General Posting Rules

Your character, whoever he may be must be defined by his physical appearance, his historical background and some game statistics.

The actually character interactment " Role-playing ", and battles will be performed on the Zoids Spirit of Battle Board . In order to get started, use the link to the playing boards and choose the topic of the area you want to start at you need to register an account at
ez-board for your character before being authorized to post (don't be afraid, just follow ez-boards indications; they're simple and clear...And the best being to customize your account.). Then type your text for the reply, when describing your character actions use the third person and the past such as following:

But when your character speaks, just open the dialogue by using first person and present as if it was you who were speaking:

After the door opened, James entered the room, giving a childish smile and explained the reason of his unexpected visit so late at night: "Excuse me sir, but I needed your advices about tomorrow's Battle...It's my first real Zoid Battle and I just wondered if you could give me some tips, I am so nervous that I can't find sleep."

General combat Posting Rules :

Sometimes during dangerous scenes, you'll need to describe your actions as if you were counting them. A character as a determined number of actions during what we call "the melee round".,
For example, Loyd is a Zoid pilot and has 6 actions when using the Liger ;
he decides to use his actions as following during the round.

Locks on enemy N*2
-Fire a volley of 6 short range missiles at enemy N°2
-Dodge enemy missiles.

If James would had to face his enemy face to face (without his Zoid) , his actions would total only up to 3 . James would post something like :

- Punch the enemy in the stomach.
- High kick in the enemy's face.
- Parry any blow from the enemy.

NOTE : When posting combat actions , also Role Play your actions out a little
For example do not simply post all your desired actions , but role play them out .

James is having a hard time , the sweat drops are rolling down his forehead as he was desperately trying to attain a solid lock on his target , his instincts told him to fire ! Slowly he squeezed the trigger and fired off a burst from his cannon

Don't wonder if he's right, it's only an example, you'll be able to find more accurate information's about piloting on the Zoid pilot technical manual . Sometimes shit happens and your vehicle can get hit or you can even be wounded, then you'll read:

James Liger was hit by a deadly volley of missiles, the explosion shook the steel giant like a dead leave struck in autumn's wind; the computer reported that the Zoid was badly damaged but still functional. Lloyd's Liger main body is now at 50HAC

(Heavy Armor Capacity, the Liger original HAC for the main body was 100 , it's nearly 50% destroyed!!!)

Now let's assume that our unlucky friend James has been shot by the enemy, he escapes by jumping into some trees just in time and his Zoid explodes he lands in the trees..(Yup, another example!); falling down through the branches breaking branches on the way down , wounding the pilot himself with small pieces of broken tree branched . James is now at 65SD and 33HP (He was at 75 SD so it's only a light wound, DC is damage capacity, the body's integrity, while HP is heal points or blood.)

Now a little more about these things you see above .
What do I mean with all those strange things like HAC ?
Give me a moment to explain so you'll understand .
Anything must be defined in an RPG world so we know what we are dealing with .
To define just how much armor say a Zoid has you would go to see it's statistics page and read the AC levels ; AC stands for Armor Capacity .
When you see something such as :
AC value by location

Head LAC: 100 , MAC : 50 , HAC : 15
Main body : LAC 400 : MAC : 200 : HAC 150

Basically this means that the location on the Zoids it's " head " has an armor Capacity of 100 Light Armor Capacity points , 50 Medium Armor Capacity and 15 Heavy Armor Capacity , whilst the location Main body has more armor plating and is thus reflected in a higher rating of 400 Light Armor Capacity , 200 Medium Armor Capacity and 150 Heavy Armor Capacity .

Now you may be wondering why each section of a Zoid has not one , but three different statistic numbers to them ? Simple : To keep it more " faithful " to the anime.
One would be the high ability to counter and disperse kinetic energy directed to it

Now suppose you were to empty ten clips of your handgun let us say a Barrette ( 9 MM ) onto a Zoids main body . It's shots would easily ricochet of the armor harmlessly whilst a laser shot would defiantly leave an ugly smoking mark and another probably internal damage .
Meaning there is also a threshold , of protection the armor gives , witch first must be exceeded before actual damage is dealt .
AKA small arms wouldn't inflict damage on a Zoid , but Zoid sized weapons or just higher caliber weapons indeed would chip off its armor .
This is indicated by " armor stress " on the AC table .

There are 4 different armor stress levels

Armor stress level 1 . Light protection , can efficiently stop up to 9 MM weapons fire from normal rounds , and protect against melee weapons impact by reducing the kinetic energy value . Virtually no protection against laser based weaponry or explosive.
No fireproof qualities

Armor stress level 2. Heavy protection , can efficiently stop up to 20 mm weapons fire from normal rounds , excellent kinetic reducing quilts and has fairly good protection against laser or plasma based weaponry , mediocre to normal protection against explosive based weapons .
Excellent protection against extreme heat , and is fireproof

Armor stress level 3. Heavy protection , can efficiently stop up to 20 mm weapons fire from normal rounds, highest kinetic reducing qualities , fairly good protection against laser or plasma based weaponry , normal protection rate against explosive based weapons , excellent protection against extreme heat , and is fireproof.

