RPing Eduction and Sparring
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:17 am-Overview-
This topic will serve as an RPing "school" of sorts, for those who wish to further their skills in RPGs and E-wars alike. They can request help on a variety of subjects involving RPGs/E-wars, like combat, story development, or profile building. Members can also use this topic to spar with others, creating hypothetical combat situations to test their skills, against either staff members or other members.
This topic post is subject to change with the opinions and additions of the other staff members, as well as changes made by myself. Because of its many purposes, the topic will be slightly chaotic with some conversations and sparring, though non-productive posts will be kept at the minimum. Like Random Topic and RPGT E-war, it will be deleted (First post preserved of course) after a certain page number is reached, then remade.
Rules:
1: The rules of the site apply here. No flaming, no going off topic, etc etc.
2: NO ONE is superior to ANYONE. The staff, being the most experienced, will be the primary "teachers", but constructive criticism is allowed in terms of member to member comments.
3: If you wish to set up a "test" of skill on any aspect of RPing, PM one of the staff with the details (E-war/RPG involved, what aspect you wish to be tested/helped with, and the setting/character involved, should it involve a fight).
Please see the bottom of this topic for the Sparring Ring guidelines.
-RPing Essentials-
This portion of the topic will be used to describe the necessary information when participating in an E-war/RPG.
Profiles
The first step to RPing in both RPGs and E-wars, a member must compile a profile of a character they wish to use. Profiles vary from topic to topic, and, therefore, members must pay close attention to the templates provided in the first post of the E-wars/RPGs.
Profiles must be entered in their designated profile topics, not the RPGs/E-wars themselves!
RPGs:
RPG profiles are the most complex of the two, but they are also the easiest. Profiles for an RPG usually consist of the basics: Name, Age, Length/Height, Personality and, more often then not, Species. The part of the profiles for RPGs, however, that defines them, is the background/history category.
This category is used to describe the character's past. In RPGs, having interesting, creative characters is half the fun, more so then in E-wars. A character that is unique is defined by this category, along with Personality, and both give other members what they need to know about the depth of the character. Members must focus their effort on these two portions of the profile specifically, as powers/abilities/dimensions are less important in an RPG.
Example of an RPG Profile, specifically a Fantasy RPG profile, created specifically for this topic:
Name: Jerald Montinegrow
Title/Rank: Wanderer
Age: 56
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Description: A very gruff, dirty person, Jerald usually wears a tattered tunic and pants, which show the many stains of his travels. He has equally dirty black hair, which is graying in many parts, and a small beard, which has also grayed in regions. The man's face is just as dirty as his clothes, but his eyes show constant awareness, though age has taken its tole on him as well.
Height: 5' 8"
Weapons: A rusty fork he carries with him, and his pet ferret, Walter.
Powers: Being a former guardsmen, he has a fair deal of training when it comes to combat with a variety of weapons.
History: Jerald used to live in the large forest town of Hillsbrad, having been born and raised within its walls. When he was 16, he was taken into the guardsmen ranks, serving as a messenger until he was of age for actual training to begin. After a year of training, Jerald was able to serve as a guard, and even start a family within Hillsbrad. Breaking the happiness of the town, rumors of corrupt guards in the service of the Mayor began to circulate, catching Jerald's interest.
After some investigating, Jerald found himself listening in on a conversation between two guards outside the city limits, the men talking angrily in the forest. By the time Jerald was able to understand what was going on, one man had ran his companion through with his sword. Jerald, unable to stay silent any longer, lept out from the foliage, weapon drawn. The man before him simply laughed, before throwing his own sword down, the armor the man wore exploding into a slithering pile of shadows, a horrific demon rising from the mist, only to disappear into the forest beyond. Jerald, willing to give chased, moved forward, only to hear the faint sound of crashing and screams behind him, returning to find the city ablaze, over run by demons. Throwing his sword to the ground hopelessly, Jerald walked away from Hillsbrad, never to look back.
Along his resulting travels, he was able to experience many things, as well as retrieve his traveling partner from a merchant: Walter, a sabel ferret.
Personality: A layed back person, Jerald is usually one to avoid confrontation. Because of the loss of his family, and, basically, his life, at Hillsbrad, Jerlad shows many signs of being "hardened"; he lacks compassion for a great many of things, but holds onto what little humanity that remains with his easy going personality, hiding his tortured past.
Breakdown of the RPG Profile:
Now, we will take a detailed look at the profile I have just wrote (All spur-of-the-moment, mind you).
