Should the "Standard" IS Mechwarrior have better piloting skill?

[massey]

I'm completely guessing here, but I think the idea of giving average pilots a Piloting of 5 is that it gets the right amount of skill checks per game.  Falling can really hurt you in a tight game, not just from armor lost but also from the sudden decrease in mobility.  You can't jump the next turn, and you've got to spend 2 MP to get up.  For some mechs that's a big loss.  If the average piloting skill was a 4 or a 3, then falling would be rare enough that you don't really have to worry about it.  If it was a 6 or more, then it would happen so often that it would be annoying, and could bog the game down.

From an in-universe perspective, having to make a piloting skill roll means you either took a lot of damage, or you tried to do something stupid.  Turning while running on pavement requires a roll because you're trying to make a really sharp turn.  Presumably you're trying to stay on the road, and you're taking a corner too fast.  A smart mechwarrior would try to avoid those situations as much as possible.  You're pushing the limits of your machine's agility when you do something that requires a piloting roll.

[bobthecoward]

That sounds like an out-of-universe problem to me.

I got a ton of those. Love with an almost 40 year old game is going to have a few loose nuts.

[Arkansas Warrior]

It's based on conservation of momentum.  A quarter-ton hypersonic Heavy Gauss projectile is going to do a whole lot more boat-rocking if that shell hits a 20-ton Flea than it will if it hits a 100-ton Atlas, or even a 135-ton Ares.  The mobility advantage would be that the Flea should be swift enough to avoid said situations in the first place.

I can't imagine it'd help lights much if the bonuses were inverted.  A light that takes 20+ damage per turn at any frequency is best described as "dead".

I find that bonus vital when using the other TacOps PSR rule for damage over +20.  Heavies and Assaults are rather slow and usually heavily armored, so it's not too difficult to get 60+ damage on at least one Assault-class 'mech every turn.  Without it, they'd be on their bum more than half the time, invert it and you probably shouldn't ever take those Assaults out of fixed firing positions.

I was going to say the same thing, but in a different way: Assuming standard armor to keep the math easy, a mech that just took 20 points of armor damage has lost 1.25 tons of its mass in a matter of a few seconds (tops!).  For a Locust, that’s over 6% of its mass!  For an Atlas, it’s 1.25% of mass.  Of course it’s easier for the Atlas stands a better chance of just shrugging it off; proportionally, it hasn’t lost nearly as much.

[Starfury]

I would vary it based on the experience and the fluff of the unit you're using, and modify your BV totals for a selected combat as needed.  You should do the same with gunnery. For example, the 17th Recon Regiment, aka Camacho's Caballeros has a nice bit of fluff from their first novel. Their CO is speaking with Chandresekar Kurita, and they do a piloting demonstration for him. The Co informs Kurita that they can't duplicate the gunnery skills of the Nagelring or the DCMS, so they focus on piloting to make up for the difference.

Tournament or demo games should probably be standard skill levels, unless you want to vary the experience for people.  Otherwise, spend your BV however you and the other players agree on.  That's why it exists.

[Fat Guy]

I play all my games with 2/3 or better pilots.

 :o

As the German contingent who used to attend Gen Con were so fond of saying: "This isn't BattleTech, this is MATH!"

[Colt Ward]

Also keep in mind the skills are average for that level . . . in a 'regular' skilled unit you could have a 5/3 pilot . . . or a 3/6.

[CrossfirePilot]

Reading this it does seem that piloting skill rolls should be a little bit better.  If a average pilot has a 1/4 chance of slipping when running on pavement.  That seems a little in excess.  I would think that down time it would be one of those things practiced (when I landed at Freeman field this week that local PD was out using the decommissioned ramp area for some extreme driving practice). Also if a pilot is a regular pilot, I would think that they have at least a 1000 hours of experience in their Mech.  As a light plane pilot, even with only about 500 hours in the plane I am currently piloting, I can really ride that thing to the edge, certainly no 1/4 chance of failing my PSR on a crosswind landing.

When I used to think about the math of this too much, because I didn't want to think of the math of my math assignments.  I thought that the PSR base should be based on the gyro rating.  That would take into account lights to assaults. and after all the gyro is the thing helping to keep it all upright.

[dgorsman]

How many would have a chance to regularly practice that on hardtop though?  Most field time would be in the field, where an accidental slip or two is less likely to damage nearly irreplaceable equipment, and more focused on hitting the enemy (and not friendlies) with weapons fire.

[CrossfirePilot]

I think you would also have to factor in Era.  Where 3rd SW, a pilot might be hard pressed to get a couple hours per month practice if no actually engaged in combat.

"We would like for you to get out and get some drills, but if that right hip actuator finally goes, we don't have a replacement, so you will have to work on the sims instead"

Whereas by the Clan invasion, replacement parts were plentiful enough to allow more actual field training. 

[Daryk]

You know... that might be the reason.  Sims don't simulate skidding very well, so pilots don't have the necessary reflexes.

[Col Toda]

Reading normal skill level by affiliation  . House units tend to start 4/5 , getting sent to more prestigious units when you improve to veteran  level .  Mercenary's  regularly encountered are 4/4 and Clan and Prestigious House units is 4/3 . If you want better  pilots just adjust BV accordingly.  I found if you go the C 3 route Elite pilots  just jack the BV levels to stupid levels so I lose those to more prestigious units willing to pay the monetary sur charge for them . Never be accused of be called  a confidence vampire  who is not willing to let go of someone for a better paying more prestigious position as it hurts recruitment.

[CrossfirePilot]

You know... that might be the reason.  Sims don't simulate skidding very well, so pilots don't have the necessary reflexes.

Yeah its kinda like driving schools and flight schools.  Never do you go to your few hours of on the road drivers ed when you are in high school and have the instructor say "hey we are going to go find some icy and snowy roads and try and get this sedan sideways!" Nor in basic flight school do they every say "hey we are going to get and tattoo this little 152 onto the runway in 25kt crosswinds"

[massey]

You need piloting skill rolls that aren't near automatic, otherwise there's no point to having them in the game.  A mechwarrior doesn't have a 1 in 4 chance of failing a piloting roll.  The player has a 1 in 4 chance because the odds are exaggerated to provide an extra gameplay element.

[Calimehter]

You need piloting skill rolls that aren't near automatic, otherwise there's no point to having them in the game.  A mechwarrior doesn't have a 1 in 4 chance of failing a piloting roll.  The player has a 1 in 4 chance because the odds are exaggerated to provide an extra gameplay element.

I'm not sure about that one.  TACs are a similar sort of gameplay element, in that they are a chance to have something bad happen to you and take you out before armor and structure attrition kicks in . . . but they seem to work OK and add good flavor to the game without happening nearly as often as having your Mech tip over.  I don't know that you have to make PS checks that common or easy to to fail to make them a significant gameplay factor.