A new roleplaying idea - Boss Battles!!

[Petoux]

I was watching a speedrun on Phantasy Star Online and thought of a great idea to incorporate into the forums somehow.

BOSS BATTLES!! (Pictures and a video example of what this boss can do is at the bottom. Retranslate it how you want to make it more fair. This is JUST a suggestion/skeleton setup.).

Of course there are pros and cons to a boss battle dealing with either massive amounts of experience or rare shit, or instant death.

Will the reward be worth it?

Here is a boss example that I took from Phantasy Star, and thought would make an interesting challenge:

The setup:

You are on a giant raft that can support a max of 48 rpg characters that is floating down a massive river of poison. There is no place to go as you are surrounded by the green deadly liquid. A giant monster appears that looks like a fish, separated into 20 different body segments.

On each body segment is a round pod like thing that can launch an attack (described below), and is VERY heavily armored.

It's head is protected by a giant skull made out of solid dragon bone, very tough, and very hard to destroy. Behind the skull lies the true beast. Once the skull is gone, it's head is exposed and finally it can be killed ... with a LOT of punishment.

Name: De Rol Le

Picture:

http://membres.lycos.fr/psoweb/Screens%20ennemis/Photo_DeRolLe.jpg

Statistics:

22000 Hit Points

375 Attack Points (You can translate this however you want)

505 Evade Points (In other words, he evades a lot ... BUT, only when he swims ... otherwise it's a 100% chance of hitting. See the video. Retranslate this how you want too.).

Exp gained if victorious: 18,880 divided up evenly with all the characters fighting against it. Going after it solo is suicide, so I was thinking a minimum of like what? 16 people go after this thing for even a slight chance? Anyway ... more of the break down...

Attacks include:

5 Corner Spikes

Desc:

5 Diamond shaped floating spikes, each 5 feet tall, surround a character and must be destroyed quickly otherwise the spikes imbed themselves into the character at the same time dealing massive amounts of damage. The spikes will not attack for 12 minutes. Meaning, you got 12 minutes (3 posts worth of time?) to destroy all 5 or it's goodbye for that certain character.

...

3 Rotating Spikes

Desc:

3 Diamnod shaped floating spikes, just like above, surround the character and rotate around you. Here is the difference ... they don't attack. Their purpose is to try to block your attacks onto De Rol Le.

...

Purple Blob Attack

Desc:

De Rol Le uses this when he swims ONLY. 20 Blobs (1 from each section) launch towards the characters in random directions. They are about 3 feet in diameter each. When a section of De Rol Le is destroyed, a blob will not launch. In other words, if 2 sections of De Rol Le have been disabled, he will only launch 18 Blobs vs 20.

...

Tentacle Attack

Desc:

De Rol Le has six large tentacles attached to his head. They are about 14 feet long each and are very thin. When De Rol Le attaches himself to the giant raft, he will attack you with his 6 tentacles going towards multiple targets at once.

...

Rock Shower

Desc:

When De Rol Le's health starts to get low ... he starts to get desperate and uses more powerful attacks onto the characters. This attack is one of them. He will ONLY use it when his health is low and his armored mask is off. Anyway ... he retreats into the ceiling of the arena and starts droping large boulders all over the place trying to crush the characters. He can not be harmed at this time because he embeds himself in the ceiling temporarily, and then re-emerges shortly after to continue his assault.


Laser Beam

Desc:

When De Rol Le is near death, and near death ONLY, he will start to use his most devastating attack. The laser beam! A giant laser beam launches from his mouth making a vertical attack beam assault. The beam is about 6 feet in diameter and covers a massive radius. This attack is close to an instant death status if hit by it. It takes a long time to recharge.

...

Video Examples:

http://dl.speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?PhantasyStarOnline_GCXbox_Hunter_223

Pick ... low quality ... Part 2

Battle starts at:

27:40

....

http://speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?PhantasyStarOnline_GCXbox_Force_203

DivX AVI Low quality - 200 MB

---> Pick this one: * part 5: archive.org, speeddemosarchive.com - 55.2 MB

The battle starts at 21:45

...

Youtube movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAjB51vEorM

(Note: THAT IS AN EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL CHARACTER!! (Lvl 100) ^). Imagine doing that with low level characters ... hence multiple ones can join.

...

Thoughts?

[Tsukiko]

well you can always have a battle with a powerful warlord or great monster. I remember I once did a quest to kill a dragon a while ago.

they make great excuses for cool loot but honestly the way Althy works, having a big monster doesn't automatically give better exp, that's based on the quantity of the thread. It's that way because the players have ultimate control over what happened to the character.

still it's a neat idea and I love large battles like that^^ it can be really entertaining as long as people don't steal the thread.

[Petoux]

Thanks for the input ... but like I said ... this is just a skeleton setup so far.

Any other advice, ideas, etc I could add to make it better?

More comments and stuff plz...

thanks, it's helpful!

[Ataraxis]

I actually think it's an interesting idea, if well incorporated. The way we have quests and battles as defined thread types, we could introduce an unofficial 'Raid'-type thread. The reason why so many people band together from the very start is made clear since it's a raid (and any willing, able-bodied man can join, which substantially decreases the back and forth of 'why is this character joining, for what reasons, what are his ulterior motives, etc'.). You get to the action that much faster, and there's still a lot of room for a good story, no matter what boss monster, god or army you're fighting.

A big drawback, though, is that threads with so many people are nigh-impossible to manage. A lot of people drop out quickly, it gets disorganized very easily, a lot of people skip other people's posts, and if you impose an order, it never gets done because you're always waiting on someone. Of course, there are ways to remedy that (like giving time limits for every player, or having characters 'claim' a post and have them post again OOC when it's their turn to write, to minimize waiting time and wasted time waiting).

