User blog:BuriedMemory/Ame's Chūnin Exams: Phase 2 Guide

Howdy yall. Although I'm sure some would prefer the second phase to be a purely rules-free event, I find that a certain level of guidance is necessary to keep large-scale events like this on course to a conclusion; tldr: If you want an ending, we gotta have these rules.

You Are Not Alone (talk) 17:05, June 8, 2014 (UTC)

Guidelines, Violations and Procedures
Abiding these rules is non-negotiable. If a character is found that violates these rules, that character and all other characters of that user will be expelled from the exams. That said, I'm open to suggestions on changes to these guidelines before phase 2 begins. If you have any ideas on how to improve these guidelines, please post in the comments section of this blog.

Guidelines and Violations

 * 1) All characters are to be Genin. This means, they primarily possess skills of C-E rank. Each character may employ B-rank level of mastery in a single category- taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu, silent killing etc. Within this category, each character may possess a single A-rank technique- but this technique can only be used imperfectly. All such techniques should carry risks, such as an inordinate chakra cost, damage to the body, slow power-up time, etc. Characters that exceed these preconditions will be denied entry to this competition. No Jinchuriki are allowed, and the normal bans on certain techniques are still standing for this event. KG's impose special restrictions on your skills: if you have one, it replaces your A-rank technique, and all techniques derived from your KG replace your B-rank specialization. If you have no derived techniques, then you retain your B-rank specialization. If your KG is canonical, your character must employ the KG in a distinctly unique or innovative fashion, or I will deny it out of hand (this is in the interest of supporting creativity and variety).
 * 2) This event requires teams. All characters must be in a three-man team from the same village. During the open enrollment process, make sure to include the name of the character, the character's specialization, and the village of his/her origin. You may choose to collaborate with other users, and join up into a team, or you can substitute NPC Genin of your own if there aren't a sufficient number of Genin applicants from your character's village. If, by the time of the start of the exams, you haven't been able to find team-mates then I'll fabricate NPCs for you to work with, or I'll pair you with any other open positions (even if you are from different villages). I strongly suggest not trying to run a team by yourself- it's a good way to get burned out on the exams. It basically never works.
 * 3) No metagaming. Your character can only employ knowledge a genin would reasonably possess. You cannot know every single weakness and the secrets of your opponents' techniques except by fighting them and figuring it out.
 * 4) No autohitting or autododging.Your Genin, except in areas related to their expertise, are fighting on equal terms. That means, if your character is at a disadvantage and is being attacked by another Genin, there will be consequences. You can still attempt to dodge, but it is still going to hit- you are required to include a response to their actions that includes the substance of what they've done. For example, if you are attacked with a Kunai as you are in a grapple, you are taking the hit. Even against equal opponents on equal terms, you cannot auto-dodge. Conversely, you cannot autohit. Do NOT under any circumstances try to dictate the results of your attacks by writing them in absolute terms. Finally, if you do not acknowledge an action or attack of another character, that character's player can dictate the result unilaterally- ignoring attacks doesn't let you dodge them. It makes it so that you can't.
 * 5) If you are absent, you lose control. We aren't going to wait for you to post forever. If you are absent during the time of a turn, you will be overlooked... if you have another player as a partner, you can elect him to make choices for your character in your absence.. if not, the other players (your opponents) will dictate the results of their characters' actions upon yours without your input.
 * 6) If you are absent for too long, you lose. Sorry, but this is a necessity. If you can't participate, then your presence only serves to slow down the RPs and puts a drag on the event. You'll be ditched, and I'll come up with a reasonable explanation for what happens to your characters (example: a gruesome death). I don't condone "giving" control of your character to your partner on a permanent basis.'''

TLDR; Respect the other users' contributions to the battle, don't be cheesy. If you have to win by cheating (metagaming, autohitting, autododging, godmodding...), I will withdraw you from the exam.

If you believe a player is using such tactics, and you have not been able to settle the problem with the player in question through discussion, post to my wall or via PM if I'm on chat, and I will try to make an impartial judgement as best as I can.

Objective
The primary objectives are for your teams to acquire both a scroll of heaven and a scroll of earth, survive the city of death for the three days of the second phase of the exam, and to arrive at your destination on the last day.

Assigning Encounters
Encounters with enemy or rival ninja teams will be assigned by me. Every team will encounter at least one other rival team at least once a day. Which team you encounter, and at what time the fight occurs will be randomly determined. The terrain you fight the team in will be determined by me to maximize the dynamic element of the encounter based on the team composition. Keep in mind that terrains give a variety of circumstantial alterations to strategies you might wish to employ. Taijutsu, for example, will be quite difficult if you are fighting waste-deep in mud.

Pre-Combat
Each encounter will have a pre-combat section at the top. Describe what your characters were doing in their off time here. Including correspondences between your teammates is also fine.

Determining Advantage
"Advantage" means going first. Having advantage also affords you the privilege to have pre-prepared the terrain to some extent (think traps). The assumption is that you've had some time to prepare a defense against intruders. Having advantage is useful for performing ambushes against enemy teams.

