Forum Dueling Basics -- Quick Links

A set of quick links to all the FDB stuff I've written over the years.

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And I Thought This Wasn't Possible: Overpowering, and why it is and isn't.

The Long Road: A thought on how to improve your writing.

Dialogue: The Misfortune of Talking to Others: Natural conversation as opposed to forced.

The Art of the Internal: Internal monologue and its place in dueling.

Judging Focus: An idea on where and how a duel should be judged.

Just Die Already: A thought on the invicibility of characters and their inability to take damage.

How to Be: Things that can be done to give oneself an advantage in a duel.

Tech: An analysis of tech and its uses in a duel. It's strengths, weakness, and why you want it. (Vol. 1, Vol. 2)

Flow: A basic overview of flow in writing.

Forces: Talking about the amount of force (all the way up to deadly) a character can put out.

Attack/Counter Scenarios: A series of scenarios involving attacks and counters illustrating how there are multiple ways of dealing with an attack.

Forum Dueling Basics - Dialogue: The Misfortune of Talking to Others

So, dialogue has a time and place, much like persons wanting to experiment (it's known as college), but in dueling, RPing or even writing in general, we know when dialogue shouldn't be happening: when you're driving a fist down another persons gullet with intent to find their reproductive organs through their intestines. This of course means that when you're fighting, you shouldn't be talking, and if you're talking while fighting, you're doing it wrong. You're a fighter, not a talker. The grand warrior. Warriors do not bandy speeches about. They aren't masters of rhetoric. Look at a barbarian -- the most he's gonna managed is a grunt, and that's while driving the club through your skull to bisect with your spine.

Conversation should always feel natural. Before or even after a fight, it should feel natural. Forcing it makes it awkward. If one is talking during a fight, that suggests you aren't fighting anymore. The engagement of wills through force has stopped and moved on to an engagement of wills through intellect. Conversation must flow from a desire for the two persons to talk in the first place. If there is great enmity between these persons, why would they talk? If they know they're here to d-d-d-d-d-duel, why mouth off in the first place? We're not talking about badly dubbed martial arts movies where their mouths are moving but no sound is coming out. A real fight is fast, over quickly, and has the minimum of vocal content.

Now, this moves into another thing about dialogue: there has to be a reasonable amount of reaction to what's being said. Characters, much like people, will react to what is said by the protagonist in varying ways. The response to something as silly as "Wassup!" will differ depending on who is being asked. Some could reply in kind, others with something else, while others still will be offended. Remember this when crafting conversation in the first place. Like in physics, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is how conversation should play out. That what is said will provoke a response, either by continuing the conversation, causing an expression or particular look, or an action in reaction to what was said.

This now moves us onto the third part of dialogue, and that is understanding appropriate dialogue. This is a bit more difficult, in that it requires of the writer a certain level of maturity, in that it's expected for them to understand people. Real people. It doesn't have to be a lot, but some. In understanding people, you understand how they react to varying instances of conversation as well as expressions or looks. How your mother replies to you when you say something. How a friend waits or interrupts you while you're speaking. Understanding these things can help you craft convincing conversation. What moment would be appropriate for someone to say something, or interrupt? When does someone show emotion? Answering this questions can help one create better conversation between characters.

And finally, this roles right back into the start: would it make sense for two people in a blood feud to start off by introducing themselves by name before jumping out with machetes before jumping back to continue to talk? Writing mimics life, and like life, there needs to be a level of logical conclusion to things, an understanding of agency (that is the power to act and do things). This means that when it is in your power to act, why would you talk? So, if you as a person wouldn't talk a long monologue about pants under a blood moon in May, why would a character do the same?

Mind you, time and place for everything. Writing seriously, this all makes sense. Writing camp, you do the opposite. But dueling, role playing (and most writing) is a serious endeavor, so why wouldn't it be a serious reflection of the lives we live?

Condensed RP/Dueling Guide

The whole role playing guide scene has a few big names in it, or at least a few big names if you've been around long enough to recognize them, otherwise they're just names, nobodies, has-beens and the forgotten of an age long dead. The guides they wrote are still around, still used and still circulated. However, time passes, and like some buildings, or even people, the guides themselves have not aged well. Dated is the best word for it. Stuck most definitely in a simpler time of role playing, back in the infancy of Forum Role Play and Dueling, even before dueling actually came about! This is a somewhat straight-forward attempt to revise all those guides, amalgamate them into a single entity that can be easily updated from time to time. That's my hope at least; we'll see how it goes.

