Fūma Kotarō wrote:Fuma Kotaro stood on a grassy hilltop in Sagami province Japan, looking out over the vast flatland in front of him. The field was lime green, with different shades of yellow flowers speckled about its landscape. Casting its shadow over him was a wall of trees and a blanket of forest, the density of which caused a dark silhouette of leafy branches and sunless figures behind him. It was a calm summers eve, and the morning skies were painted blueish grey, hinting at a slight chance of noon-time rain. Fuma Kotaro looked out over the entire plain, as far as his eyes could see. He could just make out the hazey purple mountains which towered over the horizen, several miles away. Fuma Kotaro knew without seeing that there was a river in front of those mountains in the distance, and that the strong currents provided a good gateway for defense. It would take many hours to reach Fuma Kotaro's position on that hilltop, and even then as the enemy approached he would see them coming from miles away.
Kotaro was born in Sagami province during the early 1550's, so the young 24-year-old ninja knew these territories like the back of his hand. Kotaro was wearing the official dress-code of hoari open-vest and hakama split-skirt pants over a dark green kimono in traditional Japanese fashion. His hair was tied back in a top-knot behind his head, and he wore a red hachimaki head-band which wrapped around his forehead and tied in the back with loose ends which draped down the nape of his neck. Over his costume he wore plated yoroi armor, typical of Japanese warriors at that time. The armor was woven of leather, bamboo, and metal beads that were painted green and red and black. Kotaro's armor was made up of a divided skirt, chest plate, shoulder pads, armpit guards, and a throat ring. He also wore yugake gloves and suneate shinguards, but left the rest of his body unprotected so as not to restrict his flexibility in combat. On his feet, Kotaro wore the ninja's split-toed tabi socks with wooden pads under his feet to guide his steps. Sheathed in a scabbard at the left side of his waist, with the blades upward in the traditional fashion, Fuma Kotaro wore a pair of ancient samurai swords. One of them was longer than the other, and both were connected to his hip by a firm hanamusubi knot which was also the custom at that time.
Fuma Kotaro was the jonin or leader of the Sagami ninja clan, a devote group of warriors who were feared and highly respected throughout the Japanese lands. On this fateful day in summers eve, Fuma Kotaro was expecting an unwelcomed visit from an old rival who also knew the way of the warrior. This unwelcomed guest was Koga Shintaro, the leader of another ninja clan in service of Takeda Shingen, a powerful daimyo who wanted control over Fuma Kotaro's province. Kotaro just stood there silently on that hill, like an unmoving statue, peering through his glass-lens telescope at the stillful horizen. Just then, he noticed movement coming up from the hills about 3-miles away. Recognizing them to be the helmets and banners of Takeda's samurai, Fuma Kotaro took in one deep breath and turned around to face the forest. "Hatamoto, Yubay!!!"
With one solid yell, Fuma Kotaro shouted his command into the forest. Just then, the trees and bushes began to move. Branches began crackling and leaves were thrown about. Then suddenly and out of nowhere, hundreds upon hundreds of armored soldiers marched out from the shadows in a perfect single formation. Where before there was nothing but the silence of trees and the whispering of the winds, now stood an enormous army made up of thousands of samurai at Fuma Kotaro's command. They stood row by row, column by column, from one distance in the north to another distance in the south, as far as the eye could see. All of them wore their appropriate mons and banners, every single last one of them in full-armor and ready for battle. As the Fuma army marched quickly out on to the open field, Fuma Kotaro stood above them on the hilltop admiring their formations. Samurai with spears and helmets were positioned up front, while the lower classed infantry stood in white robes with bows ready to shoot arrows at any moment. Behind them were rows and rows of Fuma ninja warriors, dressed in all-black covering everything but their heads and faces. These elite Fuma ninja all carried naginata glaives and long nodachi field-swords. As if that weren't enough, to Fuma Kotaro's right flank was a band of cavalry units who also numbered in the hundreds with swords and spears.
A lower ranking general approached Fuma Kotaro on the hilltop, taking the telescope from him and handing him his helmet. Kotaro bowed his head slightly, and the lower ranking general bowed lower in respect for his leader. Kotaro fixed his helmet and face-mask, which covered his nose and mouth, concealing everything but the feirceness in his eyes. Kotaro's face-mask had the design of a tiger's open jaws on it, showing rows of sharp pointed teeth which gave Kotaro the look of a wild animal on the battlefield. As he buckled his face-mask and fastened his chin-guard to his helmet, Fuma Kotaro turned back around to face the enemy. He knew they were marching quickly, and by this time Takeda's troops could only be 1-mile away at most. Watching as the black cloud of enemy soldiers marched quickly over the last hilltop before the grassy plain, Fuma Kotaro and his army waited patiently for the right opportunity to begin their battle. Kotaro could hear the rumbling of horse's hooves on the ground, and the clanking of mobile armoured troops as they approached. Once he heard the blow of the enemy horns, Kotaro unsheathed the katana sword from his waist-line scabbard and raised it straight above his head for all his men to see. "Ready Arrows!!!" he shouted, and immediately his command was echoed by certain other commanders who were strategically positioned through the ranks. The archers fixed their bows, and drew their arrows, holding their positions with intense stillness as they each tried to narrow out a target on the playing field. Fuma Kotaro swallowed his spittel and braced himself, preparing to go into yet another bloody battle making Japanese history...
Notice the feeling you get when you read this post. You get the sense that, well, almost as if you're actually there in the events which are taking place. Kotarō doesn't just go straight into a one-on-one battle with Shintarō... No... Instead, he role-plays the situation by adding several non-playing characters called NPC's into the conflict. We also notice the in-depth look at the enviroment. Kotarō doesn't just stick to a square field of battle... No... He goes on to describe the entire landscape where this combat will take place. He describes the weather, the colors in the sky, the wall of trees behind him, the time period in which these events occur. Kotarō also makes mention of the mountains in the horizen, and the things he can see in his mind which do not even appear on the battlefield. Kotarō further illustrates all the different shades and colors around him, the emotions he feels inside, and possibility of things which might happen in the future (ex: noon-time rain). Notice also how he keeps to the time period in history, never adding cars and airplanes to the scene. Using the proper language, but also giving it's English definition so as to make one feel as though they are actually in Japan... So here we have two on-line fighters who will meet sword-to-sword on a small playing field... But despite the small dynamics of their situation, they instead go above and beyond, taking their experience to a whole new level in role-playing textual combat... I mean, you only need a small space to have a sword-fight. You could have a duel on a train, or in a cell, or even a telephone booth. For this incident Kotarō and Shintarō could have fought it out on a boat or in a dojo... But no... Kotarō goes on to describe hundreds of thousands of miles of land which will never even be a part of their conflict. You see?
Anyways, that's just one example I have for better quality role-playing textual combat. I could've gone on to follow up with a post from Shintarō, but I figured I could use just one character's post to get my point across.
. It's like... the books I've got to read for school... it's just words, and more words. Not that I want pictures but there's no speech breaks, no nothing it looks like the condensed version of the internet. Paragrah-en-ise it and PM me 
