Dark Isles

There are two different types of combat on Dark Isles. That of the Player versus an NPC (often referred to as a "mob" on MUDs) and Player versus another Player.

Player vs NPC
There are two types of NPCs, sentient and non-sentient. Sentient NPCs tend to represent the shopkeepers and the rest of the general population. Basically the "people" of the game. Non-Sentient NPCs represent the creatures, the rabbits, the rats, the deer, the demons, the bears and the wolves.

As this is a roleplay game, the killing of NPCs has in character consequences. Firstly, to kill a Sentient NPC (or for that matter another player), your character needs to have a motive to do so. Revenge? War? A drunken fight? There also has to be some level of roleplay involved. Something more than simply enacting the coded commands. Also your character would need to consider the consequences of getting caught. Do you really want to risk your character getting charged with murder and possibly hung?

Non-Sentient creatures can be very dangerous. Some creatures are aggressive and will attack your character on sight. Look at the creature's description, it is usually the best indicator as to how dangerous it is. Certainly you would expect a bear or a wolf to be more dangerous than a rabbit. There is always the risk of being attacked by an aggressive creature when wandering wilderness areas and these attacks may end your characters life. Death is usually permanent.

Combat with NPCs is automated as is traditional on most MUDs. It is started either by an aggressive NPC attacking you first, or you instigating the combat with the hit command as follows:

hit {victim} {body location}

The combat tends to be relatively fast paced however if you find yourself on the losing side, you can attempt to flee by typing: flee {direction}.

Player vs Player

Like with combat between sentient NPCs, to attack another player's character you need a valid in character reason and MUST be role-played out. Also keep in mind that whilst bar room brawls and fist fights are quite common, to fight a person to the death is much less so.

Combat with other players is NOT automated as with NPCs, but rather is turn based and requires an emote proceeding each attack. For example:

Your emote > A large brutish man finally loses his temper after having been insulted for the final time. He swings his fist at the red-haired man sitting next to him.

Your command > hit red body

Code decides whether it hits or not and echoes > You hit a red-haired man firmly in the chest.

Opponent's emote > A red haired man doesn't seem to have expected the shot and it hits him firmly in the chest. Drunkenly, he falls back against the bar.

The emotes must be open-ended and should not force RP on other players by preventing them from taking or avoiding actions if they chose or by describing an action they have not taken or that has not occurred. The code determines, based on your skill and attributes, whether you hit or not. Not you or the defender.

Combat is always turn based. And things such as distance, positions in the room, and the number of actions you can realistically perform and the like must always be taken into consideration. For example, emoting that you run across the room, perform a couple of double flips, hit three people at the bar, eating some food and running off all in one emote is not acceptable. Try to keep it simple, one thing at a time.