Commandos

All of the player characters in BattleRoller are considered Commandos. While it's amazing to pilot the Rollers on the battle field, it's the commandos that are the core of the player. Rollers are just vehicles at the end of the day. Depending on the Stats that a Commando has, they can be categorized into different classes. These classes are defined by having a maxed out Stat along with a strong secondary Stat. Right now the classes provide a little flavor on the Character Cards but in the future there will be certain Skills and Items that are only available to a given class. Already there are some Skills and Items that are functionally limited to certain classes by their Stat requirements, they just don't mention it on their cards. Even when in a vehicle or a Roller, the player can eject at any time and play continues as the Commando following the Commando Rules so a blown up Roller doesn't mean the end of the game!

Character Stats

So what are these Stats we're talking about and what do they mean? Maybe you were lured here to play with the Custom Character App and got curious about the Armory and saw all those sliders on the left. Maybe you got scared and ran away! Well let's sort that out.

• Movement This Stat directly relates to how many spaces your Commando can move per Action Point during your turn. If you have a 3 in Movement then you'll be able to move 3 spaces per Action.
• Health This Stat is how many hit points your Commando has. It's not how many hits they can take though. Some weapons might cause several hit points worth of damage and a low Health value could end your involvement in the game a lot sooner than you'd like. Thankfully, there are different Skills and Items that can boost your hit points or replenish them when you've been hurt.
• Armor This Stat is your defense. When you're attacked, this is how many dice you get to roll to defend yourself. Different Skills and Items can improve this value, but the Armor value is your base level.
• Load This Stat is in multiples of ten and it controls how much weight your commando can carry around with them during the game. Every Item has some Load value so in order to equip them, your Commando has to add them all up and can't be overloaded. An overloaded Commando can't move and you'll need to be light on your feet! Sometimes you can pick up items during the game and equip them and maybe it's okay to be overloaded for the situation, but you can't start out that way. Items will also have other requirements related to the other Stats as your Commando will have to be qualified to use them beyond just being able to carry them around, but on a team it might be useful to be able to carry items you can't use so that you can pass them along to other Commandos.
• Skill This Stat is how many Skill cards your commando is allowed to equip before going into the game. Each Skill has requirements that relate to other Stats so your Commando will need to be qualified to equip them. A Commando isn't locked into a set of Skills simply because you equipped them in the Armory. That just sets their "default load out". Players are always free to equip any Skills or Items that the Commando is qualified for before the start of the game to better prepare them for their mission. Once the game starts, though, they're stuck with those Skills until the end of the game for the most part.
• Speed This Stat decides how quick your Commando's reflexes are and don't actually have anything to do with movement. The way this translates into the game is initiative. So the higher this value, the more likely your Commando will be going first each round.
• Melee This Stat decides how skilled a Commando is with Melee Skills and Items.
• Tech This Stat decides how skilled a Commando is with Tech Skills and Items. It also controls what Vehicles your Commando is qualified to control. Rollers, for example, require a Tech Stat of 5 to pilot.
• Explosives This Stat decides how skilled a Commando is with Explosive Skills and Items.
• Range This Stat decides how skilled a Commando is with Ranged Skills and Items.

Skills & Items

So Skills and Items, what do they mean? You know that you have to be qualified to even equip a given Skill or Item according to the Stats above, but what do they do for you?

• Skills These cards break the rules. They will give your Commando certain powers that change the gameplay. Things like dodging attacks that should normally hit you, or increasing the range of your weapon or even bouncing your shots off of terrain to hit your opponent like an 8 Ball! Most of the Skills have a cost though, and you'll need to earn Skill Points in the game to be able to use them. Think of them like Limit Breaks in some video games where you keep blocking or taking damage to build your limit bar before being able to unleash an ultimate combo. Kinda like that. Only you might reflect damage back at your attacker like a Jed-- er, "Space Monk" or be able to snipe someone from a mile away.
• Items These are going to be your weapons, armor, shields, medkits, that sort of thing. Weapons will tell you how to attack your opponents while armors and shields can take damage before you do or increase your Armor Stat. There are also passive items like Uniforms that will act similar to Skills and will let you bend the rules in your favor a bit.

