The Arena forum goes one step further than the Campaigns Forum. It is a bit of an experiment I wanted to run after reading the “No Dice! Free Form Fighting” article (can’t find a link to the article anymore). The idea is to go for a “High Spar” as the article names it, or at least train to achieve that, meaning a very strict adherence to the rule of not affecting others without their direct consent in a highly interactive and confrontational roleplaying situation (such as combat). This means that this forum is one to try out various conflicts. If something requires the almost simultaneous and ‘opposed’ action of multiple PCs, such as in a fight, then this is the forum to ‘practice’ it. So again, how does that work?
First note that the [url=viewtopic.php?t=111:19bd6h9s]Campaign Board Rules[/url:19bd6h9s] equally apply here, as do the [url=viewtopic.php?t=110:19bd6h9s]Roleplaying Guidelines[/url:19bd6h9s]. This means each thread is to start with an OOC post explaining the intent of the thread, people should only control their own character (unless they’re the DM), etc. But there are also a couple of important differences.
First note that this is a training forum. This is to take the pressure out of it. You can make mistakes and it is all right to ‘lose’, as there is no consequence. It is merely practice for the ‘real deal’ in the other roleplaying forums and, as they say, practice makes perfect. Nothing that happens here has to have any bearing on any other threads on other boards, even if you’re using the same character. So if someone ‘kills’ one of your favorite characters it doesn’t matter past that for you the fight (or whatever it is) is over.
And that is the second thing. If you lose you leave. Of course this only goes for those threads dealing with something that has a winning or losing, but in those it is a golden rule. The thread is about the conflict itself, not about how you deal with it or what you’re doing to get back. If the combat is an honor sword-duel then you don’t go on detailing how you sneak up on your victor to stab him in the back afterwards. Of course such things are perfectly allowed in a thieves’ contest, so use your judgement on what is and isn’t allowed (or the moderators will do it for you).
Third, focus on the action. I don’t want to see any long dissertations on how bad you feel about that one time when your otherwise so very docile mother looked at your opponent with something that might be construed as affection or even love. Such things might be fine in the other forums, but not here. In fact, all posts should likely be very short, holding no more then one or two actions. So no walking across the field laughing as you whip out your sword, run three circles around your opponent, prick a few times in the general direction of his chest and then slice at his arms. Keep it simple so that the responses can also be simple.
In the spirit of the article it is absolutely forbidden to do anything directly to the other character. It’s the whole point of this forum to practice that. Just launch your actions with intent and let the other finish the thought with results, reactions and counteractions. I know this can be hard, but that’s what this training is for in the hopes that it will come automatically at some point in the other forums.
Most threads will likely be one-on-one deals, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. You can play a triple-threat match, a two-on-two, a royal rumble, a tag-match, or even just a group of adventurers against a horde of monsters (played by a DM). Just make sure to state what it is and what the action is going to focus on.
The kinds of threads can also be wide and varied. Many might be ‘simple’ sword battles where the characters are allowed to use nothing but their swords in combat. Or it might be a mage duel, or a lance duel. And it doesn’t even have to be combat. It can be a basketball game, or a game of arm wrestling, or any other kind of opposed sport. It doesn’t even have to be something in which the participants are competing with each other as it might be a dance, or a musical duet, or a romantic ‘encounter’ (though I ask to keep that one civil
). As long as the actions of one have a direct bearing on the other character (and thus require their input to resolve the action) this is the place to train it.Have Fun
