How do -you- Combat RP?

[CrimsonMars]

I'll admit... I'm not really the best at combat RP. I was never accused of god-modding, but because I'm so cautious (and because I don't want fights to drag on too much), my characters often ends up losing. I don't normally mind this, but I haven't had them win since last year.

 

My Chiyo for example, is primarily a pugilist (she can wield and axe as well). She has had a fair amount of training since her childhood and exercise almost daily. She's no Warrior of Light, but I would consider her to be well-verse in combat. When it comes to battlemages or even archers, she may at least have a slight disadvantage, but I do believe she could stand a chance against any other DoW character depending on there background.

 

So I was wondering, what does everyone else do?

[Warren Castille]

For events, a lot of us use rolz.org and just oppose dice to see who lands what on who. For free-form stuff... Well, I'm not young anymore so the appeal has dropped off. Flowery prose tends to give way to DBZ-style powering up and meteors getting dropped and that's not my cup of tea.

 

I dislike RNG systems to determine victors on a superstitious level, but it seems to be the most "fair." I also adhere to the "logical out" method of getting my face wiped off of my face: The Grindstone's taught me a LOT about protected losses and not looking completely inept when someone breaks my face in. Distractions, not being in the right presence of mind, those sorts of things all go far in justifying how someone who's trained for combat can lose to a new person just trying a weapon out or something similar.

 

Personally, I find losing more fun.

[Kage]

Honestly, I'm starting to prefer only having combat RP with people I know and trust in RP. I'm too cautious for myself to be god-modding or power-gaming but... sometimes you can't trust others to.

 

But in dice rolling, I have the absolute worst luck in the world. Absolute. Kage has not won a fight, through dice rolls. Oh, he'll get hits in but wins? The only times are when people retreat and he's left there or we speak OOCly "ok we'll make this a draw or somewhat win for him"

 

How is he supposed to be a competent Paladin if he can't even tackle someone down? ' ~ '

 

I like to roleplay combat out with a somewhat pre-determined outcome. It gives both people something to work with and surprises shouldn't happen.

 

I won't lie. I'm pretty tired of Kage losing ; ;

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Honestly, I'm starting to prefer only having combat RP with people I know and trust in RP. I'm too cautious for myself to be god-modding or power-gaming but... sometimes you can't trust others to.

 

But in dice rolling, I have the absolute worst luck in the world. Absolute. Kage has not won a fight, through dice rolls. Oh, he'll get hits in but wins? The only times are when people retreat and he's left there or we speak OOCly "ok we'll make this a draw or somewhat win for him"

 

How is he supposed to be a competent Paladin if he can't even tackle someone down? ' ~ '

 

I like to roleplay combat out with a somewhat pre-determined outcome. It gives both people something to work with and surprises shouldn't happen.

 

Well, a lalafell (at the time) trying to tackle a highlander wouldn't get very far. But Kage does have pretty bad RNG luck. *cough* stop rolling so many 1s and 2s against my 4s, 5s and 6s *cough*

[Berrod Armstrong]

I tend to use rolz.org for a turn by turn attacking/defending format of combat. However, with players I've known and roleplayed combat with for a long time, I sometimes go for free-form. It's not something I would choose to do willy-nilly. When both my character's opponent and I have a general idea of how we want a fight to end, we both work toward that end and make the journey as engaging as possible. 

 

Never forget to work your character's personality into combat as well! It's all good and fine to emote him/her throwing a punch or swinging a sword, but little hints of the character's essence make a simple 'X did this' post into something special. If they're calculating, put something about that in -- if they have a short temper, have them easily frustrated and angered by a missed blow -- it's not all about getting the fight done!

 

_{and goodness yes I love it when Berrod loses hngh so good}

[Vysce the Lad]

Usually I combat rp with someone I trust, but in the event of stranger combat rp I'll use rolz. Mostly it's a emote war (within reason) when it's without rolz. But in that case, usually the winner and loser of the fight is dictated beforehand, or until someone "decides" to lose. Usually it's me

 

It'll be a lot cooler in 2.4 I think. I hear we're actually getting a /roll to roll a digital die~

[Naunet]

I just... usually write out stuff and use best judgment when it comes to outcomes, based on my character's ability or lackthereof. Occasionally I'll go to random.org for a simple dice roll on something that could go either way.