I'll decide which team has advantage based on several factors. The first and most important, is whether the team has a sensor-nin or not. A team that has one vs. a team that possesses none, will likely be given advantage. A team that has had a larger amount of preparation time since their previous battles, will be weighted towards gaining advantage. A team whose members describe their actions at length at the end of their previous battle, as an explanation of steps they'll take to ensure advantage, will be weighted towards gaining advantage.

Actions
Members of a team act on the same turn. A turn lasts for twenty-four hours in real time. Each team member can take approximately three actions on her turn. I'll give a more detailed explanation of what an "action" is below. If a team member can't take her turn during this twenty-four hour window, she may give another user on her team the rights to post in her absence. You must tell me this on my talk page in or via the chat if you grant this right to another user. Actions taken out of turn (on the enemies' turn), and characters that consistently exceed the three-action guideline are considered to be in violation of the rules. Please warn me when this occurs via my talk page or chat, I'll see to it at that the post is fixed. Multiple violations will result in being expelled or removed from the exams.

Actions, Continued
There are three basic actions types, which are described at length below. Keep in mind, that unless it pertains to a genin's specialization, it is assumed he is equally skilled at a form of combat as a fellow genin. A player may also have voluntarily given his character a lower level of skill in a particular category. You are allowed to perform any combination of Attacking, Defending, or Moving with your three actions. '''I reserve the right to modify your actions, if I feel that you're guilty of attempting to autohit/dodge, godmod, or metagame. In cases of dispute over the results of an action, send me a message on my wall, and I will review the case and decide the results.'''
 * Attacking: Attacking is an offensive action taken against another character. When you attack, make sure to describe the method of attack (genjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, a barrage of blows, etc), who you are attacking, and the objective of the attack (killing, disabling, distracting, interrupting, wounding, etc). If your opponent Defends against your Attack in response on the following turn, your attack becomes a partial success (the defender must adequately describe some detrimental effect of the attack), unless he defends with his specialization vs. one of your generic skills (his superiority in his favored skill will win out; he takes no damage or foils the attack). If the defender does not acknowledge attacks directed at him, the attacker is allowed to describe the effect of the attack on the defender; the defender has relinquished narrative control over the results. Tip: Always acknowledge attacks against you. You'll live longer.
 * Defending: When you defend against an attack, always describe your method of defense, and the specific attack you are defending against (both the attack and the character the attack originates from). If you attempt to defend with your specialization, it is presumed that you'll have a perfect defense against a generic attack (an attack the other ninja isn't specialized in). When Genins' attacks and defenses are evenly matched (when both use their generic skills, or when both use their specialization), it is assumed attacks are a partial success. You may defend other characters with your defense actions.
 * Moving: Moving is obviously movement. But it can also comprise any action that isn't obviously attack or defense oriented. Stealing an object from the enemy, attempting to escape an encounter, and changing your surroundings would be some functions of the Move action. You can move others with your action, however, this requires a move action for each character you are attempting to move (carrying someone on your back takes twice as many move actions as just yourself). Moving is also useful for ending an encounter. If you've disabled or impaired your opponents' movements (via injury, traps, or other impediments), movement can end the battle. If they can't keep up with you, you can simply run away.
 * Delayed Actions: You may describe an action to go off under specific conditions. These "readied" actions are useful in countering or foiling a strategy or plan of attack. When you do so, send me a PM in chat about what the conditions of your delayed action are to be.

If your character isn't being observed by an enemy ninja (such as during the first turn, if your team has advantage), you also have the option of creating traps. A trap is a delayed action that you've already invested an action in. You just need to send me a PM with the details about your trap, and I'll let you know whether it is OK. When the preconditions of the trap's activation are met, it goes off without expending one of your current actions, since you have already "paid" the action cost.

Ending and Encounter
Encounters are to last no more than two weeks in real time. This means, you have an upper limit of seven turns your team can take for the encounter. If you have not reached a resolution on your encounter by that period, I'll review the roleplay, and decide the ending for you. I'll be looking for the skill of the writing of your attacks, which team is most heavily injured, the status of the scroll, and other factors. The outcome will either be victory or failure for either team, or a draw. I may extend this two-week or seven-turn limit based on user feedback. If you wish to continue, let me know via chat or my talk page. To continue an encounter beyond its normal time limit, I require a majority of the players from each team respectively to support it; any team can veto the extension.

Ending Phase 2
After the final day of phase 2 (the third set of encounters), the teams that possess both a scroll of heaven and earth will advance to the preliminaries, and those that do not, will be withdrawn. Since there are six genin teams, this means that there will be 3 encounters per day of the exam, for a total of 9 encounters for the second phase. This means that any team has four opportunities to gain an enemy team's scroll, or to lose their own.

==In Closing The point of this phase of the exam is to encourage cooperation and collaboration between teammates. Being a lone wolf, is a good way to get captured or killed. I strongly encourage that you look out for eachother during battles, and pay attention to the actions your enemies' take against your friends.