Still, there's always the possiblity that someone will want to be the raid's "Hero", who gets to slay the big boss and get all the renown for himself, at the expense of realism and pretty much everyone else who was writing fairly. Basically, like in MMO raids, you have to have a plan beforehand, and set roles for everyone, before being able to successfully write a Raid-type thread.

But all in all, it sounds interesting, and I'd probably enjoy reading one, even participating in one.

[Petoux]

How would we break down the "rules of engagement" then?

Would you develop a forum called "Raids of Challenge! Do you dare? (I.E.: Boss battles!)" or something like that ... I'm just making shit up lol...

anyway ... how would the rules fall into place?

I'm thinking something like this (again a skeleton setup)

Step 1:

Create boss

Step 2:

Setup arena

Step 3:

Mention stats, rewards, conditions ... blah blah blah... Pictures help.

Step 4:

Have a minimum/certain amount of people to sign up BEFORE they are able to post

Step 5:

Let the fun begin?

Wadda' think?

Keep the comments/etc coming!!

[Ataraxis]

Well specific RPG stats would only be relevant on sites that actually use stats. Let's say we had this on Althanas: we would only use easy to understand references and multipliers (like, lifting X pounds, or 3x stronger than the average human), just to get a ballpark figure.

Creating the boss (or at least, the Major Antagonist(s)) would go hand in hand with creating the 'context of conflict' (which explains why everyone's supposedly banding together to take this antagonist down). In doing so, you'll expound on the region where this antagonist has the most influence, and then you can narrow it down to the specific region where the boss can be found (catacombs of an ancient city in the continent of Y, ruins of an divine temple in the forgotten jungle of Z, etc.).

After you flesh out the basics, you'll probably need to have some sort of plot beyond 'kill really big evil bad guy, make world better' scenario. That gets tiring very quickly. While it can be the driving reason for most characters to join in, there should be a modicum of depth to the plot, at least.

So if someone is "DMing" the event, he'll need to take care of creating twists and key plot points for the raid (that don't make it drag, but instead add flavour to it).

Listing out the basics of how the Boss attacks and purportedly thinks could be helpful, though the exact methods used by the boss to ccombat the raiding party should be up to whoever is "DMing" the event.

When the Staging part is done, then it's the Recruitment step.

You set a maximum number of people that can join, and outline the general types of characters you'll need for the raid.Characters with healing abilities? Heavy, close-range hitters? Fliers? Speedsters? Heavy Spellcasters?

After the recruitment drive is on, you have to planify the Procedure. You don't want to make it round based, that's for sure. What I see as viable is this:

You make an OOC thread that's solely for the purpose of knowing who's claiming the next post. Example: The DM writes the first post. At this point, anyone can write at anytime to join in, or refrain from writing. When the DM deems the compulsory 'Introduction' part is done, he'll ask for people to claim the next post in the IC thread by posting in the OOC thread. Something like "I claim the next post".

Claiming the next post entails writing the post within 24 hours. If after 24 hours, he hasn't posted yet, someone else may claim the 'next post'. Granted, it could be 12 or 6 hours instead. This is to keep people from ignoring each other's posts, and from turning the raid into a chaos-fest. It's also to avoid having someone write a post, and just when he's about to submit it, he sees that someone posted right before him, and the contents of the two posts clash or completely contradict each other. Only the official 'next-poster' should actually start writing his post, to avoid these 'last-minute ninjas'.

And that's basically the bare bones I've thought of, for now.

[Petoux]

As for experience distrubution...

Instead of all equally ... maybe based on the rubric we are using in the tourny, or something like that? Or ... should it be equalled out?

Now ... I like the "DMing idea" but maybe we need an "observer" of some kind to make sure everything is going ok.

If not, they are excluded from the raid ... like they vanish in thin air or something.

The "claiming post" thing is a good idea.

To avoid the "I'm the hero hahaha pwnt!" problem ... we will make it clear that all surviving players have the same amount of credit.

No one likes a bragger per say.

Any other ideas?

What should the rubric, if we would use one, be like?

...

'nother idea...

Have the players claim which part of the boss they will go after

Legs, arms, etc ...

Then when that particular part/whatever is destroyed ... they can help the others? Or is it all for all? (Go for whatever in other words).

[Kially Gaith]

LOL! I happen to be a quest developer for the PSOBB Schtserv community! Seeing this thread really made me laugh. XD

Nice one.

Being a quest dev for PSOBB, I can actually give you a MASSIVE amount of input on this, so feel free to ask questions!

On another note: I'm completely willing to develop, plan, write and manage one of these. If any of the staff are interested in me developing a full system, PM me or post here. Provided the thread OP is comfortable with me taking his/her idea, then I'll go after mod confirmation and OP confirmation.

[Petoux]

Ok ... question...

What are your inputs?

You didn't list them ... lol.

Anyway, more comments please ... I REALLY would love to see this incorporated.

Perhaps we could have a contest to get started ...

A boss creating contest?

That way we can have bosses setup before anything is started.

Yay/Nay/Hay? ... :p

[Kially Gaith]

I wouldn't say it's as easy as just having a boss creating contest. Everything on Althanas has to go through a great deal of rigorous and thorough thought.

Now. You want my inputs? At the base, it's flawed in many ways but also awesome in many ways.

I expect I am only re-addressing things others have already said but...

1: This favors higher level players if bosses are 'set in stone', this, if anything, is probably one of the bigger downfalls, meaning that lower level players may shy away.

2: Something like this would be very hard to manage and VERY VERY time consuming. I imagine one that goes all the way to the end (with skilled writers who keep to a posting system [which would be required]) would take 6 months. MINIMUM.

