Combat Rules

Coming from running a series of Dragon Ball roleplays, we here at MHARP wanted to take advantage of the setting and get rid of any and all number crunching relating to combat. That's right; no math required!

That said, there are various things we'd like you to keep in mind. Student heroes and other novices would have to get very lucky to beat up a professional hero with Worldwide Stature, simply due to experience and skill level. And some Quirks will be more or less effective against other Quirks, requiring Adaptations or Expertise to potentially even the playing field. 

The basic combat rules are the same as most 'fair play' rules on freeform roleplaying sites:

1. No god-modding. All of your character's actions made against another character are always an attempt, never a sure-fire thing. And never control another player's character(s) or assume their next actions. You also shouldn't dodge or counter every move your opponent makes. It's not fair, it's not fun and it's not interesting to read.
   
   
2. Fighting is informed, but not dictated by, the Quirk Factor. If your character has a 1 Power on their Quirk Factor, please don't have them overwhelming a 2 Power or a 3 Power opponent in a head-to-head. Respect your and your opponent's Quirk Factors while writing and competing.
   
   
3. If there is a dispute about a specific part of a fight, you can ask a staff member to weigh in. They can then make a judgement call and recommend changes if necessary. Once the staff has spoken, this decision is final. 
   
   
4. Power disparities between new characters and established heroes aren't as wide as in other settings. A novice villain might well be able to get the upper hand on an famous hero thanks to their Quirk, or a smart move. Characters with more experience, Adaptations and Expertise still shouldn't be afraid of getting a few knocks from fresher characters.
   
   
5. Losing is winning, really. In order for your character to gain an Adaptation against another Quirk or their own Quirk, they need to gather Wounds, and that means losing! Winning all the time is boring, honestly, and some of the best characters in fantasy fiction lose fights regularly. Son Goku, Luke Skywalker, the Dark Souls player. Losing is an experience without which one cannot learn and develop. 
   
   
6. Fights with more than two participants will follow a simple turn-based approach based on thread entry. If there are three combatants, for example, the thread starter will go first, the first person to join will go second, and the last person to join will go, well, last. 
   
   
7. If someone doesn't post in 48 hours, they can be skipped. However, be fair; if its a casual thread, and someone's indicated their absence prior to their turn, it might be nice to wait for them to get back. 
   
   
8. All of the above rules apply to Incidents, high-stakes threads where characters can take Damage or attain Wounds... or maybe even die. MHARP doesn't have 'death-enabled' threads, but players can choose to have their characters die in these Incidents if they wish. However, players can gain permanent Wounds against their will, negative traits which can effect their Quirks and/or general ability. Fortunately, these Wounds can be overcome via Adaptation. See this thread for more details.