• [1.0] Introduction
  • Forum Role Playing is the act of creating and playing as a fictitious, imaginary character through written means; i.e.: you write about your character.
  • Forum Dueling is the use of the aforementioned character to fight someone elses character.
  • Forum Wars are several duels stuffed into a single thread involving many people
• [1.1.0] Character Creation
  • A character seen to be played most often grows to become a representative of the player in the RP world.
  • It's good to design representative characters well.
  • It's good to know representative characters thoroughly.
  • Is the most important part of any role play or duel.
  • What a character begins as is irrelevant; they generally evolve over time and use into something greater.
• [1.1.1] Name
  • Names aren't always necessary.
  • Easier for others to address/reference a named character.
• [1.1.2] Age
  • Age and lifespan can be either realistic or surreal.
  • Most of the time determines abilities or knowledge attained.
• [1.1.3] Gender
  • Male and female are the norms.
  • There's also hermaphrodites, egg-layers and more. Try something different and new!
• [1.1.4] Race
  • Race can be anything from human to alien or mythological beings.
  • If your character is described to be an angel or demon your peers may automatically assume it is the typical model with the typical attributes.
  • Heads up: wholly demonic/angelic/etc. characters are often initially regarded by hardliners as tasteless and amateurish; dare to dream/change their mind.
• [1.1.5] Appearance
  • Anime is usually the typical inspiration in appearance.
  • Gruff, overwrought persons with bad-hair aren't typically done, but are enjoyed.
• [1.1.6] Personality
  • The emotional spectrum of a human, or something odd and alien if you're into the surreal stuff.
  • The actions, attitudes and peevish (or pet peeves) behavior of your character.
• [1.1.7] Weaponry
  • Weapons can be any number of types from guns (small, large, energy) to magic to blunt force trauma (clubs, spears, swords and everyones favorite, the katana).
  • Magic is the antithesis to tech and vice versa.
  • Magic drains a user, tech uses gadgets that drain batteries.
  • Guns and missiles travel fast; evasion of them is difficult at the best of times.
• [1.1.8] Special Abilities
  • Can be any number of things.
  • Consists of elemental control (fire, water, wind, lightning, etc.) if magical.
  • Is any number of tech abilities (lasers, missiles, teleportation devices, etc.) if you have the gadgets.
  • Some abilities are innate, others require a gadget to perform or the knowing of a specific spell/incantation.
• [1.1.9] Elementals and Antithesis
  • Main elements are: fire, wind, water, earth, holy/light, unholy/darkness, time/space, ice, lightning, gravity.
  • Sci-Fi/Tech are: pyrokinesis, telekinesis, hydrokinesis, geokinesis, photokinesis (for light and dark), telepathy, cryokinesis, eletrokinesis, and telepathy again.
• [1.1.10] Background
  • Character history; the backbone to any major, fully fleshed out character.
  • Can elaborate on character flaws, if any.
  • Is a method of making a character more noteworthy or interesting; can sometimes backfire.
  • Some character histories will contain great struggles/turmoil in the characters past; is a means of making the character more believable
• [2.0] What is Dueling?
  • Interactive combat through writing expression; involves the usual attack/counter scenarios, sometimes with more story-oriented plot if so chosen.
  • Is considered an art form of a kind.
  • Does not always have to be action or fighting oriented.
  • Can sometimes be completely story based/driven sans action.
  • Various people advocate different areas of dueling more than others; i.e.: action over storytelling or vice versa.
• [2.1.1] Description
  • The language/words chosen to convey thoughts and expressions.
  • Main use in creating attacks, setting and mood.
  • Weighs in on the strength of the attack/counter/defense/evasion; is equated to power.
  • Good description is clear, concise description.
• [2.1.2] Creativity
  • Catch phrase; integral to dueling.
  • The use of ideas to make for original, awe-inducing and inspiring attacks.
  • Enhances the writing and character.
  • Power overwhelming.
• [2.1.3] Ingenuity
  • Being clever or inventive; using skill over brute force in writing.
  • Not just doing something new, but doing something old and making it new.
  • Using characteristics or weapons your character already has to maximum effect.
  • Not resorting to Dues Ex Machina tactics.
  • Can trump other attacks over being original if done well.
• [2.1.4] Originality
  • Key to dueling.
  • Doing what isn't the norm or hasn't been seen before.
  • Makes for a more enjoyable read.
• [2.1.5] Quality
  • More necessary than quantity.
  • Is used to gauge style of writing and use of language/words.
  • Bad writing is bad quality is bad dueling. Vice versa isn't always true.
  • Good writing isn't always quality which isn't always good dueling.
• [2.1.6] Attention to Detail
  • Ability to read, understand and comprehend all kinds of posts.
• [2.2.0] Styles
  • [2.2.1] True
    • No allowed auto hits; you do not describe damage inflicted to your opponent at all.
    • When attacked, do not fully avoid or negate enemy attacks.
    • Opponents decide damage done to their characters from your attacks through your writing.
    • No use of your opponents character.
    • Avoid god-modding.
  • [2.2.2] Mix / Semi-True
    • Allows some pre-major attack hits, called auto-hits; auto hits cannot be avoided.
    • Auto-hit damage is described by the attacker; is not to do major damage to opponent character.
    • Must be well described and executed to be enjoyable.
