Combat will work in a similar manner to what is seen in many Pen and Paper Role Playing Games. To that end, whenever you wish to try and do an action it will be an attempt to do something. Whether you fail or succeed will be determined by me, and I will take into account various factors in doing so. Rather than just having a damage amount and dice rolls for everything I will instead be looking towards what you are describing and the possibility that what you are attempting is possible. Your stats can improve your chances of succeeding at anything, in short I'm trying to do out random chance. There are ways to also make any action more likely to succeed, such as aiming for parts of a foe's body that are easier to hit. Firing an arrow at a person's head can be very difficult, hitting them in the torso is not nearly as heart. When facing a creature that can wield a giant solid stone shield with one hand, if you try to overpower them you will likely fail since it is clearly superhuman in strength. If you wish to try and block or dodge a strike consider the pros and cons and taking the hit, blocking it, dodging it, or redirecting it. Redirecting a strike requires less power than blocking it does, but it requires anticipation. Blocking a strike is easier than redirecting it, but your shield or weapon can be damaged and you may still feel the force of the blow. Dodging a strike can make you completely avoid all damage, but it can exhaust you more and against fast foes may be risky. Taking the hit can damage you, or it can put you in an advantageous position in some circumstances, your armor may even negate most if not all the damage. Below I've put a few videos that can show off some instances of medieval combat done by historians and trained historical fighters.
If you have further questions or wish for further videos I can supply answers and some more media for some techniques and ideas. You can always ask me in the OOC what the feasability of something is. If you want to block with your scabbard you can, if you have questions about how to go about it I'll answer. I understand we aren't masters of the martial arts, I know I'm not. There are techniques though that aren't that difficult to grasp, like wielding a sword by the blade to use its pommel like a hammer against armor. Someone practiced in the use of swords can actually hold a blade with their bare hand like this, and hit foes with only red marks on their fingers. Of course that does not mean you can simply catch an incoming sword blade with your bare hand. Shields can be used offensively to attack, weapons can be used to hook enemies, you can even drop your weapon and grapple an enemy to try and bring them to the ground and kill or subdue them.
Examples
"Sib raised his shield leaving his legs exposed, anticipating that his enemy might go for such an opening. With his shield up he tucked his sword hand behind it, ready to twist his longsword into a thrust. Planning to surprise his foe during their attack, he waited to step back slightly to avoid whatever sweep may come while keeping his chest protected by his shield. If they did go for his legs, he'd move his shield to his left and push his right arm forwards to thrust for the chest of his foe."
In the example above, the person playing Sib is playing very smart. They are leaving openings to try and trick foes while using a bit of advanced sword techniques. The above is highly likely to succeed. Against an enemy that is a master swordsman, they might see this coming. But the average hollow might not, and Sib could end up getting a powerful strike in on the chest.
"Zel kept her sword pointed at her foe as she circled them. However she was not planning on using her weapon to finish the other person. She was waiting for them to try to swing and knock away her blade. In this moment, with her mail clad arm, she'd try to wrap it around their sword and and slam her right shoulder into the center of their body. Her assault would continue from there as she'd use her right leg to try and sweep their left and bring the enemy crashing onto their back."
Again, this is a pretty smart idea, this one is also not too advanced. The general idea here is simply to grapple and knock the enemy down while disarming them. This is capable of succeeding, but also does rely a bit on the enemy. However should this fail, Zel is going to try and at the very least keep away the enemy's weapon protecting her if things go wrong anyway.
"Bigby saw the incoming attack, an axe swing overhead that was going to crash onto his helm. In response he stepped forwards with one foot raising his round shield to block it head on. While doing this he took the opening given to him by his foe to try and thrust his spear into the torso of his foe. Should he manage to pierce its chest, he'd raise the forwards foot to place it on the lower belly of the enemy and push off to remove his spear."
So this is a pretty messy thing going on here. In this situation the shield would get damaged, and Bigby might hurt his arm. But, it's still better than taking the hit. It isn't the best way to deal with the situation, but with the enemy's weapon raised going for a killing blow is a fine idea. One doesn't need to play everything perfectly, sometimes you're going to screw up and its okay. This is a minor mistake, not a great one. Injuries are alright and will be common.
"Hun saw his foe taking a step back with their weapon low after being knocked away. They stumbled, still standing but clearly their moment was not entirely their own. To capitalize, Hun decided to grab his mace with both hands and jump at his foe swinging in a great powerful downward strike to crush the helm of his enemy."
This is just a poor decisions. Jumping in combat at a foe with a weapon is a particularly bad idea. If the weapon is raised, gravity can make it quite easy for it to pierce you. By moving just a bit to the side such a heavy strike can be easily dodged, and while Hun is pulling his weapon back up his enemy will likely be already onto his back and killing him. This is not a simple error, this isn't a rookie mistake, this is Hun getting way too careless and greedy in combat. you want to kill your enemies, you do not want ti entertain whatever hollow is watching.
Bookmarks