The Beginner's Guide to TACS

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So, you have just been converted, and you're a bit lost. Have no fear! This guide is intended to help explain TACS for beginners.

!profile
First off is !profile, which shows you what your stats are like when are undamaged, your modes, the names and levels of your attacks, your abilities, any protections, and skills. It should look something like this:

============================================ BASE STATS / MODE 1 Strength    -  55                     Intelligence -  70 Accuracy    -  80                     Leadership   -  60 Endurance   -  60                     Courage      -  70 Firepower   -  60                     Technical    -  70 Agility     -  60                     Energon      -  50 ________________ _____/ MODE 1 - Robot \_______________________________________________________ Size: 5  -   Velocity: 43   -   Armor: 50 Attacks: Blaster [4] Abilities: SCOUT ______________________ _____/ MODE 2 - Helicopter \_________________________________________________ Size: 5  -   Velocity: 60   -   Armor: 10 Attacks: Machine Gun [2] Abilities: CRACKSHOT

SKILLS Ghetto Bird, Bootlegging, Narc

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[ Use '!attacklist' for more specific attack info ]==============

!attacklist
!attacklist will give you more information on your attacks. It will tell you the name, damage level, attack type, damage type, any effects, and energon cost of the attack. It should look something like:

=========================[ Attack List for SKIDROW ]========================== Mode 1 [Robot] Blaster                [LVL 4: RANGED] Damage Type: ENERGY Effects   : ACCURATE Energon   : 8

Mode 2 [Helicopter] Machine Gun            [LVL 2: AREA-RANGED] Damage Type: BALLISTIC Energon   : 2

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[ See also '!globals' for the "free" global attacks ]=============

!globals
!globals shows the free attacks that everyone gets. They look like this:

=====================[ Attack List for FREEBIE ATTACKS ]====================== Mode 1 [] Grab                          [LVL 0: MELEE] Damage Type: IMPACT Energon   : -4 Punch                         [LVL 1: MELEE] Damage Type: IMPACT Energon   : -1 Kick                          [LVL 2: MELEE] Damage Type: IMPACT Energon   : 2 Disruptor                     [LVL 1: RANGED] Damage Type: ENERGY Energon   : -1 Laser                         [LVL 2: RANGED] Damage Type: ENERGY Energon   : 2 Smash                         [LVL 3: MELEE] Damage Type: IMPACT Effects   : OUCH Energon   : 5 Ram                           [LVL 3: VELOCITY] Damage Type: IMPACT Effects   : OUCH Energon   : 5 Pistol                        [LVL 1: RANGED] Damage Type: BALLISTIC Energon   : -1

=
=================================================================

!globals can be renamed by using !attackname global=newname. So, Skidrow can renamed his Punch to 'Derisive slap' by using !attackname Punch=Derisive Slap. This renaming will be permanent until Skidrow changes it again.

damage level
The damage level of the attack is the maximum level you can use the attack. You can use the attack at lower levels, though. So you do not, for example, need a level 1 'Little Punch' impact melee attack, a level 2 'Bigger Punch' impact melee attack, and a level 3 'Biggest Punch' impact melee attack. To pull an attack, the syntax is: !attack/4 target=attackname. So, to attack Mixmaster with his Blaster at level 1, Skidrow would use, !attack/1 Mixmaster=Blaster. For Skidrow, pulling his Blaster to level 1 is usually better than usign the !global Disruptor, which is also level 1, because Skidrow's Blaster has the Accurate Effect. When Skidrow pulls his Blaster to level 1, it will cost the same energon to use as Disruptor, because the Accurate Effect does not add any energon cost to the attack.

attack type
The attack type of an attack is either Melee, Ranged, Velocity, Area-Melee, Area-Ranged, as can be seem in !combatinfo attack-type. Melee and Area-Melee attacks run off Strength. Ranged and Area-Ranged attacks run off Firepower. Velocity attacks run off Velocity.

