Training Hall- Since there is always an interest in textual dueling or fighting, this is a general OOC for those who are interested in Type 1 Eden Era dueling on RPG. Here you can offer ideas for a duel or discuss power levels and tactics as well as talk about ongoing or past duels. You can ask other duelist for advice and offer your opinions on various aspects of dueling. All discussion here will be done with civility and respect.

In the Training Hall you can link your character so that others may review them, look at other duelists and issue or accept challenges both recorded HoR: Hall of Records and non-recorded.

One thing that I believe will help everyone is if we title our fights as HoR to allow those who scan the fight boards a quick way of identifying Hall of Records duels.

The Training Hall will be where all of us who enjoy this type of collaborative writing can encourage one another and learn how to become better writers. Entertaining well-written prose is what makes an epic fight stand out, I hope we all work together to help each other reach that goal. To write entertaining prose that conveys excitement and draws the reader into the fight by allowing them to care for the characters.

Some reading that might help:

How to make characters with powers

Story telling

Are you a duelist- discussion

As I said this is an area where those who enjoy this type of collaborative writing can seek out help, opponents or pointers on their dueling style.

Here are my primary Dramatis Personae: The characters I duel with. Some are immensely powerful, others are simply realistic melee with no powers other than their skills. Some have minor powers, mostly enhanced physical attributes.

Skallagrim the Cughtagh (Xindhi)
Lord Counsel Synjyn Drake (Xindhi)
Quinn Balfour (Human)
Warrgh Spinebreak (Orc)
JT MacLeod (Human)
Rhydderch the Shining One (Demi-God)
General Freedom (Super Hero)

One of the biggest issues I see from new members and new duelist is a lack of clear and coherent rules that lay out how the fight will be conducted. Rules are really important as they help both fighters know the limits of what they can and cannot do. Below are the rules I use for my duels. Feel free to use them, modify them or create your own rules, but please always post them so that both fighters are on the same page, and that any one who judges your fight has an idea what both fighters have agreed upon.

Rules to the duel.
Respect your opponent. We're here to have fun - if there is a disagreement, we'll resolve the conflict in a civil manner. This means no flaming or harassing behavior. If this is not possible, we'll call in a judge and abide by the decision.

This is a T1 fight with the following rules.
A.No god-modding. This includes but is not limited to:
1. Ignoring damage.
2. Auto-hitting/ Forcing damage.
3. Metagaming.
4. No teleporting, no mind reading, no use of powers not clearly listed in the persona's biography.
5. No use of equipment not clearly listed in the persona's biography.

B.Be somewhere in the realm of logic in your attack and defense posts, and describe what you are doing or what is occurring in your post.

C.Write using standard forms of grammar. This includes but is not limited to:
1. Proper Paragraphs structure, this means NO wall of text.
2. No Text type, i.e. ur for you're, et al.
3. A minimum of one paragraph is required, no maximum limit but keep it reasonable.

I'm liking those for base rules! Thanks for the PM, by the way, I'll be reading the storytelling link soon.

Here's my 'contribution'. I'm trying to have a middle ground between my dying verbose style and a minimalistic approach. Now, I'm still going to shove in the occasional allegory or comparison, but posts that pertain to fighting will be centered around just that.

My question is: should I add back-story to the battle? Not in the sense X and Y have reasons to fight, but things like flashbacks and memories which, while not directly involved in the fight, do explain certain things like powers or moves.

mmm, I might as well throw in my opinion XD About time I started to do so anyway, so I'll start on this forum, if people don't like it, I'll shut my face again ^^

I love backstories, though I'm not that great at actual roleplayed combat yet, I think they're great. They tend to add a new layer into it, be it full of emotion, suspense, whatnot.
So I would say, yes, in most cases, the more information about anything connected to the fight, within certain boundries, improves it's quality. Often dramatically.

(I hope this is really an anyone answer thing XD if only specific people are supposed to answer then just delete my post, ^^; thankers)
Thanks for the PM BTW

Looks cool and thanks for the PM I will definitely post here for help whether it be others or myself lol.

