HMWLogistics

Character Creation
Creating characters in Heavy Metal Warriors is actually rather simple. All you need to do to create a character is use the Blank Character sheet located here, and fill out all the relevant info. Then, you spend the 3500 experience points(EXP) you receive at the start to determine your character's attributes and skills.

Explanation of EXP
Experience Points, or EXP, reflects the experiences you acquire during your career in piloting battlewalkers and other such vehicles of war. As you fight and disable Battlewalkers, you acquire EXP which you use to advance your character. Just about everything you can do to advance costs EXP, be it increasing skills and attributes, or learning abilities. An explanation of how much EXP various advancements cost is below.
 * Attributes
 * Reflex: 50 points each rank, +2 per additional rank
 * Perception: 50 points each rank, +2 per additional rank
 * Endurance: 20 points each rank, +2 per additional rank
 * Intelligence: 20 points each rank, +2 per additional rank
 * Initiative: 30 points each rank, +2 per additional rank
 * Skills: 10 points each rank, +1 per additional rank
 * Abilities: 300 points times the tier of the ability

Explanation of Attributes
Attributes are the basic abilities of your character, reflecting their natural talents and capabilities. Attributes all control skill groups, and no skill may rise above its group's controller attribute. Thus, if you have 30 Perception, you can never have a Weapon skill over 30.
 * Reflex governs your ability to react to outside influences quickly. It controls the Piloting skill group, as piloting vehicles relies heavily on your ability to react to new situations. Reflex costs 50 points each rank, plus two for every additional rank you add.
 * Endurance governs your ability to resist hardship and damage. It controls the Resistance skill group, allowing you to better cope with malfunctions, and avoid them all together. Endurance costs 20 points each rank, plus two for each additional rank you add.
 * Intelligence governs your ability to work through complex logical puzzles, your general knowledge and how you apply that knowledge. It controls the Support skill group, as many of those skills rely directly on knowledge and ability to think critically. Intelligence costs 20 points each rank, plus two for each additional rank.
 * Perception governs your ability to perceive objects through the sensors of your chosen vehicle. It controls the Weapon skill group, as shooting a weapon relies on being able to accurately perceive a target. Perception costs 50 points each rank, plus two for each additional rank you add.
 * Initiative governs your ability to take charge and act before others. It controls the Special skill group, as those rely on acting quickly to provide the best benefit. Initiative costs 30 points each rank, plus two for each additional rank you add.

Derived Attributes
In addition to the base attributes, there are three derived attributes, all of which use the base attributes as a framework to work from.
 * HP, or Health Points, governs how much damage you can take before you fall unconscious or even die. HP is immediately equivalent to your Endurance stat, meaning that if you have 20 Endurance, you have 20 HP.
 * SP, or Skill Points, governs how often you can use your battle abilities that require activation. SP is immediately equivalent to your Intelligence stat, meaning that if you have 20 Intelligence, you have 20 SP. You regain 1/4 of your SP every one of your phases.
 * AP, or Action Points, governs how much you can do in a single phase of combat. A more detailed explanation of what AP are, and what you can do with AP in a phase is in the Combat page. Your AP is equal to 10 +1/2 of your Initiative attribute, meaning if you have 10 Initiative, you have 15 AP. You gain 10 AP + 1/4 of your Initiative every phase; thus a person with 20 Initiative would receive 15 AP every one of their phases.

Explanation of Skills
Skills measure your character's knowledge and ability in a particular field of study, from being able to handle a rifle, to being able to treat injuries and repair battlewalkers. Each skill group has a controlling attribute, which skills that are a part of that group may never exceed. All skills cost 10 points each rank, plus one for each additional rank you add.
 * Weapon skills govern your ability to handle various weapon types. Weapon skills are controlled by Perception.
 * Piloting skills govern your ability to handle various classes of battlewalker, and various other vehicles. Piloting skills are controlled by Reflex.
 * Support skills have no direct battle application, but instead run various support abilities, such as ECM, repairing, or healing the injured. Support skills are controlled by Intelligence.
 * Resistance skills help you avoid various Malfunctions which can happen as a result of certain attacks. Resistance skills are controlled by Endurance.
 * Special skills have unique purposes, see the skill for relevant info. Special skills are controlled by Initiative.

