Since combat is going to be new and my doing, I feel I would the best suited to write a combat guide (think Player's Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons); however, I am torn on this. The following polls are designed to help me decide what to do about documentation for players, and while not binding they will be given much consideration. To explain the votes and your options:

In the "Yea or Nay" vote: Simple yes/no. If I should not be stepping on players toes, and we should wait for another Glorfindel to write an indepth review of combat as it now exists, you should vote for the "No" option. If I should write something (please dear God, anything!) that players can see and review in order to get a better feel for Darke's combat system, pick the "Yes" option. I've helpfully labelled them something other than "yes" and "no" in order to confuse and deter you.

For the "Factors shown" vote: By "factors" I'm talking about what effect things like body position have on to hit chance and to dodge chance. Pick as many as you think are a good idea. Examples (Disclaimer - The information provided below is not guaranteed accurate, and may in fact be purposefully wrong):
In-Character - "While rolling around wrestling can be a fine way to test the mettle in combat, it is generally detrimental to one's ability to dodge."
Generic - "Standing is the best position for dodging the blows of an adversary."
Moderate - "If dodging is of interest, avoid sitting or falling flat on your back during fights, though if standing is just impossible kneeling may be your best bet."
All - "The best posisitons that will improve your dodge chance are ordered decendingly as follows: standing, kneeling, sitting, prostrate."

For the "Modifiers" vote: By "modifiers" I mean raw numbers. Examples (Disclaimer - The information provided below is not guaranteed accurate, and may in fact be purposefully wrong):
In-Character - The negative effects of fighting many opponents at once can be dramatic!
Generic - Most people are best off fighting fewer than five opponents, though some particularly skilled combatants may revel in the challenge of facing more.
Moderate - Armour is up to 10% less useful when fighting multiple enemies, while the difficulty in making successful defense skill rolls can go up to 25% or higher than against one opponent.
All - Each opponent after the first will reduce armour's protectiveness by 2%, while defensive skill effectiveness loss ranges from 1-4% for each foe engaged beyond the second.


In general, I am leaning toward writing a player's guide to combat and using a mixture of in-character and generic information for both factors and modifiers. Again, I appreciate your participation and feedback, so please address your response directly to me and respect anything other players may post by not challenging them on it. Feel free to flame/yell/cry at me.
Yea or Nay
You may choose only one (10 total votes)
Write a new combat guide
-
9 90%
Let players write their own guides
-
1 10%
Factors shown
You may choose many (18 total votes)
In-character descriptions only
-
3 17%
Generic descriptions
-
5 28%
Moderate descriptions
-
5 28%
Exacting descriptions
-
5 28%
Modifiers
You may choose many (19 total votes)
In-Character descriptions only
-
4 21%
Generic descriptions
-
5 26%
Moderate descriptions
-
5 26%
Exacting descriptions
-
5 26%
_________________________
Please mail your views on balance to:
cerberus@darkemud.com