This is going to be a long winded post so just throwing that out there beforehand so that way you're not shocked by a wall... lol, who am I kidding, you're going to be shocked by it regardless. xD
This is just a rough idea of what I have in mine for text fights but I think fights should be influenced by a series of factors similar to that of real life.
I personally prefer winning more than loosing ICly. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth otherwise but it doesn't bother me too terribly either way.
Also, I noticed that nobody mentioned anything about PC versus NPC fights. :I
For NPC versus PC fights, its better to just make it a forum RP event or something. Its much easier to put detail into those kind of fights and it allows better control over NPC's actions. This of course, only applies to NPC's that don't exist in the game, or the battle is not taking place in a playable area of the game.
EDIT: I'm also not a big fan of the dice role mechanic, just to be clear. I prefer everything to be predetermined and the writers write to the said ending, with loose restrictions as to how they proceed during the fight.
This is just a rough idea of what I have in mine for text fights but I think fights should be influenced by a series of factors similar to that of real life.
- Mental State: as a fighter with a clear mind can think and observe his opponents attacks. This allows them to plan ahead and try to avoid, block or parry the next attack. That and psychological state such as the fighter is angry or scarred. If the fighter is angry then he can be easily read. They might be stronger when angry but strong doesn't mean faster, and slow but strong attacks are easy to read and a scarred enemy is more likely to hesitate or refuse to attack, or even run if they are scarred enough.
- Combat Experience: ultimately this is a very big key factor into any fight. So you've slain one or two bandit groups and have trained/studied for a long time then that means you do hold practical skill in combat but full points go to people who have been in actual warzone, where the chaos of the battlefield can eat you alive if you're not careful or perceptive to you're surroundings. The few that survive war's can be considered to have extreme martial talent from that point. Bonus points go to if the character has been in more than one war and he lead's troops into battle. (Note that this point if you're character falls into the highest category does NOT make him/her a power play character. They aren't elite fighters that can summon meteors, or cleave rifts through time, or be H@x0rz. They are simply very strong within a believable level. They can still be felled in battle under the right conditions.)
- Skill Set, training value, techniques: this here is influenced by who much you're character has trained with a certain weapon or skill and what different kind of techniques or skills he knows. This is partially influenced by combat experience as people who survive on the battlefield have obtained heightened senses and perceptive skills in a sense. While it isn't much or very noticeable, these little differences can make the biggest impact in a fight. Combine that with experience and the character becomes that much stronger.
- Situational Awareness: While some fighters are focused on just staying alive, other things around you can happen while you're not paying attention, such as enemy reinforcements arriving, enemy's repositioning, flanking or retreating and so on. Character's who are more aware of their environment tend to react better to the changes of enemy positions and patterns but if they get to caught up in it then they will miss the minor or singular enemy's while instead focusing on the enemy's as a whole. This in turn can prove very fatal when caught off guard by a surprise attack form a single enemy.
- Terrain: knowing where you fight and where you should fight at are key to battles involving numbers. Sometimes, its better to hold the high grounds, or bottleneck an enemy group into a pass rendering their numbers useless. That and certain characters might be more fit in a fight over other characters because they know the terrain there or have fought on said or similar terrain before.
- Characters Physical condition: This is also terribly important as well. While it may be commonly overlooked since most fights start off with characters at full energy and physical condition, it is a different story for characters who have had to fight consecutive battle's. They will be wounded or drained of energy and their skills and situational awareness will suffer as a result and the enemy will have a advantage over them. This advantage can vary though pending on other variables such as how strong the opponent is versus how strong said character is at full condition.
I personally prefer winning more than loosing ICly. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth otherwise but it doesn't bother me too terribly either way.
Also, I noticed that nobody mentioned anything about PC versus NPC fights. :I
For NPC versus PC fights, its better to just make it a forum RP event or something. Its much easier to put detail into those kind of fights and it allows better control over NPC's actions. This of course, only applies to NPC's that don't exist in the game, or the battle is not taking place in a playable area of the game.
EDIT: I'm also not a big fan of the dice role mechanic, just to be clear. I prefer everything to be predetermined and the writers write to the said ending, with loose restrictions as to how they proceed during the fight.