address box.

You may then enter the verification code as prompted and click [Confirm Verification Code].

If at any point you wish to stop, simply click [Cancel].

NOTE Be sure to keep track of the email address you used, as it will be used to recover your account password should you forget it!

Logging In

To log in, click the [Log In] button in the lower left hand corner of the start screen. In the modal that appears, enter your email address and password, then click [Sign In].

Account Options

After logging in, the [Log In] button in the lower left will change to [Connected], and a modal window titled Cloud Account will appear with your account options.

You can close the modal window by clicking the [X] in the upper right, and re-open it by clicking the [Connected] button in the lower left of the home screen.

In the modal window you will have a number of sections with options available.

Sign Out

You may sign out of your COMP/CON account by clicking the yellow [Sign Out] button in the upper right of the modal window.

Change Password

Here you can enter your old password and then enter a new password, then click "Submit" to update your password.

Account Data and Synchronization

This section lists your COMP/CON User IdentityID which may be requested for troubleshooting issues with your account. Beneath this it will also show the synchronization status of your COMP/CON account data between the local computer and cloud storage. Data synchronized may be:

• Active Mission data
• Mission data
• Encounter data
• NPC data
• Pilot data

Separately, you may also synchronize resources, which currently includes:

• LCP resources

Note: Currently Auto-Sync is deactivated, with no given timeline for when it will be re-activated.

You may use the Auto-Sync Settings to automatically synchronize data between the local web browser and the cloud in the following situations:

• On Login: Automatically synchronize data between the local browser and the cloud whenever you log in
• Sync Remote Resources: Will synchronize remote resources such as LCPs.

Otherwise, you may manually control the sync of various data in the tables below this section.

The left side will show you the number of items of that data type available to synchronize. You may click the [Refresh Table] button for data or [Refresh] button for resources to refresh the state of the cloud data.

Underneath the data section you will find the [Smart Sync All] button. Clicking this will automatically compare local and cloud data, and update all data and resources to the latest version found after comparing. Anything that has been marked for deletion for longer than 30 days will be permanently deleted.

Click on the v arrow to the right of a particular data set to expand it. This will display the list of the items under that data set.

In the table of data you will see the Name, Last Local Update, Last Cloud Update, Status, and Options.

• Name: The name of the particular piece of data.
• Last Local Update: The date and time the local browser copy was last updated.
• Last Cloud Update: The date and time the cloud copy was last updated.
• Status: A list of icons indicating the status of this piece of data. A trash can icon indicates this item has been marked for deletion. A green check mark means the data has been synchronized. A grey check mark means that the data is out of sync.
• Options: Opens an options menu via which you can Sync to Latest (whether cloud or local data), Delete, or if marked for deletion, Restore Item or Delete Forever.

Clicking on the checkbox for one or more items in a section will allow you to use the following buttons along the bottom:

• [Overwrite Local]: No matter the state, take the cloud data and overwrite the local copy.
• [Overwrite Cloud]: No matter the state, take the local data and overwrite the cloud copy.
• [Sync to Latest]: Take the data that was most recently updated and use it to overwrite the older data. So if the local data is most up to date, it will overwrite the cloud copy, and if the cloud data is the most up to date, it will overwrite the local copy.

Along the bottom of the modal window are the following buttons:

• [Create Backup]: Creates a backup of all user data and LCP content, including content marked for deletion, to a .compcon file. Click the [Generate Backup] button
• [Load Backup]: WIP