General Guide to RP Combat

((Guide is Under Construction, Content may be subject to changes))

 First of all, welcome to “JutsuOnline”. If you’re reading this, you’re new to JO or have no idea how the roleplay conflicts/fights work on the game. In JO we currently use a freeform combat system for roleplay.

Emote battles are an alternative form of player vs player conflict in JO. Instead of using spells in PVP, you engage with your opponent using the emote system in chat.

Emote battles can be fun for events and training, or passive conflicts but can also have great impact. Where a battle may have an impactful outcome such as RP death, Capture, Mugging or Critical injury, those involved in the battle must agree prior to the battle commencing to using the emote system, and they should also decide the outcome either before, during or after the fight begins. This allows the emote battle system to be used to create some really spectacular RP and not turn into an argument in whispers over stats and abilities.

If two players wish to not decide the outcome of the battle before or during the emote battle, and cannot agree on what should happen, the battle will turn to PVP and that will decide the outcome. Both players must accept that the fight is turning to PVP if they cannot agree and ample time should be allowed for players to prepare for this, ganking is not tolerated. Please be mindful that your opponent may be mid-emote or typing something to you in whisper, a simple “are you ready?” is all that is needed and then wait for a response.  Once you both have ready-ed  up, you have the choice to attempt to flee. Waiting a minute or two is reasonable for your opponent to respond that they ready, any longer without agreement can be deemed as time wasting or avoidance, in this case you should take screenshots of your interactions (with timestamps) and of your location and LOG OUT, report the incident to RPEs who will investigate. This applies also if you think the opponent is wasting time to call for backup, just LOG OUT, after taking screenshots and report. After a player has decided that the fight should be switched to PVP, no other player can get involved till that combat is over. Metagaming is a bannable offence and will not be tolerated. If you think someone is metagaming/cheating/time wasting do NOT run away, it is much easier for the RP Team to investigate the incident if you simply log out after taking SS.

If a village player encounters a rogue player, the village player will decide whether the battle will start as an emote battle or PVP, and the rogue cannot refuse an impactful result (mugging, capture, RP death) but also the village player cannot argue the outcome should they lose. Please be aware that rogue players will have access to all the option on the PVP defeat GUI.

This set up means that you will not likely engage in emote battles with players who you think may be particularly difficult or argumentative, when you encounter these players just use the PVP system. The fact that the outcome of emote battles is decided by both players means that the content of the battle is mostly creative, with stats only providing a light guidance to your character’s ability, rather than stats driving the fight.

Emote battles will be almost completely freeform. That means there will be no specific guides for you to follow. Instead, a set of rules will be applied to the whole system that are easy to follow. This allows players to be almost completely in control of how their character presents their chosen paths, allowing differences from player to player. The exception to this will be bloodlines, players are required to only use the jutsu that we have allocated to each path through spells. The stat guide is there to help you understand the capabilities of your character and should guide you on what they can realistically achieve.

**Rules on Freeform RP:**

1. Your character’s jutsu should be similar/based on the equivalent spell at that rank. E.g Katon D-rank spell is Fireball Jutsu, this is a projectile type jutsu and so you should emote a projectile type jutsu only.
2. Your character will have the same amount of jutsu per path as the game allows.
3. You must be realistic and reasonable about what your character is able to do, based on your stats and your available jutsu.It is in your interest to do this, as if your opponent suspects you of powergaming they may decide to switch the combat to PVP which you would have to comply with.
4. Basic taijutsu movements are not limited in any way and are available to all players, though should be used reasonably and realistically.
5. If you have Kenjutsu, Multiblade or Samurai path you can use basic sword movement techniques as long as they are reasonable and realistic in addition to the techniques that you will use that are based on the in-game spells.
6. If you think you might be changing the in-game spell too much to create your jutsu you must seek advice from a RPE or the RPA who will be happy to advise you.
7. You must not create custom releases such as Lava, magnet or bubble release, the jutsu your character uses must stay within the limits of the path as it is described.
8. You should not change the jutsu you have created or the way you use it once your character has used it for the first time in-game. It is not realistic that a shinobi could have unlimited jutsu variations up their sleeve in JO to allow them to have an edge in combat. It is realistic, that once you use a jutsu you stick with it, and it becomes canon to your character. Any reports of players constantly switching up their character’s abilities will be investigated and potentially punished.
9. Your character’s jutsu should be listed and described in your bio of the wiki. This information will be taken as OOC info as a way to help us police rule number 8, and so players are all accountable for their character’s abilities. A sentence or two per jutsu is sufficient “Moshi’s d-rank katon technique forms 4 small fire balls shaped like bats that she shoots towards the target, at first they stay separate but just before impact they form one larger projectile which then explodes.”
10. As your character grows stronger, and their stats get higher, they can start developing some of their “weaker” jutsu, to adapt them slightly as long as they are reasonable and realistic developments. “As an S-rank shinobi Moshi now can form 6 fire bats which she sends in random directions towards the target, she can decide which ones merge, or which to hit directly on the target and explode. The bats are much smaller in size, move faster and explode to a greater degree.” This needs to be documented in your bio.

