Combat & Etiquette

Combat & Etiquette

The combat system on Tokyo Ghoul: Shattered Dreams is one that's fairly straight forward. Simply put, a single post on this forum usually consists of the same pattern when in a fight or skirmish; react, then act. For the most part, characters will take the time to react to what someone else has done during their post, and then make an action to act accordingly. The next person will generally follow in suit, reacting to the post before them, and making an action in return for someone to then react to. There are a few situations in which this might not normally apply, but those situations are generally few and far between, and are the exception; not the rule.

On this forum, death is always a looming threat. In any Combat Thread, every character has a very real, very possible chance to die. In order to emerge victorious from a fight, characters will need to be smart, creative, and intuitive. Knowing when to back off, and when to press the attack is essential when any post could very easily be your character's last. That said, nobody is actively looking to lose their characters. Just because someone agrees to write a Combat Thread, doesn't mean they're just willing to let their characters die. As such, fight fairly, and don't try to cheat the system just to get a quick kill; something like that can, and will come back to haunt you later on.


Making attacks is a fairly simple process. When one has the desire to make an attack, they'll simply write it out in their post, and wait for their opponent(s) to react accordingly. A character can make any number of attacks during their posts that they desire, but naturally this might be met with a bit of resistance; this is where a character's Aim or Speed Rank comes into play. Aim will determine how many ranged attacks a character can make per-post without suffering from any inherent drawbacks of doing so, while Speed will be used for melee attacks. The higher the Rank, the more attacks that can be made. This translates to 0 free attacks at C-Rank, 1 at B-Rank, 2 at A-Rank, 3 at S-Rank, 4 at SS-Rank, and 5 at SSS-Rank. When going passed that "free attacks" threshold, characters will incur Stamina drain (5 Stamina per attack at C and B-Rank, 4 Stamina per attack at A and S-Rank, and 3 Stamina per attack at SS and SSS-Rank).

After an attack is made, opponents are given the option to defend; that will be covered below. If an attack succeeds, damage will be dealt to the defender. The amount of damage dealt is traditionally based off of a character's Strength or Potency Ranks, unless they're making use of a Trait or Kakuja that would alter that. When attacking, a character can deal a number of wounds equivalent to the rank of their Strength or Potency (or appropriate stat). For example; at S-Rank Strength, a character can deal 1 S-Ranked wound, 2 A-Ranked wounds, 4 B-Ranked wounds, 8 C-Ranked wounds, or any combination of these, so long as it doesn't collectively exceed an S-Ranked wound. Naturally, if they desire, characters can choose to hold back and inflict less wounds than that equal to their damage dealing stat, but this is not mandatory. If a character inflicts a wound that is two Ranks higher than the defender's Resilience in one singular strike, the defender will die.


When it comes to setting up a defense against an attack, there are multiple ways a character can take the time to do so. Namely through Blocking and Dodging. After an attack has been made against someone, they have the option to, as just stated, block or dodge the attack. Blocking an attack is completely free, though usually comes with the penalty of being struck. Dodging an attack and be done freely up to a number of times every other post; C-Ranked Speed allows for no free dodges, B-Ranked Speed allows for one free dodge, A-Ranked Speed allows for one free dodge, S-Ranked Speed allows for two free dodges, SS-Ranked Speed allows for two free dodges, and SSS-Ranked Speed allows for three free dodges. Though, just because a character is able to dodge an attack freely doesn't mean that dodge will be successful. In order for a dodge to be successful, a character needs to win a Stat Clash (described below) between the speed of the dodge, and the speed of the attack.

Alternatively, instead of dodging, characters have the opportunity to block an attack. This can either be done through the use of putting up a normal guard against an oncoming attack, or using a Kagune or Quinque in order to block an attack. If simply throwing up a guard with your normal body, you'll be forced to take the full force of a wound coming your way. If blocking with a Kagune or Quinque, however, so long as the block is plausible, your can make use of said Kagune or Quinque to absorb the brunt of the damage headed your way instead of suffering it in full. Kagune and Quinque have a Durability value equal to either the user's Resilience, or a listed Durability amount, respectively. Both a Kagune and Quinque can only take so much damage before being cut apart, smashed, broken, etc. and rendered useless for the remainder of the encounter. When a Kagune or Quinque is used to block, that Kagune or Quinque will suffer half of the wounds that an attack would normally leave on a target (If hit by an S-Ranked Strength stat while defending with a Kagune, both the defender and the defender's Kagune are going to suffer from A-Ranked wounds from that attack).

Finally, characters also have the option to parry a strike set against them. Parrying is a high-risk, high-reward method to defense. Parrying predominantly consists of defending against a strike with a strike of your own, often looking to challenge the opponent in question in a Strength-based conflict. When returning a strike of your own, a Stat Clash will be initiated, between the attacker's Strength, and the defender's Strength. If the Defender wins, their Kagune or Quinque will take half the damage from the opponent's Strike, while their opponent will take the full damage of their strike, split between themselves and their Kagune or Quinque. If the defender loses, they'll be forced to take the full damage of their opponent's strike against them, split halfway between themselves and their Kagune or Quinque. Naturally, a Parry is unable to be parried against.


Certain situations during a fight, such as when looking to dodge, or determining whether a parry or something of the like might be successful, a Stat Clash might be initiated. When determining the result of a Stat Clash, simply compare the Stat Ranks of the two characters in question. If one character has a higher Stat Rank, they'll win the clash in Question. If both characters have an equal Stat Rank, they'll tie, unless under specific circumstances.

On occasion however, there comes a point where those you fight tend to outpace you under almost all circumstances. Though, through sheer resolve and determination alone, it might be possible to force your body to operate beyond what would normally be achievable. For this, Shattered Dreams has a mechanic known as Burning Resolve. When faced with a Stat Clash of any kind, those at the disadvantage can opt into Burning Resolve in order to win said clash. By spending 10 Stamina for every difference in the Stat Ranks used in the Clash, the individual that would've otherwise lost the Clash can come out the victor of that exchange. For every Rank in Presence that a character has, beginning at B-Rank, this Stamina cost per Rank difference will be reduced by 1, to a minimum of 4 Stamina per Rank Difference at SSS-Rank Presence, representing the ability to think strategically and outmaneuver an opponent where possible.

While certainly strong, constantly burning this Stamina is by no means costless and will add up incredibly quickly should someone continue to wear themselves out with blind determination alone. Unlike most other systems on Shattered Dreams, Traits cannot change or alter this Burning Resolve mechanic in any way.