How to really RP fight well / fighting combat anxiety in FFRP

[starkwolf]

Free-form RP has always really bothered me, because physical combat isn't unusual either to draw emphasis to the/a climax, or indeed as the/a climax itself. I generally find it hard to do drama better than with a brawl.

The problem is, in table-top RPGs like D&D, it is so structured. You just learn the rules, setup your stats, then if/when a fight happens (almost always when), you roll your attacks and defense. I have so much anxiety about free form combat because it isn't so cut and dry. Sure, there are some conventions like the 3 hit rule (I rule I find frustrating, but fully understand why it is necessary and wouldn't have it any other way) and allowing the other party to acknowledge injury instead of pushing it on them.

But it still seems so... awkward. Who wins and who loses can be a very tricky balance. You don't want to fight a Mary Sue or even the more rare anti-Sue. And yet, you don't want to be that Mary Sue or anti-Sue. At the same time, the fight has to be resolved somehow.

Has anyone else felt this way, and found a way to get past it? Are there any other conventions besides the aforementioned two that can help? And is there a way to add more structure without turning people off because of the complexity of numbers, RNG, and the like that make TTRPG players so hard to come by?

[Tortuga]

Yo! I have a few tips about combat in freeform roleplay that might help you:

1. I find it useful to decide on the outcome with your partner ahead of time. That way, not only you can focus on writing an interesting fight, but having the same end goal your partner has makes it easier to know when you're going too far, lets you accurately judge what kind of damage your character can deal without going overboard and allows you to focus the scene towards a tangible climax. This approach is more focused on story building than the "game" aspect, as it's less spontaneous, but it's worked wonders for me.

2. If you use a novel format, don't write pretty in a fight scene. Write simple and fast. In creative writing, using simple, strong sentences and less description puts more focus on the action and "speeds up" the pace of your writing, both in style (by giving the frantic feel of combat) and output.

3. If you can get your partner(s) to agree, you can use online coin flips! You can use these to quickly and simply decide the outcome, whether or not hits land, etc. It doesn't involve complicated stats, so it might be easier to convince partners to adopt the convention.

4. Some RPers use  reply speed to determine what you can do, which is more... real time, I guess? Like, how many hits you get in or whether you can block is determined by whether you can post before the other player. But if you're on the slow side, like me, this convention... does not work. Heheh.

The important thing to remember in freeform RP is that communication with your partners is everything. Ideally, you should be able to judge how a fight would go based on what you know about the characters involved and write based on that. Freeform RP is a lot less like a game than RPGs -- it's closer to writing a story.

[Morgra]

Yo! I have a few tips about combat in freeform roleplay that might help you:

1. I find it useful to decide on the outcome with your partner ahead of time. That way, not only you can focus on writing an interesting fight, but having the same end goal your partner has makes it easier to know when you're going too far, lets you accurately judge what kind of damage your character can deal without going overboard and allows you to focus the scene towards a tangible climax. This approach is more focused on story building than the "game" aspect, as it's less spontaneous, but it's worked wonders for me.

2. If you use a novel format, don't write pretty in a fight scene. Write simple and fast. In creative writing, using simple, strong sentences and less description puts more focus on the action and "speeds up" the pace of your writing, both in style (by giving the frantic feel of combat) and output.

3. If you can get your partner(s) to agree, you can use online coin flips! You can use these to quickly and simply decide the outcome, whether or not hits land, etc. It doesn't involve complicated stats, so it might be easier to convince partners to adopt the convention.

4. Some RPers use  reply speed to determine what you can do, which is more... real time, I guess? Like, how many hits you get in or whether you can block is determined by whether you can post before the other player. But if you're on the slow side, like me, this convention... does not work. Heheh.

The important thing to remember in freeform RP is that communication with your partners is everything. Ideally, you should be able to judge how a fight would go based on what you know about the characters involved and write based on that. Freeform RP is a lot less like a game than RPGs -- it's closer to writing a story.

I don't roleplay but I found this very helpful if i'd ever want to start in rp combat. Thanks for the great advice ^^ I'm sure others will find it very helpful

[starkwolf]

Yo! I have a few tips about combat in freeform roleplay that might help you:

1. I find it useful to decide on the outcome with your partner ahead of time. That way, not only you can focus on writing an interesting fight, but having the same end goal your partner has makes it easier to know when you're going too far, lets you accurately judge what kind of damage your character can deal without going overboard and allows you to focus the scene towards a tangible climax. This approach is more focused on story building than the "game" aspect, as it's less spontaneous, but it's worked wonders for me.

2. If you use a novel format, don't write pretty in a fight scene. Write simple and fast. In creative writing, using simple, strong sentences and less description puts more focus on the action and "speeds up" the pace of your writing, both in style (by giving the frantic feel of combat) and output.

3. If you can get your partner(s) to agree, you can use online coin flips! You can use these to quickly and simply decide the outcome, whether or not hits land, etc. It doesn't involve complicated stats, so it might be easier to convince partners to adopt the convention.

4. Some RPers use  reply speed to determine what you can do, which is more... real time, I guess? Like, how many hits you get in or whether you can block is determined by whether you can post before the other player. But if you're on the slow side, like me, this convention... does not work. Heheh.

The important thing to remember in freeform RP is that communication with your partners is everything. Ideally, you should be able to judge how a fight would go based on what you know about the characters involved and write based on that. Freeform RP is a lot less like a game than RPGs -- it's closer to writing a story.

I'm with MorgraWolf (nice reference in the name btw, loved The Sight!), that was amazing advice, thank you very much! I'm still a bit uncomfortable with free form combat, but that info helps a lot.

[Drunk]

Try beer.

[starkwolf]

Try beer.

Have some nuzzles.

[starkwolf]

Also, I had an idea, and I wanted to know how likely people think others are to appreciate it:

So, what if I devise a complex combat system based primarily around a questionnaire, with the physical design of the character and their bio playing a smaller role?

The idea is, I would GM the game and they would be able to focus entirely on the RP.

For combat, the players would simply setup the beginning of the combat, and I would do all of the stat checks and then inform them what end result they would be RPing to.

Based on what you said about agreeing to the outcome of combat. They could look into the complexities of the combat mechanics if they so choose, otherwise they would never need to know.

Does this sound fun, or could it be irritating to players?

[Tortuga]

While complexity is relative, it sounds good to me as long as you can keep up with in-game events and they agree to your regulations. I can see you needing help with it if the player numbers get large, though -- keep that in mind. I know I'd be totally on-board with the system, at least judging by the basic concept!  Just make sure you consider the merits of handling the system yourself vs. trusting the judgement of your player base.

The only other problem I can see so far is the potential for bias. Since the result is in someone else's hands, whoever was in charge of it would need to be impartial to the outcome; if they agree to it, make sure your players understand and accept that you'll be judging by the relevant stats alone and nothing else.