Editing Exalted Combat 101 (section)

==Fight One: Basic Combat Training==

'''Jaida lifted the practice sword, unsure of herself as she swung it a few times. She pushed back a stray strand of auburn hair, and looked at the master swordsman, feeling very much like the uneducated farmer girl she was.'''

Alright, here's our heroine! She has the following stats: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, and a Wits of 3. She is a clever girl, graceful, and has been toughened by life on a farm, though she didn't bale hay like her brothers (hence the Strength of 2). She has a Melee of ZERO. Her practice sword has the following stats: Speed +0, Accuracy +0, Damage -1B, and Defense +0.

This means, basically, she does a base damage of 1B, and has a dice pool of 3 to attack and defend. (Note: She should actually have a die pool of 1, since trying to use a skill you don't have gives you a -2 on the roll. Since this is training, we're giving her a break.--ed.) 

'''Steel Ribbon Warrior smiled at her encouragingly. He was tall and slim, an elegant face, and well kept long black hair. He smiled at her encouragingly, delicately bringing his own practice sword before him.'''

This is our other character. While totally mortal, Steel is a "Musashi" bad ass: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 3, Melee 5 (Specialty: Slashing Swords +3), Wits of 4. He is the kind of person who may someday Exalt.

'''Jaida watched him, unsure, and then, blindly, charged him, flailing out an attack at the confident man. He effortlessly knocked it away, and and she felt his practice sword rap her bottom as she stumbled past.'''

'''Her face was flaming with humiliation as she turned to face the serenely smiling man.'''

Turn 1. <br>
(First, a note, for the most part, I will assume that half of the dice (rounded down) in a dice pool come up successes, rather than roll.)

Steel has an initiative total of 9 (Dex 5, Wits 4, Sword +0), while Jaida has 6 (Dex 3, Wits 3, Sword +0). Assuming they roll pretty close to one another, Steel gets initiative. 

He chooses to hold his action.

She attacks, committing her entire dice pool to the attack. As she does, Steel splits his dice pool 2 ways (or, takes a multiple action for 2 dice actions), so his first dice pool is (Dex 5, Melee 5, -2 for multiple actions) 8, with 4 successes. She has 3, with 1 success, and he easily parries. His next action is at -3, so he has 7 dice. This is certainly enough to tap her, since she is not defending at all.

'''Enraged, she lashes out at him, thrashing out two quick blows at Steel Ribbon Warrior. He knocks her clumsy attacks aside, and then lets the tip of his blade slip past her defenses to lightly touch her chest.'''

Again, Steel gains initiative, and chooses to hold.

She splits 2 ways. Normally, this would be impossible (this would give her a dice pool of 1, 0) but her player stunts it for one point, describing her feelings as she attacks. This makes it 2, 1 (bonuses are applied before negatives). 

However, this is hardly enough to get past Steel's defenses (split three ways: 7, 6, 5), thus, he parries and gets his hit in.

'''As soon as he had pulled the sword away from her, he suddenly springs to life, the air whistling through the reeds of the practice weapon as he launches his attack. Terrified, Jaida lifts her sword to defend. Despite the clumsy defense, the two swords clash, and Steel holds his weapon against hers for a moment, then pulls away, smiling. '''

'''"Good," he says "You have learned that defense is more important than offense. Rest now, girl."'''

For the last turn of this fight, again, Steel has initiative. He chooses to attack, and splits his dice pool 2 ways, one for an attack, and one for a parry (Steel likes to play it safe...just in case).

Jaida can take no action yet (it isn't her initiative) and so is forced to abort any later action for a parry. Her meager 3 dice won't beat his 8, but Steel is just trying to prove a point, which he does.

End first fight.

<b>Commentary:</b> Many people do not delay their actions, as Steel does. This is generally a good idea, to allow yourself the time to see what your opponent intends. In a mortal on mortal fight, it's generally just better to strike out and force him to abort, but defense is usually a safer option than offense.