Althanas Battle FAQ

[Max Dirks]

Welcome to Althanas for the 2009 Tournament of Champions (ToC). As you might have already read, the ToC will consist of a series of matches where four characters (two per team) face off against each other in combat. This guide has been thrown together to familiarize the participants with Althanas’ battle system, which will be used for the tournament.

Althanas battles are story driven, much like T1 and other narrative platforms of old. However, they differ in one major aspect: at the end of the battle the quality of each player’s writing will be reviewed by a judge and graded according to a unique tournament rubric. The team with the higher average score will advance in the tournament while the other will be sent home. Keep in mind, then, that it is possible to win the battle in-character (and even kill your opponent), but not advance to the next round due to losing in the score.

Battles on Althanas are mostly free-form (as in limitless, we once had two characters exchange lyrics against one another) with two major exceptions: “powergaming” and “bunnying” are prohibited. “Powergaming” is the catch all for unfairness. It is when your character performs an action that is above their abilities (level 5, per the registration guidelines), performs an action that does not conform with those listed in their profile (i.e. invents new abilities without justification), or performs an unreasonable number of actions in one post. Those found "powergaming” will be penalized in their judgment and can be disqualified from the tournament in extreme instances. “Bunnying,” also known as “autoing” and “forcing a hit,” is when you control another player’s character without permission to do so. For example, having your character cut off the other character’s head without the other player’s consent is “bunnying.” Like with “powergaming,” those found “bunnying” will be penalized in their judgment and can be disqualified from the tournament in extreme instances. See below for how to deal these circumstances if they arise.

Each of the tournament rounds will last three weeks. While it might be tempting to end the battle early or drag it on to gain the upper hand, remember that you are telling a story. A good story has a beginning, middle and an end. The battle can consist of as many posts as necessary, but it is not recommended that you go above 30 posts, and you must have 12 total posts to receive rewards. A battle ends when both of one team’s characters are physically incapacitated, all players indicate that they wish for the battle to end (if the intended storyline reached its conclusion), or the round time limit is up.

So there you have it. Feel free post any questions about battling in the ToC Q&A thread if you are still unsure of anything or check below for some advanced pointers.

[Max Dirks]

Here are some advanced tips for you non-battle gurus out there:

Posting Order: with the exception of the first post rule (the first poster is chosen at random each round) there are no formal rules for posting order in the ToC. It seems proper to follow a simple Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, Player 4; Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, Player 4, etc. format, but that’s not always practical with absences and multiple-character attacks. It is possible that your partner or your opponent might be gone for an extended period of time, but it might be in your interest to keep the battle moving. In that instance, you might bunny (with permission, see below) or simply continue the fight with the remaining players. Also, nothing sings better teamwork (and therefore, better scores) than jumping in to save your partner’s neck from an impending attack, even when it’s his turn to post. However, keep that in mind that abusing posting order (posting after each of your opponents to squash them with a flurry of attacks, for example) falls under the banner of “powergaming,” and is not allowed. A good battle will consist of both teams working together to establish posting order.

Brevity: The length of time between posts will also be factored into the score - players receiving the best scores will reply to their opponent's posts after no more then 24 hours. If a player is going to be gone for longer than a day, it might be in the remaining players’ interest to alter the posting order or to bunny the absent player’s character with permission. Points will be deducted in the judgment for unusually long delays.

Selling Moves: Selling a move is allowing another character’s attack to strike home and cause a tangible effect on your character for the duration of the battle. For example, if your character is thrown against a wall, he might be groggy and less effective in combat for a time after the attack. Selling moves keeps the battle from lasting forever and also add a flavor of authenticity to it. If your character gets hit with a bunch of moves, but never goes down or suffers any ill-effects from it, then it isn’t very realistic. However, just like your character shouldn’t be invulnerable, your character also shouldn’t “oversell” moves. Just because someone swings a sword at you, doesn’t mean your character’s head will be cut off automatically. The best battles will involve characters who cause damage to the others by attacking with moves (which aren’t “powergaming”) that the other character can’t realistically escape from. Remember, since the team with the higher score advances and characters are healed between rounds, the In-Character death of your team may also be an appealing conclusion.

Teamwork (Permissible “Bunnying”): Like the rubric points out, teamwork is inherent in the tournament and is likely to affect every category on the rubric. So there is an important exception to “bunnying” rule that can be utilized: “bunnying” is allowed with permission from the controlled player(s). Thus, rather than drawing out a long conversation between two characters on the same team, it might be wise for pacing’s sake to have one player combine them into one post. It might also help an action score to push your partner out of the way of an impending attack, or combine a variety of different actions together to thwart your opponents. The exception works on both sides of the track too. While it might seem advantageous not to speak with the other side, collaborating on a story can actually increase your overall scores. Using the previous example, if two opposing characters are having a long dialog, it might enhance brevity to combine the conversation into one post. It might also be wise to make long sword fights (which would take several posts if done one action by one character at a time) into a single post by one player. Both players will receive action points for this! If you do have permission to bunny, don’t forget to let the judge know what action is being allowed by using an OOC tag (({OOC}{/OOC} (using [ and ] instead of { and })) at the start of the post.

If you would like to submit a tip not already covered, please PM me.

[Max Dirks]

The following are some examples of great 2 v. 2 battles we've seen on Althanas and incorporate our battle system thus far (Note, however, that the rubric has changed over time, and even the current one is slightly different from the ToC rubric):

Final: (18) Circus v (2) Sons of Terrinore
Round Two: (1) Blank v (9) Baneblades

For your convenience, here are some examples of how exceptional, but incomplete 2 v. 2 battles are judged (both examples are from tournaments, as there is no time requirement in regular Althanas play):

(12) Broken Effigies v (13) Kitty Pimps
2 v 2 Vice vs. Cipher Nex

Finally, here are some examples of other exceptional writing on Althanas:

Judge’s Choice Forum*
Lornius Corporate Challenge (LCC) Archive

*Please note: if you score an average of 80 or better in a battle in the ToC, you too could be enshrined as one of Althanas’ best, even if you aren’t from our forum!