Brining the Anime Into BattleTech - The Return of the Reaction Phase

[Daemion]

I apologize now for the Wall of Text.  I tried to make break it up with section headings.

Preamble
One of the weird head-canon things I've come to conclude in my years of playing BattleTech and backwards engineering the game effects (pre-Total Warfare) into something plausibly futuristically fantastic is that Armored Combat in the BTU is highly automated.  It's the only way true lasers can possibly 'miss', or still go to 'random hit locations' on a successful hit.  Yes, there's some additional magic in there in the form of the armor and some other aspects. 

But, one thing that seems to be missing from that magic is any real onus on the pilot.  In my head-canon, there's not a whole lot they're actually doing beyond directing the machine to go whatever direction they want it or what weapons it is to fire and at which target(s).

Aside: Don't believe me?  Just look at how often the Piloting Skill actually gets used, especially pre-TW when physical attacks had a set Base To-Hit. And, even with Piloting Skill as the BTH for physical attacks, how many other things should require a PSR that don't?  The Target Movement Modifier is automatic, but should be situational if it were truly reliant on the pilot.

Now, if there's one thing that is constant in Anime Mech Combat, it's that a LOT of emphasis is placed on the pilot, from how likely they are to hit to how well they can avoid/dodge an attack.  Some of this is also dependent on the capabilities of the machine, too, but more often than not, a truly skilled or truly unskilled pilot will be noted and commented upon.

And because I'm one who has ideas in mind for cross-over scenarios/campaigns, I'm fully aware of this difference in performance.  In my mind, a lot of anime Mechs are comparable to Early Jet Age fighters or WWII prop planes, the pilots having to keep their head on the swivel and be ready to take action should they come under fire, all while directing their craft and lining up a shot on an enemy.  BattleMechs in my head-canon are akin to the F-35 with its helmet-directed targeting system, but a step further, because the pilot doesn't even have to move his head or eyeballs to do it with an AI supplement to handle any defensive movement when under a 'hard ping'.

If you don't see BT armored combat in that light, and the game rules reflect an anime-style combat well enough for you, then the following rules ideas might not be for you. 

And, since this is a fan rule thread, take or leave it at your leisure.



The Metric
So, the biggest limiter to how well a mech functions is the pilot, and the big limiter on how a pilot functions is his Situational Awareness.  if he's aware of a potential incoming attack, he can take evasive action and/or attack back.  But, a pilot's attention can become focused on a task, leaving him prone to missing cues or other signs and failing to 'dodge' in time.  Or, his senses could simply get overloaded, also leaving him prone to attacks from 'out of nowhere'.  If you're getting lit up by a bunch of attackers, he's gonna miss one somewhere, giving someone an easy shot.

But, how do we represent this?

For the longest time, I had thought to find a way to use the Heat Scale as that activity limiter.  But, the scope of the scale and what it would take to manipulate it seemed a bit convoluted. 

But, with the idea of using the Pilot Damage Chart as a Fatigue Meter for Infantry Squads, I think I've stumbled on a simpler solution.  If we give Mech Pilots a second such chart and call it a Situational Overload Chart, then the numbers are simpler, and we can rope in modifiers that should be situational.

You have an Activity Level of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
And, correspondingly, you have a Reaction Target value of +3, +5, +7, +10, +11, and +12.

The idea is that when a Mech comes under attack, the pilot can potentially react.  To find out if the pilot noticed, they have to roll equal to or better than their Reaction Target based on their current Activity Level.  The Pilot's activity level would be determined partly by the movement phase.  However, the more a pilot is attacked in a single attack phase should also increase the difficulty of each subsequent reaction as well. (More on the latter in a moment.)

Of course, the Activity Level should modulate from turn to turn.  This was why I was looking at the Heat Scale with its cool-down mechanic.  However, I'm actually not averse to the chart being reset from turn to turn especially if we use the Attacker Movement Mode as a means of just how quickly the activity level goes up.

Why repurpose the AMM?  Well, in Anime Combat, or if you've played any FPS game, if you really focus, your own movement will not impact your shot.  And, then you bring in some advancements such as computer aided targeting and weapon stabilization which even Anime Mecha should have, the AMM becomes questionable. 

