Guide to Fair Combat Roleplay

[Gladuos 857]

[[EDIT/FOREWARNING: This guide is beginning to age, so I implore anyone reading to please check the relevant server rules or lores before taking anything in this guide as fact. Thanks 👍]]
[Obligatory Epic Combat Music]

Introduction:

  I’ve noticed lately that many people are disillusioned with combat RP, or tend to call it a mess. I’d definitely agree, so I’m writing this to act as a guideline should anyone choose to use it. This post will be a number of suggestions that’ll hopefully convince you to give combat RP another chance, as I feel it can be very entertaining if done right.

  I personally employ the following guidelines when doing combat RP, and am an avid magic user. Considering I’ve been doing this since Aegis, I believe there are quite a few things I can teach. Everything below is completely optional, and feel free to do some tinkering to best suit your individual RP. Regardless, thanks in advance for reading!

 

[Copyright Wizards of the Coast]

Combat:

  There are ways I like to split up how a combat encounter should go. As a personal fan of dungeons and dragons, I’ve incorporated several things which you might find familiar. Keep in mind, every combat is different and you’re completely free to change things up to keep pace with the other players around you. I just like using the system here as a default, should you want something to fall back on.

  Combat is split up into instances I like to call ‘rounds’, wherein all players emote at least once before continuing from the first player again. It normally varies, but I consider each ‘round’ to consist of about 6 seconds. Put more simply, one emote lasts for roughly 6 seconds. In a round, wait for everyone to emote once before continuing with another of your own, starting another round. As for the emote itself, I split it up into 3 sections. Main action, reaction, and movement.

  Main actions are anything that would take up the most work or concentration in an emote. This can be something such as pulling a lever, thrusting a blade, drawing an item, focusing on a spell, or even activating an enchantment. Things will often require more than one emote to do, requiring consecutive rounds using the main action to work towards. For example, spells usually take multiple emotes to complete, and thus the main action is expended each time to work towards that final goal. A recurve bow might take 3 emotes to knock an arrow, take aim, and shoot. A heavier weapon such as a maul might take an initial emote to rear back in preparation for a strike, and then another emote to send it towards the opponent.

  Reactions consist of actions made in response to something another character is doing against you. Something which could count is lifting your shield to block an incoming swing from a sword, only to use your main action to thrust your sword back at him as a counter attack. Another example would be trying to dodge an incoming boulder cast at you by a wizard, or leaping out of the way of hazards. Usually the latter will take up more energy and time, thus invalidating the potential to use your main action, so keep things like that in mind! Also you can’t really use up a ‘reaction’ unless there’s something to actually respond to.

  Movement is much more intuitive than the last two sections. It’s just a character’s ability to traverse the environment around them. For an average fellow, I like to put them at about 4 blocks maximum in the course of a single emote. This can be slower or faster depending on the character’s situation, or abilities. A druidic shapeshifter might be able to move much faster because their animal is fast, or a person might be on a mount such as a horse, thus having the higher movement speed. Movement can be useful in situations such as when a warrior has to step up to an opponent and then use their main action to cut at them with a blade.

  Speaking can be done somewhat freely during a ‘round’ too. Just be certain it’s few enough words to fit within the short time that would be involved (usually 6 seconds). It may be difficult to speak fluently if you’re already highly focused on some other task at hand.

  The situation is king, and so are your brains. When it comes to determining how long something will take, or how many emotes, try to use logic. If you think some condition affecting your character might impede them from moving, taking a main action, or reacting, then simply opt out of it if it seems fair (such as not moving because you’re being grappled). When it comes to RP fights, you have to be reasonable and willing to compromise with other players. There’s more about this in the ‘courtesy’ section.

 

[Fireball by erlanarya]

Magic:

  Onto the most loved and hated (usually hated) topic of combat RP: magic. Magic can be used quite effectively in combat, and in a fair manner if done properly. This is done by primarily understanding time and effort in spellcasting, then subsequently RPing in a way which impacts the conflict.