3. Players with less skill could easily abuse the 'set rewards' system. Players whom write very little simply join a skilled team, beat the 'boss' and share the same amount of the reward for barely any effort.

4. God modders. We all know 'em, we all hate 'em. There's gonna be people who JUST WON'T DIE, regardless of the situation or just how screwed they really are. With high tier enemies such as 'bosses', we're very sure to get Cloud Strife syndrome frequently which completely ruins a scene.

5. Focuses heavily on combat - This, although awesome, doesn't tend to the players whom are none combat orientated...And there are quite a few.

6. Would need a 'minimum word count'/'post amount per person' basis to define when the killing blow could be dealt, otherwise players could have a boss killed in a page or two.

7. This, in theory, is just a more arranged quest, anyone could do SOMETHING like this in a quest (Read: Playback and I + One other soon to attack some Rock Lobster thingy) and go for whatever spoils they wished for and as the bosses weaknesses aren't set, the players may adapt the boss accordingly to give themselves either a weakness or an edge against it, thus allowing more feasible play.

Now. That's the bad points. Now to the good.

1. This could attract some of the higher level players to play more frequently with lower players.

2. It'd be a new feature. Everyone likes new features.

3. It's at least feasible.

4. It'd be fun as hell and rather epic to write out with the correct people.

Now...As a person who loves developing things. I could quite easily adapt this into a singular event for the whole forum to take part in, but as a permanent feature, I can't see this working. There's just too many variable that allow not only for abuse, but for power gaming and level based bias. This would also require its' own judging rubric which would take a fair amount of time to develop, including many indepth formulae (Especially on the basis you'd need to implement a formula including set post more than X posts per character with the overall thread containing more than X words due to the 'set rewards' thing.

Also...If you really wanted to have variable loot, we'd have to have some form of in game 'dice' that was none fixable. Sure, a mod could say he or she rolled a real dice or virtual dice and got X where X is a drop including some uber loot. I'm not saying our staff would do that, but where the possibility of such is available, there will always be at least one or two fingers pointed and its' one finger against our excellent reputation.

So. Without some HEAVY HEAVY development, this just won't work.

I like it, I like it a lot...But as I said earlier, there's just too many variable against it.

[Petoux]

1: This favors higher level players if bosses are 'set in stone', this, if anything, is probably one of the bigger downfalls, meaning that lower level players may shy away.



Solution:

Have a variety of bosses ranging from weaker (for low level characters only) to strong (for high level characters only) and everything else inbetween.

The "DM" idea would mention the rules, say for example, something like this..

2 Approved Raid Low level characters only
4 Approved Raid High level characters only

something like that...




2: Something like this would be very hard to manage and VERY VERY time consuming. I imagine one that goes all the way to the end (with skilled writers who keep to a posting system [which would be required]) would take 6 months. MINIMUM.



Doubt, it ... but it's hard to tell. New moderators (or the same ones) would be added to manage this particular forum.




3. Players with less skill could easily abuse the 'set rewards' system. Players whom write very little simply join a skilled team, beat the 'boss' and share the same amount of the reward for barely any effort.



This is where the rubric idea comes in. You do little ... you get little vs everything being equal.

My idea to counter - attack this, is that if their rubric score is to low, they will be disqualified from the raid.




4. God modders. We all know 'em, we all hate 'em. There's gonna be people who JUST WON'T DIE, regardless of the situation or just how screwed they really are. With high tier enemies such as 'bosses', we're very sure to get Cloud Strife syndrome frequently which completely ruins a scene.



Hence ... the disqualification methods. You see someone doing that, they are immediately disqualified and con longer participate in the raid. Simple as that, no "cheaters" allowed per say.




5. Focuses heavily on combat - This, although awesome, doesn't tend to the players whom are none combat orientated...And there are quite a few.



They could be on the defensive instead. ONLY focus on support .. who needs healing, restocking items, the ideas are endless. They could be anything else besides the offensive counterpart, like a decoy or distraction ... it's endless.




6. Would need a 'minimum word count'/'post amount per person' basis to define when the killing blow could be dealt, otherwise players could have a boss killed in a page or two.



Again ... this will be in the rules and would need to follow the rubric. The "DM" would give the boss ... lets say for example ... 6000 hp. Every so often, they will make a post saying ... the boss has XXXX hp left and will explain how close the players are.




7. This, in theory, is just a more arranged quest, anyone could do SOMETHING like this in a quest (Read: Playback and I + One other soon to attack some Rock Lobster thingy) and go for whatever spoils they wished for and as the bosses weaknesses aren't set, the players may adapt the boss accordingly to give themselves either a weakness or an edge against it, thus allowing more feasible play.



Hence, the setup, explainations, and rules would be explained in great detail. Plus, before a boss can even be attempted, it needs to be approved for a raid and which audience it should go to ... low level, any level, or high level?

...




1. This could attract some of the higher level players to play more frequently with lower players.



That's the idea. Teamwork.




2. It'd be a new feature. Everyone likes new features.



Agreed.




3. It's at least feasible.



Exactly my point ... we have the skeleton structure already setup ... all we have to do is add the skin.




4. It'd be fun as hell and rather epic to write out with the correct people.



Ty..

KEEP IT COMING!!

^.^

[Kially Gaith]

Unfortunately, all but one of your solutions incorrectly fit into the structure and idea of Althanas.

We do not 'disqualify' people for bad writing. We are not out to make them feel bad. This site is here to encourage better writing, to allow people relax and improve their own writing. Disqualifying people is counter-productive to whom we are and as I see it, the sites purpose.

Once again, separating the bosses into tiers of difficulty once again means the higher levels are more prone to team up with higher level characters as to go after the harder bosses than to play with the lower levels.

