As Per Usual - Weapons

As per usual, I am both extremely tired, as even were I to sleep eight hours or more, I'm tired, and I create weapons. Lovely, wonderful weapons. Maybe I'll actually do something else. Oh, wait, I spent my entire day optimizing my computer, un-installing unnecessary programs and just making my computer faster overall. So...wonderful.

Forum Dueling Basics - Tech, Vol 1

Tech.

Tech is varied and diverse in its function, its limit being only the users imagination. Tech has long been considered one of the more difficult aspects to duel with, since it can be unpredictable, versatile and deadly in the right hands, with no real ability cap at the high end. It can be made to do anything at any time with absolutely no lag time in-between, unlike magic. This is what makes tech both deadly and difficult to use without over-powering.

Most people can easily relate to magic. Magic is used in fantasy novels, movies, anime and cartoons the world over. Because of this, those who role-play magic users can see the magic, its effect, and can then take the attack they've seen previously and modify it to suit their needs and purposes. Tech, on the other hand, encompasses a more scientific outlook; one must have at least some understanding of the method behind the machines ability to create the phenomena. This is actually a misnomer: any particular joe can use tech. But remember, to an uneducated person who doesn't understand tech, it is magic. By using this parallel thought, it's easy to use tech. All you have to do is think of it as magic that a machine makes using internal power supplies instead of your character using his own essence.

Tech offers up more bonuses than magic does without the side-effects of wear on the user that would inhibit or otherwise cause the user of tech to tire or exhaust him or herself over time. While in reality, a gadget can be prone to failure from any number of internal errors, most tech users simply choose to ignore these common-place effects. This furthers the difficulty in tech use, as wear-and-tear on the devices and gadgetry used are ignored in the same fashion that most role-players and duelists ignore the devastating effects the casting of large, powerful spells have on their characters.

To further the gap between magic and tech, tech requires literally no training time to use by comparison. And the devices need not be large to contain enough power to level four city blocks. These differences differentiate one from the other by large extremes, and make tech look to be extremely over-powered with just a glance, especially in high-end/level tech which is styled more towards massive matches against like opponents.

However, tech isn't as over-powered as many might think. Take for example a rocket. It's generally assumed that because it's a rocket, it's over-powered. But if a magic user knew anything about a rocket, they'd know that a rocket has no guidance systems and can travel in only a straight line, unable to deviate from its initial flight path. This makes a rocket fairly simple to dodge, as it contains no sensors, just a booster and a warhead. The average magic user doesn't know this, and doesn't bother to educate themselves about this, which is where the problem with tech begins: a complete lack of understanding. Magic is easier to understand. Everyone has an innate understanding of it, even if they've never been told about it. Tech is the opposite. Not everyone has an understanding of it, and fewer go out of their way to learn about it.

Mimicry

Spastic Inhibitions now mimics Juryrigged in look. Did this because I like the two to at least look similar. Took me a bit to figure out the float mechanism because what works on my site doesn't seem to work on the blog. Go figure. Anyway, enjoy the new, extremely simplistic look.

Forum Dueling Basics - Attack/Counter Scenarios

A little something I put together with Tier a while back. A cause/effect on strategies and possibilities for attacks and counters to attacks. Some attacks are similar, and remember, while I might see several openings, I might not catch them all myself.

So, a setting for the attacks to take place in:

* Stent stood in a small glade, a light smattering of water sliding along her scaly legs. She wore only a set of dull black knee-high trousers with orange stitching. A tank-top that was the same orange, but dull and lackluster. She only wore a pair of finger-less black gloves with silver markings on the back of the knuckles. The sun shone, a breeze played with the leaves, and her thin, muscular arms were tattered with an array of silverish tattoos that seems to course like veins. A dull armband around her left arm was the finishing touch. Everything about her bespoke boredom and dullness--not a thing of interest, even with the tall grasses flicking against her legs. She was...bored.

Now, comes a reply from my opponent. A basic attack.

* Tier launched forward from the shadows his blade flicking from its sheath to launch upwards from the ground spraying Stent with mud and hopefully drawing her attention away from the blade ripping through the ground to come up towards her groin area.

Now, from this there are several possible replies in which to do, several ways to counter it. I'll use only a few physical counters, although even using the ones I had there are dozens upon dozens of possible counters. from such a generic attack.

