Quick house rules

[Nodachi]

One of the things I and my group have loved is how versatile the rules are. One of the house rules I and the other group member that runs battletech instituted was with the initial 850 points players have to spend. What we did was essentially make those free so players then spend their 5000 points on modules and other things. Allowed us to make it easier for them to make the characters they and we as GMs wanted. 

[Daryk]

I prefer to use the aging rules (+100 XP per year over 21 for IS characters), but I can see how making those 850 free could work for some.

[ANS Kamas P81]

There's also the Life Event rolls in ATOW Companion.  Does anyone use those

[Daryk]

Not if I can avoid them.  I had my fill of those in 3rd edition...  xp

[guardiandashi]

I use them sometimes, if you roll bad they kinda suck, but if you roll good the bonus XP can help a bunch

[Cannon_Fodder]

We just start all characters with 5,500XP. But we have done a pretty major overhaul of the system to convert it back to 2D10 from MW3/CBT:RPG and gave Attribute Links much more importance, even in 'Mech combat.

[Inspector2311]

A few of my house rules:

1) Linked attribute modifiers ARE used when translating AToW gunnery/piloting over to Battletech.  (Although I made the base TNs one harder for translation purposes, to compensate.)
2) Martial Arts and Melee Weapons base tier linked attribute is now STR and advanced tier is now STR+RFL, (instead of REF and REF+DEX, respectively).  DEX (fine motor dexterity for things like typing, art, and pickpocketing) does not seem as important in fighting as raw strength, and agility is already reflected in RFL...
3) Clan warriors get negative Wealth and In For Life traits.  Not sure why they didn't have these to begin with... (and positive XP added to various attributes for the parts of the life paths that granted the negative traits)
4) Burning edge to modify a skill roll will actually change the dice result by one; not just add a modifier.  Thus, players can escape critical fumbles or nudge into critical successes.
5) In martial arts grapples, if both characters succeed in their roll, the higher MoS is grappling the lower MoS instead of nothing happening.  (See: https://bg.battletech.com/forums/roleplaying/atow-grappling-question/)  Because, as written, grappling is broken.  If you have even a somewhat decent martial arts skill, you can't be grappled absent a critical fumble, no matter how skilled the attacker.  And there is basically nothing preventing anyone from just stepping back out of melee range because attacks of opportunity aren't a Thing in AToW.