Roller Core Mechs

Ah, want to know about the big mech-like machines we call Rollers, eh? Can't say I blame you, those things are AWESOME! Rollers are like power suits or small mecha that Commando Pilots can jump in and command during the game. Not every Commando is qualified to pilot a Roller though, so if you're making a custom character make sure you max out the stat. The rules change a bit when you're in a Roller so there's a separate Rule Book for that. Instead of using Action Points to determine how many actions you get during a turn, everything is managed via EN or Energy. You allocate what EN you want to go to what systems like moving or attacking or whatever before each round, then during your turn those systems you put EN into will be available to you. The EN also counts as the hit points for the Roller so as it takes damage those systems will go offline and you'll have less Energy to make use of later unless you refuel somehow. Rollers are also highly customizable. All of the different systems in a Roller are modular and can be mixed and matched to build out your Roller just how you want. Each component is manufactured by a different Corporation though, so you will likely get bonuses for sticking with all one Corporation so you'll have to consider that when building your Roller.

Custom Apps

There comes a time when the preset characters simply aren't cutting it and you need something that is uniquely you. When you register as a user on this site you'll gain access to the Command Base apps. Membership doesn't cost anything and you'll have the ability to create your own custom Commandos in the Locker Room; outfit them with Skills and Items that are automatically filtered according to your character's stats in the Armory; and custom build your own Rollers in the Forge.

• Locker Room In the Locker Room, members can create their own custom characters. This app is limited to just the miniature though, and you'll have to load the new character in the Armory app to assign their stats and equipped cards. Members have the option of purchasing the STL file to 3D print their custom character or have us print the miniature and card then ship it to them. Recruit tier users can only save up to 4 custom characters, while Commando tier users get up to 8 custom characters, Pilots get 12, and Commanders get an unlimited number of characters.
• Armory In the Armory, members can load their custom characters to manually input a character's stats, or use the randomizer to get a jump-start to get them going. The app will automatically filter the available Skills and Items based on their stats and output a custom card back for the character to download and print as a Default Load Out sheet as well as download the related cards for print and play.
• Forge Coming soon In the Forge, members can build their own custom Rollers. They can set a build budget, optionally filter by Corporation, and the app will smart-suggest parts as they build in keeping with the build assembly rules. Custom Rollers can be saved, cards downloaded for print and play, and STL files and 3D prints ordered. Recruit tier users can only save 1 custom Roller, while Commando tier users get up to 4, Pilot tier users get 8, and Commanders get an unlimited number of Rollers.
• Rift Coming... laterThe Rift is where the Kaiju are coming out of. We don't know much yet about it, only that it's dangerous. Best keep an eye on that one and be ready to mobilize when they show up.

Membership Tiers

There are 4 tiers for user membership, and the premium tiers beyond Recruit are managed through Patreon for WuLongToys. Patreon supporters get extra access to STL files, development notes, live streams when we're modeling 3D assets, all kinda stuff. They also get monthly coupons in the amount of their support level for use when ordering through the store. So it's like they get their money back each month.

• Recruit This tier is totally free and grants you access to the Custom Apps so that we can save your creations for you.
• Commando & Pilot These tiers are for Patreon supporters that pledge at the $5, and $10 level. They gain extra save slots for their Commandos and Rollers in addition to the benefits of being Patreon Supporters. As we further develop this property and continue to enrich the experience on this site, we will continue to add increased benefits for these supporters.
• Commander This tier is for the Patreon supporters that pledge at the $20+ level. They enjoy unlimited Character and Roller save slots as well as having access to "bootstrap" files for the things WuLongToys creates outside of just this game.