 

But I'm pretty laid back.

[FreelanceWizard]

Usually, I like to work out the results in advance with the other player for two reasons. First, the narrative often determines who wins or loses; in a plot, for instance, the bad guy might need to win for his plan to proceed, or the players might need to stomp the waves of bad guys to get to their objective. In both cases, the story makes clear what the appropriate result is. Second, outside of a larger story, the situation and character concepts can usually decide who would win. If some Roegadyn bruiser decides to crack L'yhta upside the head at a bar, she obviously loses (unarmed, not expecting an attack, etc.). Conversely, if some random thug tries to jump her while she's out adventuring, the thug obviously loses ("I run at you with a sword!" "In response, Flare.") Once the outcome is clear, we just write out how we get there.

 

I really don't like random rolls without any form of level or situational modifier. I understand the argument that even the mighty can be felled by bad luck, but it's quite immersion-breaking for me when Random Newbie Adventurer Who Just Grabbed a Sword can drop an archmage through sheer luck. That's like letting a critical hit from a level 1 fighter drop a dragon. It just doesn't work for me.

 

I used to use more detailed dicing systems for combat and other uncertain situations, but having to tab out to roll is a pain, and I found that while people often enjoyed specifying their characters in fairly lightweight game systems, actually doing stuff with them proves to be challenging. One thing I've been kicking around is adapting a token-based bidding system I use for tabletop games to plots, because that serves the primary role of preventing people from dominating the narrative while dramatically simplifying the system's usage in play. In this system, if you want to win a fight, you just have to be willing to bid more tokens than the other guy (and more skilled people have more "free tokens" in their areas of expertise) -- but in doing so, you reduce the number of tokens you have available for other tasks in the plot.

 

In general, though, I typically run with whatever most people want to do. If the system really rubs me the wrong way, I'll just take a dive and quietly bow out.

[LiveVoltage]

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. 

 

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.
  

These things factor into a believable fight and should influence the outcome of most battle's, but the RPers involved in said fight should decide how things turn out beforehand.

 

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.

[Hiro]

I personally avoid combat RP outside of friends and/free company members mostly for the reasons listed, but that may change once FFXIV updates with a /roll command.

 

I'm quite used to RNG combat. Most of the time my FC uses a modified D10 system contrived from MUD's of old or simple D20. Given the nature of the D10 system we've adopted it for smaller fights and duels as it adds more of an attack and receive feel with Dodge/Parry/Block - Clean Hit - Severe Blow.

 

I've even gone with pre-arranged rolls on occasion where one or multiple rolls dictate the outcome and/or flow of a particular fight which has lead to some interesting situations. IE: D20 vs D20 to Determine Winner; D20 vs D20 to determine Injuries; D20 to determine length.

 

In the end though its pretty much deciding what you're comfortable with, not everyone is as willing to test out any RNG system or capable of unbias in freeform.

 

As for vs NPC: I like forums better for large groups, otherwise as a DM I'm really not caring about minor NPC's. If it's something like boss combat I'll set a target number to hit, a range for big hits, and then go from there. When it comes to the finishing blow I'll pretty much throw down a quick roll off winner deals finishing blow in the next rotation after everyone else had had a chance to post.

[Eva]

I don't like getting mired in rolls and having to rely heavily on other websites and such. This seems fine for some media, but for MMO where I prefer action-based RP to move at a quick pace I would much rather cut through any and all minutia. The old addage 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' usually applies, and I'm happy to explain my reasoning if anything seemed excessive or whatever after the fact, but not during the RP itself unless it is of major concern to someone (to date I don't think it's been an issue, but Eva as a fighter isn't much of a powerhouse anyway).

 

That said, I keep a d20 near my keyboard to serve as a guideline. I have used rolz.org on occasion as well just for when others wanted to see how I was doing things during a spar. But I prefer to structure things on a sort of turn-based system. And I only focus on my character and how she reacts. Unless my character is somehow taking initiative and attacking first (the RP itself often dictates this for me) than I roll twice - the first a "reaction" to the previous emote. The second is a sort of counterattack. Back when /random in 1.0 was a thing (I miss that so much) I would just use that instead of the d20.