Explanation of Abilities
Abilities are special actions you can take during the course of the battle, to help turn the tides in your favor. From being able to attack more than once, to preventing the loss of a part, many special abilities can be invoked in the battle. In order to learn an ability, you must pay its EXP cost. Tier 1 abilities cost 300 EXP, Tier 2 cost 600, and so on. In addition to paying for it all up front, you may also pay for it over time, funneling all EXP earned into learning the ability.
 * Name: This is the name of the special ability.
 * Slots: This is the amount of space, in Slots, that the ability takes in your Computer. All equipped skills require Slot space. If you do not have enough slots in your Computer to fit the skill, you may not equip it.
 * SP: This is how much SP the ability costs to activate in battle. If you don't have the SP to activate it, you cannot activate the ability. Certain abilities are passive and require no activation.
 * Requires: The requirements for the ability must be met before it can be activated.
 * Effect: This is the effect the ability has on the battle when used.

Walkers
Battlewalkers are 7-meter tall, 300 ton killing machines designed for one purpose; battlefield supremacy. They are often likened to walking tanks, as they have heavy armor and large weapons. They are more agile than normal tanks, and their legs allow them to traverse any terrain. Battlewalkers are, nowadays, considered the primary force in a military, and besides aircraft and ships, are considered the most important vehicles in battle and in a general's arsenal Organization Battlewalkers are organized like infantry, forming squads, then platoons, then companies, regiments, battalions, detachments, and finally whole divisions of an armed forces organization. The explanation and size of each deployment of battlewalkers follows. Note that this is only including the battlewalkers themselves, not any auxiliary forces that may be deployed with them, nor any logistical units.
 * Squad: 5 individual Battlewalkers. Headed by the Squad Leader, a person appointed by their platoon's Sergeant.
 * Platoon: 3 Squads; 2 battle squads and one command squad which holds the platoon Sergeant.
 * Company: 4 Platoons and one Command Squad, which has the company's Lieutenant.
 * Battalion: 2 Companies, and one Command Squad, with the regiment's Major.
 * Regiment: 4 Regiments, and one Command Squad, with the battalion's Colonel.
 * Detachment: 4 Battalions. Detachments do not have a command squad, and are instead controlled directly by the generals through an appointed Field Command Officer, usually one of the Colonels of a battalion.
 * Division: The entire battlewalker division of the armed forces. Controlled by the generals.

Walker Fitting
Battlewalkers are very versatile machines, much more so than a battle tank or similar vehicle. While most vehicles need to be designed around a single configuration, battlewalkers are designed with modularity, allowing a pilot to swap parts that they want onto their walker, and use different weapons or different situations. They are like the perfect fusion between infantry and armored vehicles. Fitting a battlewalker is quite easy. First, simply select a base chassis to work from, this will form the basics of your battlewalker. If you like the chassis that you selected, then skip to the next part. One of the more interesting features is that you can customize the very chassis to your liking, swapping arms, legs and torsos around until you find a chassis that is truly yours in design. The next part is to arm your walker with the multitudes of weapons available for walker use. Most of these are scaled-up infantry weapons created for ease of design. However, some are new kinds of weapons, only seen on battlewalkers and very large auxiliary vehicles. Finally, a backpack if you so choose to use it. Backpacks often have various utility abilities they can do, such as mid-battle repair, jamming targets' sensors or radar, and a multitude of various other abilities.
 * Holsters
 * Often times, battlewalker legs have holsters, places where small weapons can be held in reserve. All weapons attached in a holster start out stored, and their weight only counts towards the legs, no matter if you swap weapons in the middle of a battle. A popular choice is to carry a backup firearm and a melee weapon in addition to your walker's main weapon.
 * Back Mounts
 * In addition to holsters, all walkers have two back mounts designed to carry the walker's primary weapons while it uses any holstered weapons it's carrying. These points are for storage only, and only weapons which cannot be holstered need use these back mounts.

