Game-Play Policies

Several components are included in the fighting style of Advocates of Darkness. Each part of a fight is just as important as the last part. While fighting in AoD is not a central part of game play, it is important to understand, never the less. A player who does not understand the fighting process fully could be missing important opportunities during fights their characters in which their characters may be involved.

Below is a short list of how fights are created in Advocates and then a small description of each phase and the fighting style itself.

Parts of the Fight

• Beginning of the Fight
• Initial Attack
• Naming of the Damage

  Chance to Defend

  Acceptance of the Hit/ Counter Attack

  Acceptance of the Damage Name/ Correction of the Damage

  Second Person's Attack

  Repeat of Phases

  Final Killing Blow

  This can only be done after five successful worth-while hits.

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Explination of the Phases

Examples Coming!

1. Beginning of the Fight

This is the introduction of the fight. It is when both combatants are "standing-off" with one another. This part of the fight will be created through multiple posts leading up to fights or could be simply as short as jumping directly to the initial attack.
Because we do not want characters running around and killing each other (unless that is your thing, which it should not be) we do like it if you have some sort of reason to attack another character, this reason should be grounded firmly IC (In character).

2. Initial Attack

This is the first attack for the battle. The person who is doing the first attack should have already been decided via the "beginning of the fight" stage. The first attacker should attack their opponent by using a weapon or magic and stating how they are going to be hitting them. The attack should include the weapon being used, any skills that they are using to modify the attack, the way the attack is coming and finally what type of damage the attack would do if hit, both physically and mentally.

3. Naming the Damage

This is the step that should be included in the last one. Specifically, to name the damage a character will be stating what type of damage their weapon will do and how it will possibly affect the other character. Keep in mind that you should not go overboard with the damage that you are naming. All of our characters are very dear to us so make sure you do not go around swinging a sword and destroying them. Remember: It takes 5 successful Hits to Kill someone in Advocates.

4. Chance to Defend

A chance to defend comes for the person who is being attacked. The second player usually does this in a separate post. All attackers must realize that everyone gets a chance to defend him or herself and no auto hits can occur. At this point, they will assess the attack versus all of their abilities and decide if they can dodge (within reason). At that point they will then write how they dodge the attack and how much of the attack they were successfully able to dodge.

5. Acceptance of the hit or Counter Attack

At this point they person has decided if they are able to defend or not. If they can successfully defend or dodge and they decide to counter, at this point they are to skip their second attack step and include their attack in here. This also will be where they include how much of the attack, if any, connected with them.
6. Acceptance of the Damage Named/ Correction of the Damage

This is included in the defending step. This is where the character being attacked decides how much of the damage was valid and how much of it hit them. The ability to correct any mistakes in the damage at this point comes into the defender's control. They are able to make corrections to the damage depending on how much of the attack they evaded and any oversights that the attacker might have made while attacking. Oversights are usually things that attackers did not know IC or things that they forgot to mention.

7. Second Person's Attack

After the second person decided if they were able to defend or just take the damage and if they were unable to counter, they are then entitled to the second attack phase. Their first attack will be included in the post where they defended/accepted the previous attack and will include all the previous steps.
8. Repeat of Steps

Wash, rinse and repeat until someone reaches five valid hits.

9. Final Killing Blow

After either of the characters have reached five sufficient hits they are entitled to attempt to kill the other character. Remember, Advocates does not use a "hit point" system and the "five hits" should not be considered hit points. It is more important that the role-playing through the fight was sufficient to get to a character's death. At this point, the character attempting to kill will throw out an attack that should kill their opponent in the same fashion as all the previous attack only stating how they will die.


Note:

There are many situations where characters will be far more powerful than their enemies. While you should always consider the "five hit" rule to keep people in the game and give them a chance, sometimes this is impossible. A character of a very high level has options at their disposal to kill others in fewer than five hits if done well. And remember the death of the other character should have been talked out first!

