IIRC, the Grindstone fights use a random number website (random.org, I think) that lets two people set up a session and see each other's numbers. They do a "first to three hits" rule, and it's up to the contestants to RP the actions.
Most of the RP fights I've been involved in have been freeform, but that requires a lot of trust between all of the participants. When I played Star Trek Online, I dabbled with using their PVP system for fights, but that was always pretty unsatisfying. Many people play their characters as being a different power level than in-game mechanics support, which would get completely tossed aside using an in-game PVP system.
If you want to get a little more involved than Grindstone, you might use a number site, and then weight the results: "Foo, you're a powerful fighter, so you add ten to all your rolls. Bar, you're very tough, you'll take four hits to defeat." For the most part, though, the Grindstone fights (with their very simple and even mechanic) seem good enough for most things I could imagine.
Most of the RP fights I've been involved in have been freeform, but that requires a lot of trust between all of the participants. When I played Star Trek Online, I dabbled with using their PVP system for fights, but that was always pretty unsatisfying. Many people play their characters as being a different power level than in-game mechanics support, which would get completely tossed aside using an in-game PVP system.
If you want to get a little more involved than Grindstone, you might use a number site, and then weight the results: "Foo, you're a powerful fighter, so you add ten to all your rolls. Bar, you're very tough, you'll take four hits to defeat." For the most part, though, the Grindstone fights (with their very simple and even mechanic) seem good enough for most things I could imagine.
