Obviously, it's not as simple as this (exceptions to everything), but here's my take on roll-systems and free-form systems for Combat RP:
Both are absolutely fine, valid, and should, ideally, be used together.
Ideally, combatants in an RP fight should pay great attention to their (and definitely their adversary's) character's actions, strengths, weaknesses, and strategy; with these traits/decisions forming the basis of the outcomes of the fight. They should at most be supplemented by rolls (ie. success/failure is not decided by them), to simulate mistakes, circumstance, and the general chaos of combat.
Of course, this takes a lot of trust between players, and for them to both be on the same page, which brings me onto the true reason for the divided opinions on rolling/RNG-RP:
Combat RP is one of those things that everyone likes to do, but don't put enough work into.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- it's unreasonable to expect people to go deep and research the intricacies of fighting for the sake of playing pretend on the internet; much like how it's unreasonable to expect people to go deep and research the intricacies of mental/physical disorders etc. -- but its necessary to acknowledge/recognise this when talking about the strengths/weaknesses of Combat Resolution Systems in RP, as it highlights the demographic you'll exclude by going one direction or the other.
Competent combat is an incredibly technical (but sometimes simple) art that requires an innate, instinctual, subconcious understanding of biomechanics and basic physics to do. There is a huge divide between a trained (MMA, boxer, fencer, etc.) and untrained (average joe bar brawler) fighter, and that divide is the aforementioned technical knowledge; and the nerves/experience to apply it under stress/pressure.
Unfortunately, the huge problems are:
RP/writing isn't the only artistic medium that's faced these problems. Films have historically been plagued with the issue; which is why you have editors slowing down Bruce Lee's kicks, or shaky-cam-rapid-cuts in the Jason Bourne series.
These things are done to give the audience the spectacle and thrill of combat by either (in Bruce Lee's case) making the actions slower/telegraphed and much clearer so that the audience can follow what's going on (see John Wick and the Raid for some kick-ass clarity-of-technique examples); or (in the Bourne series' case) shake the camera, cut rapidly, and end the scene early to obfuscate the technical details, and simply convey the struggle through chaos.
The reason I highlight this is because this is the exact situation Combat RP Resolution is in. RPers have to either describe their character's actions in detail, or do it vaguely and let the dice determine success/failure. Doing both at the same time is a nightmare; as they take away each other's strengths as systems.
Finally, one thing to consider is that if you try to RP fight without doing any meaningful research, you make your fights look less like this, and more like this.
Both are absolutely fine, valid, and should, ideally, be used together.
Ideally, combatants in an RP fight should pay great attention to their (and definitely their adversary's) character's actions, strengths, weaknesses, and strategy; with these traits/decisions forming the basis of the outcomes of the fight. They should at most be supplemented by rolls (ie. success/failure is not decided by them), to simulate mistakes, circumstance, and the general chaos of combat.
Of course, this takes a lot of trust between players, and for them to both be on the same page, which brings me onto the true reason for the divided opinions on rolling/RNG-RP:
Combat RP is one of those things that everyone likes to do, but don't put enough work into.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- it's unreasonable to expect people to go deep and research the intricacies of fighting for the sake of playing pretend on the internet; much like how it's unreasonable to expect people to go deep and research the intricacies of mental/physical disorders etc. -- but its necessary to acknowledge/recognise this when talking about the strengths/weaknesses of Combat Resolution Systems in RP, as it highlights the demographic you'll exclude by going one direction or the other.
Competent combat is an incredibly technical (but sometimes simple) art that requires an innate, instinctual, subconcious understanding of biomechanics and basic physics to do. There is a huge divide between a trained (MMA, boxer, fencer, etc.) and untrained (average joe bar brawler) fighter, and that divide is the aforementioned technical knowledge; and the nerves/experience to apply it under stress/pressure.
Unfortunately, the huge problems are:
- To the untrained eye, fights are just fights; they can't exactly pick out the technical intricacies of someone's movements/gameplan
- Nobody gives a shit about how Holly Holm beat the shit out of Ronda Rousey; just that she did
- Text is an incredibly difficult medium to portray close-combat, when trying to avoid using technical terms (the average RPer would have no idea on what an 'absetzen' is, for example)
RP/writing isn't the only artistic medium that's faced these problems. Films have historically been plagued with the issue; which is why you have editors slowing down Bruce Lee's kicks, or shaky-cam-rapid-cuts in the Jason Bourne series.
These things are done to give the audience the spectacle and thrill of combat by either (in Bruce Lee's case) making the actions slower/telegraphed and much clearer so that the audience can follow what's going on (see John Wick and the Raid for some kick-ass clarity-of-technique examples); or (in the Bourne series' case) shake the camera, cut rapidly, and end the scene early to obfuscate the technical details, and simply convey the struggle through chaos.
The reason I highlight this is because this is the exact situation Combat RP Resolution is in. RPers have to either describe their character's actions in detail, or do it vaguely and let the dice determine success/failure. Doing both at the same time is a nightmare; as they take away each other's strengths as systems.
Finally, one thing to consider is that if you try to RP fight without doing any meaningful research, you make your fights look less like this, and more like this.
