OK, so it’s not quite my own action figure but I have an “ism” now. Not a bad start.
But not even I understand what you mean here (regards to less is more in combat).
The less there is the more scary/exciting/real it feels when it happens.
On the other hand, I think that if you want crazy heroic non-stop action that’s fair enough too. Inside its genre it’s fun.
[quote=“Derek”]
[1] Instant healing makes combat too safe and less scary[/quote]
I strongly agree. I think even magical healing of a person should have a slight “delay” before that person is up and ready to go. Perhaps something as simple as a count to X rule before you are ready to run around again?
- Having intelligent mooks that don’t allow themselves to be pincushioned**.
- Mooks that have a mission, tactics, and a will to live.
- Mooks that, from time to time, can be dealt with without resort to combat
- Having consequences for the killing of mooks - especially if one escapes (e.g. relatives come looking for utu)
- Including mages in the mook mix.
** Pincushioning takes place where all the PCs are hanging out (e.g. in front of the Inn) and the mooks turn up and then its a case of “Can I get in a blow before they are cut down ?”
ROFL… do you know how hard it is to get the players away from the inn? It’s like pry-bar time. Y’all hang out in groups that outnumber us poor mooks by at least 3-1 and STILL won’t venture into the woods where the 2hp armourless ghouls are trying to lure you towards the Rusalka so that she can give you essential information. In the end it’s usually pincushion time. 
Kara
I prefer the light combat myself. It’s always good to come out of a larp battle without bruises at the end. I don’t think I’ve ever acquired any bad ones in larp fighting now I come to think of it.
However there is no reason why you can’t have light hits and rules for effective armour at the same time. The touch of death style of fighting where armour doesn’t count is really just a metal weapon fighting convention and doesn’t have to be extrapolated across to Larp fighting.
I’d agree that having consequences arise from killing NPCs is good. It definately makes people think before hitting… or perhaps when they encounter some more suspicious people the next time.
I really think you guys are missing something vital here.
1 you are wearing armour
2 the weapons are foam rubber
even if you are not wearing armour you would have to be hit Good God Damned Hard before any damage showed up unless you are a over ripe peach masquerading as a person.
and because of the nature of the weapons armour in this case can be little more than a heavy sweatshirt or jersey. I am not suggesting that the lighter players wear the kind of rig that wendel had at endgame, or the level of chain that porl or dylan like, but even a couple of layers of thick wool under your costume would give you enough protection from a decent blow.
most of the outfits people wear to games would give enough protection.
[quote=“Carl”]I really think you guys are missing something vital here.
1 you are wearing armour[/quote]
Are suggesting that absolutely everyone is wearing armour ? What about mages and other non-combat characters ?
As long as the weapons strike the armour, then I’d agree you would be safe. But if the weapons strike an un-armoured section of your body, damage could occur.
A few quick points about full contact.
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Miyamoto Musashi, (and being LARPers you will instantly know who I mean), killed his last 50 to 100 opponents using wooden swords. We should point out that his opponents were dressed in real armour and were using real katana.
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In full contact karate tournaments, occasionally a karateka gets a technique right and will accidently kill their opponent through all of their protective gear. This could be fun in LRP
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I have been dropped by being hit with a foam weapon. I have seen other players dropped by foam weapons. I have seen a tooth broken in half by a foam weapon. I know of ‘safe’ foam weapons penetrating plywood. The term ‘safe’ is relative.
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We occasionally play down caves and in the bush. I do not want people on the edge of a 20 foot drop to get hit by a full power blow.
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Some weapons as rapiers or Spanish foils (fencing foils to the plebs) do not rely on full power blows, rather sticking six inches of metal through the eye or the heart… These weapons are designed to kill people in chain mail and other armour.
[quote=“Mike Curtis”]
Are suggesting that absolutely everyone is wearing armour ? What about mages and other non-combat characters ?[/quote]
What i am suggesting is that you are wearing IC armour/costume on the outside and OOC protection/padding underneath.
take reckonings for an example, if you had been wearing some padding underneath your segmentata you would not have got as cut up by it as you did.
