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Knight
 
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| Do people think it would be feasible to run a game where people were expected to posses javelins or throwing spears? Having recently read a fantastic account of the illiad it's got me thinking about trying to recreate that style of combat in a larp setting. Is it possible? Do you think people would be willing to buy weapons purely for one event? As it is really adding £40 to the cost of attending an event if you wanted to fight. Also, how would you encourage people to fight in a certain way? Just make to background explicit? Limit their choices in term of skills? or some other method?
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Wag
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| You may want to check out Dummoni as they tend towards a fairly authentic ancient style of combat and do allow javelins. You can rarely force players to take a particular skill or buy a particular weapon for an event. You may be able to do it if you are organising a group to attend a particular event and want a uniform look but as an organiser it is generally bad form to impose that much of a restriction. You can set costume and kit standards but you can't really, ethically say you must all buy this type of weapon. You'll find that many will not bother to book for an event with such restrictions However, you can write in your rules that certain skills are very cheap and make them very useful to have and that certain weapons have advantages in your game (maybe javelins do double when they hit or penetrate armour?) That will encourage players to take those skills or use those weapons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
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Champion
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Richard Brooks (3/27/2007)
...how would you encourage people to fight in a certain way?Be very specific in what weapons are available, maybe include technical specifications. Then make sure the crew is trained in it`s use and offer the players some instruction as well. Also, make sure that the rules support the effects of these weapons. For instance, if the average velite carries three javelins, I wouldn`t hand out HP in the proportion of 4 per location, as that wouldn`t exactly invite the use of those javelins. 3 hits globally without armour and act out any damage that comes through (loss of limb usage etc.) is probably more like it. If it`s going to be a 'battlefield' campaign/scenario, you may want to contemplate 'packages' of skills. E.g. 'velite', you can have up to three javelins, one melee weapon upto short sword/falcata, maybe a small basket-woven shield and one or two craft/lore skills; 'hero' you can wear full bronze armour, use all melee weapons including spears, carry around those huge seven-hided shields (  ) and have one 'hero skill' (things like 'commanding presence', effective use of musical instruments, possession of a boat, etc).
________________________________________________________ - IRL: Edwin Hofstra
- - mostly crewing at the moment
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I do talk a good fight
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The easy way is to make shields, javelins, & spears dirt cheap, short swords moderately expensive, and bigger swords prohibitively expensive. This needn't be expense in terms of having to have a monetary system -- just charge several "character points" or whatever to be a Hoplite, which means you can have a sword up to 30" long, and require people to have a retinue or something if they want a bigger sword (or disallow bigger swords entirely).
Making javelins effective against shields could be good too -- if you block 3 or more javelins with your shield, it's too heavy to use till you spend a few minutes pulling them out...
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
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Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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Wag
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| Making swords etc more expensive (in terms of money at least) is generally more historically accurate for most settings up to medieval. Swords are difficult to make and use a lot of metal and (in the bronze age at least) a metal which really does not last that long or even hold a decent edge for a significant amout of time. A spear or javelin is far cheaper (stick a small amout of metal onto the end of a stick), are very effective at range, can be used from horseback a lot easier than bows in a pre-stirrup era and are designed to be disposable. So you can easily limit the use of swords and encourage spears by writing this into the economics of your world. Take a look at the Vikings rules for an example of this. To have a sword you need to state that the sword is one of your designated items of 'wealth' from the wealth background - it is just as expensive in these terms as a mead hall of your own and that is just an ordinary, non magical, non special in any way sword (though the Vikings had it that all swords were 'special' for this very reason). The majority of players in Vikings, certainly the warriors who are not in anyway noble or wealthy, therefore carry axes or spears rather than swords. Blood red roses have a similar idea but applied to armour rather than weapons. You can wear any form of leather armour and it costs you nothing but you need to take a special background option, costing you character points, to have access to chainmail or plate armour. If javelins/spears are free to purchase while other weapons cost you money or wealth options (or even require expenditure of background points to say that you inherited them from somewhere) then you will see more players taking them. Those who don't want to spend money/points on weapons will certainly do so while even those who take swords etc will probably pack a couple of spears/javelins simply because they are free and it is always useful to have a back up weapon. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
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Live roleplaying's greatest cheerleader...
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From experience the easiest way is to just show two people fighting one has a sword the other has a spear, shield and 3 javelins. I know which weapon set I'd feel safest with!
_____________________________________________________
RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
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Wag
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balor (3/27/2007)
You can rarely force players to take a particular skill or buy a particular weapon for an event.
Unless you're in the habit of using emotional blackmail or high calibre weaponry to make players attend your event, wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you can never force players to buy a particular weapon? I'm not trying to be pedantic, it seems rather important given your point below...
You may be able to do it if you are organising a group to attend a particular event and want a uniform look but as an organiser it is generally bad form to impose that much of a restriction. You can set costume and kit standards but you can't really, ethically say you must all buy this type of weapon.
Eh? What?? How the hell can it not be ethical for an event organiser not to set the restrictions they choose on how you can or cannot play their game???? If I want to run Gribbit, a game where everyone plays swamp dwelling frogmen and the only weapons available are blow pipes then surely that's my lookout? If you don't have a LRP safe blowpipe and you don't want to buy a LRP safe blowpipe then don't come to the event surely? Unless this is one of those rare applications of force where I make you buy a LRP safe blowpipe because I'm actually physically forcing you to attend the event, I'm mystified how on earth ethics come into it.
You'll find that many will not bother to book for an event with such restrictions
Now that's a different argument... We actually spoke to a LRP weapons maker recently about LRP safe blowpipes. He told us we were being stupid and pointed out how big a set of lungs we'd need to drive a blowdart large enough not to enter the eye socket through the air... So it looks like Gribbit is off for the time being! But if any weapons makers think they can make a LRP-safe blow gun, I'm interested and want to buy one!
I wouldn't attend a javelins only game, because I don't have any javelins and can't afford any. It sounds bloody cool though!! And you know, Dumnoni seem to have done ok with this whole "requiring players to do what we say" shit... Only one of the best regarded games in the country and all...
By all means use rule structures to encourage behaviour, but if the premise of your event demands that every player has 5 LRP safe javelins to attend, then demand that every player has 5 LRP safe javelins to attend. Just bear in mind that it will hit potential attendance.
History is an important source for LRP. Along with other works of fiction.
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Live roleplaying's greatest cheerleader...
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| LRP Blowpipes? Back in the old gaffa days when I frequented a certain cave system based LRP in kent. I did make a blowpipe. It was kind of LRP safe. Take one length of pipe lagging. Cut a strip of foam off of a Karrimat that’s kind of the same diameter as the pipe lagging stick it in the end and blow. Now the thing didn’t go very far and the projectile isn’t bigger that an eye socket but the likely hood of someone getting hurt by a length of foam that’s un weighted/un gaffered/ unlatexed is quite low, it would be like being poked in the eye by a feather. Compared to the amount of unpulled blows flying around, poor lighting conditions and uneven surfaces, at the time, the blowpipes were quite safe. Ah those were the days!
_____________________________________________________
RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
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