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So I keep seeing BTS stat as a 0 or negative stat and it's really got me stumped. Can someone explain to me how BTS works and if a negative score is good or not?

Basically the more negative the number, the better. When you get hit by something like E/M, you treat it as a positive number and use it like armour. It's also used in hacking as a modifier to the hacker's roll.

"The attribute Biotechnological Shield Provides a figure with protection against NBCH (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) damage as well as Nanotechnologic, Electromagnetic, and Hacking attacks."

It helps with your rolls against those damned annoying Viral weapons that Haqq has as well as the hacking by Nomad troops. The lower the number, the better your BTS and the harder it is for the Hack, or viral, or whatever to hurt the unit. I think the lowest I've seen is -9 on my Jotum, but that's a TAG.

Hope that helps.

Okay, that clears it up. I thought it was really bass ackwards the way they were presenting it. Is there a reason they list it as negative?

 Surtur wrote:
Okay, that clears it up. I thought it was really bass ackwards the way they were presenting it. Is there a reason they list it as negative?

Ye, in the beginning BTS was a negative modifier applied to hacking.

Only later (2nd book) was it introduced as a defensive measure vs Viral ammo.

 Alkasyn wrote:
Only later (2nd book) was it introduced as a defensive measure vs Viral ammo.

While that much is true, E/M and Nano were in the rulebook (at least the 2nd ed, don't know about 1st ed).

However, yes, the story I've heard is that it is a hang-over from earlier in development, when it was originally only a hacking stat.