|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:38 pm
Since not everyone may be familiar with the idea of combative role-playing (or "sparring", as I call it), I thought maybe an example would help give people an idea of what a good battle looks like, at least by my standards. To do this, I've enlisted the aid of a friend of mine who often spars with me. Of course, the style we use is not the only style available, and I don't expect everyone to format their posts in the same way as we do, nor do I expect everyone to come up with an introduction post. You can simply get right into fighting. I do expect people to differentiate between narration and dialogue (and possibly other text, such as inner monologue). Remember, this is like telling a story. Make sure the readers can understand what's going on. Hope this helps! Note: This is just an example battle. To learn more about the contest, read this thread: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=15914869
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:09 pm
The forest was quiet that night, as it was every night. Few people dared enter the area after sunset, for it was believed to be cursed. People who entered rarely returned, and those who did manage to make it out refused to talk about what they had witnessed. Rumors began to spread. Some believed there to be a coven of witches who practiced their dark magics under the full moon. Others claimed that illegal trading of goods took place in a clearing nearby. The most paranoid of these rumors stated that a vampiric cult had built a secret temple and was kidnapping people from the surrounding villages to join its ranks of mindless followers.
As it turned out, all of them were partially right.
Despite these horrific rumors (or perhaps because of them), a lone figure stood in a clearing in the forest. He was dressed in a robe of deepest black, with the hood pulled over his face, shrouding his features. This was more from habit than necessity. It wasn't likely that anyone would see him. Or rather, anyone he didn't want to.
"I know you're here somewhere. Do not make me tear down this forest to find you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:42 pm
The night answered with silence and shadows, a heavy response to those with weak heart and spirit. These woods were not a place for those of that ilk; of course she knew the moment she laid eyes upon him that he was not one to be labeled as such.
"A heavy threat..." Her voice spoke from the darkness, leafy shadows that sheathed her form from his searching eyes until the moment she stepped from them to greet him. She was dressed similar to himself, though her robes shown a finer detail that hinted to the peek of her Elvin ears from shining, silver locks.
Violet eyes looked forward at him, glaring lightly. "One would hope that you have the skill to back your words."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zorlock Darksoul rolled 2 100-sided dice:
56, 73
Total: 129 (2-200)
|
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:03 pm
The man smiled a chilling smile and drew back his hood, revealing a face framed by hair that was almost as dark as his robes. The cold glint in his eyes matched the iciness of his words. "You can decide that for yourself." With that, his hand shot out with startling speed, and a bolt of lightning streaked forth from his fingertips.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ll Michi ll rolled 2 100-sided dice:
71, 46
Total: 117 (2-200)
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:07 am
She had but a moment to glance upon his features before the crackle of lightning broke the gentle still of the evening, offering her an example of his skill in a way both personal and painful. Flesh sizzled at the main point of impact and she pressed a hand carefully to the wound as she steadied her momentarily shaky footing. "Impressive, truly. But it will take more then that to guarantee a victory!" She turned quickly, her hands molding the very elements, gathering them into a powerful sphere of dark, crackling energy. She unleashed it upon him with a flex of her fingers, the force of it cutting a rut into the ground as it flew towards him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zorlock Darksoul rolled 2 100-sided dice:
95, 73
Total: 168 (2-200)
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:27 am
His eyes widened as the sphere approached him, and he barely had enough time to raise a magical barrier, shielding him from the worst of the blow. He stumbled back a step from the force of the attack but quickly recomposed himself, refusing to give this woman the satisfaction of seeing him in a moment of weakness. "I did not realize anyone in this realm possessed skills of that caliber. Perhaps an introduction is in order. My name is Zorlock Darksoul, and I am here to claim the Shard." Without waiting for a reply, Zorlock gestured at a nearby tree, which suddenly uprooted itself and flew toward the elf woman like a giant crossbow bolt.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ll Michi ll rolled 2 100-sided dice:
51, 85
Total: 136 (2-200)
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:26 am