 

I also weight the die rolls based on the character's natural strengths/weaknesses as well as factoring in the opponent and any environmental variables. I'm always happy to share these numbers. For Eva, her defensive rating runs a bit higher since she's pretty overly cautious about things and quite nimble, and her offensive rating runs lower, since she lacks physical strength.

 

I don't care how my character's opponent(s) determine their emotes. This is important to me. When I start getting bogged down in the math or seeing things as numbers, I totally lose the sense of immersion. In my mind I'd rather see a brute highlander bearing down on a buxom elezen and envision her leaping to one side to avoid the attack rather than getting mired down in how these things came to be. It's more important to me to visualize the actions rather than understand the reasons. Flukes happen. Luck is a thing. Except in really excessive situations I don't question when a sparring opponent is fighting flawlessly. Eva loses more than she wins. Ben wins more than he loses. Both win some and lose some though, but it's more important to me to convey the actions quickly but descriptively and keep the pace of the spar moving.

 

Nothing annoys me more than when things get held up to question a dice roll, or the action is paused to have a conversation about why something happened. I don't mind quick little back-and-forths in /tells that take place behind the scenes (stuff a passer-by would never see), so long as the pace of the fight keeps moving.

 

We used to spar a lot more in Everwatch in 1.0 but we've had a few in ARR in Crystalline (and will totally be scheduling some more) and they're a lot of fun when everyone's on the same page with things and when you know the people you're sparring with could even let go dice and just sort of wing it freestyle if they wanted.

 

I do like the dice rolls for myself because they do make that 'random element' a bit more apparent. And just to give a quick example of how I might do a thing I'll set up a little scene between my two characters:

 

Ben rolls (1d20): 14, 3

 

Emote: Blynbhar thrusts forward with his wooden practice axe, easily parrying off the blonde elezen's strike. Quickly drawing back there is an unnaturally awkward pause as he advances again, swinging the weapon laterally but a bit unsteadily.

 

Eva rolls: 1, 19

 

Emote: Eva notes the falter and takes a step to one side in an effort to avoid the attack entirely. Her foot lands oddly, however, and she stumbles forward, the wooden weapon crashing violently into the breastplate of her armor, knocking her down backwards and off her feet. With uncanny agility though, she rolls to one side on the ground, thrusting directly at Blynbhar's midsection with her practice lance.

 

 

The first roll is a reaction and the second is an attack, and I try to incorporate both in each emote. And of course I weight things. In the latter example, the defensive roll is low and she got knocked down, but the offensive roll was high, so the counterattack from the ground might still hit the mark, depending on how Ben wants to play it.

 

And of course I think it's important never to actually emote a "hit" unless you are really comfortable with the person with whom you are sparring/fighting. I wouldn't mind if most of my friends that do the dice thing rolled a 20 and punched Eva in the face wanted to emote it so long as there was still room for some sort of a recovery.

 

More important than anything else for me though is that a) the action is realistic and doesn't feel "manufactured" as turn-based combat sometimes feels (which is why I like lumping both the reaction and counter in one emote), and b) the action moves along swiftly.

 

Sorry if this got a bit longwinded, but sparring is fun!! :love:

[Mercurias]

Unless it's with friends, intend to avoid combat RP whenever I can. It's a recipe for OOC drama when peoe take the characters they've put a lot of themselves into and then make them try to beat one another. There's too much desire to win, and people will power game like heck. 

 

Like people casting Holy or Flare. That's sort of an instant win button, which is why the spells are, in lore, so amazingly rare. A lot if the time I see that sort of thing, or people shrugging off massive injuries because they're just so driven by the Heart of the Cards or whatever.

[K'nahli]

So far I have just been predetermining an outcome and then doing whatever I see fit along the way. People I don't know make me nervous, especially since in the beastmen situation I tend to believe that they are highly competent foes that are not taken down easily by even adept fighters. It's difficult for me to get along with other people on that aspect because I can't turn around and tell them: "No, I don't like that".

