How to roleplay wounds?

Community Larp discussion
#21

One thing I find difficult, especially in Teonn but also in all of the fantasy games, is translating abilities like Regeneration and Fast Healing to my real life experience. The rules state that my character, Magni, heals faster in an hour than I, Vanya, heal in a year. As such there is a certain logic that the pain from the wounds fades fast too.

When playing a battle hardened veteran, I only start feeling pain when my AP is gone and I’m low on hitpoints. When in a combat adrenaline drowns all but the most vicious wounds, added to that, my characters have been cut a thousand times before this means that the body is unlikely to go into shock either. The idea that the character has been hacked a thousand times and can still keep going means that he should be able to fight through most injury and pain becomes a relative thing. It is just more fun to feel the pain I think.

#22

keep those ‘fake blood’ caps in a pocket.

pop one in ur mouth if you’ve been given a ‘you’re on 0 hit points blow’.

u might get the goop on ur costume.
it comes off the chin and neck easy with make up remover and other skin solventy thingys.

http://www.i-mockery.com/blabber/pics/dracula-blood-capsule.jpg

#23

[quote=“zanni”]keep those ‘fake blood’ caps in a pocket.

pop one in ur mouth if you’ve been given a ‘you’re on 0 hit points blow’.

u might get the goop on ur costume.
it comes off the chin and neck easy with make up remover and other skin solventy thingys.

http://www.i-mockery.com/blabber/pics/dracula-blood-capsule.jpg[/quote]

I’d be worried about being mistaken for a zombie at that point. :wink:

#24

I tend to prefer systems where HP is treated as a measure of remaining stamina, rather than physical damage taken. That way, if you have 10hp, it’s not “I can take 9 small scratches, but the 10th booboo puts me down” but rather “I’ve avoided taking 9 potentially damaging attacks and I’m not sure I have the energy to twist aside from another.” Taking more hp damage in a single hit could indicate a situation where you actually DID take a significant wound, but the smaller amounts definitely make more sense looked at this way (at least to me).
It also helps as a perspective for non-magical regenerative abilities - you’re not actually regrowing lost fingers and toes, you just recover your energy a lot faster than normal people. I suppose, on consideration, that such a system also allows for distinction between different types of healing - for example, just restoring your hp doesn’t fix your broken arm, because that takes more (time+medical treatment) or (magic)… and only the strongest magics can actually regrow something that’s been severed.

From the roleplaying side of things, you’d basically be more exhausted as your hp got lower (plus acting out any wounds that it made sense to take). If it were me, I’d keep track of the approximate fraction of my hp I had left and try to be consistent with that. So, I’d be the same at 1/2 hp whether my max was 4 or 40.

#25

In Germany, as Jackie said, they do playing you hits really well. While they do have a 'hit point system the culture is more around playing you hit, not just where you get hit but how hard (with larp weapons I guess how clean the hit) and with what weapon. If you get slit by a sword right across the stomach or throat then people go down, doesn’t matter if you have five hit points left. If you get hit in the spine by a mace you are immobilised.

But I think what really helped get people into it was the healers involvement. Its much easier to remember you’ve been seriously wounded when you then participate in an equally cool roleplaying experience. I never appreciated how cool it could be till I saw it. Also they are big on the fake blood over there (some characters carry some around with them to apply their own wounds). There’s some good recipes for blood which are soap based so come out of costumes really easy. Its not about being accurate so much as having a great time.

Not that that’s really helpful for you Hannah :slight_smile:

#26

It is actually, Prema. In the last Witch House we had exactly that, a surgeon pulling bullets out of people and stitching them up, fake blood everywhere. I agree, it’s way cooler, although I’d probably be more precious about zephy’s complicated, expensive and white costume than I am about my opshop stuff for WH. :slight_smile:

Need to get that soap based recipe, although i’ve found the usual stuff seems to have come out of my clothes pretty well.

#27

I haven’t actually tried a soap based recipe, but other healers in germany had some that I used and it was great. I will try to get hold of a recipe to share.

Yes witchhouse is the one game in NZ where I have participated in some great healing moments ie full on surgery in the middle of a field. Not sure there was fake blood involved though.

#28

The soap based one doesn’t taste as nice though…the stuff we had at WH wasn’t bad tasting.

#29

Cameron, how many times do we have to tell you - don’t eat the blood. :imp:
Unless you’re being a zombie that is, which I never am. :wink:

Thanks for all your comments guys, some helpful ideas I’m sure I’ll refer back to over time.

#30

The usual stuff is pretty much golden syrup and excessive amounts of food colouring, so yeah, it’s edible and tastes ok, not great, but ok.

#31

I found a great recipe was grenadine and golden syrup, discovered it in Germany because you could only buy really weak red food colouring in small amount. Oh and also discovered that you can make great pus from golden syrup with yellow and a touch of blue. Great for wounds from fighting with orcs.