Combat

Disagreements between characters are an occasional part of the game. Whether they are competitive but casual, or emotionally-charged rivalries that will settle for nothing less than the death of their nemesis, a system to decide the outcome is imperative for fairness in gameplay. Regardless of whether fun or fury drives the participants, the victor(s) of a combat proceeding are determined by a sage.

The combat system described here can be used for any versus altercation characters find themselves in. It can be scaled to any size, whether 1v1 or full on armies, and caters to two or more parties/opposing sides. Results will be given on an individual basis for any combat scenarios of 6 or fewer characters; this means that even in skirmishes where there are two or three on a team, sages will judge each participant individually.

### When Judgement is Required

Players are welcome to decide the results of a combat scenario themselves, and to roleplay it out as desired; in this situation, no judging is needed, since a mutual agreement has been made. If no official winner is needing designation, such as with characters that are merely practicing their sparring techniques, it can be done without the supervision and final call of a sage. However, if all participants of a combat scenario do not agree on a result, this is the process by which one will be decided.

Examples of what types of situations might or might not warrant a sage to judge combat results are show in the table below.

Is a sage required for my combat scenario?
 A decisive winner is to be declared and has not been decided beforehand
 The combat scenario originally did not need a sage, but a participant changed their mind
 Players want to add more stipulations, rules of engagement, etc to combat scenario

### Official Process

For any combat situation that is to be judged by a sage, each participant in the combat proceedings must include the following steps, totaling a minimum of *three posts.*

* 1st - Initiation post
* 2nd - Reaction post
* 3rd - Conclusion post

Combatants are free to post more than these three posts, but they aren't required to. The more posts a participant makes during combat, the greater their potential for winning; it cannot hurt their chances, only help them.

#### Initation

Imagine this post as your character's entrance to the battleground. Its purpose is to summarize any preparation that has gone into this confrontation. This may include (but is not limited to) equipment, training, gathering information on the enemy's tactics, etc. It also includes the "first strike" - when the battle starts, what your character's first action taken is.

#### Reaction

Once initiation posts have been made, your next turn will be a reaction. Now that all participants have posted what their first move would be with their initiation post, your character is now tasked with responding to these actions. It is important to maintain believability in how your character would react to what they face in battle, even if it may cause harm. Whether they choose to react offensively, defensively, or both, consistency with your character will help you win even the most one-sided battles.

If any participant wants to continue combat instead of ending it at the minimum 3 posts per participant, they are allowed to do so. However, once any participant moves on and posts their Conclusion post, all participants must follow suit with theirs.

#### Conclusion

This is the final post a participant will submit for consideration in the combat proceedings. After all combatants make their Conclusion post, the sage will begin to judge the results. Conclusion posts serve to show the "aftermath" of the battle, describing how their character is faring after everything that's happened thus far. This can include (but is not limited to) wounds, mental state, physical exhaustion, etc. Characters do not have to "exit" in this post if they don't want to.

### Judging Results

Once posting is complete, a sage can start to evaluate the results of the combat proceedings. As mentioned previously, if a battle has 6 or fewer participants, individual scores will be given for each.

First, a luck roll will be performed for mental acuity, per combatant. Results will be determined as follows.

Luck Roll - Mental Acuity
 1
 Anything else

Points from the luck roll will be added to the overall score. Below are the criteria by which this overall score is calculated.

+1 Point
 Having completed a judged combat thread IC previously
 Having performed reconnaissance on area before battle started (includes having been there before or talking to others that have)
 Showing situational awareness during combat (analyzing and considering environmental and oppositional changes in strategy)
 Wearing armor
 Being the only rune-bearing combatant
 Maintaining calm demeanor throughout combat and showing restraint
 Strength in numbers (having superior number of other combatants fighting with you versus your opponent[s])
 Positively reacting to opponent's actions and believably acting and reacting to them

+2 Points
 Having participated in a combat thread IC previously that a sage judged to be a winner of
 Having killed a character (includes interactive NPCs) before IC

+3 Points

The combatant with the highest score (luck role + other points) is declared the winner. If two or more combatants tie, it is declared a draw.

### Reminders

* Players aren't required to separate combat scenarios from other IC interactions. If a first impression goes sour and ends up turning into a brawl, so be it; no need to relocate to a different thread.
* Consent is important - even in combat. All combat proceedings need to have consent from all participating players to be judged; if a player refuses, or has their character refuse, we aren't going to force them to fight. (However, certain IC situations will have consequences for characters who don't take up a combat challenge. Keep an eye out for repercussions if you are considering declining a challenge!)
* Participants can reach out to a sage for judging results at any time during combat - or even wait until they've finished. All the sage needs to determine results are the completed Initiation, Reaction, and Conclusion posts, and don't necessarily have to be privy to the thread the whole time as it is happening.