Characters

Characters are the engine that drives the strategic and tactical gameplay of MENACE. They lead squads of infantry or pilot vehicles during missions, representing and coordinating the elements you deploy, and can grow to have either positive or negative relationships with each other, influencing their combat performance. They are all unique, pre-written personalities each with their own background, preferences, and goals. You begin with a selection of characters from the Terran Congressional Republic Marines, but you can and will be expected to recruit more from the various factions of the Wayback system itself. They can die permanently in battle, and if you lose too many, your campaign will end in failure.

Characters can be divided into two types: Squad Leaders and Pilots. Squad Leaders are the command element of infantry units, operating a unique weapon (if chosen) while the other elements, called Squaddies, are generic grunts who can be renamed at the player's behest but have no unique dialogue or personalities. Each squaddie represents a percentage of the infantry unit's HP, and a squaddie dies when the unit's HP is reduced by that percentage, weakening its morale as well as its number of attacks per turn. If a unit's HP is completely depleted and all its squaddies have been eliminated, the remaining Squad Leader is incapacitated, or "bleeding out," and must be "stabilized" by another Squad Leader before he or she is lost permanently. A stabilized squad leader cannot be used for the rest of the battle but will not die.[1]

Pilots command vehicles such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, and bipedal combat walkers (mechs). They are incapacitated and must be rescued when their vehicle has suffered critical damage and has been destroyed.

Both Squad Leaders and Pilots have skills in a Perk Tree that can be unlocked as they gain experience and are promoted through surviving tactical battles. While some skills are shared among different characters' perk trees, each character has a special unique perk entirely unique to him or her. Characters also have their own statistics (AP, Discipline, etc). [2]

Properties of Characters

Statistics

Each squad leader/pilot comes with a variety of different skills and characteristics. There are 10 different statistics in total: [3]

Character Stats
Name	Description
Action Points	Each character has a finite amount of Action Points, or AP, per turn. Any action, like moving a tile or using a skill, costs a certain amount of AP.
File:Hitpoints per Element inverted Icon.png Hitpoints per Element	The amount of damage a unit can take until one of its elements is removed as a casualty. A squad with 10HP and five elements can take a total of 50 damage until it is completely out of action.
File:Armor Value inverted Icon.png Armor Value	Depends on the armor the squad has equipped. The higher the value, the more penetration an attack needs to deal damage. Armors also have durability that is reduced every time the armor successfully stops a bullet.
File:Discipline inverted Icon.png Discipline	Reduces incoming suppression and increases suppression recovery. Moral tests are also done against the discipline of a unit. These have to be succeeded when losing elements, friendly units getting killed, or allies fleeing from the battle. The higher the discipline, the less likely a squad is to become wavering or retreat from the battlefield.
File:Accuracy inverted Icon.png Accuracy	This determines the chances to hit for all attacks. Accuracy can be reduced by being suppressed by enemy fire and other effects. It can also be improved by deploying.
File:Detection inverted Icon.png Detection	How well the squad can detect hidden/concealed enemy units. This value is subtracted from the enemy’s concealment value.
File:View Range inverted Icon.png View Range	The distance in tiles the squad can see and reveal enemy units that have no concealment. Certain large objects can completely block lines of sight and allow for unrevealed approaches.
File:Concealment inverted Icon.png Concealment	How well the squad can stay hidden while in the field of view of enemy units. This is also increased by the environment like forests, buildings, or tall grass. A unit with some concealment that is deployed behind cover can ambush enemies very effectively.
Unique Starting Perk	Every squad leader starts with one unique perk already unlocked. These are very different between SLs and are designed in a way to make them feel unique and emphasize each individual's character.
Perk Tree	Each squad leader has their own perk tree that can be unlocked through “promotions.” Not all perks are unique to this character, but the selection and order of unlocks will be different for each.

Promotion and Demotion

↪ Main article: Promotion and Demotion

Squad leaders and pilots can be promoted with promotion points that are earned, for example, through completing missions. Promoting a character does not happen automatically. It must be done by the player.

The cost of promoting the same character increases with each promotion.

Characters can hold one of eight ranks, ranging from (1) Lance Corporal to (8) Master Gunnery Sergeant.

It is possible to demote a character. Although a small portion of the invested promotion points will be refunded, the affected leader will not be pleased.

Squad Leaders

Name	Portrait	Unique Skill	Affiliation	File:Hitpoints per Element inverted Icon.png	File:Armor Value inverted Icon.png	File:Discipline inverted Icon.png	File:Accuracy inverted Icon.png	File:Detection inverted Icon.png	File:View Range inverted Icon.png	File:Concealment inverted Icon.png
Jane Darby		File:High Value Target Icon.png High Value Target	Marine	50	10	70	70	0	9	0
Charles Lim		File:Aspiring Icon.png Aspiring	Marine	50	55	70	70	0	9	0
Marta Carda		?	Marine	50	10	56	56	0	9	1
Edwin Pike		Stalwart	Marine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tekko'Beo Phosa	File:Tekko'Beo Phosa Portrait.png	File:Rampage Icon.png Rampage	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-