***We will add a FAQs section to the wiki which will detail any questions asked about this system or individual paths and the answers we give.***

## Basics

You should be scratching your head and wondering “what’s an emote?”, allow me to explain it to you if you’re not familiarized. An emote is a paragraph that describes the actions of your character (But dialogue can be also added to them as you would in the “say” channel /s, in-game it can be written by doing typing  “ /e on the chat bar. Once the letters turn “orange” you will be already writing your first emote!

Outside of combat, examples of emotes can be such as:

**“Noburu felt his stomach was about to explode, however, the prideful Akimichi made a hand gesture to the waitress to bring another ramen plate. “Another one” he mumbled while doing so.”**

This is a good example of an emote, as it shows how to implement dialogue as well into them, as actions take place. This helps improve the quality of your narrative.

**Tip:** try to be detailed, but don’t overdo it. Several paragraphs do not equate to **“quality roleplay”**. If you need to extend the emote, do it, but be as brief as possible as most people would skip unnecessary aspects of an emote if they’re too long.

## Stats

There is a limit and level of logic for every move and action on a fight. Powergaming and Godmodding are forbidden and are fought by the use of the stats your character possesses, these stats will help you evaluate several things: How tired your character is, how much chakra it has left, how is his current physical state, how much energy is left, etc.

## Turns (Optional/Informative)

A turn is divided into two segments: a ‘defensive’ turn and an ‘offensive’ turn.

Defensive turn:  a defensive turn is the first segment of a turn, called “defensive” because the word is key to what it usually represents, defending against previous attacks directed at the character.

Offensive turn: note that a character is not obliged to attack during an offensive turn, they can use it to recover and move away right after defending.

Take in mind that if you decide to immediately attack during a defensive turn, your offensive turn will be skipped so the targets may react to your character’s actions immediately.

Power moves: power moves occupy the entire turn, but they have to be performed on the respective segment they occupy. For example, if your character performs a “taijutsu defense” power move, the target of said power move will immediately begin their turn to react to the consequences of the power move.

## Range and Movement

**Long-range** = A **chakra jump** away from the target.

**Medium range** =  **6 or more steps** away from the target.

**Close range/Taijutsu range** = **less than 5 steps** or Melee basic attack range.

**\*Note\* If you are unsure of what range you may be at don't be afraid to ask the RPH/RPE or Player hosting the event**

Movement based on Chakra

Alternatively, a shinobi may choose to move faster using his chakra in the process, this technique is known as Chakra Soles. The chakra usage of this technique is catalogued as [Medium], And the amount of chakra used will ultimately be determined by your chakra control.

The Chakra Soles allows the user to move through long distances in a short period of time-consuming the user's chakra in the process, this technique is intended only for the user's movement, therefore to attack an objective at the end or during the use of this you will require more energy.

'*Note Juken users and “Tsume” Style Taijutsu (Inuzuka) bypass the extra energy costs to directly attack due to the fast-paced nature of these techniques. Escaping these formidable taijutsu user’s reach will be a proper challenge (Both have a higher reach due to the speed they can achieve).'*

## Team Fights

As lonely as the life of Shinobi is, teams, squads and organizations can be found around the world by your character on their journey. The scenario where your character will have to join forces or fight groups of foes or even be outnumbered or be on the opposite end of the spectrum and treat a single enemy like Jiraiya.

Teams should decide amongst themselves and with the opposite team how to sort out turn orders for their fights. If no agreement can be found call an RPE or switch to PVP.