Benbo's Big Guide To Combat Roleplay

[Wretched 2038]

 

Introduction

Roleplay. What is roleplay? Is it us controlling a certain character or characters in a way that we find most enjoyable? Or is it us becoming a new person in another environment, becoming immersed entirely in a world where we act a character as if they were really us? The answer, is not the latter. Roleplay is not you, it is somebody else that doesn’t exist, it is something that usually has few consequences when things go wrong in said world of roleplay, it is something that not only you are there to enjoy, but the others around you.

So why do people roleplay as if these characters were them? By which I mean, such a savage determination to win despite the fact that there is no such thing as winning on LoTC beside providing enjoyable roleplay. You should play your character as if they were somebody you wouldn’t mind seeing get hurt, granted we all build up a relationship with our make-believe characters every so often, but this must never get in the way of the roleplay you bring.
 

So how do I start?

When nearing the point of roleplay where conflict will occur, and knowing LoTC it will indeed occur, there are a variety of ways to approach the situation without turning it into an OOC desire to win rather than an IC desire. But the number one thing, would be to take note that if you’re starting this fight with the desire to win in your head, you are not providing a good opponent to the opposition. Roleplay is for fun, and if you’re tilting the scales in the favour of your enjoyment then the only real loser would be you.

A personal trick I have learned, is to enter a roleplay battle with the intent to lose. If they swing a series of attacks that you simply can’t dodge or block with moderate ease, just let them through. If you lose a fight without turning it into something completely unrealistic, and you make the death an enjoyable event for the opponent, then you really have reached the pinnacle of your roleplay career. However, one must be sure not to undergame the situation, as this can be equally enjoyable if you kill yourself in one basic attack with little attempt to avoid it, this is just unrealistic and entirely unsatisfying. This of course, doesn’t apply if there is a scenario where it’d be powergamey to randomly turn and block, like a silent assassination for example.

You aren’t expected to lose the fight the moment you enter it, so you don’t have to. Roleplay to roleplay if you like, take the emotes as they come and deal them out accordingly while taking their enjoyment level of the fight into account. If you walk into a fight, don’t make it stressful with emotes that are legitimate, yet pile pressure onto the opponent, give them a chance to react and retaliate before you start slashing a sword at their neck time and time again until there’s nothing left.

And I would strongly recommend you do not jump into the fight without any dialogue, or without any roleplay beforehand. Nothing annoys a player more than a random attack out of the blue with supposedly no intent besides their demise. Even if you’re a psychopath or bandit, a few lines of text, and a few non-combat emotes never hurt anybody. Try to introduce combat slowly rather than thrust it unexpectedly on the victim.
 

 

Okay, I’ve got that. So now what?

So now that this fight is underway, the key thing to remember is timing. If your opponent is performing long, detailed emotes, then you should really be slowing the rate of combat to the same level as they are. Don’t draw a bow, notch and arrow, aim, and fire at the head in the time it takes them to take three paces forwards and place their hand on the hilt of the sword. I would recommend creating similar emotes to them, so if they draw out their weapon and hold it behind their head in one emote, ready to attack, then you don’t draw yours and attack in one emote, you should follow their pattern of preparation beforehand.

And sometimes you will be forced to slow the pace of the battle even further when somebody emotes details in their actions, or perhaps describes the blood falling from a recently opened wound. Remember that barely seconds of time will be passing as these emotes are performed, you should not be preparing for another attack while they emote things that don’t actually take up any time at all. This is something that is usually overlooked in roleplay, and can often lead to people cutting that sort of bit out which could then lead onto a lower level of roleplay or perhaps even accusations of powergaming.

Now think about your character. Is this character a peasant that has had little to no training in any form of combat throughout their entire lives? If so, then defeat should be almost inevitable unless you are combatting somebody with an equal level of inexperience. But that’s not to say that the fight is over before it begins, but take note that the odds will be heavily stacked against you. But equally the opposition shouldn’t be assuming that their opponents lack of skills means that the fight is basically a scripted event that can only end in the weaker one’s demise.

