So a friend of mine is talking about potentially running a game with A Time of War, the fourth edition of the well loved battletech rpg, and I was wondering what the general consensus is on here as a few specific questions. How backwards compatible the system is? Can third edition mech stats be quickly ported over? How does combat run? Is the fluff consistent with itself as well as the crunch or are there the glaring conflicts rpg fans have become so used to?

This is relevant to my interests. I haven't played A Time of War (or any other BattleTech RPG, for that matter), but I am deeply interested in hearing about it.

I downloaded and read the core book and it is actually a pretty fun looking system. The skill resolution mechanic is a little wonky though, 2d6 + skill + attribute modifier + situational modifiers. It's not exactly flawed.... it's just aesthetically unpleasing. There's also the experience system which reminds me of the Elder Scrolls games. Over time you can assign experience to skills or attributes to increase them, in a way it mirrors reality quite well and it doesn't get in the way of anything, but it still seems strange. The most jarring thing is the letter code system that all equipment uses. Nothing exactly tripped me up but I did pull a confused dog face a couple of times trying to figure out why they made some of the choices they did. It looks like it would work smoothly, but I haven't actually gotten a chance to play it so my judgement is at best tentative.

One of my group is trying the GM's hat (again), so we'll see what happens when I play.

I think the Mech I'm getting is slightly broken, however...

that depends entirely on what toys are available.
combining pulse lasers with targeting computers is frowned upon for the -3 to hitting things . .
while piloting a Hunchback 4P or 5P is perfectly OK with most people that don't realize what it means.

It means heat management and never having to worry about ammo.

Well, the Mech I got (A Falconer Heavy Mech) has four medium lasers, a PPC, a Gauss Rifle, and Jump Jets. Yes, Jump Jets in a Heavy.

I haven't even gotten around to seriously working on mech design but have always been a fan of the Trebuchet 7M, speed, agility and firepower are what I look for in a walking pimp-mobile.

The Falconer is . . Mediocre at best . .
There are 100t Mechs with IMPROVED JUMPJETS.

And no, in the 4P Heat-Management means you don't fire ONE of the dozend lasers you own ^^

OK, not as bad as I thought then. I know the lack of a missile system is going to be telling, but that is what the rest of the Lance is for, neh?

Missles are Sub-Par-Weapons for the most part anyway <.<
You are mostly independent of Ammo in that Mech, which is good.
You will begin to overheat when the Gauss Ammo is empty i think.
Which is bad. You have Jumpjets, so you can still move when overheated.
Which is good. And remember one thing: IF THE GAUSS AMMO IS EMPTY?
YOU SHUT DOWN THAT GAUSS RIFLE!
There is simply NO POINT in having it active without ammo to shoot it.
A shut down Gauss-Rifle will NOT explode on Critical hit.
An active Gauss-Rifle WILL Explode for 20 Points of automatic damage.
And one or maybe even two automatic Pilot-Hits, i am not sure about that.

Two points of damage to the pilot, per Total Warfare, p. 41. I'm gonna call shenanigans on missiles being subpar, though.

Call my cynical, but decades of Battletech experience tell me that the old "energy vs. ballistic vs. missiles" debate isn't the sort of thing that's like to be solved any time soon. You've got better luck asking gunbunnies to argue .45 vs. 9mm and expect a reasonable resolution, or bringing about a lasting peace in the Middle East.

I like a mix of weapons, personally. Although, I have to admit I am partial to the AC/10 and variants.

Also, .45 long Colt is the best cartridge. THERE IS NO ARGUMENT.

it's just that missles are VERY niche weapons.
streak SRM can, when boated, give good ammounts of damage, true . .
but even if you fire several bays full of SRM at a target that has suffered some hits already you are pretty unlikely to actually breach the armor and do some critical damage.
non streak? yeah, good luck hitting with more than 75% of your ammo consistently.
same with other scatter weapons like LB-X ACs. And they, at least, get a -1 to the to hit TN for the initial shot, although not for how many pellets will actually hit.
And then there is the explodey ammo bit, which is a very unfortunate thing that can and will happen at random. even without enemy fire, if you overheat.
big guns like a gauss-rifle will pierce the armor in anything that has less than 20 points of armor in the hit location. which is most anything you will aim it at, really.

Every weapon has its niche. I find missiles make an excellent supplementary weapon system when paired with a nice high-caliber autocannon, and are also good for fire support. Pepper the bastards with LRMs as they close in, then follow up a solid autocannon hit with a flight of SRMs. Sure, you could use lasers as a secondary, but that creates its own problem.

Medium Lasers are king.
Small Lasers and Large Lasers come second.
Then come the ER and Pulse Variants.
Then the other Laser Variants.
Then come PPC
Then come Gauss
Then come AC
Then come Missles

Close Combat Attacks are kinda to the left of that List.

You put pulse lasers below standard? -2 to hit is way too nice for that, IMO. I don't rate PPCs that highly, either; their high heat puts them firmly in the Awesome But Impractical category. A good autocannon is about the best primary weapon you can have, especially AC/5s and AC/10s. Good damage, low heat means you can fire them every turn, and they carry enough ammo that you're not terrified of missing. Back them up with a few medium lasers, or MPLs if you can get them, and you're golden.

Normal Medium Lasers and Small Lasers produce more Damage than heat, so yeah, they are rated higher than the Pulse and ER Variants in my eyes.
Also cheaper to manufacture, lighter and smaller in both tonnage and crit space usually.
PPC get ranked in the middle because of high heat and minimum reach on most models.
AC get ranked low because of high ammounts of very volatile ammo, shit for reach on the 20 class and shit damage and minimum reach on the 2 and 5 class. The only in my eyes viable AC is the Ultra 10 and maybe the LB-X10.

