Role-playing, or RPing, is where you, through your character, act in a game or play along with other people, be it through fighting, running a shop, etc. These rules will concentrate mostly on fighting, and will serve as a helpful guide to those new to RP fighting, or for vets who want to brush up on their skills.
- True - Fighting without describing inflicted damage
- Cheeze - Fighting with describing inflicted damage
- OOC - Out of Character
- Post - Attack
- Duel - An engagement between two fighters
- Battle - An engagement between more than two fighters
- War - An engagement between two or more rival factions
- Factions - Armies composed of members who RP, be it fighting or otherwise
- Controlling - Making your opponent perform an action
In RPing there are three fighting styles: True, Cheeze, and Mix. The last one is one that I have recently standardized. Basically these three styles have a lot in common, yet have very distinct differences. Fighters usually favor one or the other, but good, versatile warriors can adapt to any style in a battle. No one style is better than another. It's all a matter of personal preference.
- True fighting, or orthodox fighting, is a style that is the oldest and most followed amongst fighting vets. Newbies usually don't fight True right away; it is somewhat of an acquired taste. Yet it is powerful in the respect that it requires high creativity and honor to make it work. True is defined as:
- On Offense:
- Not describing any inflicted damage
- Not controlling the opponent (i.e. making him/her do things without his/her permission)
- On Defense:
- Not completely avoiding damage (see Determining Damage)
- Not being a god (see Deity Mode)
- Determining Damage:
- Determining damage is a large part of True fighting, and the most important, because you have to decide how much damage is inflicting on yourself based on your opponent's attack. Let's first see an example of determining damage:
- Example: (Wiergraf on defense, Shinn Kuuro attacking)
- With a mighty yell Shinn Kuuro swings his flaming blade in a wide, powerful arc, slicing through the air in the blink of an eye, aiming right for Wiergraf's exposed head.
- If the battle so far had consisted of short attacks, then this would be qualified as a good hitting attack, or an attack capable of inflicting damage. To determine if an attack is good enough, take into account spelling, grammar, punctuation, detail, and physics, or how the attack is unfolding. Also take into account the stance your character is in, how proficient he is in melee or magic defense, etc. Wiergraf is a master swordsman, and Shinn's attack was concise, descriptive, and grammatically perfect, thus making it a good hitting attack. Wiergraf would then respond like this:
- Example: (Continued from above)
- Wiergraf notices the incoming blade and quickly throws up his Apocalypse in an attempt to ward off the ferocious blow. The two weapons collide, sparks flying, and Wiergraf manages to deflect the sword somewhat so instead of hitting his vulnerable head it's teeth cut into his left shoulder. A river of blood begins to seep out of the long, jagged gash, and Wiergraf narrows his eyes.
- Now, here's an example of when not to inflict damage:
- Example: (Attacking)
- Shinn takes his sword and he swings it at weirs body. The sword goes quick and fast and Shinn aims it at weir's head.
- Hmm...not too good. Spelling errors--Wiergraf=wier--, grammar errors, and a lack of power and description. An appropriate response would be thus:
- Example: (Response)
- Wiergraf rolls his eyes and watches at the futile mortal attempts to strike him. His pathetic toy of a sword thumps against Wiergraf's head and bounces back as the Apocalypse Knight yawns, growing impatient with this debacle.
- Shinn's attack was inadequate and weak, thus Wiergraf's response deals with this in inflicting no damage.
- Lesson: Description, grammar and power = damage. Don't expect a weak and poorly-spelt attack to do anything to your opponent.
- Cheeze, or unorthodox, is defined as, among other things, inflicting damage and denying your opponent the chance to counter. Cheeze is looked down upon by most vets, and is highly liked by newbies and n00bs alike, although some vets prefer cheeze. Cheeze is a style that depends on creativity, imagination and a touch of brutality. In short, the most effective cheeze attacks are those that make the reader wince as he shares the victim's pain. Basic elementary Cheeze is defined as:
- On Offense:
- Inflicting damage on your opponent with 100% hit rate, meaning any attack always hits.
- Damage is determined by the attacker, not the defender.
- Status effects may be automatically inflicted.
- On Defense:
- Healing and recovering from enemy onslaughts
- There are many variations of Cheeze, and they are all a headache to remember. Hopefully enough people will read this guide and use it to standardize somewhat the varying styles within a style, so to speak. Most Cheezers use what I like to call True Cheeze, an oxymoron yet a descriptive title. Basically this involves:
- No killing until the end of the duel.
- Inflicting damage yet not making your opponent's moves null and void.
- Not automatically healing to full strength.
- Not removing all status effects.
- Controlling your opponent to a degree.
