Kane

The Bullbous Bow was not terribly pleased by this turn of events; it snorted furiously, then turned and dashed off between Miaki and Kane, attempting to -literally- bullrush Haine as he made space for his ram attack!

(Rolled a 1. Lol!)

Unfortunately for the boss, he hadn't built up much momentum, and he was missing a horn. He missed Haine by a wide margin, and actually tripped over one of his own hooves! Recovering swiftly, it turned to face the three adventurers, but its charging attack had been halted by its huge swing-and-miss.

Kane: 15/15

Bull: 11/15

Miaki and Haine: Full health

Dice roll for Kane

Kane grinned as Miaki's blade tore through the Bull's flank. It snorted and roared as Miaki passed, and Kane knew that he had to re-focus the beast's attention quickly. Stepping just to the right of the bull's throat, he began charging up a Sword Skill: <>, a targeted attack that was meant to do damage, and clip off one of the Bull's horns. His sword glowed a vivid green as he swung his blade left, then right.

(Rolled a 7, +1= 8)

SLASH! SHIIING!

Kane danced in front of Miaki, <>ing with him and hitting the monster twice, the last blow chipping off one of the immense creature's horns. It flew off, then dissipated as the beast roared with pique.

OOC: Btw guys, here's the turn order:

Kane

Boss

Haine

Miaki

This is at random, don't feel like it reflects on your character ability.

Dice Roll for Bull

Dice Roll For Kane

Kane nodded. It looks like they were all on the same page. Throwing back his hood, he raised his immense blade and pointed it at the target. "Let's go carve us some roast beef!" It might not have been the most inspiring war cry of all time, but it worked.

Charging forward, Kane's mind was racing as his heavy boots carried him closer and closer to the target. This was the first really above-average foe that he had faced, and while he was certain that he'd do fine, it was still enough to set his heart racing. Coming up on the Bull, he decided to try and take the beast by surprise with a first strike. Holding his blade point forward, Kane charged up his <> Sword Skill.

(Die Result: 5 << +1 for equipped weapon >> = 6)

The large blade shone with a glowing blue light, and with immense speed Kane shot forward, lunging with the blade as the Skill made his movements faster than humanly possible.

SNICKT!

If the sword had been regular length, the bull would have turned in time to avoid it. But as it stands, the flared last third of the blade scored a shallow mark along his side. The skill didn't hit hard enough to chain into a combo, but the bull was sufficiently caught off guard long enough for Kane to assume defensive stance behind his blade, the width of which lent him an extra layer of protection from the bull's four horns.

Kane: 15/15 HP

Bull: 14/15 HP

--------------------------------------------

<>

The Bullbous Bow snorted, and stamped its hooves. Spotting the player that had been arrogant enough to sneak attack it, the field boss attempted to dash beside him, turning to slash at him with its horns.

(Die Result: 10-1 = 9) Critical Hit.

The gouging horn tore a long, deep line across Kane's unprotected arm, causing him to yell in anger and drop the point of his sword. Well, this is getting of to a fine start... He thought, re-raising the point of his blade. Hopefully Miaki and Haine would take advantage of the bull's distraction and strike while he had his back turned.

Hmmm... What to do... Kane smacked his fist against his palm in determination. There was no other thing for it; he'd have to try using the martial arts training he'd used in the real world to build up his Endurance stats.

-----------------------

By the time that night had fallen Kane was still practicing martial arts. In the real world, he had been a black belt in Tae-Kwon Do, and had studied western fencing, Kendo, Krav-Maga, and other combat arts. However, since he had gone to college, he had gotten out of practice. It felt good to be back in the swing of things, practicing the moves of his forms once again.

Eureka! That was what the note had meant; he had to strike the stone 1,000 times for it to break! But Kane was still left with a problem: Even with his decent STR score, his END, or endurance, wouldn't let him be able to hit the rock that many times in a row without it damaging his HP, or shattering his virtual hand. It would regenerate eventually, but Kane would prefer not to lose a limb.

Kane's eyes widened as he watched a tiny, tiny piece of the rock chip off under the force of his hand. That's something new... Examining the rock again, it now had an HP bar! What?!?

Swords hadn't been able to touch this thing, but somehow, his bare hand had done damage? But the rock had 1,000 HP... well, 999 now. Finally, it dawned on him.

Huh. Well, that was pointless.

Kane started to throw the note away, then thought better of it and added it to his inventory. He was growing frustrated, and he didn't see a good way to finally smash that rock. Sighing heavily, he punched the rock lightly with his fist... and chipped a tiny piece off of it.

He bent down and tugged on the scrap of parchment, carefully wresting it away from the grasp of the boulder. Unfolding the crinkled paper, Kane discovered that it was indeed a note. Fear not the man who practices one thousand techniques once each, fear the man who practices one technique one thousand times.

