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 - And I Thought This Wasn't Possible

Authors Note: This was originally written in May of 2009, but I never posted it. So, here it is in all its glory.

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Funny thing happened yesterday. I thought it'd be amusing to join a Newb Duel Tourney on RPFF, since it was open to everyone. I submitted a character that I've had for a while through a sign up, spent all of fifteen minutes writing up the backstory I hadn't bothered to put down on a page -- and then was summarily told it was a good character, but the weapons had to go. I asked why, and it was called over-powering. I thought about this, started an asinine argument on my own part. Thought the whole of the world had become more retarded than it already is, but came to a realization.

I can understand where the judges are coming from, in their rejection. They believe that simply by having a weapon it will be used no matter what. A stupid assumption if you ask me, but an assumption somewhat valid by their own train of thought. The character I had created was designed for a futuristic world where the weapons he was equiped with were commonplace things, and having them was the line between surviving and dying. The argument raged, and I finally decided it wasn't worthwhile, even though I was still angry. So I re-thought parts of the argument, turned it over again and again in my mind. I found problems with the reasoning of both myself and the judges. I could poke holes forever in either part, but it wouldn't change the outcome.

But a new thought hit me. Throughout the whole of the argument I was told my character was over-powered. Over-powered by the standards of the tourney they were creating. But yet, it was an under-powered character in a different climate of duel. So, it struck me: there is no such thing as an over-powered character, and there never will be. There is only the over-powering actions of the duelist or RPer in the match itself, since you can easily supe up a character in a match to give it that extra edge, and that's what a lot of over-powering duelists do.

I can understand where the judges are coming from, but I realized that there are no such things as over-powered characters, since a character is designed with that power in mind to take on a specific challenge. The challenge is created by the author of the character to make the power necessary. The problem of "over-powering" arises not from the character, but the duelist or RPer boosting the power already there DURING the match, not before it. That's what the judges don't see. They see that because a character has missiles on him, that he'll use them instantly and begin firing them off at the opponent. They don't see that a missile against a person is a massive waste of munitions, since a missile isn't designed for solitary humanoid targets.

Now, back to the sign up method, I have believed for a long time, and still believe, that it is a poor method for gauging a persons writing ability, and an even poorer method still for gauging a characters power level, since those levels, and abilities, can sometimes change while in a duel itself. Asking for as much detail as possible calls on the honor system, and while many will list numerous abilities, there are many more that aren't listed, and yet even more that just randomly show up in the match itself that were never accounted for at the beginning of the match.

Which brings me back to my original point that it is not the characters that are over-powered, it is simply the fact that in the match itself the circumstances change. People don't want to see their characters hurt, harmed or otherwise touched. They want to see the character come through the match looking just as pristine and wonderful as it did at the beginning. That's where the problem comes in. The duelist increases the power as they see necessary to make certain that said character isn't harmed.

Forum Dueling Basics - The Long Road

At some point, you'll need to be honest with yourself. It won't be nice or pretty, but it is a kindness -- even when emotions are running high and you think you're going to be crushed under all this "negative" weight. At the moment you won't recognize it as being kind, let alone useful. How could they say such a thing?

I'm talking about criticism.

Too many don't know how to take it, and when it happens, especially to our writing, a good many people -- some who've said they're open to criticism in the first place -- will explode like a several megaton nuke. And that's a good day.

When someone wants to improve their writing, often they'll turn to others, most likely friends, in the hope that they'll pick the piece apart and tell them the error of their ways. What generally ends up happening instead is that those same friends, out of a desire to not hurt you, tell you that what you're written is great, and that just hurts you more. If you aren't aware of your mistakes, you cannot improve from them. And if people continually tell you that those same mistakes are made of pure gold, well, you'll just keep shuffling along the same mediocre path.

Good friends will be honest. They'll tell you that, yes, the writing is atrocious. It sucks. Maybe not exactly that blunt, but they'll let you know. And, if they happen to know a thing or two about writing, they'll also give steps, ideas or a means toward pursuing improvement, such as: detail needs work, proofread and edit more, slim down those excessive descriptions, correction of bad word choice, etc.

