Personal Combat

Personal combat is much like other forms of role-play. It involves a process of give-and-take that is moderated by code. It is not about winning or loosing for either party (OOCly, at least), but rather about having fun. To that end, the standard rules for normal roleplay in ordinary scenes apply - no powerposing, etc. However, because Dark Horizons utilizes a coded combat system, there are a few common-sense rules which bear mentioning when relating that system to an actual pose.
 
==Personal Roleplay==
First, it bears important note that in personal combat ROLEPLAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. This means that simply because an action is possible via the code, does not mean it is reasonably icly. And that is the most important consideration. For example, lets take Smith and Bob:
 
Smith is Bob's Jedi Padawan. Smith has decided that Bob is 'holding him back' - and has tried to stab Bob with his lightsaber while he's dealing with some smugglers. Bob manages to spot Smith in time however, and a furious battle emerges. During this battle, Bob parries one of Smith's lightsaber blows, and Smith responds by trying to kick Bob. Smith is not doing this because it would give him a coded advtantage (he'd probably be better off +striking with the lightsaber, codewise) - but because icly, the lightsabers are being held tightly against each other, and ICly, kicking makes more sense. Now, OOCly - Bob wants to win, so he decides to type +parry, to parry Smith's kick, arguing that it's really stupid to try and kick someone during a lightsaber fight.
 
Bob is wrong. While a random kick could very well be worthy of a +parry - in this case the IC events (the lightsaber parry) make the kick reasonable. Parrying the kick with the lightsaber would be, frankly - the actions of an unprofessional roleplayer. This is not to say a Force User cannot parry hand to hand attacks with their lightsaber - if Smith had lost his lightsaber and was trying to punch Bob, Bob would be well within his rights to parry away.
 
The second thing that bears important note is this: ROLEPLAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. Simply because you can do something codewise, does not mean it is appropriate.
==Personal Advantages==
In personal combat, one must be very careful to take into account the IC-situation, specifically advantages and disadvantages. Merely becausea situation is not coded for (or the code does not anticipate it) - does not mean it is not important. This goes hand in hand with the concept of role-play; namely that it isn't roll-play.
 
For example, suppose Lisa the smuggler is being attacked by Jamie the Jedi Padawan. Jamie has a lightsaber. Unfortunately for her, Lisa has a blaster and is rather far away when combat starts. Before Jamie decides what to do codewise, she considers the IC situation. She realizes that her character must travel a good distance (in this case, about 100m) to get to the smuggler, and only then can she actually swing her lightsaber. So she poses running towards her. Unfortunately, though Jamie cannot attack from that distance, Lisa can - and she can attack while running away. Though codewise Lisa may be outmatched by a lightsaber, the IC situation warrants that Lisa will get in a few blows (perhaps quite a lot) before Jamie gets off even a single lightsaber attack.
 
In a similiar situation, consider Jamie fighting Boba Fett, who is hovering several hundred feet in the air while firing a blaster at Jamie. Now, Jamie can throw her lightsaber at Boba Fett - but she can't really dothat over and over again (or at least, she could codewise, but it would be rather lame) - and even though code would allow her to +strike him, there's no real IC way for her to do that. Boba Fett would have an advantage in this fight, even though the code doesn't recognize it. This is not to say that Jamie will never get an attack in - merely that one is not necessarily entitled to an attack every round. Combat is much more than a series of +strikes and +parries, over and over again. If something has happened that would prevent someone from making an attack (like dodging a thermal detonator blast) - then they should probably worry about the IC situation more then the coded attack - pacing should be based on drama, rather then code. As always however, players should work together OOCly to arrive at a mutual agreement based on the IC-circumstances.
==Personal Disputes==
At times, tensions will run high during combat. This should really not be out of character tension, as everyone is merely trying to have fun, but realistically speaking at times players will have a disagreement about the pacing and flow of combat, or to what extent an IC-situation presents an advantage. The very first thing players should do when they realize they have a disagreement is calm down, take a step back, and remember that it's just a game. Even if someone loses a fight this time, it doesn't mean its the end of their character (and even if they are out of escapes, dying isn't necessarily the worst event in the world, see 'news death' for more information) - and they can always win the next fight.
 
However, if when talking to each other players simply cannot agree on a logical compromise based on the IC-situation, then they have a dispute. In this case, +staff lists a large number of Helpers and Judges who will be happy to aide the two players in question. Their advice should be taken very seriously, as they are all trusted by the Wizards and will present a fair and balanced view of the situation. 
 
If, however, the players (after having received the attention of the Judges and Helpers) find themselves disagreeing with the staff, they may appeal to the wizards. This should be an absolute last resort; as players are expected to be mature enough to handle such problems without resorting to asking the Wizards. Obviously, any decisions made by the Wizards, once asked, should be considered final and binding. 
Category:Combat
Category:Policy