Welcome to Gaia! ::

THE ANTI MUNCH PROJECT

NPC COMBAT

I know, I know. You don't need to be told how to fight against a bunch of NPCs right? Kill, kill, kill, thats how you deal with NPCs... right?

Well, that's actually only half right. There are different types of NPCs. Some NPCs can be killed in droves, while others may be even more difficult to kill than another player. Keep in mind that there are really no true NPCs in gaia. Every character in a roleplay is being controlled by somebody.

Weak NPC Hordes
These are the kind of NPCs that it is ok to kill two or three at a time. These NPCs usually come in medium sized to large groups. It's ok to throw a group of fifty of these guys into battle against five or so PCs and expect the PCs to win without heavy casualties. The limit for one PC to handle alone should be between five to eight. PCs! You should not just tear through these guys in large groups. At maximum you should kill three in a long post when you have a good position to kill them. PCs should also TAKE DAMAGE from them. While it's true you probably wont take much damage from one or two, if eight guys are attacking you, it dosent matter how much they suck, you're going to get hit somewhere.

Generic NPCs
These NPCs usually come in he form of a group of bandits or mercenaries hired to kill the main protagonist PCs. These guys usually have a very little bit of plot development behind them. Perhaps only the leader has development, but the others should be more than just bodies to be hacked and slashed. These guys usually come with a description of some sort and are a bit tougher to beat than the Horde type NPCs. The ratio of these guys to PCs in an even fight should be about 1:1. The PCs will be expected to win with this ratio of course, so if you want to capture the PCs, try upping it to 2:1 or even 3:1. These guys will each probably do a little damage to the PCs.

Random NPCs
These aren't normally the kind of guys that you'll want to be fighting. These include inkeepers, shopkeepers, random travelers on the road, villagers, and the like. If you really want to fight with these, something is wrong with you, or just your character. That's ok though, we welcome characters with odd... tendencies. Basically, these guys either run or suprise you and kick your a**. It's pretty much a random kind of thing. Just think, that random traveler on the road could be a refugee with nothing more than the potato in his pocket, or he could be the legendary hero of some country. You never know for sure. If you insist on fighting these guys, basic rules apply. The creator of the random NPC will decide how powerful the NPC is, and will play it as such.

Mini Bosses
These guys are tough cookies. They are basically PCs, with less history and plot development behind them. These guys usually take the form of henchmen to bosses, gaurdians of dungeons or treasure rooms, plot twist creators, or even the head honcho of a horde or group of generic NPCs. A ratio of 1:1 does not gaurantee survival of the PCs. Even a ratio of 1:2 may be potentially dangerous to PCs. Mini Bosses are to be treated for all aspects of combat as if they are other PCs. (See PVP COMBAT section.) The creator of the Mini Boss should control it at all times, as it is they who know it best. Fighting one of these should take a while. Oh, and PCs... You're going to take damage.

Bosses (AKA: BIG BADDIES caps lock is nescessary)
These guys are the biggest and baddest of the big and bad. One of these should pretty much stomp a PC with no trouble in a 1:1 fight. It should take three PCs at the very least to take on a boss, and all of them will come away from the encounter with moderate to severe injury. The boss should be controled by the creator of the NPC. Bosses usually have significant plot development behind them and may be such characters as the head of an evil organization, a corrupt king, or an evil lord or lady. To defeat a boss it usually should take a number of HOURS of posting. Bosses only appear at extremely significant points in the plot, so make it good.

Leather: Leather is often hardened to make lighter armor. However, it is really suplemental armor, or secondary armor. It does not provide much coverage against heavy weapons. Examples: Bracers, archer's equipment.

Chain: Small metal rings linked together. It provides great protection from slashing weapons, moderate protection from blunt weapons, but does little against thrusts. Examples: Archer's armor, hauberks, neck protection.

Scale: Small to medium plates overlapping. It is stronger and cheaper than chain, but also heavier. It is often reinforced with platemail in critical areas. Almost exclusively hauberks, though sometimes is is added to protect neck areas. It provides good protection, but is somewhat weak to blunt weapons.

Plate: The armor you think of when you think about knights. It is heavy, and extremely strong against slashing and peircing weapons. It is very vulnerable to blunt weapons though, as it acts to bend the plates out of shape.

Note on Injuries: During a fight one will often barely notice the injuries he sustains, but after the adrenaline has left the body these injuries become quite apparent.



