Combat can be a interesting factor in any sort of roleplay. This is especially true for our own. Trainees will often practice with their peers and mentors. Tribe confrontations are a common occurrence throughout history of these lands. These often lead to battles among other neighboring cat tribes. So combat roleplay can become a very important aspect for us. As such I'll do my best to explain to you how we handle fights here in Cryptic Refrain. This is also a nice guideline for combats in roleplay in general.
Technique One,
It's more commonly known as T1 and is the primary style we use. It is a technique usually used for more serious roleplayers. It is based off the idea that the paragraphs you use should appear to come out of a book. You should use detailed descriptions so that the people watching can ‘see’ what is happening in chat to make roleplaying a more enjoyable experience. It is a turn by turn based system where description, detail and length is the key in doing well.
T1 has various different branch offs though we tend to try and stick to the more basic aspect of it. Most roleplay combat is planned or has set definitions for the fight. As in only inflicting minor wounds, ability to loose a whim or the planned death of a character. The quality of the post is usually what is used to determine whether or not an attack goes through or not. Auto-hitting is strictly forbidden here. You do not "bite someone" you "aim to bite someone". Do you see where I'm going with this?
Successful blocks/attacks must be at least half value of what the incoming attack is. (IE: A two paragraph attack needs one full paragraph or more to dodge to an extent.) The longer, more detailed your post, the higher block and success rate. So lets say someone posts an attack and it is a paragraph and a half in length. You can post half a paragraph to dodge to an extent but aren't completely blocking the blow. If you counter their paragraph and a half with two full paragraphs then you may fully block/dodge said attack.
Each post is also allowed one attack and possible planned out dodge. No more then that or they'll be voided out. If more are typed out and this rule is broken your roleplay partner can use this as a penalty to successfully flat out dodge or land a blow in their own, next post. But only that next post. The chance is lost if they don't act on it directly afterwards. As I said, detail and scenery play a big part in this. If you plan to use something around your character in future posts; you need to describe it early on. Unless it's completely obvious or planned that the object in the scenery is already there.
As fair as we try and make this, we want it to be fun to. And some people don't like seriously injuring or killing off their characters and don't see that fun. It's up to those roleplayers involved ahead of time to plan and make guidelines regarding the combat. Like what is and isn't allowed. For example if you don't want your character to be killed, seriously injured or maimed you should say so in advance before the fighting happens.
T1 Example
Person #1: The tom drew his tongue overly equally sharp fangs; olive eyes narrowing onto his opponent. This wasn't a simple spar between old friends. The intense heat flicking behind Cedarstar's gaze was all channeled at one she-cat. Winterdance had been his friend since they were kits. They grew up together; learned together. And now finally all of that was coming to a close.
"You've gone over the line," He meowed.
The words were hollow as they slid over his tongue. His tail flicked behind him in irritation as the fur along his spine bristled.
Cedarstar added, "I won't stand for this sort of treatment towards my mate."
With a kick off the ground the tom lunged. His lips were pulled back into a snarl. The tom had no intentions of seriously injuring his friend unless the need arose. Was it even possible to call her by that title anymore? Unsheathing his claws, he lashed out towards her right shoulder. He hoped to catch onto anything he could before swinging himself to the right and away from any counter attacks. This whole thing was so petty, but he wouldn't stand for her bluntly attacking his mate that way.
Person #2: Winterdance chuckled harshly while her ears feathering back. This was all pathetic. None of this would've happened if he just left that wench for her. Why did he even go for some she-cat like that anyways? Her gaze shifted to the mortified cat watching on from the sidelines. His mate was weak. He was supposed to belong to her only!
"Innocent? Come now, Cedarstar, can you really call her innocent," the pale pelted female spat harshly with a hiss. "She's anything but innocent."
Tensing she tried to leap back from the incoming blow. If the dodge was successful, she'd dig her hind claws into the soil. It'd balance herself out nicely on her hind legs. Once the moment was right she'd crash down, claws unsheathed and aiming for the larger toms head.
Person #1: The dark ginger tom felt claws hook briefly into her shoulder. He couldn't help but smirk in triumph as she jumped back. His claws left three uneven scratches along her shoulder.
"You're the one to blame for this."
His green eyes bored into the hostile she-cat. All he could see was hate and hurt. Maybe all of this was his own fault after all. Had he led her on? This was a misunderstanding that could be settled out on more civil terms.
"Can't we settle this without fighting?" Cedarstar added in, questioningly.
This was his kit-hood friend. He didn't want to hurt her. Cedarstar managed to swing himself to the side just in time to barely dodge her front paws coming down on his head. He felt her clip his muzzle however, not able to move fully out of the way in time.
"Fighting always isn't the answer you know," He meowed.
Easing himself back some more to stare at the she cat evenly; he awaited a response. Uncertain eyes moved briefly towards his mate. They were full of worry, apologies and reassurance. He had to try and calm Winterdance down. She looked absolutely distraught over all of this. None of this was her fault at all. She had no reason to place blame on herself. If anyone was at fault, it was him.
Explanation,
The first persons post was two paragraphs; exactly nine lines. Now the second persons counter post was seven lines equaling a paragraph and a half. The second person's post was just at the right length to partially dodge the attack. Instead of typing out dodging they let it hang in the open. Because it depended on the details of that post whether or not it was a successful dodge. They both needed to see how that second post fared against the first one before making any decisions. The second person however did include what would happen if the dodge went through in advance.
Now the third post belonging to the first person was two paragraphs again, equaling twelve lines. They took in consideration the second persons previous post length when deciding how the attacks and dodging would play out. The post was just a little bit over half of the value of their own. It means the attack was only partially successful. So the first person played out that partial attack in their own post. It was still a dodge all the same. That means the previous posts bit about 'what happened if' the dodge was successful came into play.
Since their first post included dodging a counter attack; that came into play. However seeing as the other persons post was atleast half of their own, their previously typed dodge was only partially in effect. So they they typed out it landing, but not to the full extent that was intended. The first persons post this round could've had a attempted attack and planned out future dodge. Instead they opted out of that to try and end the fight. It'd be up to the second person whether the fight would continue and to dish out their own attack and such. And the cycle continues.
Free-form
This is similar to T1 without any of the rules and regulations. Each roleplayer determines the outcome, sometime in advance. Posts are detailed and generally written in a paragraph or more. There's a lot more freedom when it comes to this sort of combat style. Without rules or regulations individuals are allowed to freely determine what attacks land, how they dodge etc.. The participants typically try to balance things out, however. It makes it a lot easier and well-paced when things are planned out in advanced when using this style. If things aren't planned, this kind of fighting tends to last for an overly extended period of time. People often use this style when not wanting to be seriously engaged or tasked with following regulations of T1.