Name: A random, fitting name to the character. Fitting as in, I wouldn't name a dragon George, and I wouldn't name a female character Peter.
Title/Rank: Notice, he is not a king. Not a fabled knight. He is a wanderer. What could that mean? It means anything from a street bum to a mysterious magi. Creativity is key.
Age: Being young and awesome doesn't always make the experience fun.
Species: Again, creativity. Not a mile long dragon, or a kracken, or anything like that.
Gender: Irrelevent, really.
Description: Again, not a knight in shining armor, is he? But that disfunction and imperfection makes it an interesting character, for both the person controlling it as well as those reading the profile.
Height: Realistic. Its pointless to make even a dragon abnormally large. As said earlier, depth in RPGs is the most important, rather then dimensions and abilities.
Weapons: Peaked your interest, eh? Not some gleaming runeblade that eats souls (Cough cough), but a rusty fork and a pet ferret. Those items are much more interesting to all people involved then just another evil guy with a sword.
Powers: Working WITH the history, the powers give realistic abilities and talents to a character. Having him as a former guardsmen, but having the ability to shoot jets of fire out of his palms, is just dumb. Unless of course he was learning magic in secret, and the history revolved around that. Throwing small details in to beef up your character's powers =/= interesting (=/= meaning "does not equal").
History: THIS is where RPG profiles shine. Normally, history portions don't have to be this detailed or this long, but for FRPG, its normal. In fact, if your character plays out the majority of what could've been its history, IN the RPG, it would add more respect to that character, especially if it involved others. Having a history talking only about how awesome a character is to be avoided at ALL COSTS. No one cares, seriously. Creativity or get the f*ck out
Personality: Once again connecting to the history, the personality shows what impact the history had on him. Using the history as a base for the rest of the profile is wise when making an original character. Tying things to the history gives both categories meaning.
E-wars:
Note: This section applies to all those E-wars excluding RPGT E-war.
E-war profiles are the exact opposite of RPG profiles. They are the most simple, but also the most difficult. Why is this, you ask? Because in E-wars, the point is to FIGHT. With RPGs, there is more significance with histories and personalities, even though fighting usually occurs quite often in the RPGs. With E-wars, the main purpose IS to fight, so people must balance combat effectiveness with fairness and reason. A difficult task indeed.
E-war profiles consist of the basics listed above, but also usually include weapons or powers, more frequently then in RPGs. This is because, as I said, that E-wars focus mainly on combat. However, histories/backgrounds still exist in E-wars, and are used to give depth even in a situation that doesn't really call for it, so it will add extra respect and professional feeling to a character.
For balance reasons, a character can have as many powers/weapons you want, but they must have an equal amount or caliber weakness. If they can shoot fire from their hands, then they are weak to water. Things like that (Though not limited to just black and white examples).
Example of an E-war Profile, specifically a Godzilla E-war profile, created specifically for this topic:
Name: H2O
Alias: Typhoon
Height: 100 Meters
Weight: Unknown
Appearance: A hulking figure made of water (Or ice in some cases), its body looking like a hunched humanoid, with its head much smaller then the rest of its body, pointing out between its two burly shoulders. Its body half lacks legs of any kind, its waist simply extending to the ground in a shifting pillar of water, the bottom of which is much wider, flowing across the ground. Its arms, like its shoulders, are large in proportion to its body, hanging from its sides, almost touching the ground.
Powers: Doesn't have a true physical form, and thus can reshape itself after an attack, which usually does little more then disrupt its form, especially melee attacks. Its body can change shape to evade danger or fit through small areas, even break itself down to normal water. It can also change the density of the water, making itself vapor to escape situations and move quickly, or make itself ice to actually attack its enemies (As water alone, in most cases, wouldn't do much).
Origin: The result of a rogue human society's attempt to combat the monsters, H2O was created when the humans began a search for alternate fuel and ammunitions to beat back the monster threat. They quickly turned to water, which gives most beings living on earth life, to fuel their counteract, and accidently result in giving a portion of it sentience, which quickly destroyed the humans and escaped its confinement.
Allies: None
Enemies: None
Strengths: Resistent to melee attacks and ice/water based attacks.
Weaknesses: Fire and other superheated attacks, which cause its form to shift from water to vapor or from ice to water, making it fight to control its own body.
Breakdown of the E-war Profile:
Name: Hur dur, I said originality in the character, the name can be corny as hell
Alias: Same deal.
Height: The average height for GEW. Depending on your monster's abilities, height CAN be useful, but one must remember not to go overboard. For every advantage, there must be a disadvantage too.