And yes. It WOULD take a long time. Regardless. Any thread with more than 3-4 people is usually deemed to either fail, never get finished or be badly written/managed. I can't exactly show you examples but I can at least tell you this from personal experience. It's hard enough correlating a 3 person thread than it is a, say, for example, 16 person thread.

Yes, before you mention it, I'm aware of the solution sugguested earlier, where people who don't post are simply skipped, but once again, it detracts from the site morals and ethics. We want to attract members, not give them cause to leave. We have members from all different walks of life and households who could get touchy over the simplest things. (Hell, I won't deny it, even I get really touchy occasionally.)

Like I said. I approve of the idea. But we need solid development. You need to think up firm forward moving methods to keep this working. I don't know if you have already, but look around the site, gather evidence of how players actually play and how this could be implemented as a WORKING system that would give players NO reason to want to leave.

The skeleton system you have at the moment is all good and well but pulling the skin over it will be immensely difficult and then attracting the orgrans (players) to get it working in its' pilot session will be even harder.

For example, what sort of a formula are you going to use to check how much a player contributed? It can't ALWAYS be done by word count. Sometimes, the most beautiful contributions can be made in the matter of one or two paragraphs.

[Petoux]

What if we did a trial period?

Randomly pick people that are interested in the following:

Setting it up
Modding it
Participants

It could just be a skeletal structure to start and we could see how it could grow/improve. Make a thread labeled ...

"Raid suggestions/improvements/additions ideas to add"

or something like that ... so we can start "filling in the lines" ... what do you think?

[Kially Gaith]

We'd STILL need a rubric. And given that we're not allowed to give out the current rubric to none moderators (Including myself!) I can't see them sharing the exact formula for us to change to adapt to the system. Otherwise, we're just doing a quest with a few perks.

[Petoux]

We could use this same rubric with a few adjustments ...




The Rubric

The Rubric consists of a set of carefully selected and defined categories and is designed to gauge the overall level of quality found in a player’s writing. These categories are split into three groups: “Story”, which contains the Pacing, Setting, and Storytelling categories, “Character”, which contains the Persona, Action, and Dialogue categories, and “Writing Style”, which contains Technique, Mechanics, and Clarity. There is also a five-point “wildcard” slot.

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Story: In general, a good score in the Story categories will require three things. First, it will need to be well placed in time and location. Second, it will need to proceed with sufficient development to interest the reader without boring him or her at the same time. Most importantly, though, it will need to be original and creative
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Storytelling (5 Points)

The Storytelling score is influenced by exactly that, the story being told. Does the writer situate the thread within a broader sheath of his/her character's storyline or personality so that it fits nicely in place, or does the thread seem to be a random spot of light in a sea of vagueness? Does the player weave the battle into a creative and compelling tale, or is it ‘merely a battle’? A good Storytelling score does not require a massive, epic storyline or a convoluted history or introduction. Instead, success here comes from answering the question of “Why is the story taking place?” in a compelling way.

A note: If a reader needs to read your character's profile to understand his or her story, or to get the basic information required to understand your character, then you will most likely get lower scores in Continuity. Remember, profiles serve not as general reference guides for readers and judges, but as tools to help you (and to some extent, your teammate and opponents) as you write.

Here is the point breakdown:

5: Great – Your ability to conceive and deliver a compelling story was masterful. Everything that occurred fit into a wider web of storytelling genius. You made the thread into more than just a battle; you made it into a real story.
4: Solid – You clearly know how to tell a story. Though you may have lacked the skillful creativity to earn a 5, you managed to give the battle real significance.
3: Average – Clear effort was made to tell a good story. It wasn’t great, nor was it bad.
2: Below Average – Some traces of an actual story were present, but little was explained coherently. The thread lacked any meaning or place in a larger storyline.
1: Awful – Not only did you not explain why your character was there or why it was important, you may have even neglected to explain that there was a tournament going on. Your writing gave no meaning to the events that transpired or any wider sense of scope regarding your character’s past existence or potential future.

Setting (10 Points)

Each round, players are assigned a wide variety of arenas. To score high in Setting, however, a player will need to go beyond merely acting in front of a painted backdrop. Setting isn’t just to look at, it exists to be experienced by the characters. For instance, if a chair is described, is it merely mentioned or is it used as a seat, or to beat an opponent in the face with? Is it hot or cold or sunny or rainy, and are the effects of it upon the character described? In short, a good setting not merely describes the place, it also makes use of features objects within that place. There is also the factor of realism – does your character interact with the setting realistically? And remember, setting is not a canvas but a world. Here is the point breakdown:

10: Masterful – The setting never vanished and its effects were vividly described where appropriate. Not only did your character use elements of the setting, the setting at times “used” the character. The environment had a clear, but appropriate impact on the story. In addition, you utilized the guidelines provided in your arena in an inventive and engaging manner. In short, the reader felt completely immersed in the environment, as if actually there.
9: Great
7 - 8: Solid
5 - 6: Average - Usually, a score of five or six comes from players who do a decent job of describing the setting, but fall short in terms of really using and immersing the reader in it. Perhaps you did a little of both, but didn’t follow through with the level of quality needed to score higher. Usually, though, it means you’re heading in the right direction.
3 – 4: Below Average
2: Awful
1: Abysmal- Either it seemed as though your character was fighting in a void, or you completely ignored the setting. Perhaps you wrote as though you were in an entirely different place, such as a desert when the actual arena was a jungle or a city. Needless to say, ‘ur doin it rong!’

