Weight and character strength in Weapons Free

The Army specifies the following strength requirement terms when describing MOS (Military Occupation Specialty)


LIGHT -- Lift on an occasional basis a maximum of 20 pounds with frequent or constant lifting of 10 pounds.

MEDIUM -- Lift on an occasional basis a maximum of 50 pounds with frequent or constant lifting of 25 pounds.

MODERATELY HEAVY -- Lift on an occasional basis a maximum of 80 pounds with frequent or constant lifting of 40 pounds.

HEAVY -- Lift on an occasional basis a maximum of 100 pounds with frequent or constant lifting of 50 pounds.

VERY HEAVY -- Lift on an occasional basic over 100 pounds with frequent or constant lifting in excess of 50 pounds.

Information derived from Army Pamphlet 611-21


How does this translate to in game stats?

Building a table from the Army's information we have the following weight range both in pounds and kilograms.

Weight	Occasional (lbs)	Frequent (lbs)	Occasional (kg)	Frequent (kg)
Light	20	10	9	5
Medium	50	25	23	11
Moderate	80	40	36	18
Heavy	100	50	45	23
Very Heavy	150	75	68	34

The game's STR to weight has the values as show in the table below. Fortunately for me the weight ranges seem to be very similar to what I initially wrote down as row entries on the table. The unloaded value is what the character is used to carrying and will cause little fatigue. This is equivalent to the Army's term "Frequent". Loaded is what the character can carry, but will create considerable fatigue when moving at rates higher than a walk. This is equivalent to the Army's "Occasional" term.

Putting both together we get the following strength attribute values for a given MOS strength requirement.

Weight	Strength Score
Light	3 to 8
Medium	9 to 13
Moderate	14
Heavy	15
Very Heavy	16

What does this mean in terms of acquiring a MOS for your character? Will I limit MOS based on attributes? No, but I'll recommend a minimum and suggest player increase their characters attributes through training quickly thereafter. Infantryman (11B as listed) requires Very Heavy as strength rating. That would require a natural 16 just to be in the infantry and would leave many characters out. If I suggest a 16 and require a 14 things are more accessible. After all the PC can pump some iron and raise a point or two of strength and be within the required value. With a 15 or 16 the character is well set to face the hardship of active duty, carry all the equipment required of him an still move with reasonable speed and without excessive fatigue.