Skills: Do they really have a purpose?

I have to agree with Marcus on that one. Most skills are only really considered when the stats are almost the same and spending 200 Gp in strength and speed is by far much more efficient than increasing your Zanjutsu skill.

The reason being is that most of the people on this site are stuck in the mindset of, a higher number in the stats the better they are in EVERY aspect against the other character.

The Skills are what they are skills, I would like to find somone who put basic in hakuda who is similar level and crush them into the ground, since think about it if your basic at that stage then your fighting skill would be nor more than an experienced brawler and mine is a Kung Fu master.

The skills are more REPRESENTATIVE of your characters disciplines in the aspects of battle they choose to focus on. AS SUCH if you had a higher strength stat then me, but my speed and hakuda skill are higher than yours by quite a bit, its going to be EXTREMELY hard for you to beat me.

If somone just pumped all their GP into stats and left their skills to suffer woop de do. What happens to them? THEY SHOULD then be rping these characters tanked on power but completely pathetic in using everything else!

Now if people aren't doing this I have no problem enforcing it so that we see a lot more people with 50 strength and having only beginner in zanjutsu fail or nearly die in fights due to their characters inexperince when up against a foe they shouldn't be having such a hard time with.

But one thing i have to say Marcus is the thing where you said

"Which is actually true, skill wouldn't mean much if you don't have as much power, speed, etc. as the other opponent."

You really are an idiot if you think this is the pure truth. Sure strength and speed are important, but if you have no skill in it whats the point? You could be a 6 foot 5 rugby player, super fast and strong, but end up falling against someone who is half your strength but has studied something like Muy Tai boxing.

The problem is that people aren't looking at the big picture with skills, which includes you both 'fraid to say. For every heavy hard punch you throw with a weak hakuda, i can easily redirect it and counter with a high one which is then backed by my characters stats.

In the end all that really needs to happen is that rpers become more aware of the significance of the skills, rather than believing that stats are the way to go. Cause trust me, up against someone who knows how to rp fight and can utilize both, you could be a god and have an extremely hard time fighting them

Well, it's not like the usual case where the untrained opponent has al the strength/defense in the world but the experienced fighter wins with a combination of knowledge, speed and accuracy. We're taking about all four basic attributes: strength, speed, defense, and energy/stamina. So really, all you have is the knowledge and you can have all of that if you want but what's really the point if you can't hurt your opponent as much as he can hurt you, take as many hits as him, dodge as many of his attacks as he dodges yours, nor last as long as him? I can also give quite a few examples where cases like this has happened as well, which was the initial main reason for this concern.



Just wanted to address this real quick but whats to stop cases like "You can't counter because you're too slow to react" or "Im way faster than you so I can easily dodge such a thing"? So unless you have the timing done to complete perfection, this will most likely be the case. (Sometimes it will, even if the timing is perfect)

But perhaps I worded the point of what I'm trying to say wrong and failed to provide an example because I think there's somewhat of a misunderstanding of what I'm trying to say basically, all I'm saying is that there should be more of a specifically told reason to have skills in certain areas (LIke I think bleach wikia said that a master Hakuda user can take on an armed opponent many times their size), just to let people know that there is a reason to have skills in these reasons other than having a simple knowledge.

Also, going back to my initial last paragraph that wasn't really addressed (at least I dont think it was), another reason to have skills in an area is making it required for a certain rank in a certain division, a comparable factor being how you need at least intermediate in Zanpakutō Resonation in order to achieve Bankai. What about saying you need x level in order to be able to reach x rank in x Division (Example, you need to be a(n) advanced user/ master of Hakuda in order to be a Captain in the Second Division).

hmm maybe my explanation will be worthless but who knows. The way i have come to understand the reason behind the skill, and trust me i didn't quite understand the necissity of them at first either, the reason is to have a way of giving those with lesser stats a chance against those with higher stats. Ex. a lt fighting a third seat, the lt could be a bosshog, and have crazy str, spd, def, rei, and none of the skills(not likely but go along), if the 3rd seat balanced, then hed be decent in swordsplay, and hakuda. Now if the lt. goes at the 3rd seat and has none in swordsplay b/c all he did was lift weights, then his sword is more likely to miss its mark, or maybe the lt cant handle the shock of swords clanging. Lets go with Hakuda, if the lt was to throw punches, they might be sloppy or they might not carry the full force behind it. The idea is a balance, i hope that heled in that case.



i think you are right in saying that people might tend to think that they are some kind of god when it comes to the stats and skills combined. So for this maybe we "spell out" what each skill entails at each lvl. so hakuda at basic does this, hakuda at beginner does this, hakuda, at intermediate does this, and so on and so forth. Also the mods will have to keep an eye on such things, or the players (*gasp* i know) will have to keep each other accountable.



i kinda giggled at this. No offense of course. But this limits people in a new entirety. this gives no character diversity in what they do, if you tell them that they have to be advanced or master before they become capt or master for any rank then they will either feel a. overwhelmed b. limited c. completely screwed over that they didn't get a capt spot because they chose to go on a different route towards captaincy.

Of course i dont speak for BG, and anyone is allowed to correct me.

I'd like to preface this post by stating that skills and RP ranks will never have anything to do with one another, and that any further discussion in that direction will be met with ridicule and derision. The idea of having to be a MASTURR FIGHTAN SPECIALIST in order to be a captain of a particular division is absurd and outlandish. Eligibility for captaincy is judged by writing skill and writing skill alone.

That said, I'd be wary about basing your opinion on how the majority of people act. People used to think brushing your teeth was unnecessary, and as a result they had no teeth. This is actually a better analogy than I thought it would be, because if you find yourself fighting a Hakuda master and all you have on your side is strength, you'll very quickly find yourself with no teeth.

