Fighting Scenes

[Minibit]

In a Roleplay where there's going to be a lot of fighting (like a martial arts school or zombie apocalypse), you can do your players/partners a solid by giving them interesting places to fight in! Fights become much more interesting, fun, and unpredictable when they're not fought in a vacuum.

Try adding obstacles for players to climb on, hide behind, bounce off and slam against, like boulders, trees, pillars, piles of stuff, chains, vines, trucks, cars, dumpsters, wagons, fences, etc.

You can also add hazards like a swampy, sticky ground, stuff on the floor that could be tripped over/stepped on, or, if stealth is a thing, sleeping dogs, hanging bells, or alarms that must not be set off.

Giving your players tools can mix up a fight even if they already have weapons (you can also use the environment to disable these, like if there's heavy fog, or an EMP has disabled electronics) try adding sand, gravel, rocks, nails, forks, pillows, scarves, CDs, and cables lying around and seeing what happens.

Of course, none of these are any good if the players don't know about them. So make sure to mention them not just in an initial description of an area, but also to bring them up as characters move around that area.

For example if you said there was an inflatable kiddy pool set up in the back yard by the east fence, and then a character moves to stand by that fence, you may note that that character was now by the pool. If you bring something up once and never mention it again, odds are people will forget it, so keep your environments relevant!

You get to choose your homework for this exercise. You can either fill out the form describing an area that fighting could/will probably happen in, using the ideas discussed above, or you can apply this lesson in an actual Roleplay scene, and link to it

Doing both is cool, too

Form:
Basic area type: (eg: pool, living room, forest, lumber yard, warehouse)
Obstacles present:
Can any of these obstacles be moved (pushed aside, knocked over, etc) easily?
Trip/fall hazards:
Environmental hazards:
Potential tools:
Other:

 

[AshenAngel]

Basic area type: Backyard with pool.
Obstacles present: Pool, pool toys and floating devices, pool shed, volleyball net, metal pool fence.
Can any of these obstacles be moved (pushed aside, knocked over, etc) easily? The pool toys and floating devices.
Trip/fall hazards: Pool, pool toys, floating devices, volleyball net.
Environmental hazards: Wet ground/mud/pool.
Potential tools: Pool toys and floatation devices.
Other: Does this seem interesting?

 

[Minibit]

Basic area type: Backyard with pool.
Obstacles present: Pool, pool toys and floating devices, pool shed, volleyball net, metal pool fence.
Can any of these obstacles be moved (pushed aside, knocked over, etc) easily? The pool toys and floating devices.
Trip/fall hazards: Pool, pool toys, floating devices, volleyball net.
Environmental hazards: Wet ground/mud/pool.
Potential tools: Pool toys and floatation devices.
Other: Does this seem interesting?

Definitely! I could see a scuffle getting entertaining with all those tools and slip hazards lying around! It'd be nice to have more specifics on the "pool toys and flotation devices" though. Are there water guns? Toy torpedoes? Pool noodles? Water balloons? Air mattress?

 

[Finch]

I'm going to try a couple here that are outside of my comfort zone. Fighting is something I always like to see in roleplays (wars, 1v1s, group fights, the works), but I don't feel like I'm very strong in the category

Setting #1

Basic area type: (eg: pool, living room, forest, lumber yard, warehouse)

The dilapidated city streets; run down, crumbling buildings. Abandoned. I'm thinking the time period would be in a distant future where technology was abandoned and no clean up measures were taken.

Obstacles present:

A light amount of cars scattered here and there, taxis ranging to knocked over semis. If you imagine staring straight down a street that goes off forever, there'd be potholes speckled like freckles everywhere, ahead of you and to the right hugging the curb, a tipped over semi, tipping toward the sidewalk taking out a light post. The head of the semi would be in the street, a taxi nestled in the nook between its haul and the front. On the left, a trash can with a fire burning in it, a few yards up and on the sidewalk, miscellaneous tires and car parts scattered around it. A few intact street lights mire the left side, on the right it seems as if the semi had taken out the majority when it crashed. A car (blue, 4 door, boxy), mostly untouched and parked on the left side, before the semi on the right. Pieces of fiber glass and twisted metal stuck in some of the many potholes.

Can any of these obstacles be moved (pushed aside, knocked over, etc) easily?

Depends on how strong you are haha. Normal people, no, not really. Maybe a piece or two of some twisted fiberglass could be moved or kicked aside. If you've got some sort of God strength, I suppose you could throw cars out of your way too.

Trip/fall hazards:

Potholes would be the most dangerous. Since they litter the streets, it'd be very easy to break an ankle or fall flat on your ass if not extremely light footed. Other than that, broken glass would present as well as sharp pieces of twisted metal, mostly around the sights of the wreckage (semi).

