Rules of Combat

Combat, he subtle dance between two or more people in a Free Form setting. A dance, when well choreographed, can leave one character pummeled to tiny bits at the feet of another. A dance full of excitement, not to mention a test to one's typing skills and vocabulary all rolled up into one. Unfortunately, one bad sentence can suddenly swing what is supposed to be fun, into frustrating and hostile OOC environments.

Fighting is simple if everyone remembers the golden rule.

Golden Rule: Attacker declares the action; defender declares the result.

That golden rule is the standard in just about any free form role playing site out there. We, at Mystical Realms, think there needs to be a bit of chance added to the system. The reason for this is we got tired of constantly having arguments over when something was a success or not. So, we added a silver rule.

Silver Rule: Attacker's dice decide the success or failure of an attack.

Now, you might be saying that our silver rule trumps our golden one, but that is not the case. The success or failure of an attack is not the same as the result. The following information will help illustrate the difference.

PUTTING THIS INTO ACTION

Turns

Combat is divided into turns. The attacker goes, then the defender. Then rolls are reversed.

Thayne attacks Waspe, aiming the club at her head.
Waspe hisses as the Club smacks into her shoulder.
Waspe turns around and tries to sweep kick Thayne.
Thayne jumps up, over her leg, laughing, "Not this time, witch!!"

See how that went? Thayne started the attack, Waspe got to defend, then Waspe attacked and Thayne got to defend.

Adding Dice

To roll dice in chat use the command /roll {number of dice} {number of sides of a die}; /roll 2 20 is what Malice would use to roll 2 dice of 20 sides.

Stats are to be placed in your character chamber. On the page you link from the chat so they can be found quickly and by all.

Any attacker can make up to 3 attacks per turn, made in one post, and then they roll the appropriate number of dice. The number the attacker has entered for their stats in their chat profile determine a hit.

Malice flings 2 daggers at Thayne. She has Expert entered as her Body stat and needs two 11's or greater on a d20 to hit Thayne, one for each dagger.
Malice rolled an 8 and a 16 so only one dagger hit Thayne.
Thayne turns, taking the dagger in the arm, a trickle of blood flows out from the fresh wound. Now he's pissed.

This shows how the silver rule doesn't overcome the golden one. Malice's attack was successful, but Thayne still had the golden rule to say where the dagger hit him and how badly he was injured.

FINER POINTS OF COMBAT

Called Shots

Thayne rushes Malice, kicking her in the face and knocking her into the wall.

This illustrates our next point: Called shots are not allowed.

Thayne just called the shot and took control away from the defender by declaring the outcome. The difference is subtle but a necessary part of Story Game RPing, it leaves the outcome up to the defender. A better sentence would read:

Thayne rushes forward, kicking at Malice's face to try and knock her into the wall.

Remember the Golden Rule: ATTACKER DECLARES THE ACTION, THE DEFENDER DECLARES THE RESULTS!

Blocking

Dice cannot be used to declare blocking, dodging or parrying attempts; it's not part of fighting here. Meaning you cannot give up your attack to try and roll higher than your opponent to block attacks. That does not mean that a person can't say they dodged a missed attack in their post for descriptive purposes.

Why do we not have rules for blocking? Quite simply, because we don't want to detract from the narration. Combat should be fast paced and forward moving. RPing online is slow enough. One die roll is all that is needed to add a touch of chance, any more would take away the excitement.

Spells

Almost every combat is going to involve magic in some way or another. Mystical Realms is a mystical place. And that means that magic is readily available for any to use. But that doesn't mean it gives you a right to do whatever you want. Keep some things in mind:

A character must post either publicly or in whisper what spell he/she is casting BEFORE rolling to see if it is successful.

For area of effect spells, use the room list as the key to who is affected and who isn't. Roll the appropriate sided die.

Thayne casts a fireball at the drow in the grove, hoping to fry them.

Room list reads Thayne, Malice, Khalszar, Auvryilph, Sabrae and Jysdiira. The spell is being cast away from him and it is not an enclosed area, so Thayne is not affected. Thayne is Skilled in Magic and needs a 14 or better to hit. He rolls 5d20 and gets, 19, 10, 14, 3 and 11. Only Malice and Auvryilph were hit.

Beneficial Magic

You do NOT need to roll for heal, protection or any beneficial spells, cast on WILLING targets they are automatic, but you MUST spend a turn doing it.

Magical items, NPC and/or pets

If no defining stats are listed in a character's profile, the default is EXPERT, an 11.

Haste

For body attacks, a character can become hastened, ether by raging or the use of magic or mind to make them faster. They must spend a round casting the haste, then they can add one additional body attack, for a maximum of 4 attacks.

WARNING: If you consistently use haste, you may end up role-playing by yourself. Use only in extreme cases, and even then, with a duration of no more than four turns.

Immunity Clause

Special abilities and defenses, natural abilities, etc: they exist. For example, Thayne is immune to poison, Malice can hit him with 50 poisoned darts and roll 20's each time but Thayne is not going to keel over and die from the poison. Respect that about others. Special abilities do not need to be listed in the profile but be consistent, don't make things up on the fly, know your character's capabilities. Special abilities will be found out in RP.

Immunities to poison, magic resistance, resistance to certain elements or spells, like fire or charm should not pose a problem in combat, defender has final say. PERIOD. Special abilities should be used sparingly and fairly, someone that is immune to all forms of magic will find himself or herself role playing by themselves.

Teleporting

You never need to roll to teleport you and your friends away; it is the final out open to everyone to keep control over their handle. However, you need to roll to teleport an unwilling person.

WARNING: TELEPORTING MUST BE A TURN BY ITSELF, NO ATTACKING AND TELEPORTING AWAY IN THE SAME TURN.

A few final words ...

Combat is not all that difficult if you remember our golden and silver rules. Combat is between characters, not between people. And if you keep it that way, it will remain fun. Sometimes arguments will arise. Try to work them out calmly and rationally. If you still can't find a solution, just walk away and don't get into combat with that person again.

Technology fails on this world. Guns, radios, light sabers are all useless. Read the History of the World for an understanding of why.