Typically, most people are blind to their own mistakes. A rare individual will spot them, but that isn't the rule, it's the exception. All of us, myself included, will often gloss over a mistake and keep going as if we hadn't even made one. It blinds us to our own failings, and with regard to friends telling us we're doing great, when finally confronted with how bad our writing truly is, it makes us defensive and angry. Friends wouldn't lie, would they?

This brings me to my third point, and probably the most important: the thing that will help improve ones writing ability is self-reflection or introspection to a degree. It lets you look at your writing from a different vantage. You can see it isn't good, you know this, but it lets you try things out to find out what works and what doesn't. It won't stop blind spots from happening, but can aide in bringing out the better qualities of your writing. There will still be mistakes, those happen, but they may happen less.

In the end, self reflection and criticism, constructive or otherwise, will help you move forward. Without them, you may drown in mediocrity for years to come. But it also comes down to you as a person on whether you wish to pursue greatness or wallow. Wallowing gets you nothing. Perseverance, well, that's the stuff legends are made of.

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?

Culture Shock: Riding Down, Coasting Up

Recently, a friend of mine linked me to a forum that was having an RP tourney, or that's what he alluded to it being. I, already warming to the idea of another duel tourney (having done one already this year) jumped in ill-prepared and unknowing (I'm like that, being all-up-ons when it comes to duel tourneys). Well, I was in for a culture shock.

Their main method of "dueling" is that each person must post a biography of the character they intend to use throughout. Normally, among my typical crowd, a bio is just extraneous info for the crowd to read if they desire, but has no meaning and bearing on a match. This however is the opposite for the group I'm doing the tourney with. The purpose is to give an in-depth look at the character, because you, as a participant, will be writing a fight sequence using not just your own character, but your opponents as well. Your opponent does the same thing. Both sequences bare no relation to one another, and can be done up in any fashion the writer desires.

Creative license is granted to both duelists to write what they desire and move the match in any direction they want, up to and including the complete humiliation of the opposing character if so chosen. Not that this seems to happen, but it is open and, seemingly, allowed. This creates an environment that focuses more on the whole of the writing piece than the piecemeal effort of attack/defend/counter that is seen in other forum dueling, as there is no sudden break from the action as each poster goes through finalizing their attack and leaving open space for their opponent to retaliate in. The downside, though, is that there is a lot more to be written, and that the whole piece must be more engaging. In a regular forum duel, a single bad attack could detract, but wouldn't ruin the match for you. Whereas in the other, a number of bad lines, paragraphs, etc, can detract wholly from the entirety of the written structure.

This could mean that there is no internal consistency, excessive monologuing or unnecessary dialogue where it wouldn't make sense. In forum dueling, your opponent can often make up for your own deficiencies allowing for the whole to at least be cohesive. In this second, it's a single writer, so the onus is on him (or her) to make a masterful piece that must have all the parts everyone expects of a duel (flow, creativity, consistency of thought and action as well as a fully functioning worldspace that it all takes place in).

While I am a strong proponent of forum dueling as I know it, I'm not against this other method. It forces the duelist to write not just their own character, but also to account for the other entity. And, assuming proper accounting, to get in the secondary characters head and portray them in as realistic a fashion to the actual author who created that character. This, I believe, is the most difficult portion, in that given creative license, getting right all the nuances of someone else s creation is a fairly difficult prospect.

In the end, where several judges come in with forum dueling to give a decree as to the outcome, the participants all come in and vote on whose sequence of events they prefer more.

I'm not opposed to this other method. It's intriguing, and outlandishly different from what I'm atypically used to. But, assuming I make it past the first round, could be quite the learning experience. It also, to an extent, could allow for a means of bettering ones writing skills through the use of other characters and writing them well. This I'm fully behind. If anything, I recommend at least giving this a try once. Who knows, the style might grow on others as well.

The Art of the Internal

Internal monologue is something used in writing to convey the feelings, impressions, and mental state of a character we're reading about. It lets us know more intimately those characters, what their emotional context is given a specific situation, and why they are acting in a given way to that situation. However, in dueling, while internal monologue is a good tool for fleshing out your character, it is a poor tool in a duel. And like any tool, while some are good for specific jobs, this one is not meant truly for the arena of forum dueling. It doesn't convey the action, does not give a sense of what is happening, only what is happening internally in the mind of one character.

