Lesson Six: Role-Play Combat
Role-play fighting has to be one of the second most popular activities I've ever seen. Everyone wants to fight everyone else. And they do. They fight, and they fight, and they fight, but the problem is most people fight badly. Its always difficult to explain fighting, so I'll start off with the basic rules, and go from there.
First Rule of Role-Play Fighting - We don't talk about role-play fighting. (Fight Club reference thanks to my nosy husband, I love you 'Dox.) XD
Alright, on to the more serious stuff now. Things that you should look out for, in others characters, and in your own. Things that we all tend to do at some point or another, and things that generally make other role-players want to yell at you.
1.) Godmodding, Twinking, or Invincibility.
Now, Godmodding can be summed up simply as attempting to play a character that is godlike. Godlike characters are those that cannot be hurt by normal weapons, always take very little, or no damage, and immediately seem to be 'invincible' against any form of attack you throw at them. This is the worst kind of character to fight against. In more advanced role-play groups, we refer to them as 'Twinks'.
Now, to twink, going along with the lines of godmodding, is to give your character a power they did not previously possess, in order to cope with a current situation. Giving a character powers of teleportation, rapid movement, or sudden invulnerability to an element, if they did not previously possess this ability.
Another sign of a godmodder is the possession of an ability that is so strong it seems godly, or is capable of taking out someone in a single strike. The best example of an anime with this quality is Dragon Ball Z. Keep in mind that DBZ was designed to be this way though. Not all DBZ role-plays require that level of power, though many players seem to use them to that effect.
The final sign of a godmodder is their inability to recognize that they have been somehow damaged. Players losing limbs, but acting as if they still have them, and in perfect condition, for the rest of the fight. Barriers that are impossible to penetrate, some form of instant resurrection (Final Fantasy is excluded from this, because of the Phoenix Down), or the ability to bring themselves back to life from things such as soul-draining, soul enslavement, their spirit being devoured by some other life form, or in some other form losing anything that would give their body the ability to move once returned to life.
2.) The Puppet, and the Puppet Master
By 'puppet master', we refer to the practice of taking control of your opponents character, and forcing them to take a certain action.
Example: The man dodged to the side, as his opponent moved forward to lash out at him with his blade. A skillful leap to the side, and they turned to one another, preparing to attack again.
Now, the man can easily enough dodge the attack, but the part that makes this a no-no for fighting, is this sentence right here.
his opponent moved forward to lash out at him with his blade
Unless the two fighting agreed before hand, that it could be included in the post, this is considered attempting to puppeteer a character. This is a commonly used mistake, both in fighting, and in normal role-play. Don't force actions on someone else's character. They play their character, not you.
3.) Strength, Weakness, and Limits
A lot of characters tend to have an impossible, or improbable weakness, or worse, they have no weakness at all. You have to know the limits of your character before you ever get into a fight. If you have to question yourself, you need to write your character history again, so everything is outlined in a way that you, and others understand. Don't allow for loopholes in your own weaknesses. Try and make them things that seem plausible. Plausibility and reality are what a lot of people look for, yes, even in fantasy role-plays, when looking for a fight.
No one wants to fight a character without some kind of weakness. Even the impossibly overpowered Dragon Ball Z fighters could get tired after a while. They wore down, and reached a level of exhaustion that cost many of them their lives. The exception for this is Goku because, well, Goku was the hero of the series. And even he died repeatedly.
To learn to balance your character, I've come up with a simple series of questions.
1.) If your character can fly, do they tire after long periods of flight?
2.) Does your character suffer their immense strength by being clumsy, or sluggish when they move?
3.) If your character uses energy, do they eventually wear down, or run out of power?
4.) Does your character have a distance limit on their teleportation? Or a limit of how many times a day they can do it?
5.) Do your characters arms grow tired after too many punches? Legs tired after too many kicks?
If you couldn't answer no to any of the above characters, chances are your character has no limits, and is what we refer to as a twink. Now, before you get angry, and start yelling at your computer screen that, 'but my character has a weakness, its so and so (for example, we'll use.. that they fawn over pretty girls and get totally distracted).. This has absolutely no bearing on a fight.
Even if distracted, can your character continue fighting? If so, that doesn't make it a weakness. A weakness is something that gives others an opportunity to fight fairly with your character. Giving them limitless power, the inability to tire, and other such things typically mean you need to rethink the way your character is written. At the same time, don't under power your character. Don't give them all weakness, and no strength. Unless that's honestly the kind of character you prefer to play. But these characters usually lose fights, so be forewarned.
4.) Damage, and reactions to it
This is something that a great number of good role-players, along with bad ones, have been guilty of doing. They take some type of damage, and then immediate use some move that would make their wound worse, without acknowledging the fact that it happened.
If you take multiple slices to the gut, you won't be bending, rolling, jumping, or leaping, because its likely that all of those cuts, followed by rigorous movement will cause your intestines to become visible without an x-ray machine. Meaning they'll end up all over the ground.
The same can be said of any wound. Some of them are lethal, and should be acknowledged as such. Obviously, certain races will end up immune to certain wounds, but that isn't always the case. Just always remember one simple thing; that you aren't invincible. No one is. Keep that in mind and you will soon become a fair, and balanced fighter, as well as a fair and balanced role-player
Fighting Examples
The point of these posts are to give people a good idea of how fighting should or should not look. This is not to say you need to copy exactly what is written here, but try and picture what you're doing, when you write your post. Its like writing a book inside your head. Only, this time, its an action novel. The best way to deal with fighting, is to take your time. If people complain about how long it takes you, tell them to find a different opponent. You should never give up your writing skill just because someone is impatient.
At the same time, try not to be impatient with others. Its all about give and take.
Fighting Sample Post #1
The man rushed forward, bringing his sword down on his opponent. He struck hard again and again, trying to take off a limb.
Okay, now, obviously that was kind of rushed, and leaves everyone going 'wtf is happening here?', so, lets try again, and see how this works with detail, effort, and an effort to explain to your opponent exactly what you're trying to do.
Fighting Sample Post #2
The man moved forward, his blade drawn and positioned in his hands. He was prepared to strike down his opponent, and bore a determination to do exactly that. As he lunged forward to close the distance between them, his sword came down at a diagonal angle, aimed for his opponents left shoulder. He was prepared for his opponents responsive movement however, his body tensed even in the swing, prepared to counter as best he could.
This shows a little more detail in the fight. I decided to not make this a super long post, simply because people would end up getting bored reading it. In the first post all we learn is that the man is rushing forward, and swinging at his opponent. In the second post, we know that the man has to lunge forward to close the distance, and is swinging at his opponents left side. This tells us which direction he's coming from, and possibly what hand is his preferred fighting hand, depending on if he's using a sword that requires one, or two hands to wield.
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