Let the poor stand to live longer, for we are not here to destroy all, we are mearly observers in the game that is this life. We are not here to laugh for we know not of humility. We only watch.
- Cronicals of the Apocolypse

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Characters in the realm have to face random encounters every so often. It is not a requirement, but the founders hold the right to attack any character at random. The attacks can be simple or complex. Each character should recognize that this is not a way of punishing the character, and that every character will encounter random things. It matters, however, how hard the encounter will be by the type of land or region at which they are located.

Each encounter the character being attacked will get the choice of having the battle in three different modes; post, chat, or self-battle. The post battle would be with the character and one, or both, of the founders posing as the attacker. The chat battle would be posed in an instant message environment, or in the Yahoo! Chat environment, and then copied and pasted into the club as a full-length post. The self-battle would be the character fighting him/her as the monster. In the self-battle, there will be prerequisites that the character must comply to have in the battle.

The prerequisites would be determined on the toughness of the character, and the challenge of the creature attacking them. These must be included in the posting that the character does, and must be taken off their character sheet if anything is lost. There can be no arguments about the prerequisites. If there are, the prerequisites will get higher.

The original prerequisites can include; the loss of armor, the damaging of weapons, the need to rest, the need of food, the need to heal, the need to be un-poisoned, the loss of spells, and or the loss of skills. Remember these will be taken into great consideration when the battle is initiated. These will not be used a punishments, and should not be taken as that. The entire purpose of this implement is to create the actual environment of the hostile realm that we all live in.

I’d like to note that prerequisites will be few and far between and definitely lessened for those who do spectacular fights between their encounters. This is for effect, and to keep some story and action moving along in the group.

Allow the strong to rule? The powerful are fickle and wanting of attention. It is not wise that we allow such child-like mentality to rule our great nation.
-Kiftin, Creator of the Government of Demijoure

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What is Power Playing? Power Playing is when your only interest in playing is to get the most power for your character, regardless of the methods. Gathering the most items, killing the most people, gaining the most money, these are the only things that are important to a power player. Advocates of Darkness is not about Power Playing. AoD is a place of exploration and adventure, of imagination and creativity. It is a place where you can develop a character concept from a brief sketch to the richly detailed image of a person. This person will have hopes, dreams, and desires, just as a real person would. It is possible that this person will want to amass incredible wealth or power. The difference is, a power player generally isn’t interested in developing his character as a person. He just wants all the good stuff, and he wants it now. A role-player, however, wants to see how his character develops along his journey. He is willing to suffer indignities and hardships to reach his goal, and may even be satisfied to find that, once he has obtained the power he sought, it is not truly what he wanted. A role-player is willing to allow his character to grow and change, and his focus is on that character, not on the things his character may possess.

Advocates of Darkness is a community of, for, and by role-players. Power Players are invited to look elsewhere for entertainment.

Thanks, Advocates of Darkness

Argue not against those in control. The elves argued against the Gods themselves, look how many are left.
-Unknown Ranger

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As mentioned on the OOC Rules Page, arguments do happen between players. However, it is important for players to keep the arguments out of the OOC club and especially out of the main club! Arguments are common when characters are interacting, however, they should be dealt with by using an IM server or via email to one another. Please keep the arguments out of the clubs entirely, no one wants to see bickering. If you are just communicating the OOC Group can be used for that.

There may be times where you have a disagreement with your Moderator. The first step is to contact the moderator involved, and then see if you can settle your disagreement directly. Polite language and a courteous tone generally go farther in settling disagreements than argumentative or abusive language. If the disagreement cannot be resolved, or if you feel that you cannot speak directly to them on this issue, the next step would be to contact and gather a committee to send a polite message to the supervisors.

When communicating a disagreement, it can be helpful to begin by stating your name and the name of your character. Then provide a description of the issue. Quote text from the thread or include a link to it. Attach previous correspondence. State the resolution you would like to see. Above all, though, try to retain a fair and balanced outlook. Most disagreements arise from simple miscommunications that can be easily and quickly rectified.

We are doing our best to make sure that everything goes smoothly. If there are any problems please contact us quickly. Also, if you are interested in becoming a lower level moderator please contacting us and we will discuss setting up a moderator account for you.

Thanks, the OOC Department.