Kane looked at his comrades, evaluating their strengths. Miaki seemed to favor a curved blade, and Haine... well, Kane didn't know quite what to make of her, but she had a look in her eye that said not to mess with her. "I think we're gonna be just fine guys."

He looked out across the field, and spotted the field boss. A massive bull-like creature, it had four horns, a huge nose ring, and gigantic muscles. It was twelve feet tall, and pretty darn long too. Kane unhooked his great-sword, letting it catch the light. It would be the first time he'd use it in battle.

"Alright guys, the field boss is all the way over there. I did a little bit of research on our opponent: It's got a wicked charge attack, building up speed, and then ramming opponents with its four horns. Now, here's the trick: I'll get its attention and draw its aggression. Haine, Miaki, you both look like you're more mobile fighters than I. When it's got its hooves full with me, go ahead and attack it from either flank. I'll attempt to stop its charge by hobbling it as it charges at me, then you two strike while the iron is hot. Sound like a plan?"

OOC: Great! Let's start! I'll play the bull. Let's say since he's a 2nd floor field boss, he has 15 HP? That'd be a bit much for a 1st or 2nd level player. Any objections? =)

OOC: It'd be like this:

Kane watched the creature charging towards him, and decided to sidestep, then take a swing at it.

-------- OOC: Will edit.

Then, I'd make another post that just reads: Dice roll.

Then, I'd look at that post's die roll. If it's 1-5, it's a miss. 6-8, it's a hit that deducts 1 HP. If it's a 9-10, it's a crit, and does 2 HP worth of damage.

Let's say I rolled a 7:

I'd go back to my original post and edit it:

Kane watched the creature charging towards him, and decided to sidestep, then take a swing at it.

The swing connected, drawing a thin, glowing red line on the beast's side.

Then it'd be your turn, then Miaki's, and so on. One of us would play the bull.

Kane decided to examine the rock as close as possible, using his <> ability. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about it; it was just a giant rock. And sometimes, that was enough. But when he concentrated, there seemed to be something trapped under the rock on the other side... it looked like a piece of paper? A note?

Kane was straining against the rock, putting his back into moving it. He was tall by Aincrad's standards, being an American, and well built, giving him a natural STR advantage. And yet, the rock didn't budge. Kane straightened up his back, stretching after having failed to push the boulder away. "It's not an <>, so it must be breakable somehow..."

Kane was frustrated, to say the least. He huffed discontentedly as he sat on the ground in front of the rock, wondering how he was going to break it. Maybe I can just stare it into submission... he thought, his mind uttering traitorous murmurs until he finally stood, and started pushing on the rock, hard. Maybe he didn't have to break it, just push it out of the way?

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! His blade was having no effect on the giant boulder!? With one more mighty swing, Kane brought the longsword down on the boulder, hoping to smash it with one final blow.

SNAP.

The blade of his <> went flying off behind him, landing in the dust. Kane stood, shocked by the impact, staring at the hilt in his hands until it disappeared in a crystalline shower, along with the blade.

OOC: Okay guys, here's how we're gonna fight the bull:

Dellis, the GM sent me an updated battle system for fighting bosses. I'm posting it here for reference:

Here it is.

"Okay, to put it simply, this is how combat works.

1) You describe what is the action you're trying to do in your first post.

That can be everything, using an item, dodging, or attacking, in theory, but strictly rule-wise speaking, the only rules which have been established by GMs are the ones to attack.

Until that changes combat is actually a series of posts, in which you attack, then the enemy attacks, then you attack, and so on. The description is there just for roleplay purposes.

At the end of this first post, in which you describe your action, DO NOT yet write if the attack's been succesful or not. Do not describe the enemy getting hurt either, or things like that. Just write "OOC ------ Will edit after Dice Roll".

2) Once you've done that, post another post, with just the words "Die Roll".

3)Now, look at the battle die roll of this second post. If it's 1-5, you've missed. If it's 6-8, you've hit, and you deduce 1 HP from the enemy's life. If it's 9-10, it's a critical. You deduct 2 HP from the enemy's total HP.

4) Now, go back to your first post, and edit it, describing if you've hit the enemy, where, and things like that.

5) Deduct the damage from the enemy's health.

That's all about how you attack monsters.

Now I'm gonna explain you how monsters attack you.

Field monsters actually hit you when you want, like normal. They do not roll dice, you decide if they've hit you or not, and how much damage you've suffered.

Boss monsters, instead, use dice rolls. They have to do posts, in which their attacks are described, and then the dice roll post. They use the same rules as you, basically.

You can do the Boss posts yourself, or you can get a friend to RP the boss for you. The latter's more fun, but you have to find a friend who's willing to do that, of course.

