Posted by Saerin on September 09, 1999 at 07:04:40:

In Reply to: You are missing the point. posted by Graatch(VIP) on September 09, 1999 at 05:18:46:

> No one is saying a character in battle should not master as many skills as he wants or can.

> The point is:

> It is philosophically/rp wrong for Battle to have these requirements.

That's largely a matter of opinion, Graatch. I happen to think that in
terms of roleplay and in a philosophical manner, these requirements
make sense. Check my posts below.

> As everyone says, Battleragers should be excellent fighters. Their ranks should contain some of the finest fighters in the land. So, the question is, how do you achieve that?

> You do it like it was done in history. A Knight of Arthur didn't say to his squire, "Are you at 94% in your mace and 98% in your sword and perfect at parrying and dodgin?" No, instead he would say, "Go fight the squire of Sir Edmund. If you win, you will become a knight yourself and join our Order. If you fail, your training will continue."

However a Knight would be sure that his squire was PREPARED to take on
the task of defeating such a foe. This comes from the Knight training
the squire. Of course, he didn't ask if he was 98% sword, but he could
see and ask regarding their proficiency with the blade.

Nesam says, 'which weapon do you choose to wield'.
Saerin says, 'I practice with blades and maces'.
Nesam says, 'How practiced are you with the blade.'
Saerin says, 'My guildmaster informs me I am quite
close to mastery. Perhaps three or for nuances need
to be learned.'

Does something like this work? I don't recall Ryb's
note saying something about percentages. If it does,
shame shame on him.

> The way to have the best fighters is to make them FIGHT!!! You want to join battleragers? Great. The requirement is not to have skills at any particular percentage. The requirement is to fight two other applicants, or, as a final test perhaps, to fight an existing battlerager.

This isn't a bad idea at all. Though I think it sucks
for people who thrive on roleplay to get rejected from
a cabal because they loose a fight. However, as a leader
of Battle, I would still say to you that you must be ready
for the rites of war. Be proficient in your chosen weapon
and specific skills taught by the guildmasters.

> Battleragers are just that, fighters with Rage. They are battleragers because they have a rage inside them against magic.

Why can't weapon mastery occur along side a warrior who fights with rage?
This has yet to be explained in any fashion to say that it cannot.

> It is not *just* a cabal about being a good fighter. It is a cabal about good fighters with a common purpose and goal, to destroy magic in mortal hands, and that goal inspires great rage and fierceness in them.

I don't think ANYONE has made the claim that Battle is just about being
a great fighter. I just don't think that a leader who requires the hopefuls
to have mastered some of their skills is something of the stretch that it
seems to be.

> These warriors hone their skills, of course, but they are not warriors just for warrior sake. The requirement to master certain skills reeks of Master-ish discipline for discipline sake, and that is just not what battleragers are or should be.

You make the leap of faith that a disciplined warrior who practices his art
cannot fight with rage. This is not true in a rl sense that can be applied
to the game. By the way, this isn't "masterish" at all. Masters master their
spells for Mastery sake. Ragers would master their arts for the sake of the
battle, and the destruction of Magic.

> As any individual, obviously you shouldmaster your skills. You obviously want to be good at your thing. (Unless of course your rp is to be bad at it, I suppose. *shrug*) But as an institution, battleragers should test you on how you fight. On watching how you act, on seeing what you do and say. Not on what your skills list reads.

Battle shouldn't be held to just one interpretation that we are supposed to buy
everytime we roll a Battlerager hopeful. To me, this stinks of older times where
all you had to do was bring the head of a mage, and say to the leader that mages
killed your family, burned your village, and left you for dead before you were
inducted.

It's up in the air if Nesam will continue Saison's missive. If he does? Great. If
he doesn't? Great. It's up to him now. This is truly the great thing that NOTHING
has to stay static, and we can have a little flexibility in the status quo.

There are ways to roleplay what your skill list tells you. The fun is coming up
with the different ways to do so.

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