Weight: I use "Unknown" for this because hey, its made of water, and can change to ice and vapor. A definite weight is impossible to determine with this thing. Weight in GEW, in general, is difficult to determine. A 100 meter mech is usually much heavier then a 100 meter monster, because of the metal weighing more. My advice would be to look at other profiles and see what is considered big, and what is considered small, and go from there.
Appearence: Originality is prefered in E-wars, but not required. I honestly based this character's appearence off the Water Elemental from Warcraft 3. This doesn't mean that I copied every last ability and detail about it, though. Inspiration is good, so long as it isn't just copying.
Powers: The most difficult decision it seems, for new and old members alike. Think of it this way: E-war characters are basically the same mold. Appearence and powers change ascetic features, and what tactics are open to you. If you have a light character, they will most likely do poorly in the strength department. If you breath fire on an enemy, it probably won't do that much to something that lives in fire. The only thing that determines who wins in a fight is HOW you use them, rather then what they have to fight with.
Origin: Again, backgrounds like this aren't required to have much depth, but it adds a sense of professionalism and respect to a character, if they have an interesting background. The whole failed experiment background in GEW HAS been used quite a lot, though.
Allies: Who your character is friends with, mainly unique to GEW. Rules for this are just general behavioral rules; your character can't be friends with things it has never met, or wouldn't realistically befriend such a thing.
Enemies: Same as allies.
Strengths and Weaknesses: This is once again unique to GEW, but its something that is very confusing. Some people treat it like elemental strengths and weaknesses, such as weak to fire and strong against ice. Others think of it as a way to describe why a character is strong, and why is it weak (Such as this character being able to reform from melee attacks, but its form is changed by heat).
And that concludes the profile portion of the guide. Remember, things may be added at a later time, because we are only human, and forget some things.
Combat
Note: This is mainly copy pasting my combat guidelines in an older topic, which will be deleted after this has been posted, with various adjustments.
Fighting An NPC
When fighting an NPC, anything goes. You can have your character kill the NPC easily, IF it seems realistic.
Allowed: Raptors killing compys and small creatures in one blow.
Not Allowed: Raptors killing T-rex and large creatures in one, or even a few blows.
If it is a larger creature, or a creature that seems more of a challenge to your character, make the fight last longer then one sentence! Also, DO NOT MAKE UNREALISTIC SITUATIONS.
Allowed: "As Trex 1 walked out of the jungle, he could see a Spinosaurus in the distance, both snarling in anger at the other's appearence. Trex 1 charged forward, the Spinosaurus letting out a booming roar. Trex 1 snapped and snarled at the Spinosaurus, the sailed creature lunging at his neck, but Trex 1 dodged out of the way just in time."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 walked out and was suddenly surrounded by 7 Spinosaurs. He killed one by biting its sail and then threw it at the other one before kicking another, killing it. The others ran for their lives as Trex 1 roared."
Fighting A Player
This has limitations, for realistic reasons. A warning: Some of the staff have used disallowed methods in the past, but ONLY when correcting or punishing another member.
The most effective and staff approved method is turned based fighting. As in, one player strikes another, making ONLY a small number of attacks in one post. Also, they would make indirect attacks, such as a raptor slashing AT another raptor, instead of actually hitting it.
Allowed: "Raptor 1 slashes Raptor 2, causing his head to jerk to one side. He then lunged at Raptor 2's neck..."
Not Allowed: "Raptor 1 kicked Raptor 2 then bit his head and threw him into a tree before kicking him in the head 4 more times. He then tore flesh from Raptor 2's neck before kicking him again."
Random rush attacks are NOT allowed. If a player uses an attack that takes a long time to perform, and they say it hits without a chance to react, the player on the opposing end of the attack should contact the other player and they should discuss the editing of the post. If a decision cannot be made, contact the staff and alert them of the unrealistic attack. We have tried to leave it up to the members to dodge certain attacks, but it leads to too many exploits.
Allowed: "Trex 1 slammed into Trex 2, biting onto his shoulder as his teeth slashed and tore at the Tyrannosaur's flesh."
"Trex 2 roared, backing away before charging forward, slamming his body against Trex 1."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 roared and bit Trex 2 on the arm, braking it. He swung up, slamming his head into Trex 2's jaw, backing up before slamming into him."
"Trex 2 dodged the bite, slamming his head against Trex 1's, sending him to the ground before stamping on his side."
Another common sense issue is the duration of the fights taking place. If you and another player begin fighting, and you throw the other player to the ground and declare it a win, you can expect a PM. Fights must give both sides an opportunity to attack or defend, you can't end a fight via knockout or simply knocking them over, and immediately say you won.
