IMPORTANT House Rule - Power Output (aka Medium Laser Boating nerf)

Solution: remove medium lasers from the game.

ha. just joking.

Let's be honest with ourselves. A couple medium lasers on any design is really not breaking anything. The problem I see with medium lasers is when they are heavily boated; they quickly outstrip the damage/ton capabilities of other weapons. I don't want to be a GM that says "you can't have that many because I said so". Rather, I would like to come up with a mechanic that can be equally applied to all designs.

Generally speaking, energy based weapons are perhaps the most well rounded weapon for anti-mech warfare. Even against other non-mech targets, you really can't go wrong with them in most cases. When you also consider you can adjust their heat damage/output (advanced rules) and the fact that they work fine in almost any environment, they quickly become far more attractive compared to other types of weapons. My main goal here is to reduce the potential for boating medium/small lasers in a way that both is easy to understand and also makes some kind of sense in terms of BattleTech lore.

With that, I introduce the "Power Output" mechanic. Simply put, much like your computer requires a certain amount of power output for its power supply, so does a mech's engine have a certain amount of power output that is used to run all systems... including energy weapons. Realistically speaking, since ballistic and missile weapons do not have nearly the same power draw as their energy counterparts, these are completely excluded from this mechanic. Theoretically, the amount of output needed to power 20 machine guns is much less than one PPC. The engine on the mech would be the only deciding factor to the power output of that mech. The formula is simple:

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For example, let's look at some classic energy based designs:

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Power Requirement: Damage vs Heat Based

Now you may be asking "if the power requirement is damage based, but not heat based, doesn't that mean a PPC is roughly as energy efficient as two medium lasers? Shouldn't a PPC require significantly more power output?"

Well, to be honest... on strictly lore terms I have a hard time arguing against this. However, remember that one of the main goals here is to discourage medium laser boating by implementing a fair system that can be applied equally to all. If the power output mechanic was heat based, we would still be reinforcing the boating of medium or small lasers and we'd be no better off solving the underlying issue.

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Canon Mech Issues:

There is one other sticky issue that needs addressing. There are a few canon designs that specifically boat medium lasers. These are among the most popular and powerful canon designs available. They also fly in the face of what the PO mechanic is trying to fix. A classic example:

Besides banning their use outright (something I am not enthusiastic about doing), the best solution I can come up with is to exempt all canon designs from the Power Output requirement. Any change at all to a canon design will void its exempt status. For lore purposes, consider these factory stock designs equipped with special "hardwired" power amplifiers that compensate for the increased energy draw requirements. Adjusting any internal components at all requires their removal.

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Improving "Combat Role" Focus:

The end result is that this mechanic should add a new and interesting layer to designing your mech.

• Recon units require bigger engines and bigger engines allow for more energy based weapons; this is incredibly important for scouts since they are most likely to operate far from reliable supply lines. In essence, energy weapons will remain the primary choice for scouts and raiders.
• On the other side of the spectrum, players that are interested in maximizing their firepower by taking a slower mech will have to get more creative in their choice of weapons; massive batteries of medium lasers will no longer be viable. Assault mechs in particular will need to rely more on missile and ballistics than smaller mechs (something they already mostly do).
• As mentioned earlier, mechs like the Awesome will now be more attractive for their "siege weapon" capabilities; massive long range firepower, but requiring protection from enemies at short range.

 

List of Power Output reliant weapons (incomplete list)
-power requirements for all weapons are the same as their optimal damage except where specifically noted.

Common Inner Sphere Weapons
Heavy PPC
ER PPC
PPC
Snub-Nose PPC
Light PPC
ER Large Laser
Large Pulse Laser
Large Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Laser
Small Pulse Laser
Small Laser
Flamer
Heavy Gauss Rifle = 15 power
Gauss Rifle = 10 power
Light Gauss Rifle = 5 power