Alastorous-

This is, from what I’ve noticed, the real issue at hand: A power fantasy problem among a large percent of RP communities.

I’ve been RPing for 7+ years now, and I’ve seen a lot of different ways to handle combat and RP. Here are my thoughts.

Everyone wants their character to be the “main character” who always comes out on top. With this said, when two (or more) characters run into a conflict with one another, engaging in CRP boils down to emoting in such a way that restricts the opponent to react according to how the initial emoter wants. Over the time of the hypothetical CRP, all parties involved become agitated and/or begin trying to justify why their character should win a certain engagement against the opposing player(s). This often goes on and on, and sometimes involves flaming in OOC chat until someone either gives in or calls for a mod. All because there is no current system to alleviate the power fantasy a lot of players struggle with (though they don’t realize it). 

Whereas, with PvP, by using in-game mechanics, there is little to no debate who can and should win an engagement. However, with PvP being the go-to method for a lot of conflicts, it truly takes away from any detailed story telling. Some of the greatest stories include the details of combat, in my opinion.

How should/could this be “fixed”? Well, one of the best RP based combat systems I’ve seen on another Minecraft RP server involved dice. Players had a set number of health points when they initiated combat with an opposing player. Following this, each player rolled a 1d20 for initiative. Furthermore, each player took turns attacking/defending based on the initiative rolls. Players would then roll for attack and defense, all with another 1d20 each. The player with the highest number has their combat emote (defending or attacking) conquer the opposing emote (again, attacking or defending). So on and so forth until player surrenders or dies in RP. 

The only additional thing which would be required is an in-depth guide on how to calculate damage dealt through this type of combat system. A topic I don’t think I’m qualified to touch on. Balancing something like this would be fairly difficult, but possible nonetheless. 

However, due to the RNG nature of this system, it turns a lot of players off. This is why rankings could be included. The following is a very rough, but easily comprehended example of how these rankings would look and how they would influence rolls: 

Peasant 1d20+0
Knight 1d20+2
Ascended 1d20+9 

Achieving newer, higher ranks could be done through appointment based, RP “classes” with a team of moderators who take it upon themselves to double as in-character trainers. Whether or not a player gets to “rank up” is determined by the mod/trainer after an RP session that tests the players RP etiquette, skill, etc. Additionally, with every “rank up” reaps its own rewards and benefits i.e. bonuses to dice rolls and potential for increased health at higher ranks. 

Likewise, there is no perfect system for how to deal with CRP, but if the goal is to incorporate more RP based combat into the server, a system must be put into place to help eliminate players from overextending their character’s power. I realize that what I’ve explained may not appeal to a vast majority of this community, but I figured I had something to say about the topic. 
 

Same.

Ah, yes. This is, without a doubt, the utmost immersive and thought provoking part of a roleplay server. /s