When buying attacks, Area attacks cost 2 CP extra compared to normal attacks, to get the Area utility. Area attacks cost the same energon for one target as normal attacks do, so there is no harm in using an Area attack on just one opponent. For more than one opponent, Area attacks cost x*(n+1)/2 where x is the energon the attack costs for one target and n is the number of targets. To put it a little more simply, each target after the first costs half the energon of the first target. So, if Skidrow wanted to attack Mixmaster, Scrapper, and Hook with his Machine Gun, it would cost him 2+2/2+2/2=2+1+1=4 energon total. Unlike in the old system, damage is not divided in area attacks. They just cost more energon to use.

damage type
Damage types, all of which can be seen in !combatinfo damage-type, add flavour, for the most part. However, some people have Protections against a certain damage type, so attacks of that damage type will do less damage to them. Some people have Weaknesses against a certain damage types, attacks of that damage type will do more damage to them. The first damage type is free, when buying attacks, and any extra damage types cost 1 CP.

effects
Effects, as seen in !combatinfo effect, can make an attack better or worse. For example, the Overpowered effect will make an attack cost more energon to use. The Shatter effect will make an attack also damage the armour stat of the target. (Armour is now a 0-100 stat.) Good effects can be turned off with '!cancel. So if Skidrow wanted to turn off his Accurate effect, he would use !cancel Accurate. If Skidrow wanted to turn Accurate back on, he would use !cancel Accurate again to turn it back on. !attacklist will tell you if you have !cancelled any effects. Some effects, like Shatter, add energon to the cost of the attack, so if you are running low on energon, you might want to turn them off. You might also want to !cancel effects if you are trying to go easy on an opponent or of you feel the effects are simply not thematically appropriate for the RP at the time. As a tip, it is not very useful, generally, to !cancel effects that do not increase the energon cost of the attack. Negative effects cannot be !cancelled.

transforming
Transforming is the name of the game, and to transform, you simply use !transform #, where # is the number of the mode you want. If you forget what mode you are in, you can use !curmode to check. If you don't like your alternate mode name, you can change it with !name #=newname, where # is the number of the laternate mode you would like to rename. Sorry, you cannot change your mode 1 name.

combat
In combat, there are a few more options now. The usual order of your turn will look like this: 1) Pose. About three lines are usually good. Be sure to react to any hits, and hits about 15 damage are usually pretty grievous. 2) Transform and/or set your defence level. This step is optional. You do not need to transform or adjust your defence level. You can if you want to, however. If you want to transform, you must transform before you attack (or do another option that burns a turn). If you want to adjust your defence level, you must do so before you attack (or do another option that burns a turn). 3) Attack or take another option that burns a turn. !inspire, !patch, !aim, !analyze, turning on a forcefield, !cloak, et cetera are examples of other options that burn a turn. So you cannot, for example, attack and !patch. The complete syntax to attack is !attack/# target=attack=newname, where # is the desired level, target is the intended victim, attack is the name of the attack, and newname is what the attack is temporarily being renamed to. So, if Skidrow wants to attack Mixmaster with a level 1 and call his Blaster 'Shot To The Face', he would use, !attack/1 Mixmaster=Blaster=Shot To The Face. You do not have to adjust attack level or temporarily rename the attack; these are optional. For Area attacks, the complete syntax is !attack/# target1,target2,target3=attack=newname', where you can have as many targets as you have energon to hit. If you are getting errors about hitting someone and they are in alternate mode, you will need to use their alternate mode name instead of their mode 1 name.

defence levels
Defence levels are listed under '!defend. The default is neutral. The defence levels make trade-offs with Accuracy and Agility. To switch defense level, you use !defend levelname where levelname is the name of the defense level. If Skidrow is fighting Galvatron and he really does not want to get hit, because is scary, he might !defend protected, which will boost his Agility but lower his Accuracy. If Skidrow was fighting someone who is very agile and hard to hit, he might !defend fearless to get an Accuracy bonus at the expense of Agility.

As a fun tactical application, a pair of allies can pull off a 'rope a dope' trick with defence levels. One can set himself Protected, so that the enemy has to go fearless to hit him. Then, while the enemy's Agility is impaired by Fearless, the second ally can pick him off.

