Battling in 'Naruto: The Unknown Path'
The Introduction
There are many aspects of role playing within this guild, but none so seemingly complex as the combat system. As with many, if not all, anime-based guilds, we do our best to keep with the concepts we draw upon from the shows we watch and try to create a realistic facsimile. This isn't always easy, and is by no means perfect, but we do the best we can to make the experience enjoyable for everyone. TUP is no exception. In fact, our combat system is a bit more in depth then some others, introducing a Stamina system to go with the common Chakra system as well as including a stat system which is intricately tied into a character's attributes and specialties. What we all need to remember however is that combat isn't just about the numbers, or about who's character is higher rank, or who has been in the guild for longer, etc. It's about using your imagination and your skills in writing to bring innovation and life to your character through fighting. In essence, it's just another aspect of role playing, just as much a form of character development as anything else.
Now then, that being said, there are some rules in combat that you simply cannot get around. We have tried to make the new systems as balanced and as interesting as possible while still allowing for a character's freedom to do as they wish. Some aspects of combat however are common sense and can't be argued with. For example, a Kage should be able to completely waste your typical Genin, Chuunin, and even Sp. Jounin. Their very existence and title says "I'm the best shinobi this village has to offer... that's why I'm in charge, because I'm the strongest and can protect my village." That's just plain old common sense and it's something that should be reflected when you battle them. They should be faster then you, stronger, and pretty much able to negate or evade anything you attempt to throw at them. That doesn't make them OP, and it doesn't make them God-modding... it's just common sense and it is the way the difference in ranks have been portrayed in the Naruto series (with the exception of a few, such as Naruto or Sasuke... which are obviously 'hero' characters and thus created to be much stronger then others).
So, with the above concept in mind, you should all understand that your rank matters in combat. Look at Kakashi vs. Team 7, the genius, the greatest ninja they had to offer in the academy, just managed to scrape the edge of the bell off of Kakashi's waist. I think that entire sequence, and even Sakura/Naruto vs Kakashi 2 years later proves that a Jounin is a kick-a** ninja not easily bested, even by multiple opponents (and that Kakashi is pure awesome). Try to keep that in mind at all times. Some may be better at RPing then others... they may be more eloquent, more strategic, and better authors, and that's great... but even if you are all these things, you need to also have common sense when fighting those of higher rank then you. Now, I'm not saying that a Genin couldn't best a Chuunin or Sp. Jounin with some good solid combat skills, but what I am saying is that rank matters and we all need to use common sense.
Learning to take a hit...
Now that we all understand that your character's rank matters, let's look at how combat works. Let's assume there are two characters, we'll call them Havik and Random Newbie. Random Newbie's character has thrown a clump of mud in Havik's face and insulted his mother. Not surprisingly a battle breaks out and before you know it a tumbleweed rolls in front of the screen and some chilling music appears from nowhere. The basic concept here is that using the skills and abilities that each character has, they will try to best the other. The concept of "besting" your opponent will differ based on the fight, whether it is to simply injure them, knock them unconscious, or downright kill them. Regardless, your RPC is going to attempt to inflict damage on the other through some kind of combination of Nin-/Gen-/Tai-/Ken-jutsu and the two will duke it out, positioning themselves around the field and firing off attacks until one is the victor and the other eats dust.
One important thing to keep in mind here is that all things being equal, the better RPer will more likely win, since they have developed more effective strategies for backing their opponent into a position where they have no option but to receive a final blow which puts them down for good. In the meantime however, no one wants to read a fight which consists of the following:
Havik: Attacks... Random Newbie: Dodge, Counter Attack... Havik: Dodge, Counter Attack... Random Newbie: Dodge, Counter Attack... Havik: Dodge, Counter Attack... Random Newbie: Dodge, Counter Attack...
...this is boring. Ever watch a fight with Naruto in it? He get's his butt kicked around the battlefield for like 3/4 of the fight (approx. 3 episodes) and then somehow pulls out a victory at the end with some crazy strategy using shadow clones. The last thing I want is for everyone in this guild to be a Naruto, but what I will say is that Naruto knew how to take a hit which is what made the battle exciting. So, don't be afraid to take a hit. It will give you more credence to land a hit of your own later, and it will make the fight more interesting to read and to be a part of.
Taking it like... a woman?
First off, no disrespect to the women-folk of the guild was intended with the title, I'm just trying to use the opposite concept of the popular saying "Take it like a man". Now that I have hopefully succeeded in keeping the women in the guild, let's step out of the RP for a second and enter into the Real World. I (Cobra) walk up to Havik in the real world and challenge him to a duel. After taking the necessary precautions of handing my valuables to my next of kin and making sure my will was in order, I take a swing. Havik, having actually been in a fight before, dodges the attack and counters with an attack of his own, plowing his fist into my stomach. Since Havik actually has muscles in his arms as opposed to the six pack I drew on my stomach with a sharpy marker... this hurts significantly and I fall to the ground while the world fades to black around me. Alright, back to the RP. Now then, why did I tell that story?
