Veteran Larper looking to join the ranks

T

Taverick

Newbie
Hello hello! I'm looking for a new larp, and while many of my attempts to find one have been met with some... resistance, I am looking forward to giving you guys a shot. I use to larp nearly religiously in high school, but once college happened and the larp I was part of fell apart... well yeah. Anyway, I have a few concerns I would like to discuss with someone willing to converse. Mostly logistical stuff and rules. I know it's only $5, but thats a lunch right there so I need to be sure I want to make a commitment to this game first. If it's not permitted to be discussed on open forum (and I promise not to delve too deeply into the details, just looking to pop a few bubbles not get through the foam to the deep dark beer underneath) I am willing to give my IM address (over pm/note/whatever this forum uses) or email so we can talk in private.

I use to make weapons for my larp group, and while I am a little out of practice my weapons never failed safety inspection. ... okay one did but it was like the first one I made and two minutes with a roll of duct tape and a strong arm fixed it. So I'll have some questions about that as well.
 
A lot of pretty general weapon-construction questions can be answered by the weapon introduction on our website here, and a lot of the weapon guidelines in the book were updated since the most recent edition so that boffer and latex weapons were accommodated; you can find those updates here.

One thing to keep in mind when building weapons for this game is that there are two major components to whether or not a weapon will be allowed: Safety and Regulation. A weapon might be perfectly safe to hit someone with and still fail because it doesn't meet regulation requirements. One of the major changes in the second link above was allowing more local chapter discretion (especially with latex weapons) so that more non-traditional (and non-boffer) weapons could be deemed "Safe enough" even if they didn't meet the original boffer regulations and still allowed, but boffer weapons are still fairly well regulated. With very few exceptions (2 or 3 in the last 15 years) every boffer weapon built for a 'backyard' boffer combat game has failed to pass regulation, even if was plenty padded (or otherwise 'safe'). About half of all weapons that fail are pretty easy to fix, so if you bring some tape, a knife, and some extra foam, you can probably fix whatever made the weapon fail safety check.

That said, you might be able to get by mostly with information in those two links, the second one almost completely replaces the weapon construction section in the rulebook. Also, I retained rights to the 'how to' section, so I don't feel bad about making it available.

Will you be joining us at the upcoming event next weekend? (Feb 15-18 at Millersylvania State Park ELC)
If you're coming, and want to NPC (NPCing is free!) we'll supply weapons, costume, etc, so you don't even need to worry about having weapons or other gear the first time.
 
I unfortunately won't be able to request the time off to make the event this coming weekend. That and my work is having a huge sale day right before, during, and after that weekend so no way I'd get it off anyway.
 
What would make a weapon fail the check? Aside from obvious safety issues of course. If it doesn't meet a certain 'aesthetic' requirement? Like if it's too blocky or what not?
 
We don't fail on weapon aesthetics. That's a matter of personal pride. As Matt said, your weapon can fail for one of two main categories.

Safety issues: structural damage, insufficient padding on striking surfaces, too much rattle, too much "whip".
Regulation issues: Too short, too long, insufficient head volume on a blunt or axe or polearm.

If you follow the construction guidelines in the rulebook, you should be fine, though if you go that route, do yourself a favor and pick up a golf club to use as the core instead of PVC.
 
So as long as I follow the guidelines, which is something I'm good at, don't go too crazy on the design and make sure that its safe, it should pass right?

I don't have to worry about people saying "It's too fantasy for our aesthetic". I've had that happen before. Mind you it was a mithral sword that was forged by the fey, part of the characters background, so I made it pretty. That.. kinda iritated me. Hearing that it was too fantasy for their fantasy game.
 
Fantasy is all good so long as it passes :) Mind you, we've had some people bring ridiculously oversized swords ala Final Fantasy and while they passed inspection, the characters threw them away after the event due to how stupidly useless they were in actual combat. As you've LARPed before, I presume you will be able to avoid that sort of pitfall.

Beyond that go wild - we've had some pretty cool stuff made. The sword I'm using for my primary character right now is a custom made latex weapon with the weapon name inscribed on the blade, while we have some amazingly made boffers come through with painted cloth covers and very ornate hilts and such as well. Lots of possibility and artistic is awesome so long as it doesn't interfere with safety!

Be mindful as well of the Alliance rules for weapon length. If your character purchases the one-handed edged skill but makes a 49" long sword, you're kind of screwed as that puts it into two-hander territory.

-Bryan
 
I'm pretty good about keeping my blades to length. And while I wouldn't use it again, I do have a sword that I'll be remaking for this larp. Or just for fun cause I love how it looks. You can see the original model here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater
It's a bit poofy as its the first sword I made after a 3 year interlude. To make it as safe as possible I like to pad the striking edge with a little bit of open cell. The closed cell is to length for the larp I was in, so the open cell made it a little wider. Still, it looked rather good and worked well enough. This model the padding was just a bit loose but with my core padding technique you couldn't feel the core so it passed.
 
It wouldn't take much to fix the sword, but I don't want to tear it apart to do so. It's too pretty. So I'll just remake it and fix the problems it has.
 
Should also probably be noted that the Alliance combat system is hit point based so combat tends to be a bit faster and with lighter taps since a successful hit to a leg is just as good as a hit to the chest or back. Hence why making your weapons decently light and controllable is a goal for a lot of us.
 
Yames said:
Should also probably be noted that the Alliance combat system is hit point based so combat tends to be a bit faster and with lighter taps since a successful hit to a leg is just as good as a hit to the chest or back. Hence why making your weapons decently light and controllable is a goal for a lot of us.
Click to expand...

Which is what I'm used to. One of the things I do try and focus on with the weapons I made, before I try making them pretty, is to make them safe. Which is why that sword is so puffy. While very light, they are also very soft.
 
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