Most gaming systems are well aware of this, and will have page after page devoted to working out the specific rules. The two major components are playability and realism, with each game striving to find its own uneasy balance between the two. A game with a very simple set of combat rules may be playable, but unrealistic, while a game with a highly realistic set of rules can get so bogged down in taking every factor into account that it slows the game to an unplayable crawl.

My personal game of choice is GURPS, which is slanted toward the realistic. Everything is given consideration -- attacker and defender, strength, speed, skill, weapon and armor type/weight/quality, reach, footing, lighting, position, distance, effects of various kinds of damage ... everything.

This is unfortunate for me, because I don't like spending a lot of time working out all the modifiers and specific details. I like even less interrupting the flow of the game to look something up or argue an interpretation.

Other games have easier systems, but one thing that they all have in common is a goal of some sort of fairness. What gaming boils down to is how we used to play "Let's Pretend" as kids, except this time we can roll dice to avoid the "did not / did so" shouting matches over who "got" whom.

Resources

It'd be great if there was a reference book out there aimed at helping fantasy writers with fight scenes. Since there doesn't seem to be, or at least one has never come to my attention, I'd suggest all writers take up gaming.

In fact, I'd suggest everyone take up gaming, because it's one of my favorite pastimes and it really rocks and is good for you on many levels!

Because I game, I find that when I write combats I have the rules I'm most familiar with sort of tacked on the back of my brain, and if the scene doesn't seem like it would "work" given the rules, I go over it again.

One problem this creates is the tendency of some of my fight scenes to give the effect of "hearing the dice rolling." I don't actually sit down and play them all out, dice and all ... I don't have character sheets made up for each of my characters ... but the feeling, the structure, sometimes creeps in on me.

If you're a writer not inclined to take up gaming (tsk, tsk!), you have other options. I don't advise picking fights on the street, but classes in self-defense, martial arts, fencing, boxing, archery, and the like can give you a feel for what it is that you're asking your characters to do.

Groups such as the SCA are great resources, usually very willing to answer questions not just about fighting but about other aspects of medieval life that you can adapt to your fantasy fiction.

For information on castles, armor, and weapons, I prefer using books aimed at kids, such as the "Eyewitness" series. They're easy to use and full of helpful and well-labeled pictures. I'm also partial to the "Everyday Life" series from the Writer's Digest Book Club.

Of course, game books are the best reference materials of all, because they have already gleaned the vital information from other sources and combined it into a handy table or listing that will tell you how heavy a weapon is, how comparatively strong someone has to be to use it, what it'll do to the other person if it hits, and all that good stuff.

Fight Scenes in Movies

Movies are another great resource, but choose them carefully. Many movies favor the (reasonably enough) cinematic style of fighting.

Cinematic fighting incorporates a lot of acrobatics, jumps, kicks, and other tricky maneuvers; the bad guys are notoriously bad shots and if they outnumber the good guy they will always make a ring and attack one at a time; the hero can get away with saying something like, "He's mine!" and everyone will stand back to let the duel of honor commence; you know how it goes.

Needless to say, many gamers prefer playing cinematic. They love being able to execute those incredible leaping attacks, pause in the middle of a duel for taunts and witty repartee, and have whatever special effects and advantages that might be available -- GURPS in particular has some designated cinematic rules for just those situations.

However, unless you're writing in a genre and style that encourages the cinematic style (swashbucklers, high adventure, "Star Wars," etc.), you'll want to strive for something more realistic.

Perhaps the best examples of realistic combat in movies would be "Braveheart," and the opening scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Gladiator." These depict battles as a chaotic gory free-for-all, nothing neat or tidy about it, a horrific struggle for survival.

Things to Avoid

At Radcon last February, I attended a panel on "Fatal Mistakes in Fight Scenes" led by Steve Perry and Steve Barnes. Between the two of them, they've written enough books to entomb someone alive, and they are both long-time students of the martial arts.

Their panel was one of the most enjoyable I've ever heard, because they were engaging, lively speakers and they clearly knew their stuff. Among the things they mentioned were a couple of incredibly pervasive misconceptions:

1. Nosebone splinters -- strike someone sharply on the bridge of the nose, break it, and send the splinters into the brain to kill instantly. It really doesn't work that way. Try it, and you may break the other person's nose, but at most that will give him or her a pair of raccoon-shiners. And possibly suffice only to piss him or her off ...

2. Spinning on the heel -- anyone doing this is begging to land flat on his or her behind; people spin on the ball of the foot. But it's one of those things, like "a shot rang out," that sticks together almost like one whole word, and writers use it without even thinking about it.

Other mistakes writers make is failure to take certain facts into account. Facts such as how heavy a weapon might be in relation to how built the wielder might be; even Schwarzenegger as Conan had to tote around an aluminum sword except during the close-ups.

Point of view is crucial. It isn't necessary, and it can be too confusing for writer and reader, to keep track of every move made by every combatant.

Pick your main character, and let him or her concentrate on the action in his or her immediate vicinity. There'll be time later for assessing what's gone on elsewhere.

Word-wise, try and keep the scene moving fast and lively. Don't describe it blow-by-blow, try to avoid too many repetitions of the same word or action. Concentrate on the character, on feeling and emotion, on fury and fear. That's a lot more exciting than blocking out every swing, parry, thrust, and block.

Fighting Styles, Gender

At that same panel, the subject of gender differences was brought up. Whatever one's views on equality, men and women are not the _same. Physically, physiologically, or psychologically. This is reflected in many aspects of life, and it also shows up in combat.

Here's the generalization: men fight for dominance, women fight for their lives.

It makes sense to me.

Men and male animals come from an evolutionary background of competition for food, mates, status, leadership. When a man takes a swing at an opponent, he's liable to pause and give everyone a chance to appreciate how tough he is. Men also fight for honor (part of status and leadership), so they do things like duel, or hold off to let a fallen foe get up or retrieve his weapon.

