Combat Roleplay Guide

About Guide

This guide is intended for 'Souls RPG, though it may be used in whole or part elsewhere, provided you link back to Tears, Bones & Desire. You are free to link to this document if you please, or you can download it, modify it, and reupload it. You must keep an attribution link to Tears, Bones & Desire.

Godmoding, Powerplay, & Metagaming

If you're seriously new to roleplaying, I suggest heading over to the Bad Roleplay Guide to soak in these various behaviors. This is a very important aspect of roleplaying and especially important in combat, but there are too many aspects and they are too nuanced to elaborate upon here, sorry!

Statistics & Attributes Dealing with Combat

Few forum-based roleplaying games incorporate hardline statistics systems, dice, and other stat-heavy aspects to combat. Nevertheless, there are certainly things you can consider that are similar to these numerical systems.

If you give your character a distinct advantage, consider also giving them a disadvantage. These are just ideas, but keep the idea in mind when creating your character. Sorry, but you simply cannot have an impossibly strong character who is also incredibly limber and agile, and also was trained in weapons usage and has tons and tons of experience and so on and so forth. It's godmodding, plain and simple—you may think you're simply creating a "warrior" but your character must have downfalls. Without a hard numerical system to rely on, our statistics and abilities are quite subjective. While you may consider your character to be the epitome of physical strength and prowess, another character may have extensive experience and agility, and they might be able to outsmart your character and emerge victorious.

There are many more than simply what's listed here—if you create a character with a particular strength, consider also giving them the weakness listed to counteract that strength to make it fair for other players who may want to engage your character in combat. The primary key in creating your character is balance; this keeps the game fair and also will help you to avoid godmoding, as a godmode character is defined as one without vulnerability. These attributes are particularly important where combat is concerned. Feel free to add a little of each to your character's "fighting profile" if you so desire, just remember to keep everything balanced!

• Physical Strength/Size: Perhaps a physically strong character is very large, or very muscular—in any case, not particularly agile and rather slow-moving. Though this character may miss a lot of his or her attacks, when they hit they do a lot of damage to others. Perhaps they are lacking in endurance due to their size, and they tire quickly.
• Agility: The agile character is a dodger and a dancer—they dip around a lot of attacks very often, and they are especially strong against slower-moving opponents, but when they are hit, they do not absorb damage very well, and may be very injured after only a few connects. Agile characters are typically of the smaller variety, and they do not have much physical strength and size.
• Weapons: Weapons are a touchy subject. They provide a distinct advantage over characters who do not carry weapons without any clear disadvantage—perhaps if you have a weapons carrying character, their combat ability is greatly decreased without the weapon (i.e., they are reliant on the weapon for their prowess, and when reduced to melee attacks they don't fare so well). Be prepared to allow your character to occasionally lose his or her weapon so that other characters have a fair chance against them. Weapon malfunctions are also a possibility with more advanced weapons than swords, clubs, and other melee style weapons. Also consider that without training or extensive experience, some weapons may be more dangerous than beneficial to the one wielding them!
• Experience: Experience is very difficult to combat, but usually a very experienced character has some other disadvantage, like prior injury or age, something similar which sufficiently slows the character down. Experienced characters may also expect their opponents to act a certain way, and "new moves" by an old opponent may be particularly effective as they surprise the more experienced character.
• Training: Training is also difficult to combat, but if a character has training, consider that they are lesser in ability than someone who has amassed experience. Training is very difference from real experience in that training does not prepare one for the emotions and pains of battle. Consider lessening their physical strength to compensate for training.
• Pain Tolerance: Pain tolerance can come into play when injuries occur. If a character has been beaten up several times before and has many scars, likely the character will deal with injuries better than a character who has never bled a drop in his or her life. However, pain tolerance generally means prior wounds exist, which may be exploited for the benefit of the opponent (e.g., the opposing wolf takes a chunk out of an area that is already scarred, causing damage to an already-damaged area).
• Stamina: Stamina and endurance are extremely important when it comes to fighting. An extremely enduring character may simply outlast another in battle, causing their opponent to grow tired and make mistakes. If you have a character with high endurance, consider lessening their physical strength or their agility to compensate for their endurance.
• Aggressiveness/Violence/Emotional State: A character who is enraged beyond rational thought will likely fight less smoothly than one who is pissed off but still able to calculate. A character who is extremely violent is likely to use "dirty tactics" like throwing sand, clawing eyes out, or other extreme things, while a character who is more honorable is less likely to do these things. Emotional state is important to consider; if one character has far more invested in battle than the other (e.g. his or her very life) s/he may be fighting far harder than the character who is merely fighting for glory.
• Fighting Style: There are so many ways for your character to fight! Consider giving a paragraph or two on their fighting style on their detailed profile. Does your character go insane and fight berserker style? Does your character leap in and out of the other character's range a lot? Does your character stay close and pushy, overpowering the other character? Does your character stay back and use their longer limbs (or even kicks!) to deliver devastating blows? There are a vast number of different combinations of attacks and styles that you can make your character use—some are particularly effective against others.
• Defensive Ability & Blocking: Perhaps your character has a "defensive edge" such as especially thick fur or especially fast reaction time when it comes to others' attacks. These characters would do well to stick to their strengths and defend a lot of attacks, dealing damage only when the situation is just right. If your character is a "defender" you should make sure that you're not blocking every attack the other player throws; be fair!

Concepts

These are just very basic things to keep in your mind while you're roleplaying combat situations with other players. They're not set in stone, but they're very good things to abide by anyway.

