Index:- Introduction
- Summary
- Location
- Your character
- Appendix
1. Introduction:
Someone pmed me and told me that they don’t like sparring because they don’t know how to write an opening post. It is a very common problem wherever you go, so I figured that I might as well help out in any way that I could. I will try to keep this simple to read, so I will be using a step by step format.
DO NOT POST HERE UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING I FORGOT TO MENTION OR NEED TO MENTION!
2. Summary
This is a short summary and overview of the entire guide; don't forget to read the rest though!
1. Optional: Prior events
1.1. What has happened before the actual fight/quest?
1.2. Why are you here in the first place? (What is your motivation, if any?)
2. Scenery
2.1. Panoramic view of the area (including time of day, weather, atmosphere, etc)
2.2. Close up view
2.3. Significant objects and details
3. Your character
3.1. General looks
3.2. Inner state: emotions, thoughts, etc
3.3. Any and all weapons you are carrying
3. Optional: Your opponent
4.1. How does your foe appear to you? Do you know him? What does he make you feel? Etc.
The Theory:
The first thing that any opening post needs is a location. If you don’t know where you are fighting, it is hard to react to the environment. The location can be divided into a panoramic view and a close-up view. The panoramic view is the large picture of the area you are fighting in. Is it a forest, prairie, old battlefield? What time of day or night is it, what is the weather like? Once you have established the general location, the next step is to establish your immediate surroundings. What environmental objects are important to get a full picture of your surroundings? You may be in a forest, but how much light is let through? How large are the trees, and how dense are they? Is the forest old, or new? If you are fighting in a town, what how many people are out in the street? What are the buildings like, what are they made of?
The bad way:
I am standing in a field waiting for my opponent.
“How much longer will this take?
I hope they are up to my challenge.
What is wrong with this: I see this mistake far too often. A one or two line location followed by a short speech and finally a quick thought. There is no description whatsoever in the location, so this could be anywhere at any time. The speech does not show much character creativity and the thought is far too stereotypical. Far too many characters have the same problem of thinking they are supremely powerful and nobody can stand up to them.
The good way:
The full moon shone down on the barren landscape below, creating eerie shadows that danced with the wind. The sky was clear for miles, and the stars were shining in their full glory up in the sky. It was under this tranquil sky that Arrath waited for his opponent. He stood in the center of a shallow crater nearly thirty feet in diameter but only a few feet deep. The earth around him was charred black from a magical fire cast many years past in that very spot. There he waited for a challenger to arrive.
As you can see, it is substantially longer and more descriptive. Most anyone that reads this will come up with the same basic picture in their heads where as the first one could have any mental picture associated with it. Not only do you show your opponent the arena; you also reveal a little bit of your character’s personality by choosing such an arena.
4. Character Description:
The next stage in writing a good entrance is to describe your character. In the example of what not to do, another crucial element is missing: your character. Just because you have a stat page and a description there does not mean that you don’t need to describe your character anymore. Your stat page is just a reference if people want to know a little more about your character.
In describing your character, you don’t need to include every last detail. You need only include the ones that are pertinent to the fight. The most obvious details that should be included are how tall your fighter is, you don’t want to swing a sword at someone who you don’t know is a dwarf only to find that your sword hit nothing but air because of their carelessness. You should describe your character’s main features like hair, clothing, facial features, and scars that show on their body, and the like. Another important image is the build of your fighter. Is he muscular, ripped, bony, average? It is important to include all or most of the weapons you have available to your character. Does he use swords, a shield, daggers? It is important to include even secret weapons so you are not accused of cheating.
One example of a halfway decent character description could be like this:
Arrath’s short brown hair blew with the wind across his face. At seven feet tall and a large muscular build, he was quite the imposing character on the moonlit landscape. A single sword sheath hung from his waist and two daggers were concealed in the long sleeves of his red cloak. His skin showed many scars and he wore them proudly as testaments to his greatness. His eyes were closed as he waited, focusing on the upcoming battle and the footsteps coming ever closer to him.
This could use some more work, but you can get the general idea. You should be careful to avoid being over descriptive when you write. Saying too little is better than reading through a paragraph just to describe someone’s eyes.
After you have the location and your character set you generally don’t have anything else to do but wait. In the event that you know who your opponent will be, you have one more thing to do.
5. Appendix:
PMs I received from other members that wanted to add to this thread, they wanted to rename anonymous:
Okay just another thing to add is an introduction does not have to be limited to setting and character. The way I start spars is by creating a situation in which the characters may start the fight of come to meet each other. Simply describing the setting(place, time, etc.) is a very good way to start and is what most people look for but you can go beyond that and take the extra step by actually creating a situation.
Here is an example from a member:
As you finish your training for the day you begin your journey home. You have just finished training an interesting student and your mind wanders as you go along. The result of this begins to show as you realize you took a wrong turn and are heading down a road you've never seen before. You decide to be adventurous and continue exploring the new path. It goes over hills and through clusters of trees and bridges a few streams. The scenery is captivating and you believe the best is yet to come.
But all your happiness is gone as you reach the end of the path. It has led you to a battle field and the wake of destruction is enormous. Human, and Drow Warriors of all shapes and sizes are thrown about the field and you wonder why you can see no survivors and what causes this horrible mass of carnage. You find the other side of the battle and see the path continuing through a mountain pass. As you go along you see a large flat area to the side of the pass covered in short green and yellow grass with a small assortment of flowers. As you get closer you here music and you speed up. You finally reach the area and see a figure playing a small round flute as he looks towards the horizon.
The music enchants you and gets your curiosity for the tune seems almost sad yet very mysterious. The tune ends and the figure turns around. The first thing that surprises you is his lack of color in the eyes. The two blank white orbs seem to read and go through you yet you can barely explain it. He then speaks in a deep but almost young voice almost as mysterious as the eyes staring at you.
"You like that tune I just played on my ocarina? Its called Requiem of the Spirit."
I could have done better but you can get the basic idea. By creating a situation the spar starts out more interesting then simply describing the scene. Never forget that in Roleplaying it's not like a video game where you simply appear and start fighting like going to different levels, characters have to (in general) come from somewhere and be going somewhere.
Here is another from a different member:
Many times it is nice to show what happened to your character prior to waiting for your challenger. It adds realism to your setting if you can describe how your character happened to get in that spot, for example:
Strider's legs were tired and heavy. He had been walking for miles before he reached this desolate area of barren waste. He was set forth on a personal journey to become one of the strongest fighters. Being in some pretty heavy fights before hand, Striders blade glistened with crimson red liquid sticking to the sides of the blade. Already he had fought close to five people, and already he had almost died five times.
That would really be more of an example of PART of a post not the whole thing. You need to set up more than just your own scenario. Try to set up a scenario that you can loop together with any fighter such as:
The dark alleys were completely leading into no general direction. Strider was running out of fear of something that was chasing him. That fear caused him to run mindlessly into the dark alley ways, and streets of the town. Something was following Strider but it was gone now. Still running, he runs into a person knocking him and the person to the ground.
If you have certain rules that you want to use during your match, a general practice is to put them in an OOC at the very bottom of your post.
...
Hope that helps. I recommend sticking this thread for other users for a nice guideline.
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