Pacing (15 Points)

In simple terms, Pacing gauges the flow of the battle and overall way in which the plot unfolded, and more specifically, how your posts contribute to its benefits or detriment. In scoring Pacing, judge will try to determine the author's intent. If the intent is to keep the reader from putting down the story, then a good Pacing score requires that the story delivered: it kept the tension high, releasing it in certain places and building it in others. It kept you guessing. If the intention of the Pacing is to develop a particular character, then the development of the plot must serve to provide the character with specific ways to grow. In other words, the thread’s story must keep you reading, but must also serve the intent of the author without clashing with the battle on the whole. Here's the breakdown:

15: Masterful – Your posts fit the tempo of the battle like a glove. The reader was left at the edge of his/her chair the entire time as you wove your piece of the story with twists and turns. Whether flowing like sweet music or a brutal raging river, your posts moved the story along wonderfully every time.
14: Excellent
12-13: Great
9-11: Solid
7-8: Average – Often defined as a “lack of bad” in this case, an average score typically comes from writing posts that don’t fall into the typical traps of PBP writing that cause the story to put the reader to sleep. However, it likely failed to truly keep the reader engaged, either by dragging on a bit too much or by causing an ending that was too abrupt, or just by following a straight line with no interesting twists and turns.
4-6: Below Average
2-3: Awful
1: Abysmal – The only way to score this terribly in pacing is to take one of two extremes (or some twisted combination that defies the laws of nature). Either you did everything in your power to bring the battle to an abrupt end and subvert any sort of plot progression, or your posts were so painfully long-winded and off-topic that the reader forgot what the thread was supposed to be.

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CHARACTER: There is one important factor kept in mind when the Character scores are judged. Do the thoughts, words, and actions of your character exhibit who they really are? If a particular character is doing something completely contrary to what they are normally like and do not justify that behavior in-character, then a low score will be awarded. If the character's actions truly illustrate who they are, then a high score will be awarded. Above all, a character should be BELIEVABLE. Does it make sense for an illiterate barbarian to talk his way out of a mess? No. Does it make sense for a dull-witted human to come up with a brilliant plan for ambushing the enemy? No. Does it make sense for a first-time lover to comprehend the depth of his emotions? No. In other words: simply because a character does something "smart" doesn't mean the player should get high scores. Sometimes, a stupid response to a situation can be just as important as an intelligent one.
-----

Dialogue (10)

Dialogue must be sensible and believable. A fighter in the midst of a battle should not USUALLY break off the fight for a long-winded speech. A poorly educated human would not be able to converse with an extensive vocabulary. A quiet, withdrawn person would not speak at all, but might do more internal thinking. A dullard might not do much speaking OR thinking. On the other hand, a particularly flamboyant, arrogant, or witty character might indeed decide to pull away in order to deliver a speech he or she thought of on the fly. A poorly educated human might, in a moment of crisis, say a few words, which, although short and unadorned, are elegant in their simplicity. A quiet person might do the same thing, or a dullard might assert their dignity with a few protesting, angry, halting words. The question with dialogue is not "How much talking was there?” Nor is it “How many cool lines were delivered?” Instead, the question is this: does the dialogue properly represent the character?

As a precision, Dialogue is not merely the explicit conveying of information between characters (or in a battle, opponents and teammates) through words: dialogue includes all methods, means and contents of communication used by the characters, and how relevant these methods are to them. For example, a mute character might communicate his intentions through sign language, or by pointing objects relevant to the understanding of his message. Internal monologues and general introspection are also included in Dialogue. Battles are not excuses to ignore Dialogue: having your character communicate (or explicitly refuse to communicate for reasons you must explain) with their teammate, or with their opponent at the beginning and/or the end of a battle, can net you many points here, as long as it is relevant and fits your character.

The breakdown:

10: Masterful – Your character’s speech was used as an astounding engine for character insight and development. The dialogue felt truly real. The reader could feel the emotion being portrayed (or the lack thereof if that was the goal).
9: Great
7-8: Solid
5-6: Average – Either nothing particularly out of the ordinary for better or worse, or some great moments mixed with some not-so great moments. Perhaps it served a solid purpose in the story and made sense, but lacked any kind of originality.
3-4: Below Average
2: Awful
1: Abysmal – Nonsensical, pointlessly inconsistent, completely clashing with the character speaking, blatantly stolen from other sources, and/or just plain annoying our mind-numbingly boring to read. It would be a chore to intentionally think up dialogue this horrible.

Action (15 Points)

Naturally, actions are very important in battles, since the characters will at some point have to take swings at each other. This can be explained in virtually the same way as dialogue. For an example, consider The Lord of the Rings. When the Witch-King of Angmar was slain, it was because he had ignored the hobbit Pippin, who was able to creep up from behind him and stab him in the heel at an opportune moment. This is entirely fitting with Pippin's character; he cannot block the attack of a man, jump back flips, or cast spells. But he can crawl quietly and wait for a chance to strike. His action made sense for his character. Keep in mind that action is not limited to fighting! For example, a character might have a favorite book. A player could begin a thread with her reading it for a third time, and commenting on it as a friend walks in. Etc.

Think of action as being just what it says: anything a character DOES. Likewise, though strategy is an important part of the Action score, it is far more important that the strategies fit the character. IE: strategically savvy ‘chess master’ type might brew an ingenious plot, but be unable or unwilling to adapt to a changing scenario, or a brash or lazy character might decide to forgo planning and just think up tactics on the fly. Alternatively, an unintelligent character might not plan at all and could merely be prone to doing whatever makes the most noise. Just like dialogue, action is not defined by how cool a maneuver is or how intelligently the character planned and executed it. Rather, action is scored based on whether or not a character does what fits with his/her personality. The point breakdown follows:

15: Masterful – The actions your put in your posts not only portrayed your character, it helped define your character’s personality. Your character reacted to different situations in a realistic way and displayed fair and realistic limitations and weaknesses. Your use of action kept the reader engaged and helped move the plot. Etc.
14: Excellent
12-13: Great
9-11: Solid
7-8: Average
4-6: Below Average
2-3: Awful
1: Abysmal – The actions you described made no sense and chronically annoyed the reader. Powergaming more than likely ran rampant to the clear and severe detriment of the thread.

