This blog entry  by Yuriy Zubovski got me wondering exactly how equality can be acheived in roleplay, especially in a multiversal setting. And, perhaps even more pertinently, in a text-based combat situation.

Yuriy brings a rather nice argument onto the table, and some of my feeling can be found in my comment responding to his entry. Outlining that there are so many interpretations to magic, that a single 'Anti Magic Field' would not be able to 'cater' for all the different interpretations.

How, then, can a player who uses technology battle magic, and vice versa? It is, I feel, a difficult question to answer, besides something so many people forget, especially in the text-based combat arena, and that is acceptance and flexibility. For example, shields on a space ship, designed to defend against lasers may not always be 'configured' against certain types of magic. However, does that make it fair that, just because one player is a technology user, and the other a magic, one player is left defenseless? I don't think it is. So, sportsmanship would allow for the magic to be, even if partially, defended against by the 'laser-shield'.

In so many situations, people are of the belief that their particular system is superior to another's. Following on from the theme of magic vs technology, all too often people will argue than one is intrinsically far superior to the other. Now, yes, if a modern day roleplay, perhaps a normal person or soldier would have the technology to deal with a mage shooting balls of lightning, but would the mage be able to deal with an atomic bomb? But, if using futuristic/sci-fi technology, is there actually much difference between itself and magic? Perhaps a clearer, less contentious, example would be people who draw their characters from anime shows, or other fictitious entity not created by them. In an anime, a specific move may well be an instant kill, unavoidable strike that rents your heart into seven thousand pieces, but in RP, should that be the same?

Even disregarding, for the moment, RP rules such as GodModding etc, should such a scenario be carried into RP? Roleplay, as I see it, should be fun and enjoyable. I don't think much enjoyment would be found if the character I just spent two hours creating is killed in one move by some other player who uses cannon anime characters. If I was using another cannon character from the same anime universe, for example one Naruto character against the other, then it may be a little more acceptable. Slightly. In a multiversal setting, where all genres can intermingle, nothing says that the rule of auto-instant-kill exists.

As an avid text-based fighter, I applied this to fighting, and how so often it is not the skill of the player, but the power of the character that is put to the test. Can the weaker character defeat the stronger? Yes, definitely. I recently, on IRC, fought a player whose character was armed with a sword, my was not, and though slightly taller, and stronger - my character was a seasoned soldier, the other player's character a girl of teen years - I think the equality there was good. And it was an enjoyable fight, which is most important.

So, to ensure equality, what can we do? I think the key is communication. Something like, with the above example, "Hey, my character is an elite soldier, your character has a sword - I'll make my soldier unarmed." Of course, I could have gone in with my character's usual weapon, a dagger, and stabbed her in the neck in my first turn. But where would the fun in that had been?

Also, tolerance, acceptance and flexibility are important. The other player was willingly acceptant of the fact that should my character grab a wrist, it would hurt and be hard to escape from. And, as such, an enjoyable match was had by both parties.

Equality IS capable within roleplay, I just wonder if people are willing to bring it about.