What Level of Combat do you like

Community Larp discussion
#1

What level of Combat do you prefer

  • Heavy
  • Medium
  • Light

0 voters

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since this has become an issue, i want to take nikki’s suggestion and get some idea of what people prefer.

rather than asking do you wnat this in a larp, I figure finding out what people do prefer will answer both questions.

explanation;

Heavy; Strong to Full strength blows, and wearing full body protection. SCA style, with No head shots

Medium; Less armour but still medium to strong blows. Somehwere in the middle.

Light; armour looks good but serves no function, and touch of death blows. NAAMA style

#2

Not quite what I had in mind. I wanted to know if people would decide to not come to a particular LARP because this LARP happens to have heavier combat in it. (eg: harder hits, light head shots, grappeling)

Also sorry Carl but I dissagree, I don’t think that just because you prefer heavier combat in your martial arts group means that you prefer heavier combat in larp. Many people larp for many different reasons.

#3

I think this is more straight to the point.

[quote=“Nikki”]
Also sorry Carl but I dissagree, I don’t think that just because you prefer heavier combat in your martial arts group means that you prefer heavier combat in larp. Many people larp for many different reasons.[/quote]

Hey no arguement, I dont just Larp for the combat, but the role playing aspect too, and everyone has the right to get what ever they get out of it.

But you cant say that we cater for everyone when you refuse to do heavy/medium style combat, because as long as one person has to fight T.O.D when they would rather fight medium/heavy, you are not catering for everyone are you.

I am not saying “My way or the Highway” do what ever lights your candle, follow your own bliss, just dont deny me the right to follow mine.

this is one of the reasons NAAMA is tearing itself apart at present, on one side you have the Living History, and WMA, crowd shouting “Our Way, Our Way”, and on the other you have the T.O.D crowd shouting “Our Way Our Way” and no one is saying “hey why cant we share the sand pit”.

#4

I ticked heavy, because of all combat, that is what I prefer.

However, when I larp, I don’t do it for the combat. I do it for the role playing/immersion and I really am very happy to have softer blows and limited techniques if it means we get a more varied cross section of players.

I’m happy to play a game without combat, but I’d prefer to not do the type of combat that is being used in Stargate (sorry guys, it just sounds a bit … wrong).

#5

We have always found in Hamilton taht the harder the combat, the less women that play. For example in the early 90s some of our players went to Rotorua to play LRP. The Rotorua group played hard contact. They had never seen a female player before.

In Christchurch in the 80s there was an LRP group who played by dressing up in armour. They would use wooden weapons. Two a side on a concrete cricket pitch. Full contact, last person on the pitch won.

In Hamilton we are essentially a tag combat group. Light contact. We have recently introduced a civilian class for people that like to play but do not want to be hit by latent psychopaths armed with boffer weapons. This is a full character clas. We are looking at expanding this into someof it’s own magic classes as well as merchant and political classes.

In summary, if you like to hit each other hard don’t expect to have many female players.

#6

[quote=“Alista”]
In summary, if you like to hit each other hard don’t expect to have many female players.[/quote]

You should Sword & shield sometime you will be amazed. we have close to 60% female members and they are treated as equals to the male members on and off the playing field.

#7

Larping shouldn’t be about the combat. Or at least, the type of combat should reflect the game. After all, isn’t role-playing about being something you’re not?

#8

Was that the SCA in Christchurch???

#9

I voted for Light because I think safety is more important than realism. But that does not mean that I support Touch Of Death. I prefer Hit Points as it broadens the scope of combat.

#10

I like medium level combat because I don’t really like to wear armour. I prefer moving fast, but I know i just need to build up my fitness and strength to that with armour.

At Sword and Shield I love the challenge of landing a decent blow that hasnt been parried, espcially against people who are much better than me.

In larp I would prefer the same. I like realistic combat and I love un armed, leg sweeps, arm locks, but I can also see how this would be a problem for first time larpers with little or no martial arts experience and even long time larpers who are in it much more for the role playing than the combat.

Dont get me wrong Id love to have a larp where I can go in and do heavy combat but I do think you will loose some people because of it. This is not necesarilly a bad thing if you want a smaller player based larp but for larps where you want lots of people it could be a problem.

#11

Yeah in say a game set in POW camp, or office building, or something set in modern times where combat would involve guns.

but you say the combat should reflect the game, so if you are in a game where the time period is set during a time of great strife and civil unrest in a medieval kingdom, should the combat not reflect that?

so you have two large armies standing across from each other the tension builds and builds until someone on one side accidentally does something with his sword that the other takes as an aggressive act and then “Charge” the dogs of war slip the leash and it is all on for young and old.