Persona (10 Points)

Persona refers to how well your character's emotions are depicted in relation to their personality. Emotions can be one of the trickiest things to write about -- either one doesn't portray them enough or one does a bit too much. Characters, for the most part, do have emotions. They feel pain, they feel love, hate, anger, confusion. A few pointers can help with improving your Persona score. First, the characters should feel emotion, but not always know what to do with it. Most people feel emotion, but they often struggle with knowing the precise emotion they are having or determining how to act on the emotion. Whether a player portrays this conflict or not should determine the score. Second, is the emotion believable? Absent a specific reason, emotion should not be overblown. A lengthy description of how much love you feel for the person you just had sex with, for instance, can be rather obnoxious.

Keep this in mind, however: both these rules can be suspended if the emotion depicted is well done in relation to personality. For instance, a character might be a warrior, used to pain -- used to not reacting with tears or cries if a dagger pierces them, for instance. Or they might have tried to harden their heart to love, or ignore feelings of hate because they think hate is a bad thing to feel. Or a character might be the clingy type, ignoring subtle emotions in favor of seeking that clear feeling of "I love her so much" that may characterize an adolescent boy. Or the character might merely be expressing emotions of an overblown nature as a way to mask their underlying uncertainty and fear. Persona is one of the hardest areas to judge; however, in a sense, it is like what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about obscenity: "I shall not attempt to define the kinds of material I understand to be pornography, but I know it when I see it."

10: Masterful – Your portrayal of your character’s emotions was exceptionally realistic and absolutely fit with your character’s personality. Every piece of introspection was written in such a way that the reader could delve deeper into your character’s psyche. If your character’s mindset was meant to be humanely relatable or chaotically confusing does not matter, because you successfully conveyed your intent. You did not merely strike a chord, but strummed a most poignant (or frighteningly cold, or debilitating, etc.) song in the reader’s heart.
9: Great
7-8: Solid
5-6: Average – While you were generally successful in accurately conveying the emotions of your character (or lack thereof), some passages felt excessive, forced, lacking, or generally hard to believe. It might be that some parts were bland to read, or written too awkwardly for the reader to try and understand better.
3-4: Below Average
2: Awful
1: Abysmal – The way you demonstrate your character’s emotions or lack of emotions was painfully clichéd on one side, utterly absent on the other, and had about as much depth as the plastic, dollar-store fish tank you bought for your goldfish cracker.

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Writing Style : To use a metaphor, writing style is the bones, sinew, and skin of a thread’s “body.” Mechanics specifically refers to the basic building blocks of language – the bones. Technique ties things together, using different methods of stylistic devices to make the mechanics transcend the mere words on the page – sinew. And clarity is the public face of it all, what people see…the part of a body that people immediately interact with and try to understand – the skin.
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Technique (10 Points)

This refers to special literary devices, such as foreshadowing, metaphors, allusion, symbolism, or other "advanced" forms of writing. This tends to be judged in a few ways at once, often interacting with the other categories. For example, devices such as foreshadowing can be used to build tension to help Pacing, or metaphors and imagery can be used to flesh out the setting. However, Technique also be applies to how well a special device was used. For example, was the foreshadowing effective in creating tension? Given the nature of this category, it tends to be subjective, as one person could dislike a style that another loves. Judges, however, are asked to do their best to remain objective and gauge whether or not the literary objectives of the writing were met, regardless of their personal preferences.

10: Masterful – Contrary to common belief, it doesn’t take Homer’s eloquence, vocabulary or general greekiness to have mastery over your personal writing style. In fact, sometimes, having the above is frowned upon by your contemporary peers. Your writing is rich with rhetorical devices without containing an overabundance of them, which tends to cheapen their effect. The flow of your writing is impeccable, and not a moment does the reader feel bogged down or jarred by your writing; instead, they are drawn deeper into it, and urged on to read until the climactic end. Simply put, your writing has an undeniable flair that distinguishes you from the masses.
9: Great
7-8: Solid
5-6: Average – You are comfortable with your style, and know well enough to give it a more oomph where you deem it necessary. However, some of your literary devices either do not come across the way you intended to or completely backfire. Some passages of your writing could do better with more, while others seem a bit excessive. The flow of your writing, though clear and usually fluid, can at times feel tedious.
3-4: Below Average
2: Awful
1: Abysmal – You think ‘simile’ is smile misspelled. You believe a ‘metaphor’ has something to do with robotics. The word ‘analogy’ makes you laugh. It is quite likely that you slept through English class most of your life, and you snicker perversely every time you hear the name ‘Shakespeare’.

Mechanics (10 Points)

This should be obvious. Are your commas in the right place? Are your sentences actual sentences, and not fragments? Do you spell words properly? In other words: are you following the basic rules of English? As is said in writing style, these rules can be broken without detriment, provided they are broken INTENTIONALLY in order to MAKE A POINT. And, as always, the judges will determine whether poor mechanics actually serves the purpose of enhancing the style. Here's the breakdown:

10: Masterful – Not only were your posts free of typos and bad sentences, but your writing took more subtle aspects of the English language into account, such as building flowing sentences based on the way certain words are accented in their pronunciation. You also likely displayed an extensive, but prudently used vocabulary. It’s not about using a thesaurus to find the biggest words; to reach this pinnacle of English mastery, you must use the most fitting words for a given situation, both in its definition and pronunciation. In short, you went beyond flawless.
8-9: Flawless – If your writing is at least 99% free of mistakes, your Mechanics score will likely wind up in this range.
6-7: Mostly Clean – A few typos or bad sentences here and there, usually things that a good proofreading could have picked up.
4-5: Sloppy – You probably didn’t put enough effort into your writing if you score within this range. You made quite a few typos or grammatical errors, most of which could have been fixed with a spellchecker.
2-3: Awful – Sweet Jesus, use Microsoft Word or an online spellchecker. There is no excuse for this level of poor grammar and spelling.
1: Abysmal – Is that even English? My eyes are not only bleeding, they exploded in my skull.