Anyone wanna look at my lowly powered characters from my novel, Elemental realm? "Why yes we do!" lol

characters/brendan
characters/Courtney
characters/~Sophia~
characters/~Clare~
characters/Conor Unfinished

Here is my RP characters that are recorded

characters/Theodor
characters/Dengar

Here is Princess Pheneria

characters/Pheneria

My three badasss

characters/Krugan
characters/Grinum
characters/Garferrdian

And last and least

characters/Jental

I want and will love all feedback and I would like to ask you all for ideas For any of the characters.

Hay thar guyz!


I don't have much to add, especially since I'm new here and just enjoying getting my feet wet. I gotta say, it's awesome battling here so far. Where I come from most of my battle posts are between 2500 and 4000 words, so the laidbackness of this joint is awesome.


If you're curious about any of my characters you can check em out here

First Korobug, this is a forum for discussion and advice. We cannot become a better writer if we aren't open to criticism. Your opinion is welcome as long as you are willing to allow others to have their opines as well. We have no specific person answering anything unless the question is directed towards him or her alone.

Safisan-My question is: should I add back-story to the battle? Not in the sense X and Y have reasons to fight, but things like flashbacks and memories which, while not directly involved in the fight, do explain certain things like powers or moves.

Safisan, I think back story added into the battle is fine as long as it doesn't detract from or dispel the illusion of the fiction you are sharing. Back-story can be incorporated via internal dialogue, memories, or triggered by events currently being addressed. The showing of the back-story will be the challenge, in this type of writing, especially textual combat, we must show and not tell.

Writing combat effectively is difficult because if we write it technically it will be boring, even to someone who understands the moves. Imagine a causal reader trying to decipher the intricacies of moves if you merely tell them via a purely mechanical style. However if you show the moves as a fluid and active component of the combat scene, it becomes more engaging and easier to incorporate the back-story in a way the casual reader gains an insight to the character as well as see the move in action.

Victim130, I notice you have a family, Brendan, Sophia and Clare and having scanned the character sheets for each of them the history of the family seems very thin. I think if you take each of them and spend 15-20 minutes just free writing about each of them, you will be able to craft a more engaging familial history and show truer emotions when you write about them. This is of course regarding the duels you have where two family members have to fight together.


Jace, verbose and wordiness doesn't necessarily create compelling fiction, which is one reason I detest purple prose in duels. To many wasted elaborate words on really non-essential aspects of the fight that someone thought showed literacy. I much prefer dense words that have impact than excessive wordiness.

Anyway those are my opinions.

Skall

Oh trust me, I know, which is one reason why I'm liking it here so far. I am in another fight over there, and my first attacking post was only like 600+ words, and my partner was telling me to add more. I simply said, no.

Thats my biggest problem lol my word limits. I'm usually around like 100-200 words per post.

Well I am glad that our style is something you enjoy. RPG is not a predominate dueling site, that is not the purpose, we are a role-playing site, however we understand that there is always a group of writers who enjoy the collaborative combat aspect of role-play. We try to encourage those who duel here to learn the basics of T1, to duel with others and learn how to write effective, concise prose that is engaging to a reader.

The nature of RPG is to encourage and nurture the writer into becoming more proficient and capable of writing effectively in a collaborative setting. Those who seek to duel have a greater onus on them to learn to read what their partner(s) are writing and respond to it while adding their own part of the story in a logical and fluid manner that captivates the action and intensity of the duel as well as enhance and forward the interactive story between them.

I am trying to encourage those who do duel here to think about the intro post as the most important story-telling aspect of the duel. This is where readers are introduced to the character and the motivations, fears and desires that might lurk within. Once that is done everything else is merely a matter of crafting an collaborative story until someone makes a mistake and loses the fight. I think word use is important. Note I said word use not wordiness.