However, what your movement activity does do is strain your focus, especially if you're not only in charge of taking the shot, but also driving the vehicle.  And, if you're having to pause to avoid trees and such, as well as line up a shot, that eats up a lot of concentration, and you will almost certainly lose track of BattlePods 4, 5, and 6. 

Will the AMM still get used for attack roll modifiers?  I'm thinking so, but in more restricted cases. 

Here's what I'm looking at -
The following items will increase the Activity Level for the turn:
- The Pilot declares and makes an attack. 
- The Pilot is declared the target of one or more attacks by an enemy unit.
- The Pilot makes his Mech move during the Movement Phase.
- The Pilot has to spend extra MP to enter a terrain feature. (This might be much, so I'm up in the air on whether to include this.)
- The Pilot has to spend MP to change facing. (This might be much, so I'm up in the air on whether to include this.)

Each of those will increase the Activity Level on the chart based on the Movement Mode the Mech is using that turn.  (Obviously, if the Mech is stationary, it won't be generating levels based on the latter half of the list.)  The movement mode would act as a point multiplier.  So, if a pilot declares an attack and then has to react to being attacked twice in a turn, the Activity point value would be 3, modified as follows:
 
Stationary - x 1/2 (? - I'm contemplating making it a simplified 1, but when you're holding ground, you're not having to worry about collision and stearing, opening up your situational awareness quite a bit.)
Walk - x 1
Run - x2
Jump - x3

Of course, you can't go over Level Six.  And, you can't go below level 1.  There is always a chance you'll still miss something even when you're relatively inactive.

Other potential modifiers I'm contemplating is training level.  It stands to reason that a green pilot will be quickly overwhelmed while a vet or elite pilot might be able to react to a wide variety of threats with ease or impunity.  Still not sure if it should be a solid modifier to the final total, or a divisor.  Any thoughts on this are appreciated.


Reaction Results
So, you successfully make a reaction check.  What does that allow?

Well, since the idea is to put the onus on the pilot, there are some things that should normally not be allowed unless a reaction check is successful.

I see a couple obvious options:
- The pilot takes evasive action to mitigate the effects of the attack.  Without this reaction, anyone attacking the Mech does not have to worry about the Target Movement Modifier.  If the pilot succeeds in a reaction roll against a declared attack, they may take evasive action, applying the TMM. 

- The pilot may make an attack back at the attacker.  Keep in mind that weapon fire restrictions still apply, so if you declared a gun at someone else already, it cannot be used again.  (However, I do plan on coming up with weapons that can be used multiple times for units out of an anime being ported over into BT style play, especially with this system in mind.)  Also, if an attack has already been declared, any subsequent attacks due to a reaction get the secondary target modifier.  Note that this still leaves the Mech prone to unimpeded fire, as they're sacrificing any defensive movement to shoot back.

- Combination Evasive Action and Return Fire.  Normally, the pilot would not have to worry about the AMM to his attack, but if he's reacting to an attack by both being evasive and snapping off a shot, then the Mech gets the TMM bonus, but the return attack has the penalty of the AMM.


Implementation - Reaction Phase
Some of the Activity Level will be determined during movement.  But, much more of it will be at the beginning of the Weapons Attack or Physical Attack Phases.  And, if we want it to have a cascading effect, order of declaration will have an impact.  Sure, a reaction may not seem like much right off the bat, especially in a one-on-one situation.  However, in a typical Lance-on-Lance battle, with typical focus-fire tactics, when all four enemy Mechs are gunning for one guy, the targeted Mech might be able to avoid the first attack, or attack back on the second, and still make his own attack declaration, but the 3rd and 4th declarations could be next to impossible, making easy shots for those two last Mechs.

But, instead of having the reacting Mech have to roll high against all four, it should be a cascading difficult.  Easy at first, but difficult the more instances of reaction the pilot has to deal with. 

To make this easier, it would be simpler to bring back the Reaction Phase.  Attacks are declared in via the Initiative alternation as per movement.  And, as a pilot is forced to react his activity level is increased, changing the chance for a successful reaction to any subsequent potential reaction. And, any modifiers from the reaction will carry into the actual weapons attacks.