Not Allowed: "Spino 1 rushed forward, biting onto Spino 2's neck, pushing him to the ground."
"Spino 2 got up, slashing Spino 1's face while also biting its arm, tearing its arm almost completely off, ramming it down to the ground and roaring in victory, heading off from the defeated Spino."
One way to describe effective fighting is countering your enemy's attacks. This gives you a fair chance to deal serious damage, in a legitimate way. Exploiting your enemy's mistake is how most seasoned members win fights. When these chances arise, it is ok to describe the damage that is being done, so long as its realistic damage in relation to the attack, and it is truly a major counter. Describing damage from a basic attack, especially at the start of a fight, should be avoided at all cost. Ignoring parts of a post, as stated above, is still not allowed.
Allowed: "Trex 1 lunged at Spino 1, ducking down to give it a straight path to the spinosaur's neck, lunging at its exposed throat."
"Spino 1 swung its claw forward, the limb connecting with Trex 1 as its lunged, the strength of the attack blowing its head away from the spino's neck, while the fish eater's claws dug deeply into its flesh."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 walks into a clearing and spots Spino 1. Trex 1 runs forward and slams its jaws shut on Spino 1's neck, tasting blood, before smashing its head against the ground, breaking many bones in its head."
"Spino 1 smacks Trex 1's head as he tries to bite, claws gouging its eye in the process, blood splattering the grass, before the Spino walks forward and bites down on the Trex's neck, crushing bone, before breaking its neck with a sickening crack."
RPing Q&A
This section will answer some frequently asked questions about fights. People are free to ask more questions via this topic, and see them answered here.
Q: How do I win fights?!
A: There is no simple answer for that. Make sure you understand fighting, and can adapt to counter you opponent's posting style.
Q: Why can't I have my character be huge?!
A: Because we've noticed that, if given an inch, members, newbies especially, take a mile. As in, we let you make 55 foot Rexs, and someone makes one 70 feet long.
Q: But Crusher is huge! Why do admins get special privileges?
A: First, we don't. Ever. Think of us as referees. We have fun, just as much as any normal member, RPing, but we are there to enforce the rules of the site and the RPGs/E-wars, which are there to keep everything fair.
Second, to answer about Crusher, you must understand a piece of RPGT History. Crusher existed long before anything else on this site, a character thought up by The Kingpin a long time ago. When the first ISS was made on Oddingma Enesisga, during KP's "new time" in an RPG (Even the creator can he inexperienced at one point), Crusher's size was established before we knew just how unrealistic it may be. RPG Topia was formed when the ISS on MG was deleted. We had no intention of making RPG Topia public at the time, and just wanted to continue the RPG. Crusher and many of the characters were simply brought over. So to take away his size, you are taking away part of Crusher.
Q: Thanks for the history lesson.
A: You're welcome.
Q: Can my character ever be like C-
A: NO.
Q: Why not?
A: Because Crusher has a history so long it would need its own topic. He is THE oldest (Not in-RPG age) ISS character, and RPG Topia character over all. Just by you, generic newbie, implying that you seek to copy Crusher/overthrow him, leads me to believe your character lacks any creativity whatsoever, only wishes to kill kill kill, and ignores our warnings about size. Good day sir.
Q: Will RPGT E-war ever return?
A: Probably not, but the idea isn't completely out of the question. Considering how bad it had become, its revival seems unlikely. But perhaps in the far future it could be looked at again.
Q: *Insert RPG/E-war name here* is boring! We need something to do!
A: Then get to work! In some special cases, the staff will devise plots for RPGs/E-wars that involve a large amount of participants, but that is not our obligation. To enjoy RPGs/E-wars fully, one must create minor, character specific plots for themselves, or even include some others if said others agree. Morale of the story: If you are bored, do something about it! DON'T depend on us!
-The Sparring Ring-
This section will discuss the rules/guidelines of sparring (As in hypothetical fights) with another member or one of the staff.
- No semantics. Don't suddenly pull a volcano in which to throw someone in into a fight mid-way, where it shouldn't be.
- Fight details MUST be established before it begins. Character choice itself is the individual's decision, but the E-war/RPG in which they pick a character from and the setting are to be worked out between the two (Preferably through PM, because this topic has enough purposes).
- New characters CAN be brought into this topic. However, the person must provide a valid profile for the character, so their opponent knows what they are up against.
- If someone declines an invitation to fight, its no. Final. Fineto. Ask them at a later time, if they seem interested.