She had little time to react as the call of roots breaking and ground parting turned her attention away from his introduction and cause. Sturdy wood struck soft flesh and the air escaped her lungs in a rush as she was forced to the ground in a violent tumble. The tree rolled on into a line of its kin, cracking bark and raining leaves re alerting her stunned body to react. She stood, one sleeve of her robe falling down from a tear at her shoulder, swallowing her hand in its dark mouth. She breathed hard, trying to catch her lost breath, as her eyes squinted half in glare and half in study. "The...the Shard?" She blinked, lightly in surprise, before her mouth pulled into a tight frown. "Impressive skills or not if the Shard is what you've come to claim you have indeed embarked on a fool's errand. I alone know of its location and I will not be sharing that information with the likes of you." The muscles in her arms tensed, shown now by the bearing of flesh, and she summoned a hail of acid arrows to rain down upon him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zorlock Darksoul rolled 2 100-sided dice:
39, 11
Total: 50 (2-200)
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:52 am
He lifted his arms to ward off the deadly rain. The sleeves of his robe practically melted away, and the flesh beneath was seared. He winced in pain. "I did not expect you to tell me willingly, but I will have it..." He suddenly vanished from sight, only to reappear directly behind her. "...Even if I must rip its location from your mind!" With a vicious gleam in his eyes, he grasped her firmly by her exposed shoulder. A jolt of energy traveled down his arm and into her body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ll Michi ll rolled 2 100-sided dice:
49, 24
Total: 73 (2-200)
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:02 pm
She was ready. The jolting pain of his touch lasted all but a moment before she was able to successfully evade his shocking grasp, spinning to face him. "You'll find my mind stronger then you realize if you dare to do such a thing. Unfortunately you'll not have the chance to get so close." Her hand rolled with her wrist, her fingers curling as she pressed them to his chest, firing a beam of pure energy from the center of her palm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zorlock Darksoul rolled 2 100-sided dice:
96, 43
Total: 139 (2-200)
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:11 pm
Zorlock anticipated her attack, and before any serious damage could be done, he whirled back a step. As he spun, a scythe materialized in his hands, and his defensive maneuver quickly became an attack of his own. The blade of the weapon came toward her as he finished the circle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ll Michi ll rolled 2 100-sided dice:
67, 57
Total: 124 (2-200)
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 11:23 pm
There was no evasion, no chance to dance away from the blade as it whirled in his grip towards her. Blade met cloth and flesh and she felt the warm gush of blood flow over the searing pain of nearly being cut in two. She couldn't help but cry out in pain, her small palm useless in trying to put pressure on the large slash that reached from one shoulder to the lower part of one of her sides. The blood tinted the ends of her silver locks, causing them to stick distractingly to the seeping wound as she steadied her stance to face him. She sneered, the expression almost pretty upon her Elvin features. Words were lost in the need to survive and she waved her arm in casting, summoning large, jutting bergs of ice to rise from the ground in an attempt to skewer him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zorlock Darksoul rolled 2 100-sided dice:
58, 89
Total: 147 (2-200)
|
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 11:56 pm
Having expected nothing less than her death from such a severe wound, Zorlock was surprised to find her still standing, still glaring defiantly, and (most irritably of all) still able to attack him. The giant spears of ice caught him unprepared, and more than one managed to find its mark. Angrily he shouted a word of magic, and the deadly frozen spikes shattered into dust, freeing his movements. He had underestimated this elf woman, and he silently berated himself for it. Gripping his scythe, he tossed it into the air above his head, where it promptly vanished. After a heartbeat, it emerged seemingly from the fabric of night, hanging upside down in midair and swinging toward her, as if suspended from an invisible chain. He called out the name of one of his favorite spells. "Reaper's Pendulum!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:21 am
Whether or not she impressed him by her capabilities was the farthest thought from her mind as she tried, in vain, to shield herself from his attack. The words of a barrier spell were on her lips; silenced, though, by the blade that nearly cut her in half.
Reeling from his previous attacks, her magic exhausted, she succumbed to injuries, her eyes growing heavy as her body pitched forward to the ground to lay in a pool of her own life blood.
Words were formed to protest but the strength of her voice was gone as even the slightest movement to curl her fingers into the dirt seemed to sedate her even more until, finally, she laid still in defeat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:33 am
And there you have it, PGers! I want to thank Michi for her assistance in this example battle. I also want to remind everyone that I don't expect people to be as detailed as this when battling. You don't need a backstory for your characters, you don't need a reason to fight your opponents, you don't have to describe what emotions pass through your minds. This is just extra stuff that I feel makes for a good spar.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the contest thread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