The Hidden and Off-Guard defence levels do no apply to most people. When someone !cloaks or !sneaks, they are set into the Hidden defence level. If someone with the radar or Enhanced_Senses ability exposes the !cloaked or !sneaking person, that person will be set Off-Guard.

running low on energon
Energon is much more fluid in the new system than in the old one. If you are running low on energon, you have several options:
 * You can !pass. This will give you a minimum of 4 energon, but at more aggressive defense levels, it will give you more energon.
 * A very small number of FCs have the Generate ability, which allows them to make more energon than usual when they !pass. This ability cannot be purchased.
 * You can use a low-level attack, if you want to recoup a little energon and still do some damage. A level 1 attack will usually give back 1 energon, if it doesn't have any effects that cost energon.
 * As an exception, a level 2 attack with the Efficient effect will give back 1 energon, if it doesn't have any effects that cost energon. A level 1 attack with the Efficient effect will give back 4 energon, if it doesn't have any effects that cost energon.
 * As a second exception, attacks with the Overpowered effect, which makes them use more energon than usual. Overpowered attacks will cost 2 energon at level 1, so Overpowered attacks are not good to use when low on energon.
 * You can use an attack with the Feed effect. If it hits, you will get 10 energon. This Feed effect could be represented as anything from your character gnawing on an opponent's arm to your character having a sci-fi gun that converts the kinetic energy of its recoil into energon. However, if you miss, you do not get the 10 energon.
 * A character with the refuel ability can !refuel your character, which gives you some of his or her energon. This burns the turn of the refueller but not the refuelee.

protections/weaknesses
For a complete list of what you can be protected from/weak to, look at !combatinfo protection. However, some people have Protections against a certain damage type, so attacks of that damage type will do less damage to them. Some people have Weaknesses against a certain damage types, attacks of that damage type will do more damage to them.

Most FCs don't need to worry about protections/weaknesses at all. Some FCs have unbalanced protections/weaknesses. FCs cannot add protections/weaknesses; they just get whatever makes sense, based off their tech spec and TFU profile.

OCs can pick protections/weaknesses at Chargen or during Conversion. For each protection, there must be exactly one weakness, and they must balance out. If you wanted +4 against Fire, with a value of 3, for example, and a weakness to Ballistic, with a value of 2, you would need -6 to Ballistic, because 4*3-6*2=0.

mode-variable stats
Sometimes, you may notice that under a mode, some stats are listed as different than the mode 1 stats. This means that, in that particular mode, you are better or worse in that particular stat. For example, Ape face is said to be extremely agile as an ape, so his ape mode Agility might be higher than his robot mode Agility. As another example, tapes usually have Strength, Velocity, and Agility equal to zero when they are in cassette mode, because they are little immobile objects.

ammunition
Ammunition is an alternative to energon-based attacks. If an attack is ammunition-based, it will have the Ammo effect listed under !attacklist. Ammunition attacks do not use any energon. Instead, they have a certain amount of ammunition. usually, for each shot, one ammo is used up. Some attacks share an ammunition bin. If you use the same Missile attack in robot mode and alternate mode, you might only have two missile total, so if you use up a missile as a robot and transform, you'll only have one missile left in alternate mode. Attacks that cost no energon sound great! However, for each ammo attack that you have, your energon bin is lowered by 10. Most people have an energon bin of 50. Some really powerful characters or refuellers or otherwise appropriate characters may have higher bins. However, people with ammo attacks will usually have energon bins below 50. It is a trade-off. Once a week, the gumby will !reload you for free, and certain player characters have the Resupply ability, which allows them to !reload you. Note, just because an attack ICly has ammunition does not mean that you need to give it the Ammo effect, codewise. It is perfectly okay to pose loading bullets into a gun that uses energon, codewise.

Still confused?
Still confused? First, take a look at +help NewCombat and the rest of the TACS files on the wiki and see if your question is covered there. If you can't find it, try asking on the &lt;Combat Discussion&gt; channel, where most of the Conversion admin and ex-beta testers hang out.