Battle Class - Lesson #2 - Taking Hits

After determining which actions you want your character to do, the next step is to write your response to your opponent. At some point some of their actions (unless you spend all your actions defending) will harm you. There is an art to describing a hit, and I will teach you that art.

As you know, the RPG has no hit-point system, nor does it have any “mechanics” as seen in other roleplaying games. This RPG is a hybrid between a free-form RPG and your classic pen-and-paper RPGs. You have attribute scores to determine how powerful your character is, but your posts are dependent on your writing skills to get the full effect of that power.

A good roleplayer will always take a hit like a champ. What I mean by this is, they will display three responses to show how effective the attack was against them.

Prior Response

Start your description before the attack actually hits you. Describe why your character could not simply evade or block the attack. Were you blindsided by the kick? Was the punch too fast? Were you still dazed from the first blow and couldn't muster a defense against the second? Is that Kamehameha wave coming at you way too fast for you to react to? These are the sort of things to think about and by doing this it will make you a better writer.

Physical Response

The second response is the physical response. What happened? Did the punch hit you square in the jaw? Did the Destructo Disk lob off a few of your fingers? Describing the physical damage is important. Play it fair; if your opponent used a powerful technique and you are taking the hit, don't have it simply nick you as if you had just shaved—I want you to feel bones crunch, teeth shatter, flesh rend, and blood splatter! Make it gruesome and make it fun. Remember, DBZ characters can take an incredible amount of punishment, so you can really have fun with it and still keep on chugging.

Mental Response

This is the final part to your response. You've described the physical damage, great... but this part is the most important. Surely your character felt an excruciating amount of pain when he watched the buzzing disk of ki take off his fingers. Did it make him angry? Or maybe he feels the thunderous pulsating pain in his hand but starts laughing because he is a sadistic bastard.

However, be careful when writing this part. Some cocky and arrogant characters might be used to taking pain and punishment. But, if you describe them as shrugging off a devastating blow, it can seem like God-Moding. Describe how terrible the pain is, but also describe how they are able to overcome it. That is the best method for hardened mental response, and it will be fair every time.

Pro Tip

Try not to get opinionated when describing a blow landing. Let me give you an example: Crono felt the pathetic punch crash into his jaw. The word pathetic is key here. Writing that kind of stuff is bad practice. Don't describe your opponent's weakness or inability to hurt you in such a demeaning manner. Instead, go for something like this: Crono felt the punch crash into his jaw, his head hadn't moved at all, but he felt a small throbbing pain in his cheek. With that, your character seems to be unaffected by the hit, but you're still accounting for the fact that he was hit by describing the pain.

Assignment

Your opponent has unleashed a barrage of ki balls at you using Renzoku Kikou Dan. You've decided to take the hit, because you're planning something big on your turn and want to save actions for it. Using the techniques I've outlined for you above, write your best description of this event.

Jeraph watched as his opponent began rapidly pumping his arms, firing a volley of small but super fast ki balls at him. The speed of the ki balls along with the sheer amount makes it impossible for Jeraph to dodge, his second thought is a block but then he realized that would abruptly end the plan he has already put into motion, taking the ki blasts is his only alternative.

Feeling the first of the ki blasts seer his flesh Jeraph gritted his teeth in pain thinking the whole time "I can take this and move on." Trying to concentrate on his next move instead of the pain, the second ball hits his left arm searing even more flesh until finally the last ball hits his abdomen and leaves more flesh blackened and smoldering from the energy.

Each blast made Jeraph wince in pain, the later of the balls caused a more audible response as they burned layers of his skin and muscle tissue. Jeraph's teeth almost cracked at the amount of pressure he was putting on them while biting down.

"Finally it's over."Jeraph thought to himself, "but did that ever hurt. Each blast felt like some one was putting out a lit cutting torch on the area it hit."

Ava’s eyes widened as she was thrown down onto the ground. She closed her eyes and prepared for impact. She hit the ground, landing on her hands and knees. The ground crumpled under the impact of her toned muscles. She reached up and touched the side of her face.

She had to admit, that last kicked hurt like hell. She looked over her shoulder as her attacker laughed at her. Landing a painful blow on Saiyan like her obviously made him happy. She stood up and spat out a little bit of blood, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, looking at him, trying to formulate her next move.

