CombatRules

Overview
On a consensual RP MUSH, coded systems are always a TOOL for roleplaying; never a replacement. That being said, there is no problem with enjoying coded combat. We all play video games, right? Well, this is sort of the same thing. Only with text. Back in my day, we didn't have fancy 3D shaders and alpha-blending! Just text!

Anyways, this combat system was a labor of love and I hope everyone using it has as much fun with it as I did. I try to follow the adage: "Complex, but not complicated". I'm not sure if I read that somewhere or if I made it up.

Please note that using the combat system is always voluntary. The majority of players will prefer coded combat, but if you and your fellow combatants can all agree to just roleplay the combat, please feel free to do so!

In the next few files I will attempt to detail this system in its entirety.

Enjoy!

When To Fight
Combat is not always the answer. Sure, we are all playing giant robots with very large guns. And sure, both sides have hated each other with an intense passion for millions of years. However, this does not mean that whenever an Autobot and Decepticon are in the same room they must fight!

Always check with other participants in the scene before beginning combat. Sometimes it may turn out to be unnecessary or unwanted. Other times, people may want to finish up a few more aspects of a scene before the bullets start to fly.

Starting Combat
Now that you are starting combat, there are a few terms for you to know:

At the start of combat NO combatants should be over their Energon limit. You should be at base energon (usually 50) or less. If you have purposefully exploited the combat system in order to gain an advantage, you will be warned and your combat privileges will be revoked.
 * TURN - An action (usually an attack) taken by your character during combat
 * ROUND - A series of turns. Within each round, every player should get 1 turn

Here are a few ways to go about organizing combat.

Standard Rounds
Everyone involved in combat decides upon a turn order. An easy way to figure this out is the +pot command. When using Standard Rounds, every player takes his turn, in order, until the last person has gone. Then, the next round begins, with any new combatants added in.

Standard Rounds can sometimes be confusing in very large scenes because players in different factions are going in-between each other and are not necessarily attacking people that have turns near their own within the order.

This is the default/assumed type of combat if an agreement can not otherwise be reached amongst the combatants.

Faction Rounds
Faction Rounds are often easier to manage in large scenes, especially since on our MUSH, there are usually only two sides.

First, the combatants need to decide which factions go first. The realistic way to decide is via RP. If the Decepticons are staging a surprise raid, then they would go first. Everything tends to even out in the end, so don't worry about it too much.

During a faction's turn, any members of that faction involved in the combat can take their action. This doesn't need to be in any particular order.

After everyone in one faction has gone, the other faction members may go.

Pair Rounds
Pair Rounds (or Pairing-Up) makes combat the most manageable for individuals, but does not really give anyone an idea of the big picture.

In Pair Rounds, each character 'pairs up' with a character from the opposing faction. These two characters then fight as if they were in their own mini-battle, trading turns until one retreats or otherwise stops fighting.

While easiest for most players, this doesn't really encourage people to get involved in the scene as a whole.

Roleplay-Only Combat
There are a number of tools available for roleplay-only combat. The free attack 'Grab' can be used as a neutral judge for hit/miss rolls. It is level 0, so it will not do any damage.

Three useful commands are +check, +compare, and +roll which all have detailed +help files.

During Combat
Each turn you should do the following (in this order):
 * 1) Pose (hopefully this is obvious!)
 * 2) Set your defense level (optional)
 * 3) Perform your attack or action

Pose
A good pose starts at about three sentences. Put some effort into it! If you are having problems, either creatively or from a language standpoint, feel free to ask for help. You will find that most people are more than willing to teach you good RP habits.

On the other hand... we aren't writing novels here. Regardless of how awesomely awesome your 30-line combat pose-dissertation is, we don't want spam, and we certainly don't want to wait half an hour for you to type it. Keep the flow of a scene moving. If you are in a large combat scene, try to have at least part of your pose complete before it is your turn. Of course, sometimes situations call for great drama. Just don't over do it!

Defense Levels
At the beginning of each turn you have the option to reset your DEFENSE LEVEL. See the +help file for !defend for details. Do not take defense level descriptions literally. Protected can mean you are behind a wall. Or it could mean you are in the middle of flat terrain but are devoting most of your energies ("wits") to being alert.

If you are Hidden (either via the Cloak or Sneak abilities) and you are discovered by someone, you will be set to the Off-Guard defense level. DO NOT change your defense level until it is your turn!

Defense Levels MUST be set before your attack. After setting your defense level you can perform one (1) action/attack.

Do NOT change your defense level at any other time!!

Attacks
Attacking is the most obvious and common action during combat. When cycling through your attacks, be sure to make use of the "pull" feature of the attack command. See +help !attack for more information. You can also use !miss when dramatically appropriate. When an attack is pulled, it will cost less Energon.

Cycling your attacks is not an explicit rule, but it is a good idea to manage your Energon carefully in the new system. If you fire off all of your high-powered attacks in the first round you will be sucking "wind" for the rest of the fight and likely playing catch-up to other combatants.

However, there is also something to be said for discretion; especially if you have a high-powered character. Remember: just because you have a Level-7 Super Laser doesn't mean you should always use your Level-7 Super laser. This is a situation that is perfect for the "pull" attack feature.

To temporarily disable your Attack Effects (e.g. you don't want to Cripple the target this round) you can use the !cancel command. When an attack is using fewer Effects, it will cost less Energon.