 

I'll always be nervous with unfamiliars I guess but I had a great time RP'ing three villains that attacked a caravan on it's way to Gridania a long time back. Despite their indivisible strengths and talents every one was very fair and never overpowered the three characters I made which made it very fun and exciting. I truly enjoyed that scene.

[Warren Castille]

Some folks I used to RP with tried to incorporate the baseline Exalted (1.0) system with no Charms or Essence, just because we liked the feeling of power the world offered. What we had hoped was that we'd have a fun bit of tabletop to go with our game world.

 

What happened was, since we were all playing fighter-types anyway, we were all more or less the same effing guy. Martial heroes are all usually the long-practiced, long-dedicated, strong-armed hero type guys; As a result we were basically throwing identical dice pools. We figured it was easier to just roll a d6 (we opted for a single d10) to determine who was winning; Was easier than counting 10s twice and removing 1s and blah blah blah tabletop.

 

Alternatives I've found fun that doesn't work so hot online: Roll a "bank" of attacks/defenses. Before a fight, both players roll a d20 3 (or ten, or fifty, you get the idea) times. Then you "play" those rolls like rock paper scissors, just more heavily weighted.

 

Works with a deck of cards, too, if you're into modifying WAR and poker. TCG-elements without buying decks.

[C'kayah Polaali]

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. 

 

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.

[FreelanceWizard]

When I started roleplaying online, I played in MUSHes that only used freeform combat, and I tend to prefer that.

 

(...)

 

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.

 

Ah, MUSHes. I remember (not exactly fondly ) being a wizard on a WoD MUSH and adjudicating multi-hour and sometimes multi-day timestops -- and that was with mechanics support commands like +roll, +cast and +scan (for mages), +heal (for everyone), +stealth, +initiative...

 

I largely agree with your point about RNG systems. Most of the ones I've seen or been asked to use either go extremely simple in the name of speed or fairness and thereby ignore situational modifiers (applicable skill set, combat techniques, relative level of ability and awareness, etc.) or end up at tabletop levels of complexity and take forever to run, producing the aforementioned timestops. Funny enough, a lot of the problems game systems have in MMOs are similar to those that they have in LARPs, as anyone who's played WoD LARP can attest to -- which makes sense, 'cause MMO RP is basically LARP anyway, just in a virtual world.

[LiadansWhisper]

I avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid.

 

I have never really had a good experience with combat RP.  It always seems like people get butthurt if they fail, or they try to do crazy things.  I much prefer simply hashing out what would happen in the combat and getting back to the RP.

 

I'm willing to lose, but a lot of other people aren't, and combat RP seems to really bring that out in people.  No matter what I roll ("Hey, I got a Nat 20!"), there are people who will turn my perfect roll into a benefit for them, instead of a benefit for me.  Just not worth it.

[LiveVoltage]

@Lia

I think you're experience may be a little biased. Combat RP is subject to different player mindsets and scenario's. For example, when most people think of fighting in a game, it means to maim or violently kill. However, this can be different based on subjective scenarios. Players who are just RP training fighting are more likely to play fairly and honestly due to the fact that there are no repercussions in loosing and it is just training for them to "better" each other.

 

While on the other hand, most RP fights are a result of usually conflicting personality's or ideals. People aren't going to want to get along. Some will want to kill each other. Its this imminent threat to their characters mortality that drive's them into a defensive corner.

 

Really, the only good RP combat in my opinion PC vs NPC on a forum thread, because there the violence and gore as well as how big the fights are can be as detailed as possible.

 

I think that people should look at it like this, if you know you're going to have a battle to the death with a person, avoid them. That way neither of you incite each other into a fight. That or just be the better character ICly. You don't have to settle EVERYTHING with violence. (*cough* though it does solve problems quickly. *cough*) In fact, a good way to turn the opposite of this in a positive it to try and find a common ground up to which both characters can relate, that way both characters gain a mutual respect for each other and nobody has to get stabbed/blasted with fire! 

[Berrod Armstrong]

@Lia

I think you're experience may be biased. Combat RP is subject to different player mindsets and scenario's. For example, when most people think of fighting in a game, it means to maim or violently kill. However, this can be different based on subjective scenarios. Players who are just RP training fighting are more likely to play fairly and honestly due to the fact that there are no repercussions in loosing and it is just training for them to "better" each other.