The only thing that you have to watch when assembling a walker, is its weight. Arms, torso, and legs all have carrying capacity. Equipped weapons must not exceed your arm's carrying capacity. Equipped backpacks, arms and arm weapons must not exceed your torso's upper body capacity. And finally, the weight of all other parts equipped must not exceed the total weight capacity of the legs.

Explanation of Parts
An explanation of parts follows. An example battlewalker chassis will be provided for example. First, an explanation of all attributes common to all parts. Next, an explanation of torso-specific attributes. Next, an explanation of arm-specific attributes. And finally, an explanation of leg-specific attributes.
 * Weight: This is how much the part weighs. Arms count against legs and torso. Torso counts against legs only. Legs weight is only factored into final weight, which is meaningless when fitting walkers.
 * Armor: A measure of the armor on a part. As a battle develops, armor takes damage and depletes. When a part's armor becomes zero, the part is disabled and one durability point is removed from the part. If an arm becomes disabled, you lose the use of that arm and its weapons. Two-hand weapons lose 75% of the accuracy bonus that is added to rolls. If legs become disabled, the unit is restricted to one square mobility, cannot jump, and unless it moved, it cannot dodge and is treated as a stationary target.
 * Durability: How much punishment the part can take before finally breaking down and becoming destroyed. A durability zero part cannot be restored in the middle of battle. If a torso reaches durability of zero, there is a chance that the unit's fuel will ignite, causing a catastrophic explosion. This is outlined in the Combat section.
 * Capacity: The measure of tonnage that a part can take. None of the capacities of a walker must be exceeded, otherwise the walker cannot be fielded in battle. Upper Body Capacity refers to the amount of weight a torso can take, including arms, arm weapons and backpack. Arm Capacity refers to the amount of weight an individual arm can take, this includes all weapons loaded onto it. Legs' capacity refers to the amount of weight the legs can take; the rest of the machine counts against this capacity, including all holstered weapons.
 * Special: Any special modifiers or abilities that the part has. Most often these will be skill increases.
 * Computer: This is the currently installed computer. Torsos in the shop list the computer that is installed at the factory.
 * Controls: This is the currently installed control system. Torsos in the shop list the controls installed at the factory.
 * Backpack: This is the currently installed backpack. List the name of the backpack installed here.
 * Accessory: A torso has 3 slots for installed accessories. List the accessories installed in these slots.
 * Accuracy: All arms have an accuracy adjustment, making them more or less accurate when firing weapons. Weapons fired by that arm have their accuracy boosted or reduced by the number listed. Two-handed weapons receive benefit from both arms, but also take penalties from both arms if applicable.
 * Note: Two-hand weapons do not stack Special bonuses from each arm. They only receive the bonus from the main hand's arm; the one that holds the grip of the firearm or the arm that holds the higher grip on a two-handed melee weapon, and takes most of its weight.
 * Hand Slot: This is the weapon currently held in the hand of the arm.
 * Wrist Mount Slot: This is the weapon currently mounted onto the wrist.
 * Shoulder Slot: This is the weapon currently mounted onto the shoulder.
 * Agility: All legs have an agility adjustment, making them more or less agile when attempting to avoid attacks. Generally, lighter legs are more agile, and heavier legs are less agile.
 * Mobility: This is how far a given set of legs may move on even, normal terrain.
 * Jump: How high the legs are capable of carrying the unit into the air. Higher jumping power means more vertical levels may be cleared in a single leap.
 * Stability: Walker's legs aren't the most stable platforms in the world, and just like other humanoids, they can be pretty easy to knock over. The stability rating is two things; the bonus to keeping balance, and how much punishment the walker can take before its gyros overload and it falls over. A walker can take up to Stability * 10 damage in a single attack before risking falling over.