    • Participants agree to rule-set before the match.
    • Avoid god-modding.
  • [2.2.3] Cheez
    • God-modding.
    • Doing anything you want to your opponents.
    • You are immortal and cannot be killed.
    • Designed for more humor-based dueling.
• [2.3] Duration
  • Length of time in duels is variable.
  • Time flow is set by the players.
  • Can be hours to days to weeks, or even months in the extreme cases; this includes not only time within the duel, but real-life time.
  • Can be an agreed upon post count; i.e.: five posts each, intro, three attacks, outro.
• [2.4] Advantages
  • Your opponent leaves themselves open to attack all the time; look for these openings and exploit them.
  • Be aware you leave yourself open in your attacks as well.
  • Be decisive, take the initiative.
  • Be aggressive, don't let up attacks.
  • Smack talk is leaving yourself open to attacks because you stand there; in reality, nobody stands and listens to you blather on, they look to hit you in the face.
  • Be flexible, in that a duel is a constantly changing series of events and you must bend and flow with them.
  • Be exploitative, in that you must take advantage of every opening your opponent has.
  • Never jump back when you can sidestep; never sidestep when you can duck; never duck when you can catch your opponents attack and turn it against them.
• [2.5] Fair is Passé
  • Both sides will agree to rules in a duel.
  • Some rules are unspoken agreements, generally relating to dueling style; usually true is the default.
  • Changes to these unspoken rules must be made in advance and agreed upon before the duel, not during.
  • The expectation is that you will not deviate from these agreements.
• [2.6] Attack Types
  • Three distinct forms of attack: physical, magical and technological.
  • Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
  • Tech can be seen to be the strongest because it places the least amount of stress on the user (player) as opposed to magical or physical attacks.
• [3.0] General
  • Extremely short posts with no useful information are annoying.
  • Multiple short posts that could have been consolidated into a single post are even more annoying.
  • Leave your character open to interaction with others.
  • Always seek to improve your writing; by proxy, this should improve your role playing ability.
• [4.0.1] Coincidences and Knowledge
  • There is a difference from what you know (the player) and what the character knows.
  • You cannot know what another character knows; exceptions would be extrapolating or using conjecture to come up with the answer; this may only be done well if you know of the other character in an RP of some kind previously.
  • As in reality, if the opponent character is a stranger, you know nothing of them or their abilities.
  • You are not omnipotent and cannot know everything.
• [4.0.2] Out of Bounds
  • You cannot control your opponents characters in duels; same goes for RPs.
  • It is impossible to know what a person would do with their own character in every given situation.
  • Is a reference to cheez.
• [4.0.3] Common Sense; Not so Common
  • Don't use language not suited to the RP; i.e.: 1337-speak, or slang in a medieval RP.
  • The better you RP, the better your posts will be (in theory!); writing style and ability does play into this as well.
  • You don't always have to be the super-special, amazingly awesome character; try NOT being super-powered and over-done.
  • Being "special" is a bit of an oxymoron; your character is (generally) different from someone elses; this isn't true if your character is tall, has silver hair, carries a katana and goes by the name 'Sephiroth.'
  • Don't limit your creativity; every little bit helps for something more interesting.
  • Unless it's normal for your character, random murder is a no-no.
  • When joining an RP, don't jump in without a clue; either read everything to become familiar with what's going on or ask for a summary.
  • Take into consideration all description; it offers information that could be useful.
  • Stay within the bounds of your character; i.e.: only have your character do what it would NORMALLY do, unless sudden changes are meant for a reason.
  • Know the direction location of all characters in an RP or duel; this is so you can properly correlate the information to your character, such as being a specific distance away from the target, etc.
  • Understand key differences in direction of a person and their incoming attacks.
• [5.0] Role Plays
  • There are various kinds.
  • Some are more action, others more story, and some fall in between.
  • A moderated RP is driven along its course by a host; host gives problems for players to solve and goals to attain.
  • Planned quest RP is player driven, with a core group mapping out what will happen in the course of the RP.
  • Serious Quest is similar to planned, only with more players; involves only a basic storyline with players making it up as they go along.
  • A battle RP, duel or war, usually quick paced but sometimes happening over a series of days or even weeks until completed; detail sometimes overlooked more in favor of getting action oriented posts out; generally involve two people, but more can join in.
  • There are two main styles of RP, being the fantasy RP and the real-life; second is based on reality.
  • Can be hurt in progression if there are too many people on any one side; i.e.: too many good guys or bad guys.
• [6.0] Abbreviations
  • OOC: Out of Character
  • IC: In Character
  • FRP: Forum Role Play/Playing
  • FD: Forum Duel/Dueling
  • RPC: Role Playing Character
  • RP: Role Play

y helo thar

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Forum Dueling -- A Conceptual Guide