Well, aside from the fact that envisioning that fight is hilarious, it makes a point. When you get hit, it hurts. When you get hit by someone stronger then you, it REALLY hurts. Even if you are stronger the then person hitting you, and they hit you, it still hurts, albeit possibly less so if you have trained your body to fight. Getting hit isn't something you can just shrug off. When your RPC is in a fight and a huge FREAKING fireball the size of the room you sleep in hits you, guess what... that is gonna leave more then a mark and a couple of singes on your clothes... and it's more likely to put you in the hospital. When you are hit, it needs to mean something and you need to be realistic in your RPC's reaction, not just for the immediate post when you were hit... but in every post afterward as well, compounded with any damage you receive in the interim. Being hit matters and you need to react accordingly. Winning a fight is hard work, and as cool as we would all like to look at the end of a fight, the odds are your character isn't going to be in the best shape.
Try to be realistic in how you take a hit and try to keep the damage your character has incurred in mind as you continue to fight. Adrenaline is some hardcore stuff, but it doesn't negate the damage you've taken, or make the broken arm you received start working again. The hits you take have to mean something or it's the same thing as dodging the attack in the first place. Of course some (namely those with the Toughness attribute) can take hits better then others and can shrug off damage more easily, but even they still feel pain and must respond to attacks properly.
Tai-/Kenjutsu Strike Tables
Alright, now that we've established the common sense needs to be considered, and that we should take hits, and that hits do indeed hurt, that begs the question, How much does it hurt? for lack of a better way to quantify damage, we've come up with a system which will help you to determine just how damaging an attack is based off of several factors.
WARNING: This is just a guiding tool so that people know how strong an attack is when it's coming at them and gives them an idea of how much it would hurt. This is not meant to be a concrete segment of the battle system, it is merely a tool to help users understand the effectiveness of the Taijutsu strike coming towards them.
Note: RPCs don't always know the strength of their opponent's attacks, or their toughness... nor would they, if untrained in a style, know how strong the incoming attacks are. What a tool like this does is allows people to assign numbers IF a conflict arises. So if someone says, "I just shrug off the attack"... you can come back and say, well, if you look at the math, it says, you are actually at a 3/1 disadvantage... it should hurt a decent amount.
Alright, now that I've said that, here is what we've come up with:
Based on your character's stats, rank, and the rank of the attack used... we weigh that against the opponent's rank and toughness and determine the overall damage. The tables below show the miscellaneous modifiers that you would use to determine how strong an attack is or how strong your defense is:
Rank Modifiers
Genin: +0
Chuunin: +1
Sp. Jounin: +2
Jounin: +3
Sannin: +4
Attack Rank Modifiers
E-rank: 0
D-rank: 0
C-rank: +1
B-rank: +2
A-rank: +3
S-rank: +5
Other Modifiers
Strength Train: +1 to attack
Tough Train: +1 to defense
Toughness: -1 from opponent's attack
...alright, so let's play with the system above to show how it's used.
1. A Chuunin attacking a Genin ... Genin has trained toughness twice
...using a C-rank attack, (Chuunin Rank gives a +1, using C-rank attack gives another +1)
...Genin has trained toughness +2 , (Genin's rank bonus is +0, but his toughness train gives him +2) so this is a 2/2 situation, normal damage to the Genin (as if he were hit by someone of his own rank ).
...if the Genin has toughness, it would then be a 1/2 , since toughness reduces the incoming attack... which means the Genin is hurt, but not too badly, since it was like he was hit by an academy student.
Does this answer all the questions regarding how much an attack will hurt, or whether an S-ranked punch will send you across a field halfway into a rock face? No... but it's a tool to help make the system realistic so that the attributes you take and the ways you train mean something and can be in some way quantified if you don't think your opponent is being fair.
More then that, what these tables help you determine is the discrepancy between your character's strength and the power of the attack which hits you which allows you to properly quantify what your response should be. If you have a 2/2 situation, that's normal... the kick/punch/technique will hurt when it hits. You aren't superman... you take damage and get knocked backwards. If however your opponent's attack is a 4, and your defense is a 2, well that's gonna hurt quite a bit and your RPC should react accordingly.
This also let's us put an exact value on what level of attack WILL and WILL NOT harm your character and gives purpose/meaning to the Toughness attribute. For all shinobi, if at anytime your defense is 4 ranks higher then an incoming attack, it does no damage to you. The toughness attribute reduces this rank discrepancy requirement to a difference of 3 and it is the only quality which does this.
Hopefully the tables above will help to GUIDE you, not dictate all outcomes of your fights and will help to make sure your fights are balanced and fair. This is a new concept and one we are trying out. If the numbers need tweaking, we can tweak them, but we're giving this a shot to see how it works.