Now, why is this important?  Well, my group has found that most people know what their attacks are going to be by then end of the movement phase, and we've come to kind of free wheel attack declaration at the start of each attack phase.  After all, weapons fire and physical attack damage happen simultaneously.  It's possible other groups have short-handed attack declaration, as well.  But, if you're going to be checking whether the pilot is able to react to being attacked and get specific results in a cascading difficulty, you can't do that.  Hence, bringing back the Reaction Phase.  And, this way, it becomes a bit of a mini-game like Movement is. 

So, that's my brainstorm.  Ideas?  Thoughts?
 

[Daemion]

So, a more thorough breakdown of the Reaction Phase.

Say you have a Phoenix Hawk that decides to Run during the Movement Phase.
It has the Run Mode Activity modifier of x2. 
It also moved during the Movement Phase, so it's activity level is already at 2.

We come to the Reaction Phase.  This is a lance-on-lance fight, and the owner of the Pixie has prioritized the declaration of other Mech fire over it, leaving it last on his side's declaration order.  During the declaration, two enemy Mechs have declared against it already.  At its current reaction level of 2, it needs a 5+ on 2d6 to react, which the owner makes, and it takes the Evasive movement action.  It had moved 6 hexes that turn, so the enemy will be facing a +2 TMM.  Regardless of whether the reaction roll was successful or not, it came under attack and now its reaction level goes up by 2, leaving it at activity level 4.  Then it comes under attack again, this time from the very Mech it was gunning for.  It has a couple options.  It could shoot back with no penalty, since this would be its first true attack declaration, but it would risk the enemy getting an easy attack, or it could go a mixed defensive counter attack with an AMM of +2, or it can go defensive and go for a proper attack declaration once its turn for declaration comes around.


Idea:
And, now I think I know how I want to effect being overactive!  I was wondering how to handle instances where your activity level would push above level six.  Any attacks generated that would put your Activity Level above 6 will also be prone to having the AMM modifier.   

Because, you noticed the potential way to cheat the system, right?  Save your Attack declaration for near the end, leaving room to react well to other incoming shots first. 

But, there should be some risk in waiting, and having to deal with other incoming shots before you get yours off.


Idea 2:  I think I know how I want to Implement training levels, now, too. 
You get a modifier to the reaction roll target number. 

I'm thinking something like
- Green = +1
- Regular = +0
- Veteran = -1
- Elite = -2

So, your results would be +4, +6, +9, +11, +12, and 13+ for a green pilot, guaranteeing they'll probably be overwhelmed by too many attacks if they're too active.
Whereas a veteran or Elite will always be able to react at activity level 1, with slightly better chances at higher levels.

And, the chart would reset at the end phase of each turn.

[Lycanphoenix]

Saw this post on low-sleep. Now processing.

[Speedbump]

So my first thought is that this makes initiative somewhat strange. For movement purposes you still want to go second to react to your opponent, get into their back arc ect. but the way you seem to be setting up the reaction phase means that you want to be declaring attacks before your opponent to load reaction penalties on them. So either you reverse the order of the declare phase vs the movement phase (which works but feels counter intuitive) or you end up in a situation where at long range it's better to "lose" initiative but at close range flanking options make "winning" initiative better.

I also don't see a good reason not to have a long range mech open your declaration by shooting one weapon at every mech on the field. Sure there's a multitargetting penalty, but taking a Jaegermech and putting one 11+ rolled attack the entire enemy lance to screw up their reactions is probably more effective than going for damage with the same mech.

The movement mode penalties seem very harsh. Between this and the fact that you can effectively lose your evasion bonus due to a failed roll you seem to be encouraging more static cover based play which doesn't scream "Anime" to me. If these things are going to stand then I think that movement modifiers would need to be increased to compensate.

Personally I'm interested in options for making pilot skill matter more defensively, but I'm not sure this much complication is worth it for me as it stands.