Powerful words that have impact can convey a great deal in a role-play and in a duel. For example, Sexual assault is not as impactful as Rape. In a duel this Pitor launched a quick jab to the ribs is more impactful than, Pitor, thanks to his boxing training in the peoples militia, jabbed Simon in the torso area with a quick hitting blow.

Victim130- I think you are getting better. You are much better than the first fight I observed you in. You are gaining a better grasp of how things occur, but your glaring weakness is characterization. I find your intro posts are bland and uninspired. You gloss over the intro and in my opinion, that sets up the rest of the fight for you, you simply don't seem as vested in it. I think some of your characters, properly developed would make some fearsome opponents and offer great stories in role-plays. Work on that aspect and I think you will see your characters in a different light.

Here is a question. What would it take to get people to finish a tournament? I know that they start here with a great deal of fan-fare and enthusiasm, only to slowly die on the vine. It seems once the second round is reached the post just cease, it is like everyone agreed to stop there.

Any suggestions on how to get people to finish? Clearly the idea of losing is part of it and some people are so vastly egotistical to think they cannot lose and stop when faced with that possibility, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of entering the tournament in the first place?

Possibly we could see some Mod-created tournaments with actual rewards for winning. Perhaps since most actual tournaments have some kind of prize these tournaments could too? Also how about some kind of penalty for leaving the tournament. Perhaps an increase in the spam timer that prevents posts right after another for that particular user. That is just some of my thoughts.

That's a good idea. I have seen on other sites where you can win little icons that go under your name and avatar. Perhaps if a tangible reward would be incentive, I could speak to the Admins and coders to see if it were possible to have such things available to us.

I think a gold, silver and bronze would be good for first, second and third place. After say 5 medals the medal turns into a statue? Or some other iconic symbol everyone agreed upon. Perhaps the belt systems used in martial arts?

Of course this is all hypothetical because I am not aware of the limits on the coding process, but if it is possible would something like this help keep interest in finishing a tournament? Keep up with the ideas guys, that was a good one Conumbra.

I'm liking the icons so long as they actually take effort to be earned, otherwise we'll just turn into Gaia. Like that's not already happening...

When I find some free time, I'm going to add a history section to my characters. While I have it in mind, I'm not sure about whether I should use a biography style of writing, or opt for storytelling instead. Any suggestions?

Of course, the icons would only be obtainable after you won a tournament and not just a regular duel or whenever. You would have to earn them.

Correct the medals would only be awarded for finishing a tourney in first, second or third position not for dueling. Duels have their own reward in the HoR by rankings.

I haven't been involved in a tournament in a long, long, long time. Like five years or more. I hate that I missed getting in on the current one, and the icon thing sounds pretty good. I was actually going to ask if it's possible for users to create and run tournaments, if they are approved by a Mod. You could also do a joint-user created tournament, where you let people vote on where it happens, what's the reason for it, etc. Such as... a tournament that begins in Hell and each round is one level up? Silly I know, but it's just a 'for instance'. Getting people involved in the creation process may motivate them to stay longer in it.

Some other prizes could also be something for the person character. Not a new power or something, but more along the lines of... say an emergency teleport or something, to use in a later duel or tournament to get the character out of harms way.


Also, I really hate that I missed getting in on this tournament... hint hint. Anyone drop out that needs to be replaced?

...Two dropouts, Jace. However, it is the second round so I think I'll leave it as is, thanks. It hasn't had a post in quite some time though-- it does make me wonder - Pioneercadet said he'd be busy, Kronos quit and Tormentro hasn't posted. I may not go to great lengths making a tourney, but there is some effort required. Let's look at it from another point of view: if they won't finish a fight, much less a 4-5 round tourney.

I'm fucking pissed.

EDIT: I believe users may make tourneys as they wish, I even got PMed by Remæus, asking how it was going. Certainly not a sign it's illegal.

Oh sweet bunions, I'd love to be in a tourny.

Tourney's devised by the community are encouraged by the staff and owner of RPG. Judges are not provided and must be found by the tourney developer. If you have an idea for such you can run one but all the work will be by the organizer and the participants.