 

While on the other hand, most RP fights are a result of usually conflicting personality's or ideals. People aren't going to want to get along. Some will want to kill each other. Its this imminent threat to their characters mortality that drive's them into a defensive corner.

 

Really, the only good RP combat in my opinion PC vs NPC on a forum thread, because there the violence and gore as well as how big the fights are can be as detailed as possible.

 

I think that people should look at it like this, if you know you're going to have a battle to the death with a person, avoid them. That way neither of you incite each other into a fight. That or just be the better character ICly. You don't have to settle EVERYTHING with violence. (*cough* though it does solve problems quickly. *cough*) In fact, a good way to turn the opposite of this in a positive it to try and find a common ground up to which both characters can relate, that way both characters gain a mutual respect for each other and nobody has to get stabbed/blasted with fire! 

Hmm. An interesting viewpoint.

 

I play a character who basically lives for the fight. Friendly, unfriendly -- it doesn't matter, he loves to fight, and he'll seek one out wherever he can. Sometimes this means I have to set up fights with predetermined outcomes, or simply have a good time free-forming with folks I trust. Other times it's in a controlled settings with simple attack/defense rolls where it's up to me as a writer to translate the number results into something believable and entertaining. I don't really believe that there's a right or wrong method -- simply an array of preferences and compatibilities. 

 

When RP fighting, I want to enjoy the moment and do much more writing than rolling if it comes up. One thing I'll say though -- communication is a MUST. Whatever your method, whatever your preference, communication before, during and after a roleplayed fighting scene is the key to avoiding undue frustration. Make sure that you and the player of your character's opponent/opponents are clear on each step of the bout, and that you both agree on where things are at before moving on to the next. 

 

Communication before the fight can easily root out undesirable opponent players so that you may easily choose to opt out of a fight. If not, well you and your fightin' buddy can lay down some ground rules and agree on a system to use. During the fight -- well I explained that bit above. Afterward? Well it's always fun to discuss the character's mindsets, strategies, reactions, upsets...and make plans for another clash, too!

 

This doesn't apply to everyone, but as a player whose character is MADE of fighting, just my two gil!

[Eva]

Players who are just RP training fighting are more likely to play fairly and honestly due to the fact that there are no repercussions in loosing and it is just training for them to "better" each other.

This - a thousand times over!  We RP in a merc guild and training is one element of that.  This may vary widely from group to group though, and I have known in my experiences RPers who would get very butthurt if their characters lost bouts.  While I understand where some characters might go out of their way to avoid this style of RP, there is a lot of good that can potentially stem forth from it.  I can firmly say that Eva would not be the character that she is if not for certain spars/fights that have transpired over her time and the RP that came afterwards.  One thing some of us remember fondly is when she somehow managed to topple the leader of a previous company to which she had belonged (we can safely call it a bit of a fluke) and the rather unusual RP that eventually followed as a result.  Like most things though, YMMV and everyone RP's differently and has elements that they like or dislike more than others.

[Gaspard]

It really depends on the person I am playing with.

 

I've used to go with a very story-driven narrative most times, where players really knew where each of their characters stood in terms of intelligence, raw power, probability of winning against another, etc. You could say we knew beforehand how a fight would look, and what the probability of a win/loss was. Moreso, we tended to only let those fights ensue if there was some valid, story rich return for it (We tended to thrown at the common assassin x120912 who just randomly showed up to 'kill someone', same for mass murderers etc).

 

That requires however people that are all on the same page, so most times that is only possible in a RP circle that stayed with eachother for an extended period of time. Nonethenless, most times we went with a Text, turn-based system to play out fights, omitting rolls and the likes for their degree of chance involved (Dice rolling imho only works if you go spreadsheet aswell, since that atleast puts chance together with a set of variables in favor/against your favor depending what your character is good/bad at)

 

Simple chance rolling without taking character specific traits into account tends to be too much of a wild-card for me to 'realistically' simulate a bout between two characters.