Dueling has and always will be a battle of wills. It is both an internal and an external struggle between two fictitious characters. But when internal monologue overshadows the action and combat and the necessary components to describe that, then it has gone too far. While I understand some people's need to constantly reference their own characters, those character's feelings and mental state, it should not interfere with the action itself. Attacks suffer when too little effort is spent to properly flesh them out; the same goes for defenses or even counters to incoming attacks. No attention to detail in regards to the core of dueling, the action, and the duel as a whole suffers for it.

While attention does need to be paid toward the setting, in relation to the area, locale, and local flavor, it should be enough that all persons involved understand just where they are, what is going on, and if there are extra naunces they should be made aware of. The same goes for attacks, defenses and counters; enough information described clearly and concisely to get the point across without seeming redundant. Singular sentences of what is happening can sometimes do it, such as "threw a punch for the face," but not always if the series of actions is far more complex. A complete list of the chain of events needs to take place instead of a Deus Ex Machina-mentality where internal thoughts take precedence followed by a Mormanistic "and then it happened."

Forum Dueling Basics - Judging Focus

There's a lot of talk about where the focus should lie within dueling for the purpose of judging. What criteria should play into it; that is, should it be on the writing or the actual actions -- i.e.: the fighting -- of the match? While I won't dispute that the writing carries those actions forward, molds them into something useful, readable and enjoyable, I think the attacks should be the focus. After all, it is a duel, so in turn, you're judging more in turn the attack, and also the defense, of the post itself. The writing plays a part, but in its essence acts only as a mode of transportation to the attack or defense, a means of getting itself off the ground. It is therefore secondary.

The two, while combined, need to be separated. The attack/defense, built out of words, and while being as flimsy or strong as the words they're constructed from, should be considered their own identity. They are more the bread and butter of a duel than the writing itself is. Basically, I consider the attack/defense to be like a house. The words are the structure that put it together while the attack/defense is the stunning architecture. When a person sees a house, they don't rip down the walls to look at the structure; no, they grade the house on its overall appearance and other little nuances that it has. Its character, if you will. This is how it should be with attack/defense scenarios in duels. Grade the attack/defense of the post first, then look at the structure that makes it up if you felt the whole thing needs a renovation.

Now, while I'm saying that the writing plays a secondary role in dueling, I'm not saying to ignore all the different watchwords when it comes to writing in general, such as creativity, expression, flow, dynamism and the usual bludgeoning tool of grammar and spelling. You should very well pay attention to these as most people will consider your writing quality of higher precedence than that of your attacks. What I am saying is that the focus shouldn't be so hung up on the writing itself for a duel match, and more centralized about the fighting. After all, it's called a duel for a reason. Why not wake up to that reality and judge the actual fight, eh?

Just my two cents.

Forum Dueling Basics -- Just Die Already

It gets to me a lot that people don't know how to take damage. Ignoring simple facts like concussive damage caused by shockwaves, blasts, explosions and all the rest, among other things. Too many people feel attached to their characters. I'm not saying we shouldn't be, but when it interferes with dueling, it is obviously causing a problem. No, they don't want a nasty bruise, it might upset their make up or pretty-boy image. I'm sorry, in a fight, you do get messed up. If you can't take damage properly, you're in the wrong. If wanting to hold on to a character and keep them alive means so much, go play in a cheeze duel: mix and true style is out of the question. You are going to get hurt, possibly even die. It's a fight, and generally go to the death. You want to cause as much damage until your opponent surrenders or dies. That's just how it is.

I actually think that maybe it's time for a revolution in dueling. A willingness to accept the death of a character. A bunch of die-cast, carbon-copy throw-away characters is needed. You die, you lose. Take a hit, take some damage. Lose an eye, a hand, an arm and a leg. Your head, maybe? Obviously if you're one of those "attack, dodge, attack, dodge, attack, dodge" types, then you already did. But I wonder how many would accept this? Obviously some people have taken time to craft their characters, spent many hours making them "believable" (if by "believable" they mean the trashy, arrogant, dark and brooding anti-heroes that spew condescending angst into the world) and worthy of a good fight. Well, in a fight, you aren't doing back history, so who the fuck really cares? Just fight, already!

