RP Combat Guide

Or: Let's GET READY TO RUMBLE...

Thus begins another of Wolf' wonderful guides on how to do this and that, this time we're going to look at the wonders of MUSH combat, how to RP it, and the do's and don't of a good fight. Or what this old Wolf thinks is a good fight.

MUSH Combat is very much like magic, save that you have to think you're the star in an interactive novel or adventure where the combatants are often played by real people, everyone wants to WIN and NO one wants to LOSE. Now this is where it gets tricky. There are several ways to do this, we could have a coded one on one battle system but that tends to degenerate the MU* into a MUD and I'm not for that at all.

I like to think of a good MU* fight as akin to a well crafted passage in a book, and there are several ways for one to attempt to perform this, you can set up the scene ahead of time with the other player(s) and decide on the outcome, injury or death for one or more of the combatants. Remember it's all consentual, the only way you can die is if you wish it, but then again, we have always reserved the right to ICly kill a bad Combat Twink, and we will do so, so learn to fight well and be fair.

You can also play the whole thing freeform and see how it develops, this is of course the most dangerous course of action, since you might be locked in a duel with a deadly combat Twink who has more power poses than Arnold Swarznegger has muscles. I tend to avoid these myself and opt for the other option, a little bit of both, freeforming the combat while speaking in the background to the other player to decide on where the fight is going to go, and so forth. Later on in a while I'll be throwing you some nice little examples of the good and the bad of Combat based on some personal experience I've had.

There's a few hard and fast rules that I like to think of when posing in MU* combat, one of them being, is this fight really needed? am I to settle everything with a blade, in my RP youth I did and boy did I screw up something chronic, but I learn't from my mistakes. So make sure you know what you're getting into, It's most unwise to pick a fight with a Dragon or with one of the Shakari themselves unless you have a really good combat style and you are sure you can win. And you work it out with the GM or Player before or during the fight.

The other common sense rules are, BE FAIR, no one is supposed to be a superhero all the time, you might walk away with no wounds once, if you keep doing it and expect people to RP with you like this, then they'll stop RP'ing with you, and they'll probably exclude you from any more Combats and possibly RP in general, no one likes a Combat Twink.

DO NOT use the HOME command to escape from a fight, if you start something then you better back out, or see it through to the end. If I am in a scene and somone pulls this stunt on me, I will stop that scene and take the person out of the game. For a nice informal chat.

Same goes for the fight, don't start a battle just before you're about to leave the MU* for pastures green, or you'll get the reputation of a Combat Twink the same way as the command HOME does. If you're unsure about a fight then ask one of the Admin or myself to give you pointers on how to play a MU* Battle, we're only too happy to run combat Dojo's. Acelin is one of the best to speak to on this.

Avoid posing instant hits, or hits that actually strike a location unless it's been agreed on via a page that you can do this.

Same goes for instant kills, avoid those at all Costs or once more you'll get a rep for being an unfair player.

If you dish out damage, be prepared to fight it out and take damage yourself, if you don't or you argue that you can never be hit, don't bother getting into Combat, it's bad rp and often leads to exclusion once more. And I will deal with Combat Twinks harshly if they cannot be educated, it's a pet niggle of mine.

I can't really explain it anymore, but I can show you a sample of some good and bad combat poses, so you'll get the hang of it.

Good Pose

Lord Swain brings the business end of his greatsword around in a crashing arc towards the Lady Riella's left side, while his other sword, a shorter blade dives for the hand holding her rapier, he's hoping with his speed and strength to land a blow.

Lady Riella growls in pain as the Lord's sword cuts her hand and she holds onto that sword for grim life, she steps back and takes a searing cut across her left side, the older and more experienced man is the better, clutching the bleeding wound she presses her advantage and stabs forwards towards his stomach with the blade's tip!

Lord Swain, counters the rapier but slightly too late the sword cutting across his stomach and opening a flowing wound, his eyes narrow and he steps back out of range, she caught him with a telling blow, and he's not going to show it.

Both warriors in this case have not once, posed that they hit the other, it's taken for granted that the other player is given a chance to react to the blow and land it themselves, this is a fine example of the spirit of good rp-combat and should be encouraged.

Bad Poses

Argh the Destroyer hits you really hard with his deathsword, your heart stops and you die, he walks away laughing, not even the gods can stand against his blade.

Grunt the Orc, takes his sword and chops into you, the blow hits you on your left side and you start to bleed to death, you watch him cut off your arms and legs, and then you die as he stabs you through the heart.

Hardnok the Dwarf, isn't killed by Grunt's sword, he bites Grunt to death.

Grunt doesn't die, he chops off Hardnok's head, Hardnok dies!

Hardnok doesn't DIE! Hardnok's head is immortal...and he bites off Grunts face.

Shylla the seductress's blade curves through the air and shifts her weight as her blade slams into the side of your body, you're cut seriously, the wound is not mortal, until she digs in the blade some more and guts you, cutting across your belly. Finally she kisses you and you die from it, because she has the kiss of death.

As you can see from these poses they are way over the top, but I'm not kidding you, I've seen some very similar ones to these, they break every single rule and if this happened to me I would stop the fight and stalk off muttering about Combat Twinks. Let's see some more good poses to round off.

Good Poses

Brekka's blade glances off his enemies shield, the black Knight before him has opened that wound in his shoulder but the young Knight of the Raven shall fight until dead, or his foe be dead.

Sir Rangor the Black Knight's smile is lost under the helm, as he advances on the younger man with a predatory walk, he brings his broadsword to bear on the man's shoulder again.

Brekka has been caught like this once before, he's on his guard so he twists to the side and lances his longsword across and under Rangor's armoured arm, hoping to hit a vulnerable spot in his opponents defence.

Sir Rangor is taken aback, whelp, and he's struck, and this is the terrible thing, the boy's blade pierces under his arm and slides into his body, knocking the wind from his sails, he sags and drops to one knee, rasping as the blow takes it toll, blood fountains from the wound.

Brekka blinks a little, expecting a trick he draws the blade out, looking aghast at the blood, but holding it steady, he gives the Black Knight a look. "Yield?" He inquires.

Sir Rangor shakes his head. "There is no loss of face in being beaten by one as skilled as you whelp, but I will kill you, lest you run me through here and now." He drops his sword. "You have till I pick this up."

Brekka chokes on his words, and thrusts his blade into the Knight's breastplate, through the heart, and he pushes all his weight into it.

Sir Rangor shudders as his life is taken by the boy who humbled him, with a smile, the Black Knight finally seeks release into oblivion and collapses onto the ground, lifeless eyes stare up at the boy with a proud look, he has become a killer with honour.

This is a good example of a pre ordained fight, the outcome, the Black Knight's death, it's a rare occurance due to consentual death, but it makes good copy.

Bad Pose

Nibble's the Thief, backstabs you hard, so you're almost dead.

Nibble's has gone home.

*SHUDDERS* Where's the @Toad ;)