When I started roleplaying online, I played in MUSHes that only used freeform combat, and I tend to prefer that. That said, I've had enough problems with freeform combat that I tend to not play combat heavy characters. The main problem, in my experience, is that many people simply do not want to lose. This is completely understandable, of course, but in freeform combat someone is going to have to decide to lose, and that usually ends up being me.Â
These days, I've taken to doing a very technical Fritz Leiber-style description of combat, with very specific moves called out in a very technical style: "C'kayah faced his opponent with his sword in prime, point slightly ascending. He stepped forward, weight balanced between his feet, and swung a vertical moulinet towards his opponent's neck..." I still get faced with plenty of opponents who simply "easily parry, kicking a nearby sofa through the air at C'kayah's head while swinging their two-handed axe in a body-splitting blow", but I've had better luck with it.
I don't care for RNG based combat because the combat systems tend to be pretty simplistic and don't cover the sorts of things C'kayah does - he uses poisons, he fights dirty, etc.
These days, I've taken to doing a very technical Fritz Leiber-style description of combat, with very specific moves called out in a very technical style: "C'kayah faced his opponent with his sword in prime, point slightly ascending. He stepped forward, weight balanced between his feet, and swung a vertical moulinet towards his opponent's neck..." I still get faced with plenty of opponents who simply "easily parry, kicking a nearby sofa through the air at C'kayah's head while swinging their two-handed axe in a body-splitting blow", but I've had better luck with it.
I don't care for RNG based combat because the combat systems tend to be pretty simplistic and don't cover the sorts of things C'kayah does - he uses poisons, he fights dirty, etc.