Environmental hazards:

Basically the same as above, potholes, glass, twisted metal etc

Potential tools:

Goes back to that whole "God strength" thing. If you're a normal person, maybe some small pieces of fiber glass could be used for bashing purposes. If you're The Hulk, ripping a light pole out of the pavement would serve as a pretty cool weapon, haha.

Other: (Taking this section to try out my scene)

Syl looked at the three guards that were now to be his enemies. Blood was pouring from a gash above his right eye, throbbing, and blinding half of his vision. He would not reveal how much pain or fatigue he was in, to do so would only be to his mental detriment. No, he needed to stay strong, now more than ever. He tipped his spear forward and gritted his teeth when he felt the ache coming from his right shoulder, surveying the area to the best of his ability.

The street was gashed and wrecked, several sections not level with each other creating ripples in the pavement, potholes speckled around the major waves. Around his feet were shards of broken glass and wreckage, to his left was some sort of archaic driving machine that he could reach out and touch if so desired. He made a mental note to stay close to that machine, as it was probably the only cover he was going to get, and to move around too much would be the death of him. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be" he thought grimly, focusing his attention back to his adversaries

They were perhaps 10 meters away and advancing slowly, cocky looks of victory already stamped on their faces, all of them carrying short swords and dressed in the typical guard-designed chain mail. He noticed how the guard at the rear tripped over a gaping pothole, Syl smirking as the guard tried to regain composure "It's a two way street, fellas" he thought, with moderately sarcastic satisfaction.

As they approached to only about a few feet away, he waited for them to start talking. He knew they couldn't help themselves to take what they thought as one final dig at him. It was like clock work

"So Syl, have you-"

Not waiting for the sentence to be finished, and it never was, Syl leaped onto the hood of the car next to him, thrusting his spear forward and deliberately, puncturing the talking talking guard in the soft spot between his helm and the start o'f his chain mail, directly into his throat. Choking on blood, a look of complete surprise on his face, Syl ripped the spear out in a right arc, attempting to sever the jugular. He fell like a house of cards, a heavy 'thud' on the concrete. The other guards watched the events in a look of pure amazement and surprise, still stunned for the moment. Syl used the confusion to his advantage, hopping up to the roof of the vehicle so as to have a higher vantage point

When finally they were finished reeling, the guards flew into a blind rage, swinging their swords at the car as if it was their enemy, doing more damage to it and almost completely missing Syl. He hoped his ruse would work, it was his only chance. A two v one was still bad odds, he had to bank on their blind rage. When at last they realized their accuracy was completely off, Syl leaped from the roof of the car backwards, and landing behind it. Like a moth to the flame, they followed, trying to flank him by running at both sides. Though as Syl previously noted, there was a very large pothole to his right, in front of the car. The guard however made no such notes

Syl made a little roll to his right, making the distance greater between him and the other coming from the left and drawing the one on the right forward. He heard a satisfying 'CRACK' and a scream of pain as the guard on his right dropped his sword and snapped his ankle in the hole. Syl would wait to take care of him, he knew he was out of commission for now. And with only one guard left, he turned to face his last opponent, a cocky smile of his own touching his lips as he tapped his bloody spear against his head, trying to entice more anger

"It's just me and you now friend"




((Damnit, this is what always happens to me. I get so long winded in fights >.<))

 

[Finch]

Alright, going to try this again without writing a damn novel

Setting #2

Basic area type: (eg: pool, living room, forest, lumber yard, warehouse)

Living room, modern mansion. Entering from the door, the far wall is completely made up of windows, ceiling is a drop ceiling, dimensions of the room are pretty big? (Don't feel like looking up actual dimensions, haha)

Obstacles present:

A ton. Nice carpeting lines the floor, room is set up to to the right, fireplace on the right with a big, flat screen TV next to it. In the center of the room, a coffee table, glass top, with various remotes and magazines on it. Lights are built into the ceiling. Couch and love seat on the left, facing the TV with the coffee table in between. Various toys litter the ground as if a child resides there, a toy robot, some handheld gaming systems, legos scattered along the floor

Can any of these obstacles be moved (pushed aside, knocked over, etc) easily?

Yes, almost everything can be tampered with

Trip/fall hazards:

The various toys, stepping on legos, tripping over action figures. Running into the coffee table would suck too

Environmental hazards:

The glass on the coffee table, the way to back of the house made completely of glass, a two story drop. Plenty of tripping hazards as well as sharp corners and bulky pieces of furniture

Potential tools:

The toys would be pretty funny, maybe the TV or remotes could be thrown

Other: (Will edit later when my creative juices are flowing)