- Example: (Wiergraf attacking, Shinn Kuuro defending)
- Wiergraf grabs Shinn by the throat and squeezes, his iron viselike grip crushing his weak foe's vertebrae into powder before slinging him onto the ground. With a quick motion Wiergraf withdraws his fearsome blade and, snapping his wrist buries the sharp sword into the skull of Shinn, skewering his brains and leaving him twitching on the ground, blood everywhere, the victim in intense and agonizing pain.
- Ouch. That's gotta suck. In this attack Wiergraf absolutely brutalizes Shinn, breaking his neck and making his head into a human shish-ka-bob. Let's see how Shinn counters:
- Example: (Continued from above)
- Shinn grits his teeth, the flames of pain eating away at every fiber in his body. With a trembling hand he manages to grasp the invading weapon and yells as he jerks it from his head, a column of crimson blood spurting out of the wound. His blood. Quickly muttering a Cure spell, he is somewhat rejunvenated, the gaping wound closing up enough to staunch the blood flow.
- In this counter Shinn further describes his misery and heals himself. It must be noted that he didn't entirely heal his wound; he merely gave himself enough strength to carry on. That is a crucial element to True Cheeze, and brings up another substyle. This substyle I despise and it is called Hard Core Cheeze. I hate Hard Core. It causes battles to drag out with multipost attacks and only end when one fighter gives up. It requires a lot of endurance, a good point, but it's not as testing on someone's skills as Shinn or True or even other forms of Cheeze, and can be very, very annoying in a battle. Hard Core, with a few slight variations amongst different fighters, is:
- Killing your opponent, most of the time frequently in a battle.
- Automatically healing yourself fully.
- Absorbing every attack.
- Ignoring an attack.
- Controlling your opponent very, very extensively.
- Example: (Hard Core Cheeze)
- Wiergraf grabs Shinn by the arm and twists, shattering the fool's limb into thousands of bone fragments. He then sweep-kicks his legs out from under him and slams him hard into the granite ground, snapping several ribs and knocking the wind out of him. Wiergraf then, with a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his lips, smoothly swings his withdrawn blade downwards in a deadly arc. The razor-sharp sword cleanly bites into and cuts through Shinn's neck, severing the head, blood gushing forth from dissected arteries. A last gasp of breath escapes from the severed windpipe, a crimson foam forming on the jagged edge, as Shinn expires.
- Ooh...can't be good. I wonder what insurance covers that. Wier basically killed Shinn by decapitating him. Now Shinn will reply by finding some creative way of ressurrecting himself and then killing Wiergraf, starting the cycle all over again. This is why I hate these endless battles in Hard Core. This is a fun style for some to play around with, but in a serious duel or tournament it's not acceptable.
- Example: (Hard Core Cheeze Continued)
- Wiergraf outstretches his hand towards Shinn, and with a snapping of his fingers takes complete and utter control of Shinn. He mumbles a few words, and grins, as Kuuro begins weeping like a little girl.
- That's embarassing. This kind of stuff happens all the time in Hard Core, and only those who are into this stuff like fighting in this style.
- Alrighty, here comes my personal favorite. Mix is what you would call a blend between True and Cheeze. It combines the best elements of the two main styles in a way that fans of both would enjoy. It's somewhat hard to explain, though, and perhaps the best way would be through example.
- Example:
- Wiergraf withdraws his blade and leaps at Shinn, eyes blazing with fury. With a swift motion he spins 360 degrees and whips his right leg around. His foot collides into Shinn's face, snapping his head around violently as Wier's other foot smashes into his chest. Shinn is thrown backwards into a rock outcropping, and barely has time to look out as Wiergraf swings his mighty blade down towards his head.
- See? Wiergraf connected with his two pre-attacks and inflicted damage before his main attack, which was done in the True style. Thus while he did Cheeze, he still allowed Shinn to counter the main attack. This style does have certain limitations, however, and must be used with caution. It certainly takes some time to get used to, but it can be quite fun to use. Basically Mix fighters must follow this guidelines:
- You may connect with your pre-attacks, or minor attacks that led up to the major offensive, but you cannot do too much damage with them. Just think of them as preps for the major attack.
- On defense you must recognize any damage inflicted on you as well as defend and counter against the main onslaught.
Making your character is, without a doubt, the very essence of RPing. You get to make your character into anyone, anything, with as many powers as want. He can be as fast, as strong, as smart, as annoying, as gentle, as evil as you want. It's all in your hands. But, there are some very slight limitations to this. We'll go into those later. First, if you don't have a character consider these questions:
- What is your character's name?
- His age?
- His height?
- His weight?
- What does he look like? What does he wear?
- What kind of personality does he have?
- Does he fight?
- What's his profession?
