Combat Guidelines
May 30, 2018 23:00:34 GMT
Post by Amelie on May 30, 2018 23:00:34 GMT
—COMBAT GUIDELINES—
As one would expect on a forum about this franchise, combat can sometimes seem inevitable. On spirit, this won't be a technical guide on how to fight with complex rules ala rpg or tabletop rping, but rather an explanation that hopefully will shed some light on the inner workings of how combat works in this forum.
First and foremost, this is a roleplaying forum, and our ultimate goal is striving to provide our roleplayers with a fun experience. How does this applies to combat? Well, let's just say that, as an essentially freeform forum, there are no rules more valuable than the ones you set up with your roleplaying partners.
What does this mean? It means that, as long as it's for the sake of telling a story and all the parties involved agree to it, it's okay to bend and break these guidelines to fit your needs! These are pretty much an accessory if that leads to an exciting fight and an enjoyable experience for everyone involved instead of a group of people rules lawyering each other endlessly.
So, are you saying that these guidelines aren't worth anything? Then, why do they exist in first place?
Well, even if in my opinion it'd be for the best if everyone just agreed on how fights went by, there are cases where that just doesn't happen. It may be because different people have different notions of what constitutes an exciting or interesting fight, or maybe because they have different expectations and they can't come to an agreement or maybe they're just participating in a thread where for the sake of convenience, the guidelines described in this thread are used (namely, missions, plot threads, and tournaments).
Without further ado, let's begin.
—THE BASICS—
—Be Excellent With Each Other
Despite the possibility of two characters engaging in a fight to death (or worse), IC and OOC are two different animals and shouldn't be mixed; we still expect everyone to treat the others with respect and cordiality OOCly. In case you think somebody is taking matters too seriously, please consider having the staff mediate any kind of conflict. We'll be happy to help.—Common RP Etiquette
1. No Godmodding (taking control of your opponent's characters without their express permission).2. No Metagaming (having knowledge your character isn't supposed to have).
3. Keep things reasonable (no autododging/autohitting) with attacks.
—THE A BIT LESS BASICS—
In here, I'll explain what constitutes most of the so-called "unwritten rules" about combat! They're a collection of 'rules of thumb' that should be true on the majority of situations. Do note that these aren't absolutes, but just guidelines.
—The Golden Rule
In case of a contradiction, if an approved attack or ability would go against these guidelines, the attack/ability is right. There are a couple of exceptions, but don't worry. I'll describe them below.For example, if an ability states that a digimon can attack more than once/twice per turn, the digimon can! Some attacks and abilities can bend these guidelines a bit, and as long as the staff has given their approval on them, it's safe to assume they do so within the right boundaries.
—Some Specific Power Level Clarifications
Twins, mercenaries, Armor Digivolutions and Xros fusions not involving the core partner have roughly about three quarters (3/4 - 75%) of the power in general terms when compared to a non-twin digimon of the same level.Yup! Slightly weaker than a normal digimon, but they make up for the huge bonus on versatility they have. On the same vein, non-twin DNA evolutions are about 50% stronger than a digimon of the same level. More or less a tradeoff of versatility for raw power.
—Mid-Combat Evolution
Evolving during combat spends one attack/ability action, meaning a digimon usually can't evolve and attack on the same post. With some exceptions, of course:1. Evolving the first post/round of combat doesn't take an action.
2. Evolving upwards/downwards one stage doesn't take an action.
3. Slide evolving between forms that aren't your mon's currently highest form don't take an action.
Any other form of evolution takes a whole post to perform.
—Priority When Reacting to Attacks
A digimon must react to any attacks thrown their way before performing their own.The exceptions are shields or moves specifically designed to be performed in order to defend or respond to attacks and nothing else. For everything else, you should first decide what to do about the incoming attack(s) before performing your own. Otherwise, things can get messy.
—Stun Clause
Digimons can't be stunned by PC and most NPC opponents.Stunned can be translated to "this [Digimon] is currently unable to both move and attack". In case this situation might happen due to a combination of abilities inflicted to any digimon, the afflicted digimon decides whether they're able to move or to attack while those effects overlap. This is one of the exceptions of the golden rule; not even if a profile states that an attack can "stun", it will be able to do so in combat.
As a quick note, self-inflicted stun as a drawback for a particularly powerful ability or something of the like is totally fine and doesn't get touched by this rule at all.
—Power Level Comparison Between Levels
—Four digimons of a lower level should have more or less an even footing against a digimon of a higher levelWhat does that mean? Four (4) Rookies against a single (1) Champion should be an even fight in the strictest sense of the word, the deciding factor being strategy and how the fight is handled by its participants. Three (3) and five (5) are also acceptable numbers in a sense, but they give an advantage to the Champion in the former and to the Rookies in the latter case.
Addendum: This can get pretty heavy, so read at your own risk. Take into account that this is the second exception to The Golden Rule, however.
1. Same Level: When a defensive ability is being used against a target of the same level, the resulting effect is the ability acting as described in the attack's description.
2. One Level Higher: When a defensive ability is being used against a target that's one (1) level higher than yours, it just can't weather the brunt of the attack no matter what. However, the damage of the original attack is reduced, depending on its potency.
3. Two Levels Higher: Any kind of defensive ability is completely ineffective against an attack coming from a digimon two (2) levels above it. You just can count on it seeing straight to whatever the defending digimon can put up no matter what.
1. Same Level: When a status ability is being used against a target of the same level, the resulting effect acts as described in the attack's description.
2. One Level Higher: When a status ability is being used against a target that's one (1) higher level than yours, it's effect is greatly reduced; for example, immobilizing abilities just slow them down, heals aren't as effective, and so on.
3. Two Levels Higher: Same as the previous section. When trying to affect a digimon two (2) levels higher than the original user of the ability, the advanced form proves to be too complex to be affected by the effect in any meaningful way.
—Defensive Ability Comparison Between Levels
1. Same Level: When a defensive ability is being used against a target of the same level, the resulting effect is the ability acting as described in the attack's description.
2. One Level Higher: When a defensive ability is being used against a target that's one (1) level higher than yours, it just can't weather the brunt of the attack no matter what. However, the damage of the original attack is reduced, depending on its potency.
3. Two Levels Higher: Any kind of defensive ability is completely ineffective against an attack coming from a digimon two (2) levels above it. You just can count on it seeing straight to whatever the defending digimon can put up no matter what.
—Status Effect & Supporting Ability Comparison Between Levels
1. Same Level: When a status ability is being used against a target of the same level, the resulting effect acts as described in the attack's description.
2. One Level Higher: When a status ability is being used against a target that's one (1) higher level than yours, it's effect is greatly reduced; for example, immobilizing abilities just slow them down, heals aren't as effective, and so on.
3. Two Levels Higher: Same as the previous section. When trying to affect a digimon two (2) levels higher than the original user of the ability, the advanced form proves to be too complex to be affected by the effect in any meaningful way.
—Named Attack Limit
Each digimon can only use one (1) named move per round. Non-twins can use named abilities two (2) times a post if they are fighting against non-DNA twins and are outnumbered.This is mostly for the sake of fairness, otherwise, the advantage twins provide becomes simply too overwhelming for non-twins to bear.
—PC Effect Duration Limit
If an attack or ability done by a PC has a side effect (for example, slowing the digimon it hit) and the duration of said effect isn't stated precisely, the duration of that effect is always assumed to be one post and not more.