Combat Test

Aresmar says, "Ok I am ready to begin the trainings. You now first learn to use brain before learn to use sword (From BraveHEart :) )"

Galdor says, "Ok. Type -ho, and then Combat. We'll practice in the arena."

Long distance to Aresmar: Galdor nods. And since our swords are virtual, all combat is using your brain, I guess, though I hadn't thought about it that way before.

Combat Arena 3
This arena is used for free for all combat. Anything and everything goes. Fighter beware!!! If an ARB walks in and needs the room for a combat test you are recquired to either find someplace else or to observe in silence.

Aresmar says, "First tell me how does a combat start?"

Aresmar says, "in both OOCly and ICly I mean"

You say, "Well, OOCly, battles and fights are generally set up in advance.. Either between individual players, or by the LAs of the respective cultures.. The IC rationale for a fight is worked out.. Every once in a while, there's a spontanious fight, but all people involved should be in agreement to have a fight before any attacks are posed.."

Aresmar says, "LA? Leaders?"

Galdor says "Local Admins."

Aresmar says, "ops :) ok than you tell me what to do. And I will stand up and fight :)"

You say, "ICly, combat starts when two or more characters have a reason to fight each other, and follow thru on that possibility.. Although not all combat RP involves attacking.. Sometimes you never get that far, but the possibility is there.. COmbat could come out of a gruge held between two characters who happen to meet in a tavern, for example, or a group of scouts and soldiers coming upon a band of orcs, or vice versa.."

Aresmar says, "so it doesnt have to be to the death it can be just a fistfight?"

Galdor nods. "Yeah. Everything from a fistfight to a duel to a huge Braveheart style pitched battle. Basically it comes down to any time one character tries to physically harm another. IMPORTANT POINT- A character can only die if the player allows it. You can't be killed without your consent. BUT, use good judgement in combat- Don't get into an 'inescapable' situation and then site this rule. Make sense?

Aresmar says, "Yes and what if I die? (It can happen)"

Aresmar says, "I am erased all together?"

You say, "Well, not erased.. You'll have to create a new character, and you might loose your -training and equipment, IC rank, etc.. But you also get to start a new character and watch them develop, so it's not the end of the world, depending on how much you liked your old character."

Aresmar says, "Sure so I must be careful. I dont want to die before I even live many things :)"

Aresmar says, "so lets start some training so I can learn some basic moves etc."

Aresmar says, "and correct me If I do something wrong or missing."

Galdor nods. "Basically, accept the responsibility for the risks you take IC, and play fair with people.. Treat them the way you'd like to be treated. We'll start with some basic concepts, and then we'll make some poses.

Aresmar says, "ok I am good at it I think"

You say, "You may already know all this, but I'll shoot it out just in case. First thing- Don't pose an action and an outcome at once. A very bad example would be 'Bob swings his sword at Bill, cutting him in half.' A better pose would be: 'Bob swings his sword at Bill's torso, in an attempt to cut him in half.' Basically just never pose for another player."

Aresmar says, "I am a little experienced in that I have RPed with a friend with email that Iwas a JEDI and He was a WIZARD :) It was very fun :)"

Galdor nods. "Same principle applies here I think. Second, try to visualize the scene, and only act on what your character would know.. Like if there are orcs sneaking up on your camp, you'd have to ICly know they were there before you reacted to them, although you'd see their poses on your screen. Or if it was dark, you might know they were out there, but not exactly where until they revealed themselves.

Aresmar says, "But I may sense something bad in the air though? :)"

You say, "Oh yeah, you might be aware something was wrong, or hear them, or smell them, or all kinds of things. Just try to come up with a reason you'd react to them before you react. I'll write a quick example and emit it."

The moonlight shines thru the scattered clouds overhead, and thru the branches of the trees about. In the camp of the elves and men, few are about at this late hour, and the fire burns low, though a few still stand watch.

Blagrat, an orcish scout, creeps towards thru the underbrush, towards the faint light of the fire. Pausing, he sniffs the air, and then continues towards the camp.

Aresmar says, "will I continue?"

You say, "I'll write another example, and then you can enter the scene, and we'll play it out?"

Aresmar says, "ok"

Ethedil, an edain warrior stands at watch some ways from the fire. Drawing his cloak about him, he peers into the night, and shivers, watching and listening to the forest about the camp as he nervously grips the shaft of his spear.

Salor the elf sits by the fire. Suddenly he leaps up and draws his sword, swinging it at Blagrat.

Aresmar says, "will I be Aresmar or Ethedil? :) I am confused :)"

Galdor says "Go ahead an be Aresmar. We don't have to worry too much about why you all are out in the woods, just say you've all been traveling together.."

Aresmar says "ok"

Aresmar standing near the fire trying to warm himself a bit and staring at Ethedil wonder why Ethedil is so cautios. Than fells something wrong sliding his hand to his sword slowly.