 

Many fights however often take place outside eachothers comfort group, and are initiated under 'emotionally loaded' circumstance. Especially if it is two players that do not know eachother well yet, no matter how good they are, you'll have a hard time convincing one another that character A or B should have a higher chance of winning (Even if it is that way realistically). You also have to factor in World-Realism. For example, many people believe, because their character has invested alot of time into sword-play, that their character can be at equal grounds with a mighty Thaumaturge. I'll play devils advocate here and simply say: It isn't so. There's a margin where intelligence and strategy has a foot-hold, but swinging a piece of metal will never out-weigh the ability to conjure up walls of fire or ice. Nonethenless, the Idea that their character might, infact, be inferior when it comes to fighting will unsettle many characters, and thus they will deny, even if the Roleplay environment would dictate otherwise.

 

So usually, you find yourself at an argument about 'Roleplay balance' against 'Roleplay Realism'. The former demands that, no matter the difference between two characters, they always stand nigh-equal chance of winning, the latter dictates that the one who, ICly has the better skills/better strategy-intelligence will win.

 

At last, there's even one more issue. When you enter a RP fight, you have no viable way to check if the character you fight against has actually any limits at all. Given roleplay on MMO's is not approval based (Meaning you don't have an admin to turn to, or a forum to see what kind of abilities a character is approved for), you end up having to trust the other person. Sometimes, that leads to people quite literally pulling random abilities out of their butt because 'lolmage', In order to get the upper hand, even if they sacrifice their characters integrity through it. You have no way to ascertain if he truly did invest time to achieve his abilities, or if he pulled them out of his rear, and likewise, neither does he in regards to you (unless you went the route and meticulously explained all the abilities your character has [including skills] and their limitations).

 

That, in the end, puts me personally at the conclusion that the safest route to go with is to try and find a common ground before the fight starts (As in, pre-determination of the outcome), reserving actual Text-RP fights to people whom you truly trust, and where you know said characters abilities and limitations.

 

Rolling Dices only favors chance, never roleplay realism.

[Dogberry]

All of this would be a lot simpler if SE just included a duel system like practically any other MMORPG worth its salt.

[Eva]

Rolling Dices only favors chance, never roleplay realism.

FWIW, when I do use dice (not always) it is meant as a supplement to what I think amounts to common sense. Character traits, specialization, environmental conditions, and all the other factors that come into play that offer advantages or disadvantages to either combatant then serve to weight these dice rolls accordingly. I also use the d20 spectrum to determine the severity. Like in low light I might give Eva as a duskwight a slight advantage for night vision and hearing. Or after a particularly brutal attack I might weight my next counter negatively (e.g. need a 16 or higher for it to appear to be a success rather than an 8 or higher).

 

I use the dice, but I don't rely upon them. I let them be a guideline for me to introduce a random element to what would otherwise feel - to me - to be a scripted fight scene.

[LiveVoltage]

All of this would be a lot simpler if SE just included a duel system like practically any other MMORPG worth its salt.

THIS. Ive been complaining about there not being a dueling system since day one of when I started playing. It would be SOOOOO much better for characters to settle RP fights like that.

 

I mean, there is no real excuse behind not having a non-arena PvP.    :I

 

EDIT: AND IT SAVE'S TIME TOO... for other RP stuff and whatnot. Why sit there for thirty minutes typing when you can skewer a foe in 2 minutes time. ._.

[Hiro]

All of this would be a lot simpler if SE just included a duel system like practically any other MMORPG worth its salt.

THIS. Ive been complaining about there not being a dueling system since day one of when I started playing. It would be SOOOOO much better for characters to settle RP fights like that.

 

I mean, there is no real excuse behind not having a non-arena PvP.    :I

 

EDIT: AND IT SAVE'S TIME TOO... for other RP stuff and whatnot. Why sit there for thirty minutes typing when you can skewer a foe in 2 minutes time.   ._.

 

That being said (from the perspective of a heavy PVPer no less), a dueling system could be quite unbalanced. Further, if dueling were the norm for RP we'd be lending towards backwards progress in terms of exclusivity. There are strong and weak arguments for and against it, but having been part of enough RP communities where this was a standard, it lead to more problems than it solved on a social/community base. NWN, WOW, Ragnarok Online, SWTOR being primary examples.