1. Fairness

The absolute keystone to not making anyone angry in roleplayed fights is fairness. Remember, as fond as you are of your character, there is another player on the other end who is just as fond of their character! Be fair, and allow everyone the chance to be a victor at some point.

2. Attacking

Don't cram your post full of fifty different actions. You can't move that quickly, and neither can your character. In general, try not to use more than three major actions per post. The other roleplayer needs to reply to your actions in the order that they are dealt, and if each of you wind up doing seven major actions per post, it will be a fast, deadly thread or it will get very confusing, very fast. If you want a slower, drawn-out fight, why not try writing a paragraph per post, with one major action within each? Discuss that with the other roleplayer first, naturally. It could be quite interesting. The practice of cramming one's post full of actions is known as stacking (RP Magazine Online).

3. Dodging

Dodging is one of the many irritating aspects of a fight thread. Some roleplayers believe that since the other player has not written a connection, they are free to dodge every action thrown at them, when in reality—this simply would not occur. Other games have suggested a "three dodge" system, where a roleplayer has three dodges between a major attack connection, but such a hardline system is difficult to enforce (Chaser, Rainbow). In general, use your good judgement.

Nothing is more irritating than roleplaying a fight thread with a player who refuses to allow injury to their character. Don't dodge every attack that the other player throws at you; it is unrealistic and highly annoying. Allow one or two major attacks to connect, and allow partial connects, where the blow glances off but causes some damage to your character.

4. Losing

Be prepared to lose. You are not playing a self-centered game where your character is the "hero" and everything always works out the way it is supposed to. Your character will not win every battle he or she engages in—it is a simple fact of roleplaying (and life, when you think about it). There are other players whose characters deserve the opportunity to win, and if you desire a character with a "perfect record" please consider containing your combat to non-player-characters only. Also consider that other players may wish to challenge your character's record; it would be most courteous to outright inform these players that you do not plan on having your character lose, and allow them to come to their own decision about whether or not they are willing to pit their character against yours. There's nothing wrong with wanting to play someone unbeaten—sure, some of us think it's a lot less fun :P—but if you want to do that, make it clear to other roleplayers who wish to engage your character in combat, and make sure your character isn't the type to engage in combat very often! If you want your character to go around kicking every other character's ass all the time, you are in the wrong profession, sorry. Consider writing a novel or short story instead.

5. Winning

Hooray—you won! That's good for you. Don't let it get to your head, and don't insult another player's character for losing (that should go without saying). And next time, why don't you let someone else in on the glory? You can even start plotting with the losing character's player for a vengance plot later on!

6. Realistic Advantages & Disadvantages

Sometimes, a character may engage in a fight where they are severely outmatched. There are realistic situations and occurrences where one character simply should not be able to defeat the other without great difficulty or extreme circumstances—take, once more, Azazel and Baphomet. Say Azazel is a thin, year-old half-coyote with virtually no fighting experience. Baphomet is a large Russian wolf, well-fed and quite large, with extensive fighting experience. These characters are not evenly matched. Realistically, Baphomet will dominate Azazel virtually every time. There are rare instances when characters at a distinct disadvantage can defeat more powerful characters, but not many.

It may be difficult to see your character as severely outmatched in a combat situation—but sometimes it happens! It's okay. Consider not fighting that character until yours has amassed more skill or grown larger. Use your best judgment; if the player of Baphomet is hesitant to allow Azazel a win for reasons relative to the realism of the match, consider perhaps backing down and simply swallowing a loss for now, resolving to have a rematch when Azazel is a little more of a challenge to Baphomet.

7. Autohit

Autohit generally describes a fight in which two players agree to allow attacks and connections within the same post—in eseence, agreeing to allow some extent of powerplay in the thread for excitement's sake. It can also be used to describe what happens when someone powerplays a hit without permission. Autohitting can be a very interesting way to play a fight thread, but it is suggested that you only play "autohit fights" with a player you can trust not to do anything ridiculous to your character. When setting up an autohit fight thread, be extremely clear in your boundaries, and clearly state how much damage your character can and cannot take. You don't want to end up with a three-legged wolf!

Etiquette

1. Don't start a fight thread without discussing it with the other player first. Actually, it's rude to start any thread for another player without discussing it first, so just don't start private threads for anyone without their consent, ever. If you'd prefer for a character to show up, use the "attention" or "attn" tag on your posts, which calls their attention to the thread but does not "demand" their presence as would a private thread.

2. If you are involved in a thread and it naturally progresses to combat, the same logic applies. Take a moment to private message the player and discuss the details first.

3. It is highly, highly encouraged that you determine the winner of a fight thread before it escalates to fighting levels. This is the number one way to avoid out of character drama.

4. Understand that some people simply do not like to roleplay combat. They don't enjoy it, and as we're all in this for the enjoyment factor, it is extremely rude to push or pressure anyone for a fight thread. If the answer is no, leave it at that.

5. If you are unprepared to lose, don't engage in fight threads with other player-characters. Don't thread a character once with a fight, take the victory, and then refuse all contact regarding rematch from that player—it's downright rude.

6. If you have come to an out of character agreement about a particular flow or outcome for your combat thread, don't go back on your agreement and suddenly flip the in character cirucumstances around to change those things.

Sources

1. Urban Dictionary - Godmoding
2. WolfWeb - The Three Dodge System
3. Wikipedia - Godmoding
4. TV Tropes - GodModders
5. Wikipedia - Metagaming
6. Wikipedia - Munchkin
7. Furcadia Forums - Roleplaying Basics
8. Wikipedia - Twinking