1. Stent's chest and face was wrapped in mud. She paid it little heed, forcing her left hand into a fist, she smashed it into the incoming blade, a small force shield eminating from the silver contact points on her knuckles. This was coupled with a spin to the left, turn and swung an outstretched right arm, also a fist, at the face of the unnamed warrior, knuckles flashing with energy...
2. Stent jumped up and forward in a dive. The blade came up past where she had been while she used her whiplike tail as she twisted in the muddy water to slap at the legs of the foe and drop him into the water.
3. Stent backflipped, landing on her feet out of range of the upsweeping blade. before rushing in. Both hands came up to form a grip ready to take the blade if it suddenly came down as she jumped up and forward, her knee blazing for the face of her new foe.
4. Stent rolled to the left, came up onto her feet and as the blade swept ever upward, brought the palm of her left aimed for her opponents chin while her right sought his elbow.

These are just four possibilities that can be used to counter the initial attack. There are still many ways left open to use. Now, if we continue the example as above, using say counter number 1, then we could possibly get something along these lines:

* As the knuckles slammed into the blade driving it into the mud Tier released the hilt swiftly to keep the force from breaking his wrist. As he looked up to see the spinning reptile's backhand whipping towards his head Tier moved in and grabbed her elbow and brought his left elbow towards the back of her head.

Now, I have three possibilities, although you still have to remember, there are more than the ones I put forth.

1. Stent let the fool grab her elbow, continuing her twist. However, she ducked her head as though to go under her own right arm, grabbing the arm of the moron who now held her elbow. Using the twisting momentum and bending forward to bodily throw him out into the marsh.
2. Stent stopped her turn. She brought up her left hand, still a fist and moved to smash it into the oncoming elbow, her knuckles ready to impart their deadly energy.
3. Stent stopped short, ducked her head in the motion and twisted her arm to release the sudden hold on it. But she wasn't finished. She bent backward into an arch as the elbow came in--and her tail flashed between her legs straight for the man's groin.

This is then followed by using counter number two:

* As soon as the attack was launched the reptile stopped spinning and Tier looked over in time to see the knuckles flying towards his elbow. Grinning he grabbed her wrist and used the two contact points to exert enough force to throw the creature over his head and out into the water. His body arched forward to help keep momentum.

Again, various combinations to use.

1. Stent flew, twisted in the air and landed. As soon as she touched water, a small splash, except that the water kept rising, kept moving. The ruddy, brown water rose up in a wave , the forward edge nearly becoming solid with spikes coming down on the fool.
2. Stent landed with a splash, the globules of water spraying everywhere. But it wasn't enough when she didn't surface right away. There was an inky blackness that crawled through the water, a shade of depth that suddenly rose from the water, a blackness that shot forth as though to wrap around his face and gag him to death.
3. Sploosh! Stent landed in the water, the noise abrupt and prompt. It didn't end, though. She stood up, covered head to toe in mud, her muscled arms glowing silver. She raised both hands in the air, the knuckle points glowing an intense aquamarine before she brought both arms down and thrust them forward. A series of aquamarine lasers flashed away seeking the man's gut.

You will notice that by adding distance between yourself and your opponent, the style of attacks suddenly changed. In two of the last three possible instances, the character Stent reverted to distance attacks. In this case, however, we must note that if you are a specific distance, more than say twenty-one feet (roughly seven meters, although a little less) distance, it would be considered optimal to resort to some kind of distance attack.

Distance attacks vary in two types: technological (guns, lasers, missiles) and magical (spells). There are, however, varying kinds of attacks that could be strung together. Like saying you used your telekinetic powers, if you had any, to pick up a rock and whip it at your opponent. This is a simple example of a distance attack. Distance should be equated with power attacks. The more distance you have, the more time you have to power up a massive attack. If you plan on jumping back, you better have a good reason to.

The more distance you have, the larger and more powerful your attacks can be because your opponent can't get to you in time to stop it.

Remember, you must:

1. Use the enviroment to an advantage
2. Be creative
3. Use everything at hand

By using the environment, you can be assured or a near-constant advantage to be exploited throughout the match. Creativity nearly always trumps any kind of brute force attack. Why is this? If your opponent is trying to beat you to death with some kind of over-sized weapon, evading and coming up with creative ways of tiring him/her out and forcing them into a corner will almost always get you a win. By using everything at hand, again I mean using your surroundings to advantage.

Special Thanks:

A big thank you goes out to Tier Bladesinger, who acted as our dummy throughout a good many of the examples given. Without him, the inception of this guide probably would never have begun.