Clarity (10 Points) ~ Basically, this refers to whether or not your posts make any sense. For instance, read the following few sentences: "Becky was a rat. The billygoat jumped over the wall. "Oh no," said Allan, "I have no idea what to do with my life. The pretty penguins parked in their parkas while praying." These sentences were technically grammatically correct. The last sentence even showed evidence of stylistic touches, using alliteration. Yet, did they make sense? Did one follow from another? Was the narration clean and easy to follow? No.

Clarity, in the purest sense, asks this: do you say what you need to say using effective, clear, easy-to-follow language? Naturally, just about every other category can affect Clarity in some way or another, such as poor mechanics making writing illegible or actions that were difficult to follow. However, don’t fall under the impression that all confusion will hurt your score here, so long as it is used intentionally as a literary or plot device, such as to use a dose of mystery elements.

10: Masterful – Not only were all of the meanings and messages in your writing conveyed to the reader successfully, but there was nothing missing in the prior information the reader needed to understand your story. When you refer to characters and NPCs that the reader should not have any knowledge of, you take the time to describe them, to explain a bit of their past and their incidence in the story you are writing. The same goes for original species, creatures, weapons and the like. Basically, you have not once left the reader in the dark unless it had been your full intention to do so.
9: Great
7-8: Solid
5-6: Average – While it was generally easy to understand what you were writing, the reader sometimes felt inconsistencies and missing spots in the information that was provided, and the wording of some sentences did help the reader understand during the first read-through. The reader had to backtrack a number of times to figure out exactly what you were trying to say.
3-4: Below Average
2: Awful
1: Abysmal – Shoehorns administer copious degrees of helicopter intercourse. Narm! NARM! NUMAAAARRRRM!

Wild Card (5 Points)

Wild Card takes into account any facet of writing that does not fall under the description of another category. It’s the category that allows the judges to be a little subjective and award aspects of your writing that they liked that fell outside of the regular rubric. Think of it as a small “judge’s choice” award.

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Final Notes: Given the nature of the Tournament of Champions, teamwork is very important and is likely to affect every category on the rubric. Also, prompt replies can work to your team’s benefit while repeated long delays can cause point deductions.

Also, don’t let the fact that some categories are weighted more heavily give you the impression that they are “more important” than others. The value of a category is determined by the scope of factors that contribute to it, such as teamwork, strategy, realism, and characterization all being part of Action, not the importance.

[Kially Gaith]

We could use this same rubric with a few adjustments ...

Then it's just a quest...There's nothing that makes this different from another quest in this situation.

Please, I urge you, I can understand how eager you are to have this somehow implemented and although I am not official staff for this sort of thing, I do feel you should take it up with those who can help you.

I see that you want this to be more than just a quest, and as you're currently suggesting it, it's just a large quest with many people, where the way you wish to have it, conflicts with the current judging rubric (Because the rubric does have a little more to it than what's public.)

[Nevar Flat Notes]

I only have one question...

Why?

[Christoph]

I skimmed over this, and I got to thinking… I could adapt this idea and apply it to the mission board I’m making for Scara Brae. I haven’t hammered out specifics yet, but the general idea would be: a group completes a mission board quest, which then “unlocks” a boss battle related to that mission (such as the evil mastermind, etc).

[Ksarh]

I was wondering if it wouldn't be easiest to have a 'DM' play the beast and then RP it as if you were all fighting against him. Like a regular battle, but with the opponent being a monster. Otherwise I don't really see the difference with a quest.

[Christoph]

That's a possibility, but it would require having a stock of roleplayers experienced in battling ready to take up these boss battles.

[Ksarh]

Needing people who can RP a bit decently as well as actually wanting to DM is always a problem with such a system :)

[Christoph]

It's more that Althanas isn't designed with 'DMs' in mind. For that reason, it seems unlikely that the first version of Boss Battles will have use

[Ksarh]

They wouldn't be DM's in the true sense, but yeah, I know the site isn't really geared towards it. Since I'm not the first to mention them it seems to be a bit tied to the general idea of having a boss monster however. After all, if it's just a handful of people slaying a boss monster in cooperative writing, then it's no different from a regular quest.

[Christoph]

Honestly, you shouldn't ever think of anything as a "regular quest" or a "regular battle". The concept of quests and battles was designed specifically to be versatile. If you think of either one as "regular", then you're only limiting yourself.

Either way, I'm adapting it to my mission board. It'll be different from the norm because a group must complete one of the quests on the board first, and then are assigned a boss battle if they want one. Basically, it gives them the finale and/or the big twist at the end of an edventure. The notion of a boss battle in the manner described in this thread doesn’t fit the nature of Althanas. Our goal is to give writers a helping hand while teaching them to be self-sufficient.