Galdor says "That works. You might want to show your ill feeling in the pose instead of just stating it.. (Aresmar standing near the fire trying to warm himself a bit. Looking at Ethedil, he says, "You seem cautious tonight." His own hand fingers his sword hilt, and he glances about uneasily. "I am too, but I don't know why.") would be a possibility. Nothing wrong with your pose though. Now to the orc and your ally.."

Aresmar says, "ok you re very good at it I have to learn much about this :)"

Blagrat shuffles ever closer to the camp, his bare feet making little if any noise among the leaves. His feral red eyes peer thru the darkness, and now he reaches down to his scimitar, touching it as if for reassurance. Licking his lips, he brushes aside some branches, and creeps nearer still...

Galdor smiles. "I hope I'm good enough to teach you this. It's not that hard.. Practice and experience helps too. Go ahead and pose."

Aresmar walks slowly to Ethedil abit away from fire to see thing clearly, and says in a hardly heard tone "is there someting wrong?" gripping his sword with his right hand ready to draw.

Ethedil purses his lips, not taking his eyes from the dark forest, though he aswers, "I'm not sure. I've an ill feeling tonight.. Wait.." He raises his hand to cup his ear and cocks his head. "i thought i heard something" he whispers, but then he shakes his head, unsure.

Aresmar now stands near Ethedil one step back and right to him. Says "There is something wrong I feel like we are watched we must be more cautious, there can be someone in darkness." and looks at the darkness before him standing silent listening the silent forest to catch something.

Blagrat presses closer, the light from the fire clear enough now. He halts, crouching behind a bush, and slips his blade free of its sheath as quietly as he can. With a satisfied nod at the sight of the sharp steel in the moonlight, he sets to watch the camp.. And it's occupants.

Long distance to Aresmar: Galdor smiles. Looks like you're getting it.

Aresmar standing uneasily but perfectly still eyes scanning the forest, suddenly sees a flash from the forest not determining the exact distance, draws his longsword very slowly not to make any sound and distract anything. Slowly again says to Ethedil "Did you saw the flash? be careful!". And put his right feet further to form an alerted stance.

Aresmar says "whew it was long and hard for me :)"

Galdor says "I think it was a good pose though."

Aresmar says "thanks :)"

Ethedil squints, looking into the darkness.. "Maybe.. I'm not sure.." He grips his spear warily though, assuming a defensive stance.

Blagrat frowns, covering his face with a clawed hand as he sees the men ready their weapons. He sits still, listening to his pounding heart, and then begins to crawl back away from the camp, looking often over his shoulder, his scimitar still in hand.

Aresmar says "So what do we have to do it was his choice to go away will we go to search it or stay what would yu prefer?"

Galdor says "So Blagrat's trying to beat a retreat now.. He's got close enough to have some information about the camp, if not much, which was what he wanted.. You guys might go out to see if you can find him, or stay and continue to guard the camp.. ICly, either option would be fine.. OOCly, you'd probably work it out with Blagrat thru pages to decide if you want to fight, or he would just slip away, or what.."

Aresmar says "hmm so what we gonna do? pass to a different scene or continue? These were the begining for a fight."

Galdor says "Well, how about this.. You go check out the woods (and will meet Blagrat), and Ethedil will stay and guard the camp.. That makes it a one on one fight with Blagrat, and also doesn't leave the camp unguarded, in case there are more orcs (Just because you know OOCly there's only one, ICly you might not be sure..)"

Aresmar says "I was just thinking of it, ok than I will pose..."

Galdor says "A word about retreating or fleeting.. This isn't really a retreat, as you aren't fighting yet, but basically, if someone wants to break off from a fight, and they pose running away or whatever, as long as it's an ICly possible to escape, let them run away, or pursue but fail to catch them, or whatever.. They should return the favor to you in the same situation. It goes back to that thing about consentual character death."

Aresmar looks uneasy with his sword drawn. "I will go and check it out, you stay and continue to guard the camp... " says to Ethedil and strides hastily but alerted to the forest where he had seen the flash. Comes near some bushes and slows down cause of not seeing further of the thick bushes.

Ethedil nods, gripping the spear haft tightly, as the other man heads into the woods. He glances about nervously, looking not only in the direction his friend goes, but all along the edge of the clearing.

Blagrat, now a bit further away from the camp, glances over his shoulder again. Seeing the shadowy shapes of the men moving about, he rises to his feet, and ducks behind a tree, not far from the thick bushes. Pressing him back against the bark, he grips his weapon and tries to remain still, waiting, listening..