Another thing that gets to me is the whole idea that you have time to have a conversation in a fight. People have this arrogant idea that in their own reality, they have the time to think these long-winded thoughts about the nature of life and everything around them. Or that they can stand back and talk about their grand plans and how worthless the opponent is. If you think this, then you haven't been in a real fight. If you stop and take your mind off what you're doing to chat it up, your opponent isn't going to stop and let you continue. They're going to take advantage of this. But, even for all the points I make, I feel like I'm yelling at nothing sometimes. Nobody listens.

Forum Dueling Basics - How to BE

There are many advantages to be had while dueling. You and your opponent constantly make mistakes while not realizing it, leaving yourself open. For every advantage you think you have, your opponent has five more that they don't know about.

People try all sorts of things thinking they are giving themselves an advantage. Every attack you make leaves you open in some form, even distance attacks. While you might think you have an advantage, you don't. This is how real combat is. Each advantage can also be a disadvantage, so plan wisely. Also, you should try to keep track of EVERY advantage you give your foe, or as many as is possible. Why do this? So you can counter them when he uses them against you, plus it also gives you something to expect. But don't assume that your opponent will always go for an advantage you think you've given him/her. He/she might have seen something you didn't and will use that. Be prepared for anything, as most anything is possible. However, there are sometimes strategies for not only predicting your opponents' move, but forcing them into taking the move you want them to.

But, as with all things, there are things you need to take into account in a duel. Tactical thinking aside, a good strategy is 'to be' a whole number of things in your match all at once, or as much as it possible. They will give credit to your attacks and your ability to overcome your opponents attacks. They include:

• Be Decisive
  - Never let your opponent have the first move if you can help it. Why would you want the first move? Because then you can throw in a wussy attack and gauge how your opponent reacts. Or you can use a forceful attack off the bat just to set the tone.
• Be Exploitative
  - Look for weaknesses in your opponents attacks quickly. Look for where your opponent is leaving him/herself open and take advantage of that. Don't sit back throwing punches you know won't hit unless you want to follow it up with something else. You want to win and win fast. The longer and more drawn out a battle becomes, the less of an edge you have--unless you're just that good.
• Be Flexible
  - Never let yourself be caught stuck in a rut. Be flexible to situational changes in the duel, adapt to the constantly changing environment you are in. Don't be caught out in the rain on an attack, but instead flow with it.
• Be Quick - Don't let up, ever. Continue attacking. If your opponent stops, they're leaving themselves open - take advantage of this.
• Be Aggressive
  - You can play a conservative role in your dueling, and throw up a mighty defense, but a defense is just that, a defense. The more you attack your opponent, the more you keep him reeling and off balance the quicker you can deal massive damage.
• Be Creative - 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 oversized weapon, evading and coming up with inginuitive ways of tiring him/her out and forcing them into a corner will almost always get you a win. Plus inginuitive attacks can throw your opponent off, mess up their timing to the point where you can exploit an advantage.

Then there are things you should take note of:

• Balance Displacement
  - Keep them off their guard. The more often they don't know what to do and are off balance, the more they slip up and leave themselves open. The best way to do this is to continually do something unexpected, but do it too often and your opponent will begin to see through the tactic.
• Use the Environment
  - There are many things in the environment that can be exploited at any time, by you or your opponent. Roots, branches, rocks, gas mains, electrical lines, etc. All can be used to cause harm to your opponent if done right. Keep track of this stuff.
• Running the Distance
  - Don't change the distance to suit your own purposes. This is short sighted and can sometimes make things more difficult for yourself in the end. If you're close, stay close. If you're distant, stay distant. Try and find what works and stick with it. Jumping away simply because your opponent is attacking can leave you open to a much larger attack and is just poor planning to begin with.
• Jumping
  - 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. Parrying blows is often more effective than blocking them; you can turn attacks away to make your opponent leave themselves open. An excellent and useful tactic.
• Talk is Cheap
  - Don't spend time talking in a duel. It detracts from the realism or immersion. When was the last time you saw a couple cage fighters jump back to exchange verbal garbage before jumping back in at one another to rain blows? Never. You wouldn't have time to do it in reality, so don't do it in a duel.
• Not an Anime
  - Dueling is not an anime. Throw away everything you see in an anime, from the jumping back to talk about how recklessly awesome and badass you are, to doing it just to charge forward and swing your weapon (if you're using a melee weapon) blindly. It shows bad planning, lack of creativity, poor quality of attack or even writing, no originality, and excessive amounts of stupidity.

