Duel Combat(Vol.1-4)

Introduction

Duel Combat in Atlantica, a revised form of T1 Story, is combat between two individual characters in which Turns are taken by each character, one after the other, to RP out a fight. The Attacking character “attempts” to make a Successful Hit against a Defending character during the Attack Turn. It then becomes the Defending character’s duty to recognize the Attack as a Successful Hit and describe the hit as such in the Defense Turn, or make a Sucessful Defense. In this manner, Duel Combat is NOT like the style of fighting known to most people as T2, a style in which the attacking character is allowed to both make an Attack and state the Successful Hit.
It is possible to have a Duel Combat with more than two characters, but it must be orchestrated with the utmost patience and ingenuity in order to make sure all characters involved have a fair turn. The more characters involved in Duel Combat, the more confusing, though perhaps more interesting, it becomes.(see Duel Combat With Multiple Combatants) All of this will become clearer as Duel Combat is explained in further detail below.

Before Duel Combat Begins
Before Duel Combat begins, it is important to make sure that all IC details which led up to the Combat have been understood and accepted by all players involved. In some cases, the participants in Duel Combat may wish to move the fight into a Private Room to avoid unwanted distractions, this is certainly acceptable. Listed below are the four most important points that must be understood by all players OOC before a Duel Combat can commence.

-All Players MUST have OOC knowledge that they are about to begin Duel Combat. If a Player does not have this OOC knowledge, the Duel Combat may be void.

-The Plot behind the Combat or the motivation behind the aggressor’s actions. If there is no Plot to justify such Combat, or there is no valid motivation behind the aggressor’s actions with respect to the character’s personality, the Duel Combat is illegal and automatically void. BEGINNING A DUEL COMBAT FOR OOC REASONS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

-All players should know OOC the important Characteristics, Weapons, and Abilities of all Characters involved in the Duel Combat. Lack of such knowledge will result in the improper RP between Characters and will have an ill effect on the Duel Combat. For more information on this subject, view the text entitled Factors of Combat.

-All players should understand which style of combat they will be using. If one player is found to be fighting a different style than the other combatants, or players refuse to fight by the same style, the Combat may be considered void until the problem is corrected.

Concepts in Duel Combat
Combat in RP is a matter of imagination, visualization, and ingenuity. It is an art that not all can master, but it can be a treat to watch and participate in when performed correctly. For a player to correctly maneuver his/her character in Combat, he/she must be aware of 5 important concepts:

RANGE - The distance between your character and his/her opponent(1 foot, 4 yards, etc.)
POSITION - Where your character is in relation to the opponent(above, below, etc.)
TIME - The amount of time/speed in which your character can perform an attack/defense of a specific nature
ATTACK - Describes HOW your character’s attack is made, with WHAT your character’s attack is being made with, and WHO your character is attacking if not already understood. All ATTACK TURNS must be longer than 8 words.
DEFENSE - Describes HOW your character makes a defense and WHAT your character is defending. All DEFENSE TURNS must be longer than 8 words

With these terms understood and in mind, we can begin the lessons. As I have stated before, Duel Combat involves opposing Characters taking turns, one after the other, to RP out a fight. Each Turn is usually the length of a small paragraph, 2-3 sentences, but may be NO LESS THAN 8 WORDS. Any Combat Turn less than 8 words cannot be descriptive enough and is considered void.

Lesson One: Range and Position

Once all players have verified that Duel Combat can begin, the Range and Positions of each character is established, and initial movements are stated. It is at this stage of the game that any Characters who might be having second thoughts about Combat make their escape while they can, if they can. The following is an example of the Range and Position motions of two characters, Fang_Warrior_of_Atlantica and Jim_the_joker.

Important Characteristics that should probably be known before Duel Combat begins:
Fang is a 7’ werewolf in chrinos form that has been militarily trained in the use of a battle staff. The metal battle staff Fang uses is 6’ long with a 1’ double-edged blade and shield hooks positioned on either end. In AD&D terms(used only for comparison), Fang’s battle staff has a +2 magical enhancement that allows the blades on either end to become white-hot at Fang’s command, though he will not be using the “flame blades” here. In comparison, Fang, being a werewolf, has a thick animal hide that is the equivalent AC of a human in full leather armor and can only be harmed by weapons of +1 or better magical enhancement or weapons made of silver.
Jim, on the other hand, is an average human fighter wearing a suit of chain mail, an iron helm, leather boots, and armed with a long sword that has a +1 magical enhancement for Courage. In general, a trained werewolf such as Fang can slaughter any common human fighter in Duel Combat.
Let’s see how the combatants establish their Range and Positions:

Fang_Warrior_of_Atlantica: jumps off of the bar table he was seated on and lands some 20 feet in front of Jim…in his claws, he clutches the 6’ battle staff with 1’ blades on either end…growling and eyeing Jim menacingly with his large golden eyes, his jaws salivate in anticipation of the battle.

Jim_the_joker: draws forth his long sword, the blade reflecting the lights within the tavern, and licks his lips as he stares at the werewolf with unnatural calmness. Stepping forward, he closes the distance to his furry opponent, letting out a battle cry as he speeds into a charge.