And we tap each other?

I am sorry but that is like opening a Xmas present that is the shape of a Xbox/PS2 and finding a pair of socks instead.

We have incredibly intense role playing, super tense character interaction, and light tippy tappy combat,

it dont fit

#12

[quote=“Carl”]so you have two large armies standing across from each other the tension builds and builds until someone on one side accidentally does something with his sword that the other takes as an aggressive act and then “Charge” the dogs of war slip the leash and it is all on for young and old.

And we tap each other?[/quote]

You miss my meaning entirely.

IMHO: Well if you want to play a civil-war larp, then Duh. But if you want to run a larp where the emphasis is on role-playing, then a less-intimidating style of combat might be a good idea.

#13

Carl, you should have come along on Saturday. We only had four of us in armour, but it was quite the opposite to what you describe. It was more a case of:

[i]"Gentlemen, we find ourselves with too few to have a proper tournament, however, I would like to test myself properly. Let us then fight one against one with the winner holding the field and fighting the next person in turn until they are defeated.

To make it more interesting, let us fight ‘counted blows’, with the number of blows being the number of rounds the defender has been undefeated…"[/i]

Everyone thought it was a good idea, so did that until everyone was exhausted, at a dozen counted blows (12 fights won in a row with 1hp, then 2hp, then 3hp … 12hp). We then had to have a rest under a shady tree.

After that, Andrew issued challange such that “we fight until a person is disarmed or born to the ground”.

'Though grappling is outside the normal SCA ruleset, nobody there was going to be the one who didn’t fight, and we set to.

Two days later, my shield arm is still so still sore it keeps me awake and I have about eight bruises on different parts of my body. I also probably need to replace my brand new shield, which has been pretty much pulped.

The fighting certainly lived up to the “hype” :smiley:

#14

[quote=“Derek”]Carl, you should have come along on Saturday. We only had four of us in armour, but it was quite the opposite to what you describe. It was more a case of:

[i]"Gentlemen, we find ourselves with too few to have a proper tournament, however, I would like to test myself properly. Let us then fight one against one with the winner holding the field and fighting the next person in turn until they are defeated.

To make it more interesting, let us fight ‘counted blows’, with the number of blows being the number of rounds the defender has been undefeated…"[/i]

Everyone thought it was a good idea, so did that until everyone was exhausted, at a dozen counted blows (12 fights won in a row with 1hp, then 2hp, then 3hp … 12hp). We then had to have a rest under a shady tree.

After that, Andrew issued challange such that “we fight until a person is disarmed or born to the ground”.

'Though grappling is outside the normal SCA ruleset, nobody there was going to be the one who didn’t fight, and we set to.

Two days later, my shield arm is still so still sore it keeps me awake and I have about eight bruises on different parts of my body. I also probably need to replace my brand new shield, which has been pretty much pulped.

The fighting certainly lived up to the “hype” :smiley:[/quote]

Id really like to see some SCA combat sometime. Im going to the fair in Australia in easter next year with Chantelle, but I wont be doing any fighting. I will barely be able to put enough kit together to not be embaressed. I don’t really know much about authenticity, but Im willing to learn and Im really looking forward to the fair.

#15

Wow, big discussion! Very interesting question, indeed.
I voted for Light option because I’m strongly paranoid about safety. I’ve never larped in Russia, though I new some larpers there, and if I had a wish to join I could do that. Problem was that hearing (and reading in Internet) the stories about heavy combat stuff, including the wooden weapon, did not encourage me to join. I was just scared. Damn, they said brocken ribs are a normal thing! And one guy got an arrow in his eye and I’m not sure he still has this eye.
Also, S&S trainings are trainings, not roleplaying. We are fully aware of the possible danger, and every fighter is ready to stop when hears “Break!”. In the game it’s not fighting only, there are lots of other things, and it wouldn’t be good to stop the game every time someone gets hurt.
I’m not sure if I understand this differentiation listed in the poll, however, I would tend to think it’s not a matter of heavy-light, but of how well players are able to perform it. In the other thread Cat (I think it was her) said about her roleplaying that she didn’t take fighting character because of not being able to effectively physrep it.

#16

Hype.

This is the part of combat in a larp that we can do fully.

We can’t go out and slaughter people but we sure can hype that up. Our combat physreps will always be just that - physreps - but the hype part is for real.

