Illegal RP Combat Styles and References

Introduction

The following is an illustration of how Combat RP has evolved over the years, months, and in some cases days within the realms of RPG. Read at your leisure and laugh if you like at some of the examples given below. None of the following is legal in Combat RP.

AUTOs

Only mentioned briefly in the Abbreviations & Definitions text, AUTOs, or Automatic Hits, is an illegal style of Combat RP. AUTOs give player characters no chance to make a Successful Defense by any meaning of the phrase. The following are several examples of AUTOs:

1. Happy_Joe: swings his sword at Fang_Warrior_of_Atlantica’s head and smashes it.
2. Happy_Joe: thrusts sword at Fang’s chest and cuts it open.
3. Happy_Joe: jumps at Fang and knocking him over into the wall.
4. Happy_Joe: throws fireball at Fang burning him to ashes.

This is laughable and will not be accepted under any circumstances as legal Combat RP.

Hybrid

The Hybrid style of RP Combat, the most misunderstood RP Combat style, finds it’s major flaw in the concept of TIME. Hybrid Combatants perform an absurd number of attacks and movements within either a single Duel Combat Turn or during several T2-Style Turns. The two examples are illustrated below:

Duel Combat Hybrid
Happy_Joe: thrusts the blade in his right hand directly for Dum’s chest.

Dum_Dum: parries Happy’s blade away from his body with his left-hand sword…then he thrusts his right-hand sword at Happy’s chest, kicks at Happy’s face with his left foot as he jumps up into a forward vault over Happy. Then he kicks at Happy’s back with his right foot after he lands.

T2-Style Hybrid
Happy_Joe: starts running directly at Dum from 20 yards away.

Dum_Dum: sees Happy running at him.

Happy_Joe: runs past Dum and runs up a nearby hill.

Happy_Joe: runs up the hill and finds a big boulder.

Happy_Joe: runs over to the boulder and starts to push it.

Happy_Joe: pushes the boulder down the hill at Dum.

Happy_Joe: runs back down the hill towards Dum and draws his sword.

Happy_Joe: runs up to Dum and slashes his blade vertically downwards at Dum’s head.

Dum_Dum: draws his sword.

As you can see with the Duel Combat Hybrid example, Dum performed more moves than would be physically possible for any character to perform in a single Turn.
And in the T2-Style Hybrid example, Happy performed six actions before Dum was even able, or allowed, to perform one action. Hybrid style combat is illegal.

T2

This style of Combat RP is slightly better than the AUTO, but it is likewise, illegal. The T2, or Type Two, style is similar to the Duel Combat style in the sense that it has both Attacks and Defenses. But the main difference is that a Defending Character only gets 10 seconds in order to make his/her defense BEFORE the Attacking Character types in the Successful Hit. In that sense, it is more like the AUTO than anything else, where fast typing players with good servers, like ETHER NET and other LAN-based systems, have the obvious advantage. Here’s an example of how T2 may look:

Happy_Joe: slashes his sword vertically down at Dum’s head.

Dum_Dum: brings his shield up to block Joe’s sword.

Happy_Joe: thrusts his sword horizontally at Dum’s chest.

Happy_Joe: ‘s sword stabs Dum in the chest killing him instantly.

Dum_Dum: blocks Joe’s sword with his shield and draws his sword from its scabbard.

Quick analysis of the fight will show that Dum was able to block the first attack made at his head because he typed in his defense before Happy could make the Successful Hit. Unfortunately, the second time, Dum got stabbed in the chest because Happy typed the Successful Hit before Dum could type in his block.
As I explained earlier, there’s supposed to be 10 seconds between the typing of the first Attack and the typing of the Successful Hit. But, as anyone who’s spent time in a crowded RPG room would know, 10 seconds is relative to each player.

T1 Speed

The predecessor to Duel Combat with PREPs, T1 Speed failed to take account of both the TIME and OOC concepts in Combat RP. INDIRECT FIGHTER Characters were allowed full reign over PREPs in a T2 like fashion without ever having to inform their target IC or OOC that he/she was about to be hit with a spell at full blast. Thanks to T1 Speed, sections in this text such as “Before Duel Combat Begins”, “Duel Combat With PREPs”, and “INDIRECT FIGHTERS” were born. T1 Speed is now considered obsolete.

Death Boards

The first, and most often used, Illegal Combat RP Reference is the Death Board, or Crypt. The Death Board is simply an internet Message Board that acts as an obituary for Characters who have died or were killed in the realms of RPG. A good idea if left at that, but the resource was taken a step further by those who run it. Acting as Combat RP Judges, “builders” of the Death Board use the testimony of Witnesses and/or use voluntarily produced Transcripts of the fight itself to declare characters dead or alive. Builders should not be thought of as Mediators because "builders" are rarely present at the actual fight they make judgements on. Understanding that the testimony of Witnesses can obviously be biased and that Transcripts of fights can be altered, it becomes obvious that this entire system is flawed. Not to mention, most players don’t know who the “builders” are, how they were chosen, or even if they know the rules of Combat RP themselves. The Death Board’s influence in maintaining flawed Combat RP styles by allowing a setting in which less than honest players can quench their thirst for unbridled unfair combat is staggering. In all honesty, if a player must rely upon a Death Board and its “builders” to decide if a character was killed legally or not, he/she shouldn’t be fighting at all. No one has the right to decide when another player’s character can and cannot be played. Remember that the fundamental rule of Combat RP is to have fun, not to play God.

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