Interesting question there Matt!
Just to give a bit of perspective for non-Dunedinites (I never thought I would ever say that sentence!), ‘boffer’ larp - or indeed any live combat - is pretty rare in dunedin. From what I’ve heard and seen, it’s actually never been done down there (here?) - certainly not by anyone currently in dndn. The general attitude seems to be pretty negative actually, although I’m convinced that really its because they’ve never tried ‘true’ live combat.
Phys-repping here is still in the era of cardboard cutouts 
For eg - whenever I tease my bf about his more ‘geeky’ interests (all in fun!) he shoots right back at me with ‘boffer larp’ - it’s not generally well-regarded as far as larping systems go.
I’ve had limited success trying to intriduce it, but hopefully now that I know people a lot better I’ll get to run Camelot this summer with decent weapons.
I think giving people some exposure to live combat done well (ie fun and safe) will probably help. I remember when I moved to Wellington, live combat in larps was just Not Done, and in fact when I talked about it in principle most people assumed I meant White Wolf style RPS and complained about how long it took and how observers couldn’t tell what was going on in the conflict. And now, some of the people who were objecting most [size=50](cough cough Idiot)[/size] are right up the front of the This is Cool crowd.
Coming from the US I’d very much associated “boffer” or “live combat” with hunks of PVC pipe wrapped in foam. Like giant q-tips. No thank you.
Then I saw the beautiful, beautiful foam and latex weapons out there carved to look like real weapons and instantly wanted one. And when I experienced my first live-combat scenario I was hooked. Everything else now pales in comparison. While I may have poo-pooed the idea of people running around bashing each-other with foam I’m not dissatisfied with resolving combat via rock-papers-scissors or the like.
Live combat takes you into the immersion zone. I tell you what, when there are 15-20 monsters running at you, with weapons, you -are- scared and the adrenaline is pumping. And when your friends are dropping on the battlefield it -affects- you. You’re no longer roleplaying. You’re -experiencing- the setting and the scenario with much more realisim and passion than if you’re resolving combat with decks of cards or RPS or other non live-combat systems.
And sheilds FTW - as well as weapons with reach. I’m currently fighting with a staff which is a bit unwieldy, but MAN was it nice to have that when fighting monsters with bone-claws or tentacles.
Yup. I’ve been convinced that it really is a non-intrusive way of handling combat in a larp. Especially compared to standing around for 30 minutes while the people with celerity beat off.
[quote=“amphigori”]Coming from the US I’d very much associated “boffer” or “live combat” with hunks of PVC pipe wrapped in foam. Like giant q-tips. No thank you.
Then I saw the beautiful, beautiful foam and latex weapons out there carved to look like real weapons and instantly wanted one. And when I experienced my first live-combat scenario I was hooked. Everything else now pales in comparison. [/quote]
I know this feeling. If I hadn’t met the Orkland crowd I’d have quit larp here in Hamilton long ago, where sadly boffers are still prefered by some (to the point they won’t larp with anything but old school boffers). Personally I am still trying to get my head around it.
In defence of the “era of cardboard cutouts” Daphne, we only use them as props/representations since we have no need to use them as actual weapons. However, having a flimsy bit of cardboard with “stake” written on it in felt is pretty damn disappointing 
And before you start getting any big ideas I won’t be going to live-combat (a much better term!) in my game since a) there won’t be enough combat to warrant it, b) I’m pretty sure most of the players around here have the RL combat capability of a drowned ferret, and c) it does let people play characters who are much better at combat than they are.
I totally agree with this though:
[quote]Yup. I’ve been convinced that it really is a non-intrusive way of handling combat in a larp. Especially compared to standing around for 30 minutes while the people with celerity beat off.[/quote]In fact (getting OT here for just a sec) oWoD Celerity is one of the main reasons I’m running a nWoD LARP next year 
If you do run Camelot Daphne, I will make every effort to make it and give it as much support as you need. Where would we get decent weapons from though? Never mind armour and shields!
Viperion
Depending on the timing and when Daphne is in Wellington before and after, I may be able to lend her a couple of mine to get her started. And if I ever get around to building my sword blanks you will have a couple more.
I have foam, ADOS, and time. I can put basic hilts on them, but you’d need to latex them yourself.
For Camelot, some of the best armour came from our local costume shop, who had knitted chain and some LOTR-surplus helmets. Alternatively, you can go a long way with a tabard.
As for shields, find a supply of corflute (got anyone tapped into a political campaign), get some dog collars from the $2 shop, some campmat from the warehouse, and some fabric to cover them with, and you’re in business. Instructions here:
Cheers, thanks for that. May talk to you. Need to come up with a good design for mine and for all the NZLarps ones. I have plenty of latex for them.
I started doing Larp combat 31 years ago it’s still fun. If you want to get a group doing this I think you could do a lot worse than buy 4-6 swords off Ryan.
Get a nzlarps membership and he’ll give you a discount
His swords are well made, built to last and unbelievably good value for money.
Camelot takes about 12 swords to run if you’ve got every character in play and you want them all armed per the sheets, plus some daggers. Some of the lords don’t really need weapons though, as they have champions to fight for them. You might be able to get away with 8 swords and some assorted shorter weapons.
As written there are seven shields, but you could get away with 3 if people don’t have their own, they just use a generic pair for any arranged combats.
I think asking people to shell out money for something they’ve never tried and already have some negative views on isn’t going to work, especially when you add in that most of them are students or recently-ex-students with little disposable income.
There was an offer earlier in the year about couriering/posting some nzlarps stuff down such as swords, which I was hoping to take up. Now that I know people in Dunedin much better it’ll be a lot easier to get them along to a game.
Thanks for that info Ryan!