Explanation of Weapon Types
This is an explanation of weapons, and the various types of weaponry. First, an explanation of weapon attributes. Now, an explanation on weapon types.
 * Name: This is the name of the weapon.
 * Weight: This is how much the weapon weighs, in tons.
 * Slot: One-Hand, Two-Hand, Wrist, Shoulder. This lists what slot the weapon takes up. Some weapons may take multiple slots.
 * Category: This is the category of the weapon. The category determines which skill it uses. Subcategory determines what specialty it uses.
 * Range: How far the weapon can reach. Also the AP cost for firing the weapon.
 * Damage: This is the base damage roll for the weapon. Weapons which hit multiple times roll this multiple times. The weapon's skill is divided by 100 and added to the multiplier. Anything that adds "+5" or "+5 raw bonus" adds to the damage bonus of the weapon. Anything that adds "+5%" or "+5 multiplier" adds to the damage multiplier of the weapon.
 * Type: This is the damage type of the weapon. Piercing, Impact, Fire, Electromagnetic or Neutral.
 * Cycle: How many shots fired how many times. Weapons which fire multiple times often have a threshold number, indicated by a "T#". This is the number you have to roll over your opponent's defense to score an additional hit. Threshold can never be lower than 5. Some weapons have multiple fire modes, allowing you to control how many shots the weapon fires. Most often, this comes with an accuracy modifier. However, in the case of flamethrowers, it sets how many AP the weapon uses.
 * Magazine: How many rounds can be held in the weapon at any one time, with how many spare reloads the gun has to start with. A weapon is always given its base number of magazines after every mission, so you don't have to worry about running out after a fight. However, during a battle, ammo is finite. Weapons which fire multiple rounds consume that many rounds when they fire.
 * Holster: Determines if a weapon can be held in the holster. If 'yes', it can be carried as a backup weapon and remain in the holster until it needs to be used. If 'no', it must be held in the arms. If "can't", then the weapon may never be stored under any circumstances. If it's a two-hand weapon, the off-hand may temporarily draw a holstered ranged weapon and fire it, but the walker may not move while holding the back up weapon. If a shoulder weapon, any other weapon may be used. If a wrist weapon, a melee weapon may not be used in the hand on the same arm, but in order to use the wrist weapon, the arm's hand must be empty.
 * Special: Any special abilities or modifiers applied to the weapon.
 * Melee: The shortest range of all weapons. Melee weapons may only be used when adjacent to a target, but cost the least amount of AP, and hit hard for a single-fire weapon. Most melee weapons are small enough to be holstered, making them reliable backup weapons. Many fast walkers emphasize melee weapons.
 * Pistol: Range 4, AP 4. Pistols have a short range and are fairly accurate. However, they only fire one shot at a time, and their damage is subpar. But pistols are light, and easy to carry. All pistols may be holstered, making them good sidearms for use when main weapons are out of ammo or disabled.
 * Shotgun: Range 3, AP 3. Shotguns are a short range multi-fire weapon that spray many pellets at a target. However, unlike most multifire weapons, they do not have a threshold. Whenever they hit a target, they immediately allocate all pellets fired onto the target, hitting all parts. 4x1 hits all parts once, 8x1 hits all parts twice, ect. As such, they are good for weakening targets or destroying them all at once for bonus experience. Shotguns deal average damage per pellet. Due to their spread of fire, shotguns have a +50 bonus to hitting small targets, like ejected pilots.
 * Machine Gun: Range 5, AP 5. A medium range weapon which fires a burst of bullets. Machine guns are multi-fire weapons which fire multiple rounds at once, generally with a low threshold value. Each hit is allocated to the target's parts randomly, use a d4 for to determine the location of each impact. Machineguns deal average damage. Due to their high burst of fire, whenever a machine gun on full-auto attacks a small target, they have a +50 bonus to hit small targets.
 * Heavy Machine Gun: Range 8, AP 8. Long range assault weapon which fires streams of bullets. Heavy Machine Guns are the larger, more powerful cousins of sub machine guns designed to shred larger, slower targets underneath a hail of gunfire. However they are potent against all targets they are capable of hitting.