  Anyone can use my following proposition for magic in combat, if they wish. Though unofficial, it relates to the tier system. That shouldn’t matter however, since this guide is also unofficial. I like to split up mana pools by a number of ‘units’ of power according to your current tier. A mage’s total units should equal twice their current tier. So if you’re a T1 mage, you have 2 units of power, if you’re a tier 2, 4 units, and so on. How powerful a spell is is described in tiers such as a tier 1 powered water splash or tier 4 powered illusion. How many tiers a spell equates to is how many units it will expend from your overall mana pool. In the prior situation, a tier 4 illusion would cost 4 units of power. This all means a mage can only cast two of their most powerful spells before being completely incapacitated (I’m talking unconscious or too tired to move significantly).

  The number of emotes required to cast a spell are usually more than one. Typically any mage requires their initial ‘connection’ emote, followed by whatever charging emotes proceed it to do their spell. Whenever at tier 5 strength, I like to roleplay that a spell requires at least 1 emote per tier of power it holds, with a minimum of 2 needed. Meaning, a tier 5 spell requires at least 5 emotes to cast, and a tier 1 would require 2.

  This system works well for RPing time and effort when the mage only has one tier 5 magic. However, it gets a little confusing if you’re not tier 5, or have different tiered magics. So remember, this is just a guideline and feel free to use whatever logic makes sense for your individual spell. I’d suggest that it takes 5 emotes for your most potent spell, and at minimum 2 for your weakest ones. Also, don’t cast your most powerful spell more than twice before reaching maximum fatigue. Magic is a powerful thing to use while in combat, so be mindful to always RP the consequences of fatigue.

  Finally, casting a spell normally requires consistent focus to do correctly. It’ll expend all your main actions until the correct number of emotes have been achieved, and inhibit your other options. As you’re having to focus on a spell, your movement might as well be halved to indicate walking (2 blocks). Except for simple talking and walking, there aren’t many things you can do when charging a spell. I heavily discourage anyone from trying to charge spells past the standard 5 emotes, approximately. Though there isn’t any rule against charging a spell for 10 emotes and blasting an entire area of people, it should be avoided for the sake of courtesy.

 

[Photo by Paul Keely]

Courtesy:

  Onto the most important section of accomplishing a fair combat RP: Knowing how to compromise with one another, and keeping your priorities straight! Everyone should know that the most crucial thing is to keep a professional, level head no matter what. Remember that we’re all here to have fun, and build an amazing story together via an interactive roleplay medium.

  When in a fight and considering your emotes, sometimes you might feel unsure. Whether it’s something you’re trying to do, or something your opponent RPed, it’s always good to try PMing them to ask questions. These questions can be, “Do you think this would make sense?” or along the lines of, “Is it okay if my character tried doing this?” to ensure the both of you are on the same page with what’s going on in your RP. Now, I say to PM the other player because it keeps the overall smoothness of the RP intact. When you go into LOOC to talk about something that involves no one else, you clutter the chat and invite the possibility for an on-going out of character conversation. That may be good and needed sometimes, if it involves multiple characters, but I would try to avoid using LOOC as much as you can. In the worst case scenario, it has a tendency to devolve things into bickering between players. So go for the PM first!

  There are times when, despite trying to communicate, that the players just aren’t sure for the outcome of an interaction. This is where I like to utilize the rolling system. It may not be for everyone, and lots of people prefer to solely use roleplay. That’s fair, and one should never use rolling to determine every interaction of a combat, but it has its uses. If the result of something truly is uncertain, a contest of rolls may be needed to figure it out. Do your best not to fall back on this too much though!

  Don’t forget to use vocabulary such as ‘attempts’ or ‘tries’ when writing out your emotes. I know this is one of the simplest things to remember, but sometimes people just don’t. It’s awful to try RPing for your opponent, so be mindful with how you word things.

  A willingness to lose is key for any combat RP. I’ve seen fights go on and on for hours with the most ridiculous emotes before just because the players were OOCly desperate to win. This is a bad thing to do. Not only does it promote animosity, but it results in messy fights that will never end. All players, especially the aggressors, should know that the server is about having fun for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with being a graceful loser, as often times failure results in more entertaining roleplay! So go out there and lose, people. It’s for the best, and you might even have fun.

