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[size=130]This is a long post, but I would really appreciate it if you read the whole thing and gave your feedback![/size]
Ever since it dawned on me that Nerf guns could potentially be used as larp projectile weapons, I have been conceptualising a system which could be used for a campaign game (although this could also be used in a variety of one-off games). I searched the net, and found that other people had used Nerf guns in larps successfully.
It is, perhaps, important to note that there are some rules in this system that limit the possible equipment a player can use. These rules were put in the system to allow a more paced combat between players and NPCs who are all wielding foam dart guns. There are several scenarios in which these restrictions could be dropped for pacing reasons; e.g. a zombie apocalypse (yes, I have taken a look at the ZombieLARP thread and website).
Pros of using foam dart guns as larp weapons;
[ul][li]Less dangerous than foam melee weapons (the force generated by most foam dart guns is less than generally used to hit people with swords in a larp)[/li]
[li]The distance most guns throw their darts (up to 10m) is about the same distance that combat calls can be heard and that spell packets are accurate.[/li]
[li]The average time between shots is about 1 - 2 seconds, which is the acceptable recommendation for timing between melee weapon hits in most boffer games[/li][/ul]
Cons of using foam dart guns as larp weapons;
[ul][li]Most dart guns are weak enough that it can be difficult to feel a hit when wearing heavy clothing.[/li]
[li]At close range a shot to the eye can be damaging, although the same can be said for being hit in the face with a sword.[/li][/ul]
[size=130]Dealing Damage[/size]
Basic Damage
Damage is dealt when someone is hit by a foam dart or melee weapon. Standard small darts and all melee weapons deal 1 HP damage (or a suitable damage amount depending on how much default HP the players have).
"Mobbed"
When combat gets to the point where you cannot keep track of all the darts coming at you, or you have been fired at with a shotgun with more than 2 darts at once, semi-auto or full-auto weapon, you are “mobbed” and reduced to 0HP or the equivalent for incapacitation.
Damage Calls
When you think someone you are targeting has not seen you (this includes when your target is in the middle of a skirmish), especially if you are attacking them from behind with a gun, make sure you call out “Bang!” as you fire to make sure that they know they’ve been fired at and that if you hit, they know the pressure they felt was actually a bullet (sometimes it’s difficult to tell in the heat of battle).
The “Bang!” call is also used when shooting someone at point-blank range (closer than 1m). Instead of firing a dart at them, call “Bang!”.
Valid Targets
Common sense is a must when engaging in combat where you’re actually hitting people and throwing objects at people. As such, a very standard and well known rule applies in this system as well; No firing at/hitting peoples heads or genitals. Such actions are likely to get a person punished by GMs for such unsafe behaviour, although it is understood that such things happen by accident on occasion, at which point appropriate apologies must be made.
[size=130]Ammunition[/size]
Ammo Types
Standard ammo (aka the stuff that you buy which is compatible with your gun) is the only ammo allowed in the game. All darts and missiles used in this system must be smooth-tipped (i.e. no velcro tipped darts). This is to mitigate potential eye injury.
Home Made Ammo
Home made darts and missiles are not allowed. The main risks are that, while most of your darts may be very good quality, some of them might not be and may come apart, resulting in whatever you used as an end cap and/or a weight causing potential injury (especially to peoples eyes). Outlawing all home made ammo is the easiest way to avoid the risk of potentially dangerous darts.
Ammo Marking
Players are encouraged to name/mark their darts so that they can collect them after skirmishes (see Ammo Collection section for more details). All unmarked darts will be collected at the end of skirmishes and returned to the collective dart pool held by the GMs.
Ammo Capacity
All clips, magazines, cartridges, or built in gun ammo capacity must be 18 darts or below. I.E. no more than 18 darts in a gun at a time. This limits the number of shots that someone can fire during a skirmish in quick succession.
Your Ammo
The only darts or missiles you are allowed to use in your weapon are your own, those provided for you by the GMs (unmarked game darts), or those of a friend you have an agreement with to use each others darts. Any fired darts or missiles on the ground during a skirmish are considered “spent” and unusable until properly collected (see the Ammo Collection section below).
[size=130]Ammo Collection[/size]
When To Collect Ammo
The only time darts or missiles may be collected from the battlefield by players is after a fight is over, not during a fight in progress. If you run out of darts during a fight, that’s all your ammunition spent until after the fight. The end of a fight is considered to be when all enemies are dead, incapacitated or have fled the scene of the fight.
How To Collect Ammo Safely
There will be at least one “Safe Point” in the game, if not several, which players can sign in at to say that their character is at the Safe Point restocking their ammunition. This is achieved by the player writing their real name, character name, and the time and date they are signing in at. When a player signs in at a Safe Point, they are given a red strip of cloth to tie around their heads; this signifies that they are out of character and do not exist in the game world. Once a player has signed in to a Safe Point they are free to go back to the scene of the fight at which they expended their ammunition and collect it again without fear of their character getting attacked.
Once a player has collected their ammunition, they must return to the Safe Point they signed in at and sign out. This is achieved by the player striking out their previous sign in entry and returning the OOC red strip of cloth to the NPC or GM who is taking care of the Safe Point.
[size=130]Guns[/size]
Player Guns
All player guns must have a priming mechanism that must be used before every shot fired. I.E. No automatic or semi-automatic weapons (nothing you can hold the trigger down on and watch the clip empty) may be used by the players.
All player weapons must only be able to shoot no more than 2 darts at a time. I.E. No shotgun/multi-shot weapons that can fire more than 2 darts at a time may be used by players.
Home Made Guns
Homemade projectile weapons will be assessed for approval on a case-by-case basis and in comparison to already approved commercial projectile weapons. This excludes modified commercial projectile weapons, which are dealt with in the next section.
[size=130]Gun Modifications[/size] (these rules are for safety reasons, although can conceivably be dropped on player and GM agreement)
Nature of Modifications
All modifications must be aesthetic in nature only and must not alter the functionality or performance of the commercial projectile weapon in a significant or dangerous way. Most functional or performance enhancing modifications increase the force with which the dart exits the gun, thus increasing range. The main problem with this is the greater risk of injury, especially to a persons eyes, if they are hit with darts from these modified weapons. Another problem is that some of the modifications increase the dart firing rate, which brings the weapon too close to being on par with automatic or semi-automatic weapons.
Checking for Modifications
Before a game starts, all weapons should be tested in comparison to their unmodified counterparts to ensure that no performance or functionality modifications have been made to the players’ weapons. This is a simple measure to avoid cheating. It may also be a good idea to do occasional random checks on people’s weapons to ensure that no one has made modifications to their weapons since getting into the game approved.
If you have any feedback, comments, questions, or advice on these ideas I would really appreciate it!