- Is he good, evil, or neutral? Perhaps a little bit of both?
- Where did he come from?
- What's his story?
- What kind of weapon, if any, does he use?
- Does he use magic? If so, what kind?
- What kind of special abilities does he have?
- What are his specialities?
- How strong, fast, smart, etc. is he?
- What's his favorite food, his favorite color, etc.? (This adds realism)
- What's his fighting style?
- What element is he? Fire, lightning, water?
- What are his weaknesses? His strengths?
Once you've answered those questions you're ready to make a character. I'll post Wiergraf's biography for you to use as a pattern of sorts.
- Name: Lord Wiergraf Zelrais III
- Age: 21
- Race: Nepthyrian
- Height: 6'4''
- Weight:200 lbs.
- Eyes: Arctic blue
- Hair: Spiky platinum
- Skin: Tan
- Job: Apocalypse Knight
- Weapon(s):
- Apocalypse Blade
- Revelation- bow
- Home: Zelrais Castle
- Innate Element: Lightning, Holy
- Elements that you naturally use.
- Elemental Weakness: None
- Usually if you're innately, say, Fire you'll be more affected by Ice. But Wiergraf just happens to be unaffected by elements.
- Special Abilities:
- Any special thing your character can do, like mind-reading, etc.
- Fly
- Teleport
- Telekinesis
- Master Swordsman
- Expert Archer
- Phase
- Transcend
- Innate Abilities:
- These are usually protections against certain things.
- Anti-SoulSteal (Can't have his soul stolen)
- Holy Absorb (absorbs Holy)
- Lightning Absorb
- Shadow Absorb
- Magic Spells:
- Tetra Elemental (All elements)
- Omni Magic (status effects)
- Etc. etc.
- Personality:
- This is where you get to brag about your character and add depth to him.
- Wiergraf is calm, and shy. He is very compassionate, and is Good to the core, absolutely abhorring Evil. He is a master swordsman, the best, and is a genius, using his immense power and intelligence to defeat the forces of evil. Blah blah blah. Etc. Etc. So on and so forth.
- Biography:
- Just post a story about where your character came from. Don't be too long or descriptive. Just summarize it.
Now when you make your character take into account these pointers:
- Don't make him into a god. Wiergraf is a demi-god, since his dad is a god, but that's about the limit.
- Don't make him immortal.
- Don't make him invulnerable to everything. Big no-no.
Most people frown upon the above, so try not to do it.
- Deity is when a character is indestructible, including but not limited to being impervious to magic and physical attacks, status effects, time warps, equipment breakage, theft, etc. Pretty much invincible. Also, this character can do anything he chooses without repercussion, and ignores all enemy actions. Of course someone can be a god without all of the above, but basically if they're extremely overpowered and violate the basic rules then they can face expulsion from tournaments and/or duels at the mediator's discretion.
In this section I'll give you a rough outline on what a judge should look for when deciding a duel or tournament battle. There is a thing called arbitration, which is when a non-partial judge is appointed by two or more duelers to decide a match. Usually this is the fairest, simplest, most efficient way of ending a duel, and both sides are usually satisfied with the judging. You can use this guide to begin your own arbitration business, and soon you'll be judging the big tournaments as well as private duels. When judging a match, it's important to read every attack carefully. Take note of grammatical errors, such as spelling, punctuation, etc. If you find an error, don't worry too much about it unless the attack has a fair amount of them. Also, pay attention to the flow of the attack. Choppy sentences only detract from the post, and disturbs the rhythm of the attack, making it less effective. Make sure the attack follows the established style of the battle, and keep in mind any pre-existing rules or guidelines established before the match began. Try to keep a mental picture in your head of the attack, and if it is a good and vivid one then the attack is good. If not, then it needs some work and isn't quite right. And remember, when judging be completely non-partial. Don't take sides. Don't favor a more powerful opponent over a weaker one, and vice versa. It shouldn't matter who's doing the fighting, just what's being posted.
- Below are some attacks that most people don't know a lot about. This can lead to some confusion. For clarification, they are:
- Ah yes, soul-stealing. One of my favorite moves. Simply put, the removal of one's soul.
- Myth: Stealing one's soul is Cheeze because it kills them.
- Fact: Wrong. Stealing someone's soul doesn't kill them. It merely makes them more vulnerable to magic and the elements, seeing as how they...er...don't have a soul. This effect usually lasts for about 3 attacks, and drains the user, making it an attack that shouldn't be used in a battle more than twice.