[Petoux]

First I would like to say for the rping experience levels, I understand that everyone has skills ranging from a newb to a master, therefore the different bosses and their attributes and the rules that go along with that particular boss will solve that problem. Anyway, thought of another one that would be an interesting fight:

The setup:

You are on a large wooden bridge, the biggest one you've seen surrounded by poisonous water that can kill you quicker than you can blink if you fall in. There is a very large platform in front of you and a ghostly outline of a dragon can be slightly seen. It is a ghost dragon! About 40 feet tall and 25 feet wide, this ghost dragon seems like a very deadly challenge.

Name: Giason

Statistics:

4444 Hit Points

308 - 9999999999 Attack Points (Described below about the massive range of damage.)

208 Evade Points (This means you hit the boss quite often because of it's massive size.)

Exp gained if victorious: 20,000 divided up evenly with all the characters fighting against it. Going after it solo is suicide, so I was thinking a minimum of like what? 8 people go after this thing for even a slight chance? Max amount of people that can join will be 16. Recommended rping experience will be average to master, or at your own risk. Anyway ... more of the break down...

Attacks include:

Hindering Breath

Desc:

A giant green puff of fog is spewed out from the dragons mouth is used on the first turn (and then every so often afterwards). 1/3 (One third) of the players (rpers) will be hindered (slower reaction time and movement) for three posts unless healed. This attack does no damage, YET can not be dodged.

...

Stone Breath

Desc:

This attack randomly picks one player and encases them in solid stone. This attack does no damage, yet the player/rper can not do a thing (unless somehow the spell/attack is broken) for one post. This attack can not be dodged.

...

Summon Lizard Men

Desc:

Occasionally, the dragon will summon two five foot lizards that stand like a human onto the battle field distracting the players/rpers from the main target (the dragon). They both attack the players/rpers with their spears. They barely do any damage and are very easily killed. Once the spell is cast, it is automatically re-casted every 5 turns/posts. The dragon heals 10 HP every time this spell is cast.

...

Risky Bite:

Desc:

When the dragon gets to 1/2 of it's health it will open it's mouth baring it's teeth and throat and invite someone inside. This attack does nothing UNLESS you choose too. If you decide to enter his mouth, your character will have a 90% chance of receiving the 9999999999 damage causing instant death (they get eaten, and this can not be dodged since they have the choice to do so or not). However, if successful ... the dragon will miss and lose 1/2 of it's remaining health. If you decide not to enter his mouth, the dragon returns to his normal attacks. Basically, you choose if you want this to attack or not. Do you take the risk of your character dying vs killing the dragon faster? This attack can ONLY be used once. The dragon heals 100 HP using this attack.

...

Arrow Shot

Desc:

A giant arrow capable of hitting 4 people in one hit is launched from the dragons mouth dealing a decent amount of damage. This attack CAN be dodged.

...

Claw Strike:

Desc:

The Dragon will slam down both of his front claws in a random location on the bridge. This attack can be dodged, yet if hit ... it does quite a bit of damage to the player or players.

...

Last Ditch:

Desc:

This attack can only be used when the dragon has 70HP or less. The dragon can NOT attack with anything or do anything (including the auto summoning of the lizard men) during this attack for 3 posts, once the 4th post is posted (dragon wise/the "DM")... this attack is unleashed and can not be dodged. This attack causes 9999999999 damage to a single target killing the target instantly. Better kill the dragon quick! (It isn't hard with HP that low irregardless of it's racial ability). If the dragons skin is gone around this time, it will regrow irregardless immediately (since it's HP will be low anyway, to "easy" otherwise :p ). The boss heals 10 HP each post with the last ditch.

...

Ghost Dragon Racial Ability:

Name: Ghost Skin

Think this battle will be a snap with Boss HP that low? Think again. A ghost has a certain skin that makes it almost immune to all attacks. Physical attacks will do 2 damage irregardless of how powerful the attack is. Magical attacks will do 3 irregardless of how powerful the attack is. HOWEVER, if you find the certain magic attack that eliminates it's skin (whoever DM's this boss will pm me and I will give them that weakness so only the DM knows and no one else) ... Physical attacks will do 80 dmg and Magic attacks will do 160 irregardless of how powerful the attacks are. If you find this weakness, it only lasts for 4 posts until the ghost regrows it's skin. You can only use this weakness attack once, so use it wisely!!

...

What do you think?

[MetalDrago]

First off, HP does not exist in Althanas. Second off, I'll explain why. In Althanas, damage is used more or less realistically. Each individual cut and attack is explained in intricate detail, for the simple reason that it's important to us not to make this as much about a game as about a way to improve one's writing skills, and make the story itself believable. These are the major problems. With your above post. Aside from that, it would seem like a doable thing, minus the Stone Breath, and other auto-hit attacks. No attack in Althanas is unblockable/unavoidable.

[Petoux]

About the unavoidable hits ... I agree, with the exception of the "Risky Bite" {In this example anyway} since it's up to the player to decide if they want to do that or not. So, what would you recommend to fix these problems?

[MetalDrago]

We wouldn't make it a percentage count, nor can we make it instant kill. You see, only the player decides if he/she dies. Now, as for the dragon's attack being nearly impossible to dodge, that won't be a problem. Many players have such attacks. And dodging a move like that, unrealistically, would be either godmodding or powergaming... Can't remember which, the two terms weem interchangable.

[Petoux]

With the althanas rules in place, what would be a good boss setup if YOU were using the dragon personally?

In other words, how would you outfit a boss?

[MetalDrago]

Basically the same way, minus a couple of attacks and immunities. The Ghost Skin can stay... It would basically be played the same as any other NPC, only with a much bigger part in the story. The biggest difference between our styles would be that I wouldn't use a giant, multi-part boss... I'd probably put 4-8 people against another humanoid/small monster who just happened to have very strong powers. I'd even go so far as to completely flesh out the character, giving him attacks, attributes, and a history (just like a character sheet) before ever using him.