This topic will serve as an RPing "school" of sorts, for those who wish to further their skills in RPGs and E-wars alike. They can request help on a variety of subjects involving RPGs/E-wars, like combat, story development, or profile building. Members can also use this topic to spar with others, creating hypothetical combat situations to test their skills, against either staff members or other members.
This topic post is subject to change with the opinions and additions of the other staff members, as well as changes made by myself. Because of its many purposes, the topic will be slightly chaotic with some conversations and sparring, though non-productive posts will be kept at the minimum. Like Random Topic and RPGT E-war, it will be deleted (First post preserved of course) after a certain page number is reached, then remade.
Rules:
1: The rules of the site apply here. No flaming, no going off topic, etc etc.
2: NO ONE is superior to ANYONE. The staff, being the most experienced, will be the primary "teachers", but constructive criticism is allowed in terms of member to member comments.
3: If you wish to set up a "test" of skill on any aspect of RPing, PM one of the staff with the details (E-war/RPG involved, what aspect you wish to be tested/helped with, and the setting/character involved, should it involve a fight).
Please see the bottom of this topic for the Sparring Ring guidelines.
-RPing Essentials-
This portion of the topic will be used to describe the necessary information when participating in an E-war/RPG.
Profiles
The first step to RPing in both RPGs and E-wars, a member must compile a profile of a character they wish to use. Profiles vary from topic to topic, and, therefore, members must pay close attention to the templates provided in the first post of the E-wars/RPGs.
Profiles must be entered in their designated profile topics, not the RPGs/E-wars themselves!
RPGs:
RPG profiles are the most complex of the two, but they are also the easiest. Profiles for an RPG usually consist of the basics: Name, Age, Length/Height, Personality and, more often then not, Species. The part of the profiles for RPGs, however, that defines them, is the background/history category.
This category is used to describe the character's past. In RPGs, having interesting, creative characters is half the fun, more so then in E-wars. A character that is unique is defined by this category, along with Personality, and both give other members what they need to know about the depth of the character. Members must focus their effort on these two portions of the profile specifically, as powers/abilities/dimensions are less important in an RPG.
Example of an RPG Profile, specifically a Fantasy RPG profile, created specifically for this topic:
Name: Jerald Montinegrow
Title/Rank: Wanderer
Age: 56
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Description: A very gruff, dirty person, Jerald usually wears a tattered tunic and pants, which show the many stains of his travels. He has equally dirty black hair, which is graying in many parts, and a small beard, which has also grayed in regions. The man's face is just as dirty as his clothes, but his eyes show constant awareness, though age has taken its tole on him as well.
Height: 5' 8"
Weapons: A rusty fork he carries with him, and his pet ferret, Walter.
Powers: Being a former guardsmen, he has a fair deal of training when it comes to combat with a variety of weapons.
History: Jerald used to live in the large forest town of Hillsbrad, having been born and raised within its walls. When he was 16, he was taken into the guardsmen ranks, serving as a messenger until he was of age for actual training to begin. After a year of training, Jerald was able to serve as a guard, and even start a family within Hillsbrad. Breaking the happiness of the town, rumors of corrupt guards in the service of the Mayor began to circulate, catching Jerald's interest.
After some investigating, Jerald found himself listening in on a conversation between two guards outside the city limits, the men talking angrily in the forest. By the time Jerald was able to understand what was going on, one man had ran his companion through with his sword. Jerald, unable to stay silent any longer, lept out from the foliage, weapon drawn. The man before him simply laughed, before throwing his own sword down, the armor the man wore exploding into a slithering pile of shadows, a horrific demon rising from the mist, only to disappear into the forest beyond. Jerald, willing to give chased, moved forward, only to hear the faint sound of crashing and screams behind him, returning to find the city ablaze, over run by demons. Throwing his sword to the ground hopelessly, Jerald walked away from Hillsbrad, never to look back.
Along his resulting travels, he was able to experience many things, as well as retrieve his traveling partner from a merchant: Walter, a sabel ferret.
Personality: A layed back person, Jerald is usually one to avoid confrontation. Because of the loss of his family, and, basically, his life, at Hillsbrad, Jerlad shows many signs of being "hardened"; he lacks compassion for a great many of things, but holds onto what little humanity that remains with his easy going personality, hiding his tortured past.
Breakdown of the RPG Profile:
Now, we will take a detailed look at the profile I have just wrote (All spur-of-the-moment, mind you).
Name: A random, fitting name to the character. Fitting as in, I wouldn't name a dragon George, and I wouldn't name a female character Peter.