Standing Techniques

Punch: A proper punch uses just top knuckles of the index and middle finger to deliver a crushing blow to either chest or head, this is the easiest move in fighting.
Front Kick: A kick done with the body square. The chamber* is in front, and the attack lands with the ball of the foot.
Side Kick: An often defensive kick. The chamber lies more to the chest, and is aimed with the hip and heel. If done slowly, it looks like a push. It uses the heel. The body is completly sideways.
Round Kick: This kick chambers so that the shoulder, hip, and knee are in line. It then extends, and moves a little to the inside. It hits with the shinbone, and the body is completely sideways. It can also hit with the ball of the foot but this is much weaker and easier to cause damage to one's self.
Axe Kick: The leg is raised, with a slight chamber similar to the front kick. the leg is then extended, and dropped onto the opponent's head or collarbone.
Cresent Kick: There are two variations. The inside Cresent Kick starts as a side kick to the outside, then extends, moves across to the inside. The outside Cresent Kick is the same, but the kick moves from the inside to the outside.
Knees: Knees are great attacks against the body at close range. The goal is to strike the point of the knee in any of the many unprotected vitals in the stomach region, or as a strike to the ribs, intended to break one of the smaller ones. Knees are also a great blocking technique as the shin can absorb more damage than the forearm.
Elbows: Elbows are a variation of the punch but can be delivered with much more force. A proper elbow strike is done with the back of the forearm, just below the elbow, or with the backside of the upper arm, just above the elbow. Elbows are most effectively placed against the head, but they can be used to the body just as well.
Sweep: A sweep is done with the legs, by taking the other persons legs out at either their ankles or the back of their knees. It can be more effective with a backhand placed to the chest or head in the opposite direction of the sweep.
Backhand: A backhand is similar to a punch but involves coming across the body to strike the opponent with the back of one's fist (some prefer the hammerstrike which involves the side of the fist, but it is more likely for you to break your own fingers or hand). Backhands can be amplified with a step or a spin into the move.
Blocks: Most blocks are done with the forearm.
Open-hand-blocks: These are done with the arm, wrist, or palm. The are useful for leading into throws.
Clinch: When an opponent gets too close it is sometimes best to meet him and clinch his body, this can be done by hugging the body, or wrapping your arms around the others in a way that prevents them from easily striking. If an opponent puts you in a clinch, the knees, takedowns, and sweeps are the best solutions to getting out of the position.
Takedown: Any move that takes the fight to the ground.

Ground Techniques

Closed Guard: the guard position is where the person on their back has their legs spread around the body of the person on top to prevent them from moving in or standing up. If your legs are trapped you want to free them and get in this position as soon as possible.
Open Guard: this is the process of using the guard position to push the other person into another position by placing your feet on their hips. This position leaves you vulnerable to the attack so it is generally used to either push the person away or setup a counter attack.
Back Mount: This is when the person on top is sitting on the persons back. This is the absolute worst position to be in as the back of your head is open to attack and nearly impossible to accurately block. To escape it is easiest to turn your chest towards your opponent before trying to escape.
Mount: The Mount position is similar to the Guard position, only the person on bottom has their legs trapped under the legs of the person on top. This is another bad position to be at the bottom of. Some people will also use a Knee on Stomach mount, where they use the knee to pin the other persons body to the ground; this can be overcome by knocking their knees off balance.
Sidemount: This is a mount position from the side. The goal here is likely to get an arm submission. The person on top has their body weight evenly distributed with their legs on the ground and their body covering the other persons to prevent them from moving.
Half Guard: A guard position that is between the Guard and Mount positions; the Half Guard is wehre the person on bottom has one of their legs entangled in between the legs of the person on top.
North-South Position: This is a mount where each person is facing opposite directions.
Grappling: The gripping, handling, and control of a person without using physical strikes. Grappling moves are most commonly done by Wrestlers and Jujitsu fighters.
Submissions: A submission is a move where a body part is placed in danger of breaking and the person being submitted usually taps at this point in non-hostile situations. Being submitted is extremely painful, and it is one of the best attacks to use in order to end a fight quickly. A submission can be used on just about any joint of the body.

*note: chamber refers to when the leg is bent at the knee prior to the actual kick.

OOC: USE IT!

That's right. Out of character is so important that it gets it's very own post. Like I said before, USE IT! I cannot stress this enough. If you don't understand something in someone's post. ASK THEM ABOUT IT OOC. Really people, it's just common sense.

OOC banter also keeps the fighting cheerful. As mentioned before, people tend to get touchy about others injuring their characters. A good chat OOC can keep you on somebody's good side, even if you're on their character's bad side. You would be supprised at the number of people who can't seperate IC and OOC feelings.

If the fight has any real storyline significance, decide who should win beforehand. If both players know that one PC is going to win, then the battle can get a lot cooler. If this is the case, talk out your actions OOC and put yourselves in positions to pull off flashy tricks and stuff. Everyone reading the fight will s**t themselves enjoy it when you manage to block a flying motorcycle with your pole arm, then cut open it's gas tank and light it on fire as it passes over your head.

The only problem with OOC is that it clutters up a thread pretty quickly, and you can't send and recieve OOC through Gaia while writing your post. For combat roleplaying, try using an instant messenger like AIM or MSN. You'll be able to clarify things in less than half the time it takes by posting OOC in brackets with your IC posts.

A simple role off using a single d20 possibly in the ooc thread could be used to determine Player vs Player conflict when no other solution can be reached. I personally prefer not to role off but sometimes story lines clash and instead of saying "I have more posts so my story arch takes precedence." this would be a fair way of resolving confusing situations.

I will say, though, dice work well in a gaming situation, though not so much in a role-playing context.