Women don't do this. If a woman takes a swing, she's going to follow it up with another and another. The point isn't to show how tough she is, the point is to win. A woman with a fallen foe is more likely to launch a kick to the head, or whatever has to be done to prevent the other person from getting up again.

But women aren't as likely to start fights. They don't need to show dominance. A woman is more often the attackee than the attacker, and if the attacker is a man, her response should be to go at him like a screeching, spitting ball of fire. This won't mesh with the way he expects a fight to go; while he's standing back to let everyone see how tough he is, she's clawing his eyes out.

There's another difference -- women, not as likely to be worrying about codes of honor, will fight dirty. And nature in its infinite wisdom just happened to put a man's most vulnerable parts hanging right out in front at convenient kicking height.

Most men will hesitate at delivering the dreaded low blow out of the helpless wince-sympathy that makes them all press their legs together upon witnessing a baseball player take a line drive to the plastic cup. Unable to bear the thought of that pain, they can't bear to inflict it on another.

Not so a woman! Women go for the groin, the eyes, the throat. They don't have the physical mass and strength to fool around; their goal has to be to incapacitate now.

I notice that I am addressing this topic with perhaps a touch too much glee ...

Fighting Styles, Race --

With fantasy or alien worlds, you may be dealing with a variety of diverse sentient races. These may each have their own vulnerabilities and corresponding fighting styles.

A wonderful example of this is from "Alien Nation," which was my #1 favorite show until "Gargoyles" came along and deposed it. The aliens (Newcomers / Tenctonese) were built similar to humans but with a few key differences -- they had nerve clusters under each arm that produced the same effect as a swift knee between the legs.

When I designed my elves for my series of fantasy novels, I wanted to focus on their ears. I made them highly sensitive, even sexual, organs. Which were stuck right out there on the sides of their heads, for males and females alike. Toward the end of the first ElfLore book, my elven heroine doesn't hesitate at fighting dirty, seizing one ear of her assailant in each hand and doing her darndest to rip them off of his skull.

Differences in vulnerabilities will lead to differences in fighting styles, as members of a particular race will be conscious of protecting their own weak spots while trying to maximize the effectiveness of their attacks on their enemies' same weak spots.

Common sense also plays a part in determining how a given race might conduct itself in combat.

The way dwarves are traditionally built, for example -- stocky, compact, low center of gravity -- lends itself well to swinging an axe. Elves, on the other hand, are usually depicted as tall and long-limbed and slender, perfectly suited to archery.

The stereotypes for each case have a reasonable basis -- which is why it always struck me odd that centaurs are so often described as using bows or lassos ... it seems to me that the lance would be the perfect weapon, with all the power of the horse body behind it.

Effects of Injury

Nearly all games and most books and movies are less than accurate on this part. The pain, shock, and horror of getting hurt should be a major, serious event for your characters. They should not shrug it off with, "pfft, I've still got X amount of hit points left" or even "only a flesh wound!" (unless using the GURPS cinematic "Flesh Wounds" rule <g>)

Part of this lapse in realism stems, I think, from the fact that most of us have been lucky enough to not be subjected to sudden serious injury.

Part of it is the adrenaline factor -- in a life or death situation, the brain has more urgent things on which to concentrate.

Part of it is the perception that characters living in a violent world will become less sensitive to pain because they experience it so frequently.

But pain hurts no matter what. Imagine stubbing a toe, barking a shin on the coffee table, or standing up after putting something under the sink and taking the corner of an open upper cupboard on the crown of the head. These things hurt like hell and can leave us, if not writhing, at least holding onto the affected area with watering eyes and explosive curses for several seconds at least.

That doesn't mean that characters will drop their swords, stop the battle, and nurse their boo-boos ... when there's reason to go on fighting, sometimes they just have to. But keeping in mind what's happened to them, and how it might all pile up on them the moment the danger is past, is a good idea.

Fantasy worlds, especially game ones, tend to have fast and easy cures for pain -- spells of healing, divinely-granted clerical powers, potions, etc.

In my games, I've taken to trying to make the aftereffects of a battle a little more realistic, requiring recuperation time even in the cases when magical healing has been used, and limiting the amount of healing available. It makes the players take things more seriously if they know that a fight can lead to a wound that can slow down their adventuring while they wait to recover.

John Wick, the notorious "Pyramid" columnist, suggested a method that I thought quite clever (though, since it meant more math for me, I haven't used it).

That method was for the GM to keep track of how badly the characters are hurt, telling the players in descriptive terms instead of numbers: "The blade bites deep and grates on bone" as opposed to "You take six points of damage."

Conclusion

I haven't been in a fight since the time I broke my Snoopy lunchbox over another kid's head at the school bus stop. I never was much of a scrapper. Still, it seems to me unlikely that I'd do much talking during; I'd want to keep my mind on my hands instead of my mouth.

This, though, is one of the best parts of writing or gaming a fight scene.

A realistic fight would probably be pretty hushed except for the grunts, thuds, and clangs, but everyone involved gets a much bigger kick out of taunting foes to enrage them into making mistakes, issuing challenges, making threats, and spitting insults.

Cinematic? Oh, very. Fun? Absolutely!

Another of the best parts is the dying action or the dying speech. Many GMs, myself certainly included, will suspend the rules long enough to let a fatally-wounded character undertake one last heroic effort, or hang on to life long enough to gasp out a touching declaration.

Next month's topic will be a change of pace; for our "other worlds" issue, I'll be discussing the uses and problems of other dimensions, time travel, and similar things that can be found just past that signpost up ahead ...

-- Christine Morgan

I'd like to make a comment about this article.

This page has been visited Hit Counter times.