 

[The Alchemist by Miles Pinkney]

Tips:

  Sometimes a conflict will become overwhelming because there are too many people. It’s easy to be flavorful with your emotes and refer to someone as a “redheaded elf” or “short bald man”, but they might not notice this in the heat of the moment. To counter this, if you’re a VIP, I suggest using the bold formatting to highlight a character’s name in your emote. So if you’re trying to stab Richard, his name is bold and easily catches his eye.

  Another option is to take fighting partners while in conflict. If it’s 3 isolated instances of 1 vs. 1 instead of 6 going at it in a chaotic mess, it’s much easier to understand what’s going on. Just like everything in this guide, this isn’t needed and it’s likely you’ll end up breaking apart somewhere in the combat anyway. It’s just a nice way to keep things semi-orderly for a while.

  Some magics have specific lore for how many emotes, and how exhausting certain spells are. It’s best to use that as the standard instead of defaulting to my systems above! If it’s non-specific, you may use my system.

  In the worst case scenario where all players are bickering in LOOC, and no RP is happening, don’t be a stranger to voiding the entire thing. It’s easy to get very aggressive and angry, but I want to remind everyone that most times combat is highly irrelevant. Putting things into perspective, sometimes the roleplay just isn’t worth all the hate and anger. Do a modreq if needed, but it’s always an option to suggest voiding as well so everyone can just move on.

 

Examples of RP:

  -An ideal ‘round’ of combat between Richard, Sigmund, and Vanessa:

Spoiler

 

[RP] Richard, having already drawn his knife, steps up to Sigmund and frowns at him angrily. The man suddenly thrusts the blade out, attempting to plunge it in Sigmund’s abdomen.

[LOOC] [Sigmund]: If that’s your attack, I choose RP for defender default.

[LOOC] [Richard]: That’s fine!

[MSG] [Sigmund -> Richard]: Do you think it’s fair that my character could’ve taken out his buckler already, considering you had your dagger out?
[MSG] [Richard -> Sigmund]: Yeah, that’s totally fair!

[RP] Sigmund, having already seen Richard draw his weapon from some distance away, wields his buckler. As the stab comes his way, he goes to parry the blade with it. Should that work, he brings the buckler back to try slamming it against Richard’s face as a counter attack.

[RP] Vanessa gasps in shock as the violence starts, pushing her body forward and trying to stand between the two men. She puts her arms out to either side, trying to separate them.

[RP] Richard does not see this attack coming, already blinded by his fury. The buckler slams into his nose, causing blood to spurt out and the man to stumble back - pushed only further by Vanessa. Noticing that this won’t be as easy as anticipated, he throws his dagger aside and draws out his arming sword with a heavy scowl.

 

  Notice the actions chosen throughout this round of combat. Richard makes his movement by approaching Sigmund, and his main action by attacking him. They immediately communicate through PMing about what would make sense, compromising with an amicable tone. Sigmund reacts to Richard’s stab by blocking it via his buckler, only to use his main action to try striking back. Vanessa has to use her movement to approach the duo, using her action to try to pull the combatants apart. Richard receives the blow courteously, willing to take damage or even lose despite being the initial aggressor. He even waited for everyone involved to emote once before continuing himself. This is a great example of how RP combat can go, if you follow the right procedures.

 

 

  -Now an ideal, and small example of a novice mage trying to cast a tier 3 firebolt at a pesky brigand:

Spoiler

 

[[Assuming RP combat has already been decided and started]]

[RP] Malik stares at the human with an intense glare, brow furrowing at the knife in John’s hand. Malik’s eyes give off a subtle blue glow.

[RP] John holds his dagger threateningly at Malik, standing about 3 meters away. “Jus’ give it up, man! I’m takin’ ya money! I don’ want any tricks!” the man exclaims in a bad cockney accent.

[RP] Malik exhales deeply and holds up his hand, flames suddenly sparking into life in front of the palm. They drift inward, moving for a central point.