Title/Rank: Notice, he is not a king. Not a fabled knight. He is a wanderer. What could that mean? It means anything from a street bum to a mysterious magi. Creativity is key.
Age: Being young and awesome doesn't always make the experience fun.
Species: Again, creativity. Not a mile long dragon, or a kracken, or anything like that.
Gender: Irrelevent, really.
Description: Again, not a knight in shining armor, is he? But that disfunction and imperfection makes it an interesting character, for both the person controlling it as well as those reading the profile.
Height: Realistic. Its pointless to make even a dragon abnormally large. As said earlier, depth in RPGs is the most important, rather then dimensions and abilities.
Weapons: Peaked your interest, eh? Not some gleaming runeblade that eats souls (Cough cough), but a rusty fork and a pet ferret. Those items are much more interesting to all people involved then just another evil guy with a sword.
Powers: Working WITH the history, the powers give realistic abilities and talents to a character. Having him as a former guardsmen, but having the ability to shoot jets of fire out of his palms, is just dumb. Unless of course he was learning magic in secret, and the history revolved around that. Throwing small details in to beef up your character's powers =/= interesting (=/= meaning "does not equal").
History: THIS is where RPG profiles shine. Normally, history portions don't have to be this detailed or this long, but for FRPG, its normal. In fact, if your character plays out the majority of what could've been its history, IN the RPG, it would add more respect to that character, especially if it involved others. Having a history talking only about how awesome a character is to be avoided at ALL COSTS. No one cares, seriously. Creativity or get the f*ck out
Personality: Once again connecting to the history, the personality shows what impact the history had on him. Using the history as a base for the rest of the profile is wise when making an original character. Tying things to the history gives both categories meaning.
E-wars:
Note: This section applies to all those E-wars excluding RPGT E-war.
E-war profiles are the exact opposite of RPG profiles. They are the most simple, but also the most difficult. Why is this, you ask? Because in E-wars, the point is to FIGHT. With RPGs, there is more significance with histories and personalities, even though fighting usually occurs quite often in the RPGs. With E-wars, the main purpose IS to fight, so people must balance combat effectiveness with fairness and reason. A difficult task indeed.
E-war profiles consist of the basics listed above, but also usually include weapons or powers, more frequently then in RPGs. This is because, as I said, that E-wars focus mainly on combat. However, histories/backgrounds still exist in E-wars, and are used to give depth even in a situation that doesn't really call for it, so it will add extra respect and professional feeling to a character.
For balance reasons, a character can have as many powers/weapons you want, but they must have an equal amount or caliber weakness. If they can shoot fire from their hands, then they are weak to water. Things like that (Though not limited to just black and white examples).
Example of an E-war Profile, specifically a Godzilla E-war profile, created specifically for this topic:
Name: H2O
Alias: Typhoon
Height: 100 Meters
Weight: Unknown
Appearance: A hulking figure made of water (Or ice in some cases), its body looking like a hunched humanoid, with its head much smaller then the rest of its body, pointing out between its two burly shoulders. Its body half lacks legs of any kind, its waist simply extending to the ground in a shifting pillar of water, the bottom of which is much wider, flowing across the ground. Its arms, like its shoulders, are large in proportion to its body, hanging from its sides, almost touching the ground.
Powers: Doesn't have a true physical form, and thus can reshape itself after an attack, which usually does little more then disrupt its form, especially melee attacks. Its body can change shape to evade danger or fit through small areas, even break itself down to normal water. It can also change the density of the water, making itself vapor to escape situations and move quickly, or make itself ice to actually attack its enemies (As water alone, in most cases, wouldn't do much).
Origin: The result of a rogue human society's attempt to combat the monsters, H2O was created when the humans began a search for alternate fuel and ammunitions to beat back the monster threat. They quickly turned to water, which gives most beings living on earth life, to fuel their counteract, and accidently result in giving a portion of it sentience, which quickly destroyed the humans and escaped its confinement.
Allies: None
Enemies: None
Strengths: Resistent to melee attacks and ice/water based attacks.
Weaknesses: Fire and other superheated attacks, which cause its form to shift from water to vapor or from ice to water, making it fight to control its own body.
Breakdown of the E-war Profile:
Name: Hur dur, I said originality in the character, the name can be corny as hell
Alias: Same deal.
Height: The average height for GEW. Depending on your monster's abilities, height CAN be useful, but one must remember not to go overboard. For every advantage, there must be a disadvantage too.
