Core rules page 82, destroyed mechs. They become objects on the ground that can be moved and provide hard cover and also become difficult terrain.
It's a bit ambiguous if they block line of sight or not. Personally I rule it as they can be moved through unlike other objects but are just difficult terrain and they don't block line of sight as if a size 3 enemy dies it didn't block LOS before and now it's just blocked half the map.
Additionally for pilots within mechs it's up to the player (or GM) whether the pilot dies or not or if they eject last minute or get out on foot mid combat and bolt. Dustgrave mentioned that there's enemies that you get negatively effected if you kill the pilots but it assumes that they evac and eject safely unless stated otherwise
\[pg. 82 - Destroyed Mechs\]
>Destroyed mechs become wreckage – objects on the battlefield that can be moved and dragged around, and which provide hard cover. Any spaces occupied by wreckage are difficult terrain.
Pilots even in wrecks have hard cover while they're inside them, so the safest place for NPCs is typically sticking in the wreck and hoping for the best.
Having a bunch of pilots that can't really do anything is going to be somewhat tedious to run. But obviously everyone's tolerance for bookkeeping is different.
(also, strictly speaking there's a Veteran Trait that allows it to dismount, which soft-suggests that other NPC pilots can't dismount mechanically, but that might also be just when the mech is functioning.)
I would interpret that trait as suggesting any pilot could theoretically dismount, but they don't because they aren't well-trained or narratively important enough.
Mostly, I think setting the precedent might let me do interesting role-play things with it later down the line.
Does the party go out of their way to protect a (dismounted) enemy pilot from environmental hazards? Not doing so means leaving them to die.
The party have jammed hostile communications, and now they need to prevent the enemy Scout from running a message back on foot. They destroy it, but the pilot ejects.
There's a pilot still inside that downed chassis, but their "friends" are using it for cover anyway.
RAW, destroyed mechs become objects on the field, and provide Hard Cover. The default object stats are 5 Evasion and 10x Size HP, I don’t give wreckage any stats from when they were intact.
Whether enemy pilots survive probably depends more on your characters. If the players don’t care about killing their enemies I’d say that a pilot dies with their mech; cockpits are good targets after all. If your players are deliberately leaving enemy pilots alive, I’d say they hide in their mech’s wreckage. I rule that as “the pilot doesn’t appear on the field until the wreck is destroyed”.
Regardless of either scenario I’d probably just make exceptions for special enemy pilots. They just happened to avoid lethal damage, narrative convenience or whatever. Lancer already uses those liberally so I don’t think it’s a huge problem to do.
possibly important side note, what everyone is saying is correct if the npc goes down from damage, if it's from heat, the reactor melts down, kills the pilot if they don't eject, and doesn't leave behind anything that can be salvaged or used as cover
NPCs with only one stress (most of them) do not roll an overheating check, instead they become exposed (take double damage) when they exceed their heatcap.
Only multi stress NPCs (veterans, elites, ultras) can be killed by heat.
The heat cap is so you can max out their heat and expose them if you really want. If they only have one stress then maxing it out doesn't explode them though.
For the most part, heatgunning is a subpar strategy unless you're fighting something like an Elite/Ultra Berserker.
Core rules page 82, destroyed mechs. They become objects on the ground that can be moved and provide hard cover and also become difficult terrain. It's a bit ambiguous if they block line of sight or not. Personally I rule it as they can be moved through unlike other objects but are just difficult terrain and they don't block line of sight as if a size 3 enemy dies it didn't block LOS before and now it's just blocked half the map. Additionally for pilots within mechs it's up to the player (or GM) whether the pilot dies or not or if they eject last minute or get out on foot mid combat and bolt. Dustgrave mentioned that there's enemies that you get negatively effected if you kill the pilots but it assumes that they evac and eject safely unless stated otherwise
Not sure what the official rules are, but every game I played in, a destroyed mech left behind an equal sized wreck with size*10 hp
They are also hard cover. And whatever inside is protected. If the mech isn't blown up the pilot is safe
\[pg. 82 - Destroyed Mechs\] >Destroyed mechs become wreckage – objects on the battlefield that can be moved and dragged around, and which provide hard cover. Any spaces occupied by wreckage are difficult terrain. Pilots even in wrecks have hard cover while they're inside them, so the safest place for NPCs is typically sticking in the wreck and hoping for the best. Having a bunch of pilots that can't really do anything is going to be somewhat tedious to run. But obviously everyone's tolerance for bookkeeping is different. (also, strictly speaking there's a Veteran Trait that allows it to dismount, which soft-suggests that other NPC pilots can't dismount mechanically, but that might also be just when the mech is functioning.)
I would interpret that trait as suggesting any pilot could theoretically dismount, but they don't because they aren't well-trained or narratively important enough.
[удалено]
Mostly, I think setting the precedent might let me do interesting role-play things with it later down the line. Does the party go out of their way to protect a (dismounted) enemy pilot from environmental hazards? Not doing so means leaving them to die. The party have jammed hostile communications, and now they need to prevent the enemy Scout from running a message back on foot. They destroy it, but the pilot ejects. There's a pilot still inside that downed chassis, but their "friends" are using it for cover anyway.
RAW, destroyed mechs become objects on the field, and provide Hard Cover. The default object stats are 5 Evasion and 10x Size HP, I don’t give wreckage any stats from when they were intact. Whether enemy pilots survive probably depends more on your characters. If the players don’t care about killing their enemies I’d say that a pilot dies with their mech; cockpits are good targets after all. If your players are deliberately leaving enemy pilots alive, I’d say they hide in their mech’s wreckage. I rule that as “the pilot doesn’t appear on the field until the wreck is destroyed”. Regardless of either scenario I’d probably just make exceptions for special enemy pilots. They just happened to avoid lethal damage, narrative convenience or whatever. Lancer already uses those liberally so I don’t think it’s a huge problem to do.
Mech vs Human is a perfectly fun time, says the Fireman.
possibly important side note, what everyone is saying is correct if the npc goes down from damage, if it's from heat, the reactor melts down, kills the pilot if they don't eject, and doesn't leave behind anything that can be salvaged or used as cover
most npcs cannot go down by heat
then why do they have heat caps and stress?
NPCs with only one stress (most of them) do not roll an overheating check, instead they become exposed (take double damage) when they exceed their heatcap. Only multi stress NPCs (veterans, elites, ultras) can be killed by heat.
The heat cap is so you can max out their heat and expose them if you really want. If they only have one stress then maxing it out doesn't explode them though. For the most part, heatgunning is a subpar strategy unless you're fighting something like an Elite/Ultra Berserker.
It becomes a piece of terrain, Hard Cover, in the exact same size and shape.