(Answered UPDATED) Experimental Armor and Piloting Skill Rolls

[Diplominator]

Three questions that should hopefully cover all the bases:

1. A 'Mech with reflective armor is hit by two standard PPCs. Does it need to make a piloting skill roll due to damage?

2. A 'Mech with hardened armor is hit by two standard PPCs. Does it need to make a piloting skill roll due to damage?

3. A 'Mech with reflective armor is hit by a kick from a 50-ton attacker. Does it need to make a piloting skill roll due to damage?

Basically, I would like to know if the 20-point threshold refers to the damage value of the weapon or the actual damage sustained by the target.

[Diplominator]

Bumped because it came up in one of the MM threads.

[Chunga]

The intent has always been on the damage done before any armor. So in the examples above, 1 and 2 would create piloting skills rolls, while #3 would only be a PSR for being kicked.

[Diplominator]

Much obliged! I suspected that was the case, but I think either interpretation would have been reasonable, although...

 I just realized that this would seem to allow for a situation where a 'Mech with ferro-lamellor armor gets shot with a bunch of LB-X pellets and takes no damage but falls over anyway. It'd be like it got hit with a really big pillow.

[Xotl]

Please note that we are updating this answer, to keep it in line with the following thread:

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=3391.0

In short, PSRs forced by damage are based on the damage actually taken by a unit, not what would theoretically have been dealt before any possible damage modifications.

This will be reflected in the this year's BattleMech Manual errata.