I really think you overestimate the danger of ammo explosions. I've played fifty or sixty games of BattleTech, and I can't remember ever seeing one. Yeah, they can be devastating, but they're just not that common.

That, my friend, depends ENTIRELY on how lucky you are . .
I rolled 20 1's twice in a row in a shadowrun game once -.-
For ME, Risk-Reduction ALWAYS factos into these things.
If it means i have a bit less Fire-Power? I'm fine with that.
At least it won't be me blowing myself up like this . .

Wait, what? Are you saying that you rolled 20d6, twice in a row, and every single die in both rolls came up 1? Mein freund, that is when you donate those dice to charity and buy a whole new batch. And also generate a new character, because a glitch that severe means that Cthulhu himself appears and eats you.

Meant a Highway Snowplow snuck up on a character in my campaign. The player didn't live that one down for years!

i dug a hole in the yard, threw some paper, sticks and the dice wrapped in paper into it, poured some gasoline over it and lit the whole thing on fire and let it burn untill the dice were no more than a bit of molten slag.
in game it meant that my character died, because those were damage resistance rolls and i already used karma for a reroll after the first attempt -.-

but even with new dice, i still manage to roll well below average usually. and it swings both ways, in a game like GURPS where rolling low is the target, i seldomly roll below 4 . .

In that case, sir, I salute your noble sacrifice in being a bad-luck sink. Take comfort in the notion that we all roll better because of you.

My only problem with the game was that battle armor in personal combat is in no way as protective as it should be. You will die inside that suit before the suit is ever damaged to the point of non-operation. This is counter-intuitive, compared to the way it plays out on the Battletech table! I dunno if it was an oversight or is that way by design.

Yeah, that's kinda like the SR4 and SR5 Vehicle Damage / Passengers Stupidity right there . .
I don't like the Character Generation System . . i remember suddenly being short an ear and an eye <.<

pfft.. you have a spare.

Count me firmly in the "Right tool for the right job" camp. A long range fire-support mech like the Trebuchet (especially the 7M) is meant to soften up targets at long and medium ranges while more robust models take care of anything that survives to get in close, with the addition of jump jets and an impressive baseline speed you can usually maneuver in to positions that give you superiority, through in some light mechs with good armaments like the Jenner to harrass the opposition and I will take two lances of light and medium machines over two lances of heavy mechs or even some assault designs.

Well, as it is a merc campaign, I'm doubting that my mech will keep its typical mounts as things get blown off.

Maybe.
I try to get some modifications into Mechs before the Game starts, if we are not a line unit of some standard.
Like removing the Machine-Guns and ammo from a Mech and replacing it either with one or two more heatsinks or more ammo.
Nothing too mayor usually. In the last Battletech-Game i played i got a Hunchback 4P. With Jumpjets. Not my idea that one.
Freaky little thing. Nobody expects it to be anywhere near that level of Mobility.
And while the Damage may not be as concentrated as with the AC20, it's actually a much higher level of Alpha Damage.
And it can score more crit hits and do random damage and will never run out of ammo or blow up either.
And can still jump away if i miscalculate heat and overheat into immobile Target terrain <.<

I blasted a 95t Mech into Scrap Metal with a STOCK 4P once. I love that little Beast. It's basically a Medium Assault Mech.

Depends on how many torsobombs your mechs have, I'd say...

If you're carrying ammo in a mech, you're just asking for it to get shot. They seem to attract the critical rolls. I haven't played that many BT games, but I've seen plenty of ammo explosions.

This is actually true and it has a reason.
The reason being that in a great MANY design, the ammo bin is actually the only really critable piece of equipment in a given location <.<
And if that is not the case, then the ammo is being stored in legs, heads or center torsos. or in side torsos for mechs with XL-Reactors.

x1000 this. Anything from the original 3025 or 3050 books suffered from this problem. Around the time that 3055 (original) TRO came out, FASA was starting to learn from their design mistakes and pick up on where players were making changes.


Best thing you can do: Put ammo and CASE in a torso (well armored) and then pack it the rest of the way with heat sinks!

no, put ammo into an arm. and put the weapon using that ammo in the SAME arm.
then use case on a torso side that has good armor.

This game has SUCH an annoying character creation system x.x

Details, man, details!

The ONLY way it takes less than 2 hours is to use a spreadsheet AND play as a clanner, because THAT means you stop wit the creation of your character at age 16 and all you are is a combat machine.
As an IS character you can roughly quadruple the time and the life path system can and WILL cost you an arm and a leg and cripple your character so as to start completely anew time and time again...

As a clanner, you start with basically negative intelligence, willpower and charisma and need to buy these up again to be a viable living being. Note that i did NOT say Human here. And you are a slow learner.
Because as a clanner, you are NOT human! you don't get to chose the human phenotype as a trueborn. As a freebirth you do only get to be human and nothing else.

And you start you have 5k points to spend. Which are, after you have made the character with the needed parts, including buying back up your attributs to positive numbers, you are left with round about 1k points . .
Which you then need to iron out advantages and disadvantages. And to get yourself a vehicle. Which takes about 800 points alone if you want a big mech. Getting rid of slow learner and impatient would cost another 400 points.
And then you don't even have any skills but the base package.

The game System itself is . . wonky in my eyes too . .
It uses 2D6 so as to stay compatible with the CBT Board-Game.

But it has both Skill-checks and Attribute-checks.
And the tests are against a more or less random but fixes target number depending on what you aim to do.
It can be TN o 18 for Attribute-Checks. Yes, you need to roll 18 with 2D6. No, there is no reroll 6's.
You substract the level of your used attribute(s) from the TN or you add it to the number you rolled.
There seems to be no rhyme nor reason for how and when which of these applies at all.
Same for Skill-Checks . .