There is, has always been, and will always be a clear divide between raw power and technique, between strength and skill. Strength or speed mean very little if you don't know how to use them to your advantage. Likewise, skills mean very little if you don't have the physical traits to back them up. The two exist in a delicate harmony, and while all members are free to spend their GP as they please, spending it all in one place will only make them easy targets for what apparently is a small minority of cunning, well-rounded players.

Also, higher levels of skill in certain areas do in fact give you perks: Kidō skill dictates which spells you are able to use, Resonance for both Arrancar and Shinigami determine eligibility for second releases, and the sky is the limit with custom skills.

Not to mention that skills are yet another venue in which to personalize your character. You are given more options to emphasize their strengths and weaknesses in a concrete, competitive way.

No offense, but I do believe that this is one of the stupidest thing that I've heard/read all day for many reasons. I'm not attempting to claim that you are unintelligent in any way (I apologize if that's the message I sent), I'm simply trying to emphasize that I completely disagree with this logic.



In the same fashion, based on what you wrote, I'm going to assume that you believe that this is one of the stupidest thing you've heard/read all day for many reasons (Unless you've heard/read some pretty damn stupid things today) aka that you couldn't disagree with this more.

On that subject, I'll just leave it alone then since our opinions are so far apart that an agreement is damn near, if not, impossible. That will make any form of debate pointless so I'll simply stick with what we have as it was but a mere suggestion. (Just because I don't agree with something, doesn't mean I can't work with it.)

As far as the balance between stats and skills, I was actually starting to get the whole "Balance of Harmony" a few hours ago after putting some deeper thought into it and then I sort of drifted from "Members should have a reason to use skills" to "Members should know that they have a reason to use skills" like just putting down somewhere so there's no confusion in the future, but then again, it's not really all that necessary.

I like how you a) completely misinterpreted what I wrote and then b) proceeded to put words in my mouth

let's set the record straight, shall we?

The word I used was eligibility. I shouldn't have to remind you that not only do we place new applicants in divisions we deem appropriate for their characters, but this also factors in when people apply for captaincy. Skill (the mechanic, not writing skill) levels should not be requirements for in-character rank.

Moreover, at no point did I ever state that your idea was stupid.

I will say, however, that based on your most recent post, I certainly find myself questioning your literacy.

Ok, now you're just being rather difficult. The only thing I'll truly take the time to address is





Now, perhaps my english is a bit rusty, but I do believe that ridicule and derision are similar to the definition of mockery. In my experience, people usually mock what they believe is A) Stupid/Absurd B) They don't understand C) They hate or D) All of the above. Now considering the fact that you expressed that you didn't want any further discussion of it (Which makes me wonder why you're continuing to discuss it since I stopped), that you weren't curious and neither my idea nor I have ever actually done anything to you to deserve your hatred so I was only led to believe it was the letter "A". I am extremely sorry for utilizing an educated assumption (Which I expressed as an assumption and did in fact not put any words in your mouth) rather than just out and say it.

I truly believe that the misunderstanding is on your part because there's a huge difference that I dont think you seem to get between disagreeing with something and understanding it. Again, I disagree with your response/logic, but I am willing to shut up and work with it because I'm not so close minded that I think my logic is the only way to go and that anything I disagree with will never work. But despite all of that, you're continuing to explain to me your points and acknowledge that you're "questioning my literacy" like I truly care what you think of my "literacy".

So on one final note, I had a few laughs from this but seriously, just let it go, my suggestions are only suggestions, I don't take them so seriously that I feel the need to change other people's opinions if they don't agree with them.

I doubt there was anything "educated" in your assumption

oh and this is me delivering the promised derision

and ridicule

for stating and continuing to state something dumb

You know, I am so tranquil that I just don't care at all right now.

You're just not even worth trying to understand anymore, but I must thank you for letting me at least understand your own level of literacy.

Over and out.

I disagree with you Kyousuke. I can't agree because of fights like Ichigo vs Kenpachi. Unless someone uses plot as the excuse. (Which leads no where)

As if cannon means shit here.

It doesn't?!

:0!!!

So how do you guys base your mechanics?

Simply put: bleach is shit for mechanics. decent setting, but if you follow it even closely on a mechanical level the whole game would fall apart.

Ooooh. So that's why some of you responded as you did. I couldn't understand that. So you guys base your mechanics on RP ability? Or how? Or is it just, we say this, this is how it is etc etc. Not that I have a problem with that.

Skill, if I understand it correctly it means "know-how" in a nutshell right?

The best way to describe skill would probably be your ability to apply your physical capabilities.

I don't know if you're familiar with Utawarerumono (it's an Eroge and anime but in it there's a great example.

Karula (busty super strong badass) has a lot of physical strength, but isn't that great with it (She tends to break normal swords, and swings around a giant monster without a real edge instead, though this particular point wouldn't apply here, it's food for thought.)

Karula, therefore has Intermediate Swordsmanship and monstrous strength (we're talking 90 +)

Touka (Slender skillful samurai type) has a lot less physical strength, but is very precise and skillful in her combat style.

Touka, therefore, is a Master Swordswoman with a modest (60ish) strength.

The two fight on perfectly even terms, despite being roughly equal in speed.

I got one more day of class (tomorrow) so I may give it some of this free time I'm going to come into.

Now, all of what you explained is totally understandable. You're not a mod though... With your logic all you need is some time to dedicate to the computer and you could write up a detailed guide.

I've been lurking here and there and I plan on RPing soon and battle mechanics are very important to me. I'm not the best fighter, but I love fighting in RP. Maybe I haven't been lurking well enough, but there isn't a detailed guide on fighting (as you've explained) right?

I don't even know where to start