Sagely wisdom in regards to dueling
As you’ve probably figured out by now, via your varying experiences within the online role-playing world, there are probably upwards of a hundred distinctly unique viewpoints of what the essence of role-playing is. Most of these, while I will disagree with a lot of them, are completely valid, while many others are annoyingly puzzling. All of them contain their various benefits and detriments, and each is fiercely contested when its validity is called into question.
One of the pre-eminent arguments striking conversation through various role-playing forums today is the essence, and the importance, of role-played dueling. There are countless schools of thought as to what goes into a duel, and how much emphasis should be placed on dueling as a whole, within the role-playing experience. Each, much like those perspectives within the spectrum of role-playing essences, is likely valid. There are some, however, that aren’t.
Perhaps the most unhealthy viewpoint, and most widely spotted erroneous viewpoint as well, upon dueling is the thought that dueling is the be-all and end-all of all role-play scenarios. People who subscribe to this theory are prone to dueling people just because their character was looked at, or spoken to when they didn’t want to be spoken to. These people, regrettably, are usually quite skilled and use their ability to duel to feed their own point of view. They are sometimes unavoidable, however, so you should at least understand their viewpoint so as to know what you will be getting into.
Equally unhealthy is the perspective that all dueling is scary and therefore it should not be participated in under any circumstances. While dueling just for the sake of dueling is not particularly conducive to having a well-rounded gaming experience, culling dueling from the role-play experience is just as bad. While dueling at every opportunity diminishes the chance for role-play growth in a number of other means, not dueling at all restricts the opportunities for greater development via conflict resolution.
Some people may elect to hide behind the peacefulness of the character in order to have a built-in excuse to their aversion for dueling, and that’s all well and good to an extent. However, it would be viewed as terribly improper to simply disappear or flee without role-playing such were a character were attacked at random.
Perhaps the most ‘proper’, for lack of a better term, perspective of the importance of dueling within role-play is that it is necessary, but only when necessary. That is to say it should not be avoided, nor should it be avidly sought. If your character is role-played into a situation where a confrontation or fight is all but certain to occur, that is an appropriate time for a duel to take place. Just bear in mind that some characters have shorter fuses than others, and are more apt to shoot first and ask questions later. But dueling isn’t something that should be averted like the plague.
Now that we’ve established what a healthy viewpoint on the importance of role-played dueling entails, it is essential that the essence of role-played dueling be identified. If you cannot sufficiently grasp the essence of what it means to role-play duel properly, then the relative health of your viewpoint upon its importance in general role-play is effectively irrelevant.
Dueling is not only a test of physical, mental and spiritual strength between characters, it is a battle of the players’ minds, in just about every definition of the term. In a duel, you are required to out-think, outwit, and out-write your opponent or you stand little chance of winning.
Many people will tell you that writing is the key component of a duel, and that imagination follows a close second. While these people would be right in their criteria, their self-defined contexts are misleading, and are the principle catalysts for losing the whole reason why dueling exists. How is it possible that people can be so right and so wrong in the same breath, with the same words, you ask? Allow me to demonstrate!
What the average dueler means by the phrase ‘imagination within your attacks’ is coming up with the most bombastic, elaborate, and impossible-to-defend attacks, regardless of whether they have zero chance at being realistically executed, and paying no heed to whether their character has ever role-played honing these attacks for use in a duel. Being as role-played dueling is an extension of role-play, but still an element of it, it is easy to see how this is problematic.
Nevertheless, judges all too often find themselves so blown away by the style that they pay little attention to the substance. It doesn’t matter how awesome it is if someone attacks with a pair of throwing daggers and a broadsword simultaneously. Unless they’re a mutant and have four hands with opposable thumbs on each, it can’t be done. When identified, the problems with this are easy to see, but many people don’t even know they’re there because of everything they’ve been taught about dueling, which is still ingrained in their minds.
Imagination within your attacks, in the purest intended definition for dueling purposes, is something as simple as a highly skilled warrior using the exact same weapon - a broadsword, for example - in three completely different means. It is much more innovative, and true to a character’s reasonable abilities, to execute three distinctly different attacks with one weapon than it is to execute one cataclysmic assault with three. But once you’ve mastered this part of the essence of dueling, you’ve only maybe half-won the battle.
When someone says that you need to ‘out-write’ your opponent, they probably mean to imply that you need to be a better writer, use flowery language and have outstanding flow to your writing style. While it sometimes helps for clarification purposes, this could not be further from the truth. It’s not a writing contest; it’s a role-played battle. Writing quality is important only to the extent of helping the judges better understand what exactly your character is doing. It is better to have a straight-forwardly written post devoid of thesaurus-quality words, but one that paints a pristine picture of what your character is doing, thinking, feeling (all these should be wrapped around the action of your character, not just thrown in), than it is to knock their socks off with an effective use of words like ‘infinitesimal’ and lose some of the clarity within your writing.
That, ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages, is what it means to role-play duel, and should give you some idea as how to pull it off effectively, as well as help you understand that dueling only a bad thing if you place too much importance on its relevance. Armed with this bit of sagely advice, hopefully you will find it in yourselves to expand your horizons and re-capture the lost essence of dueling, in moderation of course.