 * Rifles: Rifles have multiple subtypes which vary their abilities.
 * Assault Rifle: Range 6, AP 6. Assault rifles are medium range weapons which often fire in short bursts. They deal good damage and are excellent, versatile main weapons with multiple fire modes allowing for more accuracy or more firepower as needed.
 * Sniper Rifle: Range 10, AP 10. Devastating long range weapon, which inflicts large damage with just a single shot. Often used to take out hardened targets, many models offer armor penetration, and accuracy bonuses. However their large AP cost makes them slow weapons, and ill-suited to counter attacking.
 * Directed Energy: Directed Energy weapons have multiple subtypes with varying abilities.
 * Laser Rifle: Range 6, AP 6. Laser rifles are powerful medium range directed energy weapons which unleash a devastating beam of pure light energy. A multi-fire weapon with absolute pinpoint accuracy, wherever the first shot hits, all other shots also hit, making laser weapons devastating against single targets. Their neutral type offers no special advantages, but armor can never reduce their damage.
 * Tesla Cannon: Range 6, AP 6. Potent medium range weapon which fires massive amounts of electricity at targets. While only single-fire, Tesla cannons use the Electromagnetic type, which can inflict powerful status effects; blinding sensors and even shutting down whole walkers at once, leaving them incredibly vulnerable. Tesla weapons also do decent damage.
 * Flamethrower: Range 2, AP 4/7/11. A short range, devastating weapon which propels jets of fire towards targets. Its multiple fire modes let you control how much fire you put out, increasing the AP cost and potential damage inflicted. Flamethrowers deal decent damage, and being Fire-type, they can potentially force ejection of pilots.
 * Explosives: Explosive weapons have multiple subtypes with varying abilities.
 * Missile Launchers: Range 3-8, AP 8. Missile launchers are long range single-fire weapons which fire powerful guided missiles towards the target. Since they're guided, missiles do not need line of sight, and receive a +50 accuracy bonus for all models. Missile launchers have a minimum range; they cannot be fired inside this minimum range.
 * Grenade Launchers: Range 3-10, AP 10. Grenade launchers are long range single-fire weapons which fire a large shell in a parabolic arc towards a target square. On impact, it explodes, threatening all within its AoE radius. All parts are hit for the same damage, and only one accuracy roll is used for every target to dodge against. If successfully dodged, the damage is halved.
 * Bazookas: Range 6, AP 6. A large hand weapon, Bazookas are medium range and shoot powerful explosive shells at targets within range. These weapons allow explosive users a medium-range hand weapon, and are a good candidate for explosive enthusiast's backup weapons.
 * Ordnance: Ordnance weapons have multiple subtypes with varying abilities.
 * Cannons: Range 6, AP 6. Medium-range large bore shell-launching weapons which fire devastating single shots. Can be loaded with multiple ammo types, allowing the cannon to fire multiple damage types at opponents. When reloading, the cannon user must declare what type of ammo it loads(NPCs need not apply).
 * Railguns: Range 12, AP 12. Extreme range large weapon which uses intense electric currents to accelerate long 'rails' at opponents with devastating consequences. Railguns are the largest and most powerful weapons, developed almost specifically for battlewalkers. While hard to field, and taking up a lot of space, railguns deliver extreme damage at extreme ranges. Most require a charge-up time, requiring AP spent for both the charge turn and the firing turn.

Explanation of Backpacks
Backpacks are optional equipment that can serve to improve and expand your battlewalker's abilities. They can be anything from carrying items, to boosting the amount of weight your walker can carry, allowing it to move faster, or even support your allies or disable your enemies. An explanation of all backpack types follows. First, an explanation of all common attributes.
 * Name: The name of the backpack
 * Type: The type of backpack.
 * Item: An Item backpack is used to carry items. They feature the largest Space, but no additional features.
 * Booster: A Booster backpack is used to add additional capacity to a Walker, allowing it to carry more than it normally could.
 * Repair: A Repair backpack allows the wearing walker to repair its allies within the repair pack's range.
 * Mobility: Mobility backpacks allow one to move incredible distances for minimal AP cost, freeing up their AP for counterattacking.