Weight: I use "Unknown" for this because hey, its made of water, and can change to ice and vapor. A definite weight is impossible to determine with this thing. Weight in GEW, in general, is difficult to determine. A 100 meter mech is usually much heavier then a 100 meter monster, because of the metal weighing more. My advice would be to look at other profiles and see what is considered big, and what is considered small, and go from there.
Appearence: Originality is prefered in E-wars, but not required. I honestly based this character's appearence off the Water Elemental from Warcraft 3. This doesn't mean that I copied every last ability and detail about it, though. Inspiration is good, so long as it isn't just copying.
Powers: The most difficult decision it seems, for new and old members alike. Think of it this way: E-war characters are basically the same mold. Appearence and powers change ascetic features, and what tactics are open to you. If you have a light character, they will most likely do poorly in the strength department. If you breath fire on an enemy, it probably won't do that much to something that lives in fire. The only thing that determines who wins in a fight is HOW you use them, rather then what they have to fight with.
Origin: Again, backgrounds like this aren't required to have much depth, but it adds a sense of professionalism and respect to a character, if they have an interesting background. The whole failed experiment background in GEW HAS been used quite a lot, though.
Allies: Who your character is friends with, mainly unique to GEW. Rules for this are just general behavioral rules; your character can't be friends with things it has never met, or wouldn't realistically befriend such a thing.
Enemies: Same as allies.
Strengths and Weaknesses: This is once again unique to GEW, but its something that is very confusing. Some people treat it like elemental strengths and weaknesses, such as weak to fire and strong against ice. Others think of it as a way to describe why a character is strong, and why is it weak (Such as this character being able to reform from melee attacks, but its form is changed by heat).
And that concludes the profile portion of the guide. Remember, things may be added at a later time, because we are only human, and forget some things.
Combat
Note: This is mainly copy pasting my combat guidelines in an older topic, which will be deleted after this has been posted, with various adjustments.
Fighting An NPC
When fighting an NPC, anything goes. You can have your character kill the NPC easily, IF it seems realistic.
Allowed: Raptors killing compys and small creatures in one blow.
Not Allowed: Raptors killing T-rex and large creatures in one, or even a few blows.
If it is a larger creature, or a creature that seems more of a challenge to your character, make the fight last longer then one sentence! Also, DO NOT MAKE UNREALISTIC SITUATIONS.
Allowed: "As Trex 1 walked out of the jungle, he could see a Spinosaurus in the distance, both snarling in anger at the other's appearence. Trex 1 charged forward, the Spinosaurus letting out a booming roar. Trex 1 snapped and snarled at the Spinosaurus, the sailed creature lunging at his neck, but Trex 1 dodged out of the way just in time."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 walked out and was suddenly surrounded by 7 Spinosaurs. He killed one by biting its sail and then threw it at the other one before kicking another, killing it. The others ran for their lives as Trex 1 roared."
Fighting A Player
This has limitations, for realistic reasons. A warning: Some of the staff have used disallowed methods in the past, but ONLY when correcting or punishing another member.
The most effective and staff approved method is turned based fighting. As in, one player strikes another, making ONLY a small number of attacks in one post. Also, they would make indirect attacks, such as a raptor slashing AT another raptor, instead of actually hitting it.
Allowed: "Raptor 1 slashes Raptor 2, causing his head to jerk to one side. He then lunged at Raptor 2's neck..."
Not Allowed: "Raptor 1 kicked Raptor 2 then bit his head and threw him into a tree before kicking him in the head 4 more times. He then tore flesh from Raptor 2's neck before kicking him again."
Random rush attacks are NOT allowed. If a player uses an attack that takes a long time to perform, and they say it hits without a chance to react, the player on the opposing end of the attack should contact the other player and they should discuss the editing of the post. If a decision cannot be made, contact the staff and alert them of the unrealistic attack. We have tried to leave it up to the members to dodge certain attacks, but it leads to too many exploits.
Allowed: "Trex 1 slammed into Trex 2, biting onto his shoulder as his teeth slashed and tore at the Tyrannosaur's flesh."
"Trex 2 roared, backing away before charging forward, slamming his body against Trex 1."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 roared and bit Trex 2 on the arm, braking it. He swung up, slamming his head into Trex 2's jaw, backing up before slamming into him."
"Trex 2 dodged the bite, slamming his head against Trex 1's, sending him to the ground before stamping on his side."
Another common sense issue is the duration of the fights taking place. If you and another player begin fighting, and you throw the other player to the ground and declare it a win, you can expect a PM. Fights must give both sides an opportunity to attack or defend, you can't end a fight via knockout or simply knocking them over, and immediately say you won.