Clearly here, you can see how Fang and Jim established their Range and Position relative to each other. Fang stated: “jumps off of the bar table he was seated on and lands some 20 feet in front of Jim”, which indicated that Fang was 20 feet away from Jim(Range) and in front of Jim(Position). Jim then continued by making his first motions towards Fang in stating: “Stepping forward, he closes the distance to his furry opponent, letting out a battle cry as he speeds into a charge”. Now that Jim is moving towards Fang, the next turn will allow for an attack once both combatants are in Range. Throughout Duel Combat, Range and Position changes must be understood by both players.

Lesson Two: Attack Turn

The Attack gets a little more complicated. A basic Attack must describe HOW a character’s attack is made, WHAT a character’s attack is being made with, and WHO the character is attacking if that is not already understood. Furthermore, the Attack NEVER declares a Successful Hit against the Defending character. Successful Hits are declared only in the Defense Turn, by the Defending character. Successful Hits will be discussed in a later lesson.
Rare is the occasion one encounters a "simple" attack with all the different magical weapons and armor, the different races, and the different positions player characters will face in Duel Combat. All of those factors, and many more, will have to be accounted for and played as fairly as can be expected(see Factors of Combat). But continuing to watch the Fang vs. Jim spar, let’s see how they handle it. It’s Fang’s turn:

Fang_Warrior_of_Atlantica: snarls ferociously as Jim charges forward at him…bending down on his haunches in a battle stance, the 7’ werewolf prepares his staff for defense…his tongue thirsty for the taste of his opponent’s blood.

Jim_the_joker: Slows to a stop quickly, breaking his sudden charge now in range and sends all of the momentum into his long sword as he sends it slashing vertically downwards at Fang’s skull in a rage, hoping to smash it in two.

As you can see, Fang did not make the initial attack during his Turn because Jim, who made the advance and prepared his attack, was not in RANGE yet. However, perhaps Fang could have made an attack by stepping up and taking the initiative instead, in effect, meeting Jim midway through his charge, and taking advantage of it. But Fang opted not to do so, and Jim attacked first.
Now let’s examine Jim’s attack. Jim made a perfectly legal and stunning attack. Jim did not declare that he made a Successful Hit against Fang during the Attack Turn. Instead, Jim indicated that he was "attempting" to make a Successful Hit by stating: “at Fang’s skull” and “hoping to smash it in two”. It will be up to Fang in his Defense Turn to decide the fate of Jim’s attack.
Jim also stated HOW he made his attack with basically everything he typed because the entire Turn was important in describing HOW the Attack was made. Jim described WHAT he was making his attack with by stating: “into his long sword as he”, and Jim described WHO he was attacking by stating: “at Fang’s skull”. Also, Jim made his attack description very clear by stating: “it slashing vertically downwards”.
Generally, using the words Vertically, Horizontally, Diagonally, Upwards, Downwards, and Sideways make an Attack and Defense Turn description much more understandable and easier to visualize for everyone in combat.

Lesson Three: Defense Turn

Now it’s Fang’s turn again and he has to make his Defense. A basic Defense Turn must include HOW a character makes a defense and WHAT a character is defending. But, like an Attack, many factors play into making a Successful Defense. The Defense Turn will also decide the fate of the Attack. Let’s see how Fang and Jim perform the Defense:

Fang_Warrior_of_Atlantica: watches as Jim’s long sword sails through the air coming down towards his head and raises his battle staff suddenly, positioning the battle staff horizontally Fang blocks Jim’s blade with the battle staff’s midsection over his head as the clang of metal can be heard from the impact….Fang steps in towards Jim off his haunches and leans in…suddenly snapping with his fangs trying to rip Jim’s face off.

Jim_the_joker: Suddenly surprised by the advance by Fang, moves back as quickly as he can…his feet slipping beneath him as he falls to the ground on his knees because so much of his balance was forward…Fang’s snap at his face missing just over his head…just now realizing he’s in over his head…tries to crawl between Fang’s open legs to get away.

Amazing! Fang made a perfect defense by stating HOW he made the defense in the lines: “watches as Jim’s long sword sails through the air coming down towards his head and raises his battle staff suddenly, positioning the battle staff horizontally Fang blocks Jim’s blade with the battle staff’s midsection over his head as the clang of metal can be heard from the impact”. Fang also described WHAT he was defending by stating: “blocks Jim’s blade”. The fate of Jim’s Attack was decided in the Defense Turn, the attack was blocked. But then something else happened…Fang made a Counter Attack.

Lesson Four: Counter Attack

A Counter Attack is just another Attack except that it’s stated in the same Turn as a Defense Turn. Duel Combats are filled with Attack Turns, Defense Turns, and Counter Attacks that continue Turn after Turn until a Successful Hit or a Fatal Blow is made.
In the above example, Fang made his Counter Attack by stating: “Fang steps in towards Jim off his haunches and leans in…suddenly snapping with his fangs trying to rip Jim’s face off”. Again Fang stated HOW he made the attack, WHAT he was attacking with(in this case his fangs), and WHO he was attacking. The Counter Attack, like an Attack, “attempts” to make a Successful Hit, which is indicated by Fang in the statement: “trying to rip Jim’s face off”.
After Fang made his Counter Attack, it was Jim’s Turn to make his Defense. Jim’s Defense Turn was not only legal, but it was also very interesting and good RP concerning the characters involved. Jim stated HOW he made his Defense and WHAT he was defending. The fate of Fang’s Counter Attack was decided in Jim’s Defense Turn with the statement: “Fang’s snap at his face missing just over his head”. Unfortunately for Jim, he was unable to make a Counter Attack due to TIME, which now gives Fang the initiative to attack in his next turn.

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