Hit Locations #
Meadowmere LARP uses a synergy of a limb system and a minimal hit point system to designate character health. Each character has three total hit points. A hit to an arm or a leg counts as a single hit point, whereas a torso hit counts for two hit points. The tops of the shoulders and buttocks are considered part of your torso. Hands and feet are considered part of the arm and leg respectively and count as legal shots.
In order to be considered defeated, you must take three hit points in any combination. Some examples are as follows:
- Two arm wounds and a leg wound
- A torso wound and an arm wound
- A torso wound and a leg wound
- Two torso wounds
Illegal shots include the head, neck and groin. Do not aim for these locations, and if you are struck in these locations, you do not have to take the shot as a wound.
When in combat, do not block arrows, thrown weapons or spell balls with your weapon. This is for two primary reasons. First is safety. If you deflect a projectile, especially arrows, it changes the trajectory of the object which can send it flying unsafely at another player. In arrows, the nock of the arrow could strike another player, or in a thrown object, it could strike them in the face. Second, it can easily cause lost equipment if the projectile is deflected into rough terrain, such as tall grass.
Defeated #
Once you are defeated, you must remain so for 30 seconds. If you are both able and safe, lay on the ground as though dead. Within this 30 second window, you can be healed.
After the 30 seconds has passed, at your own consideration, you must find a GM who is not heavily involved in a scene to roll a 10 sided die.. This roll will represent which ability you lose all uses of. If you have already used all uses of that ability. Abilities can be regained with crafted items, but you must find someone who can and will help you to do so.
Equipment #
Meadowmere LARP does not require the application of a character ability to use any sort of equipment. If you can wear it or use it safely, you may use the item.
Items that fall under the umbrella of equipment is Armor, Weapons, Bows, Arrows, Thrown Projectiles, and Shields. These are all items that are expected to be used in combat.
Props/Devices #
Some items have abilities or effects attached to them and may or may not be used in combat. These items do not have to follow the same rules as equipment, but we still not not allow glass in the game at all. These items should be clearly visible when used. For example, do not hide something in the grass to that it will likely be tripped over. The GM’s and staff will sometimes hide things like chests for players to find, but they are are placed in places where it would be difficult to trip over it. If it is meant to be hidden in game but needs to be in a place that could potentially be a tripping hazard, Then we will use a florescent green color on the item to signify that in game characters don’t see the item, but the player does. Things like Traps will use this color coding.
Weapons #
Currently we have not laid out specific guidelines for building weapons. We will accept many commercially made weapons, and safely made home-crafted weapons. When checking for safety, we will look at how much padding is on the blade and pommel as well as the construction.
We prefer blades that are more artistically created over boffer weapons, but currently they are allowed.
Any weapon that is not thrust-approved will be marked with a [[soon to be determined denotation]].
Some things to stay away from:
- Donut boffers: These are boffer weapons made from numerous disks layered on top of each other. We do not allow these for two reasons. First, oftentimes there is glue between each disk which becomes hard and thus the blade is too solid when it hits. Second, even if the blade is constructed without the glue between each disk, the foam compression is different when compressed from the sides rather than the top or bottom of the mat.
- Narrow blades: If you can feel the core from the striking surface, your weapon will not pass. Make sure to have sufficient padding on your striking surfaces.
- Thin stabbing tips: A weapon that does not have sufficient padding on the thrusting tip will not pass. If there is too much padding, it can bend and rip the foam away causing the core to be exposed. If there is not enough padding, the thrust can hit too hard and hurt other players.
- Abrasive textures on striking surfaces: Rough foam or fabric covers can cause abrasions to other players.
Bows #
Traditional style recurve or long Bows are allowed but must fall within two requirements.
For it to be legal for our game it must be 35 pound or less and have a maximum of 28 inch draw.
Armor #
With Meadowmere LARP, all armor must be made of appropriate materials as each type has its own drawbacks for wearing it. With that in mind, do wear it safely. If you are overheating in your armor, please take it off, hydrate and rest for a bit. Armor should not come to sharp points that could damage players skin or equipment.
Using Armor #
Wearing armor allows you extra hits before you are defeated. The points provided are global hits, and only count where the armor covers.
For example, you are wearing a pair of plate gauntlets and no other armor. If you are hit on the forearm, you would lose one of your 4 points of global armor and only have 3 left. Then you are hit in the opposite forearm, and you are down to 2 points of armor. The next two hits are placed on your unarmored torso, and upper arm. Though you have 2 points of armor still, you are defeated since you were struck in the unarmored portions of your body.
If a player wears a helmet that matches one of the armor specifications they gain an additional point of armor that goes on top of their Armor Pool. It does not matter what type of helmet it is or what it is made out of as long as it gives coverage to he head and matches thicknesses of armor of that type.
Armor Points
| Armor Type | Point Value |
| Synthetic Armor (Plastic, Foam, Kydex, Any not listed) | 1 |
| Natural Armors, Cloth and Leather, 3mm thick minimum (~7-8 oz) | 2 |
| Non-Rigid Metal or Chain, 18g minimum | 3 |
| Rigid Metal or Plate, 18g minimum | 4 |
| Helmet (Must match the requirements for its material) | +1 On top of final value. |
**Please Note** Although your armor may look fantastic, its important to understand that we are a medium contact game and less resilient materials will show wear and tear quicker than others. Any equipment you bring into the game is your choice and even though we will never try to destroy anyone’s property, accidents do happen. This is your choice if you want to wear/bring this into the game session.
You may combine these armor types to gain a combined score of the top two types you are wearing together. For example, you choose to wear plate and a gambeson, you would get 5 global points of armor. If you wear some leather in addition to the gambeson and plate, you would have 6 points of armor when you combine the plate and the leather, as the two highest types of armor. Then if you are wearing a helmet as well, you get to add 1 more point of armor making it 7 Points total.
Combination Examples #
- Leather and plastic to look like bone armor is 3 points.
- Leather and Chain Mail is 5 points.
- Leather, Chainmail, and a Helmet is 6 points.
- A Coat of Plates with a Helmet is 7 points.
- Chain Mail under Plate Armor with a Helmet is 8 points.
Armor must cover the equivalent of two full limbs, or the full torso in order to count for the full bonus. Any piece that covers less than the minimum amount, it may be subject to a partial bonus of +1 instead.
Ability Armor #
You can have a maximum of 3 points of Ability armor from separate sources. These sources cannot stack. This means that from all sources you can reach a maximum of 10 Points.
Shields #
Shields must not contain any metal or wood. Accessories like buckles on your straps are acceptable. All outside faces and edges must be covered with at least a quarter inch of foam.
Universal Hand Signals #
- Point = single target
- Sweeping arm = line of sight
- Upright claw hand or upright weapon= AoE
- Hand cupped to side of mouth = By My Voice
- Hand touching shoulder = alternate language
- Hand on head = Out of game
