Hello! Clicking this thread means you either got curious and once you figure out this isn't what you might have wanted to read you've likely clicked off. However, for those of you looking for an ever-evolving guide to combat in a Roleplay setting from one of the best, here we go.

 

I will be breaking this up into different sections/posts, as for organization's sake. Between each post, you're free to post any and all questions you want to, make your own suggestions or tips, and that sort of thing. Remember, even the best in the world have something more to learn and improve, and I'm certainly not the best in the world. Contribute if you so want or need!

 

Just make sure to only contribute if the contribution directly relates to the most recent post's topic, chances are that if I missed something I might plan to cover it in a separate post if it relates to but isn't directly in-line with that post and align's more with another. I'm also just human, and I can make mistakes.

 

On top of that, use this thread to practice, or even challenge other's to a match to improve your skills or test out some ideas! I certainly will be partaking, as I have to tune up my skill with scythe combat at this time. Think of this as a sort-of mock-dump RP, teaching, and all that thread. It's here to help guide people who are unsure as to how to improve in combat, are new, ect.

 

With that out of the way... Let's get started.

 

 

 

 

Chapter I: Basic Training.

 

The sweat on our hero's brow was no more than almost a thick film resting on his skin. Like a frog's slimy exterior, his skin found trouble in trying to grip onto his blade anymore. The massive weight, the tremendous force accompanied in the blow, it was a wonder his block withstood such a blast from his foe for so long, yet he just couldn't keep up with his rival any longer. His block broke, and so did his skin. 

 

The life force drained in a mere instant, once thought to be an unbeatable hero, he was now a corpse. Finally able to rest, the Guardian of Kailos Gate and our hero's foe took a last glance at his rival of the last hours, before kneeling once again at it's doors, and falling to rest once again.

 

 

Introduction:

 

So, the first thing to note about combat in it's essence is it's not just a mess of blows and cuts. It's an art. No matter what situation it is. Yes, art can be messy, and that is where we must start: the difference between a slosh of paint on a canvas and just throwing your dog into a pool of paint and calling it art.

 

 

Minor self-made terminology.

 

 

First thing to know: The difference between what I will call an attack and a move.

 

An attack is a well executed attack or series of attacks, movements, strikes, and actions taken during one's turn in combat during an RP. Attacks are generally what you want to use, as they encompass a lot of detail, help you set up the battlefield you're in, what the world around you looks like, your terrain advantages, disadvantages, and so on. Attacks are detailed, and you must execute them well.

 

Now, in example, say you are about to start a fight. You attack the opponent, how should you?

 

GOOD:

Sharon took the edge of her blade, aligning it with her forearm so that when his slash happened, it was quick and it hurt. The field was dusty and littered with grass, carried aloft by the winds of this battlefield. She looked to the opponent in front of her: A simple man, only a knife and a little magic. Nothing she couldn't handle. The winds stopped, and the dust settled, only a single blade of grass remained between the two. With grace, however speed-lacking, the plant drifted across the air like a bird in the sky. The skies were a vivid blue, the sun ablaze. As the blade of grass landed, Sharon's blade took flight. A horizontal back-handed slash, followed up with a upward strike from her reversed blade, and finally, with a twist of her waist, sending her blade behind her, Sharon switched her grip on her sword and preformed a reverse upward slash from her opponent's left. The morning dew hadn't quite yet dried, however, making this last attack a hard one to keep up with.

 

Why it's good:

The attack is descriptive and creative. The player takes a look at their surroundings and terrain to add detail and tension to the post, as well as a stylistic standpoint. Note how she never directly states if she hit her opponent. You can throw every hit in the book, but it's possible for you to miss every one. Now, should it happen? No, however, the situation could be that the opponent can evade due to their using a lighter weapon and being of a much faster fighting style. The situation of the warriors in the fight will always determine how it's run. Also note that she didn't keep to one angle of attack with her combat, though she used two upward slashes, the method of how they were executed were different as well as the speed of and positioning that came with the attack. Could it be better? Yes, descriptions on body movement, footing, and position to the enemy would help drive up how good this post is, but that is to be covered a little later.

 

BAD:

Sharon smirked, a chump dared try and assassinate her! The nerve! She drew her blade and began slashing at her assailant, first from the front, then behind.