[RP] John growls and charges, “Tha’s it, ya pissin’ me off!” he yells before halting with the right foot forward, trying to stab his blade straight into Malik’s unprotected abdominals!

[RP] Malik’s amassing flames take the shape of a small firebolt, only about 3 inches in diameter. It quickly flies at John! It’s aiming for somewhere on his torso. Considering the distance he had before charging, the ball would have time to fling before the blade would come in range.

[RP] John’s torso is suddenly aflame, the brigand stopping and frantically patting at the fire over his leather armor. The bandit spends most of his action putting out the flames, burning himself considerably.

[RP] Malik’s brow starts sweating profusely, having expended a lot of mana for that spell. Noticing John isn’t totally stopped, Malik takes a worrisome step back.

[RP] John looks to his partially burned leather armor, melting flesh on his palms from patting himself down. Smoking, he looks at Malik with an eerily angry grin. With a shaky step forward, the bandit tries to stab Malik once again, no longer at the disadvantage of distance.

[RP] Malik can do nothing but try to knock the blade away with his hands, failing to stop it before it sunk into his stomach. The mage suddenly went very pale, huffing with fatigue and pain as his legs became wobbly.

 

As you can see, both opponents use their options of the combat rounds accordingly, save for instances where they choose not to ICly such as when John tried to intimidate Malik. It was that intimidation alongside the distance that gave Malik the time to burn John, taking roughly 3 emotes to do. Each round, Malik spent his main action to focus on charging the spell, which could’ve been interrupted if John just went straight for an attack. Still just a novice mage, Malik began staggering with fatigue after only one small attack. That, with now being considerably closer, is what gave John the edge to stab Malik. Take note of how both players didn’t hesitate to let the other hurt them, having a willingness to possibly lose. In this scenario, Malik is probably the one dead. Poor sod should’ve given John his money.

 

 

Conclusion:

  So when all’s said and done, this piece can be summarized in a few short words. Be reasonable with your actions in combat, give everyone a chance to emote, be responsible with how you RP magic, and remember to stay courteous with one another. There are numerous ways you can improve everyone’s combat experience, and not all of them are included in this post. I welcome all of you to attempt finding them. Feel free to use this guide as something to help you find a standard for combat roleplay, and don’t be scared of changing things around. It’s only a guide, not a set-in-stone rulebook.

  I hope you’ve found this useful, and please spread it around if you think it’ll help others too! I can only wish I’ve managed to improve at least one person’s time on this server through this guide, created by my long time spent here. Remember, LotC is a collective story-telling medium and we’re all here to have fun. Combat shouldn’t be an exception. Thanks for reading!

[excited 10833]

Keen and insightful writing that I encourage people take to heart. Reading this, I actually learned something with the bolded names, I love it!

[thesaintjaleel 791]

Okay I read it and I think this is amazing! I always loved the DnD system of things and felt it would be good on LOTC despite the completely different environment, kudos to this!

[The Templar 195]

Wonderful! The magic system you use is ingenious, and I'll be adapting it shortly for my students and I. The bolded names is quite a good idea, at that!

[Ford 1990]

: ^  ) ah yes

[Gladuos 857]

>When the wizard reaches critical mass at 20 emotes charging a spell (don't do this btw)

 

 

[GDPR 014 23]

53 minutes ago, Gladuos said:

>When the wizard reaches critical mass at 20 emotes charging a spell (don't do this btw)

 

 

0

Upvote

but i will

[AgentMemory 69]

Overall a great guide post. Also I love your magic system. All around good job sir. +1

[Thornz 549]

Well said, Gladuos. 

 

 

 

[Gladuos 857]

Just now, McThornz said:

Nicely written, Gladuos.

 

You have learned well, my son.