She had it, a Super Kamehameha, but se would need to drain a little more of his ki and endurance first top do any viable damage.

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT INBREED!” she shouted up at him.

She saw him get visibly angry at her referral to his blood line. His face flushed and his fists curled up.
She moved into her starting position.

Then she something she didn’t expect. Her opponent dropped his shoulder, relaxed his arms and stared down at the ground.

Something was wrong. He was giving up.

“Aw, come on now, things were just warming up.” She whispered to herself just s her opponent’s eyes shot up to look at her.

He lifted his hands and began pumping them forwards and back at an incredible rate, pumping out ki blasts.

Her eyes shot open as she realised they were too scattered to dodge. One would hit her. And to top it all off, when she got hit, it the blasts were powerful enough to cause her some damage.

She would have to take the hit, and try and block it as best she could.

She dug her feet into the ground, hunched over forward slightly, and threw her arms up in front of her face, readying herself for the impact.

The blasts hit her one by one, pushing her back slightly as they bombarded her body, ripping her suit. Then she felt them burning her skin, and then they began ripping through into her muscle. She winced as she felt the blood running down her body from the wounds the blasts inflicted.

How could he be so powerful? How had he managed to hide this amount of power from her? What else was he hiding?

She feared the worst in terms of his power reserves. She was taking hits and losing power fast, and nothing had changed in his power level. He was capable of much more than he was showing her now. Just the thought of losing her life in this fight, scared her. She had died before, but by her own doing. Would this opponent kill her?

Probably, she realized.

But she couldn’t go back to Hell. She wouldn’t.

Suddenly the blasts stopped and she felt the true extent of the damage. She was shaking on her feet, blood dripping down her legs from the cuts and burns on her body. She felt that her suit was smouldering, melting and melding with her skin. She smelt the suit burning as it continued to burn and smoke. She slowly lowered her arms and looked up at her opponent, who was laughing again.

This would be harder than she initially thought.

Ryouji’s arms hung limp at his sides, his energy drained from the excessively long fight. How could a Human man unleash such powerful attacks? This Mister X or whoever he is, did not bluff about his power. If the young boy had any chance of surviving this ordeal he had to match the hooded man’s attack, no he had to surpass it. It would only be through one incredibly powerful assault that the boy would stand any chance of victory.

A large violet light shot up around the young lad as a magic circle formed beneath his feet. This circle was unlike the others, instead of a redirecting the magic of the user into a weapon it instead concentrated the power and increased it dramatically. Ryouji knew he had to be at his strongest for his attack to have any kind of effect.

Mister X hovered in mid air just in front of Ryouji. With a smirk he brought his arms forward and from the palms of his hands a volley of countless energy orbs shot forth, raining down upon the boy.

Ryouji could have simple teleported away or even created a barrier to protect himself, but hen he would be given up the substantial power he was raising. He had but one choice, to brave the attack in hopes he would remain standing to unleash his own assault.

The flaring aura around the boy did little to blunt the explosions of the ki blasts. Whether the individual blast hit or not, the sheer amount of heat each one discharged was enough to singe the hair from even the toughest of warriors.

The concussive force of each blast shook the boy’s entire body sending slivers of horrible pain up and down his spine. Ryouji started to grind his teeth in an effort to endure the pain, but it was of little use. The purple haired youth felt the power within him rise as his aura grew larger, but with the each explosion, his resolve grew weaker. It wasn’t long before the boy neared the point of resignation. It would all be over, the immense pain and again his body was going though, it would all be over if he were to just surrender.

It was at that moment, the moment right when his vision started to wane that an image appeared in the back of his mind. His comrade, a beast of a man, looked down upon Ryouji’s lifeless corpse, with an expression on his face that could only be considered that of disgust. With a disappointing shake of his head he spat on the boy’s body and turned his back muttering something about hypocrites and fools.

Ryouji’s eyes shot open, his power exploding around him. He would be the one to change the world; he could not afford to turn his gaze from that goal, not even for a moment. The pain from the blasts didn’t feel nearly as bad now, whether it was his adrenalin numbing the pain or if it was from some divine power. He was going to win this fight.

Sairai blinked. He couldn't believe it. How could he have missed? In a word, he was shocked. He had just unleashed a virtual torrent of punches, kicks, and tail swipes, only to have every last one of them miss dismally. His opponent was so fast, he wasn't sure he'd even remotely be able to keep up. He could feel the attack being charged up behind him, but he didn't care. He turned around and looked at his opponent with a half smile.