 

Why it's bad:

 

First and foremost, it's short. In combat, a short post is ninety-percent of the time bad. It shows lack of creativity or ideas on how to handle the opponent in a method that can be considered constructive. When you fight, you must describe what your action is, how it works, and where it comes from. If you don't, and be very indescriptive in your writing, your attacks are not only predictable to even someone new to the idea of RP combat, or can even be abused. In example, the post above could be countered with a simple round block(a block that follows the opponent as their pattern of attack is not described and as such can only be assumed as going in s circle or "round" shape and thus is easily blocked) parrie-knock of the weapon (which will denture counterattacking mid-attack, leaving them only with a move away or block option) to back-step for spacing and lunging-stab to the chest, if you describe your actions right, making the fight a quick loss for the initiator.

 

 

However, when being attacked, the way you must respond is slightly different. In example, say the enemy attacks you with a side-step to get some distance, then a charge with a stab at the body with their lance, followed with a downward strike to the ground to allow them to use their spear like a pole; as a result they jump and use the lance as a support and throw a followup kick.

 

GOOD:

The lances' tip came right for Hanz, however, with a downward-strike to the tip of the spear, trying to force the spear into the dense, thick earth that they fought over. He was able to deflect the stab, however he wasn't prepared for the follow up kick... The blow to his head knocked him back quite a bit and shook him a bit up, however he was far from done. In response, Hanz shot a icicle at Kiro as she went to land and followed behind it, lining up a punch right at her stomach. He took advantage of the hardened dirt and also landed a shot of ice on Kiro's spear which stuck to the ground. As he arrived, Hanz drove his knuckles into his opponent's stomach as revenge for the kick, throwing her off of the spear she used as a weapon.

 

Why is this good?

 

The writer chose to use his opponent's move against them. Any good fighter can size up a situation and adapt on the fly with a new strategy for combating the enemy. Hanz was not invincible, as, as far as we know he has no armor that protects him from being stabbed like that or kicked like that however we can assume that the fighter is competent enough to block a simple stab like that, and did take damage. You can afford to not take damage, however you have to pick and choose where you do, we will go over this soon, but as for now, anyone new: Always assume, unless the attack was very telegraphed, your set up to counter such a move, or it's a very poor move, the attack likely did something to you. Don't dismiss your opponent's attacks like they're nothing. We'll get into how to tell what is what in the next major section.

 

BAD:

 

Hanz grabbed the tip of the spear, it was a simple matter, in fact the enemy was far too slow to even touch him in the first place, especially in this location of all places. He snapped the tip of the weapon, and dragged it's owner to his fist, which Hanz used to repeatedly punch his poor opponent in the face multiple times until she died.

 

Why it's bad:

 

For one, we don't know what Hanz is capable of. He won the fight, sure, however... If he is really that fast, fast enough to safely grab a spear head and break it, and afterwards repeatedly attack beyond the golden number of 10(to be discussed) the opponent in a non-descript way with no allotment for countering, then they're overpowered unless multiple others of the game are of that caliber or the enemy you're facing is very, very weak. Even weak opponents, unless incredibly under your character's strength as written, are always going to provide a challenge, on top of this you dismiss your opponent and their character, insult them with not only a humiliating death but by underpowering them, and breaking multiple rules whilst your at it.

 

On top of this, your attack was boring, your approach has no dynamic points of interest, It's uncounterable, you didn't do anything with the scene that the fight takes place in, you didn't think of another angle to take this from, ect. Overall, this kind of attack is unacceptable. Now, there are moments when certain characters ARE untouchable, but those are very special and will be covered later as well, but as for now, understand that your character isn't an unstoppable killing machine that can evade, block, destroy, ect. everything in their way like it's their given birthright. Combat is strategic, if you plan ahead with your moves and guess your opponent well enough, you can be just as successful as the one above but just as fair, well written, well executed, and fun as the good post.

 

 

Move with the flow.

 

Now, onto a move.

 

A move is a set of actions that lead to either a short but powerful series of attacks, or one powerful one. Generally, the emphasis around these is about the attack itself, and are often VERY flashy, with particle effects, lights, sounds, or otherwise stated. Often enough, a move like this cannot be avoided, but that does not mean it cannot be withstood, though blocking, countering with your own move of choice, or just taking the hit, if you're strong enough to survive such a thing. However, no singular move is perfect. A move has to be set up, lead up to, or planned in advanced somehow for it to make sense or work.