So the physreps are a compromise of sorts and the hype is not. From this I conclude: focus on hype not combat. I for one am not that interested in hurting people or being hurt, even if it might suit my characters to play through a bar brawl or a sword fight.

But I’d prefer the part where me and my crew hurl insults across the bar before it breaks into a brawl - and I’d hope that we’d keep it up in the middle of the fight. And if I have to be in a sword fight I hope I’m dueling at dusk and not some meaningless cannon fodder on a front line somewhere.

This is a little bit of a tangent sorry, because this thread is specifically about combat… but I say that in larp, a Mexican stand-off where noone dies is a hundred times better than a heavy weapon shootout… and a thousand times more immersive.

The great thing about making new larps is that we can design these systems to work. In May Day the “combat” was a) political b) needed little representation or c) was a massive bomb that everyone knew to imagine going off together-at-the-same-time. The Nibelungen combat system, I believe, is both “soft” (ie noone ever gets hit) yet has plenty of testosterone in it, and prevents cheating by … well, it’ll be a surprise :smiley:

Point is, I chose “soft” not because I’m a blubbering pussy but because I think if your combat isn’t immersive then it shouldn’t be the point of your larp.

#17

I’ll give you all my personal opinion. Please realise that I know that a “harder” style of combat may result in less people willing to play and that not all players enjoy or want as much physicality (in all things, not just combat) as I do. These elements are not essential for me to play a LARP but would definatly be something I’d be up for if such a thing was offered.

I enjoy the most immersive style of play possible and that means (for me) when combat does occur it should be as intense (realistic) as possible. If it hurts a little and thus makes you wary about getting into a fight in the first place… thats a good thing!

I’m firmly in the method acting school. If my character wears armour, then I want to wear the real deal, feel the weight of it and act accordingly. I’m also protected and my opponent should go for broke on me. Im of the opinion that if you want to be a combattant then armour up and go for it. These foam swords may sting a little at best and unless they cop you in the nose/ eyes or groin there is no real damage. (rectified by wearing helmets and protecters). As a lacrosse player who routinly gets hit in most body areas with solid wood/ and metal sticks (which really do hurt / break fingers and draw blood), I can hardly feel a tap from a foam sword. :smiling_imp:

I’ll play to any rules (light or hard combat) and enjoy it, and I’m firmly for the focus to be on roleplaying…but if heavy combat is on offer I’ll take it but I think I’m in the minority :slight_smile:

#18

Do not be confused. Just be because we hit light does not mean we cannot hit hard. Over the years I have found that usually people like to hit hard when they cannot fight well. We like to adventure and have fun, not to be taking people to hospital every week. Boffer weapons are as well as good technique, not instead of it.

Then you get the people who decide the rules, no matter what they are, do not apply to them. Playing with the metal boys I have had a sword through the left lense of my glasses. I also have a scar on my forehead from someone who did a full power over head strike to my bare head with a metal long sword. He didn’t like it because I was fighting him left handed. (And winning). Thankfully I got a block up in time to save my life/conciousness/mobility. Both these incidents were light contact, no head shots.

Remember in some full contact clubs in England crush amputations are common. I don’t know about you, but I like my fingers and want to keep all of them.

#19

The most intense fight I saw at a larp was a duel at dawn between two players. I was squiring for one of the players and he was completely wired by the time they got around to fighting. It wasn’t to the death, but they both really got into the role playing side of it. One of them was so angry he was spitting when he talked (yelled). They both fought well (i.e. counted blows correctly). It was good! It built up well and it delivered.

This is what I’m hoping happens with Ravenholm. Pistols at dawn …

#20

[quote=“Alista”]Do not be confused. Just be because we hit light does not mean we cannot hit hard. Over the years I have found that usually people like to hit hard when they cannot fight well. We like to adventure and have fun, not to be taking people to hospital every week. Boffer weapons are as well as good technique, not instead of it.

Then you get the people who decide the rules, no matter what they are, do not apply to them. Playing with the metal boys I have had a sword through the left lense of my glasses. I also have a scar on my forehead from someone who did a full power over head strike to my bare head with a metal long sword. He didn’t like it because I was fighting him left handed. (And winning). Thankfully I got a block up in time to save my life/conciousness/mobility. Both these incidents were light contact, no head shots.
Remember in some full contact clubs in England crush amputations are common. I don’t know about you, but I like my fingers and want to keep all of them.[/quote]

Hey, Alista,
just thought I’d say welcome and thanks for joining us here. Its great to hear from people in other parts of the country, especially when they’re articulate and full of opinions/ideas.