Aresmar says "I might have let go blagrat If it was real though as you say. :)"

Galdor nods. Well, it's ok to take chances.. You just want to be prepared to accept what happens. You can work stuff out with your opponent about how far you want combat to go also. Odds are, against one orc and close to your camp, you wouldn't get killed..You might get hurt though.. (Of course, if it was part of a TP, you might have various reasons for wanting to catch him or let him go as well.)

Aresmar sees that it is hard see through the bushes decides to pass them, moving with very slow steps holds his sword vertically now that he might be open for an offence trying not give advantage to an offender. And suddenly he sees a dark figure behind bushes making a quick move, but he lost his sight of figure. This causes him to pump adrenalin in his veins and changes his direction to the trees where he lost sight of the shadow.

Aresmar says "I am getting used to long poses but it is not necessary?"

Aresmar says "and was that wrong for me to see him trying to hide?"

Galdor says "Longer poses aren't necessary or 'better' than shorter ones. About the length you're using now is good, maybe. Try to show what you're doing clearly to other players, but it sure doesn't have to fill the screen. Making longer poses will get easier as you play more as well, don't worry."

Galdor says "And no, I think it was ok for you to see him moving.. You're pretty close to each other, and you didn't try to give yourself a huge advantage with it."

Blagrat sucks in his breath.. He hears some movement in the wood nearby.. Biting his black lip, he lunges from his hiding spot. Striking blindly in the direction of the noise, he swings his blade in a horizontal arc...

Aresmar says "will I defend the move (cause I think I can cause I am prepared) Or pretend to defend I mean I will be the one to decide and counter?"

Galdor says "Yeah, defend against it, or at least react to it. When using the Combat System, it'll help decide if you get hit, and maybe how badly, but players should be able to RP combat without that first, like we're doing now. Just picture the scene, and what's happening, and use your best judgement and sense of fair play to decide.."

Aresmar seeing the figure now clearly attaking him, finds time to hold his sword with both hands and with sharp cling of metal swords clash causing sparks in the night of forest. Than rolls his sword from left to right and puts his right leg towards his foe and thrusts his sword tip agains the orc's abdomen.

Aresmar says "this has to be recorded my first swordplay :)))"

Galdor says "That's a pretty good pose if so. You described the parry, and the manner and target area of your attack well. You might have said 'towards' instead of 'against', but that's a little thing."

Blagrat leaps back from the man's flashing sword, throwing up his own weapon in a desprate parry. He curses under his breath as the sword tip grzes his ribs though. He lunges, bringing his blade back down in a cutting blow aimed at the man's shoulder or upper arm.

Aresmar seeing the harsh parry and the sword coming over his head, changes his thrusting right leg to left leg and turns a little bit left with this move to avoid the sword. But the sword was coming fast enough to land over his left leg but not doing much harm fairly scracthing. With the pain Aresmar slides his sword now holding with just right hand with a horizontal move towards his opponents neck.

Blagrat, his downward blow and forward movement already putting him somewhat into position, ducks beneath the man's swing, throwing himself to the side. Rolling back to his feet, he now faces his opponent warily, his curved blade held before him.

Aresmar still in pain frowns. With the orcs rolling movement he had time to recover and position himself against him, than he holds his sword with his both hands makes an upward move and lands the blow directly over his victims head at the same time putting his right leg to ground to get more power.

Aresmar says "I am using a two handed sword in this situation and had no shield. We may think as this cause we didnt mention a shield :)"

Blagrat brings his own blade up to deflect the blow, to turn the weapon aside. Never the less, the sword cuts into his arm, scraping off skin on its downward path. Stifling a cry, the orc twists his weapon, bringing it across in a slice at the man's belly as he steps forward.

Galdor nods. It's good to know what weaponry and armor you and your opponent are using.. Blagrat's using a scimitar and is most likely wearing some kind of leather armor.. I forgot to mention that when we started. I guess in most situations you could use -look.

You paged Aresmar with 'Just so you know, Two-handed swords are fairly rare IC.. And -training is going to be hard to get with it as well. Not to say you couldn't get one, but it's something to think about when you get weapons and armor.. Also, as a scout, you might want something lighter as well..'.

Aresmar stumbles with the force of the defence and rolls forward to parry the surprising attack but he was nt quite succesfull, opponents sword pierces through his right but not damaging his lethal organs. After the roll towards the left of his victim he stands back of the Blagrat and swing his sword in an horizontal arc with just guessing the whereabouts of him to turn and attack at the same time. (So I am using a longsword than :) )

You paged Aresmar with 'It's ok with me if you want to use a two handed sword for this RP. I just wanted to let you know for the future. If you want to make it a longsword now, that's ok too. Just so long as it stays consistent.'.

Aresmar says "let it be a longsword. It is true two handed is a little big for a scout :)"

Blagrat backpedals, and ducks to the side, trying to dodge the coming blow. He is only partially sucessful however, the blow hitting him in the side and knocking him off balance. He stumbles back a step, growling as he raises his weapon between them, and glaring at the man with baleful eyes.

