Physical Combat

## Overview

In the SOTS in-game world, physical combat is by far the most prominent form of combat as SOTS is more of a medieval world with fantasy monsters just living within its world and SOTS's masteries reflect that as Magic is rare and difficult to obtain. Such Physical Combat examples consist of Dual-wielding, One-handed Thrusting and Quick Range. All forms of physical combat have their own advantages and disadvantages as well as styles of combat and techniques exclusive to that form of combat. Remember all combat masteries are better than others in certain combat situations. Having a combat mastery will allow your character to wield that weapon of that mastery so for example, If a warrior had two-handed slash than he would be able to wield an Odachi or a two-handed Katana effectively. As you develop or increase your character's masteries, the more skilled your character will become.

## Mastery Tier

* **Beginner -** You can pick up a weapon and swing? Probably won't hit anything but at least you attempted right?
* **Novice** - You can actually weave your weapon and probably hit something
* **Trained -** You actually know how to properly hold your weapon now and you actually hit your target
* **Proficient -** You learned the correct stances and style of combat with your weapon
* **Adapt -** you know your weapon well and understand how to use certain stances and styles effectively

* **Expert -** You know have begun to study far more complex methods of attacks and stances that were unknown to you before or couldn't perform due to your inexperience

* **Master -** Having learned every complex maneuver and form of attack as well as the skill to now back it up, you now call yourself a master, congrats

* **Illustrious -** A masters amongst masters, you have essentially become one with your weapon and move elegantly across the battlefield as If you are a dancer, or at least to the common soldier and peasant

* **Heroic -** A mortal whom has risen to become a hero which is only possible through the fires of battle and the experiences it brings
* **legendary -** A hero amongst heroes, no mere mortal could ever hope to best such a person in battle with skills such as theirs as they are demi-godly beings who's very presence alone commands respect and those whom take to the field inspire lesser men and women to greater feats of bravery
* **Divine -** A hero whom has ascended to divinity, with such the power of a god in their hands, such a being could easily sway the battle into whatever favour they seek
* **Supreme Being -** A godly being of such power and skill, they could dispatch entire armies on their own yet the full extension of their power cannot be comprehended by a mere mortal
* **Elder Supreme Being -** The ultimate power in the universe, why would such a being have to lower themselves to fight mere mortals?

## **Different forms of physical combat**

**Shield -** Determines how well you can shield yourself from attacks using a physical shield. Can be combined with Guard to tank far more damage

**Dual-wielding -** Determines how well you can fight while wielding two one handed weapons, one for each hand. You must pick a one handed weapon mastery along with this mastery.

**Single handed slashing -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that slash and cut easily, such examples are Katana's, Saber's, Dao's

T**wo handed slashing -** Determines how skilled you are with two handed weapons that slash and cut easily, such examples are Katana's, Saber's, Dao's and Claymore's

**One handed Thrusting -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that thrust and pierce easily, such examples are the Rapier, the arming Sword and the Estoc

**Two handed Thrusting -** Determines how skilled you are with two handed weapons that thrust and pierce easily, such examples are the Rapier, the arming Sword and the Estoc

**One handed Hybrid -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that slash, cut yet also can thrust and pierce however hybrid weapons cannot perform as well as a slash or thrust weapon, most medieval European swords belong in this category. Examples are the Longsword , Broadsword and Straight Sword

**Two handed Hybrid -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that slash, cut yet also can thrust and pierce however hybrid weapons cannot perform as well as a slash or thrust weapon, most medieval European swords belong in this category. Examples are the Longsword , Broadsword and Straight Sword

**One handed blunt -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that use raw power to smash their enemies defenses, examples include Hammer, Maul, Club etc

**Two handed blunt -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed weapons that use raw power to smash their enemies defenses, examples include Warhammer, Maul, Club etc

**One handed exotic -** Determines how skilled you are with one handed exotic weapons that either bind, smash or slash, examples include the Whip, Hook sword and Scythe and Katar

**Two handed exotic -** Determines how skilled you are with two handed exotic weapons that either bind, smash, cut or slash. Exotic weapons do more damage, being unpredictable but require longer training and is hard to master. Examples include the Whip, Hook sword, Scythe and Katar

**Polearms -** Determines how skilled you are one with long reaching weapons such as the Lance, Halberd, spear etc

**Quick Range -** Determines how skilled you are with quick firing yet weak ranged weapons such as the standard bow, throwing knifes and the Chu Ko Nu

**Slow Range -** Determines how skilled you are with powerful but slow reloading time ranged weapons such as the Longbow, Crossbow and Arbalest

**Martial Arts -** Determines how skilled you are in hand to hand combat as well as the usage of weapons attached to your fists. Martial Arts specializing in body strikes, disarming and putting enemies in submission.