- Judging Tips: When confronted with a SSer, judge it like a normal attack except make sure that the attacker in no way, shape or form kills their opponent. To do this, just look for the following words: kill, kills, killed, death, dead, dies, obliterates, etc. You get my drift. After 3 turns the target should be able to reclaim their soul in any way they deem necessary. And if someone uses this powerful technique more than twice (3 times, max) in a battle then they are Hard-Core Cheezing.
- Bottom Line: Soul-stealing is a very powerful and strategic skill to have and use. But, it must be done carefully, or the user risks punishment by judges.
- The use of any spell designed to inflict a handicap on a target.
- Myth: Status effects are Cheeze because they're too cheap.
- Fact: They are powerful, but when used correctly can greatly add to a fighter's arsenal. I myself don't use them that much, but I might start...Anyways, inflicting status effects (Blindess, Silence, etc.) are effective ways of giving yourself an advantage over your opponent, and should be used by everyone. Likewise, everyone should have some sort of defense against them as well.
- Judging Tips: When someone inflicts a status effect on another fighter, take into account the grammar, spelling, and description used. As a rule, status effects do not last longer than 3 rounds, and can be shortened if a fighter has defenses against them. Basically the guidelines for Soul-Stealing are the same here, except that one can use status effects as many times as he/she wants. However, in a True battle only one status effect is permissible to inflict at a time, and counts as a single attack. In Cheeze the acceptable number of status effects in an attack is usually around 3. Of course, make sure no one casts Death or any ridiculous thing like that. Use your common sense.
- Bottom Line: If done correctly then status effects are great weapons for anyone, not to mention really fun to use.
- I use various scoring methods, but the most common is the point system. This is where you take several key components that you think a post should be profficient at and assign points to them based on how important you think they are. For example:
- Detail: worth 8 points
- Grammar: 6 points
- Style: 4 points
- Etc. and so forth. Then, you can either critique each attack separately and average them, a lengthy and time-consuming process, or you can take the easy path and just critique the overall preformance by giving points as you see fit. Thus your post battle summary might go a little like this:
- Detail: 8 out of 8 points
- Grammar: 4/6
- Style: 2/4
- Total score: 14 out of 18 points
- That's just one out of many ways to do it, and each judge is different in their methods. Choose a style that fits you and stick to it.
Ah, now this is where the fun is at. Tournaments are nice additions to any board, and usually are important. They vary from style to style, format to format. Some may be strictly magic, some physical, and some mixed. It differs based on personal preference. But they all have a few things in common.
- The creator of the tournament is the tournament founder. He is responsible for hiring/appointing a director and setting up the format and rules.
- The director is called the host. He is responsible for the actual running of the event.
- The judge is the one who, of course, judges the matches.
- The ones who take part in the event, or participants, compete based on the rules and guidelines.
Here's the ladder of power, starting at the top:
- Founder -> Host -> Judge -> Participant
The founder has the right to host, judge or compete as he wishes, following and adhering to the guidelines he has set up. The host also reserves this right, as does the judge, but neither of these 3 can judge their own fights.
When making a tournament, first determine what kind of event you want it to be. Want it to be open to all styles and techniques, or just open to magicians? You choose. Take into account however the demographics of the potential competitors. Also, decide how many people you'll let in. Usually a field of 16 works the best, since you can then hold a single-elimination and get it down to 2 participants for the championship. Once you've decided this, write up a set of rules, or a
tournament constitution. Make sure it's clear and concise, and says exactly what you want it to. Then, determine how you'll pair the participants up. Here's some sample formats:
- 16-man, single elimination:
- One loss and a player is out.
- Players are paired up, and the winners advance to face each other. (If you're a college basketball fan then you know what I'm talking about.)
- Usually consists of 2 divisions comprised of 8 members each.
- Odd-man, double elimination: (this is complicated)
- Two losses and a player is out.
- If there's an odd number of players then one player gets a bye, or an exemption from the first round of battles.
- Basically just pair the winners with the winners and the losers with the losers. Once someone has lost twice, they're gone. Keep going until you get a winner.
- Gauntlet:
- Every fighter fights every other fighter once.
- The fighter with the most wins is victorious.
- In the case of a tie, the two or more people fight for the win. (This can be lengthy but interesting, and is the fairest of the formats.)
- As a reward for exceptional work, and an incentive for participation, it's a good idea to give out awards based on different categories. You can decide yourself, make the judges vote, let the fighters vote, or let the audience decide. Some sample categories include:
- Best Overall Fighter
- Funniest Fighter
- Most Fluent
- Best Swordsman
- Best Magician
- Best Attack
- Etc. and so forth.
I hope these rules have helped you to become a better RPer. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to email me at
funkchocolate@hotmail.com. You can also catch me on the following messengers:
Good luck, and peace.
Juryrigged > Works > RPGs > Guides > Weirgraf's Laws of Dueling