Galdor smiles. I could and maybe should have put a bit more blood in that pose to show the damage done, but I'm not big on gore, I guess.

Aresmar now facing the orch blood coming from his right side under his chest rises his sword and positions it vertically for another attack. and says "this has to end" in a low voice and still holding his sword with two hands steps forward swinging a strike from his left shoulder aiming his victims neck again taking force from his forward move...

Blagrat leaps back, on the defensive now.. He throws his blade up to counter with a CLANG!, and then he backpedals again. He pauses to lick his black lips, and grunts, "Maybe. But not tonight." The words are hardly intelligible. Then he turns and bounds into the dark of the woods as fast as his bandy legs and his wounds will allow.

Aresmar staggered with the defence of the orch falls over his knees. Blood spurting now more from his lower chest. Tries to stand and follow the orch thru the trees but fail. He inhales hardly of his chest and looks after the figure and says "maybe next time..." and calls for his friends help.

Aresmar says "It was very exciting really. What do you think?"

Galdor smiles. Ok. We can end the combat and the RP here I think, and assume that some of the people from the camp come to find you and take you back. I think you did good.

Aresmar says "Really? Oh it was more exciting than I thought. And tell me my mistakes I want to improve you know :)"

Galdor says "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't remember any major mistakes.. I tried to point out anything like that along the way. Keep RPing as much as you can, with the people in the camp and such.. Experience is as good a teacher as any.. You're well on your way to getting your fighter flag."

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Aresmar says "will we train more to get my f flag?"

Galdor nods. We might. You might want get another session like this from someone before you get into any combat down on Middle Earth.. And I've got a couple things I want you to do.

Galdor says "I'm going to consider this part of your combat test, and you did pretty good. So.."

Galdor says "What I'd like you to do is read thru the combat command stuff in -help combat again, so you know how to use the CS if you want to, and I might ask you a couple of questions about it in the next couple of days. If you see any of our combat trainers, you might ask to RP with them, and see if they have anything to add. If you don't, don't worry about it.. Other than that, I think we're good for today. Anything else can wait until you have your fighter flag."

Aresmar says "Ok I will look at the CS more... And thanks for everthing it was very good. A new experience for me. See you in camp :)"

Galdor says "Sure. I think it went well. Hope you do too."

Aresmar says "Yes it was very good. thanks again."

You paged Aresmar with 'If you don't mind, I'd like to log this, and maybe have Kenan put it up on our homepage, so others can learn from it as well?'.

Aresmar says "Yes sure I have logged it also I will read it again later :) It would be nice to see myself in the pages :)"

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Aresmar pages: If you are here a little I will ask you something about Combat System.

You paged Aresmar with 'I'll be around for a bit after we finish RPing.. What's your question?'.

Aresmar pages: Hmm for example when fighting with someone using the CS; you pose and than write "attack (name)" than what happens?

You paged Aresmar with 'Ok, about -attack.. You type the command, and the coded combat system compares a bunch of things like stats, training, weapons and armor, and gives you a return of what happened. Like "You attack Blagrat with your longsword, hitting and mildly wounding him." or You attack Blagrat with your longswrd, but he avoids your attack. Or if you were attacked, it might say, "Blagrat attacks you with his scimitar, hitting an mildly wounding you. You have been hit for 10 points of damage." or Blagrat attacks you with his scimitar, but he widely misses.'.

Aresmar pages: So how do we pose than If it says what happened. For example after CS said what happened we extend it with apose?

You paged Aresmar with 'Yeah, the CS is only a supplement to RPed combat, it should never take the place of it. All it does is help you and your opponent decide what happens.. Like who hits who, and how hard.'.

Aresmar pages: Than isnt It a little restricting. It decides according to the stats not the ability to RP? There can be confusing times I think. For exameple I would have made an excellent attack that my opponent cant avoid but CS may say you missed it ?

Long distance to Aresmar: Andranar nods. That's a fair assesment. In a case like your example, if your opponent agreed, he could take the blow anyway, and adjust the damage with -sethp. Basically the CS is there to be an impartial judge of combat, and maybe help people avoid arguments. But it's a somewhat blind judge, maybe.

Aresmar pages: Than which one is prefered usually ? CS support or RP only?

You paged Aresmar with 'Here on Bel, RP only is the default mode. Before engaging in combat, you and your opponent should agree on which mode to use. You never _have_ to use the CS if you don't want to.'.

Aresmar pages: hmm ok thanks about it. You see I am learning ;P

Long distance to Aresmar: Andranar nods. Sure. You are learning, and you're asking good questions, which is a good way to do it, I think. A lot of the things you asked me about are things that we want people to know about if they're going to be Fighters, which is good, because it shows you're thinking about these things.