Remember, dueling is fighting. If you aren't there to fight, get out.

Forum Dueling Basics - Tech, Vol 2

Tech.

Last time I discussed tech, I spoke on how anyone can use tech and how it is by and large can be more powerful than magic because there generally aren't any adverse effects on the user.

With tech, you must build the device to accomplish the action you want. Some devices are multi-function and are capable of various input to do various output, while others are specialized. The end result, though, is that you must have the device/object that does what you want it to. A description of size, shape, color, maybe even weight and you're done. This is generally where tech shines, in the description: basically, it's the proving ground of the concept. Most writers in a duel with just say what the device is called and what it does, but others try to approximate something close to reality in how it works. If the device is based on some kind of reality, it gives itself/gains some credibility. Of course, since you are dueling/RPing, you will suspend some of the belief because at current, such devices aren't possible. But like I said, it's an approximation of current-day technology, an extrapolation if you will, of what tech could very well be capable in some far-off distant future if we were to advance far enough.

The function of tech is limited only by creativity. If you can dream of it, tech can do it. It's the same for magic, but again this comes back around full circle to the fact that tech can accomplish for the user without draining the user, while magic is the opposite -- it sucks the user dry to accomplish the end. Now, I'm not going to say what kind of devices you should create, because that would be stupid -- you need to create weaponry based on your personal preference and what works for you. But as to categories and the types of tech you can create, while the sky might be the limit, here are a few: bodyarmor, firearms, lasers, missiles, rockets, grenades, and etc. I could go on for a long while with more categories, but won't.

These are just broad categories. I can already hear you saying (possibly complaining even!) how you can't use these, that they don't suit. Why not? Because they sound like they might be right out of today, that they're modern and not futuristic at all? An example of a futuristic weapon would be a railgun. You think cool. But a railgun is a firearm; depending on the size, it can either be a rifle or a massive artillery piece.

So, the questions in the end are: what're you going to build? How much description should you put into the device to make it feasible? Would the tech you've built be considered cheez, god-modding or over-powering?

The unfortunate part, though, is that the third question is where you're going to hit a speed bump. A lot of tech will be considered over-powering because of its ability to perform its actions on the fly, instantaneously without having to go through any kind of warm-up sequence. Just going to have to be careful with it. And that's that.

Forum Dueling Basics - Flow

Flow in writing is the toughest, and probably one of the most asked, questions to be answered. Flow is a bitch. She comes at you with a knife in one hand, a silver tray on the other, and when you think you got both of those steadied out, she kicks you in the balls.

The best way is to relate flow to Lego. Your words are the bricks and you're attempting to build yourself a nice "wall" of text. Now, you can grab any word, or brick, you want. Builds up a wall fast, but it won't look right, you get mismatched colors, and it won't feel right. It becomes gaudy, messy, and puts people off. The other side of it, though, is that you choose the wrong parts for the job, or wrong words, and the whole thing crumbles under its own weight. You have to do a balancing act. And even then, supposing you get all the right pieces, the right words, and fashion a wall of a single indiscriminate color, you get something that stands good, but is bland. You need some color to liven things up, but you don't want to over-do it and make things seem gaudy or right out to lunch.

There isn't really a definite answer, and won't be, since you style your writing however you want, and some people will either love it or hate it. This brings back the balancing act where you try and use the right pieces for the right role. I can't say I'm perfect in this aspect, as even I fuck up and I know it. You can only do your best at it.

Probably the best advice I can give is to read more, unless you happen to be TEW. It'll give you more ideas to use, and to see how different authors and writers approach writing. Some things, you'll find, either reach up and grip you by the throat in a choke-hold of death and won't let you go until its done and you feel like you were raped in a most unpleasant way, while others will put you in a headlock and barrel you through the most awesome things you've seen and never let go until the end where it leaves you satisfied and wanting more.