So has your character been training their entire lifetime with a sword? Or have you just said that because it gives you an ‘advantage’ in roleplay. Don’t make up character skills on the spot as soon as combat presents itself, don’t suddenly become this super-ultra-awesome-ninja that can dodge every attack with the utmost precision and accuracy. If you’re just a teenager that has only recently started exploring the world, completely unprepared for any threats you may face, then you should be roleplaying accordingly. And if you’re a 90 year old human grandma, then no backflips while throwing seven hidden knives towards your foe.

And always keep in mind the limits and strength of your character, if your arm has been lopped off then you fall to the ground and die, you don’t shrug it off and start hacking with the other arm “Tis but a scratch!”. And if your character is particularly young, old or weak, then don’t go pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable by becoming somebody that can tear off an orcs arm with their bare hands. Perhaps your character is deaf, or blind in one eye? If they swing at you from that side, your chances of dodging are significantly decreased.
 

Realism? Good God Benbo.... Not again....

Yes yes... I’m sure people have heard quite enough of my realism banter in the past, but truth be told it is still something that must be taken into account in roleplay. If you’re fighting in full armour in some hot desert or jungle, you’ll basically boil alive! Be sure to have your character take the disadvantages of your environment into account by doing things like: getting tired faster, slipping, stumbling and falling... The list goes on. But it’s not exactly very realistic to swim over a sea in full heavy armour, or climb a massive mountain and still have the energy to fight an opponent at the top.

And never forget the limitations of your weapon! A pike will stretch further than a short-sword will, yet if the short-sword wielder is nice and close then the pike has almost no chance to hit whatsoever, it being a weapon designed to hit targets from afar of course. And crossbows are a major one. They are seige weapons, not something that people should be lugging around with them wherever they go, but that’s beside the point. If you must use a crossbow, remember that you are in fact at a disadvantage if you’re not hidden away atop a big stone tower. A crossbow can take minutes to load for the inexperienced, and even the most experienced could take about 40 seconds at the very least, and in that time, a normal archer or swordsman would've killed you... your family... and perhaps burnt down your home too.

And many’a time have I seen people fire bows with unfaltering precision. A talent that very few, if any (besides Robin Hood <3) possess. When firing off an arrow, be sure to remember that if they’re far away, you stand little chance of hitting without a vast amount of training and experience. By all means fire the arrow, but rather than waiting for them to respond, It is often more realistic and therefore enjoyable if the arrow falls short, or too far to one side. Archers would usually fire at the same time in groups, in order to cover a large area in arrows, but a single archer would find hitting a lone target a great challenge if they’re standing far away.

Armour! Great, yes? Makes you undefeatable, yes? Wrong. Too many assume that popping on a full set of diamond armour makes you indestructable. Armour weighs you down, it slows your movement, it lowers the time it takes you to turn, it restricts your movement, and if you have a helmet then it dulls several of the exterior senses including hearing and sight. And you will have to have weak points in your armour, points where a small dagger could easily penetrate and cause you take a powerful hit. And if somebody plunges a knife through your kneecap, then the weight of the armour will suddenly become... Something else, almost unbearable. A particularly agile foe may present a very real, and very large threat to the heavily armoured foe. Never forget that armour is not an easy thing to slip on! Armour often takes at least one other person to fully equip, and it can take a considerable amount of time to fully strap together untill you're battle worthy. Don't just shift-click your armour straight onto your character the moment a threat makes itself known, that's a one-way ticket to powergaming!

And let us not forget character emotions! If a bloodthirsty orc comes charging towards you, screaming angrily, how would this make your character react? What if a psychopath started doing something that creeped your character out, would you take this fear into account when fighting them? Would it cause you to pause, to stumble, to hesitate? All of these things are great evidence of a high quality roleplayer and I’d highly recommend bringing them into your own personal roleplay whenever possible.
 

 

But... My pixelated items!

I can’t put it into words how impressed people will be when they see a man carrying a large amount of stuff on him, and willingly lose them in battle without powergaming or causing a fuss. It will create such an outstanding image for you, that you really will be the moral victor from that scenario. And yes, they’re pixels, they may mean a lot to the character, but they should never mean anything to you. So what if you lost your armour? Did you make something fun out of it? There really is no need to ever get worked up about things so minor and insignificant as minecraft items, as this is a roleplay server, not a ‘who-can-hoard-the-most-shiney-things-server’.