## **Advanced forms of physical combat**

**Spirit Weapon -** Once a master becomes one with their own mind, a master will than be able to become one with their weapon of choice as If it was an extension of their own body. By harnessing the power of their weapon, their weapon's attack and defense power will greatly increase.
Prerequisite: Adapt in Spirit Meditation
Initiation: N/A

**Great Sword -** Gigantic and heavy, a Great Sword allows a warrior to wield the most powerful physical swords in existence, able to put out extreme amounts of damage at the expense of limited mobility, leaving them vulnerable. Due to raw their strength alone, many warriors favor these weapons for slaying mighty creatures such as Wvyerns, Dragons and Giants. Due to it's sheer weight and speed, it is best suited to hit and run tactics.
Prerequisite: Master of Thrust or Slash Weapons , Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Longsword -** Similar to the Great Sword, the Great Longsword are designed to be far lighter and have a far more elegant move set in attacks and movement. Unlike the Great Sword which uses sheer raw power to smash it's way through an enemy, a Great Longsowrd was designed for precise, repeated attacks which allows them to slice through most with ease however being fragile makes it near impossible to block with due to their thin blades. These weapons are often favored by sword masters who prefer movement and precision over raw power.
Prerequisite: Master of Slash, Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Blunt** - Similar in function to a Great Sword, Great Blunt weapons operate in the way of dealing vast amount of damage in a single attack through by impact. Due to their nature, while heavy, one with a Great Blunt weapon is more mobile than one with a Great Sword but their attack's are more limited.
Prerequisite: Master of Blunt, Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Polearm -** they function in the same regard as a regular Polearm for the most part, being defensive melee weapons that are designed to strike from a distance and keep enemies at bay, only this time they do far more damage at the expense of weight. Great Polearm weapons such as the Great Lance can have the strongest thrusting damage however their attack movements are extremely limited and predictable.
Prerequisite: Master of Polearm or Thrusting Weapons, Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Exotics -** These weapons are amongst the rarest of physical weapons with many being experimental or rare such as the Bowlance which can fire arrows from within the lance to the Switch Axe which can change from a battle axe to a sword. Although Great Exotics still require two hands to wield effectively usually, the movement and damage output depends on the weapon at hand.
Prerequisite: Master of a melee weapon mastery, Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Quick Range -** They function the same as quick range but those trading in movement for quick firing ranged weapons such as the advanced bowgun which can fire off many arrows far quicker than a bow or a regular crossbow yet leave the user stationary.
Prerequisite: Master of a Quick Range
Initiation: Must be Taught

**Great Slow Range -** Grants the user to use slow firing yet high damage ranged weapons such as the Great Bow which is twice the height of a human, requires great strength to wield, slow firing but it's capable of causing tremendous damage, easily able to kill a normal human in one shot. The Great Arbalest on the other hand is the slowest firing and requires one to be stationary however it's offensive power is unmatched, able to hit like a truck, it will outright kill humans and small creatures in one shot to mortally wounding larger beast while easily being able to smash through structures at the expense of slow reloading times and being extremely heavy.
Prerequisite: Master of Great Slow Range, Draconic Grip
Initiation: Must be Taught

## Important notes

* When dueling, someone who has better equipment or items does not necessarily win
* someone with lower ranked combat masteries can defeat someone with a higher combat tier mastery
* Your character should take combat seriously and be realistic, medieval times weren't forgiven to those whom didn't

* Don't assume your character knows everything about weapons, how to use each type of weapon and knows how to defeat every user that use different weapons
* Don't assume your characters knows everything they need to know when they're in combat situations, a farmer girl who just picked up a straight sword wouldn't last five minutes against a trained soldier, especially if she's out on a battlefield
* Keep your weapon sheathed, drawing a sword in public is a serious matter, only do it when you need to
* Keep your weapons cleaned, having a battle axe drooling or stained in blood may be unwanted attention or worse
* Threatening a person with your weapon, even hidden from the public can result in consequences
* Do not think one type of weapon beats all because there isn't
* Swords like a Katana and an arming sword are two different swords designed for two different things, don't act like swords in general function all the same