Great insight! And a question.
One of the points made about some BT fiction (Stackpole, I'm looking at you!) is that it reads like someone rolling dice on the table. Conversely, when the fiction doesn't conform with game outcomes (the infamous 'glancing blow' Gauss Rifle round to Victor S-D's head) people complain likewise.
Is this something you ever hit in your writing - you want to do X, but X doesn't happen like that in the game rules? How do you approach the game-vs-fiction dialectic?
That's one of the trickiest questions. I try to never do anything
overtly against the rules, as I said. But I also will hide instances where I am playing fast and loose with the rules - for example, when Elaine ejects in "Irreplaceable," normally, ejection seats don't damage an arm. But for fiction purposes, and since everyone can think of times when it might happen, people blow past it (continuity didn't, mind you, THEY caught it, but it was an author override. ;-)
In this story, a) defibrillators don't revive dead people, so that was "future-fied" for story purposes, and b) I kill a LOT of tanks with the Strafing run. Legal, yes, but borderline, and I didn't dice-roll it out.
So, I guess the answer is,
yes, I'm as guilty as any other writer in putting the needs of the story first, but I never try to do it out in the spotlight with the BattleMechs, instead, hiding my fiat in the shadows. ;) ;D
edit: I realized I didn't really answer "what if the rules say no?" question. First, I'll try to find a way to MAKE it work WITHIN the rules: for example, in "A storm of rain and steel," I wanted SRMs to take down a VTOL. But, they really WOULDN'T. However, looking over the rules, INFERNOS do all SORTS of horrible things to vehicles, and it was
plausible they could take one down- and plausible is
good enough. ;) ;D ;D
The other times when I can't find a legal work around, I'll change the scene. I'm not sure I can think of one off-hand, but I know I've altered scenes because what I originally planned was CLEARLY against the rules. :D
And finally: I don't dice-roll out the battles- I know some writers do, just to make sure the story feels random, like the actual game. And, I can dig it: I've also said, a good rule of writing is to give your characters the tools, and let THEM fight their way out of the battle. You don't
give them a Mech that can clearly overpower everything they face, you make them win with whatever you gave them.
So, with my own rules and philosophy in mind, I can see how dice rolling might be good for some writers, because, say, they roll a crit: well, blowing out an actuator just adds to the drama of the story.
So, I'm not knocking their technique to writing (and I almost never knock another's writing in public, though if they ask, i'll give them an honest critique in private because, working together, we raise the enjoyment for the fans, which is what it's about, you know? I'm not COMPETING against Stackpole or Craig or anyone for work, I'm just trying to write the best stories -I- can, and helping the team helps us all. :-)
and, one final, super-secret note about my writing BattleMech combat: you'll
never see my name on a "best mech combat writer" list because, if you add up all the words I've ever written about ACTUAL BattleMechs shooting at OTHER Battlemechs, there's... not much. ;) ;D I personally feel that BattleMech combat is there to support the characters, and - like garlic, or super-hot sauce - a little bit can go a LOOOONG way. Even the legendary "running battle" half of Irreplaceable was more running than Battle! ;) So, I think that little wrinting quirk of mine has ALSO helped keep me off the fans "oh-good-Lord-what-NOW?" list. ;) ;D