But I’d be the fool if I were to think everybody shares this way of thinking. If you manage to kill somebody in roleplay, perhaps it would be nice to shoot them a message telling them that they have permission to soulstone away rather than lose all of their stuff? I do it, and due to this I only present people will plain old roleplay rather than an item hungry bandit that uses a few lines of roleplay before going “PvP?”, in fact, if you tell them this before the fight begins, it is very likely that they’ll avoid all powergaming as they know at the end of the day they will remain unaffected, and that they can enjoy the roleplay while it’s here.
 

Alright then, I think I’m getting the hang of this now. Anything else I should know?

Don’t feel pressured into allowing the other person to win, fighting in itself can be fun if you know how to balance it! Don’t make it stretch on too long and don’t make it so short that it really means nothing at all. Deal those hits to the opponent! Make them suffer if you so desire, if they are as good a roleplayer as you, then they should be willing to allow you to win just the same. But if it’s clear they don’t plan on losing, sometimes it’s just best to let them have what they want and walk away knowing that you roleplayed to your fullest.

And there’s never any harm in sharing the roleplay. If you have performed either an important, or particularly gruesome murder then why not make a lil’ post on the forums? It generates roleplay both on and off the server, turning a simple death into something that could be affecting the roleplay of many others too! Perhaps the opponent would be more willing to die if they knew they’d get their own post after it to continue the roleplay further, and vice versa, if you’re willing to die they may well treat you the same.

And if possible, avoid as much OOC talk as you can. I personally find it hard to split myself up between OOC and IC while in the middle of roleplaying, as it’s effectively breaking character, which (if you’ve ever taken any drama or acting lessons) is never a good thing to do. It can derail roleplay in moments by forcing you to lose track of where you are, or perhaps skip out vital steps in the fight that could lead to even more OOC banter.

And never argue! Understand each other. Understand how they may be feeling about the roleplay, if they don’t find something very realistic or perhaps aren’t enjoying it, don’t go and instantly fire off the cannons of verbal attack, just listen to what they have to say and work together towards a goal of which you can both equally enjoy. A major reason for roleplay combat becoming dull and stressful is the silly amounts of whining and complaining that both sides often seem to fire at each other. This couldn’t be more useless and will if anything make an even more stressful situation which could lead onto powergaming, which could then even lead onto ban reports!

Enjoy it. If you find that every fight you get into becomes stressful, then you’re doing something wrong. And if you really can’t find ways to turn combat roleplay into something enjoyable then perhaps it’s time to ask yourself whether it’s the type of roleplay for you. I hear the Halfling Vale is nice this time of year, why not try something like that? Something that doesn’t meet combat on a day to day basis, unlike a guard for example. But combat, no matter what, will always find you. You should always be prepared for it, and if you really can’t find a way to make it fun for yourself, then why not just make it fun for the opponent? You may surprise yourself, you may find yourself enjoying being beaten around in a ragdoll manner.

 

Alrighty then! I’m set!

I hope this guide helped you in your adventures of LoTC. This is how I roleplay, and it hasn’t let me down as of yet! So get out there and have fun!

No chickens were harmed in the making of this guide.
 

[Volutional 935]

It's beautiful..

[Geo 1415]

I love you.

[IrishPerson 693]

Great Guide! :3

Although it is sad that no chickens were harmed :/

[Cappy 1599]

Outstanding.

[Evilbanana5757 153]

No chickens were harmed? Woo, thats a relief!

[Tigergamer 218]

This needs a frame. Its outstanding. Love it!

[lemontide331 1613]

Best guide I've seen yet

[o_Ben_o 193]

This is really good! I think this should be available to all players to read, as this can really help with their role play.

[lev 627]

Ben, I love you too much for words to describe.

[Volutional 935]

Necessary pin was necessary.

[Wretched 2038]

Necessary pin was necessary.

 

<3

[Shadeleaf 757]

Someone... set this topic above a pedestal and worship it... SOOOOOOO MANY PEOPLE NEED TO READ THIS!

Also stellar guide, good work Benbobadger <3

[Telanir 6432]

This guide is absolutely fantastic and a great read.

I'm sure we can all learn something from this. Good work, and thanks Benboboy. :)

[CosmicWhaleShark 2484]

Fantabulous.