Combat Mechanics: The Five Stages of Combat

Within our system, combat is divided into five different stages, all of which are separate from one another and while reliant, are not directly connected. They are as follows:

Stage One: One's well being has a direct link to how much energy their body is capable of exerting. The backbone of combat is the Health (HP) statistic, this is directly proportional to your maximum power level and all other statistics will track off of this. Your Health will always start at your maximum base power level, it may be increased by transforming or by other outside modifiers that will not be elaborated on here.

Example: Fighter A has 10,000 PL his stats are as follows - 
HP: 10,000/10,000
PL Output: 10,000

if he gets hit by an attack that does 4,000 PL in damage his stats change as so:
HP: 6,000/10,000
PL Output: 6,000

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Stage Two: Alongside Health are Energy (ENG/KI), Stamina (STA), and Exhaustion (EX) these statistics are utilized when determining how and what techniques you can use. They are all tracked independently, but are very much connected. For Energy and Stamina, their maximum pool will always be equal to your current Health pool (if any modifiers are in place they are added after this total is calculated).

• Energy - This is the bar that you will be draining when you utilize techniques that use magical energies or ki-like energies. This can also be drained in addition with Stamina for some variant technique types. When a technique that uses this meter is used, half of the technique's chosen percentage of power is drawn from this bar.
• Stamina - In the same vein as Energy, Stamina is drained by a technique type. The vast majority of techniques use this meter rather than Energy (this however can be specified as otherwise in the technique itself). When a technique that uses this meter is used, half of the technique's chosen percentage of power is drawn from this bar.
• Exhaustion - This meter is different in many ways to the prior two. Exhaustion starts at 0 and builds up over time, its maximum is equal to your Total Base power level regardless of your health, but does increase normally as you transform. Each time a technique is used half of the output of that technique is added to the total exhaustion pool. Should you reach 50% in this pool what would be added to this pool is instead split once more in half and divided equally between this meter and your Health, should it reach 100% However you will be too tired to utilize techniques and will drop out of whatever transformation you are in at the time. This persists until exhaustion reduces to 10% once more.

Example:
Fighter A - 
PL: 10,000
HP: 10,000/10,000
PL Output: 10,000/10,000
STA: 10,000/10,000
ENG: 10,000/10,000

If fighter A uses a technique that drains 20% of his STA gauge, it will look like so:

Example:
Fighter A -
PL: 10,000
HP: 10,000/10,000
STA: 8,000/10,000
ENG: 10,000/10,000
EX: 1,000/10,000

Resting: At any point during a fight you may rest, doing so will consume all remaining MP and must be stated as your final action for that turn. When resting you will recover 10% of your Energy and Stamina, as well as lose 10% of your exhaustion, however it should be remembered that resting does leave you open and should you be attacked dodging on the next turn will take 2 MP as well as cost 20% more.

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Stage Three: Fights occur on a stage of sorts and all combatants will have some degree of distance between themselves and others. These ranges are divided into three combat ranges and two safety ranges. To switch Zones it costs the combatant 1 Movement Point and should they run out of these they may drain 10% of their PL INTO their exhaustion meter instead.

When a fight begins each combatant will note which zone they are present in (as these are universal to all combatants in a thread.) If none are listed they are assumed Mid Range. This only has to be mentioned once more when the combatant is moving and does not have to be repeated with every post.

Movement Points - At the start of each turn you have access to five Movement Points (MP), these can be used to switch zones or attack your opponent. Techniques and charging take one MP on their own, but only two may be spent per turn on offensive techniques and only a single one may be spent on healing of any sort. Basic attacks also take a movement point, but only to initiate the attack, if you are following that with a combo, it does not consume additional MP.

Close Range - This is a face to face fight, close Quarters techniques cost 50% of their drain (Super and Ultimates excluded) to use as well as all techniques are 25% harder to dodge at this range. This is the only range that conventional melee combat can be conducted at (some techniques or racials may circumvent this fact).

• Blocking - Blocking is a means of reducing or stopping damage coming your way in combat. Blocking under most circumstances will utilize Stamina and will put your limbs at risk. When you block an attack 75% of the incoming damage will be taken directly to Stamina and 25% will be taken to Health. Should the total attack damage cover more than 80% of the defender's power level the limb will be broken, further mechanics on this are explained in Body Damage

Mid Range - This is the range of typical beam struggles, all techniques have their usual cost at this rage (close quarters techs excluded for most races as they cannot hit at this range). There is no additional or reduced dodge at this range. This is the standard range.

Long Range - The furthest conventional combat range, ranged energy techniques cost 50% less at this range (Super and Ultimates excluded). Ranged techniques are also 25% easier to dodge at this range.

Support Zone - This lies immediately beyond the Long Range, and is where non-combatants can come to heal for double the resting bonus, however they get a reduction to dodging if they are attacked here, by 15%.

Horizon Zone - The farthest reaching zone, this zone is only utilized if a combatant is leaving the combat (thread) entirely. There are no bonuses here, but those who are following CAN intercept. This will incur a 75% bonus to the dodge drain on the person running, but if they dodge completely they are not hindered. (Ranged ki blasts suffer from a 40% reduced accuracy if fired at those leaving this way)

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Stage Four: In Close Quarters Combat you can enter a system called “Delta Mode”. In this system combat does not abide by the traditional stats system and can be considered more reliant on RP oriented fighting. To enter this mode all combatants involved have to agree to it and it functions as so.

All CQC tech or attack damages are reduced to half (drains to one quarter). Dodging costs 33% more. However countering an attack with another will bring both hits to full power, when they strike damage will be added, divided in half and split between both combatants. Blocking works as usual but with the same value rules as CQC techs listed above.

HP will be tracked from full regardless of the prior fight while this mode is active, when one team is defeated or one fighter is left standing the mode ends and all fighters are brought to Mid Range. The victor regains 50% energy OR stamina, as well as 10% HP and 15% off their exhaustion. The losers lose 15% HP and gain 10% exhaustion.

(Ranged techniques are not permitted in Delta Mode).

NOTE: The HP at full tracking for this mode does NOT carry back into the main fight and all bars are set back to as they were prior to “Delta Mode”

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Stage Five: In some instance vehicles may be used in combat and will be covered in their respective area below. This also includes spaceship combat as well as using spaceships as weapons against combatants in threads. These mechanics are expanded on further in their own areas which will be linked below.