[ChonGojDragonski 317]

I think that a disservice was done not recommending rolls in certain situations. 90% of fights are RPed well until you get to that critical moment where one player has to arbitrarily decide whether or not they're going to lose the fight because the situation is 100% a judgement call and the outcome isn't obvious. Let's say there are two Humans, both of relatively similar build, and they are aware of each others presence with their blades out. One emotes swinging at the other. How is the other player supposed to react? IRL this **** is done in a second and is often a matter of luck. That is a situation where rolls should be utilized. There should be a rolling guide too either as a separate thread or in this one tbh. Another example is any ranged attacks. If it's at a reasonable distance, they should be rolled always, as how else are you supposed to determine it. There are many other examples, Magic being a good one too. IK you said you like to roll in certain situations, but tbh, rolling is the only way to do it correctly most times when you're faced with something that can't be logically decided.

 

All in all, well written though.

[Gladuos 857]

Like I said, players may use rolling for said instances where the outcome is uncertain. However, I'd recommend just compromising and flowing with the roleplay over rolling if you can help it. Roleplay > Rollplay.

[akimaadeena12 8]

34 minutes ago, ChonGojDragonski said:

I think that a disservice was done not recommending rolls in certain situations. 90% of fights are RPed well until you get to that critical moment where one player has to arbitrarily decide whether or not they're going to lose the fight because the situation is 100% a judgement call and the outcome isn't obvious. 

...

 

There should be a rolling guide too either as a separate thread or in this one tbh. 

...

 

IK you said you like to roll in certain situations, but tbh, rolling is the only way to do it correctly most times when you're faced with something that can't be logically decided.

 

All in all, well written though.

0

Upvote

 

25 minutes ago, Gladuos said:

Like I said, players may use rolling for said instances where the outcome is uncertain. However, I'd recommend just compromising and flowing with the roleplay over rolling if you can help it. Roleplay > Rollplay.

0

Upvote

I really like the clarity that this thread was explained. I like combat rp though I usually avoid it due to chaos of people wanting to win no matter what and powergaming becomes involved. (Usually due to newer players, sorry to say) I am a huge advocate of courtesy rp though. Like the thread stated, we're all here to have fun and sometimes that meams being a graceful loser. 

 

That being said, I do agree that there should be a rolling system guide made for those that prefer the rolling system, (even though I am not one of those rpers due to over reliance) In certain situations, like long range attacks that could have multiple factors affecting a shot, rolling would be beneficial. But I also only think this should be utilized if all or a majority of the rpers involved cant agree to common sense rp.

 

For example, a low rank military person is trying to shoot someone running away from them with a bow and arrow. There are factors like the speed the person is running, environmental factors and the skill of the attacker. If the rpers cant agree on the courtesy rp (i call that common sense rp) then rolling would even out the chances and no one would he to blame besides luck of the roll. 

 

Now this could introduce issues though due to the fact that if there is just a common roll would that enable a basic archer to get a perfect shot due to a nat 20 roll (if that is how you guys use the roll system, I havent actually used it yet...) Or will he have a slight handicap where he gets a -3 (or something to that affect) to his roll due to inexperience. 

 

This can be the pro and con of rolls but they have to be explained well. Which is why a guide would be cool! 

 

Sorry for the long winded book. Ive had good and bad experiences with rolling but never had a bad experience with common sense rp. But both are important to rp in their own ways. ??

[ChonGojDragonski 317]

42 minutes ago, Gladuos said:

However, I'd recommend just compromising and flowing with the roleplay over rolling if you can help it. Roleplay > Rollplay.

IK this isn't the point of the thread, but that's a poor recommendation. You said it yourself, your method requires compromise. Literally two seconds to type /roll 20, see the roll, and act accordingly. Often times after the first hit is made, the rest becomes self explanatory. Hard to swing a sword/block with an injured arm, hard to run with an injured leg, etc.

 

 

[Gladuos 857]

2 minutes ago, ChonGojDragonski said:

IK this isn't the point of the thread, but that's a poor recommendation. You said it yourself, your method requires compromise. Literally two seconds to type /roll 20, see the roll, and act accordingly. Often times after the first hit is made, the rest becomes self explanatory. Hard to swing a sword/block with an injured arm, hard to run with an injured leg, etc.

 

Agree to disagree then, I don't prefer rolling for every interaction. Combat can be done by common sense and chatting instead, which I find a lot more authentic personally.