DoS Game Guide
Duel of Swords pits you and other players in armed combat out on the famed blood sands of the Arena! With swords, axes, staves, or even your bare knuckles! Test your armed prowess against the best that this city has to offer. There are ten moves which all ranks may use. You cannot use the same move twice in a row, with the exception of Disengage which can be used more than once in a row. As you move up in rank you will earn the right to use Fancy maneuvers.
The moves of Duel of Swords:
| 1. | Thrust | [TH] | A quick, stabbing attack. |
| 2. | Slash | [SL] | A diagonal slice difficult for an opponent to guard against. |
| 3. | Stophit | [SH] | Uses an opponent's momentum against them to deliver a stunning blow. |
| 4. | High Cut | [HC] | A raised, horizontal swing. |
| 5. | Low Cut | [LC] | A sweeping attack to the lower body. |
| 6. | Sidestep | [SS] | A dodge to one side. |
| 7. | Duck | [DU] | A drop into a crouch. |
| 8. | Circular Parry | [CP] | Adeflective maneuver that protects the lower half of the body. |
| 9. | Lateral Parry | [LP] | Intercepts an attack to the upper area of the body. |
| 10. | Disengage | [DI] | A backward movement meant to distance oneself from an opponent. |
The first five moves are "offensive", in that they are meant to strike your opponent; when successful they score a full point. The last five moves we consider "defensive", because they are meant to avoid attacks and/or outposition your opponent. Defensive moves earn you only a half-point, unless modified.
Fancies - The Art of Defense
To reflect your character's increasing skill in the ring, he or she will be able to execute a certain number of Fancy maneuvers. Fancies are awarded according to rank as follows:
| Rank | # of Fancy Moves |
|---|---|
| Commoner | 0 |
| Swordsman | 1 |
| Master-at-arms | 2 |
| Grandmaster | 3 |
| Warlord | 4 |
| Baron | 5* |
| Overlord | 6* |
(*During regular dueling only, Barons and the Overlord are restricted to 4 Fancies versus a dueler ranked Grandmaster or below.)
A Fancy allows you to score a full point when using a defensive move. Using one is easy: Just attach the letter "F" to the front of the move you send in private message to the Nexus Guide Dueling-Bot (example: "?m FSS" for Fancy Sidestep). If your move is successful in scoring a half-point, the Fancy will add a bonus half-point to your score, totalling a full point.
How a Fancy scores a full point in role-play can be fairly ambiguous. Some may play it as a defense-riposte, while others may choose to have their character bedazzle spectators with an artful display of skill or finesse. In a Fancy Circular Parry versus a Low Cut, for example, one might say "::he parries aside the cut before reversing course of his own sword and slashing it across his opponent's ribs::" while another might say "::he kicks his own legs up and out from under him, and while upside-down mid-air, he deflects his opponent's cut into the sand::". As always, be creative!
Also, remember that the term Fancy, like the game itself, is out-of-character. While it's acceptable for a character to describe a duelist's parry as "fancy," for one to say something like, "That was a good use of a Fancy," can disrupt the role-play illusion.