Now, I'm gonna give you a link to an example - look at the last posts - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1163&start=20

Aaaand i'm gonna do overtimes and do an example here too. I'll keep descriptions simple, so it's easier to understand.

Post 1: Dellis looked at the cobold in the eyes, readying his shield. He had to charge him, attack was the best defense in this case. He raised the shield to chest level, aiming to bash the cobold in the face.

-------------------------------OOC: Will edit after dice roll

Dellis: 9/9 HP

Cobold: 3/3 HP

Post 2: Dice Roll

Now check the battle dice on Post 2. For the sake of the argument, let's assume it's 5. 5 is a miss, according to the template.

You go back to the first post, and edit it. Remove the words "OOC: Will edit after dice roll" and describe the results of your actions.

now post 1 looks like this:

Post 1: Dellis looked at the cobold in the eyes, readying his shield. He had to charge him, attack was the best defense in this case. He raised the shield to chest level, aiming to bash the cobold in the face. Unfortunately, he tripped, and didn't hit the cobold.

Dellis: 9/9 HP

Cobold: 3/3 HP

Now it's the cobold's turn to counterattack. If it is a field monster, you just decide he's hit you or not, and describe it in your next attack post, deducting the damage from your max HP.

Let's assume, for the sake of the argument, that the cobold's quite a badass boss. Since he's a boss, he has to attack using dice rolls. So, you do exactly like you did for yourself, beginning by posting a description of the cobold's attack.

Post 3: The cobold roared, and decided to take advantage of Dellis' error. He raised his spear, and aimed for Dellis' head.

----OOC will edit after dice roll

Dellis 9/9

Cobold 3/3

Post 4

Cobold Dice Roll

You then check the battle die's result in this post. Let's assume it's 10. Lucky cobold.

You go back and edit post 3, like this.

Post 3: The cobold roared, and decided to take advantage of Dellis' error. He raised his spear, and aimed for Dellis' head.

It was a direct hit. the spear almost tore a eye off Dellis, which screamed in fear.

Dellis 7/9

Cobold 3/3"

Now, since the <> isn't a floor boss, but is instead a field boss, do you guys want to still use the die system, or RP it out to where it just hits us when we want it to?

Kane had walked this path before, but not with as much serenity as right now. He was crossing Erofen Field on the sixth floor, outside of that level's settlement, Lunar City. The area was bright and colorful, with green being the predominant color scheme. He loved the color green; it always brought to mind visions of life and new growth. His ensemble matched his surroundings, a dark green tunic and trouser combo under his piecemeal armor, fitted with a faded green <> around his shoulders. His hood was down; it was a lovely day, no need for it. He swept a hand through his dark blonde hair, the thought striking him that he never had to get a haircut again... he wondered what his hair looked like in the real world.

Coming up over a hill, he spotted what looked to be a young teenage girl freaking out, a snow leopard by her side, its head lowered. Kane's hand went to the massive blade at his back, then realized that the leopard was most likely a familiar. His hand dropped as the girl screamed an expletive at the sky. This would have to be a delicate introduction...

"Excuse me, miss?" he inquired, keeping his hands palms up where she could see he had no weapon in them. "You alright?"

Taking his <>, Kane figured that his STR score would be enough to grind the rock down with a series of well placed blows. He didn't want to bother getting his larger sword out of his inventory. Obviously, he thought, the others who have tried this just weren't swinging hard enough. Drawing his blade, he activated a series of Sword Skills. His blade flashed green, then blue, then orange as his sword swept through the air; Vertical! Horizontal! Slant!

A big, stupid rock. That's what all the fuss was about?

Standing in the mid-day sun, his pale steel armor and emerald garb drowned out by the scorching light of the second floor's harsh sun, Kane stood pondering what exactly it was that people with. It was just a rock; surely somebody could have come up with half an idea as to how to get it out of the way! But for some reason, every time somebody seemed to break the rock, it kept re-appearing. Folks were figuring it was part of some elaborate quest, but only the people who had bypassed the rock (or been lucky enough to get by soon after somebody else had destroyed it) knew how to deal with it.

I accept this quest in the name of Castle Greyskull! IIIIIII HAAAAVE THE POOOWEEEEEERR! -cue He-Man theme music-

Kane snapped back to reality, his reverie interrupted by the cold, hard hand of reality. But looking at Askavi, he saw the same nostalgia and respect in her eyes, and how disappointed she would be if he said that he wanted to leave. To tell the truth, he didn't want to.

He smiled wryly, waving away the suggestion. "You look like a kid in a toy store. Go play!"

He himself was content to waltz over to a section of musty old tomes, blowing on their covers. Searching for anything that would give him an advantage in this crazy world...

(Sorry for the short post, sent from my phone. ^__^; )