Encounter Form

As part of an effort by the admins to encourage minor events and conflicts run by you guys, I (Ulysses) have created this form. You can copy-paste it into a document elsewhere, fill in the information, send it to an admin for approval, and then run the battle at your leisure! Just answer a few questions, which will help you think through the encounter and plan for it, as well as help us make sure it’s suitable. Everything in brackets is my own advice and important notes, and you can delete from the template when you submit.

Sum up what this opponent or group of opponents is in general, conceptual terms:

Will you host this scene in the chat, or in a post in the group?

In-universe, where will this encounter be taking place, and why is this foe at that place, and why will our characters want to fight it?

(The answer to the first is usually the academy grounds. But the foe’s motivations can differ, as can our characters’.)

How many characters are meant to fight it?

(You can say provide a single number [including 1!] or give a range. If it’s a range, be prepared to scale the opponent’s power level up or down appropriately.)

In combat terms, what are this opponent’s strengths and/or special powers?

(If multiple distinct opponents or opponent types, you can say for each of them individually.)

What are this opponent’s weaknesses and/or effective counterstrategies?

(You can give more strengths than weaknesses if you like, but keep in mind that weaknesses people can exploit for some level of advantage tend to make fights more interesting.)

What happens if this foe wins?

(Long note for this one!

In most cases you shouldn’t plan for this to happen; good gamemasters make their games and their fights challenging but winnable. But losing is still possible.

Whatever the case, if we as the players lose, an opportunity in the future to fight this opponent again should come. If character death is a possible consequence then that’s fine, though you’d be kind to say ahead of time that that’s possible, but it isn’t strictly necessary as long as it’s typical circumstances where your surprise random death-trap could severely wound a character, but they can quickly be sent back to the school for healing and resurrection before the soul moves on.

HOWEVER, if defeat of the characters can result in either a great change in circumstance for that character that must logically extend beyond the boundaries of this encounter and its immediate aftermath,

[Example 1: “this anti-kinesis assault team will kidnap any characters they can to bring back for interrogation”]

Or if it’s possible a death will happen which is substantially more difficult than normal to reverse,

[Example 2: “this demon consumes any killed character’s soul, so they won’t be able to be resurrected until the demon is killed and the souls under its control are freed”]

[Example 3: “this vengeful angel’s ultimate attack totally destroys the character’s physical form, leaving only the disembodied soul that will need a new body to be created for it to reincarnate”]

Or if the death is just straight-up irreversible by any means,

[Example 4: “lol ur gonna get digested out of reality by lovecraftian stomach acids”]

Then in these cases, YOU MUST DISCLOSE IT WHEN YOU’RE RECRUITING PEOPLE, EVEN IF IT’S UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN.)

What happens if we win?

(They can be killed, or you could give them a way to escape. It’s even possible for that to lead into a mission to track them down and finish them off. Remember that not everyone will have the instinct to just auto-kill this being, and might try to capture it instead. Goodies like equipment, items or magic-body-parts to loot from a defeated corpse are optional. If you do include them, that definitely needs to be noted here.)

Are you using stats for this fight?

(As always, 100% optional. If you do plan to, you’ll want to run your plan for them by Ulysses who can help with making it appropriate relative to the characters who are meant to fight it.)