It comes down to a trial and error thing. Find what works and what doesn't. Plain and simple.

Forum Dueling Basics - Forces

During my two months in the field, there are times when you get moments to sit around on your ass and wait for the next phase, the next thing that's going to happen. This can sometimes be mere minutes or several hours. It's called the "hurry up and wait" syndrome, and happens all the time. Well, while during one of these lovely sessions I was graced with, I had a thought about RPing, as it struck me purely out of the blue.

Prior to going into the field, I had had an argument with a number of people about characters in general and the amount of powers they were "allowed" and what overpowering was and all that jazz.

No character is made the same; in this no character have the same abilities or powers or even thoughts. To assume they are is asinine. We're told constantly to get away from the cookie-cutter mould that a lot of characters are created from, to seek originality of concept. Well, in doing so, in making these different characters, they all come in different shapes, sizes and varying degrees of ability. And it is because of this inherent difference that it is difficult to properly match skill levels of the characters without it appearing that one is overpowering the other.

The answer? Simple. Regulation of the force necessary to the bare minimum to accomplish a specific task, such as beating so-and-so into a bloody pulp. It could be reasonable to suggest that a person who is considered an excellent role player would limit his power and ability, not take it away altogether, to the minimum levels necessary to fight. But the average person can't believe this, and whenever they see someone who is highly capable, instantly think that said person will overpower because they can't.

Sure, it's an assumption on both sides, but the whole "well you can't use that because you're going to overpower" rather inhibits more than a "well, sure, fight the guy, but keep it reasonable."

Just a thought. I might be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time, but leave some comments on what you think.

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.

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.

Forum Dueling Basics - Dead Weight

It sinks like a stone in water, a bird that just got caught in a hail of rounds from a duck hunting party. It isn't graceful in the least. It's monstrous, bulbous, and it's crashing with the finesse of a cannonball at a diving competition in the Summer Olympics. It's dueling and role playing, and it's in decline, and fading beneath the waters like a sad little wet dream by a teen ashamed to have been caught with a mess in his bed. If you ever stopped to look at role playing and dueling, you'll even see it isn't the once vibrant, living being of sunshine and rainbows it once was. Instead, you see a husk, a decaying and malnourished creature barely surviving on the limited scrapes fed to it by the few still interested in the art, and even their interest is waning.

But the question is why? The answer is actually simple: lives. All those teens who found their mainstay on the boards in dueling and role playing got on with their lives. They got jobs, went to university and college, dropping dueling and role playing like so much dead weight. The sadder part, though, isn't that these intrepid creationists who built up the art left, it's that they didn't bother to pass it on to anybody else. They just left, ran off the track with the baton and forgot to give the next runner in line a chance at equaling or besting the record. No, instead you have the current generation of role players and duelists that are lackluster at best, and when one of those so highly esteemed in legend for their prowess in the art happens to come on by, all they can do is complain angrily that something they spearheaded with such ferocity is being destroyed.

Sad, really.

Now, the bad part on my behalf is that I'm being hypocritical in a sense. I'm just as bad as any other person who happens along and complains about how good the old days were compared to how they are now. I'm one of those people who found a job, found a life, grew up and moved on. But I still have the spark, somewhere, and maybe if I can revive that little bestial thing, I might return to my former glory and actually deserve the respect that's been given to me. A dream, but a start.

So, how do you fix this problem? Well, the current role players and duelists could just learn how to write in the first place, and learn to put some effort and love behind what they do. That would work, but only so far. You can't convince all the people who left to come back, either, to fix the problem themselves. Their lives interfere, and whatever takes priority in their life, be it their job, their spouse, their gaming habits or even children, would take precedence over dueling and role player. In the end, it really falls into the hands of the current and new generation. They have the opportunity to build on or destroy what the previous generation did. You could also cut out the older folks who don't do anything other than complain (myself included), which would improve things as well.

Several things you could do. They might work, might not. But it's not in my hands to decide what goes down. Your problems, you fix 'em. I'm just the advice guy in the corner.