Armor stress level 4. Very heavy protection , can efficiently stop up to 22 mm weapons fire from normal rounds , highest kinetic reducing qualities , highest protection against laser or plasma based weaponry , highest protection rate against explosive based weapons , highest protection against extreme heat , and is furthermore fireproof .
.

When the armor stress has been reached the AC will drop to the damage taken , subtracted from the proper rating . whilst the rest will get automatically translated as well.

The relationship between LAC - MAC - HAC is 100 % - 50 % - 25 % of MAC

Note : Ballistic weapons affect LAC , whilst plasma or laser based weapons affect MAC , and explosives or nuclear type weapons affect the HAC
There are some exceptions , for example a gauss rifle , which is in a sense a ballistic weapon , but the shell travels at such insane speeds and force that it will almost surely rip trough any layer of armor

Still you may wonder why not reflect the weapon used against the AC in higher
DC ( damage capacity -Meaning the amount of destructive power expressed in an X amount of DC points ) ?

The reason for this is simple : A Zoid can take much more punishment from say hand auto-mags then say a big missile or spray of laser bursts .
It is simply a means of expressing it in a numeric system.

Please DO NOT be put off by all these numbers .
What's important for you to know primarily is .
When it reaches 0 that part / object is destroyed .
So don't let it get there !

NOTE: The GM`s calculate all battle damages and damage done .
You wont have to worry about anything else except dodging those bullets ! The values the GM give you that you have left , are just an indication of how much more punishment you can take ! .

( Note : Kinetic energy is movement energy . I .E If I run and tackle you over that would be mainly kinetic energy there , kinetic energy is also what makes a bullet so lethal , if I were to take one , and throw it at you it wouldn't kill you .
Thus if something has qualities that can reduce the speed of the bullet drastically upon impact it would reduce further damage done by actually penetrating the armor and effecting internal systems witch are fragile , or in some cases your organs ! )

Special commands and actions :

Now we shall discuss special commands a player can execute during combat .
These commands can give you a whole new range of options , and some are necessary even , as some tasks require the use of an action trough using a command .
If used properly some of these actions and commands would allow you to get out of a lot of hairy situations .

Command name	Command effects	Command cost
Alfa strike	Using the Alfa strike command issues an attack using all weapons fired at the same time . Alfa strike is only useful against a single target or can be dumb fired .	2
Blaster bomb	This command allows you to fire any weapon which settings can be altered at a higher ROF ( rate of fire ) then what it is normally set to according to safe limits . Whilst this can come in handy to dispatch hostiles it is also very risky and dangerous . The weapon could explode right in your face ! The GM performs tests to determine whether trough your usage the weapon will explode or malfunction . NOTE: Use in dire* circumstances only with extreme caution*	1
Lock-on	In order to fire any homing based weapon you must first attain a lock-on to your chosen target's) Depending on the quality of the combat computer or targeting computer , you may lose accuracy when exceeding a certain limit of lock-ons . Refer to the specifications for more information on this subject as it differs per machine .	1
Comms	Everything takes time , even communications . For short communications ( short , because you don't have minutes to talk about your G/F during combat ) you will have to use up an action .	1
Laser comms	Laser communications makes use of advanced equipment to transmit messages trough an optic laser , which can not be intercepted or jammed . Thus using laser communications can come in handy when Jamming effects are in effect , or when you need to maintain regular communication silence , as no other units can pick up the communications . NOTE: Laser communicating is an advanced skill and can only be used by those who have that skill	1
Countermeasures	The use of countermeasures can be positive in adding to your defense , by drawing away enemy missiles . The use of countermeasures include advanced equipment like SJS ( Sound jamming System ) or regular countermeasure dispensers . Each countermeasure deployed adds up to an accumulative defense bonus . In other words , more countermeasures used , better chance of getting that pesky missile of your tail	1
Burst fire	Most weapons are fully automatic and can be fired until their ammunition is used. However you may not like to expand all your ammunition on a single target and thus you can fire the weapon in bursts . A longer burst , results in more ammunition being fired and thus causes more damage . Each weapon has 3 different bursts . Short burst , long burst and full melee burst . When using a full melee burst , the player forfeits all his actions for a single large burst . To find out how much damage each type of burst does , refer to the weapon specifications .	Short / long: 1 Full melee: ALL
Walking fire	Weapons capable of burst fire can be used to attack multiple targets in a single action , usually in a situation in which you face off many targets in close proximity . The walking fire command must be declared together with the chosen targets . The amount of targets you can chose is determined by your total amount of actions + 1	1
Forward observer	Acting as a forward observer you take on the roll as the eyes of a fellow comrade which will act as a indirect fire unit . This unit can be miles away and does not have a direct LoS ( Line of Sight ) to his target and thus cannot lock on to it , but does posses the ability to strike that target with long range weapons . Any unit , with a combat computer / targeting system and a transmitting device of some sort to transmit targeting data to the actual attacker can be a forward observer . It is allowed that a single observer can relay firing coordinates to multiple indirect fire units .	2

This table refers to the special actions that can occur during abnormal situations .
Please use them accordingly .

Respect and be respected, never forget that it's only a game so when two characters don't like each other, try to make the difference and don't get angry at the other player.
Another thing, this game is a bit realistic (Isn't it weird for a science fiction RPG?) and your character even if he's a hero is only a human being, so he can fail , or die .
There is no winner or looser in a RPG, only players having fun.