These weapons seriously do not hurt that much
[quote=“Alista”]
3) I have been dropped by being hit with a foam weapon. I have seen other players dropped by foam weapons. I have seen a tooth broken in half by a foam weapon. I know of ‘safe’ foam weapons penetrating plywood. The term ‘safe’ is relative.[/quote]
were these weapons home made or Excalibur weapons?
I have seen some home made weapons that are “Not safe” in any way, thin padding, weak joins, wrong kind of stiffening inside, there are lots of things that can make a boffer weapon unsafe.
but the Excalibur weapons are designed with safety in mind, and they really dont hurt that much, and once again let me say that I am NOT suggesting we use full strength hits here, but decent blows that you can feel through armour.
The ‘safe’ weapons that caused all this carnage were of international standard.
I’d say there’s no such thing. Weapons in the USA bear hardly any resemblence to those in Europe, for example.
What standard of drugs was the person using them on
Finest quality Adrenaline caused by total immersion in the game.
Ahhh such a rare vintage
once you get the thousand yard stare happening and someone starts to get loose there is not a lot you can do short of taking them aside and putting them in a quiet room for a few minutes.
and that will happen no matter what style of combat you are using, or how safe it is, some people can’t control themselves when the natural happy juice starts pumping.
I have seen a guy get so worked up before a steel weapon battle that he leaped full flight into a shield wall and copped a spear point in the cheek.
This would be when the GM’s step in and try to calm things down a bit, ruins the “Full Immersion” factor a bit, but then so does an Ambulance pulling up into the middle of the camp.
A couple of weeks ago we had a new fighter go a bit ga ga[1] in a tournament. He’d been hit by a flurry of pretty hard blows and thrown to the ground. I took him off the field for a bit and he fell down when we got him off. He wasn’t concussed or injured, he just wasn’t used to the intensity of a medieval tournament. After I took him off the field, I reassured him that he “was amongst friends” and we had a quiet chat and he calmed down. There were a few tears, but not because he’d been hurt. Logically he understood, but emotionally he was in a great deal of turmoil.
It’s easy to forget how emotional combat can be for people who have not experienced it much. We’re wired up so that specific input signals will release chemicals into the body allowing us to fight or flee. Fighting, even make believe fighting, is one of these signals. Regular training will desensitize people to the triggers and this is one of the reasons they can think clearly when combat happens.
I don’t think you will be able to create a level of combat that will be exciting for an experienced fighter and enjoyable for a beginner. It’s a bit like a hardened drinker giving someone two fingers of whiskey as their first drink.
[1] that’s a technical medical term meaning “over emotional”.
[quote=“Derek”]
I don’t think you will be able to create a level of combat that will be exciting for an experienced fighter and enjoyable for a beginner. [/quote]
I think you nailed it there derek, it is unfair for us experienced fighters to expect beginners to fight at our level, and it is unexciting for us to fight at a beginner level.
so where is the middle ground?
I don’t know.
But I don’t think telling the beginners to harden up is the solution.
I suggest larp combat should be pitched at a level that beginners find exciting, but not at a level where they fear participating.
The experienced fighters can get their combat thrills elsewhere. If they need to derive “excitement” from the combat they can try attacking small groups and/or bigger monsters. Or possibly they can try to extend themselves in other directions, like public speaking or performing music. People with little experience in singing/public speaking will probably get a similar “rush” as the one combat used to give.
Part of the reason why I didn’t play a PC in Mordavia until my last game was I knew that the combat would not be intense enough and that if I fought as best I could, it would probably be too much for many people. As a crew member, I could pick a level of ability appropriate to the critter I was playing and mentally peg myself there.
Down here we find that the more experienced a player is the less combats that they get into an evening.
Really experienced parties might have only two or three combats in an evening. Usually they will try and bluff, to bribe or to evade situations. For us, combat is just an extreme form of conflict resolution and is used as a last resort. If Orcs charge you, you run away. While they are looking for you you steal all their treasure. You are rich, you are alive, and they are stupid.
Are we doing this whole combat thing wrong?