[DevianID]

I think this system works only in a modified turn structure.  Battletech is played in 5-15 turns normally, so adding a reaction phase like this cuts your turn time to 3-7 turns in the same amount of game time.  I am thinking like the solaris game here, with turns having multiple steps of action and reaction, with higher weapon rates of fire and such.  It works in that system a bit better cause the number of units is very low, so taking so much more time with 1 unit is more acceptable.

The point of the reaction system also seems to be to limit how much a pilot can do, but this doesnt scale like normal.  If you are familiar with HBS Battletech video game, they have a similiar system where every time you are fired upon, you lose one point of evasion (but you generate a bit more evasion then normal).  This works cause you have 4 total units.  If you have 12 units, well now you can easily strip the evasion off of things.  And, as mentioned by speedbump, like in HBS btech multiple target suppression fire, aka shooting 1 shot at every visible unit with an early activation to strip 1 evasion (or add 2 activity level, which eventually is the same thing), is a very valid tactic.  In late game HBS, the standard tactic becomes to take lots of damage by getting fortified in woods, as evasion becomes less and less reliable versus large numbers of enemy units by design of stripping evasion, but fortified cover doesnt lose effectiveness unless you get melee attacked/knocked down.

[Daemion]

Well, you can see, then, why I was looking more at the broader, more granular heat scale as the basis.

In fact, the Movement mode modifier was a hold-over from that.  Maybe instead of a multiplier, the movement mode is a simple one time addition, setting the base activity level.

So, for example, a Phoenix Hawk that runs in a turn will have it's activity level increased to level 3, while one that jumps increases to level 4, and then, any further action simply adds one to the level as the activity happens.

I think this system works only in a modified turn structure.  Battletech is played in 5-15 turns normally, so adding a reaction phase like this cuts your turn time to 3-7 turns in the same amount of game time.  I am thinking like the solaris game here, with turns having multiple steps of action and reaction, with higher weapon rates of fire and such.  It works in that system a bit better cause the number of units is very low, so taking so much more time with 1 unit is more acceptable.

The point of the reaction system also seems to be to limit how much a pilot can do, but this doesnt scale like normal.  If you are familiar with HBS Battletech video game, they have a similiar system where every time you are fired upon, you lose one point of evasion (but you generate a bit more evasion then normal).  This works cause you have 4 total units.  If you have 12 units, well now you can easily strip the evasion off of things.  And, as mentioned by speedbump, like in HBS btech multiple target suppression fire, aka shooting 1 shot at every visible unit with an early activation to strip 1 evasion (or add 2 activity level, which eventually is the same thing), is a very valid tactic.  In late game HBS, the standard tactic becomes to take lots of damage by getting fortified in woods, as evasion becomes less and less reliable versus large numbers of enemy units by design of stripping evasion, but fortified cover doesnt lose effectiveness unless you get melee attacked/knocked down.

I would like to point out that you still get a chance to check for a reaction, no matter how many units attack you.  It's still randomly determined, however after a certain point, the chances become slim.  But, if you're rolling well enough, it can still happen.

But, yeah.  This would mostly be for small unit actions.  But, that's the level my group tends to play at, to begin with.

If I'm gonna do a proper Super Robot Wars mass unit engagement, I'd probably come up with something much simpler, like maybe a simple line or box to track the number of times a particular unit has been engaged against/declared against, and you roll against that.  But, Super Robot Wars has its turns taking place as the course of a full minute, which is SIX BT turns. 

[Daemion]

Yeah.  I'm thinking movement mode sets starting activity level:
IE - Walk would start you at Activity Level 1
Run would start you at Activity Level 2
Jump would start you at Activity Level 3
Stationary will put you at AL 1 because you can't go lower.

The only reason I think Jump should still do 3 compared to running or flying at speed is because the Mech's Pilot still has to be concerned with take-off and landing.


Aside: Something I had originally considered for this was flipping the AMM and TMM around.  If, as the target, you're walking, running, or jumping, a successful reaction would impart a flat +1/2/3.  But, some fast ground units can get a +4 (Or +5 if you're using the expanded TMM rules from MaxTech or Total Warfare, or it's a fast jumper/aerial unit.)

And, then, the AMM would be based on how many hexes or MP you spend to show your level of activity. 

It may be a consideration for different levels of automation.  But, I did decide to go for simplicity.