So, your character's made for combat, eh? Well. That's something EVERY roleplayer can do. Effectively, however? Well, that's another thing entirely.

The first thing any roleplayer should have in mind when creating a fighter character is that their character is NOTHING SPECIAL. No, you're not the best fighter in the world, completely awesome at everything that has to do with anything. Why is this, you ask? Why is it so wrong to make a perfect character? Well...

a) That can't be possible. Really, you don't even see people in the MOVIES that are complete masters with every weapon in every situation, let alone in reality. b) It's no fun to play this way! Really, where's the fun in winning every time? Most of the fun in combat roleplay is what happens after-- healing, arguing against healing, needing special treatment(especially for hares, haha!), maybe coming close to death... And rivalries, too. Vengeance is quite the interesting plot builder! c) Weaknesses add dynamic to a character. Maybe your character could be amazing with his or her sword, but has a weakness for his or her friends and family? Maybe too much of an attachment to honor? Maybe (and I'm using this for one of my characters right now) your character is a magnificent fighter from range, but is absolutely worthless in close combat.

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The second thing one should have in mind is that, even if your character is built to fight... That shouldn't be its sole purpose. Even the most cold-blooded, stone-faced warriors have some other purpose besides wandering around on the dirt road looking for things to kill, right? Give your character some depth... Even if you want it to be a shallow character, there's gotta be a reason for him to be that way.

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Third of all, and this is the section on which I'm going to deliberate mostly, if you're going to make a combat character, make sure you know what you're doing during a combat roleplay. I've seen several fight RPs where some of the poses going on just... aren't realistic. Here're some examples I'm making up that are pretty well based on some of the things I've witnessed:

Bravemouse holds up his longsword in a defensive stance as he sees the rat coming towards him... But at the last second, he bends his knees down and leaps, doing an acrobatic spinning backflip over the rat and cleaving down upon his head.

This should raise some red flags. Now, I'm not going to rip on the Matrix, it was a great, entertaining series of movies, but... Sorry, their rules of physics don't apply here.

Nastyrat unsheaths his sword, a giant, glimmering blade that is almost twice his size, snarling as he stares down Bravemouse.

Again, red flags. A giant blade almost twice his size, eh? Where on earth was he keeping the thing? And if he did manage it, how did he carry something that incredibly heavy?

Bravemouse swings his sword at Nastyrat.

The key to a GREAT roleplay is details. Fight roleplay should be no different. Instead of the above, maybe try something like this: Bravemouse crouches low and charges Nastyrat, his arms swinging backwards, and then cleaving up through the air in an attempted slash up and across the vermin's midsection and chest.

That way, your opponent is given a) information as to where the strike was headed, and b) information as to what your character is doing, thus revealing more openings on how he can react, therefore causing the whole roleplay to play out more smoothly.

Bravemouse grins as the sword comes into contact with him with a loud CLANK! and is deflected off his body armor. He then speedily runs around the nasty rat and stabs at his back.

Okay... Armor is a problem on the MUCK that I wish more people would tackle. Seriously, folks. It's just not realistic for someone to be constantly walking around in a full suit of armor. It's heavy, it's a burden, and it's limiting, no matter how strong you are. Don't expect to be able to move very quickly if you're wearing it. Second of all, if a sword is swung at a suit of armor and hits it, the wearer of the armor isn't going to just be able to stand there like nothing happened. If it's a connected hit, there's a chance it might dent the armor, and a very very high possibility that it will make the armor-wearer stumble, sway, fall, or even be stunned, depending on the ferocity of the strike and the type of weapon. And always remember that armor has open spots that are pierceable, and can even fall off if struck correctly. That having been said, I'm not at all saying it's wrong to have armor. But be realistic about it. The availability of an entire suit of armor to a common beast isn't high-- The materials alone would cost quite a bit, and then having them fashioned to fit you would cost even more. It's possible that you can make your own, but I've seen two (two to many, might I add) characters that make their own armor and weapons, but are also roving wanderers. Think about this: If you don't have a home, you don't have a forge. If you don't have a forge, you don't make your own armor and weapons. It just doesn't work. Having padded clothing, and maybe some light armor purchased or found on a fallen enemy is far more realistic, and creates more weaknesses(see first thing, parts b and c). Anyway, moving on...

Nastyrat growls, wounds bleeding from all sides, a hole in his arm, his shoulder, his stomach, both of his legs, his side, and his neck as he swings his sword powerfully down upon Bravemouse's head.

Your character's mortal. Sorry. Adrenaline can take your character really far, but... Only so far. Maybe when you've got that many wounds on you, it's time to roleplay that last ditch effort, and, if you don't want your character to die, talk with the other player beforehand about it. That'll be covered later.

(next morning)

Nastyrat walks out of his home, bandaged up. He growls as he sees Bravemouse, and charges him, unleashing his huge sword.

This is something that REALLY peeves me. When your character gets hurt, it should stay hurt for the appropriate amount of time. With Nastyrat's wounds he'd received the previous day, he'd be down, or at least out of action, for a week or so. I know, it sounds unreasonable for us violent RP fanatics to keep a character out of commission for a week or more... But it makes it SO MUCH BETTER when your character's healed up properly, in a very IC manner.

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And finally, what I had mentioned before-- Talking to your IC enemy OOCly. Let's face it, we're afraid to have our characters die sometimes. Sometimes we have plans for our characters, and reasons for these characters to live on another day. That's absolutely fine. My basic rule of thumb involving these situations is simply, "Don't Be a Jerk!" If you're rping with someone in a fight, and the other person requests kindly that his own character not die... Then don't kill him. Talk it over, ask him if it's alright for heavy wounds as a replacement to killing him. A lot of the time, one player will have it in mind that his character will lose the fight, and things will play out on their own... Again, if you see things just aren't going your way in a fight, Don't Be a Jerk! Just let it roleplay out, and remember-- It's just roleplay.

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Now, this may seem like a lot of rules, but honestly, it's a simple concept. Have fun, and remember, kids... Twinking is BAD!