In the new combat system, some characters (especially those with "base" alt-modes like Fortress Maximus and Scorponok) have CONTROL attacks that other characters can use. When you !attack with one of these, it takes up YOUR TURN, not theirs.

Actions
Common actions include:
 * Support Abilities: !inspire / !aim / !analyze / !forcefield / !refuel
 * !inspire takes the turn of the Inspirer, not the target
 * Combatants can not be inspired multiple times
 * "Pass" to recharge energon: !pass
 * Field Repairs: !patch
 * Note that !patch takes the turn of the Medic, not the target
 * A combatant can only be patched once per fight (unless they are a Junkion)
 * Advanced Abilities: !cloak / !detect / !radar
 * Note that you cannot !sneak when already in combat

These actions do NOT take your turn:
 * Transform: You may do this once per turn (before your action) if you would like
 * Un-aiming: If you decide to stop aiming at someone, you can do this at the start of your turn, thus allowing you to transform and/or change defense levels
 * Radio: Radio and IC channel communication typically do not take an action. Use discretion when radioing multiple people or people that are off-planet. In these cases, a one-off message will not take your turn, but maintaining repeated contact over 2 or more turns will. (So, on the 3rd time you should not take any combat-actions)
 * Activating a booster

These actions are NOT allowed once combat has started:
 * !sneak
 * !repair / !heal

Combat Flags
The new combat system is very dynamic, and you may find yourself on the business end of some very interesting attacks. For a full list of these effects, you can check out !combatinfo effect.

If you are being affected in some way (either adversely or favorably), it will show up as a COMBAT FLAG. These flags show up in the !syscheck and !systems commands. For a full list of these flags, check out !combatinfo combat-flag.

Stunned
The first important effect/flag to point out here is STUN. While you are STUNNED, you may not take any action. It also means that the next attack on you will automatically succeed. Once you have been hit, you are no longer STUNNED.

If you are in a two-on-two battle, this essentially means you skip one turn and your opponent gets a 'free shot'.


 * No, it is NOT OK to constantly shoot someone with a STUN attack over and over again!

The VULNERABLE effect induces the STUNNED combat-flag on the user of the attack with the VULNERABLE effect. The STUNNED combat-flag from VULNERABLE is just the same as being stunned by an enemy.

Shaking Off A Stun
If you are Stunned, it will clear the next time you are hit. If you are in a big fight and you go at least one turn and still haven't been shot at, you can use !shake command to get rid of the stun and then do your turn as per normal.

If you are doing Faction-based rounds, it is NOT appropriate to use !shake on your turn immediately-following being Stunned. You need at least one turn where the enemy is able to exploit your weakness.

Example:
 * Hot Spot is in a scene with a bunch of Autobots fighting a bunch of Decepticons. They are using faction-based turns.
 * On the Decepticon turn, Hot Spot is hit by Soundwave and Stunned
 * Now it is the Autobot turn, but Hot Spot cannot use !shake yet. He does nothing.

Scenario 1:
 * On the Decepticon turn, someone shoots at Hot Spot, thus taking away his Stunned flag
 * On the next Autobot turn, Hot Spot is free to do whatever he wants

Scenario 2:
 * On the Decepticon turn, no one shoots at Hot Spot because they are scared of how awesome he is even though he is Stunned
 * On the next Autobot turn, Hot Spot can !shake off his Stun, and then do his regular turn

Scared
The second Combat Flag I will mention here is SCARED. There is a concept known as the "Courage-Endurance Limit". When your Endurance gets to a certain percentage -- depending on your Courage level -- you will get the SCARED flag. This means you will have a much harder time hitting anything. At this point you should retreat unless it is dramatically appropriate not to. Another alternative is to have a charismatic ally !inspire you, which could raise your courage past the point where you are no longer SCARED.

Uncon
The last Combat Flag worth mentioning here is UNCON. If you are unconscious, you are out of the fight for good. A medic will have to !repair you.

Adding Combat Flags

 * !allow - This command will set a HIT-OK flag on you, causing the next attack against you to automatically hit.
 * !unallow - This command will remove the HIT-OK flag if you decide that you don't want it anymore.
 * !selfflag  - It allows players to set these flags: BACKFIRING BLINDED BLINDED2 CONFUSED CRIPPLED CRIPPLED2 HEAVY LOCKON SCARED STUNNED UNCON on themselves. Thusly, they can make their attacks go Wild (via Confused) or Backfire (via BACKFIRING) at will. They can also apply other negative effects to themselves, if they want.

Ending Combat
The appropriate way to leave combat is to use the !retreat command. It must be your turn for you to use this command.

When you use retreat, the combat system will display a list of people in the room that can take "parting shots" at you. These characters (and ONLY these characters) are quick enough to attack you before you leave.

Once your next turn has come around (or everyone has said that they won't take any parting shots), you can leave the room.

COMBAT Flag
There is a Combat Flag named -- somewhat confusingly -- COMBAT. This flag is set whenever you participate in combat. It goes away in a few hours. After that you can get healed and do other things that you can not do in combat.

Exo-Suits and Vehicles

 * Vehicles (including Exo-Suits) do not self-heal
 * When someone with the Construction ability uses !rebuild on a vehicle, it has any damage repaired, energon refilled, and ammunition re-stocked
 * Exo-Suits fall within the waiting periods for being rebuilt just as Transformers do for being repaired
 * Exo-Suits may not be rebuilt while they still have the COMBAT flag (wait a few hours)