Items in the NZ Larps gear shed that should be removed

So I just went to see the eye docs and it turns out I have a slight scratch on one of my eyes. It has been bugging me since Teonn.

Unsurprisingly it was the eye I was hit in during combat… twice.

I know its not really my place to ask this kind of thing - but can I at least get an explanation as to why a spear (traditionally used to stab people) is part of the nz larps gear? This is what hit me in the eye and to say that any weapon is larp safe to stab with is asking alot. Even my very expensive sword is not deemed safe to stab with and not only does it have a kevlar coating over the carbon fibre core but there is a good 4 to 6’’ of foam at the tip after the core stops.

A note that is made by alot of gm’s at the start of any game is that it is not safe to stab with a larp weapon. Somthing I completly agree with.

Anyway - Can I please get a reply on this?

Perhaps make it into a staff instead?

There was a spear at Teonn that I’ve never seen before in my life so I’m not sure it was part of the nzLARPS gear, since I’m pretty familiar with all the gear in there. I took two minor injuries from that spear in the same combat, when it was wielded by a very experienced combatant with no lack of skill (who apologised profusely, so no hard feelings) These things happen in combat, so I wasn’t upset, especially as the crew member was so nice about apologising, and we didn’t even need a time out, but, I wonder if that was the same spear as the one that was involved with Adam’s injury, and if it was someone’s personal gear they brought along, since I didn’t recognise it as part of the gear.

I am presuming the experienced combatant in this case was probably the same as for me… I did get an appology at the time which is why I am not making a massive deal about this.

If it is not a part of the NZ larps gear then I appologise for presuming so - I had made the error of presuming that a weapong being used by a crew member at teonn was infact NZlarps gear and that is a mistake on my part.

Can i politly reccomend that any one using a spear at any game be reminded they are not for thrusting? Use them as a pole arm sure (large swings towards the legs).

I am not entirly sure how one hits somone who is 6’5’’ in the head when shots above the shoulders are forbidden let alone in the eye… twice.

EDIT NOTE: This has come out sounding more sarcastic than I intended - I do truely mean no offence - I put it down to the late hour.

No, fair call, getting hit in the eye is scary and dangerous and no one has any business thrusting with a weapon in any of our larps. Especially something with enough reach that the end target was clearly a bit of a random call.

Noted…I will look at said item. There are actualy a couple of spears in the gear shed.

The spears have a wide blade and were designed to slash with the side of them (as wide bladed spears were) and not for point work…but I acknowledge that instinct tells people to stab with spears.

I understand the need for saftey for weapons of this sort as I took a thrusted staff hit to the chest as an NPC where the core punched through and only the fact that I was wearing armour saved that situation from being a serious injury.

I we’ll try to reform the heads into pole axes/halbeards that are more clearly for slashing.

This thread gas carefully not mentioned names. Which is just fine.

Does the person who did all the head shots aware of the eye scratches?

Was the weapon head tape or latex?

It was open cell foam - might have been latexed slightly but was grey / silver.

One would imagine being able to recall somthing more easily once you have seen it up close and personal but I am afraid that I cannot :confused:

I don’t think that the person involved comes on diatribe very often - if people think they should know then I am happy for it to be passed along. (Anna or another member of the committie / teonn gm’s can pm me for the details if they wish).

My concern is more targetted at removing the problem items than worrying about the person (for now - perhaps not if it is a recuring trend - Might be interesting to ask around about said injuries as untill Anna mentioned it I was unaware that this had happened to somone else - as we both said tho: appologies were made and I would rather not turn this into a witch hunt for a person :slight_smile: )

I encountered the spear in the Saturday afternoon combat with the tentacles and things, so I’m not sure it was the same person weilding it, since I think you got hit on Saturday evening? I’d recognise the spear if I saw it again.

I got hit earlier in the day (just before lunch) and then again in the evening (I am sure most people recall the evenings incident due to my outburst :blush: )

If I may, I’d just like to point out something I had heard through conversations with some of the Teonn NPCs, and some players, post game.

It was mentioned that several crew, and some players, found it difficult to avoid some head shot situations, as players with very large shields naturally moved the shields to deflect blows. In some cases this deflected blows that would have been to the shoulder or chest upwards to the head area.

Just pointing that out because it had been mentioned about the place. Not a dig at any particular shield wielding player, just something to be aware of. I’m all for the alteration/removal of props/weapons that ‘naturally’ lend themselves to dangerous thrusting.

If it helps, advice I got from a steel weapons fighter once was to rotate your shield rather than lift it - that moves the high blow away from your face rather than into it.

While the use of large shield always seems to contribute to the number of head shots. The ‘no thrusting’ rule was covered pretty clearly by Nikki at the pre game briefing. It can be frustrating trying to hit people around large shields, but people shouldn’t be thrusting over the top of shields.

That works for some shield types, but probably not Adams tall narrow rectangular shield. It’s suited to shields that are only as high as they are wide, where a rotating block is useful.

Off Topic: come play Jade Empire - we don’t have shields :unamused:

I was actually engaging 3 people at the time it happend. One was being blocked with my shield (pritty much constantly) and the other two were being fended off with my sword. The spear bearer was not the one being blocked by my shield and was on my other side.

However it is a very good point, blocking blows up is a very dangerous thing to do especially in steel weapon fighting, and yes Derik is correct - it is very hard for me to rotate the tower shield. However it does make a good door to close on a fighter.

Apparently this became so much of a problem over the weekend that on Sunday before the big battle crew got special instruction “Guys, be aware that players have acquired THIS habit insert the above description, so don’t go over the shields, strike underneath them”. Maybe next time they’ll mention it before the game in overall big brief for everyone.

I second that :smiley:

That’s likely why I heard it.

Again, not condoning attacking the face, nor condoning attacking via thrusts. I have been victim and guilty of both in my short time LARPing, all accidental. Was merely pointing it out as a favour for my friends in the crew.

Damn boy, you are not wrong. That shield, armour, and your overall size give you serious presence on the battlefield.

Damn boy, you are not wrong. That shield, armour, and your overall size give you serious presence on the battlefield.[/quote]

Thats nice to hear - it was what I was going for - Essentially a black ork from warhammer fantasy or an ork warboss from 40k :slight_smile:

Thanks for the replys on this - all really positive. It’s good to raise awareness of this kind of thing for all players and GM’s so that they know what is an issue combat wise - especially at bigger larps where mass combat breaks out.