Not Allowed: "Spino 1 rushed forward, biting onto Spino 2's neck, pushing him to the ground."
"Spino 2 got up, slashing Spino 1's face while also biting its arm, tearing its arm almost completely off, ramming it down to the ground and roaring in victory, heading off from the defeated Spino."
One way to describe effective fighting is countering your enemy's attacks. This gives you a fair chance to deal serious damage, in a legitimate way. Exploiting your enemy's mistake is how most seasoned members win fights. When these chances arise, it is ok to describe the damage that is being done, so long as its realistic damage in relation to the attack, and it is truly a major counter. Describing damage from a basic attack, especially at the start of a fight, should be avoided at all cost. Ignoring parts of a post, as stated above, is still not allowed.
Allowed: "Trex 1 lunged at Spino 1, ducking down to give it a straight path to the spinosaur's neck, lunging at its exposed throat."
"Spino 1 swung its claw forward, the limb connecting with Trex 1 as its lunged, the strength of the attack blowing its head away from the spino's neck, while the fish eater's claws dug deeply into its flesh."
Not Allowed: "Trex 1 walks into a clearing and spots Spino 1. Trex 1 runs forward and slams its jaws shut on Spino 1's neck, tasting blood, before smashing its head against the ground, breaking many bones in its head."
"Spino 1 smacks Trex 1's head as he tries to bite, claws gouging its eye in the process, blood splattering the grass, before the Spino walks forward and bites down on the Trex's neck, crushing bone, before breaking its neck with a sickening crack."
RPing Q&A
This section will answer some frequently asked questions about fights. People are free to ask more questions via this topic, and see them answered here.
Q: How do I win fights?!
A: There is no simple answer for that. Make sure you understand fighting, and can adapt to counter you opponent's posting style.
Q: Why can't I have my character be huge?!
A: Because we've noticed that, if given an inch, members, newbies especially, take a mile. As in, we let you make 55 foot Rexs, and someone makes one 70 feet long.
Q: But Crusher is huge! Why do admins get special privileges?
A: First, we don't. Ever. Think of us as referees. We have fun, just as much as any normal member, RPing, but we are there to enforce the rules of the site and the RPGs/E-wars, which are there to keep everything fair.
Second, to answer about Crusher, you must understand a piece of RPGT History. Crusher existed long before anything else on this site, a character thought up by The Kingpin a long time ago. When the first ISS was made on Oddingma Enesisga, during KP's "new time" in an RPG (Even the creator can he inexperienced at one point), Crusher's size was established before we knew just how unrealistic it may be. RPG Topia was formed when the ISS on MG was deleted. We had no intention of making RPG Topia public at the time, and just wanted to continue the RPG. Crusher and many of the characters were simply brought over. So to take away his size, you are taking away part of Crusher.
Q: Thanks for the history lesson.
A: You're welcome.
Q: Can my character ever be like C-
A: NO.
Q: Why not?
A: Because Crusher has a history so long it would need its own topic. He is THE oldest (Not in-RPG age) ISS character, and RPG Topia character over all. Just by you, generic newbie, implying that you seek to copy Crusher/overthrow him, leads me to believe your character lacks any creativity whatsoever, only wishes to kill kill kill, and ignores our warnings about size. Good day sir.
Q: Will RPGT E-war ever return?
A: Probably not, but the idea isn't completely out of the question. Considering how bad it had become, its revival seems unlikely. But perhaps in the far future it could be looked at again.
Q: *Insert RPG/E-war name here* is boring! We need something to do!
A: Then get to work! In some special cases, the staff will devise plots for RPGs/E-wars that involve a large amount of participants, but that is not our obligation. To enjoy RPGs/E-wars fully, one must create minor, character specific plots for themselves, or even include some others if said others agree. Morale of the story: If you are bored, do something about it! DON'T depend on us!
-The Sparring Ring-
This section will discuss the rules/guidelines of sparring (As in hypothetical fights) with another member or one of the staff.
- No semantics. Don't suddenly pull a volcano in which to throw someone in into a fight mid-way, where it shouldn't be.
- Fight details MUST be established before it begins. Character choice itself is the individual's decision, but the E-war/RPG in which they pick a character from and the setting are to be worked out between the two (Preferably through PM, because this topic has enough purposes).
- New characters CAN be brought into this topic. However, the person must provide a valid profile for the character, so their opponent knows what they are up against.
- If someone declines an invitation to fight, its no. Final. Fineto. Ask them at a later time, if they seem interested.