RP Combat Writing Guide
How to write fights without autohitting, powergaming, or rushing the scene. These writing rules apply whether you are resolving the fight through RP Combat or writing around Meter Combat results.
The Golden Rule
Write what your character attempts to do. Do not decide another character's reaction, injury, consciousness, or permanent consequence for them.
Leaves Room to Respond
/me steps forward and throws a hard right toward the man's jaw, putting his weight behind the swing.
Forces the Outcome
/me punches him in the jaw, breaks his teeth, and knocks him to the ground.
Weapon Rule: Draw First, Use It Later
/me reaches beneath his jacket, draws the pistol, and brings it into a ready position as his eyes stay fixed on Jack./me sights along the pistol and fires toward Jack's torso. If the scene is using Meter Combat, this is the post where the appropriate HUD attack is rolled.Knife
Post 1: /me pulls the knife free and settles it low beside his thigh.
Later post: /me lunges in, trying to drag the blade across the man's side.
Draw + Attack Together
/me pulls his gun, shoots her twice in the chest, and watches her fall.
If the weapon is already visibly drawn and ready from an earlier post, you do not need to draw it again before every attack. If you holster it, drop it, switch weapons, or retrieve a different weapon, the new weapon must be prepared in its own post before it is used.
Writing an Attack
A clean attack post usually contains three pieces: your movement, the attempted action, and the intended target.
Melee
/me closes the distance and attempts to hook his right fist toward her ribs.
Knife
/me steps inside and tries to slash the blade across the man's outer arm.
Gun
/me raises the already-drawn pistol, aims toward the man's center mass, and fires.
Grappling
/me reaches for the front of his jacket, attempting to pull him off balance.
Be especially careful with grappling, restraints, takedowns, and disarms. Those actions can easily become several forced outcomes in one sentence.
/me grabs him, throws him to the floor, takes his gun, and pins him.
/me reaches for his wrist and attempts to wrench the gun hand away from his body.
Let the Result Decide Contact
When using Meter Combat, write the attack as an attempt and let the HUD determine whether meaningful contact occurs.
- MISS: the attempted attack did not make meaningful contact.
- HIT: the attack connected and the defender should acknowledge that something landed.
A successful HUD hit does not let the attacker decide the exact wound. A hit means the attack connected; it does not automatically mean a broken jaw, severed artery, unconsciousness, permanent scar, or death.
When Using RP Combat Mode
RP Combat does not use HUD attacks or incoming meter damage. The same writing rule still applies: write the attempt, then let the other player respond. Do not turn RP Combat into automatic hits simply because no d20 roll is being used.
Writing Defense & Reactions
Defense should respond to what actually happened instead of overriding the result.
Before a Result / RP-Only Scene
/me sees the fist coming and tries to twist away while bringing an arm up to shield his face.
After a Meter MISS
/me jerks backward just in time, the fist cutting through the space in front of his face.
After a Meter HIT
/me turns too late and catches the punch across his cheek, stumbling a half-step sideways.
/me easily dodges the punch and laughs. — when the HUD has already recorded a hit.
A reaction is not automatically another attack. Staggering, clutching a wound, falling back, speaking, or describing pain can all be part of the response without immediately launching another offensive action.
Roleplay the Damage
HP is a combat measurement, not an exact medical diagnosis. Let injuries build in a believable way as damage accumulates.
Do not treat every successful gunshot as instant death, and do not treat repeated successful hits as if nothing happened. The point is to sell the scene without forcing permanent consequences.
Avoid Powergaming
Powergaming happens when your post decides another character's outcome for them.
/me breaks his arm./me knocks her unconscious./me grabs him and cuffs him before he can move./me shoots her in the head.
/me attempts to wrench his arm behind his back./me swings the baton toward the side of her head./me reaches for his wrist, trying to turn it behind him for the cuffs./me fires toward her upper body.
Avoid Godmodding
Godmodding is the opposite problem: refusing to let your character be meaningfully affected by anything.
- Every punch is shrugged off.
- Every bullet somehow becomes a harmless graze.
- Your character never becomes tired, hurt, unstable, or slowed.
- A confirmed hit is ignored because you did not like the outcome.
Break Actions Up & Give People Time
Combat RP is collaborative. Do not pack an entire fight into one post.
/me swings at him, grabs him when he stumbles, throws him down, kicks him twice, takes his gun, and cuffs him.
Make the first attempt, let the other player respond, then continue the scene one meaningful action at a time.
Movement, dialogue, facial expression, and description can share a post with the chosen action. What matters is that you do not use descriptive writing to sneak in extra attacks, extra weapon use, or several forced outcomes.
Healing, Consumables & Items Need RP Too
If your character heals, uses medication, takes a stimulant, applies a buff, or uses another combat-related consumable, put it into the scene instead of silently clicking the HUD.
Healing
/me pulls a bandage from the kit and presses it against the wound, trying to get the bleeding under control.
Consumable
/me digs into his jacket, pops the tablets into his mouth, and swallows them dry.
Under the OOC combat rule set, a healing or combat-benefit consumable is the player's HUD combat action for that post. Do not heal, buff, or consume an item and then attack in the same post.
Useful Combat Wording
These phrases keep posts active and confident while still leaving the outcome open:
You do not need to force one specific word into every post. The test is simple: does your sentence describe what your character does, or does it decide what happens to somebody else's character?
Full Exchange Example
This example shows the Trenchport weapon-prep rule and then a normal Meter Combat exchange.
/me reaches beneath his jacket, draws the pistol, and brings it up at a low ready while keeping his eyes on Jack./me sees the weapon clear the jacket and shifts toward the side of the alley, shoulders tightening as his hands come up./me raises the already-drawn pistol and fires toward Jack's torso./me twists as the shot lands, a sharp grunt leaving him as he stumbles against the wall and clamps a hand over his side./me pushes off the wall and throws a hard kick toward Gator's stomach./me shifts sideways as the boot comes forward, letting it pass just outside his hip before squaring himself back toward Jack.