 

And most of the time, it cannot come from out of no-where. No, that doesn't mean you can't make up new attacks on the fly, however, they must be able to relate to a characters' written-in abilities, skills, and powers, and the attack must operate on the laws of the world your character is in. If you have a signature attack that you can't live without, find some way to work it into the game without disobeying the rules of said world. Remember, you are the character in a world more often than not made by someone else, not your own.

 

The good and bad version of this is very easily explained, and doesn't require more than one example:

 

Suzu fired a gigantic freakin' laser through the earth, making sure to take Mako with the planet.

 

Now, why is this bad, and how do we make it good? It's bad as there is no prelude, context, start-up time, or insight as to how the character can do this. Not to mention, it is a tad overpowered and borderlines godmodding (which will be covered). In order to make a move work, you have to obey by a few laws:

 

One, anything that is very powerful requires at least a one-post startup time. The more powerful, the longer the start up should be unless the character's have access to powerful techniques that they do not need a long period of time to charge them for, however this is very conditional. An attack like this should take at least four posts of startup, in which time you're either vulnerable or have to stop the move to counterattack. You cannot (most of the time) continue a powerful attack that has a startup  as well as counterattack, as you have to focus on the move. This gives the enemy an opportunity to stop you, as well as your allies to aid you. If a move is something small, like a signature fireball, this can be ignored as long as the fireball isn't bigger than Sifer's ego in KH2.

 

Two: It should NEVER destroy the world, unless you're given expressed permission and are allowed to do so. No attack, in general, should be that powerful. As with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. It can do major damage, I.E., destroy buildings, make craters, so on so forth, but never something as large as a whole city the size of a Metropolis in one go.

 

Three, the attack isn't a completely guaranteed hit. Though attacks like this are normally allowed to hit, you cannot make an attack that cannot be evaded. In fact, even just giving the attack a chance to fail in some way must be done to make it fair. Moves, no matter how big or strong, or weak and little, are still attacks. They're however generally more powerful than your basic attacks, though.

 

If you understand those rules, and the basic ideas behind the idea of attacks, a move should not be hard for you to piece together in a fair and neat way. They're the flare, don't forget them, but don't overuse them, or it's like you're blowing up fireworks 24/7. Eventually, it doesn't seem as special or pretty.

 

Next time, I'll be covering more of the basics, like defining how some weapons work, more in-depth explanations on what to do in a fight, and some simple tips and tricks. That post will go more in-depth and actually be presented in a way that explains what I mean a bit better.

 

Questions probably going through your mind/FAQ when I have actual frequent questions to put here:

Q: Does he really think he is that good at Roleplay? Because that's not the case.

A: I do honestly think I'm decent at least. I have a good understanding of what combat flow is like, and love combat from it's core up. 

 

Q: Man, this guy... I guess he has a huge ego... Don't you?

A: No, in fact. Honestly, I'm my own worst critic, and hate just about every post I make unless I'm having fun with it. However, I love combat and happen to think I do well with it. But it's no fun when you're at the top, no one fun to play with. The best thing in the world is to find someone with a different style of combat to you but is your level of fighter, and what fun is it to see the same boring "X Character punched L Character in N Bodypart." I love good writing, and I think that everyone has a chance to put out my level or better in combat, and there are already a bunch with the potential. I'm good, but it's boring to be good without anyone else. A lot of people know I'm one of the better fighters, and I don't think it's fair to not share what I've learned and know. RPing is something you get the most out of when everyone is just as good as you and everyone else is as well, it's a social way of writing a story. Do I feel like I'm good enough to write a post like this? Hell no. I'm no where near as good as I want to be. But I want more people to face who challenge me, so I figured I should do something like this and-

 

I'm coming off as pretentious and cocky, right? It's hard to explain what I mean, but I know of a metaphor that might work. A Goku from Dragon Ball wants to be the strongest but never wants to have a boring fight either, and wants his friends to work and train with him so they can all get stronger together. I know I'm decent, if I denied what I am then I would lie to anyone who asked, and I refuse to lie.

 

TL;DR: I love fighting and want more people to fight me that are challenging so shut up and punch me bro.

 

Edited September 15, 201510 yr by Guest

I've in here for not even a year, haven't really proved myself.

Question though Riki, where exactly did you see I had potential?

Edited November 22, 20159 yr by Scrapmaster

I've in here for not even a year, haven't really proved myself.Question though Riki, where exactly did you see I had potential?

In the EBW reboot fight with Hektor. I was questioning weather or not you could actually effectively fight with a cane and then you did and pushed me fairly hard to boot. You're rather amazing.

Imagine if I had a real weapon...