"You win."

His opponent charged up his ki into a single spot before his outstretched hand, creating a giant ball of ki that Sairai knew was more than it appeared. The young warrior extended his arms out in both directions, his eyes intently set upon the ball that was almost certain to kill him, and made no attempt to move. He’d been outclassed in every sense of the word, but he would not run, nor would he hide.

The winds picked up around the two, causing the grass to sway violently as his opponent’s ki picked up in intensity. “I can’t wait to fight you again,” he said as the large sphere was released and flew toward him at an amazing speed.

The ball crashed into his abdomen and sent him flying along with it. He crashed through three trees before he was finally caught by a fourth. The trunk splintered beneath him, broken shards of wood digging into his back painfully before the ki ball, What did he call it? Big Bang Attack? I wonder why that is, began to grow outward. Sairai’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he realized this attack wasn’t just going to send him flying. It was very likely going to kill him!

The Big Bang Attack finally released all of its energy at once. Sairai could feel his skin burning as the explosion consumed his body. He screamed through the pain and could feel his entire body spasming. Finally, everything went dark.

Yamcha coulden't believe the power, the technique and skill his opponent had as he seemed to have moved without movement to the left of him and kicked him square in the stomach.

Yamcha grunted in pain as he grabbed his stomach. Doubling over in agony, he was kicked again in his gut and was sent flying into the air from the strong rising of the left leg.

Yamcha is in the air screaming for his life when suddenly, his opponent got behind him brought his two hands together which were glowing with energy infront of himself and discharged a big tree cannon to his back which picked up the struggling human to ride the beam into the ground , making a crator with an explosion on his back.

Yamcha then roared in anguish in the crator and unsuppressed to his maximum, his power building and the ground cracking up around him as he floated out of the crator and back into the sky with his opponent.

"Lets Play..." He said with a smile

As Bardock crunched some leaves underneath his foot he developed a major plan that may help him win this heated battle. His blood shot through him as he felt anther attack being shot at him by the enemy. His body was paralyzed as the waves came closer to him. He couldn't move away from the barrage of ki attacks. His body reached a point where death seemed so close.

The waves hit one by one, tearing away at his skin. Each blast exploded on his skin sending him farther back, his skin burned from this. He couldn't yell out in pain as the pain was to much. His whole body had a major shock through it. His body soon began burn everywhere, even where he hadn't been hit.

The attacks seemed to send his body in between hell and earth multiple times. His body began to fail from the high amounts of pain. He finally managed to release some screams of pain.

Jeraph

You did pretty good taking that hit, but you said that he had no choice but to take the hit. I think you could have positioned your character a bit better, rather than sounding like he gave up. Maybe the attack surprised him, or he failed to muster a defense. You seem to switch tenses though. I recomend staying in the past tense, as it's the best for RPing.

---

Ava

First off, your character did exactly what Khaos's did, give up and take the damage. Try to make it seem like they failed to defend themselves instead. Because honestly, taking damage for no reason, unless you're sadisitc, makes no sense.
Also, you kinda blocked it. I mean, you roleplayed your damage well, but this one line made it a block and not taking a hit.

She dug her feet into the ground, hunched over forward slightly, and threw her arms up in front of her face, readying herself for the impact.

You braced yourself and put your hands up defensively. Reffing a battle, I would have counted that as a block, because you're using your pose to lessen the damage.

---

Ryouji

I really liked your excerpt. You took the hit, giving up on defense, but you had a good reason. You were powering up an attack and didn't want to waste your energy. That was good, and I was drawn in a lot by the small plot you formed here with so little to work with.

---

Sairai

Not a bad little excerpt. Your character gave up too, but he was admitting defeat. I would have liked to see something more mid-fight, still trying to win, sorta deal. Also, it was a supposed to be you taking a Renzoku Kikou Dan, not a Big Bang Attack.

---

Yamcha

Not too bad actually, you hit the major points. But, it was supposed to be a Renzoku Kikou Dan, not a Big Tree Cannon.

---

Bardock

You did pretty good describing the anguish of the attack. The begining, to me, could have been a little better. You didn't explain why he was paralyzed. It seemed like you were trying to say he was too tired to move out of the way, but I wasn't 100% sure.